Encyclopedia of Shinto

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カテゴリー1： 7. Concepts and Doctrines
カテゴリー2： Basic Terms
Title
Zen-aku
Text
The term can also be read as "yoshi-ashi." It is a value-oriented pair of opposing words. The content of this oppositional pair of concepts is explained as referring to good or bad luck, right or wrong, pure or impure, beauty or ugliness, superiority or inferiority and similar pairs. At the very core of these binaries lies the religious conception of purity versus impurity. Since the term zen'aku supposes contrasts such as good and ill fortune or a correct versus an evil mindset, it contributes to notions of morality and social norm, and thereby demonstrates an aspect of religious ethics. The Shinto ideal of "bright, pure, upright and straight" (meijō shōjiki), which stresses the purging of defilement and the bringing forth of a world filled with pure and fresh life, is a result of the expansion and development of this concept of zen'aku.
— Fukui Yoshihiko

Pronunciation in Japanese/用語音声

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