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are a type of
legendary creature A legendary creature (also mythical or mythological creature) is a type of fictional entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), but may be featured in historical accou ...
found in Japanese folk religion (Shinto). They are considered a type of ''
yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as su ...
'' (supernatural beings) or
Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoist ...
''
kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the ...
'' (gods). The ''Tengu'' were originally thought to take the forms of
birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predato ...
and a monkey deity, and they are traditionally depicted with human, monkey, and avian characteristics. Sarutahiko Ōkami is considered to be the original model of Konoha-Tengu (a supernatural creature with a red face and long nose), which today is widely considered the ''Tengu''s defining characteristic in the popular imagination. He is the Shinto
monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incom ...
deity who is said to shed light on heaven and earth. Some experts theorize that Sarutahiko was a sun god worshiped in the Ise region prior to the popularization of Amaterasu.
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
long held that the ''Tengu'' were disruptive demons and harbingers of war. Their image gradually softened, however, into one of protective and even manifestations of Buddhist deities, if still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests. ''Tengu'' are associated with the
ascetic Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
practice of Shugendō, and they are usually depicted in the garb of its followers, the ''
yamabushi are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. They are generally part of the syncretic religion, which includes Tantric Buddhist, Shinto, and Japanese Taoist elements. Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yama-bito and some (saints or ...
''. __TOC__


Image

The ''tengu'' in art appears in a variety of shapes. It usually falls somewhere in between a large, monstrous bird and a wholly
anthropomorphized Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
being, often with a red face or an unusually large or long nose. Early depictions of tengu show them as
kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. ...
-like beings who can take a human-like form, often retaining avian wings, heads, or beaks. The ''tengu's'' long nose seems to have been conceived in the 14th century, likely as a humanization of the original bird's bill. This feature allies them with the Sarutahiko Ōkami, who is described in the 720 CE text the '' Nihon Shoki'' with a similar nose measuring seven hand-spans in length. In village
festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holida ...
, the two figures are often portrayed with identical red phallic-nosed mask designs. Some of the earliest representations of ''tengu'' appear in Japanese picture scrolls, such as the , painted c. 1296, which parodies high-ranking priests by endowing them the hawk-like beaks of ''tengu'' demons. Tengu is often pictured as taking the shape of some sort of priest. Beginning in the 13th century, tengu came to be associated in particular with
yamabushi are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. They are generally part of the syncretic religion, which includes Tantric Buddhist, Shinto, and Japanese Taoist elements. Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yama-bito and some (saints or ...
, the mountain ascetics who practice Shugendō.de Visser, pp. 55–57. The association soon found its way into Japanese art, where tengu are most frequently depicted in the yamabushi's unique costume, which includes a distinctive headwear called the '' tokin'' and a . Due to their priestly aesthetic, they are often shown wielding the khakkhara, a distinct staff used by
Buddhist monks A ''bhikkhu'' ( Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics (" nun", '' bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddh ...
, called a ''shakujō'' in Japanese. Tengu is commonly depicted holding a magical . In folk tales, these fans sometimes can grow or shrink a person's nose, but usually, they have attributed the power to stir up great winds. Various other strange accessories may be associated with ''tengu'', such as a type of tall, one-toothed '' geta'' sandal often called ''tengu-geta''.


