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51-578: Senji Ryakketsu ( 占事略决 , lit. The Summary to Judgements of Divinations ) is one of the texts written by the legendary Abe no Seimei during the Heian Period in Japan . It is attributed to Seimei since it contains a chapter that clearly bears his name. The text contains six thousand forecast and thirty-six fortune-telling techniques based on divination through use of shikigami . Many of these divinations relate to normal daily lives such as determining

102-480: A NetEase game Onmyōji (which in turn is based on the novel series Onmyōji by author Baku Yumemakura). Seimei was portrayed by Chen Kun . To capitalize on the success of the Onmyōji films, Fuji Television produced a miniseries in 2004, called Onmyoji: Abe no Seimei . This series has no ties to cinematic releases. Hao Asakura's character from Hiroyuki Takei 's Shaman King is directly based on Seimei. Hao

153-505: A metaphysics based on cosmic analogy. Wuxing originally referred to the five major planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Mars, Venus), which were with the combination of the Sun and the Moon, conceived as creating five forces of earthly life. This is why the word is composed of Chinese characters meaning "five" ( 五 ; wǔ ) and "moving" ( 行 ; xíng ). "Moving" is shorthand for "planets", since

204-486: A feng shui practitioner attempts to rearrange energy to benefit the client. According to the Warring States period political philosopher Zou Yan ( c.  305–240 BCE), each of the five elements possesses a personified virtue ( 德 ; dé ), which indicates the foreordained destiny ( 運 ; yùn ) of a dynasty; hence the cyclic succession of the elements also indicates dynastic transitions. Zou Yan claims that

255-619: A fortune teller at the capital to help others. Abe no seimei was termed the " Merlin the Magician of Japan" by some scholars due to his legends and portrayals in several stories, folklore, and films – also due to the legends of Merlin being a cambion of a demon and a human much like the Kuzunoha legend. Abe no Seimei is credited with the Senji Ryakketsu , an Onmyōdō primer. His name appears in many works of fiction, often as

306-695: A helpful, wise man and rarely as an enemy, such as Twin Star Exorcists . There are exceptions, such as Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan , where Seimei was also a great ayakashi and the Lord of Darkness. Since 1989, Abe no Seimei has been depicted as a bishōnen . The first modern fictional work credited with bringing back widespread interest to Onmyōdō mysticism in Japan is the 1985 historical fantasy novel Teito Monogatari by Hiroshi Aramata . In

357-411: A novel series named Onmyōji with Seimei portrayed as a handsome young man who lived in a Heian-period world populated by mysterious beings. Reiko Okano turned this into a manga and became popular with teenage girls. In 2002, an NHK television series was made based on the novels. A version of Abe has also been rendered by acclaimed Taiwanese manga artist Ethan, who has stated that he is a massive fan of

408-712: A role in the Midnight Occult Civil Servants anime, about mild-mannered civil servants in Tokyo's Shinjuku ward who secretly manage a huge population of fairies and other magical creatures. The horror/survival PlayStation 2 video game Kuon featured Seimei as a female exorcist who becomes a playable character near the end of the game. Abe no Seimei was made a playable character in the PlayStation 4 , PlayStation Portable , Xbox One , and Wii U versions of Warriors Orochi 3 . Seimei appears in

459-421: A series of magical battles with a rival, Ashiya Dōman (蘆屋道満), who often tried to embarrass Seimei so that he could usurp his position. One noted story involved Dōman and the young Seimei in a divination duel to reveal the contents of a particular box. Dōman had another person put fifteen mandarin oranges into the box and "divined" that there were fifteen oranges in it. Seimei saw through the ruse, metamorphosed

510-423: A some of her powers. This Doujimaru that modern times know as 'Abe no Seimei'. (The truth about Seimei being female is known only to a few characters in-universe). In contrast to the source material, however, the second half of its anime adaptation with its completely original story in comparison to the source has Seimei still be male. He serves as the final antagonist of the anime-only storyline, with his plans to use

