Year of the tiger in Japan
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The tiger is the coming year's representative in the sexagenary cycle, the 60-term cycle of twelve zodiacal animals combined with five elements / phases in the traditional Chinese calendar; currently used in Japan for years, historically also for days; widely applied in Chinese astrology. (source, see also here, here, here, and here)
In Sinitic languages, the 60-year cycle is known as gānzhī 干支 (Sino-Japanese [on'yomi] pronunciation kanshi), i.e., "(calendrical) heavenly / celestial stems and earthly / terrestrial branches". In Japanese [kun'yomi], 干支 may also be read as "eto", but that is usually written in kana as えと.
I've often wondered about the etymology of the "eto" pronunciation of 干支. Here is what Wiktionary tells us:
The combination of 兄 (え, e; elder brother) and 弟 (と, to; younger brother); the original meaning is 兄弟 (brother). Derived from this term, the elder is adopted as "positive" and "heavenly stems", the younger is adopted as "negative" and "earthly branches".
Not sure I can follow all of that, but at least it is something.
The third of the twelve branches is 寅, pronounced yín in Mandarin and in いん in Sino-Japanese / on'yomi, but tora とら in Japanese / kun'yomi. The kanji for tora is 虎 ("tiger"), which may remind many people of the 1970 epic war film, "Tora! Tora! Tora!", that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. I certainly made that connection, but it may not be justified. An article about the film in Wikipedia states:
The tora of the title is the two-syllable Japanese codeword used to indicate that complete surprise had been achieved. Japanese being a language with many homophones, it is a coincidence that tora also means "tiger" (虎).
However, this passage is followed by a superscript note, "failed verification", so I'm a little bit dubious about this claim and still think tora here might mean "tiger", even if it also served as a military code word meaning "complete surprise achieved".
The Wiktionary note on tora also offers food for thought:
From Old Japanese to1ra. Perhaps cognate with *tora, a potentially tiger-related element found in Old Korean toponyms.
Regardless of the linguistics of tora, how do the calendrics and lore play out in contemporary customs and culture? nippon.com obliges us with this informative article:
The Year of the Tiger: Trivia and Sayings for 2022 (12/20/21)
In 2022, it will be the Year of the Tiger, according to the 12-year cycle of zodiacal animals, known in Japanese as eto. As 2021 began to approach its end, nengajō New Year cards and calendars featuring the fierce beasts went on sale in stores across the country. This is a tradition that is impossible to miss.
While the eto cycle was originally associated with years, as it largely is in contemporary Japan, historically it was also used for compass directions and times of day. The diagram below shows a circular representation topped by the rat (子, ne), with the ox (丑, ushi) and tiger (寅, tora) moving clockwise around the circle. Incidentally, special kanji are used for the eto that are different from everyday usage; the character for the tiger is usually 虎, but its eto kanji is 寅.
The compass direction northeast lies between the ox and tiger, and so is known as ushitora. Traditionally, this was considered an unlucky direction. In the system whereby the day was divided into 12 “hours,” the hour of the tiger took place from three to five in the morning by today’s standards.
…
Japanese has a number of sayings based around tigers. Here is a selection.
虎の威を借る狐 — Tora no i o karu kitsune. “A fox that borrows the dignity of a tiger” describes someone relatively powerless who swaggers with assumed authority.
虎の尾を踏む — Tora no o o fumu. “To tread on a tiger’s tail” means to do something very risky.
虎穴に入らずんば虎児を得ず — Koketsu ni irazunba koji o ezu. “You cannot get a tiger cub without entering the tiger’s den” is a phrase used to say that it is necessary to take risks for great reward.
大虎 — Ōtora. This word, literally meaning “a big tiger,” can be used to describe someone who is falling-down drunk. Tigers were traditionally associated with bamboo grass, where they were said to hide. The word for bamboo grass (sasa) can also mean alcohol, leading to a connection between the animals and booze.
虎の巻 — Tora no maki. “The tiger’s volume” means a book of secrets or strategy. This is based on the Chinese classic Liu tao (Six Strategies) in which the fourth part—the Tiger Strategy—gives tips on military tactics. By extension, it can also refer to a crib or study guide.
Whenever I think of "tiger", this immortal poem always comes to mind:
William Blake (1757-1827)
Selected readings
- "I Tiger You" (2/13/10)
- "Graphic antipairs" (4/23/18)
- "Year of the cock" (1/4/17)
- "Year of the ovicaprid" (2/15/15)
- "Happy LÓNG year!" (1/24/12)
- "Happy Niú Year!" (2/11/21)
See also, inter alia:
[Thanks to Don Keyser]
Michael Carasik said,
December 21, 2021 @ 12:06 pm
And whenever I think of the Blake poem, this recording of it (by Alan Arkin, starting at 12:51) comes to mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZUU7itqUDo
KeithB said,
December 21, 2021 @ 12:22 pm
Also an alternate title for "The Stars, My desitnation" by Alfred Bester.
wanda said,
December 22, 2021 @ 2:20 pm
In 2010 Victor Mair wondered if there would be any real tigers left. I'm happy to find that the number of wild tigers has increased by a few hundred since then: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger (from roughly 3200 in 2010 to 3900 now).
Incidentally, there are about 5000-10000 captive tigers in the US alone, most of which are owned privately (ie not by accredited zoos).
J.W. Brewer said,
December 23, 2021 @ 1:03 pm
I read on wikipedia that the tiger (together with the leopard and the lynx) was "extirpated in prehistory" in Japan, leaving bears and foxes as the most prominent carnivorans to play a role in folklore etc. I am now curious if a few captive tigers arrived from the Asian mainland approximately simultaneously with the cultural practice of the calendar and its zodiac animals, or if the Japanese managed to adopt the Year of the Tiger with no pre-modern firsthand experience of the actual animal, without the sort of indigenization seen in e.g. the Vietnamese turning the Year of the Ox into that of the Water Buffalo.
The beginning of Shōwa 49 (A.D. 1974) was the first New Year's during the portion of my childhood I spent in Japan, and that was a Year of the Tiger, so that is the zodiac animal I associate with learning about the whole set of customs. I remember our apartment being full of tiger-themed cards from various Japanese business associates of my father.
JoshR said,
December 23, 2021 @ 7:46 pm
J.W. Brewer said,
"I am now curious if a few captive tigers arrived from the Asian mainland approximately simultaneously with the cultural practice of the calendar and its zodiac animals, or if the Japanese managed to adopt the Year of the Tiger with no pre-modern firsthand experience of the actual animal, without the sort of indigenization seen in e.g. the Vietnamese turning the Year of the Ox into that of the Water Buffalo."
Well, consider that two years after the Year of the Tiger is the Year of the Dragon, which no culture would have first hand experience of the actual animal. But it is likely that the opportunities for Japan to import Chinese culture were also opportunities for Japanese people (be that ambassadors, merchants, or sojourning monks) to actually see tigers.
B.Ma said,
December 24, 2021 @ 3:18 pm
I can't get my head around how this works in Japanese.
If this was the case in Mandarin 寅 would sometimes be read as hǔ and I don't understand why they would do this.