The Image of Fox in Japanese and Chinese Literature -focusing on folk tales in Muromachi period and “Tai Pin Guan Chi”.-
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Huang, Jia-Ling
Abstract
During the Muromachi period in Japan, stories different from Heian period were created due to the power transition from the nobility to samurai. As the main audience shifted to the common people, the tales become easier to understand, and were usually published with illustrations. There are many types of tales, including religious stories, wars and supernatural fantasies of animals, etc. As opposed to the tales in Muromachi period, in China a collection of stories called “Tai Pin Guan Chi” was published in Song Dynasty. It contains about 7000 stories and most of them are about ghosts, immortals, and animals. To compare and contrast the stories in Japanese and Chinese literature, I would like to focus on tales of animals, especially on the fox to figure out why the fox makes their appearances in such a great variety of images.
Through the research, the fox is found to be Inari’s messengers on one hand; it becomes a tool used to preach Buddhism in tales of Muromachi period on the other. However, in “Tai Pin Guan Chi” the fox reflects author’s ideals, how the society worked and the religious belief, all of which have a great influence on the present-day Chinese people.
Subjects
fox
tales in Muromachi period
Tai Pin Guan Chi
the fox-wife
fox beliefs
Type
thesis
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