Origins

The term ''tengu'' and the characters used to write it are borrowed from the name of a fierce demon from Chinese folklore called '' tiāngǒu'' though this still has to be confirmed. Chinese literature assigns this creature a variety of descriptions, but most often it is a fierce and anthropophagous canine monster that resembles a shooting star or comet. It makes a noise like thunder and brings war wherever it falls. One account from the ''Shù Yì Jì'' (, "A Collection of Bizarre Stories"), written in 1791, describes a dog-like ''tiāngǒu'' with a sharp beak and an upright posture, but usually ''tiāngǒu'' bear little resemblance to their Japanese counterparts. The 23rd chapter of the '' Nihon Shoki'', written in 720, is generally held to contain the first recorded mention of ''tengu'' in Japan. In this account a large shooting star appears and is identified by a Buddhist priest as a "heavenly dog", and much like the ''tiāngǒu'' of China, the star precedes a military uprising. Although the
Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as '' kan ...
for ''tengu'' are used in the text, accompanying phonetic
furigana is a Japanese reading aid consisting of smaller kana or syllabic characters printed either above or next to kanji (logographic characters) or other characters to indicate their pronunciation. It is one type of ruby text. Furigana is also know ...
characters give the reading as ''amatsukitsune'' (''heavenly fox''). M. W. de Visser speculated that the early Japanese meaning for the characters used to write Tengu may represent a conglomeration of two Chinese spirits: the ''tiāngǒu'' and the fox spirits called ''
huli jing Huli jing () are Chinese mythological creatures usually capable of shapeshifting, who may either be benevolent or malevolent spirits. In Chinese mythology and folklore, the fox spirit takes variant forms with different meanings, powers, charact ...
'' before the nuances of meaning were expanded to include local Japanese kami, therefore the true Tengu in appearance Some Japanese scholars have speculated that the ''tengu's'' image derives from that of the Hindu eagle deity
Garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda i ...
, who was pluralized in Buddhist scripture as one of the major races of non-human beings. Like the ''tengu'', the ''garuda'' are often portrayed in a human-like form with wings and a bird's beak. The name ''tengu'' seems to be written in place of that of the ''garuda'' in a Japanese
sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an a ...
called the ''Emmyō Jizō-kyō'' (), but this was likely written 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 character ...
, long after the ''tengu's'' image was established. At least one early story in the '' Konjaku Monogatari'' describes a ''tengu'' carrying off a dragon, which is reminiscent of the ''garuda's'' feud with the ''
nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
'' serpents. In other respects, however, the ''tengu's'' original behavior differs markedly from that of the ''garuda'', which is generally friendly towards Buddhism. De Visser has speculated that the ''tengu'' may be descended from an ancient
Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoist ...
bird-demon which was
syncretized Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
with both the ''garuda'' and the ''tiāngǒu'' when Buddhism arrived in Japan. However, he found little evidence to support this idea. A later version of the '' Kujiki'', an ancient Japanese historical text, writes the name of Amanozako, a monstrous female deity born from the god
Susanoo __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (; historical orthography: , ) is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory charac ...
's spat-out ferocity, with characters meaning ''tengu deity'' (). The book describes Amanozako as a raging creature capable of flight, with the body of a human, the head of a beast, a long nose, long ears, and long teeth that can chew through swords. An 18th-century book called the suggests that this goddess may be the true predecessor of the ''tengu'', but the date and authenticity of the ''Kujiki'', and of that edition, in particular, remain disputed.


Evil spirits and angry ghosts

The '' Konjaku Monogatarishū'', a collection of stories published in the late
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...
, contains some of the earliest tales of ''tengu'', already characterized as they would be for centuries to come. These ''tengu'' are the troublesome opponents of Buddhism, who mislead the pious with false images of the Buddha, carry off monks and drop them in remote places, possess women in an attempt to seduce holy men, rob temples, and endow those who worship them with unholy power. They often disguise themselves as priests or nuns, but their true form seems to be that of a kite. Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries, accounts continued of ''tengu'' attempting to cause trouble in the world. They were now established as the ghosts of angry, vain, or heretical priests who had fallen on the "''tengu''-realm" (, ''tengudō''). They began to possess people, especially women and girls, and speak through their mouths (''
kitsunetsuki In Japanese folklore, , are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to '' yōkai'' folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of employin ...
''). Still the enemies of Buddhism, the demons also turned their attention to the royal family. The
Kojidan is a Japanese collection of Buddhist setsuwa. It was authored by Minamoto no Akikane between 1212 and 1215 during the early Kamakura period. The text is six volumes in length and contains 462 setsuwa stories many of which focus on monks, the ar ...
tells of an Empress who was possessed, and the
Ōkagami ''Ōkagami'' () is a Japanese historical tale written in around 1119 by an unknown author. It covers the period 850 to 1025, the golden days of the Fujiwara family's rule. It is said to be a successor (世継物語, ''yotsugi monogatari'') with the ...
reports that Emperor Sanjō was made blind by a ''tengu'', the ghost of a priest who resented the throne. One notorious ''tengu'' from the 12th century was himself the ghost of an emperor. The ''
Hōgen Monogatari In Japanese, Hōgen may refer to several words. Among them: * Hōgen (era) (保元, 1156–1159), an era in Japan * Hōgen rebellion, a short civil war in 1156 * dialect (方言) — for example: "eigo no hōgen" (English dialect) See also * ...
'' tells the story of Emperor Sutoku, who was forced by his father to abandon the throne. When he later raised the
Hōgen Rebellion In Japanese, Hōgen may refer to several words. Among them: * Hōgen (era) (保元, 1156–1159), an era in Japan * Hōgen rebellion, a short civil war in 1156 * dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'di ...
to take back the country from Emperor Go-Shirakawa, he was defeated and exiled to Sanuki Province in
Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), ...
. According to legend he died in torment, having sworn to haunt the nation of Japan as a great demon, and thus became a fearsome ''tengu'' with long nails and eyes like a kite's. In stories from the 13th century, ''tengu'' began to abduct young boys as well as the priests they had always targeted. The boys were often returned, while the priests would be found tied to the tops of trees or other high places. All of the ''tengu's'' victims, however, would come back in a state near death or madness, sometimes after having been tricked into eating animal dung. The ''tengu'' of this period were often conceived of as the ghosts of the arrogant, and as a result, the creatures have become strongly associated with vanity and pride. Today the Japanese expression ''tengu ni naru'' ("becoming a ''tengu''") is still used to describe a conceited person.Mizuki 2001.


