Entry 6: Jian 2 {1022} 1-3
治安二年一月・二月
Translators: Brandon Edwards and Jason Smith
Original Text
壬戌二年正月一日辛巳。節會。
Kundoku
壬戌（みずのえいぬ）二年正月一日辛巳（かのとみ）。［元日］節會（せちえ
English
Second Year [of the Jian Era], mizunoe inu. First Month, first day, kanoto mi; [New Year’s Day] Royal Banquet.
Notes
According to Kurabayashi Shōji’s entry in the Kokushi Daijiten, the New Year’s Day sechie was classified as a chūgi 忠義 in a 3-way typology (along with daigi 大 and kogi 小); he notes that this sechie in the Engishiki was also connected to a royal banquet held on the 7th day of the 1st month and the archery contest ceremony on the 17th day of the 1st month, both of which will appear in the text later on.
Original Text
二日壬申。二宮大饗。
Kundoku
二日壬申（みずのえさる）。二宮大饗（にぐうのたいきょう・だいきょう）。
English
Second day, mizunoe saru; Grand Banquet of Two Royals.
Notes
English rendering of Nigū no Taikyō as the ‘Two Imperial Banquets’, per William and Helen McCullough, Online Glossary, but is misleading. According to Kurabayashi Shōji’s entry in the Kokushi Daijiten, he states that this banquet includes congratulations to the Crown Prince and the Queen-consort and that there were Kagura performances.
Original Text
五日乙亥。敍位議。
Kundoku
五日乙亥（きのとい）。敍位（じょい）の議（ぎ）。
English
Fifth day, kinoto i; Promotions in Rank Ceremony.
Notes
叙位 Joi rendered into English as ‘Promotions in Rank Ceremony’ per Professor Piggott and Yoshida Sanae, Online Glossary. According to Nomura Tadao’s entry in the Kokushi Daijiten, he states that the conferment of ranks for males were taking place on the 7th day of the New Year from 773, but shifts to the 5th day by the 10th century, whereas the conferment of ranks for females took place on the 8th day of the New Year but later came to be held every other year, which appears to be confirmed in the Nihon kiryaku.
Original Text
七日丁丑。節会。
Kundoku
七日丁丑（ひのとうし）。節會（せちえ）。
English
Seventh day, hinoto ushi. [White Horse] Royal Banquet.
Notes
Aouma no sechie rendered into English as ‘White Horse Royal Banquet’ per Professor Piggot and Yoshida Sanae, Online Glossary. However, a footnote could be added to address the ao-white issue, hence my use of ‘’. According to the Nakamura Yoshio entry in the Kokushi Daijiten, this sechie held on the 7th day of the 1st month of the New Year can also be written as 青馬節会. Royall Tyler (per Online Glossary) notes that after the reign of Murakami Tennō in the mid-10th century, the presentation of 21 actual ‘blue roans’ thereafter became just white. A ‘roan’ is a horse with a mixture of white hairs intermingled with another color, and so ‘blue roans’ are horses with a very dark underlying coat that gives the impression of a bluish hue. In the same entry, Nakamura states that for this sechie the Emperor comes to the Shishinden (Purple Ceremonial Hall of the Imperial Palace) to view horses brought in by the Meryō 左右馬寮 (the Left and Right Bureaus of the Imperial Stables - which, per William and Helen McCullough, Online Glossary), who “were in charge of the Imperial horses and their trappings. Both from the Meryō's own breeding grounds in eastern Japan and from provincial pastures supervised by the War Ministry, animals were brought to the capital each year to be used as mounts for Imperial Messengers, as gifts to religious institutions and senior nobles, and as participants in certain annual ceremonies. Before the cessation of military operations in early Heian and the contemporaneous appearance of the ox-drawn carriage, the horse had been greatly prized in Japan, a circumstance that perhaps accounts for the relatively high prestige attached to the principal Meryō positions. In Michinaga's day, it was almost always young men from the upper social brackets, such as Prince Genji's friend Sama no