Mononoke Shima No Naki
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are vengeful spirits (
onryō In Japanese traditional beliefs and literature, are a type of ghost () believed to be capable of causing harm in the world of the living, injuring or killing enemies, or even causing natural disasters to exact Revenge, vengeance to "redres ...
), dead spirits (
shiryō are the souls of the dead in Japanese folklore. This contrasts with , which are souls of the living. Summary Classical literature and folklore material has left many mentions of , and they have various behaviors. According to the , they were co ...
), live spirits (
ikiryō , also known as , , or , is a disembodied spirit or ghost in Japanese popular belief and fiction that leaves the body of a living person and subsequently haunts other people or places, sometimes across great distances. The term(s) are used in c ...
), or spirits in Japanese classical literature and folk religion that were said to do things like possess individuals and make them suffer, cause disease, or even cause death. It is also a word sometimes used to refer to ''
yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and Spirit (supernatural entity) , spirits in Japanese folklore. The kanji representation of the word comprises two characters that both mean "suspicious, doubtful", and while the Japanese name is simply ...
'' or ''henge'' ("changed beings").


Summary

''Mononoke'' can be often seen in literature of the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...
. As a famous example, in the 9th volume of the ''
Genji Monogatari is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...
'', "Aoi" is the ikiryō of Lady Rokujo, who possessed
Aoi no Ue is a fictional character in '' The Tale of Genji'' (''Genji Monogatari''). Daughter of the Minister of the Left (Tō no Chūjō's sister) and Genji's first principal wife, she marries Genji when she is sixteen and he is only twelve. Proud and dis ...
. Other than that, there are also statements about ''mononoke'' in publications like ''
Ōkagami is a Japanese historical tale written around 1119 by an unknown author. It covers the period from 850 to 1025, the golden days of the Fujiwara family's rule. It is called a , along with the records of the '' Eiga Monogatari''. In the tale, the ...
'' and ''
Masukagami is a Japanese historical tale written in the early Muromachi period believed to be between 1368 and 1376. The author is not known but is believed to be Nijō Yoshimoto. It is the last of four works of mirror series and follows most recent event ...
''. In those times, when medical knowledge had not been fully developed, people like monks and shugensha would perform incantations and prayers against diseases caused by ''mononoke'', and by temporarily moving the ''mononoke'' into a different person called the " yorimashi" (usually servants, apprentices, etc.) they would perform exorcisms on the ''mononoke'' to heal the illness. Statements on this practice can be found in detail in works like ''
The Pillow Book is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Fujiwara no Teishi, Empress Consort Teishi during the 990s and early 1000s in Heian-period Japan. The book was completed in the year 1002. The wor ...
'' and ''
The Diary of Lady Murasaki is the title given to a collection of diary fragments written by the 11th-century Japanese Heian era lady-in-waiting and writer Murasaki Shikibu. It is written in kana, then a newly-developed writing system for vernacular Japanese, more common ...
''. Also, according to the ''
Shoku Nihon Kōki is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 869, it is the fourth volume in the Six National Histories. It covers the years 833–850. Following the earlier national history ''Nihon Kōki'' (840), in 855 Emperor Montoku o ...
'', it told of once when a monk chanted a sutra to 60 people within the imperial residence.


