Seven Gods of Good Luck

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Seven Gods of Good Luck. Shichi-Fukujin　七福神


Yamashina-E Picture
My Story : Daruma and YAMASHINA Paintings - Yamashina-E


Quote from Mark Schumacher:

The Shichifukujin are an eclectic group of deities from Japan, India, and China. Only one is native to Japan (Ebisu). Three are from India (Daikokuten, Bishamonten, and Benzaiten) and three from China (Hotei, Jurojin, and Fukurokuju).

The mystery of number seven has enraptured the Japanese as well. Ancient Japan was founded around seven districts. In Japanese folklore, there are seven treasures and seven deities of good luck (the topic of this story). Japanese Buddhists believe people are reincarnated only seven times, and seven weeks of mourning are prescribed following death.

The list goes on and on -- the seven ups and eight downs of life (Daruma san, you remember), the seven autumn flowers, the seven spring herbs, the seven types of red pepper, the seven transformations, and the popular 7-5-3 festival held each November for children, in which special Shinto rites are performed to formally welcome girls (age 3) and boys (age 5) into the community. Girls (age 7) are welcomed into womanhood and allowed to wear the obi (decorative sash worn with kimono).

Mark Schumacher has many more details and pictures
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/seven.shtml

Links about these seven deities.
http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/jgods.html

Pilgrimage in Edo.
http://home.inter.net/eds/oldtokyo/shichifukujin.html

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The belief in the seven gods of good luck may have started in the Kamakura period as the belief in Ebisu, who had been introduced from India together with Daikoku and Benten. In the Muromachi period, these three were revered together.
Next from India came Bishamonten and then from China Hotei, Fukurooju and Juroojin.

These seven gods are gathered in one common pilgrimmage for the New Year.
At the beginning of the Edo period Tokugawa Ieyasu started the first set of seven temples from Temple Kanei-Ji in the Ueno area. During the more peaceful time of the seventh Shogun Yoshimune it turned into more of a festivity and tourism and spread over all of Japan.

Nowadays, people visit these temples often as a kind of hiking entertainment or stamp ralley, but it never lost in its popularity.

visiting the temples of the seven gods of good luck
shichifukujin mairi 七福神参り
kigo for the New Year
Saijiki of Ceremonies in Japan


From the Daruma Museum
Seven Gods of Good Luck as Daruma Dolls 七福神だるま

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.. .. .. Daikoku


DAIKOKU Daruma Doll 大黒達磨


© Hisamaro, Seven Goods of Good Luck
七福神グッズいろいろ（郷土玩具編）

Click HERE for photos !

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... EBISU and HAIKU ...

Ebisu from Tamada Mura Village.
http://www.tcbnavi.com/7fukujin/yashiro/takara.html

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Look at this marvellous Clay Doll of an Ebisu
http://darumadollmuseum.blogspot.com/2005/05/ebisu-with-daruma-clay-doll.html

And here is a papermachee doll of an Ebisu-Daruma
http://darumadollmuseum.blogspot.com/2005/01/nakamura-collection.html

English Information, with a summersault Daruma added


In our Japan, pilgrimage to the Seven Good Luck Gods is executed as an event on New Year. 　And, official Seven Gods goods might be able to be obtained at each temple/shrine in some Seven Good Luck Gods sacred places.　In this home page, I explain composition of the Seven Gods, and then introduce pics of the goods obtained at the Seven Good Luck Gods sacred places in Tokyo.
http://park1.wakwak.com/~hisamaro/E-what.htm

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Ebisu is native to Japan, his name in the Shinto Pantheon is Kotoshiro-nushi-no-kami.
Many shrines throughout Japan have a festival of the First Ebisu Market (hatsu Ebisu 初恵比寿)during the New Year celebrations.

Click HERE for more photos !


On this link, you can see more pictures about the First Ebisu Market.
http://www.zephyr.dti.ne.jp/~fuyumaru/PAGES/HATUEBISUTAISAI.htm


Great Festival at Tooka Ebisu Shrine
十日恵比寿神社　正月大祭
Daruma Dolls are sold, of course. And look at some pretty Geisha on this link.



http://www.geocities.jp/hokutoflag3/ebisu8.jpg
http://www.geocities.jp/hokutoflag3/tokaebisu.htm

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This Ebisu gets a new nose for the New Year.