561-479: Is gogyo ( Japanese : 五行 , romanized :  gogyō ). During the 5th and 6th centuries ( Kofun period ), Japan adopted various philosophical disciplines such as Taoism , Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism through monks and physicians from China. As opposed to theory of Godai that is form based and was introduced to Japan through India and Tibetan Buddhism evolving the Onmyōdō system. In particular, wuxing

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612-474: Is a life art with roots in Confucian, Taoists and Buddhist theory. It centers around applied peace and health studies rather than defence or physical action. It emphasizes the unification of mind, body and environment using the physiological theory of yin, yang and five-element Traditional Chinese medicine . Its movements, exercises, and teachings cultivate, direct, and harmonise the qi . The Japanese term

663-434: Is based on wuxing , with the structure of the cosmos mirroring the five phases, as well as the eight trigrams . Each phase has a complex network of associations with different aspects of nature (see table): colors, seasons and shapes all interact according to the cycles. An interaction or energy flow can be expansive, destructive, or exhaustive, depending on the cycle to which it belongs. By understanding these energy flows,

714-454: Is extensively used in traditional five phase acupuncture today, as opposed to the modern Confucian styled eight principles based Traditional Chinese medicine. Furthermore, in combination the two systems are a formative and functional study of postnatal and prenatal influencing on genetics, psychology, sociology and ecology. The Huainanzi and the Yueling chapter ( 月令 ; Yuèlìng ) of

765-586: Is mentioned in English dubbed anime of Drifters that Abe no Haruakira was another way to read the kanji of his name. In the manga series Twin Star Exorcists , Seimei was, in fact, a female exorcist no older than thirteen. She was the founder of yang-style exorcism who did away with the King of Kegare (Impurities), creating Magano as a powerful barrier and forcefield. Before shutting herself and her retainers inside, she turned to her disciple Doujimaru and granted him

816-436: Is named for him. Japanese figure skater and two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu portrayed Abe no Seimei in his Olympic free skate program Seimei , using the soundtrack of the movies Onmyōji and Onmyōji II . With the program, Hanyu became the first skater across all disciplines to score above 200 points in the free skate and set back-to-back world records in the 2015–16 season. This program also contributed to

867-526: Is one of the locations where legends place his birth. Seimei's life is well recorded, and there is little to question about his existence. Immediately after his death, however, legends arose much like those surrounding Merlin . Many legends of Seimei were originally written in the Konjaku Monogatarishū , and by the Edo period , many stories in circulation focused on his heroic acts. His ancestry

918-481: Is the author of a magical book called Chō-Senjiryakketsu, clearly inspired by Seimei's Senji Ryakketsu . They also share facts about their lives, such as their mother being called a demon fox and their ability to create oni since they were young. Seimei had been shown in a manga called Nurarihyon no Mago by Hiroshi Shiibashi , as a Nue , dark lord of the Ayakashi, born from an evil fox. Nurarihyon no Mago

969-512: The Book of Rites make the following correlations: Tai chi uses the five elements to designate different directions, positions or footwork patterns: forward, backward, left, right and centre, or three steps forward (attack) and two steps back (retreat). The Five Steps ( 五步 ; wǔ bù ): The martial art of xingyiquan uses the five elements metaphorically to represent five different states of combat. Wuxing heqidao , Gogyo Aikido (五行合气道)

1020-605: The Konjaku Monogatarishu , he correctly predicted the abdication of Emperor Kazan based on his observation of celestial phenomena. Seimei's reputation grew sufficiently that, from the late 10th century, the Onmyōryō , the government ministry of Onmyōdō , was controlled by the Abe clan. The Kamo clan likewise became the hereditary keepers of the calendar. The mystical symbol of the central five-pointed star referred to in

1071-581: The Mandate of Heaven sanctions the legitimacy of a dynasty by sending self-manifesting auspicious signs in the ritual color (yellow, blue, white, red, and black) that matches the element of the new dynasty (Earth, Wood, Metal, Fire, and Water). From the Qin dynasty onward, most Chinese dynasties invoked the theory of the Five Elements to legitimize their reign. The interdependence of zangfu networks in

