Abstract
This report attempts to clarify the origin of the shoko, and also to consider the changing process of the gong frame-stand in terms of form/shape and motivic design. The shoko is presently used as part of the gagaku orchestra and also as one of the sound-producing tools in the Buddhist temple. Its origin and history are rather vague. However, its existence was known of in the Heian period (9-11 centuries).
My investigation is based on the following three areas. Firstly, written documents relating to the shoko. Second, iconographic data and thirdly existing instruments.
The first half of this report will examine surviving examples of shoko in Japan and offer a summary of literature relating to the shoko (in particular archival sources from ancient times through the middle ages). The second half will examine change in frame-stand design and the implication of its motivic decoration.
I will then refer to archaeological and Buddhist art source materials to trace the palmetto design on the frame-stand from the Korean peninsula through China and the Silk Road to Central Asia, India and Persia to Greece and Rome. Owing to the word limit, I will only be able to offer partial coverage of the issues in the second half.
