Ungaikyō

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Ungaikyō, the mirror monster.
—Gazu hyakki tsurezure bukuro by Toriyama Sekien (1784).

The ungaikyō (雲外鏡、うんがいきょう; "mirror beyond the clouds"[1]) is a yōkai in Japanese folklore or fiction, a type of mirror monster.

The monster is depicted in the Gazu hyakki tsurezure bukuro (1784), a collection of yōkai paintings by the Edo period ukiyo-e artist Toriyama Sekien.

Modern commentary considers it an example of a tsukumogami or possessed object often depicted with faces, etc., and the ability to maneuver.

Mythology

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Toriyama Sekien illustrated the "Ungaikyō" in his Gazu hyakki tsurezure bukuro (百器徒然袋; "The Illustrated Bag of One Hundred Random Demons"[2] or "A Horde of Haunted Housewares", etc.), published in Tenmei 4/1784.[a] As the title suggests, this work was a collection of haunted objects or tsukumogami.[3]

Sekien drew "Ungaikyō" as a mirror with a mischievous looking face (tongue sticking out), held up on a tree-like stand[3] (which resembles a torso with limbs: cf. image top right). Accompanying the drawing is the commentary as follows:

The so-called Shōmakyō (照魔鏡) ("Demon-shining mirror") is said reflect the [true] form of various mysterious things. I wondered if perhaps these [demons'][b] shadows may reflect (or transfer) onto it, making the mirror-yōkai move around of its own free will, or so I dreamed.[4][1]

The shōmakyō (照魔鏡; lit. "illuminating-the demon-mirror"), in Chinese literature, 0is a legendary mirror that is said to reveal the true identity of demons,[5][6] as Sekien states at the beginning of his commentary.

The shōmakyō (Chinese: 照魔镜, zhàomó jìng) in historical fiction was said to have revealed the true identity of Emperor Consort Daji of the crumbling Shang dynasty to have been the nine-tailed fox, according to, e.g. a Japanese adaptation[c] of the Ming period novel Fengshen yanyi ("Investiture of the Gods").[7]

The ungaikyō in Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro is noted to be an original creation of Sekien Toriyama based on the shomakyo,[8][9] and the accompanying picture shows it to be a mirror with a monstrous and mysterious face floating on it,[10] as can be seen in the figure.

Modern commentary

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Books on yōkai since the Heisei era (post-1988)[d] describe the ungaikyō explicitly as a tsukumogami (an age-old vessel turned yōkai, where tsuku denotes demonic possession). According to some, the ungaikyō's face reflects the face of the yōkai that possessed it.[10] Another scenario is that whichever yōkai reflected in the shōmakyō will gain control of the mirror and manipulate it.[10]

One linguistic conjecture is that the name “ungaikyō” had been a pun played on Sengaikyō, the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese geography treatise Shanhai jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), which describes a number of yōkai.[11]

The possessed mirror manifests such characteristics as manipulating people's reflections to resemble what they prefer, transforming any human who looks into the ungaikyō into a monstrous version of themselves as the reflection shown, or (for a human to use) to trap spirits in them.[citation needed]

The mirror monster

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In a book written by yōkai manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, there is a legend that on the fifteenth night of the eighth month (Hazuki) of the lunar calendar, if one fills a quartz tray with water under the moonlight, and use that water to trace an image of a yōkai on the mirror, that yōkai will then dwell inside the mirror.[12][13]

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The ungaikyō in the 1968 film "Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare (Daiei Film) is designed as a yōkai in the shape of a raccoon dog. In the film, it has the ability to inhale and puff out its belly into a sort of giant TV screen, then display scenes from various places.[14]

It is pointed out that many yōkai illustrated books for children since the Shōwa era (1926–1989) often ascribes a raccoon dog-like appearance to the ungaikyō and gives it the ability to show images on its pot belly due to the influence of the aforementioned film.[8]

