＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
Previously, when you thought of “kirin,” the only things that came to mind were probably the Kirin Beer trademark, the Kirin statue in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, or the comedy duo “Kirin.” However, since the Taiga drama “Kirin ga Kuru” was announced for this year, these have suddenly become the first things that come to mind, and the “original meaning” has also become widely known.
1. What is “kirin”?
The kirin is a legendary imaginary animal (auspicious beast) that appears in ancient Chinese mythology. It is said to appear as a sign of the arrival of a saint in a time of peace. It is considered the “king of all beasts” and is contrasted with the phoenix, the “king of birds.”
According to the Book of Rites, the kirin is “a sacred creature (auspicious beast) that appears when a king governs with benevolence,” and is collectively known as one of the “Four Spirits” along with the phoenix, spirit turtle, and dragon.
For this reason, children who show exceptional talent from an early age are referred to as “kirin children” or “heavenly stone kirins.”
It has a large, deer-like body, standing up to 5 meters tall, a dragon-like face, horse-like hooves, a cow-like tail, and a single horn on its head. It is a “unicorn” with five-colored fur on its back, yellow fur, and scales on its body. One theory is that “ki” is male and “rin” is female.
It’s a bit similar to the Western “unicorn.”
It is possible that both the “kirin” and the “unicorn” were inspired by real animals such as the “rhinoceros” and the “oryx.”
2. To whom will the kirin appear in “Kirin ga Kuru”?
Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) used a “kao” (signature seal) embodying the character for “kirin” (麒麟). The reason for this is believed to be his desire to unify the country in place of the Shogun Ashikaga clan, a “Tenka Fubu” (Tenka Fubu) strategy.
“Tenka Fubu” is the inscription on the seal Nobunaga used for his red seal. The kanji for “bu” (bu) is composed of a “hoko” (spear) and a “to stop” (spear), meaning “to stop fighting or disputes.” Some interpret the “bu” in “Tenka Fubu” as embodying the “Seven Virtues of Martial Arts.”
The “Seven Virtues of Martial Arts” are: 1) Prohibit violence, 2) Cease war, 3) Maintain greatness, 4) Determine merit, 5) Provide peace to the people, 6) Harmonize the masses, and 7) Enrich wealth.
In that sense, “Tenka Fubu” was likely a manifestation of Nobunaga’s strong will to “spread the Seven Virtues of Martial Arts throughout the country” and “establish a world of peace throughout the world.”
However, the interpretation of the “shi” in “bu” (bu) as “to stop” is a vulgar interpretation; it actually means “foot” and the correct meaning is “to advance with a spear.” Therefore, I believe it should be understood simply as “to pacify the country with overwhelming military power and put an end to war.”
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) also raised the banner of “Onri Edo Gongu Jodo” (Abhorrence of the Impure World and Desire for the Pure Land). Then, in 1615, he realized the “Genwa Enbu” (Genwa Enbu) by destroying the Toyotomi clan in the “Summer Siege of Osaka.”
Not only Akechi Mitsuhide (? – 1582), but also Nobunaga and Ieyasu were likely waiting for the “Kirin ga Kuru” to bring an end to the endless wars of the Warring States period.
In the taiga drama “Kirin ga Kuru,” to whom will Kirin appear? My guess is that he will appear before both Nobunaga and Mitsuhide, but they will both fall short of their dream, and he will ultimately appear before Ieyasu.
3. Confucius’ “Spring and Autumn Essays” and “Capturing the Lucky Dragon”
(1) Writing Techniques of the Spring and Autumn Period
Confucius (552 BC – 479 BC), a philosopher who lived during the “Spring and Autumn Period” in the latter half of the Zhou Dynasty, lamented the decline of the Zhou Dynasty and offered various advice to Duke Ai of Lu, but his advice was not heeded, preventing the dynasty from being revived.
The “Spring and Autumn Period” refers to the latter half of the Zhou Dynasty, spanning approximately 320 years from 770 BC, when the Zhou Dynasty split into Eastern and Western kingdoms, to the 5th century BC, when the great state of Jin split into three kingdoms.
In his later years, Confucius compiled the official records of Lu and clarified the righteousness and wrongness of events that occurred over 242 years and 12 generations, from Duke Yin to Duke Ai. The title of this work is “The Spring and Autumn Period.”
Confucius considered it “disrespectful and disrespectful to the Zhou dynasty for the feudal lords to refer to themselves as ‘kings,'” so instead of referring to the King of Wu and the King of Chu, he referred to them as Wuzi and Chuzi (both of whom were viscounts). He also deliberately distorted the writing style to read “the emperor went on a tour” when the Zhou emperor, whose authority had been lost, was summoned by the feudal lords to participate in a league, thereby preserving the dignity of the Zhou dynasty.
He also ruthlessly erased the writings of the Lu historians, adding praise and criticism.
Because of his ruthless writing style, the saying “Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals in fear of rebellious ministers and traitors” was born.
The “writing style of the Spring and Autumn Annals” also originates from this book. The Spring and Autumn Annals are characterized by a “strict critical approach,” known as “the Spring and Autumn Annals,” and also contain Confucius’s “judgments of right and wrong and value judgments.” He also criticizes indirect causes by linking them to direct results, which may seem like a leap in logic, but actually points to a certain truth. This term was coined to describe the end of the Spring and Autumn Annals.
(2) “Kakurin” (Capturing a Lion)
Confucius continued writing, but stopped writing at the line, “In the fourteenth year of the reign of Duke Ai, I hunted westward and captured a lin,” and died shortly thereafter at the age of 73. “Kakurin” (capturing a lin) means “to cease writing,” and from this, “Kakurin” came to mean “the last piece of writing” and, by extension, “the end of something (or life).”
The reason Confucius stopped writing here was because “the lin was a sacred beast, believed to only appear in times of peace under the rule of a holy emperor, and he was heartbroken that it appeared in a time of chaos without a sage king, and lamented that the path of King Wen, King Wu, and the Duke of Zhou would never be revived.”
The “Western Hunt in the Fourteenth Year of Duke Ai” is the story of how a charioteer from the Shusun clan captured a kirin during a hunt in Onozawa, west of Lu, in 481 BC. The people who captured it were unaware of the kirin and were frightened, finding its supposedly sacred appearance eerie, so they abandoned it.