Great and small demons

In the '' Genpei Jōsuiki'', written in the late
Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first '' shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...
, a god appears to Go-Shirakawa and gives a detailed account of ''tengu'' ghosts. He says that they fall onto the ''tengu'' road because, as Buddhists, they cannot go to Hell, yet as people with bad principles, they also cannot go to
Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the bel ...
. He describes the appearance of different types of ''tengu'': the ghosts of priests, nuns, ordinary men, and ordinary women, all of whom in life possessed excessive pride. The god introduces the notion that not all ''tengu'' are equal; knowledgeable men become , but ignorant ones become . The philosopher Hayashi Razan lists the greatest of these ''daitengu'' as
Sōjōbō In Japanese folklore and mythology, is the mythical king and god of the ''tengu'', legendary creatures thought to inhabit the mountains and forests of Japan. Sōjōbō is a specific type of ''tengu'' called ''daitengu'' and has the appearance o ...
of Kurama, Tarōbō of Atago, and Jirōbō of Hira. The demons of Kurama and Atago are among the most famous ''tengu''. A section of the ''Tengu Meigikō'', later quoted by Inoue Enryō, lists the ''daitengu'' in this order: * of Mount Kurama * of
Mount Atago ''Mount Atago is a very common name for peaks all over Japan.'' is a 924m mountain in the northwestern part of Ukyo-ku, in the city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island ...
* of the Hira Mountains * of Mount Akiha * of
Mount Kōmyō is a mountain in Niigata Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while ex ...
* of
Mount Hiko , is a mountain on the border between Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture in Kyūshū, Japan. It has an elevation of 1,200 metres. It is an important site for Shugendo, and a famous place for rock climbing. It is supposed Miyamoto Musas ...
* of Mount Daisen * of Mount Ueno ( Ueno Park) * of Itsukushima * of Mount Ōmine * of Katsuragi * of
Hitachi Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hitachi fudoki''" in . It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Shimōsa (Lower Fusa), Shimotsuke, and Mutsu ( Iwase - ...
* of
Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highes ...
* of Mount Takao * of Shiramine * of Mount Iizuna * of Higo Province ''Daitengu'' are often pictured in a more human-like form than their underlings, and due to their long noses, they may also be called . ''Kotengu'' may conversely be depicted as more bird-like. They are sometimes called , or .Mizuki 2001 Inoue Enryō described two kinds of ''tengu'' in his ''Tenguron'': the great ''daitengu'', and the small, bird-like ''konoha-tengu'' who live in ''
Cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' (syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' ...
'' trees. The ''konoha-tengu'' are noted in a book from 1746 called the , as bird-like creatures with wings two meters across which were seen catching fish in the Ōi River, but this name rarely appears in literature otherwise. Creatures that do not fit the classic bird or ''yamabushi'' image are sometimes called ''tengu''. For example, ''tengu'' in the guise of wood-spirits may be called , but this word can also refer to ''tengu'' with canine mouths or other features. The people of
Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and T ...
on
Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), ...
believe in a creature called , but this is a small childlike being who loves ''
sumō is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...
'' wrestling and sometimes dwells in the water, and is generally considered one of the many kinds of ''
kappa Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value ...
''. Another water-dwelling ''tengu'' is the of the
Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as th ...
. This creature is rarely seen, but it is believed to create strange fireballs and be a nuisance to fishermen.


