Tamamo no Mae (玉藻ノ前) (role )

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Biography:

"During the reign of Emperor Toba, a beautiful woman appeared mysteriously at his palace. She was a brilliant woman, who had the wisdom and the education to allow her to reply to any question asked her by anyone in the court, including the emperor, and she was an unparalleled beauty who gave off a wondrous fragrance and emitted a light from her body. The people called her Lady Tamamo no Mae. The emperor felt some fear of her, but he was overcome by her beauty and took her as a consort. The emperor then fell to a serious illness, the cause of which was not well known, and none of the medical treatment he underwent was effective. He thus ordered the fortuneteller Abe no Yasunari to make a divination, from which it was learned that the cause of the emperor's illness was the woman Tamamo no Mae. The fortune teller said that if the woman were killed, the illness would be cured, and he explained her origins as follows:

She was an eight-hundred-year-old, two-tailed fox, from the Nasuno Plain in Shimotsuke Province, and in a previous existence she had been the fox, the Tsuka-gami, worshiped by King Hansoku in the Ninno Sutra. She had, as that fox, inveigled King Hansoku into bringing the heads of a thousand kings, but had been deprived of her desire through the power of Buddhism, and thus had become an enemy of Buddhism. Through her cycle of existence she would always be born as a fox. She would then appear as a queen or a servant lady or a courtier at the courts of countries where Buddhism flourished, approach the king, and, taking his life, endeavor to have herself installed as the king of the land; such was her pledge of revenge. She thus became the empress of the Chinese emperor Yu Wang of the Chou dynasty, and after causing his decline she came to Japan, where she was born as the fox of the Nasuno Plain. She transformed herself into Tamamo no Mae and planned to destroy the Buddhist law, kill the emperor and become ruler of Japan herself. This was the story as told by Abe no Yasunari.

Thus a special onmyōdō ceremony was held, and she was made to perform the role of shamaness. At the point where the magical text had been about half completed, she disappeared. Thus the court commanded two Eastern warriors, Kazusa no Suke Hirotsune and Miwa no Suke Yoshiaki, to kill the fox. The two of them trained tracking dogs, polished up their fox-hunting skills, and, with the idea that even demons should follow the imperial law, prayed for the help of the deities and set off for the Nasuno Plain, where they conquered the fox. They deposited the rare treasures that appeared from various parts of the fox's body in appropriate temples and houses, and they sent the white needle to Yoritomo, who was then sent into exile to the province of Izu."

Quoted from: "The World of Genpei Jōsuiki" by Shigekatsu Minobe in the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2/3, Religion and Literature in Japan (Jun. - Sep., 1982), pp. 226-227.

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The myths of foxes turning into beautiful, seductive women cross many centuries, locales and genres

From India to China to Japan, there are such tales. "The link between fox and femme fatale is clearly spelled out in The Old Grave, a work by the T'ang poet Po-Chu-i, or Bai Juyi, that was alluded to by countless Japanese writers. The poem is about a fox in an old grave changing into a beautiful woman with fine makeup and a lovely hairdo, its tale flowing like a long red skirt. The end of the poem declares that a fox disguised as a woman does little harm, whereas a woman who acts like a "vulpine enchantress" can lead to ruin. The medieval war epic Genpei Seisuki (The Rise and Fall of the Minamoto and Heike Clans) quotes those lines at the end of an anecdote about Bao Si (known in Japan as Hōji), the favorite concubine of the last king of the Western Zhou Dynasty, who ruled in the 8th century B.C. Like numerous other medieval sources, the epic maintains that the enchantress turned into a fox after causing the downfall of the dynasty."

"By the 14th century in Japan, the association between foxes and femmes fatales had coalesced in the story of Tamamo no Mae, a fox disguised as a beautiful woman who suddenly appeared at court in 1154 and cast a spell over Retired Emperor Toba." Real events in Japan led to a period of internecine warfare. "In all likelihood the story of Tamamo no Mae sprang from the real world of palace politics."

"The oldest extant of Tamamo no Mae's story dates from the 14th century, when there were two courts ruled by separate emperors. Tamamo no Mae is described in the account as a beauty whose true identity was exposed by a court diviner Abe no Yasunari after Retired Emperor Toba suddenly fell ill. During the divination, she identified herself as a fox living in Nasuno moor... She confessed that she had appeared long ago as the deity of the burial mounds worshipped by [a king in India] and subsequently as Bao Si in China. During the pacification rite that followed the divination, Tamamo no Mae changed into a fox which two famous warriors from eastern provinces Miura no Suke and Kazusa no Suke, tracked down and killed in Nasuno. The fox spirit turned into the death rock of Nasuno, which killed all living creatures."

"Tamamo no Mae's story evolved into a monogatari, a long narrative tale, some versions of which circulated in the form of illustrated scrolls. By around 1500, the story had worked its way into the newly developed theatrical form called noh. Known as Sessbcseki (The Death Rock), the play is still performed today, Its dramatic reenactment of the confession and exorcism of a demon is a striking examination of metamorphosis in the traditional Japanese performing arts."

"Sessbōseki begins with the entrance of a Zen priest named Gennō, who is heading back to Kyoto in autumn after having been in northeastern Japan. When he reaches Nasuno, his companion suddenly notices birds falling to earth when they fly over a large rock. The travelers draw closer to take a better look, whereupon a woman suddenly appears and warns them not to go near the rock. "It is called the Death Rock of Nasuno, she says. All human beings, birds and beasts that go near it die." She explains that the rock contains the vengeful spirit of the former concubine of Retired Emperor Toba called Tamamo no Mae."

"During the desolate autumn evening, the woman recounts Tamamo no Mae's story: A learned beauty of unknown origins, Tamamo no Mae won the heart of the retired emperor. When her knowledge was tested, she promptly answered every question regarding the Buddhist scriptures, Japanese and Chinese classics and music. One dark evening late in autumn, a musical party was held at the palace. When a fierce storm suddenly blew out all of the lights, a glow radiated from Tamamo no Mae's body, filling the entire room, whereupon the emperor fell ill. Upon being summoned to determine the cause of the emperor's illness, the yin-yang diviner Abe no Yasunari blamed Tamamo no Mae. Accusing her of disguising herself as a beautiful woman in order to overthrow imperial rule in Japan, Yasunari advised performing a pacification rite. Having lost the emperor's affection, Tamamo no Mae turned back into a fox and fled to Nasuno."

"The woman admits to Gennō that she is the spirit of the death rock. Promising to reappear that night if he will pray for her, she disappears inside the rock. Gennō offers flowers, burns incense and chants Buddhist prayers to enable the spirit of the rock to attain salvation. Striking the ground with his hossu... he intones: "Quickly, quickly, go away. Go away." The rock suddenly splits in two, revealing the spirit of the rock "Gazing into the brilliant light," Gennō exclaims. I see the figure of a fox that is strangely human in shape.""

"The spirit confesses that it had appeared as the deity of the burial mounds [in India]... and then as Bao Si in China, before assuming the form of Tamamo no Mae in Japan. [After being tracked down and slain in Nasuno] Tamamo no Mae's vengeful spirit remained in Nasuno as the death rock and took many lives, says the spirit. Bowing before Gennō in submission, the spirit promises never to inflict harm on humans again and disappears."

Sources and quotes from 'Foxes in Japanese Culture: Beautiful or Beastly?' by Janet Goff, Japan Quarterly, April to June, 1997.