Chinese and Japanese Squares

DOI Web Site

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • 中国の曲尺と日本のマガリカネ
  • チュウゴク ノ カネジャク ト ニホン ノ マガリカネ

Search this article

Description

Historically，Japanese carpenters' tools are said to be significantly influenced by those of China and　Choseon Bando， Following our findings from a survey of Chinese carpenters' tools and based on　acquired documents，a comparison study was made with Japanese squares， 1) Archeological specimens indicate that metal squares with graduations，referred to Kara–shojaku，existed in China，However，modern Chinese squares are made of wood (or bamboo) and often have　graduations on only one side， Regarding their shape，some are simply L–shaped. while others have a　diagonal section attached to an L–shaped section， 2) Japanese squares are thought to have been made of metal since the Nara period. and all　Japanese squares are now made of metal. In the Edo period.th ese were made of iron or brass， In the final days of the Edo period，graduations were present on two sides， Graduations began to be added to the back side and were referred to as Urame，and characters designating good or ill fortune also began to be used， However. graduations do not seem to have been standardized in the early Edo period，The existence of Urame is confirmed by actual specimens (excavated in Sakai) and documents (Jirinkoki) in the early Edo period， As far as Urame are concerned，Chinese squares that were used to measure angles of 45 degrees could easily obtain an inscribed square in a circle， Because there are no specimens or documentation supporting the existence of rulers measuring 45 degrees in Japan before the Edo period，it is possible that the back side of rulers measuring 45 degrees was used for conversion to Urame earlier in history in Japan， 3) A ruler marked with characters designating good or il fortune is called a Feng Shui Ruler (Rohan– jaku) in China， According to certain documents (Jirinkoki)，a ruler of 1.2 shaku for construction was first divided into eight sections， In the Ming dynasty， rulers of 1.44 shaku began to be divided into eight sections， Various Monjaku thought to equal to 1.44 shaku were discovered in the course of archaeological field work. As squares of 1.2 shaku were divided into eight sections in Japan in order to mark characters designating good or ill fortune，these Monjaku appear to have developed during the Southern Song dynasty，

Journal

Related Projects

See more

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top