Shōjō

A is the Japanese reading of Chinese ''xing-xing'' () or its older form ''sheng sheng'' (, translated as "live-lively"), which is a mythical primate, though it has been tentatively identified with an orangutan species.

Some Western commentators have regarded the ''shōjō'' sea spirit with a red face and hair and a fondness for alcohol as part of native Japanese folklore. However, ''shōjō'' as sea-dwelling spirit was a fictional setting in the Noh play ''Shōjō'', a possible embellishment of the ''Shan Hai Jing'' stating this orangutan could be found on a particular seaside mountain. And liquor-drinking was always associated with this beast in China since antiquity.

Nomenclature

The Chinese characters are also a Japanese (and Chinese) word for orangutan, and can also be used in Japanese to refer to someone who is particularly fond of alcohol.

A Noh mask called the ''shōjō'' exists (cf. §Noh); also, in Kabuki, a type of stage makeup (''kumadori'') is called the ''shōjō''.Shogakukan Daijisen Editorial Staff (1998), (Dictionary of the Japanese language), Revised Edition. Tokyo: Shogakukan. .

Development of lore

The ''shōjō'' has been represented as a sea spirit with a red face and hair and a fondness for alcohol as part of Japanese folktale tradition.

It has sometimes been misconceived as purely native Japanese folklore and superstition, particularly by commentators of the ''netsuke'' craft art, since the ''shōjō'' as a popular for these carvings. Though the conception of the ''shōjō'' as an alcohol-loving fairy living in the sea may have passed into folklore, it has its antecedent in the medieval literature or theater, namely the Noh play ''Shōjō'', which is set in Ancient China, which in turn derives from the Chinese counterpart, ''xingxing'':

There is no question whatsoever that ''shōjō''s love of liquor derives from the ''xingxing'' of Chinese literature, and a number of ancient sources can be listed. The being dwelling in the sea is a uniquely Japanese adaptation, but it might have ben inspired by the statement in the ''Shan Hai Jing'' that it is found on a southern mountain bordering the sea.

Xingxing

The ''xingxing'' (''xīng xīng''; ) written ''shengsheng'' (''shēng shēng''; ) in older writings is found in a number of pieces of Chinese literature, dating back to several centuries B.C.

Shan hai jing

The ''shengsheng'' or ''xingxing'' (), also given the English-translated name of "live-lively" are mentioned in three passages of the ''Shan Hai Jing'' ("Classic of Mountains and Seas").

According to Book One, or ''Classic of the Southern Mountains'' the ''shengsheng'' resembles a ''yu'' () or long-tailed ape, but has white ears. It is said to crouch while walking, but to be able to run like humans, and eating it imparts quick-running ability. It is said to inhabit Mount Zhaoyao 招摇之山 or "Raiseshake", which is the first peak of Queshan 鵲山 or Mount Magpie ange

Elsewhere:

The Chinese character Birrell translates as "green" ( 青, qīng) is also used to refer to colors that in English would be considered "blue," (see ''Distinguishing blue from green in language'') and that illustrator Sun Xiao-qin (孫暁琴, Sūn Xiǎo-qín), in ''Illustrated Classics: Classic of Mountains and Seas'' (经典图读山海经, Jīng Diǎn Tú Dú Shān Hǎi Jīng) chose to portray the ''xīng xīng'' from this same passage as having blue fur.

Bencao Gangmu

The ''xingxing'' () is mentioned in the ''Bencao Gangmu'' ("Compendium of Materia Medica", 1596), and identified as referring to the orangutan by modern editors/translators. The work's compiler Li Shizhen remarked that ''xing-xing'' () was formerly written ''sheng sheng'' (), hence, Unschuld emends the authentic pronunciation of "" to be "sheng sheng". Curiously, Strassberg did the opposite, and rendered "" as ''xingxing''.

The ''Bencao Gangmu'' describes it as resembling a dog or hesusmacaque (), having yellow fur like the ape (''yuan''; ), and white ears like a pig.

It cites Ruan Qian () from the Tang dynasty period regarding the method the Vietnamese locals in Fengxi () county used to capture the ''xingxing''. They would leave straw sandals and liquor by the roadside to lure them; the creatures examine these goods but go away at first, but they return to try on the sandals and drink the wine, at which point they can be captured. When it comes time to eat one of them, they would push the fattest one forward, and they weep.

Japanese literature and art

Noh play

The Kyōgen-influenced Noh play ''shōjō'' is set in Ancient China, specifically on the banks of the Xunyang River (; present-day Jiujiang) in Morokoshi (唐土; present-day Jiangxi Province).

Plotline

A man is instructed to sell wine (''sake'') at the market to become wealthy. The protagonist (''shite'') ''shōjō'' disguised as human buys from him in large quantity, but his face never becomes flushed despite the heavy drinking. The ''sake''-seller who has turned wealthy asked his great patron for his identity, and the ''shōjō'' reveals to him he is a spirit living in the sea.

