[noun] the general term for three festivals: 上元(jōgen)(on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month), 中元(chūgen)(on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month), and 下元(kagen)(on the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month)
[noun]New Year's Day, the beginning(元) of the three time periods: the year, the month and the day
[noun] the three elements: heaven(天), earth(地), and man(人)
(This term, さんげん(sangen), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)