whinging poms

[wombat1138]

Misc. notes on Asian cultural trivia about pomegranates.

The British Medical Journal (the sentence footnoted to Munsterberg is somewhat contradicted/clarified by some of the other sources I've separately cited below, but I don't know whether the error originally arises from M. or from the BMJ's imperfect understanding; would have to find the book to determine that):

Along with the citrus and the peach, the pomegranate is one of the three blessed fruits [of Buddhism]. In Buddhist art the fruit represents the essence of favourable influences.[9] In Buddhist legend the demoness Hariti, who devoured children, was cured of her evil habit by the Buddha, who gave her a pomegranate to eat. She is depicted in Buddhist art holding a child. In Japan she is known as Kishimojin and is invoked by infertile women.[10]

In China the pomegranate is widely represented in ceramic art symbolising fertility, abundance, posterity, numerous and virtuous offspring, and a blessed future.[11] A picture of a ripe open pomegranate is a popular wedding present.

[9. Hall, J. Hall's illustrated dictionary of symbols in eastern and western art. London: John Murray; 1995.
10.Munsterberg, H. Dictionary of Chinese and Japanese art. New York: Hacker Art Books; 1981. p. 241.
11.Cooper, JC. An illustrated encyclopaedia of traditional symbols. London: Thames and Hudson; 1995. p. 134.]

PDF brochure from the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore: the pomegranate is a symbol of growth in Asian art (examples? regional specificity?)

Food Culture in Japan by Michael Ashkenazi and Jeanne Jacob, via Google Books, pp 160-161:

Many foods are directly or indirectly associated with Buddhism. Primary among them is lotus root (renkon). The lotus plant grows in water and is not anchored to the ground. It reproduces vegetatively and brings forth a perfect blue or white flower with intense perfume. It is thus a major symbol for the Buddhist law. The eating of lotus root in Buddhist temples, aside from its aesthetic appearance, is thus an act of piety as well. Diametrically opposite is the pomegranate. A ferocious man-eating demon named Dakini had a thousand children whom she supplied with human meat. The Buddha trapped one of her offspring under his begging bowl. To secure the infant's release, Dakini promised to refrain from eating human flesh, and to serve as protectress of children. She is usually depicted holding a pomegranate, symbol of her thousand infants and of fecundity in general. However, as a consequence, many Japanese refuse to eat pomegranate, claiming the seeds taste like human flesh.

Discussion of the incorporation of Hindu/Buddhist religious elements throughout East Asia; Dakini and Hariti identified as different figures, not different names for the same one:

A sea-serpent worshipped by sailors is called Ryujin [in Japan], a Chinese equivalent of the Indian naga. Hariti and Dakini are also worshipped, the former as Kishimo-jin, and the latter by her original name.

[The ref to Ryuujin interests me, because of connections with the three sea-dragon princesses I compiled a long post about at some point. Benten is sometimes identified as a similar serpentine sea-goddess, of whom this site adds, "the Indian goddess of learning, Saraswati, has become Benten (literally, goddess of speech), with many shrines dedicated to her along sea coasts and beside lakes and ponds."]

Thangkas here of Dakini, Hariti, and Saraswati, as well as of Amaterasu and the Virgin of Guadelupe among others?

(I'll probably have to hunt down more info about Dakini's original Hindu nature-- frex, this site uses "dakini" as a relatively generic term for a type of demigoddess? In the meantime, Onmark notes that in Japan, Dakini has somewhat bifurcated into O-Inari and Daikoku, both rice-harvest deities.)


There seems to be a deep underlying sense of ambivalence about pomegranates' symbolism in Japan, based on the stuff so far, arising from different combinations of the same functional elements. There's the benevolent pomegranate-goddess who protects innocent human children in thanks for her own gift from Buddha, and the vicious one who murdered humans until dissuaded by Buddha's threat to (or at least captivity of) one of her own bloodthirsty children.

Comments

[wombat1138.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I've done that-- when you take them apart underwater, the juice squirts get absorbed by the water instead of getting all over you; also, as you separate the seedy bits from the white membraney bits, the seeds sink down to the bottom but the membranes float up, so you can skim those off and dump them before draining out the seeds in a colander. But usually I just pick at them out of a big dry bowl of pomegranate bits.

I was amazed to find out that some people carefully eat the red pulp from around each seed and then spit the seeds out, which makes for an incredible amount of work per calorie consumed. I just crunch them up seeds and all; imho the actual seeds aren't really bitter, just... crunchy and maybe slightly nutty in flavor.

The little snack annex at the local Target has raspberry-pomegranate smoothies that taste nice, but have disconcerting little bits of fiber that're the texture of wet cardboard, which is what I thought the first one was when it came up through the straw. I guess they must be associated with the pomegranate in some way? When making smoothies at home, I've had mixed results with trying to incorporate pomegranates; if the ice stays in little chunks, then the bits of seed just sorta mix in without being too noticeable, but otherwise they make for a really weird mouthfeel.