Baku (mythology)
Baku (
The Japanese term baku has two current meanings, referring to both the traditional dream-devouring creature and to the Malayan tapir.[1] In recent years, there have been changes in how the baku is depicted.
History and description
The traditional Japanese nightmare-devouring baku originates in Chinese folklore from the mo 貘 (giant panda) and was familiar in Japan as early as the Muromachi period (14th–15th century).[2] Hori Tadao has described the dream-eating abilities attributed to the traditional baku and relates them to other preventatives against nightmare such as amulets. Kaii-Yōkai Denshō Database, citing a 1957 paper, and Mizuki also describe the dream-devouring capacities of the traditional baku.[3]
Before its adaptation to the Japanese dream-caretaker myth creature, an early 17th-century Japanese manuscript, the Sankai Ibutsu (山海異物), describes the baku as a shy, Chinese mythical
Writing in the
Gallery
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Baku and Lion sculpture at the Konnoh Hachimangu Shrine, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
See also
References
- ^ a b Nakagawa Masako (1999). "Sankai ibutsu: An early seventeenth-century Japanese illustrated manuscript". Sino-Japanese Studies. 11 (24–38): 33–34.
- ^ Hori Tadao 2005 "Cultural note on dreaming and dream study in the future: Release from nightmare and development of dream control technique," Sogical Rhythms 3 (2), 49–55.
- ISBN 4-86133-027-0.
- ^ Kern, Adam L. 2007 Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook culture and the kibyoshi of Edo Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Asian Center. Page 236, figure 4.26.
- ^ 夢貘まくら. (Accessed September 5, 2007.)
- ^ Richard Smart, "Delivering men from evil", Japan Times, February 16, 2007. (Accessed September 8, 2007.)
- ^ "Shinto Shrine Guide - Iconography, Objects, Superstitions in Japanese Shintoism". Onmark Productions. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved September 8, 2007.
- ^ "Baku: Monster that Eats Nightmares". LACMA Collections. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
- ISBN 4-86133-027-0.
- ^ M.Reese:"The Asian traditions and myths".pg.60
- G. G. Harrap, 1913)
Bibliography
- Kaii-Yōkai Denshō Database. International Research Center for Japanese Studies. Retrieved on 2007-05-12. (Summary of excerpt from Warui Yume o Mita Toki (悪い夢をみたとき, When You've Had a Bad Dream?) by Keidō Matsushita, published in volume 5 of the journal Shōnai Minzoku (庄内民俗, Shōnai Folk Customs) on June 15, 1957).
External links
- Baku – The Dream Eater at hyakumonogatari.com (English).
- Netsuke: masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains many representations of Baku