はなかけ恵比寿, 鼻かけえびす　hanakake Ebisu

Click HERE for more photos !

（鼻欠け恵比寿初笑い）Hanakake Ebisu Hatsu Warai

Ebisu is always ready to laugh.
The first laugh, first laughter, hatsu-warai 初笑い, is of course the best (and a kigo for the New Year).

The date is January 20. First he gets his nose re-done, and when this is done, all start laughing!



Click HERE for more photos !

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............................................................. Two haiku by ISSA

片乳を握りながらやはつ笑ひ
kata chichi o nigiri nagara ya hatsu warai

while grasping
mama's breast...
the year's first smile



乞食やもらひながらのはつ笑ひ
koijiki ya morai nagara no hatsu warai

a beggar receives
alms, the year's first
laughter

Tr. David Lanoue

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo


© Photo : www.wbs.co.jp/blog4/archives/cat51/index.html


ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

still half asleep
on the same pillow -
our fist smile

Gabi Greve, January 1, 2007
LOOK here !

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First Ebisu, Hatsu-Ebisu is also the name of a brand of Sake. It looks quite festive in its red and white decorations.
http://www.kura-yamada.com/product/hatueb.html

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七福神（しちふくじん） Seven Gods of Good Luck
恵比寿 Ebisu 、大黒天 Daikokuten 、毘沙門天 Bishamonten 、寿老人 Fukuroojin 、福禄寿 、弁財天 Benzaiten, Benten 、布袋 Hotei の七柱の神のことである。但し、寿老人と福禄寿はともに南極老人の化身とされることから、この二者は本来同一のものとみなし、寿老人の代わりに吉祥天 Kishimoji や猩猩 が入れられたことがあった。これは関西から始まったもの。誰がいつこの顔ぶれに、と定めたのかは不明。時代によってこの顔ぶれに異同がある。猩猩、稲荷 Inari が外れたのは、人間の姿ではなかったためとも言われる。
おめでたい存在とされ、七福神めぐりが行われたり、正月に枕の下に七福神の乗った宝船 の絵を入れておくと良い初夢 First Dream が見られるなどとされている。
http://dict.threetree.jp/3/1747.html

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Let us take a closer look at Hotei （Pu-tai) now. 布袋

Quoting from my book about Buddha Statues
http://www.geocities.com/gabigreve2000/seckel01.html

He is the god of contentment and happiness. He is the only one of the seven deities who is modelled after a real person, the Chinese Zen Priest Kaishi (Ki-hi) , who lived around 900 in T'ang China in the Mountain Temple Shimeizan. He wandered around in the country, carrying his few belongings in a big sack. He freely shared his things with people in need and the local children all loved to be around him.

In his free way of life he teaches us to cultivate a mind free of worry and a heart free of wishes, since these are greater treasures than anything else you can carry around in this world.

He is known to be an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Maitreya (Miroku Bosatsu) the Future Buddha.

His iconography is simple:
An old, bold man who carries a huge bag. His robe is open and shows his huge belly. Sometimes he holds a Chinese fan (uchiwa) in his hand. Many illustrations show him resting on his huge bag. He is very often represented in Bizen Pottery.

Here you can see him carrying the wishfulfilling jewel and with a child at his side
http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/japan/hotei3.jpg


At the Temple Manpuku-Ji in Kyoto, there is this statue



Hotei is thought to be based on a Chinese monk named Bu-dai, who became identified as an incarnation of Miroku, the Bodhisattva of the future. The statue is kept in the Tenno-den (Heavenly Kings Hall) of the temple.
http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/japan/mampukuji8.html


Hotei as the object of Haiku


the sacred laughter of
the silent Buddha blooms
the garden, the sky ~

brahman~Narayanan~

Read more haiku here:
http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/PH_detail?photo_sn_in=1149

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

Hotei Daruma on a Stone
石ころに彩色した布袋達磨。　群馬県みなかみ町の“たくみの里”産



© Hisamaro, Seven Goods of Good Luck
七福神グッズいろいろ（郷土玩具編）
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Here is another version of his legend.



