Sep. 28th, 2002 03:48 pm
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muckefuckA while back, the GWO came across the religious title "Lord Abbot", borne by the respective heads of two temples named "Hong(w)anji" in Kyoto (there was a split in the sect some centuries ago). He said, "That's what I want to be called: Lord Abbot." It took some trouble to track down the original form, which is 門主 or "gate lord". I think he's probably stuck being "Director" at work, but in this journal at least, he can be Monshu (or, with his dharma name [心月], Shingetsu Monshu in full).
In any case, this afternoon the Monshu put me to work deciphering scrolls, which led to a discussion of the ubiquitous nature of the moon in Chinese poetry. (He asked, "If you took away all Chinese poems about the moon or parting, what would be left?") That's when it struck us anew how utterly differently the moon is viewed in East Asia and Western Europe. We've tried, but we simply can't think of any negative lunar associations in Chinese, Korean, or Japanese culture.
By contrast, the only positive association with the moon I can think of in the European tradition is romantic love. However, even this has the taint of something illicit and transgressive, of lovers meeting in the moonlight because they are forbidden to see each other during the day. By contrast, the East Asian associations could hardly be more wholesome. A week ago tonight was the Autumn Moon Festival, the day the full moon is thought to be at its peak of brightness. Moon-viewing parties are traditional, and they are a family affair. The roundness of the full moon represents fulfillment and perfection--the whole family reunited. Tasty mooncakes, the centerpiece of the traditional banquet, are divided equally among all members of the family.
The Chinese have a saying, 月圓則虧 or "The moon is full, thus it is waning". The Koreans take this so much to heart that they consider a representation of the full moon inauspicious and the songphyen they serve for Chwusek (their equivalent of the Moon Festival; sometimes called "Korean Thanksgiving") are a little off-round in order to represent a moon still waxing. So the lunar associations aren't uniformly positive, but they're still awfully far from Hecate, werwolves, and infernal sabbats. In fact, Halloween is the only time I can think of when representations of the moon are displayed in the States--almost always with a witch on a broomstick or a horned owl, a bird of ill-omen, silhouetted against it.
I don't know much about the moon in other cultures, but I have inklings of a more positive symbology from the Jews and the Muslims, who seem to have avoided most negative accretions spread by Christianity after its contact with Rome. The Muslims, in fact, went so far as to adopt a lunar image as the symbol of their religion (which may have added to the disrepute of the moon in Christian Europe, though I have no evidence for this). It may also be telling that, like the Chinese and Koreans, both religions retain the lunar calendar for determining the date of their traditional festivals. Only one Christian festival--albeit the most important--is reckoned from the phases of the moon, but I'll bet you less than one in ten Christians could tell you the formula for determining the date of Easter.
Quoth Monshu, "It's fascinating how people in two different places can view the same phenomenon--the moon--and come up with such different interpretations for it." That's why I'll never tire of learning about various people and their beliefs.
In any case, this afternoon the Monshu put me to work deciphering scrolls, which led to a discussion of the ubiquitous nature of the moon in Chinese poetry. (He asked, "If you took away all Chinese poems about the moon or parting, what would be left?") That's when it struck us anew how utterly differently the moon is viewed in East Asia and Western Europe. We've tried, but we simply can't think of any negative lunar associations in Chinese, Korean, or Japanese culture.
By contrast, the only positive association with the moon I can think of in the European tradition is romantic love. However, even this has the taint of something illicit and transgressive, of lovers meeting in the moonlight because they are forbidden to see each other during the day. By contrast, the East Asian associations could hardly be more wholesome. A week ago tonight was the Autumn Moon Festival, the day the full moon is thought to be at its peak of brightness. Moon-viewing parties are traditional, and they are a family affair. The roundness of the full moon represents fulfillment and perfection--the whole family reunited. Tasty mooncakes, the centerpiece of the traditional banquet, are divided equally among all members of the family.
The Chinese have a saying, 月圓則虧 or "The moon is full, thus it is waning". The Koreans take this so much to heart that they consider a representation of the full moon inauspicious and the songphyen they serve for Chwusek (their equivalent of the Moon Festival; sometimes called "Korean Thanksgiving") are a little off-round in order to represent a moon still waxing. So the lunar associations aren't uniformly positive, but they're still awfully far from Hecate, werwolves, and infernal sabbats. In fact, Halloween is the only time I can think of when representations of the moon are displayed in the States--almost always with a witch on a broomstick or a horned owl, a bird of ill-omen, silhouetted against it.
I don't know much about the moon in other cultures, but I have inklings of a more positive symbology from the Jews and the Muslims, who seem to have avoided most negative accretions spread by Christianity after its contact with Rome. The Muslims, in fact, went so far as to adopt a lunar image as the symbol of their religion (which may have added to the disrepute of the moon in Christian Europe, though I have no evidence for this). It may also be telling that, like the Chinese and Koreans, both religions retain the lunar calendar for determining the date of their traditional festivals. Only one Christian festival--albeit the most important--is reckoned from the phases of the moon, but I'll bet you less than one in ten Christians could tell you the formula for determining the date of Easter.
Quoth Monshu, "It's fascinating how people in two different places can view the same phenomenon--the moon--and come up with such different interpretations for it." That's why I'll never tire of learning about various people and their beliefs.
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Oddly, this brings to mind Steven Spielberg's icon for his company Amblin' Entertainment: a big full moon with Elliot and E.T. crossing in front of it. Which is, I would say, meant to be instantly emblematic of wonder.
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That's pretty late, though, and possibly via an odd route. At least one account of the origin of the crescent traces it from Greek Byzantium (whose patron was Artemis) through Christian Constantinople (who added the star as a symbol of the Virgin) to the Ottomans, who adopted it on conquering the city. (I've also seen that disputed, but my impression is that it's at least consistent with the timing of the adoption of the crescent and star in the Islamic world.) Either way, the lunar symbol is a fairly late addition to Islam, and spent a thousand years representing a major Christian capital first.