ph.d. presentation 23.03.06 leuven. belgium
TRANSCRIPT
BASHOFU: BANANA-FIBRE CLOTH ANDITS TRANSFORMATIONS OF USAGE AND MEANING
ACROSS BOUNDARIES OF PLACE AND TIMEIN THE RYUKYU ARCHIPELAGO
Katrien HendrickxKatrien Hendrickx
23 March 200623 March 2006
CONTENTS
Subject and purpose of this study
Research questions and methods
Key findings and importance of this study
Future research
SUBJECT AND PURPOSE
The raw material:fibre banana plants (Musa balbisiana)
silk-like bashofu
to clarify bashofu’s origins
to give an overall picture of the acculturation of bashofu weaving through history
in the Ryukyu Archipelago
PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODS
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is the origin and provenance of Ryukyuan bashofu?
2. Why and how did banana-fibre weaving develop in the Ryukyu archipelago?
3. What are the characteristics of present-day bashofu?
M E T H O D S
viewpoints from various fields• history
• folklore
• phytohistory
participant observation
viewpoints from technical experience
• philology
fieldwork
• botany
• ethnography
text analysis
SOURCES
• Ryukyuan and Japanese primary sources
> written sources> pictorial sources: drawings, paintings, photographs
• Chinese and Western primary and secondary sources
M E T H O D Sviewpoints from various fields
• history
• folklore
• phytohistory
participant observation
viewpoints from technical experience
• philology
fieldwork
• botany
• ethnography
text analysis
comparison of bashofu with Musa-fibre cloth
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
Map showing the distribution of Musa species in East and Southeast Asia
(source: P. Pollefeys et al., Preliminary analysis of the literature on the distribution of wild Musa species using MGIS and DIVA-GIS. 2004. (P.4))
RYUKYU
• Musa balbisiana was introduced into the Ryukyu Archipelagoby man
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
Map showing the distribution of Musa species in East and Southeast Asia
(source: P. Pollefeys et al., Preliminary analysis of the literature on the distribution of wild Musa species using MGIS and DIVA-GIS. 2004. (P.4))
RYUKYU? ?
roton-ori
hana-ori
techniques of Chinese origin such as
dubble-faced float weave
The boiling of banana fibre in an alkaline solution
Amami
(19th century)Shuri, May 2000 Yaeyama,
December 2001
Shuri (19th century)
• Musa balbisiana was introduced into the Ryukyu Archipelagoby manfrom Southern China
• Bashofu weaving in the Ryukyu Archipelago
replaced silk at the Shuri court
developed first at the Shuri court
spread throughout the islands from the 18th C onwardswas never interrupted during World War II in some Yaeyama and Amami Islands
of Okinawa’s cultural identity
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
• Bashofu became a symbol
of Japan’s cultural diversity
as tributary gift to the Ming court
FUTURE RESEARCH
fieldwork outside the Ryukyu Archipelago
in Southern China
in Northern China
• comparison of Musa-fibre cloth with bashofu
• Musa balbisiana in Fujian province?
• research on remaining material examples of previous Ryukyuan bashofu
for
your
attention
THANKYOU