![]() In the case of Shuten Dōji, the titular drunken oni and his comrades can be seen as representative of voices outside of Japan’s imperial rule - making their somewhat sympathetic portrayal that much more compelling. “When I was teaching, I wanted to introduce Shuten Dōji because it’s such a famous story and it wasn’t in translation.”įor Reider, part of the oni’s allure is their deep symbolic meaning, often standing in for marginalized people or groups in society. “Shuten Dōji is the story that inspired me to start working on oni,” says Reider. Eventually, Shuten Dōji is defeated by a warrior-hero named Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who assaults the drunken demon’s palace and cuts off his head.Ī woodblock print by Japanese artist Utagawai Yoshitsuya (1822 - 1866) shows hero Minamoto slaying the ogre-like oni Shuten Dōji at his mountainous lair. One of Japan’s most well-known oni legends is the tale of Shuten Dōji, or “the drunken demon.” A powerful, fearsome oni, Shuten Dōji and his band of thugs rampaged through medieval Kyoto, capturing daughters of nobility to drink their blood and devour their flesh. They’re also known to emerge from the abyss of hell itself - or Jigoku in Japanese Buddhism - to frighten mortals, or torment evildoers who are sent there. In folklore, oni are often characterized as malicious troublemakers, capable of terrible deeds like spreading disease and attacking humans. But that, of course, is incorporated into Japanese oni, too." Legend of the Drunken Demon It’s like a zombie - those who are dead become oni. In Chinese, that character means something a little different. “And so we borrowed the writing system from China. “We didn’t have any writing system ,” adds Reider. Read More: Are Real-Life Vampires Walking Among Us? “And because of Chinese influences, the character for oni was taken from China.” “In every society, there is some evil, dark And Japanese did have evil deities and violent deities,” says Reider. As such, some scholars believe that the idea of the oni is purely Buddhist, while others claim that they aren’t exclusive to a particular theology. ) Other scholars, like Wakamori Tarō, argue that they came from inhabitants of ancient Japan who thought that they were evil spirits from deep in the mountains.Īnother theory suggests that the concept of oni (or at least the word itself) is Chinese in origin - and may have been introduced to Japan from China alongside Buddhism. In the Japanese line, for example, the oni’s genesis is attributed to people’s fear of the destructive power of natural forces like lightning, thunder and earthquakes, according to Kondō Yoshihiro, author of Nihon no oni: nihon bunka tankyū no shikaku (or Japanese Oni: Perspectives on the Search for Japanese Culture. Indeed, in her book Japanese Demon Lore, Reider describes four distinct cultures and traditions where oni stories stem from: Japanese, Chinese, Buddhist and onmyōdō, a traditional Japanese blend of cosmology, occultism and natural sciences based on the Chinese theories of “yin and yang.” Given their amorphous, ever-changing nature, it’s perhaps no surprise that onis have no single, unifying origin story. ![]() “Before, an oni could identify as male, female or ‘it.’ An artificial object could even be an oni.” The Origins of Oni “When an oni is female, they are called kijo, which means ‘oni woman,’” adds Reider. (In some traditions and depictions, for example, they can bring prosperity to other humans.) And while their visual imagery is usually masculine - loincloth and all - there are plenty of female oni, some of whom are enchantresses born out of feelings of jealousy, vengeance and shame. Still, looking at oni in a different context shows that they aren’t always monstrous ogres with a taste for flesh. “That is the folkloric way that they’re often depicted in pictures.” “When we think about visualizations of oni, horns, skin color that’s red, green, black or blue with conspicuous canine teeth and masculine body types - with tiger-skin loincloths,” says Reider. (Credit: Public Domain/Columbia University) This detail of a Japanese print by famed artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) shows two oni - one with one eye and one with three eyes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |