Sacrifice - Gisei

Japanese: 犠牲 - ぎせい

Also called sacrifice. A religious act performed in prayer for the peace of group members or the proliferation of plants and animals. It includes two forms: offerings in which items are presented to the spirits, and animal sacrifice in which an animal is killed. Offerings can be food or drink, or ordinary items, and once a relationship between god and man has been established, food and drink are more common. This is also the case with the offering of first fruits seen in Japan's first fruits ceremony. Animal sacrifice involves killing an animal to convey a wish to the gods through its soul, and presenting the animal's blood and soul to the spirits. In either case, what offerings and animal sacrifices have in common is the sanctification and charity of the items, and E. Durkheim identifies the abandonment of something precious as an essential element of sacrifice.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

供犠ともいう。集団の成員の安寧あるいは動植物の増殖を願って行う宗教的行為。神霊に物品を供える供物と，動物を殺害して行う動物犠牲の2つの形態を含む。供物には，飲食物と一般の物品との2つの場合があり，神と人との関係が確立すると，飲食物を供物とすることが多くなる。日本の初穂儀礼にみられるような初物の供進もこれである。動物犠牲は動物を殺害することにより，その霊魂によって神への願いの伝達をはかるということと，動物の血と霊魂を神霊に贈るという意味をもつ。いずれにしても供進あるいは動物供犠に共通するのは，それらの物の聖化と喜捨であり，E.デュルケムは貴重なものの放棄を犠牲の本質的な要素としてあげている。

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