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The Kodokan Tenegui
A special thank you to Masatake Sumi Sensei for the design and the shodo
The Shodo from left to right on the tenegui
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礼Rei:- Courtesy
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義Gi:- Truth and Justice
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智Chi:- Wisdom
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仁Jin:- Love and Sympathy
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信Shin:- Faith
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The above shows the Chinese characters from the sho or shodo (calligraphy) on the tenegui with the Japanese pronunciation and in English, their Confucian meanings.
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The Combination of the characters 仁 義 礼 智 信 (Jin-Gi-Rei-Chi-Shin) is called Gojo in the Japanese pronunciation.
Gojo represents the five ethics which should be kept by a human being in Confucianism. The Tokugawa Shogunate adopted Confucianism as an official ideology. Gojo therefore became a
samurai's ethics standard. These are also the five values represented by the five pleats in the front of a hakama.
Tenegui have been used as a ceremonial ornament since ancient times. They were also used as a guard under the helmet in the age of civil wars. Kabuki actors designed their own original
tenegui and gave it to their patrons as a gift since the early days of the Edo era.
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also a thank you to Nagao Sensei for the information on tenegui and the characters.
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KODOKAN KENDO CLUB