The Seven Luminaries, Five Elements, and Names of the Planets in Mongolian
As is pointed out elseshere, the Japanese days of the week are named after the Seven Luminaries (七曜 shichiyō), a term referring to the Sun, the Moon, and the five visible planets. The term was originally borrowed from Chinese 七曜 qīyào. Under the influence of Chinese culture, the Mongolians call the Seven Luminaries долоон гариг doloon garig or долоон гараг doloon garag 'the seven planets'. According to an Inner Mongolian dictionary, the Seven Luminaries can be systematised as follows, with at least four sets of names:
Planet (element/phase) | Tibetan | Indian | 'Stars' | Mongolian | Chinese | Readings |
Sun | ням |
адъяа |
наран од |
наран |
日曜 | Ch: rìyào Ja: nichiyō |
Moon | даваа |
сумъяа |
саран од |
саран |
月曜 | Ch: yuèyào Ja: getsuyō |
Mars (fire) | мягмар |
ангараг |
гал од |
улаан нүдэн |
火曜 | Ch: huǒyào Ja: kayō |
Mercury (water) | лхагва |
буд |
усан од |
үлэмж |
水曜 | Ch: shuǐyào Ja: suiyō |
Jupiter (wood) | пүрэв |
бархасбадь |
модон од |
гадсан |
木曜 | Ch: mùyào Ja: mokuyō |
Venus (gold/metal) |
баасан |
сугар |
алтан од |
цолмон |
金曜 | Ch: jīnyào Ja: kin'yō |
Saturn (earth) |
бямба |
санчир |
шороон од |
ховдог эмгэн |
土曜 | Ch: tǔyào Ja: doyō |
The first two columns show the familiar Tibetan and Indian names, as used in the days of the week. The third column is an exact equivalent of the Chinese names, consisting of an element/phase plus the word од od 'star'. The names in sequence mean 'sun star; moon star; fire star; water star; wood star; gold star; earth star'.
The fifth column is a rather curious one, starting with the sun and the moon, then cycling through some well-known as well as obscure terms. The name for Mars means 'red eye', that for Mercury in the dictionary is given as 'huge', and that for Jupiter is more normally found in алтан гадасан altan gadasan 'golden gadasan' or Pole Star. Цолмон tsolmon is a very common word used in Mongolian names. The final name, ховдог эмгэн khovdog emgeŋ literally means 'voracious old woman'.
The Chinese names of the five visible planets are based on the Five Elements or Five Phases. In Mongolian, the five elements or phases are (note that the traditional order of the five elements is not the same as that of the planets:
Element | Mongolian (incl. Buryat) | Chinese character | Chinese (Mandarin) and Japanese reading |
Metal | төмөр |
金 | Ch: jīn Ja: kin |
Wood | мод |
木 | Ch: mù Ja: moku |
Water | ус |
水 | Ch: shuǐ Ja: sui |
Fire | гал |
火 | Ch: huǒ Ja: ka |
Earth | шороо |
土 | Ch: tǔ Ja: do |
For each of these, the meaning of the Mongolian term exactly parallels that of the Chinese. However, there is one element/phase that is not normally used in the names of the planets in Mongolian: the element/phase төмөр tömör 'iron' is dropped in favour of алтан altaŋ as the name of Venus.
In scientific use, the planetary names in Mongolian now usually use the Indian names:
Planetary Names | |
Mercury | Буд bud |
Venus | Сугар sugar |
Mars | Ангараг aŋgarag |
Jupiter | Бархасбадь barkhasbad' |
Saturn | Санчир saŋchir |
Uranus | Тэнгэрийн ван tengeriŋ vaŋ |
Nepture | Далайн ван dalaiŋ vaŋ |
The last two names mean 'king of heaven' and 'king of the sea' respectively. ван vaŋ is from the Chinese word 王 wáng 'king'. In Inner Mongolia, other names corresponding to the five elements or phases are also used.