Hotoke
Encyclopedia
The Japanese noun Note that the very same kanji
仏 in modern Japanese can be also read futsu, but is often used as an abbreviation for the word "furansu", or France. It is the first of three characters used to write the name of that country , in a somewhat uncommon practice called ateji
, in which kanji are matched to the phonetic sound of a word with little regard for the indicative meaning of the kanji. is a word of Buddhist origin and uncertain etymology
. It has several meanings, all but a few directly linked to Buddhism
. It can refer to:
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
仏 in modern Japanese can be also read futsu, but is often used as an abbreviation for the word "furansu", or France. It is the first of three characters used to write the name of that country , in a somewhat uncommon practice called ateji
Ateji
In modern Japanese, primarily refers to kanji used phonetically to represent native or borrowed words, without regard to the meaning of the underlying characters. This is analogous to man'yōgana in pre-modern Japanese...
, in which kanji are matched to the phonetic sound of a word with little regard for the indicative meaning of the kanji. is a word of Buddhist origin and uncertain etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
. It has several meanings, all but a few directly linked to Buddhism
Buddhism in Japan
The history of Buddhism in Japan can be roughly divided into three periods, namely the Nara period , the Heian period and the post-Heian period . Each period saw the introduction of new doctrines and upheavals in existing schools...
. It can refer to:
- A person who has achieved satoriSatoriis a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment that literally means "understanding". In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to a flash of sudden awareness, or individual enlightenment, and is considered a "first step" or embarkation toward nirvana....
(state of enlightenment) and has therefore become a "buddha". (In Buddhism, the term "buddha" in the lower case refers to a person who has become enlightened (i.e., awakened to the truth).)The term is also sometimes used to represent Buddhism as a whole. For example, the expression draws a distinction between the Japanese kami of ShintoShintoor Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
belief and the enlightened beings of foreign Buddhism. - The historical Gautama BuddhaGautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
himself - The statue or the name of a buddha
- The laws of Buddhism
- The performing of a Buddhist memorial service
- In common parlance, a dead person; his or her soul
- Figuratively, a benevolent person or someone dear to one's heart
- Hotoke can also be a person's name or a nickname. It is for example a female character in the Heike Monogatari and daimyōDaimyois a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
Kōriki KiyonagaKoriki Kiyonagawas a Japanese daimyo during the Azuchi-Momoyama period and Edo periods. A native of Mikawa Province, Kiyonaga served the Tokugawa clan during its battles, until 1600....
's nickname.