Tsumi
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese word that indicates the violation of legal, social or religious rules. It is most often used in the religious and moral sense. Originally, the word indicated a divine punishment due to the violation of a divine taboo through evil deeds, defilement (kegare
) or disasters. When translated in English as "sin", the term covers therefore only one of the three meanings of the Japanese word.
The Engishiki
, a 927 AD Japanese book of laws and regulations, for example, distinguishes two kinds of tsumi, the and the . The first category deals with infractions against property, the second mainly with infractions against people. Some of the tsumi have to do with disease and natural disasters, and are not therefore sins in the modern sense, but order perturbations (kegare
) which had to be dealt with and solved by the person or persons concerned in certain ways, for example through purification rites called harae
.
Kegare
is the Japanese term for a state of pollution and defilement, important particularly in Shinto as a religious term. Typical causes of kegare are the contact with any form of death, childbirth , disease and menstruation. In Shinto kegare is a form of tsumi , which needs to be somehow remedied by the...
) or disasters. When translated in English as "sin", the term covers therefore only one of the three meanings of the Japanese word.
History
The term evolved to its present form as a contraction of , a verb which very generally indicated the occurrence of a negative event. In ancient Japan the word thus indicated not only crimes and other forbidden human actions, but also diseases, disasters, pollution, ugliness and any other unpleasant object or fact.The Engishiki
Engishiki
-History:In 905 Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of a new set of laws. Fujiwara no Tokihira began the task, but work stalled when he died four years later in 909. His brother Fujiwara no Tadahira continued the work in 912 eventually completing it in 927...
, a 927 AD Japanese book of laws and regulations, for example, distinguishes two kinds of tsumi, the and the . The first category deals with infractions against property, the second mainly with infractions against people. Some of the tsumi have to do with disease and natural disasters, and are not therefore sins in the modern sense, but order perturbations (kegare
Kegare
is the Japanese term for a state of pollution and defilement, important particularly in Shinto as a religious term. Typical causes of kegare are the contact with any form of death, childbirth , disease and menstruation. In Shinto kegare is a form of tsumi , which needs to be somehow remedied by the...
) which had to be dealt with and solved by the person or persons concerned in certain ways, for example through purification rites called harae
Harae
Harae or harai is the general term for rituals of purification in Shinto. Harae is one of four essential elements involved in a Shinto ceremony . The purpose is the purification of pollution or sins and uncleanness . These concepts include bad luck and disease as well as guilt in the English sense...
.