| Tamamo-no-Mae | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Other Names |
Tamamo-no-Mae, Daji, Lady Kayō, Bao Si |
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First Appearance |
Japanese Myth |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
Tamamo-no-Mae is a legendary figure in Japanese mythology. One of the stories explaining the legend comes from Muromachi period (1336 to 1573) genre fiction called otogizōshi. In the otogizōshi Tamamo-no-Mae was a courtesan under the Japanese Emperor Konoe (who reigned from 1142 through 1155).
In the story told by Hokusai, formed in the Edo period, the nine-tailed fox first appeared in China and possessed Daji, a concubine of the Shang dynasty's last ruler King Zhou. She enchanted the king and brought on a reign of terror that led to a rebellion that ended the Shang dynasty. The fox spirit fled to Magadha of Tianzhu (ancient India) and became Lady Kayō, concubine of the crown prince Banzoku; based on Indian tales of Kalmashapada the man-eater), causing him to cut off the heads of a thousand men. It was then defeated again, and fled the country. The same fox returned to China around 780 BC and was said to have possessed Bao Si, a concubine of the Zhou dynasty King You. It was again chased away by human military forces.
The fox stayed quiet for some period. Then she appeared in Japan as Tamamo-no-Mae, the most favoured courtesan of Emperor Toba. She was said to be a most beautiful and intelligent woman, being able to answer any question asked. She caused the Emperor to be extremely ill and was eventually exposed as a fox spirit by the astrologer Abe no Yasuchika, who had been called to diagnose the cause of the Emperor's poor health. A few years later, the emperor sent Kazusa-no-suke and Miura-no-suke to kill the fox in the plains of Nasu.
In the 1653 Tamamo no sōshi, an addendum was added to the story describing that the spirit of Tamamo-no-mae embedded itself into a stone called the Sesshō-seki. The stone continually released poisonous gas, killing everything that touched it. The stone was said to have been destroyed in the Nanboku-chō period by the Buddhist monk Gennō Shinshō, who exorcised the now-repentant fox spirit. He held a Buddhist memorial service after the deed, allowing the spirit to finally rest in peace.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Konjaku Hyakki Shūi
- Sangoku Yōko-den
- Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki