ANST-701 Lessons

Eagerly anticipating another year of studies in Ancient Studies’ sixth-floor classroom, the students gather outside of the door a few minutes before class begins. At the appointed hour, the doors open and the students flow into the classroom like a wave.

All traces of the previously studied ancient civilizations have vanished and new tapestries filled with what looks like Japanese characters hang on the walls as the soft music of a shamisen floats through the air.

The students spy the professor kneeling on a thick carpet, gently plucking the strings of the instrument. She finishes her song, and motions for the students to take their seats.

Welcome back, my dears! I am so pleased that you have decided to continue your education in Ancient Studies. Whether you have your heart set on being a curse-breaker or magiarchaeologist, or are here simply for the love of the topic, I am happy to see you.

We have a great deal to cover this year, so let’s get through the basics as quickly as possible.

Year Seven Outline

Unless Peeves hides all of my notes again, the lessons for this year will be as follows:

Lesson 1: Intro to Magic in Asia and Oceania, Japan Part I
Lesson 2: Japan, Part II
Lesson 3: China, Part I
Lesson 4: China, Part II
Lesson 5: India, Part I
Lesson 6: India, Part II
Lesson 7: Aboriginal Australians
Lesson 8: Maori
Lesson 9: Rapa Nui

Now, enough with the administrative tasks, let’s jump right into our studies!

Magic in Asia and Oceania

If you have followed Ancient Studies all the way from Year Four, you will realize that we have covered a vast expanse of the globe. You will also recall the differences between the civilizations we have studied in terms of their magical beliefs and practices, as well as the similarities.

While many of the civilizations we will explore this year are incredibly ancient, I have saved them for the end of our world tour as they share numerous similarities with many of the other civilizations around the globe. For example, they have gods and goddesses as commonly found in African, Middle Eastern, and European civilizations. They also have an incredible respect and affinity for nature, akin to what is found in the Americas and parts of Europe. It is a tantalizing mix, and one that is complexly interwoven with magical knowledge and practice.

The Japanese civilization is a great example of this complex system, and so we shall turn our attention to their history and culture for our next two lessons.

A Brief History of Japan

As this is not History of Magic, I will not bore you with intricate details and dates of all the reigning emperors of the Japanese nation. We will instead take a brief tour of the major periods of Japanese history in order to set the stage for our discussions on their magic and culture.

The first evidence of humans living in Japan can be traced back almost 40,000 years ago. While we have little more than cave paintings and pottery fragments as evidence, we can surmise that this hunter-gather civilization crossed a land bridge from mainland Eurasia sometime during the corresponding glacial period. The civilization developed quite similarly to others in ancient history, and during the period known as ancient Japan (10,000 BCE to 538 CE), it slowly shifted from a feudal society with multiple mini-states, to a single kingdom.

The latter part of the ancient period is worthy of mention. Named the Kofun period, it was characterized by grand burial mounds of the same name. As you may recall from our discussions on previous civilizations such as ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, burial mounds are not insubstantial things. The kofun of Japan (sometimes referred to as a tumulus, plural tumuli), while not as elaborate as an Egyptian pyramid, were nonetheless impressive. Taking well over a decade to construct, these mounds ranged from several to 400 metres in length, and took on varying shapes of circles, squares, and even keyholes. The shape of the keyhole, while originally accidental, became an indicator for a great ruler, usually the emperor. Other members of the royal family would have smaller kofun, possibly in a keyhole shape if they were the empress, but more likely a circle or square.

The largest of these kofun is Daisen Kofun, attributed to Emperor Nintoku. It took twenty years of careful work by the Gringotts curse-breakers to clear that mess up before deciding that perhaps the Muggles were right, and these burial places were best left untouched. The Japanese were quite adept at protecting their places of honour - something we will discuss later. And today the belief that places of honour should be revered and respected in perpetuity is so entrenched in the people that they will not step foot into the kofun for any reason.

It is during this ancient period that the Japanese practice of divination, called onmyodo, developed. Based on the principles of Yin and Yang, as well as the five elements and astronomy, this practice was the beginning of practical divination, meaning that divination was acknowledged and used as a tool, not a fanciful, mystical practice. Of course, practitioners of divination certainly existed before this time, however they were now recognized as a legitimate profession with great benefit to the empire. 

