Virtues
Back in July 2017, I made various decorations for Tanabata, the Star Festival, as I wrote in the previous blog post:
Virtues
Back in July 2017, I made various decorations for Tanabata, the Star Festival, as I wrote in the previous blog post:
[embed]*Tanabata (Star Festival) *July 7th is Tanabata festival in Japan 🌌 medium.com
Besides, I wrote wishes on 短冊 (Tanzaku), paper strips, based on what they call "陰陽五行説” (Inyou Gogyo Setsu), or "the Theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements".
It literally combines Yin Yang Theory with Five Elements Theory.
Throwback photo from 2017
Though I drew this with pens, I quoted the illustration from a page "Wu Xing" of English Wikipedia then.
The Theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements says the universe mirrors these five elements.
For Tanabata, each of these five colors (colours) has a special meaning.
If we are faithful to the traditional way, we should write a wish that is appropriate for every color.
Five colors are green (or blue), red, yellow, white and purple (or black):
Every color of Tanzaku has a meaning.
Each meaning comes from 五徳, or five virtues:
仁（humanity), 智（wisdom), 義 (justice), 信 (sincertiy), 礼 (courtesy).
It’s said that 儒教, Confucianism, teaches five virtues.
What I wished and wrote on each Tanzaku back in 2017:
Green (or Blue)
仁（humanity)
For the green (or blue) of Tanzaku, 仁, we improve ourselves and take care of others.
Where we stand in 2026…
Mmm.
The world has not become peaceful.
Japan has not been a better country, either.
Red
礼 (courtesy)
For the red, 礼, we express gratitude to our parents and ancestors.
I wrote, "I will forever be grateful."
Where I stand in 2026…
I’d say I’m grateful.
Not always but almost always, I suppose.
Yellow
信 (sincerity)
We cherish friends and acquaintances for the yellow, 信.
I wrote, "I tend to hold a grudge, and I want to remedy this short coming." and "I want to be able to trust and forgive people."
In Japanese, 信じる (shinjiru), which includes the Kanji character 信, means trust (verb).
Where I stand…
I’m still a grudge holder. I really am.
I have a good memory, and that also makes me remember a lot of things and hold a grudge.
I feel like fighting back if there’s a chance, but on a second thought, I persuade myself, like,
“Well, I don’t have to because gods or something watching over us serve them right when the time comes.
They will be punished terribly in some way as
they’re doomed to receive Karma someday sometime and to pay for what they’ve done.”
You’ll see.
Someday, I can say, like, “See? I told you!” and “They deserve it!”
White
義 (justice)
We should fulfill our obligations and keep the rules for the white, 義, so I wrote "Keep on studying English."
Japanese people use Kanji, or Chinesee characters, too.
There’s a Japanese word 義務 (gimu), and it means obligations.
Where I stand in 2026…
I kept and keep on studying English!
I kept my words.
Purple (or Black)
智（wisdom)
智, is about learning and improving something, so I wished, "Improve my English" and "Learn Hawaiian Language little by little"
Where I stand in 2026…
I’ve been improving English since 2017 and here I am, while I haven’t learned Hawaiian language since then.
At least I did improve my English.
No more my rusty English!
You know what?
My name is Chiemi, and it’s 智栄美 in Kanji characters.
I’m really glad that my favorite (favourite) color (colour) purple has the meaning of 智.
Looking back on the five Tanzaku I wrote in 2017, I actually wonder why I wished this and that then, but I can see I was trying to understand and respect the traditional manner to celebrate the festival.
I wrote about Tanabata several times in my old blog:
⭐️
⭐️
⭐️
⭐️
⭐️
⭐️
⭐️
More photos with much longer sentences.
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