Day four of Hotsui Matsuri and it’s heating up here at You Can’t Know. As we approach our final day, we decided to bring you all a second Nihongo Legends. First, Star brought you the legend of Princess Kaguya and today we’re going to bring you the legend of the Tesso. So sit down, grab a pillow, and let’s get into day four of Hotsui Matsuri.
The legend of the Tesso begins with a monk named Raigo who lived at a monastery at the bottom of Mt. Hiei. Raigo was known extremely well and one day Emperor Shirakawa came to Raigo, asking him to pray to the gods and Buddha for a male heir to the throne. Raigo, making good on the request, prayed long and hard and thus Prince Taruhito was born. In return, the Emperor told Raigo he would give him anything he wanted in return. Raigo asked for a new ordination hall to be built and the Emperor agreed. However, the Emperor broke this promise due to a rival temple forbidding it. Raigo started a hunger strike due to the betrayal, but the Emperor never changed his mind, and Raigo passed away filled with resentment. Raigo turned into a malevolent spirit and cursed the prince who died shortly after seeing a specter that looked like the deceased monk. But revenge didn’t quell Raigo’s spirit. He turned into a giant monsterous rat, the Tesso as it would become known. The Tesso called an army of rats and had them descend upon the rival temple–devastating it and eating holy books and scrolls and desecrating buddha statues. Fearful of the grudge, a shrine was built to enshrine Raigo as a god, and thus the Temple of the Rat was constructed.
Now, some say that the legend of the Tesso was created due to the fact that temples actually did often face rat problems. Hoards of rats were known to hang around temples and would often chew through walls and other parts of the temple (no wonder cats started hanging around temples). Regardless of where the legend of the Tesso came from, it is now used in some anime.
The Tesso as seen as a villain in Inuyasha where it fights the titular character. In Gegege no Kitaro the Tesso appears a recurring supernatural creature. But my favorite depiction of the Tesso is actually from the anime that sparked this post — which was also my first introduction to the Tesso. Mononoke: The Ashes of Rage. Without going too far into spoilers, I thought this animated movie did an amazing job of bringing the spirit of the Tesso, and the idea of a resentful rage causing destruction, to life. More importantly, this beautiful work of an anime film didn’t necessarily present the Tesso as a villain but as a misunderstood spirit that had all the reason to cause the destruction it did.
So everyone, that’s all I have to say about this Nihongo Legend! I had a lot of fun with this one because the Tesso really does show that grudges can be a bitch, and it makes you remember to make good on your promises. With that in your mind, I leave you on day four of Hotsui Matsuri with only one day left. Thanks for reading along so far, and don’t miss Star’s great finale tomorrow with plenty of info on The Bushido Code.
xoxo
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Luna
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