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1122-434: The wuxing element " Wood " is more accurately thought of as the " vital essence " of trees rather than the physical substance wood. This led sinologist Nathan Sivin to propose the alternative translation "five phases" in 1987. But "phase" also fails to capture the full meaning of wuxing . In some contexts, the wuxing are indeed associated with physical substances. Historian of Chinese medicine Manfred Porkert proposed

1173-444: The (somewhat unwieldy) term "Evolutive Phase". Perhaps the most widely accepted translation among modern scholars is "the five agents", proposed by Marc Kalinowski. In traditional doctrine, the five phases are connected in two cycles of interactions: a generating or creation ( 生 shēng ) cycle, also known as "mother-son"; and an overcoming or destructive ( 克 kè ) cycle, also known as "grandfather-grandson" (see diagram). Each of

1224-586: The Abe-no-Asomi descending from Abe no Miushi. The name Sukune (宿禰), through the Abe clan, was taken from Naniwa no Imiki (難波忌寸, later Naniwa no Sukune) of the Naniwa clan (難波氏), also known as the Naniwa no Kishi (難波吉士), which Naniwa no Mitsuna ( 難波 三綱 , fl.  672 ) established. According to Anderson, Abe no Seimei was a descendant of the poet Abe no Nakamaro and a disciple of Kamo no Tadayuki ( 賀茂忠行 ) and Kamo no Yasunori , 10th-century diviners of

1275-519: The Cataclysm King that is Rokuro to cleanse humanity by erasing humanity's free will. Seimei can be seen in the anime Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi , released in 2004 in the U.S. by ADV Films . The show's focus was on the Onmyoji practice of changing events to avoid an ill occurrence and the misadventures of two youths. Seimei also appears in the anime Gintama as an onmyoji, and in

1326-455: The Five Elements into 60 ming ( 命 ), or life orders, based on the ganzhi . Similar to the astrology zodiac, the ming is used by fortune-tellers to analyse individual personality and destiny. The wuxing schema is applied to explain phenomena in various fields. The five phases are around 73 days each and are usually used to describe the transformations of nature rather than their formative states. The art of feng shui (Chinese geomancy )

1377-474: The Heian court. He became Kamo no Yasunori's successor in astrology and divination, while Yasunori's son took on the lesser responsibility of devising the calendar. Seimei's duties included analyzing strange events, conducting exorcisms, warding against evil spirits, and performing various rites of geomancy . He was said to be incredibly skilled in divining the sex of fetuses and finding lost objects. According to

1428-688: The Sengoku era to train the players in the art of Onmyō magic. It is later revealed in the DLC "Darkness in the Capital" that this individual was an avatar created by the real Seimei, who had sacrificed himself alongside Minamoto no Yorimitsu to seal away Shuten Dōji and Tamamo-no-Mae within Byōdō-in during the Heian period. Seimei appears in the PlayStation Vita game Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines as

1479-839: The West as a pentagram , is known in Japan as the Seiman , the Seal of Abe no Seimei , or the Seimei Kikyō (晴明紋 / 晴明桔梗); this pentacle was originally the personal seal of Abe-no-Seimei, later becoming the symbol for the Onmyōryō (the government ministry department for the practice of Onmyōdō, or the Bureau of Taoist Geomancy) and for Onmyōdō itself, given its association with the Chinese Five Elements. According to legend, Abe no Seimei

1530-443: The anime Shonen Onmyouji which is about his grandson. Seimei is a central character in the anime called Otogi Zoshi . Seimei appears in the anime New Getter Robo as the leader of the villainous oni. The second season of the anime Garo: The Animation features a female Abe no Seimei as its protagonist. He also appears in the anime Fukigen no Mononokean with Ashiya as his companion rather than his rival. Seimei plays

1581-511: The body was said to be a circle of five things, and so mapped by the Chinese doctors onto the five phases. In order to explain the integrity and complexity of the human body, Chinese medical scientists and physicians use the Five Elements theory to classify the human body's endogenous influences on organs, physiological activities, pathological reactions, and environmental or exogenous (external, environmental) influences. This diagnostic capacity