Kami, who filled the four posts of regular and provisional Director (Kami) and regular and provisional Assistant Director (Suke) in each of the two organizations” (816). Nakamura goes on to state that the 7th day sechie was first mentioned in the reign of the Great King (大王) Keikō, while there are different theories for the first mention of a blue/white horse viewing, it was already mentioned in a tanka poem by Ōtomo no Yakomochi in 758 recorded in the Manyōshū. Nakamura also states that in the Book of Rites, horses are yang animals and spring is associated with blue, thus seeing a blue horse at the beginning of the year with the commencement of spring was deemed auspicious and lucky. This white horse viewing event declined in the Kamakura and Muromachi period, revived as a formality during the Edo period, and finally abolished in 1869. There is a depiction of the event in the “Otome” chapter in the Tale of Genji. By compiling different documents, Nakamura presents a rough order of events for the full sechie ceremony: the sovereign comes to the Shishinden, then the imperial bow mitarashi/ontarashi 御弓 is presented, then the white horse presented passing in front of the sovereign, followed by the banquet with ministers of state, dance performances, then a royal proclamation (senmyō 宣命) awarding stipends, ending with the exit of the sovereign.
Original Text
八日戊寅。御齋始。
Kundoku
八日戊寅（つちのえとら）。御齋會（みさいえ）始（はじ）む。
English
Eighth day, tsuchinoe tora. New Years’ Buddhist Assembly begins.
Notes
An alternative reading can be gosaie. This event takes place over seven days. Per William and Helen McCullough, it “was devoted primarily to precautionary Buddhist observances, both exoteric and esoteric. The esoteric rites, performed as prayers for peaceful conditions and bountiful crops, consisted of an impressive series of daily lectures on the Golden Light Sutra (Konkōmyōkyō; Skt. Suvarnaprabhāsa-sūtra), delivered at the Daigokuden with the Emperor and Court in attendance. The misaie was one of the major Buddhist events in the regular Court calendar, equal in importance to the Ninnōe.” (HG)
Original Text
十一日辛巳。女敍位。
Kundoku
十一日辛巳（かのとみ）。女敍位（おんなじょい）。
English
Eleventh day, kanoto mi. Women’s Promotion in Rank Ceremony.
Notes
Onna joi rendered into English as ‘Women’s Promotion in Rank Ceremony’ per Professor Piggott and Yoshida Sanae, Online Glossary.
Original Text
十四日甲申。御齋會竟。
Kundoku
十四日甲申（きのえさる）。御齋會（みさいえ）竟（おわんぬ）。
English
Fourteenth day, kinoe saru. New Years’ Buddhist Assembly ends.
Notes
As noted above the misaie was a 7-day ceremony which began on the 8th day of the 1st month of the New Year and thus now ends here on the 14th day of the same month.
Original Text
十六日丙戌。女踏歌。
Kundoku
十六日丙戌（ひのえいぬ）。女踏歌（おんなとうか）。
English
Sixteenth day, hinoe inu. Women’s Step-Dance and Songs [Royal Banquet].
Notes
Onna tōka, rendered into English as ‘The Women’s Step-Dance and Song [Royal Banquet]’ is a modification of Professor Piggott and Yoshida Sanae’s term in the Online Glossary given the character 踏. Onna tōka, while not explicitly stated in the above entry, per the Kogo Daijiten, it is a sechie which took place on the sixteenth day, outlasting its male counterpart, the otoko tōka which ceased to exist in the tenth century. In the Kakaishō, it is said that this banquet was held in the Daianden in Tenpyō 14 (743). But in the Engishiki, from around the 9th century the banquet was held at the south garden of the Shishinden. According to the Saikyūki of Minamoto no Takaakira (914-983), there is flute music by the Kuzu 国栖, a tribe from ancient Yoshino, followed by a procession of dance and song.
Original Text
十七日丁亥。射禮。
Kundoku
十七日丁亥（ひのとい）。射禮（じゃらい）。
English
Seventeenth day, hinoto i. New Year Archery Demonstration.
