Post by madyaas on Sept 15, 2005 13:42:20 GMT -5
There's a page on Philippine technology and civilization that talks about the Rusun and Namban jars. The Rusun jars were used as tea canisters and held to be highly prized, because they were reported to preserve tea like no other pottery could. These days I hear that Rusun jars are used for pickling umeboshi.
IIRC, Japan had extensive trade with the Philippines before they closed the borders off, and before the Spanish arrived there were already small colonies of Japanese settlers already living there (before 1521). Unsurprising since the Philippines was for a long time a center of trade in SE Asia. When the Spanish arrived and began colonization, Japanese Catholics fled from Japan in the 1600's during the persecution from the Shogun.
Anyway, here's a bit about Rusun and Namban jars:
One interesting question is whether or not the Philippines ever developed an export industry for pottery. Generally it is known that the Thais had developed quite a flourishing industry, which is sometimes considered unique in SE Asia. However, it is well-documented that the Philippines was in fact a major destination of pottery buyers from the islands of Japan at least. Japanese texts mention trading expeditions to the island of Rusun (Luzon) going well back before the Spanish period. What they sought were the highly-prized Rusun and Namban jars. In fact, these jars were far more precious than gold to the Japanese because of their ability to act as tea canisters. Japanese texts were very specific about these jars being made in Luzon. The Tokiko, for example,
calls the Rusun and Namban jars, Ru-sun tsukuru or Lu-sung ch'i (Chinese), which means simply "made in Luzon." The only question is whether the pottery makers were Filipinos trained in the Chinese art, or local Japanese or Chinese, or a combination of both.
In the Tokiko it mentions that all Rusun jars had this marking
known as the rokuru (wheel mark). Those familar with Philippine ethnography will know that this spiral is commonly used by many of the Philippine tribes.
The following symbols were used to identify which kiln was used to make the jar:
identified "Imbe" jars, 
meant jars coming from Bizen kiln, and 
mark three times meant a canister from the same oven. A jar with this mark is said to be made of Namban clay. This marking 
corresponds to the syllable la in Pampanga; 
Tagbanua for ka ("Chinese Pottery," Field Museum of Natural History-Anth., vol.xii, Jul.1912)
Of course, the symbol for la can also be the same as that for lu, and so this might correspond to the symbol said to stand for Lu in Rusun-no kokuji (Luzon national writing). According to the Tokiko, certain types of Rusun jars were distinguished by this character. De Morga mentions that Japanese traders were still coming in large numbers for these jars during his time, and that they were willing to spend great sums for them. Apparently work on these jars continued in the North, possibly among the unconquered Igorots, for De Morga had no knowledge of such current production. Later, the knowledge may have again trickled down to Vigan, where a flourishing industry of Burnay jar manufacture survives to this day. Although the Japanese described very high quality jars coming from the Philippines, not all were of elegant nature. In fact, De Morga had some disdain for some of the jars that the Japanese were buying, so they could have been similar to the well-known balanga and other jars in use today. These jars are generally handed down as heirlooms and are noted for their qualities in enhancing the fermentation process. Possibly one of the Japanese uses for the Rusun jars was fermentation of products like Kombucha and Umeboshi plums. Indeed a Japanese acquaintance stated that their family in rural Japan used old Rusun jars for exactly this purpose up to this day.
Another interesting type of pottery was the "dragon jar." Although these jars shown certain Chinese or Japanese influence, no kiln from China or elsewhere has yet been discovered that produced these jars (to the author's knowledge). Indeed, no true samples of these jars have even been found in China! However, even many of the humblest tribal families possessed at least one of these jars in some areas of the Philippines. These are very fine works and are a tribute to the makers, who likely resided in the Philippines, if not Filipinos themselves. It should be noted that the Japanese were very careful about classification of pottery. Even in foreign countries like Korea, they were careful to distinguish the differences between indigenous Korean and imported Chinese-school pottery made in Korea. In the case of the Rusun and Namban jars, they distinctly classified them as local manufactures.