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1632-608: The fifteenth century, but it was rebuilt in the same location and still stands today. The Seimei Jinja located in Kyoto attracts fans of Seimei's interpretations in popular culture. In 2005, the shrine was renovated and decorated with pentagrams. The shrine sells amulets with pentagrams and the Chinese bellflower adorning them, associated with Seimei. The shrine is now popular with fans of Seimei-inspired media, such as Okano Reiko's manga. The asteroid 5541 Seimei , discovered in 1976,

1683-413: The gender of an unborn child, finding lost or missing objects, and advice on how to lead one's personal life. In the manga Shaman King , this book seems to be the inspiration that led to the creation of the mystical book called Chō-Senjiryakketsu containing the thoughts and secrets of Hao Asakura . Abe no Seimei Seimei worked as an onmyōji for emperors and the Heian government, advising on

1734-584: The interactions between internal organs , the succession of political regimes, and the properties of herbal medicines . The agents are Fire , Water , Wood , Metal , and Earth . The wuxing system has been in use since it was formulated in the second or first century BCE during the Han dynasty . It appears in many seemingly disparate fields of early Chinese thought, including music , feng shui , alchemy , astrology , martial arts , military strategy , I Ching divination, and traditional medicine , serving as

1785-435: The main villain of the game, a priest who places a curse on the main characters that shortens their lifespan to only two years. Wuxing (Chinese philosophy) Wuxing ( Chinese : 五行 ; pinyin : wǔxíng ), usually translated as Five Phases or Five Agents , is a fivefold conceptual scheme used in many traditional Chinese fields of study to explain a wide array of phenomena, including cosmic cycles,

1836-402: The movie adaptation are quite different in style and plot. A sequel, Onmyōji 2 , was made in 2003. In 2020, a Chinese film, The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity , was produced based on an adaption from Onmyōji written by Baku Yumemakura . Seimei was portrayed by Mark Chao . In the following year, another Chinese film, The Yinyang Master was released. The film is an adaption of

1887-619: The name of Seimei's legendary teacher and he proudly wears Seimei's symbol, the Seiman (five-pointed star), on his gloves and handkerchief. Unlike Hirai, though, Katō's burning hatred for the Japanese Empire has metamorphosed him into an oni . With one in defense of the Empire and one against it, the two men naturally become enemies. The rest of the novel chronicles the battle between their two factions. In 1988, Baku Yumemakura started

1938-472: The novel's story, two of the primary characters, Yasumasa Hirai and Yasunori Katō , are descendants of Seimei and have inherited all his knowledge. Yasumasa Hirai is a notable example because his appearance is modeled off classic depictions of Seimei, and many of his actions are based on those of Seimei's from stories in the Uji Shūi Monogatari . Yasunori Katō 's first name "Yasunori" is derived from

1989-467: The novel. The novels were adapted into an anime by the studio Marvy Jack for Netflix in November 2023. The film Onmyōji , starring Mansai Nomura as Seimei, was released in 2001 (2004 in the U.S. ) by Pioneer (now Geneon ). As with any other work featuring both Seimei and Minamoto no Hiromasa , the film was based on Yumemakura's novels. Despite Yumemakura being involved, the manga adaptation and

2040-526: The onmyōji who discovered Tamamo-no-Mae 's true nature, although the time of the Tamamo-no-Mae story does not coincide with Seimei's lifetime; other sources credit the act to a descendant, Abe no Yasuchika . After Seimei's death, Emperor Ichijo made a shrine in his honor, the Seimei Jinja was erected at the location of his home in 1007 AD. The original shrine was destroyed in war during

2091-530: The oranges into rats, and stated that fifteen rats were in the box. When the rats were revealed, Dōman was shocked and defeated. Seimei is involved in numerous other tales as well. He appears as a minor character in the Heike Monogatari and is said to be responsible for divining the location of the Shuten-dōji , a powerful oni purportedly slain by Minamoto no Yorimitsu . He is sometimes said to be

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2142-475: The protagonist who summons various Shikigami to ward off demons alongside his onmyoji comrades. In Dragalia Lost , Seimei plays a part as head of the Ox Clan, one of the twelve Hinomotoan clans serving Amaterasu, with his soul pact dragon Gozu Tennō and his kitsune disciple Kuzunoha . Seimei appears as an NPC in the video game Nioh 2 . Despite being from the Heian period, he strangely appears during

