haniwa

(noun)

Terracotta clay figures made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th century CE) of the history of Japan

Related Terms

Examples of haniwa in the following topics:

  • Grave Goods in the Kofun Period

    • Kofun range in size from several meters to over 400 meters in length, and unglazed pottery figures called Haniwa were often buried under the circumference of the kofun.

  • Japanese Buddhism

    • Before the introduction of Buddhism, Japan had already been the seat of various cultural and artistic influences, from the abstract linear decorative art of the indigenous Neolithic Jōmon (10500 BCE to 300 BCE), to the pottery and bronze of the Yayoi period and the Haniwa art (terracotta clay figures used as funerary objects) of the Kofun period.