Floating Along in the World of Japanese Prints

Myths & Legends: Kuzunoha

 

According to Japanese folklore, foxes are magical creatures with supernatural powers, capable of shapeshifting at will and taking on human form if they wish. Stories of them transforming themselves into beautiful women, marrying and producing offspring are numerous, the earliest dating back as far as the ninth century.  One such story is that of Kuzunoha, the fox of Shinoda Forest. 

Legend has it that a young nobleman by the name of Abe no Yasuna was on his way to pay a visit to a shrine in Shinoda, in Izumi Province, when he encountered a party of hunters. The white fox that the hunters were attempting to capture (to take its liver for medicinal purposes) ran past Yasuna, who hid it within the folds of his garments and saved it from certain death. Shortly afterwards, Yasuna met a beautiful young woman by the name of Kuzunoha and, unaware that she was in fact the white fox he'd saved from the hunters, married her. Yasuna and Kuzunoha soon produced a son, Dōji (called Seimei as an adult), and the family lived together happily for three years, until Dōji (or Yasune in other versions of the tale) caught sight of the tip of Kuzunoha's tail while she was viewing chrysanthemums in the garden. With her true nature revealed, Kuzunoha decided to return to her home in Shinoda Forest, leaving behind a farewell poem on a sliding screen:

Koishikuba tazunekite miyo Izumi naru Shinoda no mori no urami Kuzu no ha.

If you love me come and look for me in the Forest of Shinoda in Izumi and you will find an arrowroot leaf.

Yasuna and young Dōji went to search for Kuzunoha in Shinoda Forest and eventually she appeared to them in fox form. She told them that she could not return with them to their home, but granted her son the ability to understand the language of beasts.

Dōji, or Abe no Seimei (921-1005) as he was called as an adult, was a real-life man, a specialist in Japanese esoteric cosmology who held successive court appointments, including Doctor of Astronomy, Superintendent of Supplies to the Imperial Kitchen and Protector of Harima Province. Legends sprung up around him following his death and he has been the subject of numerous stories and films.

In dramatised versions of this story, the fox takes on the form of a real woman called Kuzunoha, to whom Abe no Yasuna is betrothed. The fox marries Yasuna and they produce a son, but she is forced to return to her life in Shinoda Forest when the real Kuzunoha returns three years later. The fox cradles her son in her arms whilst writing her farewell poem on the sliding screen by holding the brush between her teeth.

The print above shows Kuzunoha leaving her infant child and is from the series New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts (Shinkei sanjurokkaisen) by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1839 - 1892), which was published in 1890. Even though she has taken human form, her true nature is revealed as a shadow on the shōji. It was thought that shadows on screens, along with reflections in mirrors and on water, would reveal the true identity of a shapeshifting supernatural being.

Kuzunoha returning to Shinoda Forest, from the series A Comparison of Beautiful Women and Flowers (Bijin hana kurabe), by Ogata Gekkō, published 1899.

The Hell Courtesan Goes Under the Hammer

  

On March 24th, a sale of Japanese & Korean Art will take place at Christie's in New York, and amongst the 166 lots is a hanging scroll by the well-known artist Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-89). The painting depicts the Hell Courtesan (Jigoku dayū), a Takasu prostitute who is said to have attained enlightenment with the help of the Rinzai Zen priest and poet Ikkyū (1394-1481), who was well-known not only for his fondness for engaging both devotees and sceptics in dialogues about Buddhist philosophy, but also for his liking for alcohol and brothels. The hanging scroll (lot 618), measuring 58 5/8 x 27½in (149 x 70cm), is expected to fetch in the region of $250,000 - $300,000.

The subject matter of this particular depiction of the priest and the prostitute is derived from the book Complete Accounts of Drunken Enlightenment in Our Country (Honchō suibodai zenden), by Santō Kyōden (1761-1816), published in 1809. According to Kyōden's version of the story, when Ikkyū arrives at the brothel where the Hell Courtesan is working, she thinks him a fraud and decides to observe him from behind a screen whilst he is being entertained. Much to her surprise, the moment she is out of sight, the priest begins dancing with skeletons, which convinces her that he is no ordinary man. 

Ikkyū is shown dancing on top of the head of a seated skeleton, kicking his leg out as he waves his arms about in the air, obviously enjoying himself a great deal. Beneath him, the skeleton sits playing a shamisen whilst smaller skeletons dance to the tune it is playing. The Hell Courtesan, standing beside a screen decorated with autumn grasses beneath a golden moon, is dressed in a robe and obi that are adorned with images of the Gods of Good Fortune.

On her obi, Hotei, the god of happiness and contentment, is masquerading as Jizō, traditionally the guardian of children (not one of the Gods of Good Fortune), whilst around him five young boys are playing with lucky jewels. The head of Daikoku, the god associated with wealth and prosperity, is just visible on her left sleeve amid lucky jewels of differing sizes. On her right sleeve, seated next to a crane, we see Jurōjin, the god of wealth, wisdom and longevity, and in front of him sits Fukurokuju, the god of longevity and scholastic success, who is scrutinising the contents of a golden hand-scroll. At the bottom of the courtesan's robe, amid lucky treasures and sprigs of coral, are Bishamon, the armour-clad god of warfare and punisher of evil-doers, brandishing his halberd as he looks skyward, and Ebisu, the god of commerce, daily food, good luck and fishermen.

The Hell Courtesan was a popular subject during the nineteenth century, and Kyōsai produced several images of her, including the woodblock print below*, from the series Kyōsai rakuga (Kyōsai's Amusing Pictures) of 1874, a satirical series on the theme of enlightenment, which shows her dozing amid a large group of skeletons that are getting up to all manner of things... playing musical instruments, playing go, drinking sake, and even flower arranging.

Finally, here she is again* (below), this time by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1839 - 1892), in the design entitled The Enlightenment of Jigoku Dayū (Jigoku dayū godo no zu) of 1890, from the series New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts (Shinkei sanjurokkaisen). It is evening, and she is shown seated beside a tall candle-stand before a procession of skeletons that are walking beneath a parasol that lacks its paper cover and consists only of its basic skeletal form.

* These prints are not included in the Christie's sale.