Smallpox demon
Smallpox demon (Japanese: 疱瘡神, Hōsōkami) or smallpox devil is a demon which was believed to be responsible for causing smallpox in medieval Japan. In those days, people tried to appease the smallpox demon by assuaging his anger, or they tried to attack the demon since they had no other effective treatment for smallpox.
History
In Japanese, the word hōsōshin or hōsōgami (疱瘡神 (ほうそうしん, ほうそうがみ)) translates literally to "smallpox god". According to the Shoku Nihongi, smallpox was introduced into Japan in 735 into the Fukuoka Prefecture from Korea. In those days, smallpox had been considered to be the result of onryō, which was a mythological spirit from Japanese folklore who is able to return to the physical world in order to seek vengeance.[1] Smallpox-related kami include Sumiyoshi sanjin.[2] In a book published in the Kansei years (1789–1801), there were lines that wrote that smallpox devils were enshrined in families which had smallpox in order to recover from smallpox.
Smallpox devils were said to be afraid of red things and also of dogs; thus people displayed various dolls that were red. In
Red treatment
In European countries the "red treatment" was practiced from the 12th century onwards; when he caught smallpox, King
The red treatment was given scientific authority by Nobel laureate Niels Ryberg Finsen, who claimed that the treatment of smallpox patients with red light reduced the severity of scarring, and later developed rules governing erythrotherapy.[11] These beliefs lingered on into the 1930s until researchers declared it to be "useless."[12]
References
- ^ Kyogoku[2008:295]
- ^ Sakurai[1980:262-263]
- ^ Aoyama[1997:200]
- ^ Higa[1983ge:848]
- ^ Higa[1983ge:450]
- ^ "A local smallpox dance in Ibaragi Prefecture". Joyo Living. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^ "Smallpox dance in Iriki-Cho, Kagoshima". Kagoshima Prefecture. Archived from the original on 23 August 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^ "Smallpox dance in Oura-Cho, Kagoshima Prefecture". Kagoshima Prefecture. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^ Uyeno [2007:264]
- ^ Uyeno[2007:264]
- ^ Finsen, 1901
- ISBN 978-92-4-156110-5.