Two links which expand upon this (these are blog entries by a historian of Philippines history), are located here:
sambali.blogspot.com/2005_02_16_sambali_archive.html
sambali.blogspot.com/2005_02_17_sambali_archive.html
The two links are VERY interesting.
IIRC, Japan had extensive trade with the Philippines before they closed the borders off, and before the Spanish arrived there were already small colonies of Japanese settlers already living there (before 1521). Unsurprising since the Philippines was for a long time a center of trade in SE Asia. When the Spanish arrived and began colonization, Japanese Catholics fled from Japan in the 1600's during the persecution from the Shogun.
Anyway, here's a bit about Rusun and Namban jars:
One interesting question is whether or not the Philippines ever developed an export industry for pottery. Generally it is known that the Thais had developed quite a flourishing industry, which is sometimes considered unique in SE Asia. However, it is well-documented that the Philippines was in fact a major destination of pottery buyers from the islands of Japan at least. Japanese texts mention trading expeditions to the island of Rusun (Luzon) going well back before the Spanish period. What they sought were the highly-prized Rusun and Namban jars. In fact, these jars were far more precious than gold to the Japanese because of their ability to act as tea canisters. Japanese texts were very specific about these jars being made in Luzon. The Tokiko, for example,
calls the Rusun and Namban jars, Ru-sun tsukuru or Lu-sung ch'i (Chinese), which means simply "made in Luzon." The only question is whether the pottery makers were Filipinos trained in the Chinese art, or local Japanese or Chinese, or a combination of both.
In the Tokiko it mentions that all Rusun jars had this marking
known as the rokuru (wheel mark). Those familar with Philippine ethnography will know that this spiral is commonly used by many of the Philippine tribes. The following symbols were used to identify which kiln was used to make the jar:
identified "Imbe" jars, meant jars coming from Bizen kiln, and mark three times meant a canister from the same oven. A jar with this mark is said to be made of Namban clay. This marking corresponds to the syllable la in Pampanga; Tagbanua for ka ("Chinese Pottery," Field Museum of Natural History-Anth., vol.xii, Jul.1912) Of course, the symbol for la can also be the same as that for lu, and so this might correspond to the symbol said to stand for Lu in Rusun-no kokuji (Luzon national writing). According to the Tokiko, certain types of Rusun jars were distinguished by this character. De Morga mentions that Japanese traders were still coming in large numbers for these jars during his time, and that they were willing to spend great sums for them. Apparently work on these jars continued in the North, possibly among the unconquered Igorots, for De Morga had no knowledge of such current production. Later, the knowledge may have again trickled down to Vigan, where a flourishing industry of Burnay jar manufacture survives to this day. Although the Japanese described very high quality jars coming from the Philippines, not all were of elegant nature. In fact, De Morga had some disdain for some of the jars that the Japanese were buying, so they could have been similar to the well-known balanga and other jars in use today. These jars are generally handed down as heirlooms and are noted for their qualities in enhancing the fermentation process. Possibly one of the Japanese uses for the Rusun jars was fermentation of products like Kombucha and Umeboshi plums. Indeed a Japanese acquaintance stated that their family in rural Japan used old Rusun jars for exactly this purpose up to this day.
Another interesting type of pottery was the "dragon jar." Although these jars shown certain Chinese or Japanese influence, no kiln from China or elsewhere has yet been discovered that produced these jars (to the author's knowledge). Indeed, no true samples of these jars have even been found in China! However, even many of the humblest tribal families possessed at least one of these jars in some areas of the Philippines. These are very fine works and are a tribute to the makers, who likely resided in the Philippines, if not Filipinos themselves. It should be noted that the Japanese were very careful about classification of pottery. Even in foreign countries like Korea, they were careful to distinguish the differences between indigenous Korean and imported Chinese-school pottery made in Korea. In the case of the Rusun and Namban jars, they distinctly classified them as local manufactures.
Two links which expand upon this (these are blog entries by a historian of Philippines history), are located here:
sambali.blogspot.com/2005_02_16_sambali_archive.html
sambali.blogspot.com/2005_02_17_sambali_archive.html
The two links are VERY interesting.