Protective spirits and deities

In
Yamagata Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Yamagata Prefecture has a population of 1,079,950 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km² (3,600 sq mi). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the nort ...
among other areas, thickets in the mountains during summer, there are several tens of
tsubo A ''pyeong'' (abbreviationpy) is a Korean unit of area and floorspace, equal to a square '' kan'' or 36square Korean feet. The ''ping'' and ''tsubo'' are its equivalent Taiwanese and Japanese units, similarly based on a square '' bu'' ( ja: ...
of moss and sand that were revered as the "nesting grounds of tengu," and in mountain villages in the
Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...
, they would cut trees at night and were called "tengu daoshi" (天狗倒し, tengu fall), and mysterious sounds at night of a tree being cut and falling, or mysterious swaying sounds despite no wind, were considered the work of mountain tengu. It is also theorized that shooting a gun three times would make this mysterious sound stop. Besides this, in the
Tone District is a rural district located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. As of January 2015, the district had an estimated population of 34,946 and an area of 1,322.23 km2, with a population density of 26.4 people per square kilometer. Towns and villages * ...
,
Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushim ...
, there are legends about the "tengu warai" (天狗笑い, tengu laugh) about how one would hear laughter out of nowhere, and if one simply presses on further, it'd become an even louder laugh, and if one tries laughing back, it'd laugh even louder than before, and the "tengu tsubute" (天狗礫, tengu pebble) (said to be the path that tengu go on) about how when walking on mountain paths, there'd be a sudden wind, the mountain would rumble, and stones would come flying, and places tengu live such as "tenguda" (天狗田, tengu field), "tengu no tsumetogi ishi" (天狗の爪とぎ石, tengu scratching stone), "tengu no yama" (天狗の山, tengu mountain), "tengudani" (天狗谷, tengu valley), etc., in other words, "tengu territory" (天狗の領地) or "tengu guest quarters" (狗賓の住処). In
Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな ...
's business district Owari in Hōreki 5 (1755), it is said that a "tengu tsubute" (天狗つぶて) was seen. In Mt. Ogasa,
Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the north ...
, a mysterious phenomenon of hearing the sound of hayashi from the mountains in the summer was called "tengubayashi" (天狗囃子), and it is said to be the work of the tengu at Ogasa Jinja. On Sado Island ( Sado,
Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and N ...
), there were "yamakagura" (山神楽, mountain kagura), and the mysterious occurrence of hearing kagura from the mountains was said to be the work of a tengu. In Tokuyama, Ibi District,
Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...
(now Ibigawa), there were "tengu taiko" (天狗太鼓), and the sound of
taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...
(drums) from the mountains was said to be a sign of impending rain. The '' Shasekishū'', a book of Buddhist parables from the
Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first '' shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...
, makes a point of distinguishing between good and bad ''tengu''. The book explains that the former are in command of the latter and are the protectors, not opponents, of Buddhism – although the flaw of pride or ambition has caused them to fall onto the demon road, they remain the same good, ''
dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for ...
''-abiding persons they were in life. The ''tengu's'' unpleasant image continued to erode in the 17th century. Some stories now presented them as much less malicious, protecting and blessing Buddhist institutions rather than menacing them or setting them on fire. According to a legend in the 18th-century , a ''tengu'' took the form of a ''yamabushi'' and faithfully served the abbot of a
Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
monastery until the man guessed his attendant's true form. The ''tengu's'' wings and huge nose then reappeared. The ''tengu'' requested a piece of wisdom from his master and left, but he continued, unseen, to provide the monastery with miraculous aid. In the 18th and 19th centuries, ''tengu'' came to be feared as the vigilant protectors of certain forests. In the 1764 collection of strange stories , a tale tells of a man who wanders into a deep valley while gathering leaves, only to be faced with a sudden and ferocious hailstorm. A group of peasants later tell him that he was in the valley where the ''guhin'' live, and anyone who takes a single leaf from that place will surely die. In the , written in 1849, the author describes the customs of the wood-cutters of
Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbrevia ...
, who used a sort of rice cake called ''kuhin-
mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally ...
'' to placate the ''tengu'', who would otherwise perpetrate all sorts of mischief. In other provinces a special kind of fish called ''okoze'' was offered to the ''tengu'' by woodsmen and hunters, in exchange for a successful day's work. The people of
Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefectu ...
have until recently believed that the ''tengu'' loathe
mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...
, and have used this fish as a charm against kidnappings and hauntings by the mischievous spirits. ''Tengu'' are worshipped as beneficial ''
kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the ...
'' (''gods'' or ''revered spirits'') in various Japanese religious cults. For example, the ''tengu'' Saburō of Izuna is worshipped on that mountain and various others as , one of the primary deities in the ''Izuna Shugen'' cult, which also has ties to
fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...
sorcery and the Dakini of
Tantric Buddhism Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
. Izuna Gongen is depicted as a beaked, winged figure with snakes wrapped around his limbs, surrounded by a halo of flame, riding on the back of a fox and brandishing a sword. Worshippers of ''tengu'' on other sacred mountains have adopted similar images for their deities, such as or of
Akiba Akiba may refer to: Fintech * Akiba (Fintech) People * Akiba (given name) * Akiba (surname) Entertainment * Akiba, a character in the ''Metal Gear Solid'' series of video games Other uses * ''Akiba'' (subgenus), a subgenus of protozoa in ...
and of Saijō-ji Temple in Odawara.


