Yōkai Conference: From popular culture to the world of horror

Held at the University of Valencia, Spain 16.05.2015

Yōkai Light on the Tokaido. The symbolic transformation of

«Tengu» (天狗)

Content

I. Obscurity and colors in Edo II. Shadows and the collective imagination III. Light on the Tokaido

(M.A.) Vlad Sirbu History of Art/ Oriental Studies University of Valencia/University of Salamanca

I. Obscurity and colors in Edo

A. School of Kano B. School of Tosa

- Derives from the Imperial Academy founded by Heizei in the IXth century

- Strong Chinese influence - Golden backgrounds - Dragons, tigers, caligraphy

- «Local» Japanese response - Tosa Mitsunobu´s

workshop – XIVth century - Local Aristocracy - Delicate lines, misterious

colours, with initatic and ritualistic symbolism

I. Obscurity and colors in Edo

UKIYO-E

II. Shadows in the collective imagination

- Tokugawa Shogunate rule: rapid urbanization

II. Shadows in the collective imagination

- Hundreds of nobles and aristocrats: the apparition of new professions

II. Shadows in the collective imagination

Ancestral rural background + Religious caracter + Ludic tendency

Superstitions Magical thought

Shintoism Buddhism Daoism Confucianism

Theater Carnivals Prosperity

COSMOGONY + THEOGONY + COSMOLOGY

YOKAI

III. Light on the Tokaido

The Journey of the Tengu (天狗)

III. Light on the Tokaido

The Journey of the Tengu (天狗)

III. Light on the Tokaido

- Solar eclipse– the «celestial dog» was eating the sun – universal archetype

III. Light on the Tokaido

- In Konjaku Monogatarishū described as souls of the heretics, trying to jest and mislead the believers

III. Light on the Tokaido

Conceptual and iconological diffusion: there are almost identical variations in Hinduism, Judaism and also in ancient Egypt

III. Light on the Tokaido

- Transformation process - Gradually it converts its form: from a bird of fire to little demonic, yet playful creatures (Karasu Tengu)

III. Light on the Tokaido

- Transformation process: - The most popular version in arts is the Kurama Tengu: the good monk, protector of woods. In Japan it is also considered the patron of martial arts and its typology is also present in martial arts cinematography (e.g. the drunk master, the shaolin monk, etc.)

III. Light on the Tokaido

- Humanization: the “birdish” beak gradually transforms into an exaggerate nose, which is a stylized phallic attribute originated in the Edo period – although with reminiscences in the Ainu shamanistic culture