Sakaki
Encyclopedia
Sakaki is a flowering
evergreen
tree
native to warm areas of Japan
, Korea
and mainland China
. It can reach a height of 10 m. The leaves
are 6–10 cm long, smooth, oval, leathery, shiny and dark green above, yellowish-green below, with deep furrows for the leaf stem. The bark is dark reddish brown and smooth. The small, scented, cream-white flower
s open in early summer, and are followed later by berries
which start red and turn black when ripe. Sakaki is one of the common trees in the second layer of the evergreen oak
forests.
Sakaki is considered a sacred tree in the Shinto
religion
along with other evergreens such as hinoki 檜 "Japanese cypress" and kansugi 神杉 "sacred cryptomeria
". In Shinto ritual offerings to the kami
神 "gods; spirits", branches of sakaki are decorated with (shide
) paper streamers to make tamagushi
.
word sakaki is written 榊 with a kanji
character that combines ki 木 "tree; wood" and kami
神 "spirit; god", depicting "sacred tree; divine tree". The lexicographer Michael Carr notes,
Sakaki 榊 first appears in the (12th century) Konjaku Monogatarishū
, but two 8th-century transcriptions are 賢木 "sage tree" (Kojiki
, tr. Chamberlain 1981:64 "pulling up by pulling its roots a true cleyera japonica with five hundred [branches] from the Heavenly Mount Kagu") and 坂木 "slope tree" (Nihon Shoki
, tr. Aston 1896:42–43, "True Sakaki tree of the Heavenly Mt. Kagu"). Sakaki 賢木 or 榊 is the title of Chapter 10 in The Tale of Genji
(ca. 1021). It comes from this context.
The etymology
of sakaki 榊 is uncertain. With linguistic consensus that the -ki suffix
denotes 木 "tree", the two most probable etymologies are either sakae-ki "evergreen tree" (from sakae 栄え "flourishing; luxuriant; prosperous") or sakai-ki "boundary tree" (from sakai 境 "boundary; border"). Carr (1995:13) cites Japanese tradition and historical phonology to support the latter etymon. Shinto shrines are traditionally encircled with shinboku 神木 "sacred trees". In reconstructed Old Japanese
, sakaki < sakakī and sakai "boundary" were "monograde" (一段) while sakae "flourishing" was "bigrade" (二段).
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
native to warm areas of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and mainland China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. It can reach a height of 10 m. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are 6–10 cm long, smooth, oval, leathery, shiny and dark green above, yellowish-green below, with deep furrows for the leaf stem. The bark is dark reddish brown and smooth. The small, scented, cream-white flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s open in early summer, and are followed later by berries
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
which start red and turn black when ripe. Sakaki is one of the common trees in the second layer of the evergreen oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
forests.
Uses
Sakaki wood is used for making utensils (especially combs), building materials, and fuel. It is commonly planted in gardens, parks, and shrines.Sakaki is considered a sacred tree in the Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
along with other evergreens such as hinoki 檜 "Japanese cypress" and kansugi 神杉 "sacred cryptomeria
Cryptomeria
Cryptomeria is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae; it includes only one species, Cryptomeria japonica . It is endemic to Japan, where it is known as Sugi...
". In Shinto ritual offerings to the kami
Kami
is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...
神 "gods; spirits", branches of sakaki are decorated with (shide
Shide (shinto)
is a zigzag-shaped paper streamer, often seen attached to shimenawa or tamagushi, and used in Shinto rituals. A popular ritual is using a haraegushi, or "lightning wand", named for the zig-zag shide paper that adorns the wand. A similar wand, used by miko for purification and blessing, is the gohei...
) paper streamers to make tamagushi
Tamagushi
is a form of Shinto offering made from a sakaki-tree branch decorated with shide strips of washi paper, silk, or cotton. At Japanese weddings, funerals, miyamairi and other ceremonies at Shinto shrines, tamagushi are ritually presented to the kami by parishioners or kannushi priests.-Linguistic...
.
Linguistic background
The JapaneseJapanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
word sakaki is written 榊 with a kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
character that combines ki 木 "tree; wood" and kami
Kami
is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...
