著者

島田 正郎

出版者

日本文化人類学会

雑誌

季刊民族學研究 (ISSN:00215023)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.15, no.1, pp.35-40, 1950-08-15

---

Among the ceremonial institutions of Liao, there was one called Se-se-i, in which a ceremony of shooting willow-trees was held for the prupose of praying for rain. In the Liao-shih pen-chi we find also a record of praying for rain by shooting willows. Dr. M. Takikawa has argued, on the basis of the association of the willow with water, that the custom derived from the Chinese, and as it had become a mere sport (as it also did later during the Chin dynasty) its original meaning was forgotten. The present author, on the contrary, sees the origin of this ceremony as a shooting contest only, lacking any conceptual association of willow and water. As the time of the ceremony coincided with the dry season, the magical power of bow and arrow, which had been typical of the Ch'i-tan mind, came to be combined with the idea of preventing willow-leaves from withering, and consequently with that of praying for rain. The willow-shooting ceremony continued to be held even when no special intention was attached to it, until it became mere entertainment both in the Chi-shan-i and Se-se-i. This type of ceremony developed ultimately into the "Willow-shooting and polo sports" during the Chin dynasty.