Japanese legendary monsters

青行灯 (あおあんどん)

Prajna

Information 1: The Prajna mentioned here does not mean wisdom in Buddhism, but a Japanese legend. A kind of ghost, more precisely, it should be a kind of evil spirit. It is said to be an evil spirit formed by women's strong jealousy and resentment.

Prajna lives in the deep mountains and eats people every midnight. She is a female ghost who specializes in robbing children to eat, and she makes a creepy and terrifying laugh. There is a story about Prajna in the famous Japanese "The Tale of Genji". This story is called "Aoi Kame". It is said to be very famous. It tells that the protagonist of "The Tale of Genji", Hikari Genji, was a nobleman in the Heian period. He had a handsome face and fell in love. Many women. According to the custom of that era, the emperor and nobles married many concubines in addition to their main wives.

Bone Girl

Two-Kou Girl

Phoenix Fire

Twelve in the Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts

Phoenix Fire Phoenix fire. Legend has it that it is the incarnation of the firebird, that is: the flame of the phoenix. When the phoenix reborn, the flame was left behind in the world. Wandering in the human world, he was later accepted by Hades. It is a ball of fire with purple upper layer, black middle layer and red lower layer. The transformed human figures are male and female, with evil faces. The transformed male usually has black hair, pointed ears, long black nails, white clothes and purple shirt, and is surrounded by purple flames. Represents the guide to Hades. Women generally have purple hair, pointed ears, long red nails, a purple phoenix tattoo on the left half of their face, black clothes with red bottoms, and red flames surrounding their bodies. It represents the self that once wandered in the world. In ancient Japan, they were gods and monsters. But the transformed male form has always been feared by humans because it represents death. The shape is a ball of fire with purple upper layer, black middle layer and red lower layer.

Snow Girl

She lives in the deep mountains. She is similar to a human being and has a beautiful appearance. She often attracts men who enter the snow-capped mountains to uninhabited places and kisses him. It is completely frozen, and its soul is taken away and eaten. The child of the snow girl is called a snow child. In Japan, the snow child is believed to be the monster that brings the first snow in winter.

In the early days of the Republic of Japan, because the people were not enlightened, the older generation of people particularly believed in some legends about gods and monsters. They even believed that natural disasters were controlled by gods and monsters. Therefore, There is the strange story of the snow girl in the snow.

Snow Onna, a traditional Japanese monster, is a peerless beauty. She wears a white kimono and has long light blue hair. She is cold-natured and often appears in the mountains. She is a subordinate of the mountain god and is in charge of winter. snow.

Shuten Doji

A monster with the appearance of a handsome boy, who specializes in seducing virgins and cutting off their breasts to make food. In some places, it is said that his appearance changes. is a real virgin killer.

There is another saying: Shuten-dōji, also known as Shuten-dōji, was the king of ghosts who was killed by the general Minamoto Yorimitsu. Therefore, Yorimitsu's sword was also named Yasutuna-dōjiri. Because of this strange The origins of Doji Kiri and the famous sword Daden Tai are also known as the "Five Swords in the World".

Kappa (かっぱ)

There is a small lake near Inagawa Shrine in Japan, named Lake Susuka. Kappas often appear in the lake. Because kappas are well-known in Japan, so There are many theories, the more common one is: the bird-headed man wears a turtle shell, and has a bowl-shaped concave mirror on his head, which is filled with water. If there is no water, he will die. His hands are connected and can be stretched, and he can fly into the sky with the power of farts. . It is recorded in "Hundred Ghosts at Night", "Hundred Things Chronicles", "Ten Thousand Ghosts Record", "Monster Sayings"... common folklore books.

The origin of kappa

It is said that "kappa" live in rivers or ponds all over Japan. According to the research data of folklorist Junichiro Ishikawa, the legend of kappa is widely distributed, including in Japan. The Tohoku region, the Chubu region, the Kinki region, Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures in the Kansai region, the Chugoku region, the Shikoku region, the Kitakyushu region, the Saga and Miyazaki prefectures of Kyushu, the Amami Islands and Okinawa prefecture, depending on the local dialect, kappa's The titles are also different. ***The common point is "children living in rivers", so they are called "Kappa" (Kappa). Originally, the kappa was a spirit in the water, and was worshiped as a river god by the people. There is also a saying that the kappa is the messenger of the water god, transformed from the frost dropped by the water god.