神 "spirit; god", depicting "sacred tree; divine tree". The lexicographer Michael Carr notes,
In modern Japanese, sakaki is written 榊 with a doubly exceptional logograph. It is an ideographIdeographIdeograph is a term coined by rhetorical scholar and critic Michael Calvin McGee describing the use of particular words and phrases as political language in a way that captures particular ideological positions...
(in the proper sense of 'logograph representing an idea' rather than loosely 'Chinese character; logograph') and is a kokuji 国字 'Japanese [not Chinese] logograph.' Ideograms and kokuji are two of the rarest logographic types, each constituting a small percentage of a typical written Japanese sample. First, the idea of sakaki is expressed with a melding of boku or ki 木 'tree' and shin or kami 神 'god; divine, sacred' [of Shinto 神道]; comparable to a graphic fusion of the word shinboku 神木 'sacred tree.' Second, the sakaki 榊 ideograph is a kokuji 'national [i.e., Japanese] logograph' rather than a usual kanji 漢字 'Chinese logograph' borrowing. Kokuji often denote Japanese plants and animals not native to China, and thus not normally written with Chinese logographs. (1995:11)
Sakaki 榊 first appears in the (12th century) Konjaku Monogatarishū
Konjaku Monogatarishu
is a Japanese collection of over one thousand tales written during the late Heian period . The entire collection was originally contained in 31 volumes, of which only 28 remain today...
, but two 8th-century transcriptions are 賢木 "sage tree" (Kojiki
Kojiki
is the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, dating from the early 8th century and composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Gemmei. The Kojiki is a collection of myths concerning the origin of the four home islands of Japan, and the Kami...
, tr. Chamberlain 1981:64 "pulling up by pulling its roots a true cleyera japonica with five hundred [branches] from the Heavenly Mount Kagu") and 坂木 "slope tree" (Nihon Shoki
Nihon Shoki
The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...
, tr. Aston 1896:42–43, "True Sakaki tree of the Heavenly Mt. Kagu"). Sakaki 賢木 or 榊 is the title of Chapter 10 in The Tale of Genji
The Tale of Genji
is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the first novel still to be...
(ca. 1021). It comes from this context.
"May I at least come up to the veranda?" he asked, starting up the stairs. The evening moon burst forth and the figure she saw in its light was handsome beyond describing. Not wishing to apologize for all the weeks of neglect, he pushed a branch of the sacred tree in under the blinds. "With heart unchanging as this evergreen, This sacred tree, I enter the sacred gate." She replied: "You err with your sacred tree and sacred gate. No beckoning cedars stand before my house." And he: "Thinking to find you here with the holy maidens, I followed the scent of the leaf of the sacred tree." Though the scene did not encourage familiarity, he made bold to lean inside the blinds. (tr. Seidensticker 1976:187)
The etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
of sakaki 榊 is uncertain. With linguistic consensus that the -ki suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
denotes 木 "tree", the two most probable etymologies are either sakae-ki "evergreen tree" (from sakae 栄え "flourishing; luxuriant; prosperous") or sakai-ki "boundary tree" (from sakai 境 "boundary; border"). Carr (1995:13) cites Japanese tradition and historical phonology to support the latter etymon. Shinto shrines are traditionally encircled with shinboku 神木 "sacred trees". In reconstructed Old Japanese
Old Japanese
is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language.This stage in the development of Japanese is still actively studied and debated, and key Old Japanese texts, such as the Man'yōshū, remain obscure in places.-Dating:...
, sakaki < sakakī and sakai "boundary" were "monograde" (一段) while sakae "flourishing" was "bigrade" (二段).
External links
- PLANTS Profile for Cleyera japonica (sakaki), USDA PLANTS database
- Sakaki, Goo's Tree Encyclopedia
- Detailed information on Sakaki Cleyera japonica, PlantFiles
- Sakaki, Sacred Tree of Shinto, Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden newsletter 1999
- Sakaki, Encyclopedia of Shinto
- Shrubs: Cleyera japonica, NC State University Urban Horticulture
- NOS CLEYERA PAGE, Plantnames.org