The sake-seller seller seeks out the spirit at an estuary by the seaside. The ''shōjō'' appears in its true form, drinks the sake, getting drunk and dancing ecstatically, then rewarding the sake seller by making his sake vat perpetually refill itself.

Costume

The ''Shōjō'' Noh mask with a red tinge on its face, it is worn by the lead (''nochishite'') playing its part of the ''shōjō'', and used exclusively for this lead role, but nowhere else. The costume of the ''Shōjō'' follows an overall red-color theme, a big red wig, and red clothing.

Variant

The variant to the Noh play, known by the title ''Shōjō midare'' or simply is actually only involves alternate choreography or staging (, in Noh jargon). The usual gets replaced with a special ''midare'' dance during the .

Folk art

The ''Shōjō'' doll was sometimes displayed alongside the red Daruma doll, red paper ''gohei'', etc. on a altar to the during the Edo Period. The ''Shōjō'' doll was a ''hariko'' (papier-mâché) like the daruma, and the industry for manufacture is said to date to the c. 1700s or earlier (Genroku era). It was considered a lucky item (''engimono''), placed on the hearth (''kamado''), and was supposed to contract the pox in place of the family.

The ''shōjō'' has also been a popular subject for the ''Nara ningyō'', which is a type of wood-carved doll that is color-painted.

Wakan sansai zue

Terajima Ryōan's encyclopedia ''Wakan sansai zue '' (1712) included and entry for "shōjō", with illustration (cf. fig. right). The caption was accompanied by the Chinese pronunciation rendered in katakana (''suin suin'' ), but also claims a Japanese name ''shōjō'' (written ). It is clear the entry draws from Chinese sources, especially the ''Bencao Gangmu'', and its prefacing remarks argues that the beast is actually yellow-furred (as the ''Bencao Gangmu'' states), rather being red color as has been believed according to popular notions in Japan.

The opening text proper states that the ''shōjō'' is known to occur in the mountains and valleys, in the land of the Ailauyi ( zh, 哀牢夷, a people in western Yunnan) and "Fengxi xian" ( county) in Jiaozhi (, present-day Northern Vietnam), but the beast occurring in Fengxi, Vietnam was already given in the ''Bencao Gangmu'', as aforementioned. And the local Vietnamese strategy of leaving straw sandals (''zōri'') and wine (''sake'') in order to lure the orangutan for capture, is also taken almost verbatim from the Chinese source.

Folklore

White sake

A group of ''shōjō'' as sake-loving sea spirits are featured in a Japanese folktale entitled "White saké" published by Richard Gordon Smith (1908). It occurs in an anthology which, folklorist A. R. Wright was convinced, faithfully recorded tales substantially as they were told by the oral sources, whether "fishermen, peasants, priests, or others".

A summary is as follows: A gravely sick man had a dying wish to drink sake. His son searched near Mount Fuji and met the red ''shōjō'', who were having a drinking party on the beach. The ''shōjō'' gave him some sake after listening to his plea. Since the sake revived the dying father, the son went back to the spirit to get more sake each day for five days. A greedy neighbor who also wanted the sake became sick after drinking it. He forced the son to take him to the ''shōjō'' to get the good sake. The ''shōjō'' explained that as his heart wasn't pure, the sacred sake would not have life-restoring benefits, but instead had poisoned the neighbor. The neighbor repented, and the ''shōjō'' gave him some medicine to cure him. The father and the neighbor brewed white sake together.

Popular culture

Several plants and animals have ''shōjō'' in their names for their bright, reddish-orange color. Examples include several Japanese maple trees, one of them named ''shōjō-no-mai'' or "dancing red-faced monkey" and another named ''shōjō nomura'' or "beautiful red-faced monkey."Vertrees, J.D. and Peter Gregory (2001). ''Japanese Maples: Momiji and Kaede (Third Edition)''. Portland, OR: Timber Press. p. 214. . Here, Vertrees and Gregory translate ''shōjō'' as "red-faced monkey" rather than "orangutan." Certain bright reddish-orange dragonflies are named , meaning "red-faced dragonfly.". (Accessed September 18, 2008). Other names with ''shōjō'' refer to real or fancied connections to sake, like the fly that tends to swarm around open saké.

In Hayao Miyazaki's animated film ''Princess Mononoke'', talking, ape-like creatures struggling to protect the forest from human destruction by planting trees are identified as ''shōjō''.

Shōjō appeared in a 2005 Japanese film ''The Great Yokai War''.

The Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyōsai, who was also known for his heavy drinking and eccentric behavior, humorously referred to himself as a ''shōjō''.

The March 30, 2012, episode of the television series ''Supernatural'', "Party on, Garth", features a ''shōjō'', although this ''shōjō'' appears to have features more associated with the ''onryō''.

See also

*Inari
*Kami
*Yōkai
*List of legendary creatures from Japan

Explanatory notes

References

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External links

The Obakemono Project

{{Japanese folklore long

Japanese mythology
Chinese legendary creatures
Male characters in theatre
Tutelary deities
Noh
Kabuki characters
Japanese legendary creatures
Classic of Mountains and Seas