Hashihime (はしひめ)

Information 1: Seen in "Meiji Monsters", it is the resentment of some infatuated women who cannot be with their beloved because they are infatuated with others. Just jump from the bridge into the water and commit suicide. If a man crosses the bridge at night, he will appear and lead him into the water to drown. If a woman crosses the bridge, she will be forcibly pulled into the water. It is said that women cannot commit suicide easily in patriotism. , can only commit suicide by jumping into the river, so this kind of monster is called a relatively pitiful monster

Flying Man (ひとうばん)

See it in "Hundred Demons Night Parade", it is actually However, because people are possessed by monsters, their heads will fly away from the body when sleeping, and they will scare people everywhere for fun. The possessed monster is called Xiaohao, which is the soul of a bird. It usually possesses people who like to kill birds and beasts and eat them. People possessed by birds and beasts will turn into withered bones within 7 days. This is also retribution!

The Drowned Woman

Information 1: A woman who drowned at the seaside was wet all over and was considered unlucky by the residents living at the seaside. She had long hair and a human face, and her lower body was the body of a snake. If you encounter her, no matter how you run away, you will definitely be caught in the end!

Ibaraki-dōji

There is a legend that it is a subordinate of Shuten-dōji

There is another saying about Ibaraki-dōji:

There is a legend about him. The face that people are afraid of is actually a god. It is a monster guarding the door, but occasionally it will play pranks and scare people half to death. They are not guarding the door for human beings, but to bring those ghosts who mistakenly enter people's homes to the right place. on the way.

Red Leaves Hunting (もみじがり

Yu Wushou Yuimao, Red Leaves Tokiyamamanaka Kazuya

Ghost Girl Kazuya Shi, Ballad Kaoru Miku て人人

のしるSOなれば、こゝに赘せず

―"Hundred ghosts of the past and present"

In ancient times, people put them on. Watching red leaves in the wild mountains in autumn is called "Momiji Hunting", which is an activity valued by everyone from the palace to the common people. The Japanese prefer the sense of vitality that "maple leaves are as red as February flowers", but when watching red leaves, they can often only look at them. , unable to gaze at the red leaves quietly, and it is said that the color of the red leaves is dyed red by the blood of Maple Oni.

Ta (かはうそ).

That is, the raccoon. There are many stories in Japanese folk about the raccoon that transformed into a human being to repay kindness. The raccoon is originally a kind of animal, but its true face is actually a raccoon. Why did it become a monster passed down by the ancestors orally? Maybe because they are hungry, they take advantage of the darkness at night (because it is a nocturnal animal) to look for food in nearby inhabited villages or farmlands. Sometimes people find that crops have been eaten by someone and were originally stored in warehouses. The grains in the house had disappeared for some reason, and there was no trace of them. There were also rumors that monsters like children would be seen entering the house at night and making strange noises, so that they would close the door tightly in fear. , all of this was later suspected to be the fault of the raccoon man!

From a long time ago, raccoon dogs have always given people the impression that they are easy to get along with, and they get along very well with people who live in the mountains. Like the fox, the raccoon dog is worshiped as a god by the Japanese, but the raccoon dog seems to be more popular than the fox, perhaps because of its characteristics like dark circles, which are very pleasing to the Inari God.

Inari God.

, is worshiped as a god who prays for prosperous business (good luck), just like the Tuigong Temple here, which can be seen everywhere. Originally, the fox god had the characteristics of a farming god, and farmers have always Pray for a good harvest. Among them, Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto is the most famous. It is the headquarters of all Inari shrines in Japan. In addition to the cute fox statues, it also has the most distinctive Senbon Torii gate, and the ema (Ema) here. A small wooden board for making wishes. Write your blessings on it and hang it on a special frame for Ema to make your wish come true. It looks like a cute fox. You can also draw a beard on it. Pray to the fox god to fulfill your wish. In addition, there is a kind of tofu skin sushi in Japanese cuisine. It tastes sour and sweet. It is probably made with vinegar and sugar. It is called "Inari sushi". Why is it called "Inari sushi"? Because it is said that foxes like to eat fried tofu skin. It is named after Inari, which means good harvest. It is said that eating Inari sushi will bring good luck, so it spread like wildfire.

