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Hayato people - Wikipedia
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Hayato people

The Hayato (隼人はやと), which is Japanese for "falcon-people",[1] were a people of ancient Japan who lived in the Satsuma and Ōsumi regions of southern Kyushu during the Nara period. They frequently resisted Yamato rule. After their subjugation they became subjects of the government under Ritsuryō, and the Ministry of the Military had an office known as the Hayato-shi (隼人はやと司し) in charge of their governance. The name also came into use by samurai as a title, Hayato no suke (隼人はやと助すけ). In modern times, Hayato is a Japanese male given name.

Hayato people
Tribe
Kyushu Region in Japan
EthnicityHayato
LanguageUnknown, possibly Austronesian or Japonic
ReligionFolk belief
SurnamesHayato no suke

History and culture

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The Hayato might have been the same as the Kumaso group of around the same time,[2] but while the Kumaso are mentioned in the more legendary portions of the Nihon Shoki, the Hayato are recorded in various historical texts until the beginning of the Heian period. Though the Kumaso are generally portrayed as rebellious, the Hayato are listed among the attendants of emperors and princes from as early as Emperor Nintoku's reign.[3] This, along with a mention of Hayato crying before the grave of Emperor Yūryaku after his death, suggests that the Hayato were naturalized as personal servants by the late 7th century.

Even after pledging allegiance to the Japanese court, the Hayato continued to resist its rule. After the establishment of Ōsumi Province in 713, the Ōsumi Hayato fought back in 720 with the Hayato Rebellion, but were defeated in 721 by an army led by Ōtomo no Tabito. The Handen-Shūju system was implemented in their lands in 800. The population of Yamato immigrants in Kagoshima Prefecture in the early 8th century has been estimated at around 9,000 people and one-seventh of the total population.[4] By this estimate, the Hayato population of the time can be calculated as consisting of around 54,000 people (not including Hayato emigrants to Honshū).[5]

The Hayato were made to emigrate to the Kinai region, and were active in the protection of the court, the arts, sumo, and bamboo work.[6] Many lived in Yamashiro Province, in the south of modern Kyoto. There remains an area called Ōsumi (大住おおすみ) in Kyōtanabe, Kyoto, where many Ōsumi Hayato lived. These were the Hayato governed by the Hayato-shi.

The language spoken by the Hayato is not known, except for two words and several personal names documented in contemporary sources. Based on this material, it has been proposed that the Hayato may have been of Austronesian origin.[7] In the Ōsumi Fudoki, an ancient Japanese text from the eighth century, a small collection of words from the Hayato language can be found. Despite efforts by some scholars, such as Kakubayashi in 1998,[7] to associate these words with the Austronesian language family, the dominant perspective holds that the Hayato language was related to Japonic languages. Nonetheless, it is thought to have diverged early from the languages spoken on the islands of Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu.[8] Their culture is also believed to be unique from those of other regions of Japan. In particular, their folk song and dance became famous in the Kinai region as the Hayato dance (隼人はやと舞まい).[9] An excavation of Heijō Palace discovered wooden shields with a distinctive reverse-S-shaped marking. These shields match those described in the Engishiki, which the Hayato used in court ceremonial functions. The Hayato had roles in various state ceremonies, including those for the new year, imperial enthronement, and visiting foreign officials.

According to the ancient records of Hizen province, the Gotō Islands were also inhabited by a people resembling the Hayato. The New Book of Tang describes a minor king of Haya (波なみ邪よこしま), and this Haya has also been interpreted as referring to the Hayato.[10]

There are three types of graves archaeologically associated with the Hayato: the tunnel tombs (地下ちか式しき横穴よこあな墓ぼ) widely distributed around the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures,[11] the standing stone graves (立石たていし土ど壙墓) of the southern Satsuma peninsula, and the underground stone-slab graves (地下ちか式しき板いた石積いしつみ石室いしむろ) found north of the Satsuma peninsula. Another large group of tunnel tombs is located near the Ōsumi area of Kyotanabe. Because of the proximity and because the gravelly soil of the area is not suited to such tombs, these may also be associated with the Hayato.

