house-mats, for example, when not cleaned by shaking, are fanned in order to cleanse them. These natives, when on the way to war, or in a procession, cause the main body of warriors or of people in the procession to be preceded by a band of men who fan the ground in front of them—a procedure which looks as if it is (or at least, in former times, was) intended as a means to drive evil influences from the path.[1] Now, this Fijian practice suggests to me an explanation of certain Japanese beliefs and practices in which fans are concerned.[2] At the "miya mairi" (the ceremonial first visit of an infant to the shrine of its tutelary deity) there is a custom of decorating the clothing of the child with small fans,[3] and among the presents given to the child on this occasion "two fans figure, in the case of a male, … The fans are precursors of swords."[4] At this "shrine-going" the customary gifts to the infant of its parents' friends and relatives are of a ceremonial character, and there is much evidence to show that although they are generally looked upon to-day as symbolical expressions
- ↑ Sir Everard im Thurn, who has often seen such fanning done, but who has not received any native explanation of its purpose, thinks my suggestion a reasonable one. He mentioned to me, as seemingly supporting it, that when he visited Ongtongjava (a large isolated coral atoll, inhabited by Polynesians), before it had been subjected to any European influence, and—after exercising considerable persuasion—had been permitted to enter the temple there, he observed that strong fanning, evidently of a purificatory character, took place in it after his exit, whereas before he entered no such fanning had been done.
- ↑ Was the use of the flabellum, of ancient Church ritual, like the burning of incense and the sounding of bells, perhaps in part intended as a means for keeping evil supernatural beings at a safe distance?
- ↑ H. ten Kate, "Aus dem japanischen Volksglauben," in Globus, vol. xc. p. 113. Compare this with the Bani Israils' custom noted on p. 202, infra.
- ↑ A Humbert, Japan and the Japanese, London, 1874 (trans, from an earlier French edit.), p. 280. The swords here referred to are, obviously, the pair formerly carried by a Samurai; it is, however, worthy of note that swords were (and still are) in Japan well-recognised amulets for protection against the attacks of evil supernatural beings. A certain kind of fan, "carried by priests or nobles," was formerly "also attached to presents sent by the bride's parents to the son-in-law" (J. C. Hepburn, Japn.-Eng. Dict. s.v. "Chūkei").
