Yomi
Yomi ( Japanese 黄泉 ) or Yomi no kuni ( 黄泉 (の) 国 ) is the Shintō term for the underworld as the land of the dead.
description
According to the in Kojiki described Shinto - mythology, Yomi is the place where the dead live and rot forever. Once you have eaten by the Yomi fireplace you can never return to the land of the living. Yomi is comparable to Hades or Hell and is commonly known as Izanami's retreat after her death. Her husband Izanagi followed her there and on his return he washed himself, creating the three Kami Amaterasu , Susanoo and Tsukuyomi .
This realm of the dead should have a geographically flowing transition to this world. It does not resemble paradise as a place to long for, nor does it correspond to the Christian concept of hell, where one receives suffering for wrongdoing during one's lifetime, instead all the deceased lead a gloomy, shadowy existence for all eternity regardless of their behavior in lifetime. Many scholars believe that the image of Yomi was influenced by ancient Japanese graves where the corpses were left for some time to crumble.
The Kanji characters ( 黄泉 , Huángquán - "Yellow Sources"), which are commonly used to write Yomi , actually refer to the mythological realm of the dead of China, also called Diyu (Japanese Jigoku ) in Chinese Texts in the 8th century BC. This dark and poorly defined realm was believed to be located underground, but it wasn't until the Han Dynasty that the Chinese had a clearly formulated conception of an underworld in contrast to the heavenly kingdom above. The characters for Yomi are therefore Jukujikun , i.e. H. subsequently selected for a similar meaning and are only read in this combination as Yomi . Yomi itself is an old Japanese word with an unclear meaning.
Regarding Japanese mythology, yomi is commonly believed by commentators to be underground and is part of a triad of places discussed in Kojiki:
- Takamahara or Takama-ga-hara, the "realms of the high heaven",
- Ashihara-no-naka-tsu-kuni (葦 原 中国 ), the "middle land of the reed", d. H. the world of the earthly, and
- Yomo-tsu-kuni or Yomi-no-kuni , the underworld.
Yomi was often associated with the Shinto empire Ne-no-kuni ( 根 の 国 , "root country"), also known as Ne-no-katasu-kuni ( 根 之 堅 州 國 ).
Yomi is ruled by Izanami, also known as the "Great Kami of Yomi" ( 黄泉 大 神 , Yomo-tsu-ōkami ). According to the Kojiki , the entrance to Yomi is in the province of Izumo and was sealed by Izanagi after his escape from Yomi by permanently sealing the entrance with a massive boulder ( 道 反 大 神 , Chigaeshi no ōkami , dt. "Large Kami of the reversal path ") or 黄泉 戸 大 神 , Yomido no ōkami , "great kami of the entrance to Yomi") locked at the foot of the "slope to Yomi" ( 黄泉平 坂 or 黄泉 比 良 坂 , Yomo-tsu-hirasaka ). Upon his return to Ashihara-no-naka-tsu-kuni, Izanagi stated that Yomi is "corrupt land" ( kegareki kuni ). This opinion reflects the traditional Shinto association between death and pollution. Susanoo later took on this position.
Christian uses
In the Japanese Bible translation, 黄泉 is used to refer to hell . So in Revelation 6,8 EU :
「そこで見ていると,見よ,青白い馬が出てきた.そして,それに乗っている者の名は「死」と言い,それに黄泉が従っていた」
“And I saw, and behold, a pale horse. And he who sat on it, whose name was: Death, and Hell followed him. "
literature
- Ono, Sokyo, Shinto: The Kami Way (German: Der Weg der Kami ), Charles E. Tuttle Company, Tokyo 1992, ISBN 4-8053-0189-9
Web links
- Nishioka Kazuhiko: "Yomi" . In: Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugaku-in , March 22, 2007 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nishioka Kazuhiko: "Nenokuni" . In: Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugaku-in , March 31, 2007 (English)
- ^ Wikisource