The
Festival of Seven Herbs
or
Nanakusa no sekku
(
Japanese
:
七草の節句
) is the long-standing
Japanese
custom of eating seven-herb
rice porridge
(七草粥,
nanakusa-gayu
, lit. "7 Herbs Rice-Congee") on January 7 (
Jinjitsu
); one of the
Gosekku
.
Nanakusa-no-sekku
七草の節句
|
---|
Nanakusa being prepared
|
Genre
| Custom
|
---|
Date(s)
| January 7
|
---|
Frequency
| Annually
|
---|
Country
| Japan
|
---|
Activity
| Eating seven-herb rice porridge
|
---|
The seventh of the first month has been an important Japanese festival since ancient times.
Jingchu Suishiji
, written in the
Six Dynasties
China, recorded the Southern Chinese custom of eating a hot soup that contains seven vegetables to bring longevity and health and ward off evil on the 7th day of the first month of the Chinese calendar. Since there is little green at that time of the year, the young green herbs bring color to the table and eating them suits the spirit of the New Year. The custom was present in
Taiwan
until the mid-
Qing Dynasty
, and is still present in parts of rural
Guangdong province
.
Seven spring flowers
edit
The
nanakusa
(
七草/七種
), or more specifically,
haru no nanakusa
(
春の七草/春の七種
), spring's seven flowers (or herbs), are seven
edible
wild
herbs
of spring. Traditionally, they are:
Image
|
Traditional name
|
Modern name
|
English
|
|
芹 (せり
seri
)
|
セリ
seri
|
Japanese parsley
|
|
薺 (なずな
nazuna
)
|
ナズナ
nazuna
ぺんぺん草
penpengusa
|
Shepherd's purse
|
|
御形 (ごぎょう
gogy?
)
|
ハハコグサ (母子草)
hahakogusa
|
Cudweed
|
|
繁縷 (はこべら
hakobera
)
|
コハコベ (小?蔞)
kohakobe
|
Chickweed
|
|
?の座 (ほとけのざ
hotokenoza
)
|
コオニタビラコ (小鬼田平子)
koonitabirako
|
Nipplewort
|
|
? (すずな
suzuna
)
|
カブ (蕪)
kabu
|
Turnip
|
|
蘿蔔 (すずしろ
suzushiro
)
|
ダイコン (大根)
daikon
|
Radish
|
There is considerable variation in the precise ingredients, with common local herbs often being substituted.
On the morning of January 7, or the night before, people place the
nanakusa
,
rice scoop
, and/or
wooden pestle
on the
cutting board
and, facing the good-luck direction, chant "Before the birds of the continent (China) fly to Japan, let's get nanakusa" while cutting the herbs into pieces. The chant may vary from place to place.
Musical accompaniment
edit
Standard
|
Hiragana
|
Romaji
|
Translation
|
唐土の鳥と、
日本の鳥と、
渡らぬ先に、
七種なずな、
手につみ入れて、
亢?斗張となる
|
とうどのとりと、
にほんのとりと、
わたらぬさきに、
ななくさなずな、
てにつみいれて、
こうしとちょうとなる
|
t?do no tori to,
nihon no tori to,
wataranu saki ni,
nanakusa nazuna,
te ni tsumi-ire te,
k?shitoch? to naru
|
China-land's birds and
Japanese birds,
earlier than bring on their coming,
seven species wild herb,
I pluck them to the hand and
it becomes
Neck
,
Turtle Beak
,
Dipper
and
Extended Net
.
|
Seven autumn flowers
edit
The spring-time
nanakusa
are mirrored by
aki no nanakusa
(
秋の七草/秋の七種
), meaning autumn's seven flowers. They are listed below:
The seven flowers of autumn are
bush clover
(
hagi
), miscanthus (
obana
,
Miscanthus sinensis
),
kudzu
,
large pink
(
nadeshiko
,
Dianthus superbus
), yellow-flowered
valerian
(
ominaeshi
,
Patrinia scabiosifolia
),
boneset
(
fujibakama
,
Eupatorium fortunei
), and
Chinese bellflower
(
kiky?
,
Platycodon gradiflorus
). These seven autumn flowers provide visual enjoyment. Their simplicity was very much admired: they are small and dainty yet beautifully colored. They are named as typical autumn flowers in a verse from the
Man'y?sh?
anthology.
Unlike their spring counterparts, there is no particular event to do anything about the seven flowers of autumn. The autumn flowers are not intended for picking or eating, but for appreciation, despite each one is believed to have medical efficacy in
traditional Chinese medicine
.
Tanka
and
haiku
theming
hanano
(
花野
, lit. flower field), meaning fields where the autumn wildflowers are in full bloom, have a centuries-old history.
The Japanese parsley (
Oenanthe javanica
) species of the
Oenanthe
(water dropworts) genus is closely related to and easily confused with toxic
water hemlock
. Although accidental poisoning is rare, caution should be exercised when dealing with oenanthe species. As
Oenanthe javanica
is not found outside of Asia unless specifically cultivated, wild-growing varieties of water dropworts should be considered lethal, even in small amounts.
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