Demons

The legend of demons and monsters has existed in ancient China - about four thousand years ago, the two emperors Yan and Huang fought for the world. After the Yan Emperor's son Chi You was captured, he became a follower of the Yellow Emperor and later came to find him. Chance escaped and returned to Emperor Yan, urging Emperor Yan to restart the war and wash away the shame of Xue Banquan. However, Emperor Yan was already old and weak, and he could not bear to bring disaster to the people by starting a war on his own, so he did not listen to Chi You's advice. Chi You had no choice but to mobilize his brothers, and summoned the Miao people in the south, as well as the demons and monsters in the mountains, forests and swamps, and led the army to challenge the Yellow Emperor under the banner of Emperor Yan. Huang Di was shocked when he heard that Chi You had launched an army. He wanted to use his benevolence and righteousness to influence Chi You, but Chi You was not influenced, and the two sides started a battle in Zhulu. Chi You used magic to create a poisonous fog array and surrounded Huang Di's army. However, Huang Di drove the compass invented by his counselor Feng Hou and commanded the army to break out of the poisonous fog array. Chi You sent demons and monsters to fight again, and Huang Di asked the soldiers to use horn horns to blow the dragon's sound to scare away these ghosts and monsters.

It can be seen that both in ancient times and now, 霑魔魉牉 refers to some miscellaneous little monsters, but when it was spread to Japan, it became famous. It is said that demons and monsters specialize in eating beautiful women. Most of them are tall, red-bodied, pointed ears, and have horns on their heads. According to Japanese folklore, in the deserted and uninhabited mountains, there are many ancient forests in the mountains. People who walk long distances, especially those who walk at night, often encounter mandrills, ghosts, demons, and monsters, all of which are transformed from wood, stone, birds, and beasts.

Zashiki Warashi

Information 1:

This is a good ghost. He often plays with children. If your child laughs alone, you can still Running around, it seems like someone is playing with him, so he is playing with Zashiki Warashi. When children are playing, if you count the children, one more will appear before you know it, and it is him. He can be prosperous at home, but without him, the family will soon be ruined.

The Mao Whore

"Hundred Ghosts at Night" contains: In ancient times, in order to repay her beauty, a woman killed countless virgins and bathed in their blood. Because people only care about their appearance, they use their hair as their body, and are also known as Evil Men Ji.

There is another saying that I don’t know whether it is true or not, but it is just for reference:

It is very difficult to find information about this monster. But I have read books about her before. It is said that this person is the illegitimate daughter of a Japanese Buddhist abbot. In order to maintain a noble image, the host bought her to become a geisha. But she was not pretty, so she was left out and committed suicide at the age of 15. I particularly resent my parents for abandoning their flesh and blood, but I don’t know how to kill, I just hide behind the window and watch secretly.

Very late at night, there is often a beautifully dressed woman standing on a deserted street. If someone passing by asks: "What are you doing so late?" The hairy girl will turn around. , the whole face is covered with dark hair, and the facial features are completely unclear! When people found out that it was the terrifying Hairy Girl, and when they were about to run away in panic, the Hairy Girl stretched out her hair and wrapped around the person who was about to run away. neck, strangled him to death...

Inner Bird

Legend has it that there is a bird that lays eggs on people's bodies. The eggs of this bird are thicker than human pores. It is small. When it is born, it uses human internal organs as food. Finally, it eats up and then flies out of the human body. This is the internal bird. Another legend says that people who grow into sparrows are considered monsters.

Cat Demon

Information 1:

It is said that cats have nine lives. When a cat is raised for 9 years, it will grow a tail. Every 9 years If a cat grows one, it will always grow nine. When a cat with nine lives has passed nine years, it will turn into a human form. At this time, the cat really has nine lives. In China, it is also called the Nine-Life Cat Demon

Nekomata is a cat demon with two tails who can lead and command all cats

Fei Yuanma

A demon with a beautiful face who specializes in Absorbing male essence and blood is said to be caused by the resentment of female prisoners.

It is a folklore legend derived from the Buddhist "Hairyunna". The so-called "flying demon", after research, it was found that it should be a folk legend derived from the Buddhist "flying demon".

