Tengu

**T*engu*** (天狗, "heavenly dog") are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yōkai (supernatural beings). Although they take their name from a dog-like Chinese demon (Tiangou), the *tengu* were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. The earliest *tengu* were pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose, which today is widely considered the *tengu*'s defining characteristic in the popular imagination.

Buddhism long held that the *tengu* were disruptive demons and harbingers of war. Their image gradually softened, however, into one of protective, if still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests. *Tengu* are associated with the ascetic practice of Shugendō, and they are usually depicted in the garb of its followers, the *yamabushi*.

## Origins

The term *tengu* and the characters used to write it are borrowed from the name of a fierce demon from Chinese folklore called *tiāngoǔ*. Chinese literature assigns this creature a variety of descriptions, but most often it is a fierce and anthropophagous canine monster that resembles a shooting star or comet. It makes a noise like thunder and brings war wherever it falls. One account from the *Shù Yì Jì* (述異記, "A Collection of Bizarre Stories"), written in 1791, describes a dog-like *tiāngoǔ* with a sharp beak and an upright posture, but usually *tiāngoǔ* bear little resemblance to their Japanese counterparts.

The 23rd chapter of the *Nihon Shoki*, written in 720, is generally held to contain the first recorded mention of *tengu* in Japan. In this account a large shooting star appears and is identified by a Buddhist priest as a "heavenly dog", and much like the *tiāngoǔ* of China, the star precedes a military uprising. Although the Chinese characters for *tengu* are used in the text, accompanying phonetic furigana characters give the reading as *amatsukitsune* (*heavenly fox*). M. W. de Visser speculated that the early Japanese *tengu* may represent a conglomeration of two Chinese spirits: the *tiāngoǔ* and the fox spirits called *huli jing*.

How the *tengu* was transformed from a dog-meteor into a bird-man is not clear. Some Japanese scholars have supported the theory that the *tengu's* image derives from that of the Hindu eagle deity Garuda, who was pluralized in Buddhist scripture as one of the major races of non-human beings. Like the *tengu*, the *garuda* are often portrayed in a human-like form with wings and a bird's beak. The name *tengu* seems to be written in place of that of the *garuda* in a Japanese sutra called the *Emmyō Jizō-kyō* (延命地蔵経), but this was likely written in the Edo period, long after the *tengu's* image was established. At least one early story in the *Konjaku Monogatari* describes a *tengu* carrying off a dragon, which is reminiscent of the *garuda's* feud with the *nāga* serpents. In other respects, however, the *tengu's* original behavior differs markedly from that of the *garuda*, which is generally friendly towards Buddhism. De Visser has speculated that the *tengu* may be descended from an ancient Shinto bird-demon which was syncretized with both the *garuda* and the *tiāngoǔ* when Buddhism arrived in Japan. However, he found little evidence to support this idea.[10]

A later version of the *Kujiki*, an ancient Japanese historical text, writes the name of Amanozako, a monstrous female deity born from the god Susanoo's spat-out ferocity, with characters meaning *tengu deity* (天狗神). The book describes Amanozako as a raging creature capable of flight, with the body of a human, the head of a beast, a long nose, long ears, and long teeth that can chew through swords. An 18th-century book called the *Tengu Meigikō*(天狗名義考) suggests that this goddess may be the true predecessor of the *tengu*, but the date and authenticity of the *Kujiki*, and of that edition in particular, remain disputed.

## Great and small demons

In the *Genpei Jōsuiki*, written in the late Kamakura period, a god appears to Go-Shirakawa and gives a detailed account of *tengu* ghosts. He says that they fall onto the *tengu* road because, as Buddhists, they cannot go to Hell, yet as people with bad principles, they also cannot go to Heaven. He describes the appearance of different types of *tengu*: the ghosts of priests, nuns, ordinary men, and ordinary women, all of whom in life possessed excessive pride. The god introduces the notion that not all *tengu* are equal; knowledgeable men become *daitengu* (大天狗 *greater tengu*?), but ignorant ones become *kotengu* (小天狗 *small tengu*?).

The philosopher Hayashi Razan lists the greatest of these *daitengu* as Sōjōbō of Kurama, Tarōbō of Atago, and Jirōbō of Hira.[17] The demons of Kurama and Atago are among the most famous *tengu*.

Akiba Sanjakubō Daigongen near the portal of the Hase-Temple (Hasedera), Nara Prefecture

A section of the *Tengu Meigikō*, later quoted by Inoue Enryō, lists the *daitengu* in this order:

* Sōjōbō (僧正坊?) of Mount Kurama
* Tarōbō (太郎坊?) of Mount Atago
* Jirōbō (二郎坊?) of the Hira Mountains
* Sanjakubō (三尺坊?) of Mount Akiha
* Ryūhōbō (笠鋒坊?) of Mount Kōmyō
* Buzenbō (豊前坊?) of Mount Hiko
* Hōkibō (伯耆坊?) of Mount Daisen
* Myōgibō (妙義坊?) of Mount Ueno (Ueno Park)
* Sankibō (三鬼坊?) of Itsukushima
* Zenkibō (前鬼坊?) of Mount Ōmine
* Kōtenbō (高天坊?) of Katsuragi
* Tsukuba-hōin (筑波法印?) of Hitachi Province
* Daranibō (陀羅尼坊?) of Mount Fuji
* Naigubu (内供奉?) of Mount Takao
* Sagamibō (相模坊?) of Shiramine
* Saburō (三郎?) of Mount Iizuna
* Ajari (阿闍梨?) of Higo Province

## Martial arts

During the 14th century, the *tengu* began to trouble the world outside of the Buddhist clergy, and like their ominous ancestors the *tiāngoǔ*, the *tengu* became creatures associated with war. Legends eventually ascribed to them great knowledge in the art of skilled combat.

This reputation seems to have its origins in a legend surrounding the famous warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune. When Yoshitsune was a young boy going by the name of Ushiwaka-maru, his father, Yoshitomo, was assassinated by the Taira clan. Taira no Kiyomori, head of the Taira, allowed the child to survive on the grounds that he be exiled to the temple on Mount Kurama and become a monk. But one day in the Sōjō-ga-dani Valley, Ushiwaka encountered the mountain's *tengu*, Sōjōbō. This spirit taught the boy the art of swordsmanship so that he might bring vengeance on the Taira.[34]

Originally the actions of this *tengu* were portrayed as another attempt by demons to throw the world into chaos and war, but as Yoshitsune's renown as a legendary warrior increased, his monstrous teacher came to be depicted in a much more sympathetic and honorable light. In one of the most famous renditions of the story, the Noh play *Kurama Tengu*, Ushiwaka is the only person from his temple who does not give up an outing in disgust at the sight of a strange *yamabushi*. Sōjōbō thus befriends the boy and teaches him out of sympathy for his plight.

Two stories from the 19th century continue this theme: In the *Sōzan Chomon Kishū*, a boy is carried off by a *tengu* and spends three years with the creature. He comes home with a magic gun that never misses a shot. A story from Inaba Province, related by Inoue Enryō, tells of a girl with poor manual dexterity who is suddenly possessed by a *tengu*. The spirit wishes to rekindle the declining art of swordsmanship in the world. Soon a young samurai appears to whom the *tengu* has appeared in a dream, and the possessed girl instructs him as an expert swordsman. Some rumors surrounding the *ninja* indicate that they were also instructed by the *tengu*.