A bracelet, usually one produced before the mid-6c.
In the Joumon period bracelets were made from bivalve shells, nimaigai
“ñ–‡ŠL, and in the Yayoi period shell bracelets, kaiwa ŠL—Ö, were made from
other types of shell such as the cone shell, imogai ˆğŠL and the false trumpet
shell, tengunishi “V‹ç—†. Hooked copper bracelets, yuuhou dousen —Lç‹ú,
were also made, imitating the shape of shell bracelets. The number and variety
of kushiro was greatest in the Kofun period. Examples now in the Tokyo National
Museum include copper and silver bracelets, some decorated with jewels and precious
stones, and some with bells attached, suzukushiro or rinsen —é‹ú. There
are five, six, or occasionally eight bells arranged regularly on a circular bracelet.
Many round copper kushiro are engraved with ridges. Excavations of tombs,
kofun ŒÃ•, also uncovered distinctively shaped stone bracelets, ishikushiro
΋ú, made of jasper: the wheel-shaped stone, sharinseki Ô—ÖÎ and the plough-shaped
stone, kuwagata-ishi ŒLŒ`Î. These were not worn as bracelets but used as
funerary offerings. Ancient Korean tombs contain many engraved gold and silver
bracelets, and in China simple round bracelets of gold, silver, and copper known
as sen ‹ú (chuan in Chinese ) or joudatsu ğ’E have been recovered
from Han dynasty graves. |