Chimimōryō () is a term that refers to monsters of the mountains and monsters of the rivers. The term originated in China roughly 2,500 years ago in ancient chronicles such as the '' Zuo Zhuan''. It refers to various kinds of

obake and are a class of '' yōkai'', preternatural creatures in Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting. These words are often translated as "ghost", but prima ...

and things changed into

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 suc ...

. "Chimi" () refers to the monsters of the mountains, and " mōryō" () refers to the monsters of the river, and so the word "chimimōryō" is often used to refer to all monsters of the mountains and rivers. Furthermore, the word "minori" was also used for this. For this to be used to mean a "ripening" (minoru)

oni An is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. Oni are mostly known for their fierce and evil nature manifested in their propensity for murder and cannibalism. Notwithstanding their evil reputation, oni possess ...

has been used in various regions since ancient times.

Explanation

Chimi

Chimi are said to be monsters that come about from strange atmosphere ( miasma) in mountains and forests. Taking on an appearance with the face of a human, and the body of a beast, they would perplex humans. In the dictionary ''

Wamyō Ruijushō The is a 938 CE Japanese dictionary of Chinese characters. The Heian period scholar Minamoto no Shitagō (源順, 911–983 CE) began compilation in 934, at the request of Emperor Daigo's daughter. This ''Wamyō ruijushō'' title is abbreviate ...

'' from the

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 ...

, they were considered to be a type of

under the Japanese name "sudama", and 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 characte ...

encyclopedia, the ''

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 activiti ...

'', they were seen to be mountain gods (

Yama-no-Kami Yama-no-Kami (山の神) is the name given to a kami of the mountains of the Shinto religion of Japan. These can be of two different types. The first type is a god of the mountains who is worshipped by hunters, woodcutters, and charcoal burners ...

Mōryō

Mōryō are considered to be spirits from mountains and rivers, and trees and rocks. They emerge from the life energy of mountains, water, trees, rocks, and all natural things, and fool humans. They are also said to eat the dead, have the appearance of a child, stand on two feet, have dark red skin, have red eyes, long ears, beautiful hair, and a voice that resembles that of a human. With this kind of appearance, they are thought to be

. In the ''Wakan Sansai Zue'', they are considered water gods ( Suijin), and in the ancient Chinese book Zuo Zhuan, they are considered to be gods of swamps and marshes.

Etymology

There are many theories about its etymology. According to the Chinese ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'' (during the period of the Five Emperors), a is a mountain god that took on the shape of a tiger, and a is a swamp or marsh god taking on a shape with the head of a beast. It is surmised that from this that the word was seen to mean expanded to encompass beasts of various attributes.

Explanation

Chimi

Mōryō

Etymology

References

See also