2193-576: The spiritually correct way to deal with issues. He prayed for the well-being of emperors and the government and advised on various issues. He was also an astrologer and predicted astrological events. He enjoyed an extremely long life, free from any major illness, contributing to the popular belief that he had mystical powers. The Seimei Shrine , located in Kyoto , is dedicated to him. The Abeno train station and district in Osaka are named after him, as it

2244-515: The two cycles can be analyzed going forward or reversed. There is also an "overacting" or excessive version of the destructive cycle. The generating cycle ( 相 生 xiāngshēng ) is: The reverse generating cycle ( 相 洩 / 相 泄 xiāngxiè ) is: The destructive cycle ( 相 克 xiāngkè ) is: The excessive destructive cycle ( 相 乘 xiāngchéng ) is: A reverse or deficient destructive cycle ( 相 侮 xiāngwǔ or 相 耗 xiānghào ) is: In Ziwei divination, neiyin ( 納音 ) further classifies

2295-522: The video game Toukiden: The Age of Demons as a mitama (a hero's soul from Japanese history). In Part 1.5 of the mobile game Fate/Grand Order , Seimei's name is claimed as an undercover pseudonym used by Ashiya Dōman in the Shimōsa story chapter. Later, Seimei indirectly appears briefly in Part 2's Heian-kyō story chapter as an ally to the protagonist. Onmyoji , a mobile game, featured Abe no Seimei as

2346-529: The win of his second Olympic title in 2018 and the completion of the first career Super Slam in the men's singles discipline in 2020. Abe no Seimei's origin story would be retold on the Japanese Animation television show Folktales from Japan in episode 83. His story would appear in the third segment of the episode, telling the tale of the meeting of parents and early life known as Doujimaru. It would show how his mother commanded him to become

2397-534: The word for planets in Chinese literally translates as "moving stars" ( 行星 ; xíngxīng ). Some of the Mawangdui Silk Texts (before 168 BC) also connect the wuxing to the wude ( 五德 ; wǔdé ), the Five Virtues and Five Emotions. Scholars believe that various predecessors to the concept of wuxing were merged into one system with many interpretations during the Han dynasty . Wuxing

2448-450: Was not entirely human . His father, Abe no Yasuna (安倍 保名), was human. Still, his mother, Kuzunoha , was a kitsune (a "fox spirit"). At a very early age, no later than five, he was allegedly able to command weak oni to do his bidding. His mother entrusted Seimei to Kamo no Tadayuki to live a good human life and not become evil himself. The Heian period, mainly when Seimei lived, was a time of peace. Many of his legends revolve around

2499-800: Was adapted into an anime series starting in July 2010. Abe no Seimei also appears in the manga Igyoujin Oniwakamaru as an evil spirit who plans to revive himself to begin his second life and rule over humans and yokai. He also appeared in Kouta Hirano 's Drifters manga series leading a group of magicians called the Octobrist Organization. Appearing as a young man, he has been pulled into an alternate world where various historical figures are summoned, and magicians need their skills and techniques to save their world from destruction. It

2550-532: Was first translated into English as "the Five Elements", drawing deliberate parallels with the Greek arrangement of the four elements . This translation is still in common use among practitioners of Traditional Chinese medicine , such as in the name of Five Element acupuncture. However, this analogy is misleading. The four elements are concerned with form, substance and quantity, whereas wuxing are "primarily concerned with process, change, and quality". For example,

2601-758: Was not very clear. His ancestor might have been Abe no Masuki (安倍 益材), a Daizen-no-daibu (大膳大夫 "Master of the Palace Table"), or Abe no Shunzai (安倍 春材), a Kokushi of Awaji . Another candidate is Abe no Miushi ( 阿倍 御主人 ), who appeared as an Udaijin (右大臣 " Minister of the Right ") in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter . Seimei might also have been a descendant of Abe no Nakamaro as Abe-no-Sukune-no-Seimei (安倍宿禰晴明). However, some other sources recorded his name as Abe-no-Asomi-no-Seimei (安倍朝臣晴明), which refers to

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