History

The first appearance of the term in Japanese literature is seen to be in the
Nihon Kōki is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 840, it is the third volume in the Six National Histories. It covers the years 792–833. Background Following the earlier national history '' Shoku Nihongi'' (797), in 819 Em ...
, and according to a quotation of this book from the
Nihon Kiryaku is a historical text that categorizes and chronologizes the events listed in the '' Six National Histories''. Notes {{Authority control Late Old Japanese texts History books about Japan Heian period History books of the Heian Period ...
of the same time period, in the article of Uruu 12th month of the year
Tenchō was a after '' Kōnin'' and before '' Jōwa.'' This period spanned the years from January 824 through January 834. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * February 6, 824 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series o ...
7 (830), there is the statement: "Five monks were invited to recite the Diamond Sutra. With some difficulty, the
Jingi-kan The , also known as the Department of Shinto Affairs, Department of Rites, Department of Worship, as well as Council of Divinities, was a Japanese Imperial bureaucracy established in the 8th century, as part of the reforms. It was first establish ...
relieved it. It was the work of a ," and there are also statements about ''mononoke'' in the articles in the 8th month Jinshin of the same year, and of year 10 in the 5th month. In the old language of those times, the word "mono" was used to refer to
oni An ( ) is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. They are believed to live in caves or deep in the mountains or in hell. Oni are known for their superhuman strength and have been associated with powers like th ...
, spirits, or Ara-mitama among other things, or things that were not felt to be clearly real, and in the
Taihō Code The was an administrative reorganisation enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito. Nussbaum, Louis- ...
, epidemic diseases were written about as , using the word "ke" to refer to "diseases", and so it is seen that a "mono no ke" (a "ke" of a "mono") was used to refer to diseases caused by these "mono". "The Pillow Book" as well, there are names for diseases such as "mune no ke" ("ke" of the chest), "ashi no ke" ("ke" of the feet), and "mono no ke" ("ke" of "mono"). As groundwork for how ''mononoke'' were thought of as, in Japan from the beginning of the Heian Period, various societal malaises and illnesses were thought to be due to curses ("tatari") of vengeful spirits (onryō). Starting with how the succession of emperors dying to diseases and the spread of epidemics in the
Enryaku was a after '' Ten'ō'' and before '' Daidō''. This period spanned the years from August 782 through May 806. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 12 November 782 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The p ...
years was said to be the curse of
Prince Sawara (circa 750 – November 8, 785) was the fifth son of Prince Shirakabe (later Emperor Kōnin), by Takano no Niigasa. Biography In 781 he was named heir-presumptive after his elder brother succeeded the abdicated Emperor Kōnin as the Emperor ...
, there is a tale in the Nihonkoku Genpō Zen'aku Ryōiki in which the grudge of
Prince Nagaya Nagaya ( ') (684 – 20 March 729) was a politician of the Nara period and an imperial prince of Japan, a son of Prince Takechi (grandson of Emperor Tenmu). His father was Prince Takechi and his mother Princess Minabe (a daughter of Emperor ...
is said to have led many people to their deaths. In the
Shoku Nihongi The is an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the '' Six National Histories'', coming directly after the and followed by ''Nihon Kōki''. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi served as t ...
, there is a statement about
Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Fujiwara (, written: 藤原 lit. "''Wisteria'' field") is a Japanese surname. (In English conversation it is likely to be rendered as .) Notable people with the surname include: ; Families * The Fujiwara clan The was a powerful family of imperia ...
's vengeful spirit (onryō). However, this kind of thought still wasn't very influential at that time, and even
Emperor Saga was the 52nd emperor of Japan, Emperor Saga, Saganoyamanoe Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency according to the traditional order of succession. Saga's reign lasted from 809 to 823. Traditional narrative Saga was the second son of ...
stated in a caution, "in this society, some would attribute any and all ''mononoke'' to a spirit's curse. These are very baseless assertions," thus strongly denying the relation between ''mononoke'' and vengeful spirits. Afterwards, in the
Shoku Nihon Kōki is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 869, it is the fourth volume in the Six National Histories. It covers the years 833–850. Following the earlier national history ''Nihon Kōki'' (840), in 855 Emperor Montoku o ...
, the author, Harusumi no Yoshitada, reflecting knowledge of
onmyōdō is a technique that uses knowledge of astronomy and calendars to divine good fortune in terms of date, time, direction and general personal affairs, originating from the philosophy of the yin-yang and the five elements. The philosophy of yin an ...
, strongly adopted the concept of ''mononoke''. In the Jōwa years, the aristocratic society received strong influence from onmyōdō, and the spread of onmyōdō planted in many people the general concept of vengeful spirits. Just at that time, after
Sugawara no Michizane , or , was a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian period of Japan. He is regarded as an excellent poet, particularly in '' waka'' and '' kanshi'' poetry, and is today revered in Shinto as the god of learning, . In the famed poem anthology ' ...
died in
Engi Engi may refer to: * ENGI, a Japanese animation studio * Engi, Switzerland, a former municipality in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland * Engi (era) was a after ''Shōtai'' and before ''Enchō.'' This period spanned the years from July 901 t ...
3 (903), the deaths one after another that followed of members of the imperial and noble families, as well as the spread of epidemic diseases, were feared as the work of a curse of Michizane, and thus the belief that ''mononoke'' were caused by vengeful spirits' curses grew even stronger. Afterwards, in the era of the Fujiwara sekke, as opposed to how noble families at that time boasted of glory, they had delicate personalities, and so due to fear of the grudges and revenges of the era's defeated ones, and due to misgivings about the future, fear of ''mononoke'' became more aroused. The locked-in lifestyle of the imperial society at that time also fostered in the nobles' minds fear of ''mononoke''. In this way, ''mononoke'' themselves were thought to be vengeful spirits, and eventually in addition to epidemic diseases, individual deaths, illnesses, and pain were all seen to be due to ''mononoke'', and the illnesses itself also became called ''mononoke''. Furthermore, due to the concept of the fear of "mono", the things that were said to be the origin of the illnesses, the ikiryō and shiryō themselves, were also thought to have been called ''mononoke''.


Notes


See also

*
Shodoshima Yokai Art Museum The Shodoshima Yokai Art Museum, also known as the Yokai Bijutsukan Art Museum is a small museum in Kagawa prefecture, which is focused on yōkai, supernatural entities in Japanese folklore. Description The museum, directed by Yagyu Chuebi, contai ...


References

* * * * * * {{Japanese folklore long Japanese folklore Japanese ghosts Yōkai