Dongdong, who is stunningly beautiful but dangerous, often hangs out at night. The men she picks up usually have every drop of blood and essence sucked from their bodies and steal their bodies. tibia and kill them. Alas, this is another example of demonizing women. It was originally a negative teaching used by Buddhism to exhort its disciples. After it spread to the people, it was expanded. It was even said that "King Jie of Xia and Mei Xi" and "King Zhou of Yin and Daji" were A typical "Flying Demon" story.

Guhuo Bird

The Guhuo Bird (also directly called the Female Bird) is recorded in "Xuanzhong Ji": "The Guhuo Bird can absorb people's soul energy. Today, people A cloud-breasted female bird... was also known as a ghost bird by people at that time. "But it is certainly not comparable to the nine-headed bird that stirs up Chu Feng. According to research by scholars, in ancient China, the two characters "nine" and "ghost" were commonly used. This big bird with nine human faces has an awkward gait caused by the tilt of its head. It is said that it is similar to the gait of a duck. It has some weird expressions integrated into it. It haunts the back garden of the palace and is a tyrannical figure. Domination brings disaster.

First, a drop of blood can reduce disasters and absorb people's soul. Liu Xun of the Tang Dynasty wrote in "Ling Biao Lu Yi" that: "Ghost cars, during spring and summer, will fly by when there is a slight darkness. There are especially many outside the mountains. They love to enter people's homes and absorb people's soul. Or there are nine poems like this. If a dog bites one of them and the house is dripping with blood, there will be evil consequences. "

The second one is to smear the blood on children's clothes and take out people's children. "Tianzhong Ji" said: "The bird can absorb human soul energy, and today the human is a cloud-breasted mother bird. It is said that the mother died and turned into it. It can take a person's son as his own son. There are two breasts on the chest. If there is a child in the house, blood will flow. It is for this reason that children do not want their clothes to be exposed nowadays."

Thirdly, they have an ugly appearance and a violent temperament. Zhou Mi of the Song Dynasty said in his "Qidong Wild Words": "The body is round like a dustpan, with ten turtle rings clustered around it. There are nine heads, one of which is alone, and dripping with blood. As it is said in the world, each turtle has two wings, and it can fly." At this time, the eighteen wings came forward unexpectedly, but they were not able to use each other, and some of them were injured due to the fight." (谰, that is, neck).

In addition, it is said that it also likes people's fingernail clippings in order to learn people's misfortunes and blessings.

Whoever has a disaster, it will fall on the house and scream (in the volume of "Lingbiao Luyi")

Yanyanluo

Information 1:

One Monsters or elves born in smoke can transform into various forms and often appear in farmhouse stoves, bonfires and other places

Information 2:

Firework monsters attract people's attention The unclear origin comes from human beings' fear of fireworks

Information 3:

Also called Ichiban kapok. Gu Mingsi thought that kapok was a kapok monster that was as long as (length unit = 36 feet). It flew gently in the air and wrapped around people's necks, suffocating them to death. It was a rather terrifying monster. It cannot be cut open with physical attacks such as knives, but it can be bitten open with teeth dyed black with black iron paste. Because of this, unlike places where kapok often appears, even men are dyed black by iron pulp. In addition, similar types of Ichiban kapok exist in various parts of Japan, with different names. The most representative ones include Aichi's Fudan Phi. Contrary to some accounts, kapok has the harmful effects of absorbing human energy and over-discharging the essence

Soul-returning incense

It is also a spiritual creature. The aroma can be smelled for hundreds of miles, leaving dead bodies on the ground. , Smell the breath to live.

Fox fire

It is a will-o'-the-wisp

It is also said that fox fire is a sorcery practiced by fox monsters who have become spirits. Sometimes it comes out from the fingertips, but it's just a trick to deceive people.

According to the "North Vietnam Snow Book", foxes can spit fire from their mouths. However, if you look closely, you can see the fox's breath burning in the air. There are many different opinions about fox fire. For example, "Imagine the Legend of Wenqilu" records the sayings from various places. One said that foxes hold horse bones in their mouths to make fire. The local theory in Meinong Country is that they ignite the horse's toenails to make fox fire. . People who see "fox fire" at night are likely to get lost while walking, or lose something on them. Some people may even turn into foxes. There are all kinds of incredible phenomena. Apart from foxes causing trouble, I really can't think of anything. Better way to explain.