In Japanese mythology, the deity Umisachihiko is considered the ancestor of the ruler of the Ata Hayato. The Hayato Dance may be intended to portray Umisachihiko's pain at being outdone by his younger brother Yamasachihiko.[12]

 
A depiction of Hayato shield with the reverse-S-shaped marking

Regional distribution

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Ata Hayato (阿おもね多た隼人はやと), or Satsuma Hayato
A Hayato tribe who lived on the Satsuma Peninsula. Before the establishment of Satsuma Province, the area was known as Ata. The Nihon Shoki's section on 682 calls them the Ata Hayato, while the section of the Shoku Nihongi on the year 709 refers to them as the Satsuma Hayato.
Ōsumi Hayato (大隅おおすみ隼人はやと)
A Hayato tribe who lived in the northern Ōsumi Peninsula, or by another theory the Kimotsuki plain region.[13] They are mentioned in Nihon Shoki article on 682.
Tane Hayato (多た褹隼人じん)
A Hayato tribe who lived in Tane Province. In 702, the court dispatched an army and conquered the region.
Koshiki Hayato (甑こしき隼人はやと)
A Hayato tribe who lived on the Koshikijima Islands. They are mentioned in the Shoku Nihongi's section on 769.
Hyūga Hayato (日向ひゅうが隼人はやと)
A Hayato tribe who lived in Hyūga Province. The Shoku Nihongi records that in 710, their leader Sonokimi no Hosomaro (曾君細ほそ麻呂まろ) submitted to the court and was awarded the rank of outside (外そと) ju go-i no ge (従したがえ五ご位い下か). However, this was before the separation of Ōsumi province from Hyūga Province in 713. The history of Usa Shrine records that later, in 719, the Ōsumi and Hyūga Hayato attacked Japan, perhaps a precursor to the rebellion of 720.

