Throne insignia of Japan
The throne insignia or imperial insignia of Japan ( Japanese 三種 の 神器 , Sanshu no Shinki / Jingi ( On reading ) or Mikusa no Kandakara ( Kun reading )) are three artefacts : the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi ( 草 薙 剣 ), which is made from curved jewels compound necklace Yasakani no Magatama ( 八尺 瓊 曲 玉 ) and a mirror, Yata no Kagami ( 八 咫 鏡 ). The insignia of the throne are not accessible to the public or to science; Even the imperial family itself never published descriptions or images of the insignia, so that much of the information about them necessarily has the character of speculation.
The three treasures of the imperial family
The historical origins are probably in an import from China or Korea during the Yayoi period (approx. 300 BC to approx. 258 AD). When the presumably bronze articles came to Japan at a time when bronze was still unknown there, they made an almost magical impression on people. Objects of such great value would have become heirlooms of the ruling house. The founding myth of the empire, on the other hand, has a story from the Shinto world of faith for each of the three objects . In connection with the succession to the throne, they are first mentioned in the Nihonshoki , in which the enthronement of Emperor Ingyō is reported.
During the Nordhof-Südhof period there were de facto two different imperial courts, of which the northern one was the more powerful, but the southern one possessed the throne insignia, which is why this was later regarded by Japanese historical research as the legitimate imperial court and the northern one as the opposing imperial court.
Even in modern times, the throne insignia is still tied to the imperial throne of Japan itself. Article 10 of the Imperial House Act of 1890 stipulates that the “sacred treasures of the imperial ancestors” cannot be separated from the throne.
The three objects symbolize the three highest virtues of the ruler: the sword stands for bravery, the gemstone for the will to act right and the mirror for wisdom. These symbols possibly come from Buddhist philosophy ; in the case of the mirror, examples of similar meanings can be found in Japanese literature.
The sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi ("grass cutter sword")
The god Susanoo is said to have won the sword in a fight against the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi . He is said to have killed the monster by making it drunk with rice wine ( sake ) and then defeating it. In the being's body he found the sword. He later gave it to Amaterasu , the ancestor of the imperial family. Generations later, the imperial prince and legendary hero Yamatotakeru wore the sword originally called Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi ( 天 叢 雲 剣 , English: "Sword of the clouds that darken the sky"). According to tradition, the sword saved his life when insurgents lured him into a trap and set the grass around him on fire, whereupon the sword independently mowed the grass ( kusa ) in front of him ( nagu ) and thus enabled him to escape whereupon Yamatotakeru named it Kusanagi .
The sword then remained the heirloom of the ruling family. However, it is said to have sunk in the sea with the child emperor Antoku during the sea battle of Dan-no-ura . Today it is said to be in the Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya . There is therefore a dispute among scholars as to whether the current Kusanagi is only a replica or whether the sword was not there when Antoku died from drowning to go down with the unfortunate regent. Presumably, the kusanagi, which is not open to the public, is a short, double-edged sword in the Bronze Age style , not the katana that it appears as in many modern interpretations of the stories in manga and anime .
The Yasakani no Magatama necklace
This artifact is believed to be a necklace made from magatama (teardrop-shaped gemstones). Jewelry of this kind was widespread among the aristocrats of the Kofun period ; however, it is often (usually by Japanese historians) associated with the Yamato . What is certain is that Magatama originally came from Japan and functioned as a kind of amulet in Shinto . In the legend, the gods put the necklace together with the mirror in front of a cave in which Amaterasu was hiding. Since the world was in darkness without the sun goddess, the other gods had to lure her out. Today the artifact is in the Japanese Imperial Palace .
The Yata no Kagami mirror
Just like the necklace, the mirror is said to have served as a lure for Amaterasu. Together the two objects were hung from a tree, and when Amaterasu saw the blinking, she came closer, ventured out of the cave, and the other gods forced her out. So the light came back into the world. The Nihongi even reports that Amaterasu is said to have said when handing the mirror over to her grandson Ninigi no Mikoto that when he looked in the mirror, he should assume that she herself was there. More prosaic is the explanation that polished bronze disks used as mirrors were quite often exported from the Asian mainland to the Japanese islands. The mirror is said to be in the shrine of Ise today , Japan's most important Shinto shrine, as well as a replica from the time of the mythological Emperor Sujins in the Kashiko-dokoro in the Tokyo Imperial Palace .
See also
Web links
- Fukui Yoshihiko: "Sanshu no shinki" . In: Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugaku-in , March 22, 2007 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD 697 , translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by William George Aston . Book I, Part 1, page 53. Tuttle Publishing. Tra Edition (July 2005). First edition published: 1972. ISBN 978-0-8048-3674-6 .