Notes
According to Suzuki Keizō’s entry in the Kokushi Daijiten, it was a large-scale archery event in which a shooting range is set up inside the palace gates.
Original Text
十八日戊子。賭弓。
Kundoku
十八日戊子（つちのえね）。賭弓（のりゆみ）。
English
Eighteenth day, tsuchinoe ne; New Year Archery Matches.
Notes
Noriyumi is rendered in English as ‘New Year Archery Contest’, per Royall Tyler, Online Glossary.
Original Text
廿日庚寅。關白左大臣＜頼道＞於二高陽院一大饗。
Kundoku
廿日庚寅（かのえとら）。關白（かんぱく）左大臣［頼道］高陽院（かやのいん）に大饗（おおあえ・たいきょう）。
English
Twentieth day, kanoe tora. Viceroy cum Minister of the Left [Yorimichi], [hosted] a Grand Banquet at Kaya-no-In.
Original Text
廿三日癸巳。右大臣＜實資＞於二小野宮家一大饗。
Kundoku
廿三日癸巳（みずのとみ）。右大臣［實資（さねすけ）］小野宮（おののみや）家（け）に大饗。
English
Twenty-third day, mizunoto mi. Minister of the Right [Sanesuke], [hosted] a Grand Banquet at the Ono no Miya ancestral mansion.
Notes
Banquet -> Ministerial banquet in response to ministerial appointments
Original Text
廿五日乙羊。内大臣＜教通＞家大饗。
Kundoku
二十五日乙羊（きのとひつじ）。内大臣［教通（のりみち）］家大饗。
English
Twenty-fifth day, kinoto hitsuji. The Interior Palace Minister [Norimichi] [hosted] a [Ministerial] Grand Banquet at his residence.
Original Text
廿七日丁酉。除目始。
Kundoku
廿七日丁酉（ひのととり）。除目（じもく）始む。
English
Twenty-seventh day, hinoto tori. Ceremony for Assigning Posts began.
Original Text
廿八日戊戌。國忌［藤超子］。仍無二除目一。
Kundoku
二十八日戊戌（つちのえいぬ）。國忌（こき）［藤超子（ふじ［［わら］］のちょうし]。仍（よりて）除目無し。
English
Twenty-eighth day, tsuchinoe inu. Day of Mourning in the Realm [Fujiwara no Chōshi]. Therefore, there was no Ceremony for Assigning Posts.
Notes
國忌：こき、こっき、or こくき
藤原超子：平安時代中期,冷泉(れいぜい)天皇の女御(にょうご)。(JK Biographical Dictionary of Japan)
Original Text
廿九日己亥。除目廷引。依二凶會日一也。
Kundoku
廿九日己亥（つちのとい）。除目廷引（えんいん）。凶會日（くえにち）によるなり。
English
Twenty-ninth day, tsuchinoto i. The Ceremony of Assigning Posts was postponed, because it was a calendrically inauspicious day.
Notes
In the calendar system in use, adopted from the Chinese, there were twenty days that were categorized as inauspicious days as determined by the position of Jupiter. Depending on which inauspicious day it was, there were a variety of activities to be avoided.
Original Text
卅日庚子。除目竟。
Kundoku
卅日庚子（かのえね）。除目竟（おわる・んぬ）。
English
Thirtieth day, kanoe ne. Ceremony of Assigning Posts ended.
Original Text
二月一日辛丑。
Kundoku
二月一日辛丑（かのとうし）。
English
Second Month, first day, kanoto ushi.
Original Text
三日癸卯。大原野祭。
Kundoku
三日癸卯（みずのとう）。大原野祭（おおはらのまつり）。
English
Third day, mizunoto u. Ōharano Shrine Rite.
Notes
Ōharano Shrine: per Royall Tyler (Online Glossary), “The Kyoto counterpart of the Kasuga Shrine in Nara; it enshrines the same deities. Built at the end of the 8th c., just west of the city below Mt. Oshio, it enabled the Fujiwara nobles to honor their family deities without going all the way to Nara.”
