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
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
through evil deeds, defilement (''
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 (for both parents), disease, and menstruation, an ...
'') 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 (, ''to hinder, be hindered, to have an accident, to have some trouble''),
[Definition from the Iwanami ]Kōjien
is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. It is widely regarded as the most authoritative dictionary of Japanese, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions. As of 2007, it had sold 11 mil ...
Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version, "Tsutsumu" 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
The is a Japanese book about laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178.
History
In 905, Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ...
, 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
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 (for both parents), disease, and menstruation, an ...
'') which had to be dealt with and solved by the person or persons concerned in certain ways, for example through purification rites called ''
harae
or ( or ) is the general term for ritual purification in Shinto. is one of four essential elements involved in a Shinto ceremony. The purpose is the purification of pollution or sins () and uncleanness ().(Norbeck, 1952) These concepts include ...
''.
See also
* ''
Harae
or ( or ) is the general term for ritual purification in Shinto. is one of four essential elements involved in a Shinto ceremony. The purpose is the purification of pollution or sins () and uncleanness ().(Norbeck, 1952) These concepts include ...
''
* ''
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 (for both parents), disease, and menstruation, an ...
''
References
Shinto in Japan
Shinto and society
{{shinto-stub