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Kuraokami
Okami (淤加美神, Okami-no-kami) in the ''Kojiki'', or in the ''Nihon Shoki'': or , is a legendary Japanese dragon and Shinto deity of rain and snow. In Japanese mythology, the sibling progenitors Izanagi and Izanami gave birth to the islands and gods of Japan. After Izanami died from burns during the childbirth of the fire deity Kagu-tsuchi, Izanagi was enraged and killed his son. Kagutsuchi's blood or body, according to differing versions of the legend, created several other deities, including Kuraokami. Name The name Kuraokami combines ''kura'' 闇 "dark; darkness; closed" and ''okami'' 龗 "dragon tutelary of water". This uncommon kanji ''(o)kami'' or ''rei'' 龗, borrowed from the Chinese character ''ling'' 龗 "rain-dragon; mysterious" (written with the "rain" radical 雨, 3 口 "mouths", and a phonetic of ''long'' 龍 "dragon") is a variant Chinese character for Japanese ''rei'' < Chinese ''ling'' [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kagu-tsuchi
Kagutsuchi (カグツチ; Old Japanese: ''Kagututi''), also known as Hi-no-Kagutsuchi or Homusubi among other names, is the kami of fire in classical Japanese mythology. Mythology Kagutsuchi's birth burned his mother Izanami, causing her death. His father Izanagi, in his grief, beheaded Kagutsuchi with his sword, Ame no Ohabari (天之尾羽張), and cut his body into eight pieces, which became eight volcanoes. Kagutsuchi's corpse created numerous deities, which typically includes Watatsumi, Kuraokami, Takemikazuchi, Futsunushi, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, and Ōyamatsumi. Kagutsuchi's birth, in Japanese mythology, comes at the end of the creation of the world and marks the beginning of death. In the '' Engishiki'', a source which contains the myth, Izanami, in her death throes, bears the water goddess Mizuhanome, instructing her to pacify Kagu-tsuchi if he should become violent. This story also contains references to traditional fire-fighting tools: gourds for carrying water and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kojiki
The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperial line. It is claimed in its preface to have been composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Genmei in the early 8th century (711–712), and thus is usually considered to be the oldest extant literary work in Japan. The myths contained in the as well as the are part of the inspiration behind many practices and unified "Shinto orthodoxy". Later, they were incorporated into Shinto practices such as the purification ritual. Composition It is believed that the compilation of various genealogical and anecdotal histories of the imperial (Yamato) court and prominent clans began during the reigns of Emperors Keitai and Kinmei in the 6th century, with the first concerted effort at historical compilation of which we have record ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grafton Elliot Smith
Sir Grafton Elliot Smith (15 August 1871 – 1 January 1937) was an Australian-British anatomist, Egyptologist and a proponent of the hyperdiffusionist view of prehistory. He believed in the idea that cultural innovations occur only once and that they spread geographically. Based on this, he traced the origins of many cultural and traditional practices across the world, including the New World, to ideas that he believed came from Egypt and in some instances from Asia. An expert on brain anatomy, he was one of the first to study Egyptian mummies using radiological techniques. He took an interest in extinct humanoids and was embroiled in controversy over the authenticity of the Piltdown Man. Professional career Smith was born in Grafton, New South Wales to Stephen Sheldrick Smith who had moved to Australia from London in 1860 and Mary Jane, née Evans. He received his early education from Grafton Public School where his father was headmaster. When the family moved to Sydney i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suijin
is a general name for the god of water in Japanese mythology. The term refers to the heavenly and earthly manifestations of the benevolent Shinto divinity of water (mainly freshwater), as well as to a wide variety of mythical and magical creatures found in lakes, ponds, springs, and wells, including serpents (snakes, dragons, eels, fish, turtles), and the flesh-eating kappa. Mizu-no-kamisama, Mizugami, or Suijin is popularly revered and worshipped in temples and continues to influence Japanese culture. Other names of Suijin include and . Suijin is often conflated with Ryūjin, the Japanese dragon god associated with water. Fudō Myōō is sometimes called "Suijin" because of his believed association with waterfalls. Suijin appears as a stone plaque or even a small stone set upright near the emergence of a spring. Worship The Shinto water god is believed to be the guardian of fishermen and the patron saint of fertility, motherhood, and painless childbirth. People worship Suij ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burton Watson
Burton Dewitt Watson (June 13, 1925April 1, 2017) was an American sinologist, translator, and writer known for his English translations of Chinese and Japanese literature. Watson's translations received many awards, including the Gold Medal Award of the Translation Center at Columbia University in 1979, the PEN Translation Prize in 1982 for his translation with Hiroaki Sato of ''From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry'', and again in 1995 for ''Selected Poems of Su Tung-p'o''. In 2015, at age 88, Watson was awarded the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation for his long and prolific translation career. Life and career Watson was born on June 13, 1925, in New Rochelle, New York, where his father was a hotel manager. In 1943, at age 17, Watson dropped out of high school to join the U.S. Navy. He was stationed on repair vessels in the South Pacific during the final years of World War II. His ship was in the Marshall Islands when the war ended in Au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edwin Cranston