Rain Girl

On a rainy day, a woman stands in the rain. If a man smiles at her and signals her to use an umbrella, she will always follow him. he. From then on, the man will always live in a humid environment, because ordinary people cannot withstand such heavy humidity, so he will die soon.

There is a more detailed explanation on the Japanese BBS, Rain Girl: A woman in the rain will always follow the man who smiles at her and indicates that he is using an umbrella. He will die from being unable to withstand moisture from living in a humid environment. But I heard that you can subdue her with salt. Legend has it that the Izu Peninsula first appeared in ancient times. On the night of the hurricane, a beautiful young woman who had been waiting for her husband to go fishing for a long time, braved the wind and rain to go to the reef to watch and was swept into the water by the waves. Later, there were rumors that she was seen in depression and pain, and the place she passed was filled with damp and stagnant water. After having sex with the handsome man, she discovered It’s not that the husband killed the other person and started searching aimlessly.

This statement is not recorded in the "Illustrated Encyclopedia of Japanese Monsters" by Japanese painter Mizuki Shigeru.

Human Face Tree

According to "Unofficial History", a man in the Edo period was so distressed that his beloved woman died that he believed the evil ghost and planted the woman's head in his house. In the backyard, a tree grows after forty-nine days, flowers bloom on the tree after a hundred days, and fruits grow after a year, all of which are the human faces of women. As a result, the government encircles and suppresses the demon tree. In the end, the man and the human-faced tree disappear in the fire. , can sing and cry

shantong

Shantong, the mandrill in China, is the evil spirit of disease and fire. In 334 BC, when the Yue Kingdom was destroyed, the mandrill moved eastward and settled in Japan. Landing on the west coast of Kyushu, it was later commonly known as "Kyushu Mountain Boy".

Shantong is located in the Yin chapter before "Hundred Ghosts Night Walk" by Toriyama Shiyan. As the name suggests, it is a mountain demon that haunts deep mountains, and often appears in the Kyushu area (not only on the borders of Kyushu, but also in other places during the autumn and east seasons). Because it has many connections with kappa, it also has The common view is that mountain boys come to the river in spring and autumn and become kappa, and when they return to the mountains in autumn and winter, they become mountain boys. Since mountain boys are also called children, they are so named because they are short and child-like. The main characteristics are that the body is thickly hairy, resembling an ape, with a round head (like a kappa), and only one eye. In some descriptions, it is single-legged and can stand and walk like a human. Despite their short stature, they are very strong. They like to eat rice balls and play pranks on others, but they are absolutely not malicious. At most, they only appear near the mountain temple and steal food from the monks, but they hate food with salt. thing.

Mountain boys, similar to kappa, not only do not harm people, but are also very helpful. Especially for woodcutters who are transporting in mountain streams, they often cannot do without the help of mountain boys, but this is not free. Oh, but you only need to give rice balls to the mountain boys to maximize their enthusiasm. Especially when you encounter difficulties in moving big trees over certain mountains, as long as you give rice balls to the mountain boys, they will definitely come to help every day. When the mountain boy cooperates with others to move trees, he doesn't like to walk in front, but always drags behind. No matter how heavy the thing is, it is easy for him. After all, he was once a mountain god with great strength.

Although the mountain boy is enthusiastic, one thing to remember is, don’t give him rice balls when you first start moving, otherwise they may run away before the move is finished, which is a serious breach of trust==||| So be sure to wait until the work is over before giving rice balls, so that the mountain boy will come to help the next day.

However, when it comes to saying that Shantong does not harm others, it does not include the heinous evildoers. For evildoers, Shantong is the mountain god who can inflict severe punishments and send diseases and fires to evildoers.

Black Tomb

Also called a ghoul, it is a ghost that lives in cemeteries. It will steal the bodies of recently deceased people and send them to their homes to scare people. A ghost that likes to play pranks and sometimes only cuts off certain parts of the body, so some people call it the corpse-destroying ghost. This ghost is quite boring...