Onmyodo involves determining which direction a person should travel. Literally. This practice determined whether someone should turn right instead of left, enter through the back door instead of the front, and other similar decisions based on how lucky or unlucky a certain direction was at that time. Similar to other civilizations, this practice was used mostly for the benefit of the imperial court.

Onmyodo saw great advancements during the Classical period, culminating in the creation of the onmyoji, a class of civil servants - most certainly all witches and wizards - who were professional practitioners of this art. During this time the art morphed somewhat, and the direction of the empire - namely the choices of the emperor - were now determined by this practice.

Let’s take a closer look at the Classical period (538 to 1185 CE). If you think about “traditional Japan,” you are probably thinking about this period of Japanese history. It is during this time that the imperial court held the greatest sway, and the country was in one of its most peaceful and stable times. When great wars are not constant, the creativity of a culture tends to flourish. It is when great epics of poetry and prose are created, fine and dramatic arts are given great value, and people are able to create something greater than what existed before. 

Of course, for the magical community, this period is exemplified by the creation of Mahoutokoro School of Magic on the island of Minami Iwo Jima. It is here that the magical community collected their knowledge and passed it along to the best and brightest of the following generations. I am certain you believe that starting your wizarding education at 11 years old and being here until you are 17 seems long… imagine starting at seven years old! Indeed, that is when students at Mahoutokoro begin their studies, although they are day-students, going to and from the school on the backs of giant storm petrels, until they begin boarding at the school at 11 years.

Mahoutokoro

Magical practice also flourished during the Classical period and it was during this time that the magical kotodama were established and standardized - but more on this later.

The end of the Classical period and beginning of the Medieval period (1185 to 1603 CE) was ushered in by a fight over the imperial throne. This internal strife set the tone for the period during which the control of the empire - while verbally stated as the imperial throne - was actually thinly veiled militaristic control, often through the official shogunates, which were areas of control given to the shogun, the leader of a certain geographical area, by order of the throne. Throughout this period - and into the Early-modern period (1603 to 1868 CE) that followed - much of the artistic, creative, and magical development slowed as a greater focus was on war and the attempt to resolidify the empire under the direct control of the emperor.

At this point we have certainly summarized anything that can even remotely be considered “ancient,” however there is one final topic that I would like to introduce you to today, which we will discuss further in our next class: kotodama.

Kotodama

If I have been a bit lackluster in terms of magical history in this lesson so far, allow me to delve into one of the very basic concepts of Japanese magical theory, namely, kotodama.

Kotodama - regardless of its magical or Muggle definition - is the belief that all words have power. More specifically, that the names of things - whether they are living or not - have a mystical or magical power.

The word “kotodama” roughly translates from Japanese to “soul of language” or “magic word.” Think of it like this: your soul - your very essence - has a magic to it, and that magic can be used and controlled by invoking its true name. Now, this true name - especially for a human - is probably not the one that your parents gave you at birth, but something quite different and unique to you.

In terms of magic use, this theory presupposes that sounds - literally the pronouncement of words - can affect not only the physical properties of something, such as in basic transfiguration and charms work, but also the mind and soul of a creature or person, which is also discussed in more advanced transfiguration and charms work here at Hogwarts. 

Does this sound far fetched? Perhaps - but does the Imperius Curse not force someone to physically do what they are told? If we apply this theory, in this case the name of the curse causes the magical energy in the person to force the person to follow the commands of the caster. The Cruciatus Curse certainly tortures the body and mind. And, well, spells can be used to kill as well, and that is certainly a disruption to the spirit.

So what do we take away from this theory? Both that it is as applicable to magic as with other theories we have studied, and also that the Japanese culture puts great value in both the power of words.

Conclusion

And that is all the time we have for today! Our next class will continue our discussion on Japanese magic - we will explore how kotodama is manifested in magical kanji, talk about how it is applied in the field of martial arts, and learn a bit more about two great Japanese wizards. Until then, you will have a quiz on today’s material, as well as a short essay to complete.

Mata Kondou

Image credits here, here, and here
Original lesson written by Professor Liria Morgan