(Chinese: hànbá, 旱魃) is a mythical species of
yōkai in Chinese and Japanese folklore that holds the power to cause
droughts.
History
The legend in Han Chinese started with the pre-historic time in China. After a long period of preparation,
Chiyou made many weapons, gathered many monsters, and attacked
Huang Di. Huang Di sent
Yinglong
Yinglong () is a winged dragon and rain deity in ancient Chinese mythology.
Name
This legendary creature's name combines ''yìng'' "respond; correspond; answer; reply; agree; comply; consent; promise; adapt; apply" and ''lóng'' "Chinese dra ...
to meet him at the wilderness in
Jizhou. Yinglong, a dragon with the ability to fly, brought with him great floods to trap Chiyou. Chiyou countered it by bringing in weather wizards, and Yinglong's army got lost in the dizzying storm. Then, Huang Di sent the goddess Ba to battle. In black clothes, bald, and radiating great light and heat, she came before the army and used her power, the storm dissipated, and Huang Di was able to capture and kill Chiyou. Yinglong and Hanba had great achievements but also lost their godly power. Unable to return to the heavens, Yinglong stayed in the south of China, where there is much water and rain; Hanba stayed in the north, where there is much drought. Cursed everywhere she went, from then she was called Hanba (旱魃).
During the time of
Emperor Zhenzong, it was rumored that the hanba struck and took all the water of
Yanchi. The Emperor then sought help from
Celestial Master Zhang, who sent
Guan Yu to defeat the hanba. Guan fought for seven days and defeated the monster. In gratitude of his power, the Emperor gave him the title of "Yi yong wu an wang" (Righteous Brave Military Peace Kin, 义勇武安王) on the 13th of the fifth month of the
Chinese calendar
The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar 曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar 曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar 曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...
; henceforth, the Chinese celebrated Guan Yu's day on that day, praying for the banishment of demons and plagues and for rain, and thought that on that day it must rain, and if it does not, prayers would certainly be answered.
Description
From early-
Qin Qin may refer to:
Dynasties and states
* Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China
* Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC
* Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...
to
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
, the hanba appears in a goddess form, with characteristics of a woman in black. This period's hanba has both the identity of a god and a monster, people treated it as the god of drought, and attempted to drive it away with sunshine, flood, and tigers to achieve the goal of bringing rain.
Since mid-
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
to early
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, the goddess image has slowly changed to that of a ghost, due to the fact that the worship of nature has died down since
Qin Qin may refer to:
Dynasties and states
* Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China
* Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC
* Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...
and
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
, so the goddess nature has gradually been denied in the hearts of people.
After mid-
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, the ghost nature gradually switched to that of a vampire-like nature and image. At the end of
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
, the myth that hanba is able to transform into a hou appeared.
According to a quote from
Bencao Gangmu in the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
encyclopedia
Wakan Sansai Zue
The is an illustrated Japanese ''leishu'' encyclopedia published in 1712 in the Edo period. It consists of 105 volumes in 81 books. Its compiler was Terashima or Terajima (), a doctor from Osaka. It describes and illustrates various activitie ...
, the Hiderigami is ''"from sixty to ninety centimeters long, has eyes on the top of its head, and moves quickly like the wind."''
In
Toriyama Sekien's
Illustrated One Hundred Demons from the Present and the Past, it is referred to as or and is drawn as a beast with one arm and one eye.
[Murakami, Kenji (2000). ''Yōkai Jiten'', p.282. Tokyo: The Mainichi Newspaper Company. .]
See also
*
Nüba, her Chinese counterpart.
References
{{Japanese folklore long
Sky and weather goddesses
Drought deities
Yōkai
ja:魃#その他の「魃」