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Page 6
[Footnote 5: For a translation and explanation of this song, see
_infra_, page 30.]
The ceremonies at the Imperial Court were of the most elaborate
character: a full account of them is given in the _K[=o]ji
Kongen_,--with explanatory illustrations. On the evening of the
seventh day of the seventh month, mattings were laid down on the east
side of that portion of the Imperial Palace called the Seir-y[=o]den;
and upon these mattings were placed four tables of offerings to the
Star-deities. Besides the customary food-offerings, there were placed
upon these tables rice-wine, incense, vases of red lacquer containing
flowers, a harp and flute, and a needle with five eyes, threaded
with threads of five different colors. Black-lacquered oil-lamps were
placed beside the tables, to illuminate the feast. In another part of
the grounds a tub of water was so placed as to reflect the light of
the Tanabata-stars; and the ladies of the Imperial Household attempted
to thread a needle by the reflection. She who succeeded was to be
fortunate during the following year. The court-nobility (_Kug�_) were
obliged to make certain offerings to the Imperial House on the day
of the festival. The character of these offerings, and the manner of
their presentation, were fixed by decree. They were conveyed to the
palace upon a tray, by a veiled lady of rank, in ceremonial dress.
Above her, as she walked, a great red umbrella was borne by an
attendant. On the tray were placed seven _tanzaku_ (longilateral
slips of fine tinted paper for the writing of poems); seven
_kudzu_-leaves;[6] seven inkstones; seven strings of _s[=o]men_
(a kind of vermicelli); fourteen writing-brushes; and a bunch of
yam-leaves gathered at night, and thickly sprinkled with dew. In the
palace grounds the ceremony began at the Hour of the Tiger,--4 A.M.
Then the inkstones were carefully washed,--prior to preparing the ink
for the writing of poems in praise of the Star-deities,--and each one
set upon a _kudzu_-leaf. One bunch of bedewed yam-leaves was then
laid upon every inkstone; and with this dew, instead of water, the
writing-ink was prepared. All the ceremonies appear to have been
copied from those in vogue at the Chinese court in the time of the
Emperor Ming-Hwang.
[Footnote 6: _Pueraria Thunbergiana._]
* * * * *
It was not until the time of the Tokugawa Sh[=o]gunate that the
Tanabata festival became really a national holiday; and the popular
custom of attaching _tansaku_ of different colors to freshly-cut
bamboos, in celebration of the occasion, dates only from the era
of Bunser (1818). Previously the _tanzaku_ had been made of a very
costly quality of paper; and the old aristocratic ceremonies had been
not less expensive than elaborate. But in the time of the Tokugawa
Sh[=o]gunate a very cheap paper of various colors was manufactured;
and the holiday ceremonies were suffered to assume an inexpensive
form, in which even the poorest classes could indulge.
The popular customs relating to the festival differed according to
locality. Those of Izumo--where all classes of society, _samurai_ or
common folk, celebrated the holiday in much the same way--used to be
particularly interesting; and a brief account of them will suggest
something of the happy aspects of life in feudal times. At the Hour
of the Tiger, on the seventh night of the seventh month, everybody
was up; and the work of washing the inkstones and writing-brushes
was performed. Then, in the household garden, dew was collected upon
yam-leaves. This dew was called _Amanogawa no suzuki_ ("drops from the
River of Heaven"); and it was used to make fresh ink for writing the
poems which were to be suspended to bamboos planted in the garden. It
was usual for friends to present each other with new inkstones at the
time of the Tanabata festival; and if there were any new inkstones
in the house, the fresh ink was prepared in these. Each member of
the family then wrote poems. The adults composed verses, according to
their ability, in praise of the Star-deities; and the children either
wrote dictation or tried to improvise. Little folk too young to use
the writing-brush without help had their small hands guided, by parent
or elder sister or elder brother, so as to shape on a _tanzaku_
the character of some single word or phrase relating to the
festival,--such as "Amanogawa," or "Tanabata," or "Kasasagi no Hashi"
(the Bridge of Magpies). In the garden were planted two freshly-cut
bamboos, with branches and leaves entire,--a male bamboo
(_otoko-dak�_) and a female bamboo (_onna-dak�_). They were set
up about six feet apart, and to a cord extended between them were
suspended paper-cuttings of five colors, and skeins of dyed thread of
five colors. The paper-cuttings represented upper-robes,--_kimono_.
To the leaves and branches of the bamboos were tied the _tanzaku_
on which poems had been written by the members of the family.
And upon a table, set between the bamboos, or immediately before
them, were placed vessels containing various offerings to the
Star-deities,--fruits, _s[=o]men_, rice-wine, and vegetables of
different kinds, such as cucumbers and watermelons.
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