Tsuchigumo

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Tsuchigumo ( Japanese 土 蜘蛛 , literally: "earth spider") originally referred to a group of people who did not submit to the imperial court, and later a giant spider of Japanese popular belief.

People

The Tsuchigumo were people who are said to have lived in caves or dwellings ( muro ). Depending on your opinion, they range from a Southeast Asian ethnic group to non-submissive Japanese sections of the population who have been declared barbarians and bandits.

Most texts localize the Tsuchigumo mainly on Kyūshū , where the Hayato and Kumaso of unexplained ethnicity were also located, but also in Kantō and Kinki . The Nihon Shoki writes that the Tsuchigumo did not want to submit to the Japanese imperial court under the Jimmu - tennō and that the latter therefore sent a punitive expedition to the Tsuchigumo village of Takawohari ( 高 尾張 邑 , Takawohari no mura ). The village was after the capture in Katsuraki ( 葛 城) renamed. The Tsuchigumo of this village are described as short and with long arms and legs. Both this description and the type of habitation are cited as the origin for the term Tsuchigumo.

In contrast, in the Kojiki, when describing the 80 Tsuchigumo chiefs or bandits (here semi-phonetic as 土 雲 ) who were slain at the behest of Jimmu-tennō, it is only written that they should have had tails.

That is why other interpretations lead Tsuchigumo back to tsuchi-gomori - German: "Erdverberger".

Giant spider

In the course of time there was a reinterpretation of the fight against the group of people of the Tsuchigumo to a fight against a monstrous ( Yōkai ) giant spider. There are numerous versions of this fight.

Pictures 8 to 13 (from right to left) of the Tsuchigumo no Sōshi

A well-known story can be found in Tsuchigumo no Sōshi ( 土 蜘蛛 草紙 ) from the 13th century, an Otogizōshi - Emaki in 13 pictures.

In this, the hero Minamoto no Raikō and his subordinate Watanabe no Tsuna initially pursue a skull flying through the air, but which escapes them. Nearby they find an overgrown house, meet a 290-year-old woman, other supernatural apparitions, a half-naked nun with a huge face, and a woman so beautiful that even Yang Guifei would be jealous. This suddenly attacks Raikō and blinds him. The latter can still wound it with his sword, but the tip of the sword breaks off. Raikō and Tsuna follow the trail of white blood first to the old woman's house, which is empty, and then to the mountains. They prepare a puppet for distraction, go into a cave and meet a 30 Jō (90 m) long monster that they both attack. When Raikō cuts off his head, they realize that it was the giant spider. After Tsuna slit open her stomach, they found skulls in it in 1990 and a multitude of child-sized spiders crawling out. Both then burn everything down. After the Tennō was informed of the occurrences, Raikō is appointed governor ( kami ) of the Tsu Province and raised to the real lower 4th court rank. Tsuna is given the province of Tamba and he is raised to the Real Lower 5th Court rank.

Minamoto no Raikō fights against the giant spider ( color woodcut by Kuniyoshi , around 1840)

Another known version is that of -Stücks Tsuchigumo which on the sword chapter ( 剣巻 , Tsurugi no maki the Yatai socket () 屋代本 , Yatai-bon ) of The Tale of the Heike based.

Minamoto no Raikō is tied to the bed from illness, which is getting worse and worse. One night he receives a visit from a monk. Raikō realizes that this is a spider and is attacked by it. After he fends off her with his sword, whereupon it gets the name Kumokirimaru ( 蜘蛛 切 丸 , dt. "Spider Slicer "), she flees. Raikō orders his subordinate Hitorimusha to follow the trail of blood with his men. This ends at Mount Kazuraki ( 葛 城 山 ), where they finally kill the giant spider.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Mark Hudson: Ruins of Identity. Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands . University of Hawaii Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8248-2156-4 , pp. 201 .
  2. ^ Translation (1st part) of Nihon Shoki by William George Aston (English)
  3. ^ Note from Basil Hall Chamberlain in his translation of the Kojiki (English)
  4. 平常 展示 部屋 . Tokyo National Museum , accessed February 1, 2009 (Japanese).
  5. 土 蜘蛛 草紙 . In: 翻 訳 書肆 ・ 七里 の ブ ー ツ (旧 ロ ン グ マ ー ル 翻 翻 訳 書房) . Retrieved February 7, 2012 (Japanese).
  6. Tsuchigumo (Ground Spider). In: the-noh.com. Retrieved February 7, 2012 .

Web links

Commons : Tsuchigumo  - collection of images, videos and audio files