Edwin Augustus Cranston (1932–2021) was a Professor of Japanese literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Harvard University. His primary research interest was the classical literature of Japan, especially traditional poetic forms. He received the Japan–U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature in 1992 for his translation ''A Waka Anthology: The Gem-Glistening Cup. Vol I''. History Born on October 18, 1932, Cranston was raised on a farm in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, until the age of ten, when he moved to Arizona with his parents. He graduated from Tucson High School and received his B.A. in English from the University of Arizona in Tucson in 1954. He served four years in the United States Navy where he was a journalist and served on the USS Princeton (CV-37). He then began graduate study in 1958 at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1962 he transferred to Stanford University and in 1966 earned a Ph.D. t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperor Tenmu
was the 40th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. He ascended to the throne following the Jinshin War, during which his army defeated that of Emperor Kōbun. Tenmu reigned from 673 until his death in 686, amid Hakuhō period or the late Asuka period. During his reign, Tenmu implemented political and military reforms, consolidating imperial power and centralizing governance. His foreign policy favored the Korean kingdom of Silla while severing diplomatic relations with the Tang dynasty of China. He used religious structures to bolster the imperial authority, building several Buddhist temples including Yakushi-ji and monasteries as well as strengthening ties with the Ise Shrine. He was succeeded by his wife, Empress Jitō. Tenmu is the first monarch of Japan contemporaneously documented as us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fujiwara No Kamatari
, also known as , was a Japanese politician and aristocrat who, together with Prince Naka no Ōe (later Emperor Tenji), carried out the Taika Reform. He was the founder of the Fujiwara clan, the most powerful aristocratic family in Japan during the Nara and Heian periods. He, along with the Mononobe clan, was a supporter of Shinto and fought the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. The Soga clan, defenders of Buddhism in the Asuka period, defeated Kamatari and the Mononobe clan, and Buddhism became the dominant religion of the Imperial Court. Kamatari was appointed Inner Minister,Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Fujiwara no Tadahira" in ; Brinkley, Frank ''et al.'' (1915). and, along with Prince Naka no Ōe, later Emperor Tenji (626–672), launched the Taika Reform of 645, which centralized and strengthened the central government. Just before his death, he received the surname ''Fujiwara'' and the rank from Emperor Tenji, thus establishing the Fujiwara clan. Biography ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Man'yōshū
The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in a series of compilers, is today widely believed to be Ōtomo no Yakamochi, although numerous other theories have been proposed. The chronologically last datable poem in the collection is from AD 759 ( 4516). It contains many poems from a much earlier period, with the bulk of the collection representing the period between AD 600 and 759. The precise significance of the title is not known with certainty. The comprises more than 4,500 poems in 20 volumes, and is broadly divided into three genres: , songs at banquets and trips; , songs about love between men and women; and , songs to mourn the death of people. These songs were written by people of various statuses, such as the Emperor, aristocrats, junior officials, soldiers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William George Aston
William George Aston (9 April 1841 – 22 November 1911) was an Anglo-Irish diplomat, author, and scholar of the languages and histories of Korea and Japan. Early life Aston was born near Derry, Ireland.Ricorso Aston, bio notes/ref> He distinguished himself at Queen's College, Belfast (now Queen's University Belfast), which he attended 1859–1863. There he received a very thorough philological training in Latin, Greek, French, German and modern history. One of his professors was James McCosh.Kornicki, Peter"Aston Cambridge and Korea,"Cambridge University, Department of East Asian Studies, 2008. Career Aston was appointed in 1864 student interpreter to the British Legation in Japan. He mastered the theory of the Japanese verb, and in Edo began, with Ernest Mason Satow, those profound researches into the Japanese language which laid the foundations of the critical study of the Japanese language by western scholars. Aston passed the examination for entry to the Consul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yama-no-Kami
Mountain Gods () are Asian tutelary deities associated with mountains. They are related to Landlord deity, landlord deities and tudigongs and City God (China), City Gods. They are well-known in Korea and some prominent Chinese mountains have shrines to similar deities in the Daoist traditions, called ''Shanshen''. The Japanese equivalent is the ''Yama-no-Kami'' (; also pronounced as ''yamagami'') and the Vietnamese equivalent is ). Houtu is the overlord of all the Tudigongs ("Lord of Local Land"), Soil and grain, Sheji ("the State"), Shan Shen ("God of Mountains"), City God (China), City Gods ("God of Local City"), and landlord gods worldwide. China In China, legends about ''Shanshen'' () have a long history. The Classic of Mountains and Seas (), which was written more than 2,000 years ago, has already recorded various legends about ''Shanshen''; specifically the Wuzang Shanjing () part contains a detailed description of the appearance of the mountain gods. The Taiping Guangji () ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basil Hall Chamberlain
Basil Hall Chamberlain (18 October 1850 – 15 February 1935) was a British academic and Japanologist. He was a professor of the Japanese language at Tokyo Imperial University and one of the foremost British Japanologists active in Japan during the late 19th century. (Others included Ernest Satow and W. G. Aston.) He also wrote some of the earliest translations of haiku into English. He is perhaps best remembered for his informal and popular one-volume encyclopedia ''Things Japanese'', which first appeared in 1890 and which he revised several times thereafter. His interests were diverse, and his works include an anthology of poetry in French. Early life Chamberlain was born in Southsea (a part of Portsmouth) on the south coast of England, the son of an Admiral William Charles Chamberlain and his wife Eliza Hall, the daughter of the travel writer Basil Hall. His younger brother was Houston Stewart Chamberlain. He was brought up speaking French as well as English, even ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
