Re: Naming days of the week and months of the year????

Fabian wrote:
> Someoen once remarked (I think it is also in a sci.lang.japan faq) that the
> kanji names for the days of the week have parallels in Western names of the
> days. To whit:
>
> en  jp        kanji ar zh pagan
> Mon getuyoubi moon  2  1  moon[2]
> Tue kayoubi   fire  3  2  ?
> Wed suiyoubi  water 4  3  Odin
> Thu mokuyoubi wood  5  4  Thor
> Fri kinyoubi  gold  6  5  Frey
> Sat douyoubi  earth 7  6  saturn[1]
> Sun nitiyoubi sun   1  7  sun[2]
Roman names were (using your order)
Day of the Moon
Day of Mars
Day of Mercury
Day of Jupiter
Day of Venus
Day of Saturn
Day of the Sun

In the East:
Mars = Fire-Star
Mercury = Water-Star
Jupiter = Wood-Star
Venus = Gold-Star
Saturn = Earth-Star
Those being the five traditional elements (in Chinese, "gold" is
"metal")

The Chinese adopted the Western week, and translated the days.  So,
Mars-Day -> Fire-Day, and so on.

--
Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon
A nation without a language is a nation without a heart - Welsh proverb
ICQ: 18656696
AIM Screen-Name: NikTaylor42