社しゃ稷しょく

noun

state; country; nation

Only with reading しゃしょく

Archaic, elevated term for the state or nation, originally referring to the altars of the land and grain gods as symbols of sovereignty. Restricted to the reading しゃしょく.

• 社しゃ稷しょくの安あん泰たいを祈いのる儀ぎ式しきが古ふるくから行おこなわれてきた。

  Rituals to pray for the peace of the state have been performed since ancient times.

noun

tutelary deity; god of grain

Refers to the deities of land and grain worshipped in ancient China and adopted in Japanese Shinto; the term itself is classical and rarely used in everyday language. The reading すめらおおもとお is an archaic Japanese reading for the same concept.

• 社しゃ稷しょくの神かみを祀まつることは、古こ代だい国こっ家かの重じゅう要ような祭さい祀しであった。

  Worshipping the gods of land and grain was an important ritual of the ancient state.