Religion:Kawa-no-Kami

From HandWiki

Kawa-no-Kami (河の神 or 川之神), also known as Kahaku (河伯) is a river deity in Japanese mythology. He is king of the river gods.[1]

The line with this, kami is not mentioned in classical text. The Man'yōshū does however, include poems indicating that Kawa-no-Kami serves the emperor.[2] Kawa-no-Kami is also mentioned in the Nihon Shoki. In other iterations, Kappas are a representation of him.[3]

Etymology

The god goes by the name "Kawa-no-Kami". It is also known as "Kahaku", a name that is believed to be inspired by the Chinese god of the Yellow River, Hebo.[2] Both names are considered generic terms for a god of rivers or streams.[2] The same is applicable to Korea's Habaek (see Habaek's etymology).[4]

Worship

Many sources show that people offered human sacrifice to Kawa-no-Kami. In earlier times, when rivers were in flood, people would offer human sacrifice to please Kawa-no-Kami. With the introduction of Buddhism this practice ended. This led people to use dolls made of flowers or straw as offerings to Kawa-no-Kami instead. This is still practiced today in some parts of Japan.[5][2]

Kawa-no-Kami is a minor character in the 2001 animated movie Spirited Away. There is a scene where Kawa-no-Kami goes to the bath house. He is filled with trash which gives him the appearance of a stinking spirit. This led staff to be hesitant to clean him. When Chihiro is asked to clean Kawa-no-Kami, she discovers something sticking out of Kawa-no-Kami's side. She decides to pull it out. The other staff then helps Chihiro when they realize he is not a stinking spirit but a river spirit filled with pollutants. Many have said the scene represents themes about environmental issues.[6][7]

See also

  • Habaek - Korean god of the Amnok (Yalu) River which took heavy inspirations from Hebo.
  • Hebo - Chinese god of the Yellow River which Kawa-no-Kami took heavy inspirations from.
  • Suijin - The god of water in Japanese mythology.

References

  1. ↑ Coulter, Charles Russell; Turner, Patricia (2013-07-04) (in en). Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities. Routledge. pp. 265. ISBN 978-1-135-96390-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=sEIngqiKOugC&q=Kawa+no+kami&pg=PA265. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Encyclopedia of Shinto詳細" (in ja). https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/eos/detail/?id=9377. 
  3. ↑ Krenner, Walther G. von; Jeremiah, Ken (2016-05-01) (in en). Creatures Real and Imaginary in Chinese and Japanese Art: An Identification Guide. McFarland. pp. 113. ISBN 978-1-4766-1958-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=9pk-CgAAQBAJ&dq=Kawa-no-Kami&pg=PA113. 
  4. ↑ Kang, Kyeonggu (2010) (in ko). 고구려 의 건국 과 시조 숭배. the University of California. pp. 26. 
  5. ↑ Ashkenazi, Michael (2003) (in en). Handbook of Japanese Mythology. ABC-CLIO. pp. 197. ISBN 978-1-57607-467-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=gqs-y9R2AekC&q=Kawa+no+kami&pg=PA197. 
  6. ↑ "What Does "Spirited Away" Say About Environmentalism? | Watch | The Take" (in en). 2015-11-19. https://the-take.com/watch/what-does-spirited-away-say-about-environmentalism. 
  7. ↑ "Spirited Away". 28 November 2014. https://studioghiblimovies.com/spirited-away/. 



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Religion:Kawa-no-Kami&oldid=4237738"