noun
scapegoat doll; doll for transferring misfortune
Archaic term for a doll used in a ritual to transfer a child's misfortune or impurity onto the doll, which was then set adrift or discarded.
昔は、子供の厄を移すために天児を川に流した。
Long ago, people would float 天児 dolls down the river to transfer a child's misfortune.
天児は、幼児の枕元に置かれることもあった。
天児 dolls were sometimes placed by a young child's pillow.
形代 is a more general term for a paper or wooden substitute figure used in purification rituals, while 天児 specifically refers to a doll for transferring a child's misfortune.
流し雛 are dolls floated down rivers during the Doll Festival to carry away impurities; 天児 is an older, more specific term for a similar scapegoat doll used for children.
The term 天児 (あまがつ) is of uncertain origin. It may be related to 天 (あま, 'heaven') and 児 (child), suggesting a heavenly child or substitute, but the exact derivation is unclear.