Ebisu

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ebisu ( Japanese 恵 比 須 ／ 夷 ／ 戎 ／ 恵 比 寿 ／ 蛭 子 ／ え び す or ゑ び す ) is the name of a Shinto deity in Japan . He is the kami of fishermen and luck and is therefore often depicted as a bearded man with a fishing rod and a sea ​​bream (tai). Everything that somehow seems unusual that is washed up by the sea (shells, stones, etc.) is interpreted as a special gift from Ebisu and honored accordingly.

He is equated with Hiruko ( 蛭 子 ), the "leech child" of Izanagi and Izanami , and Kotoshironushi ( 事 代 主 ), the child of Ōkuninushi and Kamuyatatehime ( 神 屋 楯 比 売 ).

Hiruko

As the first-born son of the gods Izanami and Izanagi, Ebisu was born crippled under the full name "Hiruko no mikoto", a leech child from the imperial lineage . Because of this deformity (the descriptions range from a simple walking disability to the story that he was born completely boneless) his parents abandoned him in a boat on the shore of Awaji Island . He was washed ashore again on the banks of the village of Nishi no miya, which is why his main shrine is still there today.

Group membership

Ebisu heard

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kurt S. Ehrich: Shichifukujin. The seven lucky gods of Japan . Verlag Aurel Bongers, Recklinghausen 1991, ISBN 3-7647-0416-0 , pages 194-195.
  2. ↑ Kurt S. Ehrich: Shichifukujin. The seven lucky gods of Japan . Verlag Aurel Bongers, Recklinghausen 1991, ISBN 3-7647-0416-0 , 231-232.

literature

  • Nelly Naumann : Whale and Fish Cult in Japan: A Basic Feature of Ebisu Worship . In: Asian Folklore Studies . Vol. 33, No. 1, 1974, pp. 1-15. ( PDF; 350kB)
  • UA Casal: The Seven Gods of Luck. Hotei - Daikoku - Ebisu - Benten - Fukurokuju - Jurōjin - Bishamon. A study of origin and character. In: Communications of the German Society for Natural and Ethnological East Asia , Vol. 39, D, 1958.

Web links