Why give a carp streamer to Children’s Day / Dragon Boat Festival? Know the meaning, origin and origin of carp streamers so that you can explain them to your children. We will also explain the transition and meaning of the color of the carp streamer, which was originally only black, and the modern circumstances such as for the balcony.
Why do you give a carp streamer to Children’s Day / Dragon Boat Festival? What does the color mean?
Why do you give a carp streamer on Children’s Day (Danobori) on May 5th? The carp is swimming in the sky, not in the water, so it’s strange to think about it again. I often ask them to grow up like a carp streamer swimming in the sky, but I have a deeper feeling for the origin of the carp streamer, and I feel a sense of intimacy with my child.
Meaning of carp streamer
Carp is a symbol of success in life with “longmen” and “carp waterfall streamer” The carp streamer contains a wish to break through the difficulties encountered in the flow of life like a carp and succeed in life . This is derived from the legend that is famous as “Toryumon”
In China and “Koi no Taki Climbing” in Japan . Originally, carp is a fish with strong vitality that can live not only in clear streams but also in ponds and swamps. There is a waterfall called Ryumon in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in China, and it was said that the fish that climbed up the waterfall became a dragon with spiritual power.
There is no other freshwater fish with enough momentum to climb the waterfall, and at one point one carp climbed up the dragon gate while resisting the fierce waterfall, and the carp transformed into a dragon and ascended to heaven. It is a story that I went . In China, the dragon is also a symbol of the emperor and is very auspicious.
This “Toryumon” is the etymology of the familiar idiom that indicates the barrier to success in life. The main gate of the examination site of the Imperial Examination System, which is a super-elite in ancient China, is also called “Ryumon”. The Chinese character “waterfall” is also derived from this event. * There are both theories of longmen and longmen, and dragons and dragons.
* The story of Longmen originated from the Chinese “Gohansho” and “Sanhataki”, but the original book says “fish” and there is no description of “carp”. It seems that it was later interpreted as a carp.
Origin and origin of carp streamers
The townspeople made carp streamers against the samurai nobori.
Originally, in Japan, when a boy was born to a shogun, it was customary to raise a flag sashimono (a flag with a family crest) and a nobori (nobori) to celebrate. Eventually, this spread to the samurai family and began to make a nobori as a sign that a boy was born. It was the practice of the samurai to set up a nobori at the Dragon Boat Festival and decorate armor and helmets as well as to dry insects.
On the other hand, even wealthy merchants in Edo began to decorate imitations of armor in an attempt to compete with the samurai. Then, the idea of making a carp, which was a symbol of a successful career, was born by climbing a carp waterfall, and a carp streamer was fried among the townspeople against the samurai nobori. Ukiyo-e paintings from the Edo period show that the samurai residence is centered around the nobori, and that the townspeople raise carp streamers. There are also many pictures of children playing with small carp streamers for their own use.
Initially, a picture of a carp was drawn on Japanese paper, but an unbreakable cloth carp streamer was created, and synthetic fiber carp streamers were born in the 1955’s and continue to the present day. Because of this, there are areas and houses where not only carp streamers but also samurai nobori are given.
Meaning of carp streamer color
The only carp streamer that was born in the Edo period was the black true carp. Soon, scarlet carp was added from around the Meiji era, and it became two colors, true carp and scarlet carp. After that, from the Showa era, it became a style that represents the family by adding child carp such as blue and green. According to one theory, the nursery rhyme of “Koinobori” (lyrics: Miyako Kondo, composition: unknown) influenced the family formation and was inspired by the mark of the Tokyo Olympics and became multicolored.
Currently, the black true carp is the father, the red scarlet carp is the mother, the eldest son is blue, the second son is green, the eldest daughter is pink or orange, and so on.
Carp streamers are diverse! Carp streamers for balconies and indoors are also popular
A carp streamer with the wish of a successful career as the child grows healthy. The carp streamer swimming in the sky is a symbol of Children’s Day, the festival of the dawn. Currently, it is diversified into carp streamers for balconies and carp streamers that can be displayed in the room according to the housing situation, and it is also popular as a seasonal decoration.
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