Sekku

Sekku ( Japanese 節 句 , seasonal festivals , also spelled: 節 供 or older Sechinichi ( 節日 )) denotes festivals that mark the transition of the seasons and that were taken over from China during the Tang Dynasty .

After Masao Uchida, the Sekku were first mentioned in the diary of Fujiwara no Michinaga , the Midō-kampaku-ki ( 御堂 関 白 記 ). They are part of the traditional annual events ( 年 中 行事 , Nenjū gyōji ), which also represented a small independent calendar until the Japanese era was changed in 1873. In order to avoid an accumulation of days with odd numbers in connection with the “ Yang ” principle and the unfavorable events associated with it, especially for agriculture, they have been removed from the regular Japanese calendar. For this very reason, the Sekku are still associated with a number of court banquets at the imperial court ( 節 会 , Sechie ). The aim of the banquets is to convert possible unfavorable events into favorable events through the banquets. Although the Sekku existed for a long time, it was not until the Tokugawa Period that Bakufu set them as a public holiday. Three of the five sekku coincide with Japanese feast days in the current calendar .

The five Sekku

1. “Day of Humanity” ( 人日 , Jinjitsu ) also “ Seven Herbs Festival ” ( 七 草 の 節 供 , Nanakusa no sekku ): January 7th
2. “Puppet Festival” ( 上 巳 , Jōshi , also Jōmi ) on the same day and also known as “ Hina-Matsuri ” ( 雛 祭 り ): March 3rd
3. “ Children's Festival ” ( 端午 , Tangō , also Shōbu (Iris Festival)) on the same day and also known as “ Children's Day ” ( こ ど も の 日 , Kodomo no hi ): May 5th
4. “ Star Festival ” ( 七夕 , Shichiseki or Tanabata ): July 7th
5. Chōyō ( 重陽 , roughly: “repeated positive [number]”) also “Chrysanthemum Festival ” ( 菊 の 節 供 , kiku no sekku ): September 9th

literature

• Florian Coulmas : Japanese Times. An ethnography of transience. Kindler, Reinbek 2000, ISBN 978-3-463-40392-2 .
• Florian Coulmas: The culture of Japan. Tradition and modernity . 2nd Edition. CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-58776-4 , 9. The annual cycle, p. 156-170 .

Web links

Commons : Sekku  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ↑ see also the remarks by Florian Coulmas : Die Kultur Japans , Chapter 9: Der Jahreskreis, pp. 156-170. The Japanese calendar was based on a two - digit mapping ratio that covered a total of two 60-year cycles , i.e. 120 years. For this purpose, a matrix of ten heavenly trunks and 12 earth branches (signs of the zodiac) was mapped onto a matrix of the five elements and the yin and yang principle. In short: 12 signs of the zodiac x five elements x the complementary forces yin and yang.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Florian Coulmas: The culture of Japan. Tradition and modernity . S. 168 .
2. ↑ 五 節 句 . In: 日本 文化 い ろ は 事 典 ( Nihon Bunka Iroha Jiten ). Retrieved February 26, 2012 (Japanese, 2004-2008). 
3. ↑ Uchida Masao: 暦 と 日本人 (Koyomi to Nihonjin - The Calendar and the Japanese ). (No longer available online.) In: 日本 の 曜 日 の 名 前 の 由来 ( Nihon no yōbi no namae no yurai ). 1996, p. 196 , formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 26, 2012 (Japanese, cited from web source).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
4. ↑ 五 節 句 . In: 日本 文化 い ろ は 事 典 ( Nihon Bunka Iroha Jiten ). Retrieved February 26, 2012 (Japanese, 2004-2008).