Skeletal findings

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Anthropological research on human skeletons of the Kofun period on southern Kyushu has shown that male skeletons found inland differ from those on the Miyazaki plain. Inland skeletons resembled those of Jōmon people and northwestern Kyushu Yayoi people,[14] and some groups on the plain also resembled northern Kyushu Yayoi people.[15] Additionally, skeletons excavated from late Yayoi-period ruins on Tanegashima are smaller than those found on Kyushu, and show signs of artificial cranial deformation.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ William George Aston says this in his note, see Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by William George Aston. Book II, note 1, page 100. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. ISBN 978-0-8048-3674-6
  2. ^ One theory holds that the Hayato were descendants of the Kumaso. In recent years, though, the theory has taken root that because the "kuma" and "so" in "Kumaso" and the names of the Ata Hayato and Ōsumi Hayato all refer to regions of southern Kyushu, these may have been general names applied to several distinct cultural groups of rebellious local people by the Yamato court. Takemitsu, Makoto (1999). 古事記こじき・日本書紀にほんしょきを知しる事典じてん [Encyclopedia of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki] (in Japanese). 東京とうきょう堂どう出版しゅっぱん. p. 223. ISBN 4-490-10526-6.
  3. ^ After the death of Emperor Nintoku one individual, named Sobakari in the Kojiki and Sashihire in the Nihon Shoki, assassinated the prince he served on the orders of another prince. However, he was then given sake and assassinated by the prince he had betrayed his master for. The story illustrates the use of Hayato as unofficial military forces.Sasayama, Haruo (1975). 古代こだい国家こっかと軍隊ぐんたい 皇軍こうぐんと私兵しへいの系譜けいふ [The Nation and Army in Ancient Times: Genealogies of the Imperial and Private Armies] (in Japanese). 中公新書ちゅうこうしんしょ.
  4. ^ The Japanese Society for Historical Studies (日本にっぽん史し教育きょういく研究けんきゅう会かい) (2001). Story 日本にっぽんの歴史れきし 古代こだい・中世ちゅうせい・近世きんせい史し編へん [Story: A History of Japan - Ancient Times, the Middle Ages, and Recent Times] (in Japanese). 山川やまかわ出版しゅっぱん社しゃ. p. 62.
  5. ^ Koyama Shūzō of the National Museum of Ethnology has mathematically estimated that the population of the Japanese islands during the Kofun period was approximately 5,400,000 people. Since the population even in the Nara period remained less than 6,000,000, the Hayato population may be assumed to be around one-hundredth of the total population of the islands. Kōichi Mori, ed. (1986). 日本にっぽんの古代こだい5『前方後円墳ぜんぽうこうえんふんの世紀せいき』 [Ancient Japan Part 5: The Age of Keyhole Kofun] (in Japanese). 中央公論社ちゅうおうこうろんしゃ. p. 131. ISBN 4-12-402538-6.
  6. ^ The Nihon Shoki records that in the court of Emperor Tenmu, in the late 7th century, the Hayato performed sumo in the court, but it is not described as different from the sumo of the Yamato themselves. In 682, the Ōsumi Hayato and Ata Hayato competed in sumo and the Ōsumi side won, and in 695 a bout of sumo between Hayato on the grounds of Asuka-dera drew a crowd of spectators.
  7. ^ a b Kakubayashi, Fumio. 1998. 隼人はやと : オーストロネシア系けいの古代こだい日本にっぽん部族ぶぞく' Hayato : An Austronesian speaking tribe in southern Japan.'. The bulletin of the Institute for Japanese Culture, Kyoto Sangyo University, 3, pp.15-31 ISSN 1341-7207.
  8. ^ Jarosz, Aleksandra; Robbeets, Martine; Fernandes, Ricardo; Takamiya, Hiroto; Shinzato, Akito; Nakamura, Naoko; Shinoto, Maria; Hudson, Mark (January 2022). "Demography, trade and state power: a tripartite model of medieval farming/language dispersals in the Ryukyu Islands". Evolutionary Human Sciences. 4: e4. doi:10.1017/ehs.2022.1. ISSN 2513-843X. PMC 10426105.
  9. ^ The Hayato dance appears repeatedly in the Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, and Shoku Nihongi, performed on the occasion of paying tribute to the court and for the benefit of foreign visitors.
  10. ^ Kadowaki, Teiji; Mori, Kōichi (1995). 古代こだい史しを解とく『鍵かぎ（キーワード）』 [Keys to Understanding Ancient History] (in Japanese). 学生がくせい社しゃ. pp. 183–184. ISBN 4-311-20194-X.
  11. ^ These tunnel tombs are focused around Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma, but the underground stone-slab graves are found mainly in the Satsuma region. Therefore, it is theoried that the former were widely used by various Hayato, while the latter were used specifically by the Ata Hayato. Yoshirō Kondō; Chōji Fujisawa, eds. (1966). 日本にっぽんの考古学こうこがく IV 古墳こふん時代じだい （上うえ） [Archaeology in Japan IV: The Kofun Period (Part 1)] (in Japanese). 河出かわで書房しょぼう. p. 163.
  12. ^ Tsugita, Masaki (2001) [1977]. 古事記こじき （上うえ） 全ぜん訳注やくちゅう [Complete Translated and Annotated Kojiki, Part 1]. Vol. 38. 講談社こうだんしゃ学術がくじゅつ文庫ぶんこ. p. 205. ISBN 4-06-158207-0.
  13. ^ The latter theory is seen in volume 1 of the 1967 history of Kanoya City (鹿屋かのや市し史し)
  14. ^ The Yayoi people of northwestern Kyushu are thought to be the descendants of the Jōmon people of the region, who adopted and naturalized into the Yayoi culture. The mention in the Hizen ancient records of Hayato-like people in the Gotō islands can also be explained if we consider that they too were descended from northwestern Kyushuan Yayoi people. Ueda, Masaaki (1983). エコール・ド・ロイヤル 古代こだい日本にっぽんを考かんがえる 『日本にっぽん古代こだい史しの謎なぞ再考さいこう』 (in Japanese). 学生がくせい社しゃ. p. 52.
  15. ^ Matsushita, Takayuki (1990). 南みなみ九州きゅうしゅうにおける古墳こふん時代じだい人骨じんこつの人類じんるい学がく的てき研究けんきゅう [Anthropological Research on Human Skeletal Remains from the Kofun Period in Southern Kyushu] (in Japanese).

References

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  • Nakamura, Akizō (December 2001). 隼人はやとの古代こだい史し [Ancient History of the Hayato] (in Japanese). 平凡社へいぼんしゃ新書しんしょ. ISBN 978-4582851199.
 
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