![]() ![]() The yamabushi or lay monks training in the wild have the reputation of using kiko ( 気狐, lit. There are also legends of the kitsune being used as familiars to do the biddings of their masters, called kitsune-mochi or "fox-possessors". The kitsune exhibit the ability of bakeru or transforming its shape and appearance, and bakasu, capable of trickery or bewitching these terms are related to the generic term bakemono meaning "spectre" or "goblin", and such capabilities were also ascribed to badgers (actually tanuki or raccoon dog) and occasionally to cats (cf. The kitsune has been labeled as a "witch animal" (presumably due to its "bewitching") by one scholar, who also qualifies the supernatural foxes as being "goblin foxes" or "fox spirits". Because of their potential power and influence, some people make sacrifices to them as to a deity. ![]() The more tails a kitsune has-they may have as many as nine-the older, wiser, and more powerful it is. This role has reinforced the fox's supernatural significance. Kitsune have become closely associated with Inari, a Shinto kami or spirit, and serve as its messengers. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others-as foxes in folklore often do-other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, and lovers.įoxes and humans lived close together in ancient Japan this companionship gave rise to legends about the creatures. According to folklore, the kitsune-foxes (or perhaps the "fox spirits") can bewitch people, just like the tanuki they have the ability to shapeshift into human or other forms, and to trick or fool human beings. In Japanese folklore, kitsune ( 狐, きつね, IPA: ⓘ) are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. A nine-tailed fox spirit ( kyūbi no kitsune) scaring Prince Hanzoku print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Edo period, 19th century For other uses, see Kitsune (disambiguation). Using archival sources, archaeological materials, noblemen’s journals, sutras, official histories, and vernacular narratives, this original study sheds new light on Kinpusen, positioning it within the broader religious and political history of the Heian period.This article is about the Japanese word for the fox. The resulting institutional reconfigurations laid the groundwork for Shugendō, a new movement focused on religious mountain practice that emerged around 1300. Thus, after flourishing under the Fujiwara regents, Kinpusen’s cult and community were rent by violent altercations with the great Nara temple Kōfukuji. While members of the aristocracy and royalty used pilgrimage to legitimate themselves and compete with one another, their patronage fed rivalry among religious institutions. These nominally private journeys to Kinpusen had political implications for both the pilgrims and the mountain. Kinpusen was believed to be a realm of immortals, the domain of an unconventional bodhisattva, and the home of an indigenous pantheon of kami. Real and Imagined depicts their one-hundred-kilometer trek from the capital to the rocky summit as well as the imaginative landscape they navigated. Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Seriesĭuring the Heian period (794–1185), the sacred mountain Kinpusen, literally the “Peak of Gold,” came to cultural prominence as a pilgrimage destination for the most powerful men in Japan-the Fujiwara regents and the retired emperors.WCFIA Program on US-Japan Relations Postdoctoral Fellowships.Reischauer Institute Postdoctoral Fellowships in Japanese Studies.Supplementary Dissertation Research Grant.Graduate Summer Japanese Language Grant. ![]()
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