The Killing Stone

A famous tourist attraction in Japan. It is said that in ancient India, there was a nine-tailed demon fox that confused the king in India and tore the great rivers and mountains into pieces. He was hunted by people and then fled to China. He changed into a human form and was named Daji. He also destroyed a generation of dynasties. Being chased by the gods of the Central Plains, he escaped from the water to Japan and entered Japan randomly: At this time, he changed his name to Tamamo no Mae (← very familiar), and continued to confuse the king. However, because the king at that time knew about India and China, he asked his generals to He led his troops to surround and kill him, but even though most of his troops were gone, he still couldn't defeat him. At this time, a wise monk came and said that he was chasing people from India. The king asked him to try. Unexpectedly, he really succeeded. The monk used his own The nine-tailed demon fox was sealed in his life and turned into a tall stone. The fox then emitted poisonous gas from inside the stone, killing all humans, animals and birds passing by. That’s why it’s called the killing stone.

Luo Xinfu

Information 1

It is recorded in "The Story of Monsters and Hundreds of Elephants" that she is called the Spider Woman. She is a spider that turns into a human form and seduce men. When a man gets pregnant three days after being seduced, his head will be taken away and eaten; in "Hyakki Night Walk", it is called a shinura and is an extremely dangerous monster

Information 2:

The new bride is also called Spider Girl [or Lady Spider]. Legend has it that the earliest female spider was a beautiful woman who was married to a lord of a certain place. The lord discovered her affair with another man and threw her into a box full of poisonous spiders, allowing the spiders to suck her body. . After her death, the wraith merged with the poisonous spider and became the ruthless Lady Spider.

As witches who hunt men, they are very coquettish and will make men intoxicated. They will take their heads and eat them on the third day after seducing them.

Mermaid

A long time ago, in the 29th year of Emperor Suiko (617 AD), he was caught by a fisherman in Kamagawa (Shiga Prefecture). This also happened in the Edo period In the past, especially in the twelfth year of Kansei (1800 AD), the mermaid caught in the river near Nishibori in Osaka became a sensation after being seen by many people. This mermaid was over a meter tall and cried like a baby. Considering this matter, the mermaid is also a legendary phantom beast, which can be regarded as a quite mysterious fish family. It was called dace fish or hair fish at that time. In this regard, the Japanese mermaid and the fairy mermaid in Western legends have slightly different meanings. Its posture is not necessarily beautiful, but more bizarre.

Appears in the offshore waters of Wakasa Bay, Kyushu, and Shikoku, and only appears when violent storms are approaching.

Hundred-Eyed Monster

In Western European legends, the Hundred-Eyed Monster, mostly giant monsters, spread to Japan and turned into a banshee with eyes all over its body. It is said that this banshee specializes in She tempts men to take away people's eyes for her own use. If she takes away a hundred eyes, she will become an unconquerable demon.

Legend has it that when a mage went to recover her, she already had 98 eyes. Eyes, the evil light emitted by the 98 eyes made the mage unable to move. In order to prevent the monster from filling up the hundred eyes, the mage destroyed his eyes. Finally, he used the ashes of Buddhist incense to seal the two main eyes on the head of the hundred-eyed monster. Conquer.

The Mountain Lama

It is said that there are many witnesses to the old woman-like monster that lives in the mountains. There are good and bad kinds of mountain aunts. There are those who give the land abundant harvests and wealth, and there are also the terrifying ones who eat travelers and children. However, it is said that after the death of the evil mountain lady, the land will become rich in harvest. It is somewhat similar to the myth of Izanami in the "Ancient Chronicles", both are gods of harvest. No matter who witnesses the legendary Yamaba in Shimane Prefecture, she is always eating when she is seen, so there are also rumors that Yamaba is a glutton.

Yamaba, やまうば, another version of the Japanese banshee Typical representatives are different from the previous beautiful types in that they are absolutely tough and rugged in appearance. However, this type of monster that looks the toughest is actually the most spiritual. Its biggest feature is that it can read people's hearts. Knowing what the other person is thinking is the most terrifying thing.

Dream tapir:

In Japanese legend, it is an auspicious animal that eats people’s nightmares.

Ichimoku Monk:

It is said to appear on December 8th or February 8th in Japan. He will enter a home where shoes are left at the door, but he will not enter if a cage is hung on a bamboo pole and a plant called "Cornus" is burned.

●Wood Charm (こだま)

What is "charm"?

"Shuowen" says: "Charm, the spirit of old things." It can be seen that "Charm" originally refers to the spirit of all things.

