There are a lot of legends about monsters in Japan, which are probably related to the psychological mysticism of the Japanese in the island country. Japanese people who like to be serious classify monsters and write books such as The Story of Japanese Monsters and The Complete Works of Japanese Monsters, which are beautifully illustrated and can be seen everywhere in libraries. Old people in "rural society" all over the country talk about fairies from ancient times to the present, and they are even more relished.
Monsters originated from ancient people's awe of nature and animals. People call their invisible, intangible and uncontrollable forces monsters. Japan is a country that respects water very much, so many legends are related to water. For example, bean mother-in-law is a demon who catches people in the water with a sieve; Qiaomei is a female ghost who drowned herself for love; The prototype of the river boy who is active in the river is probably a fierce freshwater crocodile.
Similarly, Japan is a mountainous country, so there are many monsters living in the mountains in legend. For example, Snow Girl is said to have been abandoned in the snowy mountains by her lover, so she often lures pedestrians up the mountain, and anyone who has feelings for her will freeze to death. And monsters like Shan Tong and Sangui. Therefore, in primitive folklore, monsters are often scary and daunting.
It is said that because there are too many ghosts, ancient Japan set up a special division of Yin and Yang. The dignity of this position reached its peak in Heian period, because at this time, Japan's domestic society was in turmoil, people were worried and the ruling class had no solution, so all kinds of problems were attributed to ghosts and gods, which diverted people's attention. Therefore, people are inevitably cautious in life, for fear of violating certain taboos and incurring revenge from ghosts and gods. At that time, the division of Yin and Yang had great power, and they interfered with the daily life of emperors and generals who conquered foreign countries. Today, all kinds of taboos in Japanese culture are left over from that era.
In the edo period, commercial handicrafts flourished, and people didn't have to rely solely on God to enjoy food. So monsters have turned themselves into elves living in various items and props. The most famous one is "Night Tour of Hundreds of Ghosts", which describes the scene that pipa, umbrella, wooden fish, pot and other old things are thrown away and turned into various monsters swimming in the middle of the night in anger. This painting is known as the originator of Japanese monster painting. [Edit this paragraph] The origin of Japanese monsters Yanagita Kunio, the founder of Japanese folklore, believes that the biggest feature of Japanese monsters is that they have two sides, and good and evil can be transformed into each other. For example, hating the soul, if properly enshrined, can also become a patron saint. The monsters in the west have a clear distinction between good and evil. So in the eyes of westerners, Japanese monsters are always full of mystery. In recent years, Japan's monster image has either created a horrible effect with the help of modern high technology, or it is pleasing with a cute elf image, which can be said to have gone to two extremes.
Since Japanese culture originated in China, 70% of the monster prototype comes from China, 20% from India, and 10% is a local monster in Japan. Tiangou, for example, was originally the dog monster in China's Shan Hai Jing. After spreading to Japan, it gradually combined with the heavenly demons in Buddhism and the mountain gods in Shinto, and became a modern image. The custom of "scattering beans to drive away ghosts" at the vernal equinox originated from the Nuo-chasing ceremony in ancient China.
There are many proverbs related to monsters in Japanese, which affect the daily life of Japanese people. For example, the legendary river boy loves to eat cucumbers, so the dish of purple vegetable roll cucumber is called "river boy roll"; A particularly fierce evil wife is called "ghost marriage"; To say that life has a dog's nose is to criticize people's complacency; If "ghosts give birth to cholera", it means that heroes are also afraid of illness.
The Japanese, who have always been famous for their seriousness and rigidity, study monsters as a special subject. Known as "Dr. Monster", Professor Kazuhiko Komatsu led the staff of the International Japanese Cultural Research Center to collect10.6 million rumors about monsters, which lasted for 6 years and made a huge database for research. Now, as a branch of Japanese cultural anthropology, "Monster Science" has been formally established and opened in many universities. Not only Japanese students but also foreign students are interested in this. [Edit this paragraph] The image of Japanese monsters around the world is usually terrible. Because of the delicate feelings of the Japanese, many monsters in Japan can be said to be between strange and refined, and the legends behind these monsters are often sad and tragic. For example, a bone girl is a woman who was insulted, bullied and ravaged at birth, and turned into a spectre and took her life after death.
I don't know why, like China, banshees account for a large proportion of Japanese monsters, but in the illustrations of Japanese monsters, many monsters without gender are feminized, which may be related to the discrimination and oppression suffered by women at the bottom of ancient Japanese society. Many poor women became ghosts after their death.
Because monsters exist in people's minds, everyone's understanding of the image of monsters is different. Only some famous monsters can be unified in people's minds. For example, foxes are mostly beautiful women.