Video: What secrets were revealed to scientists by a 600-year-old samurai jug of coins found in Japan
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In Japan, a huge, more than a meter in diameter, ceramic vessel was discovered, filled to the brim with medieval coins. Archaeologists have found this state of a certain Japanese samurai in Saitama prefecture near Tokyo. Experts have called this hoard the largest catch of medieval coins ever discovered in the land of the rising sun. According to experts, the vessel and the coins go back six centuries! Whose treasure jug is this, why was it hidden there, and why did no one come back for it?
The jug was buried at a depth of three meters. It is not damaged. However, the copper in the bronze coins found inside oxidized and turned a bright green. Archaeologists believe that there are more than one hundred thousand of them, they were strung on a rope. There was a wooden plaque with the money.
The nameplate says “nihyaku rokuju” in Japanese, which means two hundred and sixty. This can refer to the dimensions of 260 kan, which are units of one thousand, and means that there are two hundred and sixty thousand coins in the jug!
Historians say that a chain of a thousand coins was worth one ounce of silver and was the usual amount to keep with you. At the time this treasure was hidden, the country was divided and ruled by the Emperor, who gave the conquered lands to the shoguns, military leaders. Perhaps the rich warrior hid his treasures because he was in danger of being robbed due to the civil unrest in Japan at the time.
The Muromachi period from 1333 to 1573 AD belongs to the Ashikaga shogunate. Ashikaga Takauji fought with his brother Tadayoshi. The war lasted two years. Ashikaga Takauji was ultimately defeated. It was at this time, during his reign, that most of the rules of conduct for the samurai were adopted.
The samurai were an elite guard of soldiers who swore their lives to the daimyo, the feudal lord. Daimyo is a military elite, a kind of military governors. For samurai, courage, honor and personal loyalty were above their own lives. Samurai would rather commit seppuku (ritual suicide) than be dishonored. The samurai wielded two swords, which were given to them by their warlord. These warriors enjoyed a special position in society and privileges.
In Japan at that time, civil unrest reigned. Daimyo began to feud with each other. This period of history was named - the period of the Warring States. It lasted from 1467 to 1568 AD and was a time of struggle, assassination and deception between rival Japanese warlords daimyo and samurai. They all sought the right to be the next shogun. Since the shogun's power diminished during this time, it didn't really matter and could be an excuse for overly aggressive daimyos to flaunt their power.
After the end of the war, there were no winners. Nothing was achieved, except that ordinary citizens were subjected to appalling lawlessness, brutality and extreme deprivation.
The relief of the suffering of the people came only partially when slavery was abolished. During this period, art and architecture began to flourish. Warlords built castles to protect themselves from enemy invasion. They tried to place buildings on mountain passes. If they were built on a plain, then they were surrounded by deep ditches and other protective structures. Ordinary people also settled near these castles. For example, Omi-Hachiman Castle near Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture attracted so many people that a whole city grew up around it.
It was during those turbulent times that the Japanese tea ceremony was popularized by Buddhist monks. The Zen religion has given the world such an artist as the Zen priest Sesshu Toyo, whose work is still considered one of the finest works of art in Japan.
Eventually, the warlord Oda Nobunaga began to conquer different parts of the country and was able to take the capital Heiankyo in 1568 AD. In 1573, Ashikaga Yoshiaki was expelled. Until his death, Nobunaga tried to unite central Japan. After he died in 1582, his successors continued his work. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who ruled 1537-1598, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was shogun from 1543 to 1616. The latter began to trade with the West.
The treasures of the unknown samurai, hidden by him during that turbulent period in the history of the Japanese state, are now on display in the cultural treasury of Saitama Prefecture in Kumagai.
Since ancient times, the earth has kept many treasures, lost treasures. Sometimes people are lucky to find them in the most unexpected places. Read our article on how in one abandoned village church archaeologists have discovered a mysterious jar with a surprise..
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