In popular folk tales

''Tengu'' appear frequently in the orally transmitted tales collected by Japanese folklorists. As these stories are often humorous, they tend to portray ''tengu'' as ridiculous creatures who are easily tricked or confused by humans. Some common folk tales in which ''tengu'' appear include: * : A boy looks through an ordinary piece of bamboo and pretends he can see distant places. A ''tengu'', overwhelmed by curiosity, offers to trade it for a magic straw cloak that renders the wearer invisible. Having duped the ''tengu'', the boy continues his mischief while wearing the cloak. Another version of this story tells of an ugly old man who tricks a tengu into giving him his magical cloak and causes mayhem for his fellow villagers. The story ends with the tengu regaining the coat through a game of riddle exchange and punishes the man by turning him into a wolf. * : An old man has a lump or tumor on his face. In the mountains he encounters a band of ''tengu'' making merry and joins their dancing. He pleases them so much that they want him to join them the next night, and offer a gift for him. In addition, they take the lump off his face, thinking that he will want it back and therefore have to join them the next night. An unpleasant neighbor, who also has a lump, hears of the old man's good fortune and attempts to repeat it, and steal the gift. The ''tengu'', however, simply gives him the first lump in addition to his own, because they are disgusted by his bad dancing, and because he tried to steal the gift. * A scoundrel obtains a ''tengu's'' magic fan, which can shrink or grow noses. He secretly uses this item to grotesquely extend the nose of a rich man's daughter and then shrinks it again in exchange for her hand in marriage. Later he accidentally fans himself while he dozes, and his nose grows so long it reaches heaven, resulting in painful misfortune for him. * : A gambler meets a ''tengu'', who asks him what he is most frightened of. The gambler lies, claiming that he is terrified of gold or ''
mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally ...
''. The ''tengu'' answers truthfully that he is frightened of a kind of plant or some other mundane item. The ''tengu'', thinking he is playing a cruel trick, then causes money or rice cakes to rain down on the gambler. The gambler is of course delighted and proceeds to scare the ''tengu'' away with the thing he fears most. The gambler then obtains the ''tengu's'' magic gourd (or another treasured item) that was left behind.


Martial arts

During the 14th century, the ''tengu'' began to trouble the world outside of the Buddhist clergy, and like their ominous ancestors the ''tiāngǒu'', the ''tengu'' became creatures associated with war. Legends eventually ascribed to them great knowledge in the art of skilled combat. This reputation seems to have its origins in a legend surrounding the famous warrior
Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo cons ...
. When Yoshitsune was a young boy going by the name of Ushiwaka-maru, his father, Yoshitomo, was assassinated by the
Taira clan The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divi ...
.
Taira no Kiyomori was a military leader and ''kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. Early life Kiyomori was born in Heian-kyō, Japan, in 1118 as the first s ...
, head of the Taira, allowed the child to survive on the grounds that he be exiled to the temple on Mount Kurama and become a monk. But one day in the Sōjō-ga-dani Valley, Ushiwaka encountered the mountain's ''tengu'',
Sōjōbō In Japanese folklore and mythology, is the mythical king and god of the ''tengu'', legendary creatures thought to inhabit the mountains and forests of Japan. Sōjōbō is a specific type of ''tengu'' called ''daitengu'' and has the appearance o ...
. This spirit taught the boy the art of swordsmanship so that he might bring vengeance on the Taira. Originally the actions of this ''tengu'' were portrayed as another attempt by demons to throw the world into chaos and war, but as Yoshitsune's renown as a legendary warrior increased, his monstrous teacher came to be depicted in a much more sympathetic and honorable light. In one of the most famous renditions of the story, the Noh play ''Kurama Tengu'', Ushiwaka is the only person from his temple who does not give up an outing in disgust at the sight of a strange ''yamabushi''. Sōjōbō thus befriends the boy and teaches him out of sympathy for his plight. Two stories from the 19th century continue this theme: In the ''Sōzan Chomon Kishū'', a boy is carried off by a ''tengu'' and spends three years with the creature. He comes home with a magic gun that never misses a shot. A story from Inaba Province, related by Inoue Enryō, tells of a girl with poor manual dexterity who is suddenly possessed by a ''tengu''. The spirit wishes to rekindle the declining art of swordsmanship in the world. Soon a young samurai appears to whom the ''tengu'' has appeared in a dream, and the possessed girl instructs him as an expert swordsman.


