Shinto (the Way of the Gods)

Name: Shinto (the Way of the Gods)
Author: Aston, W. G. (William George)

Aston, W. G. (William George)

Shinto

The gruel partaken of at the Sahe no Kami festival on the 15th of
the 1st month was made of rice, and was coloured with an admixture
of the small red bean called _adzuki_.[163] The bean is a well-known
synonym in Japan for the _kteis_. The colour red is also significant.
It suggests the ruddy complexion of health caused by an abundance of
life-giving blood in the lips and cheeks. Children love this colour.
Max Nordau says: "As a feeling of pleasure is always connected with
dynamogeny or the production of force, every living thing instinctively
seeks for dynamogenous sense impressions. Now red is especially
dynamogenous." In 'Œdipus Tyrannus,' the Chorus invoke the aid of
ruddy-faced Bacchus against pestilence. In Korea red is a terror to
devils. A modern Japanese writer says that red is obnoxious to devils
on account of its cheerful appearance.

Small-pox being a _Kijin biō_, or demon-sent disease, the colour red is
freely employed in combating it. The candles at the bedside are red,
and the clothing of the patient and nurse. The God of Small-pox is
worshipped with offerings of red _gohei_ (there is here some confusion
of ideas) and of red _adzuki_ beans. Red paper is hung round the necks
of the bottles of _sake_ offered to him. Red _papier maché_ figures of
Daruma are placed near the sick-bed. It is explained that red, being
a _yô_ (male, bright, positive) colour, is fitted to counteract dark,
wintry, negative influences. The potency of red as a charm against
small-pox is not unknown to European folk-lore.

Phalli are coloured a bright red, or, what comes to the same thing,
gilt. Saruta-hiko, a phallic deity, has a bright red complexion. Torii
are painted red. Demons and stage villains have red faces, probably as
an indication of great animal vigour.

Griffis, in his 'Mikado's Empire,' tells us that "when by reason of
good fortune or a lucky course of events there is great joy in a
family it is customary to make _kowameshi_, or red rice, and give
an entertainment to friends and neighbours. The rice is coloured by
boiling red beans with it. If for any cause the colour is not a fine
red, it is a bad omen for the family." There is a modern superstition
that if, on the 7th day of the 1st month, a male swallows seven, and
a female fourteen red beans, they will be free from sickness all their
lives.

The _Tō-yū-ki_, a work published in 1795, has the following:--

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Shinto (the Way of the Gods)Aston, W. G. (William George)

Religion

Shinto (the Way of the Gods)

Aston, W. G. (William George)

Shinto

The gruel partaken of at the Sahe no Kami festival on the 15th of
the 1st month was made of rice, and was coloured with an admixture
of the small red bean called _adzuki_.[163] The bean is a well-known
synonym in Japan for the _kteis_. The colour red is also significant.
It suggests the ruddy complexion of health caused by an abundance of
life-giving blood in the lips and cheeks. Children love this colour.
Max Nordau says: "As a feeling of pleasure is always connected with
dynamogeny or the production of force, every living thing instinctively
seeks for dynamogenous sense impressions. Now red is especially
dynamogenous." In 'Œdipus Tyrannus,' the Chorus invoke the aid of
ruddy-faced Bacchus against pestilence. In Korea red is a terror to
devils. A modern Japanese writer says that red is obnoxious to devils
on account of its cheerful appearance.

Small-pox being a _Kijin biō_, or demon-sent disease, the colour red is
freely employed in combating it. The candles at the bedside are red,
and the clothing of the patient and nurse. The God of Small-pox is
worshipped with offerings of red _gohei_ (there is here some confusion
of ideas) and of red _adzuki_ beans. Red paper is hung round the necks
of the bottles of _sake_ offered to him. Red _papier maché_ figures of
Daruma are placed near the sick-bed. It is explained that red, being
a _yô_ (male, bright, positive) colour, is fitted to counteract dark,
wintry, negative influences. The potency of red as a charm against
small-pox is not unknown to European folk-lore.

Phalli are coloured a bright red, or, what comes to the same thing,
gilt. Saruta-hiko, a phallic deity, has a bright red complexion. Torii
are painted red. Demons and stage villains have red faces, probably as
an indication of great animal vigour.

Griffis, in his 'Mikado's Empire,' tells us that "when by reason of
good fortune or a lucky course of events there is great joy in a
family it is customary to make _kowameshi_, or red rice, and give
an entertainment to friends and neighbours. The rice is coloured by
boiling red beans with it. If for any cause the colour is not a fine
red, it is a bad omen for the family." There is a modern superstition
that if, on the 7th day of the 1st month, a male swallows seven, and
a female fourteen red beans, they will be free from sickness all their
lives.

The _Tō-yū-ki_, a work published in 1795, has the following:--

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Shinto (the Way of the Gods)

Shinto (the Way of the Gods)

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