Some people call them tricksters, others say they are ogres, and some yet liken them to angels instead. What mysterious creature do I speak of today? The Nihongo Legend of a yokai depicted as humanoid creatures with red faces, long noses, and avian wings. The creature I speak of is none other than the infamous tengu. Today for Hotsui Matsuri, we’re going to explore the legend of the tengu.
Tengu, in my opinion, are quite complex legends. Stemming from Shinto beliefs, they have been depicted as both evil yokai and benevolent mountain or forest gods. The gap between the way they have been depicted used to confuse me greatly because my first introduction to them came from the anime/manga Tactics where the tengu were portrayed as mountain/forest gods who–yes could get violent–but were fairly peaceful beings. So naturally, I had to look into the beginnings of tengu and why everyone around me was saying they were evil yokai.
The true origin of the tengu is a little hard to track down. Some believe it borrowed itself from Chinese folklore, others thought maybe it referenced the Garuda from Hindu’s folklore, but the first mention of the tengu in Japanese Legend, came in the Nihon Shoki–one of the oldest accounts of Japanese history. At the time, the tengu certainly resembled the Chinese folklore creature the tiangou which was a dog who was associated with war and thunder (and thought to have been able to fly). However, the first stories of the tengu, or at least some of the earliest documented, portray tengu as how we see them today. The Konjaku Monogatarishu showcases the tengu as very evil or devious creatures–climbing in yo windows, snatching up yo children. They liked to mess with women and kidnap monks and young boys, only to return them in near-death states. They were very villainous creatures, and they were also vain. Which, yes, I will say that I still see tengu being vain even when depicted as benevolent gods.
It wasn’t until about the 17th century that the tengu began to take up their more godly appearance. Around this time, there were more legends of tengu being associated with mountains. Two prefectures in particular tended to associate tengu with mysterious occurrences happening in the mountains and forests. There were such things as the tengu laugh–which really was just mysterious laughing at night. Tengu were also blamed for mysterious gales and rocks falling due to wind. While they were still depicted as more of ‘evil’ creatures during this time, the shift was starting to take place as their actions were seen as more protective or devious. If anything, they were used as cautionary tales of why not to explore up certain mountains and to explain away bizarre phenomena. The association with these kinds of stories made tengu seem more like protective spirits and gods–and they started to become associated with very specific forests as the protectors of them. However, the image of them as benevolent gods or spirits really came about in the 18th century when a story told of a tengu who took the form of a yamabushi and served a monastery up until he was outed by the priest. However, the tengu held no ill will and continued to protect the monastery from afar. This story became a real turning point for tengu, and it’s this depiction of a tengu that I became familiar with when I started reading Tactics–a far cry from the demonlike qualities they were said to have.
In popular culture these days, tengu are seen as either/or. Their reputations are improving over time, and we see more and more protective tengu associated with shrines. At the same time, we still see lots of monstrous tengu (especially in games). I personally, like tengu in all forms. I think they are fascinating in their duality, and truly unique in their depiction. However, if I ever heard a tengu laugh on a mountain at night? I’d gtfo–clearly I’d be unwanted.
That’s all for today’s Hotsui Matsuri post! Hope you enjoyed this installment of Nihongo Legends. We’ll see you tomorrow for some more great content!
Stay weebtastic,
xoxo
Luna
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