In popular culture

''Tengu'' continue to be popular subjects in modern fiction, both in Japan and other countries. They often appear among the many characters and creatures featured in Japanese cinema, animation, comics,
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s, and
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character U+1F47A (👺) represents a ''tengu'', under the name "Japanese Goblin". Nuzleaf and Shiftry from the ''
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'' franchise are based on the ''tengu''. "Tengu Man" is one of the eight Robot Master bosses in ''
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'' (1996) and '' Mega Man and Bass'' (1998). He also has a Netnavi counterpart, present in '' Mega Man Battle Network 6'' (2005), although only in the "Cybeast Falzar" version. He is substituted by Slashman in the opposite version, "Cybeast Gregar". The
Touhou Project The , also known simply as , is a bullet hell shoot 'em up video game series created by one-man independent Japanese ''doujin'' soft developer Team Shanghai Alice. Since 1995, the team's member, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has independently develope ...
series of games have various characters based on tengu, most notably Aya Shameimaru from
Phantasmagoria of Flower View is the ninth official game in the ''Touhou Project'' scrolling shoot 'em up series. It is often abbreviated as PoFV in English speaking circles. ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'', like the third ''Touhou'' game, ''Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream'', ...
(2005) and Momiji Inubashiri from
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(2007). The ''tengu'' featured in the 2013 movie '' 47 Ronin'', with their Lord played by Togo Igawa. In the
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video game series, most notably ''
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'' (2014)'', Dead or Alive Xtreme 3'' (2016)'','' and ''
Dead or Alive 6 is a 2019 fighting game developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Dead or Alive'' fighting series. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on March 1, 2019, and wa ...
'' (2019), the playable character Nyotengu is based on Tengu, the name Nyotengu literally meaning "Female Tengu" when translated in English. "Karasu Tengu" is an enemy present in the video game '' Nioh'' (2017) and its sequel '' Nioh 2'' (2020). They are depicted as a ''yōkai'' with crow-like wings who wield the power of the wind. Kujou Sara, a crow ''tengu'', is a playable character in the 2020 game '' Genshin Impact''.Mentioned i
New Version Special Program , Genshin Impact
by Xiao Luohao, Head of the Creative Concept and Writing Team, while talking about Kujou Sara's design.
''
Sakonji Urokodaki This is a list of characters of the manga series ''Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba''. Main characters Tanjiro Kamado : : is the oldest son of a charcoal trader. His life changed when his entire family was massacred by the demon Muzan Kibuts ...
'', from the anime '' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba'', wears a ''tengu'' mask and he is the Mentor of ''
Tanjiro Kamado is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Koyoharu Gotouge's manga ''Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba''. Tanjiro goes on a quest to restore the humanity of his sister, Nezuko, who was turned into a demon after his family was killed by ...
''. 'Tengu' is a boss in the game ''
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''.


See also

* Eboshi-ori *
Matsuyama tengu ''Matsuyama tengu'' (松山天狗 ''Goblins of Matsuyama'') is a Noh play revolving around the ex-emperor Sutoku and his ghostly encounter with the poet Saigyō. Historical background The failure of the attempt by retired emperor Sutoku to se ...
* Tiangou (China)


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *


External links

{{Authority control Japanese gods Shinto kami Yōkai Goblins Shapeshifting Legendary birds Mythological human hybrids Shugendō Oni Demons Devils Avian humanoids