But the definition of "charm" here is too general and unemotional, and it is well known that "enchantments and monsters" are not good people. However, there is a description in the "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes" by Da Yandian in the later century that is quite accurate, saying: "Essence and charm are different. The mandrills and ghosts cling to the grass and stick to the trees to cause evil spirits. This is called charm; the trees are old for thousands of years, and their splendor is cohesive. , it takes shape over a long period of time, like the knotted holy embryo of Taoism, which is called essence."

So as the name suggests, the wood charm is also a tree monster. Obviously this title was copied from China by the Japanese. In ancient times, wood charms were common monsters, and in most cases they were just side characters. If you pay careful attention, you can find traces of them in Tang poetry - "The wind whistles of the wooden charm, and the rain of the mountain spirit whistles." (Li Bai's "Passing the Tomb of Sihao"), "The century-old owl becomes the wooden charm, and laughs "The green fire rises in the nest" (Li He's "Shenxianqu", but here it is actually talking about the owl becoming a spirit). For the same tree spirit, the name "木霊" is actually more gentle, but Shi Yan chose "charm" instead of "霊", which seems to be more focused on the connotation of monsters and people.

Let’s look at Shi Yan’s painting again. The background is a thousand-year-old pine, and the characters are a man and a woman holding cleaning utensils. This is a scene from the famous Japanese Noh dance "Takasago". "Takasago" tells the story of "mutual pine trees" - it is said that an ancient pine in Takasago and an ancient pine in Sumiyoshi are the couple's pine trees. However, Takasago and Sumiyoshi are far apart, so many people are puzzled by this. One time, when Tomoshiro, the priest of Aso Shrine in Higo Province, was visiting Takasago, he happened to meet an old couple cleaning up debris under the shade of a tree while enjoying the scenery, so he stepped forward to ask about the matter. The old man replied that the couple's love understanding transcended geographical distance, and these two old men were the pine spirits of Takasago and Sumiyoshi. To this day, Japanese people still generally sing the ballad "Takasago" at weddings to wish the couple a long life together. Compared with the ghostly atmosphere in the name "Mu Mei", Shi Yan's paintings are full of romance~

●Tengu (てんぐ)

Tengu and kappa, Oni are also known as the three most famous Japanese monsters, among which Tengu is undoubtedly the most frightening representative of mountain monsters.

The word "Tengu" also comes from China. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas - Xishan Jing" says: "Yinshan... there is a beast, its shape is like a raccoon and has a white head, it is called the Tengu, and its sound is like a durian, which can ward off evil." As mentioned in the article, the original Tengu was It is an auspicious beast that can protect against evil, but later it evolved to describe comets and shooting stars. The ancients regarded stars flying in the sky as very unlucky, so the Tengu also became the title of the evil star. The earliest record of Tengu in Japan can be found in the "Nihon Shoki", and it is also used as a metaphor for comets and meteors. In Japan, the Tengu was also called the Tengu because of its appearance. Until the Heian period, the Japanese Tengu was still the image described in the "Shan Hai Jing".

Beginning in the Middle Ages, Japan's Tengu slowly embarked on its own path of evolution. The image of Tengu that we are familiar with today is far from its original image. It is generally believed that a monster that can fly to the sky and attach itself to the human body recorded in "The Collection of Konsai Monogatari" is called "Eagle" and a kind of monster also called "Eagle" in Buddhism. The owl-shaped monster called "Tengu" may be the prototype of modern Tengu. The original image of Tengu was a "crow Tengu" with a bird's beak and a human body and a pair of wings. The most famous legend about the bird-shaped Tengu is that of Emperor Sotoku, the greatest demon in Japan. He was defeated in the Hogen Rebellion and died in exile with hatred. He swore a poisonous oath before his death, "I will serve as the great demon of Japan and as the emperor." Kill the people, kill the emperor for the people, and this country will always be in troubled times." He bit his tongue and wrote curse scriptures with blood, and his resentful spirit turned into a tengu in the shape of a golden kite to harm the world. In the legend that the Tengu are evil spirits causing chaos, Emperor Chongtoku has always been the leader of the Tengu.

Crow Tengu, Konoha Tengu, Kurama Tengu, Big Tengu, Iizuna Tengu, etc.

Kaku

Live in the mountains and use words to confuse you there The monster in the human heart. The content of what he said was just offensive words, and he was just playing pranks on this monster.

Huzi

Bone Girl

Shouwu

Qingtianfang

Crazy Bones

Nue

Kamaita