He is the god of happiness, laughter and the wisdom of contentment, and is the patron of the weak and children, fortunetellers and bartenders. Hotei is distinguished by his body of generous proportions and round stomach exposed beneath loose robes. His big belly is a symbol of happiness, luck and generosity. On his back he carrys a huge linen bag containing precious things and gifts of good fortune, including children. He also holds an uchiwa, a flat fan of Chinese orgin used by ancient chieftains as an emblem of authority and wish granting. He may sit in an old cart drawn by boys, as the Wagon Priest, and can be compared with the Buddhistic Mi-lo-Fo.
In Chinese Buddhism he is known as Budai, the Loving or Friendly One. He was a wandering Chan Buddhist monk who lived in the ninth century. At his death between 901 and 903, he recited a poem that revealed to the world that he was in fact the Bodhisattva Maitreya in disguise. Maitreya, Chinese Buddhists believe, is the future buddha, who will return to the world and bring innumerable individuals to salvation. This concept of hope for the suffering, combined with Budai's pleasing, human features, made him a most popular Buddhist deity. It was not until the sixteenth century that he was canonised as the sixteenth and last Chinese bodhisattva.
According to Chinese legend he carried a sack of candy to give to children.

He is sometimes worshipped as a god of good luck and prosperity. He is always represented as very stout, with the breast and upper abdomen exposed to view. His face has a widely grinning or laughing expression, and he is also known as the Laughing Buddha. He stands in the first hall of the Buddhist monastery. Because of his constant good nature, he has become the symbol of philosophical contentment.
http://www.holymtn.com/gods/hotei.htm

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Hotei painted by Miyamoto Musashi

Fukuoka Art Museum

布袋見闘鶏図
宮本武蔵は江戸時代前期の剣豪で、二天一流剣法の始祖です。書画にもすぐれた武蔵は、南宋の梁楷の減筆体や海北友松の画風を学び、気迫のこもった水墨画を残しました。この布袋見闘鶏図には、伝・梁楷、海北友松の作品にも同じ図様のものが見られますが、全体的には友松の作品に近いといえます。まさに飛びかからんとしてにらみ合う二羽の鶏を、布袋は悠然と眺めおろしています。この作品の旧蔵者である茶人・松永耳庵は「布袋という絶対者が、争いの絶えない世間を見つめている」と喝破しました。終生戦いの場に身を置いた宮本武蔵が辿りついた境地として見れば、興味は尽きません。
http://www.fukuoka-art-museum.jp/jc/html/jc05/01/hotei.html

More famous paintings of Hotei

By Doi San 土井利位 筆
http://www.city.koga.ibaraki.jp/rekihaku/sekka/1-4.htm

Questioning Shomaka 布袋蒋摩訶問答図
http://www.nezu-muse.or.jp/syuuzou/kaiga/10392.html

By Shunsoo 菱田春草　「布袋之図」
http://www.iida-museum.org/~art/shunso/hotei.html

By 黙庵霊淵（？～1345?)
http://www.sumitomo.gr.jp/related/senoku02/ipix/exhibit01.html


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Hotei, being a cheerful, contented Buddhist monk, is a wonderful little icon; where just the appearance can have the ability to cheer anyone up from a bad day. His largely exposed, pot-belly stomach protrudes in front of him as he continues to laugh through never ending time. This familiar looking statue can be found just about anywhere in the world, and maybe better known as the Laughing Buddha.

The name Hotei actually means "cloth bag" or "glutton." A legend has it that if a person is to rub his belly, it brings forth wealth, good luck, and prosperity.

http://www.uwec.edu/greider/BMRB/culture/student.work/albrectj/


Hotei carrying a lady across the stream

Nishimura Shigenaga 1697-1756

Read more about this deity.
http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/jgods.html

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Hotei on a plate made by Kakiemon, Arita.
柿右衛門　色絵布袋図皿
http://www.umakato.jp/tanakamaru/sk_006.html


Another Kutani plate with Hotei

http://shofu.pref.ishikawa.jp/shofu/intro/HTML/H_S40256.html

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Read a lot more here in an essay by Jennifer Polden.
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/hotei_by_jennifer_polden.htm

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You can buy a lot of lucky charms with Hotei here:

http://www.luckfactory.com/chinahoteibuddha1.html

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Here is a page from a School of Tea with scrolls for every month.

Our Daruma is there for march and april, and Hotei for the first month.
http://www.zengift-senshin.co.jp/senshin/calendar05t.htm


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Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Darumasan-Japan/

To the Daruma Museum Index
http://darumasan.blogspot.com/


.　World Kigo Database .