Per George Perkins (Online Glossary), it was one of the 21 Shrines, even though a list 22 is more common.
The Ōharano Shrine Festival, per the Kogo Daijiten, could be held on the first or second days of the Rabbit in February.
Note: The Ōharano Shrine is a counterpart to the Kasuga Shrine in Nara. It enshrines the same deities. It dates from from the end of the eighth century and is west of Kyoto. It was one of the Twenty-one Shrines.
Original Text
四日甲辰。祈年祭。
Kundoku
四日甲辰（きのえたつ）。祈年祭（きねんさい）。
English
Fourth day, kinoe tatsu. Rite for a Plentiful Harvest.
Notes
祈年祭（きねんさい）can also be pronounced としごいのまつり.
Original Text
七日丁未。釋奠。」今日。内大臣爲レ行二明日春日祭事一。參向奉幣。有二舞人陪從一。
Kundoku
七日丁未（ひのとひつじ）。釋奠（せきてん）。今日。内大臣明日（みょうにち）春日祭事（かすがまつりのこと）行（おこな）わんが爲（ため）。參向（さんこう）し奉幣（ほうへい）す。舞人（まいびと）陪從（おもとびと）有り。
English
Seventh day, hinoto hitsuji. Rite Honoring Confucius and His Disciples. Because the Kasuga Shrine Rite will take place tomorrow, today Minister of the Inner Palace [Fujiwara no Norimichi] went to the Kasuga Shrine Rite and gave cloth offering strips. There were dancers and singer-musicians [with him].
Notes
釋奠：しゃくてん、さくてん、せきてん、おきまつりの読み方もある。
舞人（ぶじん・まいど・まいにん）も読める。
陪從（ばいしゅう）も読める。
Original Text
八日戊申。春日祭。
Kundoku
八日戊申（つちのえさる）。春日祭（かすがまつり）。
English
Eighth day, tsuchinoe saru. Kasuga Shrine Rite.
Notes
春日祭：仁明 （にんみょう） 天皇の850年（嘉祥3）に始まったといわれ、清和 （せいわ） 天皇の859年（貞観1）11月9日の庚申 （こうしん） の夜執行されて以来、春2月、冬11月の上の申 （さる） の日を祭日と定められたため、申祭の名がある。(JK Encyclopedia Nipponica)
Original Text
十一日辛亥。列見。
Kundoku
十一日辛亥（かのとい）。列見（れっけん）。
English
Eleventh day, kanoto i. Ministerial Inspection of Nominees for Posts.
Original Text
十三日癸丑。園韓神祭。
Kundoku
十三日癸丑（みずのとうし）。園韓神祭（そのからかみのまつり）。
English
Thirteenth day, mizunoto ushi. Sono and Kara Kami Rites.
Notes
園韓神祭：平安京宮内省内に鎮座していた園神・韓神の例祭(JK Encyclopedia of Japanese History).
Original Text
十九日己未。奉二＿幣石清水八幡宮一。依二宇佐の宮火事一也。使權中納言源道方。右近少将源實基。
Kundoku
十九日己未（つちのとひつじ）。石清水八幡宮（いわしみずはちまんぐう）奉幣（ほうへい）す。宇佐宮（うさのみや）火事に依るなり。使（使い）權（かねて）中納言、源道方（みなもとのみちかた）。右近（うこん）少将（しょうしょう）源實基（みなもとのさねもと）。
English
Nineteenth day, tsuchinoto hitsuji. Cloth offerings were donated to Iwashimizu Hachimangū because there was a fire at Usa no Miya. The envoys were Middle Counselor Minamoto no Michikata, and Lesser Captain of the Right Palace Guard Minamoto no Sanemoto.