Explanatory notes

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  1. ^ Here hyakki (百器; "hundred vessels/containers"), not hyakki (百鬼; "hundred demons"). Also tsurezure (徒然; "out of boredom") has the original Chinese meaning of "aimless", etc., hence "Random".
  2. ^ The foregoing ayashiki (怪しき; "mysterious") also goes to kai (怪; "weirdness, monster")
  3. ^ Tsūzoku rekkoku shi (通俗列国志), published Hōei 2 or 1704/1705
  4. ^ This is somewhat of a technicality. Because the mirror appears in Sekien's book on "haunted vessels", the ungaikyō was already considered as such back then. But it is difficult to find the term tsukumogami applied before the Heisei era.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b Toriyama, Sekien (2017), "Ungaikyō (Mirror beyond the clouds)", Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien, translated by Hiroko Yoda; Matt Alt, Courier Dover Publications, p. 290, ISBN 9780486818757
  2. ^ Papp (2010), p. 33.
  3. ^ a b Davisson, Zack (2024). Ultimate Guide to Japanese Yokai: Ghosts, Demons, Monsters and other Creepy Creatures from Japan(with Over 250 Images). Tuttle Publishing. p. 88. ISBN 9781462924776. ..on its wooden stand, peeking behind a curtain.
  4. ^ Toriyama, Sekien (2021) [1779], "Ungaikyō" 雲外鏡（うんがいきょう）, Edo yōkaiga taizen 江戸妖怪画大全（鳥山石燕 全妖怪画集・解説付き特別編集版） (in Japanese), Edo rekishi Library, 照魔鏡（しやうまきやう）と言へるは もろもろの怪しき物の形をうつすよしなれば その影のうつれるにやとおもひしに 動（うごき）出るままに 此（この）かゞみの妖怪（ようくはい）なりと 夢の中におもひぬ
  5. ^ Morohashi, Tetsuji (1966) Dai kan-wa jiten[[:ja:大漢和辞典|]] 7: 7396, s.v. "Shōmakyō 照魔鏡".
  6. ^ Papp, Zília (2010). "Ungaikyō" 雲外鏡. Anime and Its Roots in Early Japanese Monster Art. Global Oriental　. pp. 95–97. ISBN 9789004202870.
  7. ^ Komada, Shinji [in Japanese] (January 1972). "Yōkai: Kyūbi no kitsune" 妖怪：九尾の狐. Chūgoku 中国 (98). Chūgoku no kai: 76.
  8. ^ a b Murakami, Kenji [in Japanese] (2000), Yōkai jiten 妖怪事典 (in Japanese), Mainichi Shimbunsha, p. 52, ISBN 978-4-620-31428-0
  9. ^ Tagami, Ken'ichi; Okutsu, Keisuke; Nakamura, Arisha, eds. (2006). Anime-ban Gegege no Kitarō kanzen tokuhon アニメ版 ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 完全読本. Kodansha. p. 51. ISBN 978-4-06-213742-3.
  10. ^ a b c Kusano, Takumi (1997). Gensō dōbutsu jiten 幻想動物事典. Shinkigensha. p. 49. ISBN 978-4-88317-283-2.
  11. ^ Yōkai dotto com (2008). Zusetsu yōkai jiten 図説 妖怪辞典. Gentōsha Comics. p. 113. ISBN 978-4-344-81486-8.
  12. ^ Mizuki, Shigeru (2014). Ketteiban Nihon yōkai taizen Yōkai・ano yo・kami sama 決定版 日本妖怪大全 妖怪・あの世・神様. Kodansha. p. 115. ISBN 978-4-062-77602-8.
  13. ^ Mizuki, Shigeru (1984). Mizuki Shiger no yōkai bunko 水木しげるの妖怪文庫. Vol. 2. Kawade Shobō. p. 145. ISBN 978-4-309-47056-6.
  14. ^ Yomigaere! Yōkai eiga daishūgō 甦れ！妖怪映画大集合. Bamboo mook. Take Shobō. 2005. p. 72. ISBN 978-4-81242-265-6.
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