Medieval History
The National Museum of China in Beijing holds a picture scroll very similar to one in Japan that was until now thought to be the only pictorial record of the medieval "Wako" pirates, it has been learned.
"Wako" is a name meaning "Japanese invader," used in the past by China and Korea to refer to pirates that plundered and engaged in smuggling along the Chinese and Korean coasts from the 13th to 16th centuries. Through the 15th century, the Wako were mostly Japanese, as the name implies, but in the 16th century most of the Wako are believed to have actually been Chinese.
Japan's scroll and China's scroll were both found to be inscribed with dates using a Japanese period name. The scrolls will be discussed at a joint research meeting between the two countries, planned to be held on Nov. 12 at the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo, where Japan's scroll is held. Expectations are high that the research meeting will shed new light on the little-understood Wako.
Click here to read this article from the Mainichi Daily News
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Medieval History
Second scroll depicting 'Wako' pirates found to be held by Beijing museum
The National Museum of China in Beijing holds a picture scroll very similar to one in Japan that was until now thought to be the only pictorial record of the medieval "Wako" pirates, it has been learned.
"Wako" is a name meaning "Japanese invader," used in the past by China and Korea to refer to pirates that plundered and engaged in smuggling along the Chinese and Korean coasts from the 13th to 16th centuries. Through the 15th century, the Wako were mostly Japanese, as the name implies, but in the 16th century most of the Wako are believed to have actually been Chinese.
Japan's scroll and China's scroll were both found to be inscribed with dates using a Japanese period name. The scrolls will be discussed at a joint research meeting between the two countries, planned to be held on Nov. 12 at the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo, where Japan's scroll is held. Expectations are high that the research meeting will shed new light on the little-understood Wako.
Click here to read this article from the Mainichi Daily News
- Marco Polo Really Did Go To China, New Study Finds
It has been said that Marco Polo did not really go to China; that he merely cobbled together his information about it from journeys to the Black Sea, Constantinople and Persia and from talking to merchants and reading now-lost Persian books. But in Marco...
- Japan To Return Medieval Books To Korea
Some 1,200 Joseon Dynasty-era books looted by Japan during the colonial era will be returned to Korea on Tuesday afternoon, a government official said. According to the official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the books will be divided and...
- Sword Discovered In Japan Was Forged In The Year 570
An ancient sword bearing kanji characters that show the year 570 according to the Chinese sexagenary cycle has been unearthed from an ancient burial mound here, the local education board announced on Sept. 21. The discovery made by the Fukuoka Municipal...
- 14th-century Samurai Battle Wounds Discovered By Scientists
Films like Seven Samurai, Ran and Heaven and Earth have made Japan?s historic Samurai warriors famous But now, their skeletons have been examined in forensic detail by Japanese and British scientists. A leading British specialist in forensic anthropology...
- Emblems Of The Immaculate Conception
Book of Hours, fol. 97r, early 16th century. School of the Île-de-France, Paris. Language: Latin. Script: Littera batarda Virgin Mary: Type, Emblems of Immaculate Conception -- Virgin Mary, nimbed, wearing white garment, with joined hands, stands...