Notes
石清水八幡宮：［神社名］ 応神天皇・神功（じんぐう）皇后・比売大神（ひめおおかみ）の三神を祭る神社。京都府八幡（やわた）市にある (JK Shogakukan zenbunzenyaku kogojiten).
kōshiken 公使權: had the authority to dispatch or receive diplomatic missions, per Nihon Kokugo Daijiten.
Original Text
廿四日甲子。奉二＿幣廿一社一。祈二年穀一。
Kundoku
廿四日甲子。廿一社奉幣（ほうへい）す。年穀（ねんこく）祈る。
English
Twenty-fourth day, kinoe ne. [His Majesty’s court] sent cloth strip offerings to the Twenty-one Shrines, and prayed for the annual grain harvest.
Notes
祈年穀（きねんこく）also a word by itself
Original Text
廿六日丙寅。定二＿申宇佐宮火事諸道勘文一。貞清朝臣申。魯宣公廟新宮災。三日哭。爲政＜菩滋氏＞。義忠申云。漢高園便殿災。五日廃朝。頼澄申云。貞観十年山陸火災之列。任二彼例一五日天輟レ朝。
Kundoku
廿六日丙寅（ひのえとら）。宇佐宮（うさのみや）火事諸道（しょどう）勘文（かんもん）定め申す。貞清（さだきよ）朝臣（あそん）申さく。魯宣公（ろせんこう）廟新宮災。三日哭く。
［善滋］為政［慶滋為政（よししげ の ためまさ）］、義忠＜藤原氏＞申し云く、「漢の高園便殿の災。五日廃朝（はいちょう）。」
頼澄（よりずみ）申し云く。貞観（じょうがん）十年山陸（さんみょう）の火災の列（れい）。彼例任（による）五日天朝（ちょう）輟（や）む。
English
Twenty-sixth day, hinoe tora. Regarding the Usa no Miya fire, reports from various scholarly disciplines were presented and discussed. Sir Sadakiyo reported: during the time of Duke Xuan of Lu, when there was a disastrous [fire] at the New Ancestral Shrine, there were three days of mourning. Yoshishige [no Tamemasa] and [Fujiwara no] Yoshitada together reported: In the Han [dynasty], the royal palace was destroyed. For five days, there was a cessation of government. Yorizumi reported: In the tenth year of the Jōgan era, the royal mausoleum suffered a fire; in that instance, the government ceased for five days.
Notes
勘文：諸事を考え、調べて、上申する文書。平安時代以後、明法道、陰陽道など諸道の学者や神祇官、外記などが、朝廷や幕府の諮問にこたえて、先例、日時、方角、吉凶などを調べて上申したもの。Basically: a report.
Duke Xuan of Lu is notable for implementing the first land tax in Chinese history. (Wikipedia)
便殿: a room where royals or aristocrats would stay as a guest
廃朝: a period where the emperor does not rule over or appear in court (JK Encyclopedia Nipponica)
貞観：reign name, early Heian, under emperors Seiwa and Yōzei, approx. 859-877. There was a reign of the same name in China in the sixth century AD. (JK Digital Daijisen)
Original Text
廿七日丁卯。宣命。差二勘解由長官兼丹波守藤原資業於宇佐宮一。依二去年火事一也。
Kundoku
廿七日丁卯（ひのとう）。宣命。勘解由長宮（かげゆちょうかん）兼（かねて）丹波守（たんばのかみ）藤原資業（ふじわらのすけなり）、宇佐宮に差す。去年（さんぬるとし）の火事に依るなり。
English
Twenty-seventh day, hinoto u. [According to] a royal proclamation, Chief Investigator of Records of Outgoing Officials cum Tanba Provincial Governor Fujiwara no Sukenari was dispatched to Usa no Miya. It was because of the fire last year.
Notes
勘解由かげゆ：令外（りょうげ）の官の一。平安時代、国司などの官吏が交代するとき、新任者が無事に事務を引き継いだことを証明する解由状（げゆじょう）の審査にあたった職。平安末期には有名無実と化した。かんげゆし。(JK Digital Daijisen)