Bathing in the water - gyozui

Washing away sweat and dust from the body with hot or cold water. In the past, bathing in water to cleanse oneself of impurities was for religious reasons and was called misosogi (a purification ritual), and was a spiritual act of purification before carrying out religious practices. This became a form of purification before festivals, and in the Heian period it was called 'gyo-mi' (ablutions), and being splashed under a waterfall was one example of this. Bathing without religious meanings was also practiced in parallel with this, and from the Edo period onwards, bathing in a basin filled with hot or cold water became common in ordinary households, and small boats with bathtubs installed for people who lived on the water also appeared. Even today, in India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America and other places, gyo-mi, which have religious meanings, are often seen alongside ordinary bathing.

[Noun Sato]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

湯または水で、体の汗やほこりを流し去ること。古くは宗教的な意味から、穢(けがれ)をはらうため水浴をしてこれを禊(みそぎ)（みそそぎ）といい、行を行う前提としての精神的浄化行為であった。これが祭事前の潔斎となり、平安時代には行水とよび、滝に打たれることなどもその一種であった。宗教的意味のない沐浴(もくよく)もこれと並行して行われ、江戸時代以降、一般家庭でもたらいなどに湯や水を入れて沐浴をすることが普及し、水上生活者のために小舟に据風呂(ぶろ)を設けた行水船も現れた。現在もインドや中東、東南アジア、南米などでは、一般の沐浴とともに宗教的意味をもつ行水が多くみられる。

［佐藤農人］

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