
"地獄太夫"776Please respect copyright.PENANAh1VCh2RzkN
"じごくたゆう"
Translation: hell courtesan
Appearance: Jigoku tayū is a legendary figure from Sakai (present-day Ōsaka). Her story takes place during the Muromachi Period, but she first appears in literature and artwork during the Edo Period, when novels and images depicting life in the red light districts were popular. Her legend is intertwined with that of the eccentric and iconoclastic Zen master Ikkyū—one of Japanese Buddhism’s most influential figures who was known for his outrageous lifestyle.
Legends: Long ago lived young girl named Otoboshi, the daughter of a samurai. When her father was killed, she fled with her family into to Mount Nyoi, but they were ambushed by bandits. Otoboshi was kidnapped and sold to a rich brothel owner in Sakai named Tamana. She was trained to become a yūjo—an upper-class courtesan.
Otoboshi grew up to be very beautiful. She was also intelligent and sharp-witted. Although her life was full of misfortune, she believed that her misfortunes were merely her karma—the result of things she did in her past lives. As a courtesan, she gave herself the name Jigoku (“Hell”) as a way of mocking her misfortunes. She wrapped her body in kimono decorated with skeletons, fire, and scenes from hell. She spoke with elegance and wit, and recited poetry with such grace that those who heard her were instantly charmed. And in her heart, she constantly recited the name of Buddha, hoping to achieve salvation from her sins. Jigoku’s grace, beauty, and wit quickly distinguished her from the other courtesans. Her unique name also caused her to stand out from competing courtesans who had flowery names like Hotoke gozen (“Lady Buddha”).
Jigoku quickly rose to the rank of tayū, the highest rank possible for a courtesan. Word of this strange woman caught the attention of Ikkyū, a Zen monk. He visited the Takasu pleasure district of Sakai and went to the Tamana brothel to seek out the peculiar courtesan whom he had heard so much about. When Ikkyū appeared before Jigoku, she recited a poem to him:
Sankyo seba776Please respect copyright.PENANAj8U3zQtZ0B
miyama no oku ni776Please respect copyright.PENANAuTHvQ8bXOl
sumeyokashi776Please respect copyright.PENANAEpN1jYYGnL
Koko ha ukiyo no776Please respect copyright.PENANAAVIgABTGUU
sakai chikaki ni776Please respect copyright.PENANAMUqP9KkNm0
(If you live in the mountains776Please respect copyright.PENANAgm956ShrK0
It is best to stay776Please respect copyright.PENANABL9Vb3LA7I
Deep in the mountains776Please respect copyright.PENANAga5tv8HnzL
This place is close to the border776Please respect copyright.PENANApFCZMUgxCh
Of the floating world)
The poem was rich in metaphor and multilayered, playing on the word sakai (“border”) and Sakai (the city). Ikkyū did not miss what Jigoku was implying. She was asking what a monk like him, who ordinarily should not leave his temple deep in the mountains, was doing on the edge of a pleasure district—the “floating world” of sorrow and grief from which Buddhists seek escape. Intrigued, Ikkyū replied with a poem of his own:
Ikkyū ga776Please respect copyright.PENANAy4SyY3SlJ1
mi wo ba mi hodo ni776Please respect copyright.PENANAYIzBxKAVHC
omowaneba776Please respect copyright.PENANAjVSBA313Y4
Ichi mo yamaga mo776Please respect copyright.PENANA1vApKsqtY0
onaji jūsho yo776Please respect copyright.PENANANyBBibfodh
(As for me776Please respect copyright.PENANAp0lNFqpODr
This body I have776Please respect copyright.PENANAL0a2lAJFbe
Means nothing to me776Please respect copyright.PENANAAQDx0dgqJL
A city and a mountain retreat776Please respect copyright.PENANAD7Fcr6c8AH
Are both the same place)
He implied that, as a Zen priest, he has no attachment to his body—and therefore it makes no difference if he comes to a brothel. To the enlightened, the body does not truly exist, nor is there any intrinsic difference between a brothel and a temple. There are one and the same. He followed up with another poem:
Kikishi yori776Please respect copyright.PENANA8kc3MJQncJ
mite otoroshiki776Please respect copyright.PENANA3ke3aBrejS
jigoku ka na
(Seeing hell in person776Please respect copyright.PENANAwtmDOiAvSz
Is much more terrifying776Please respect copyright.PENANAbFEirSQR30
Than hearing about it)
Jigoku understood that Ikkyū was really explaining that he came specifically to see her, and complimenting her on her terrifying beauty and wit. Jigoku finished his poem for him:
Shi ni kuru hito no776Please respect copyright.PENANAaemcgZTfSb
ochizaru ha nashi
(There is none who dies776Please respect copyright.PENANAjSKsWXI0lT
Who does not fall into hell)
Her poem, while playing on Buddhist themes, simultaneously implied that everyone who sees her falls in love with her.
Jigoku admitted Ikkyū into her presence. She offered him a vegetarian meal appropriate for a monk. Ikkyū refused and instead asked for sake and carp. Jigoku became suspicious. Monks were forbidden from indulging in alcohol, meat, and sex, and this man certainly did not appear to be a monk. She had girls sent to Ikkyū to test his true character. The girls sang, played drums and flute, and danced for Ikkyū. The monk enjoyed the performance and joined them in celebration.
Jigoku listened to the performance in secret from the next room. Suddenly, she noticed something odd about the shadows on the paper doors. She peeked into the room and saw that all of the dancers had turned into skeletons, reveling together in the music. When Jigoku re-entered the room, everything had turned back to normal.
Ikkyū partied until he passed out. In the middle of the night the monk awoke and went to the veranda where, having indulged too much, he vomited into the lake. When the vomit hit the water, the carp that Ikkyū had eaten turned into a live fish. Jigoku winessed this too.
The following morning Jigoku asked Ikkyū if she was dreaming, and told him about the things she saw the previous night. Ikkyu taught her about heaven and hell, and how looks can be deceiving. He explained to her:
“When are we not in a dream? When are we not skeletons? We are all just skeletons wrapped with flesh patterned male and female. When our breath expires, our skin ruptures, our sex disappears, and superior and inferior are indistinguishable. Beneath the skin of the person we caress today, there is no more than a skeleton propping up the flesh. Think about it! High and low, young and old, male and female: it is all the same. If you awaken to this one basic truth, you understand.”
Jigoku vowed to renounce her profession and become a nun, but Ikkyū told her to remain a courtesan. He told her that she should find her own way to enlightenment; that religion is hypocritical and a prostitute is more worthy than a nun.
From that moment, Jigoku became Ikkyū’s student. She remained in her brothel, and Ikkyū visited her time and time again to meditate and pray with her. She came to understand that all people are merely skeletons in bags of flesh, and she found peace. She continued to work as a prostitute, and gave generously to charity. She meditated and prayed every day, and eventually achieved enlightenment.
Like most courtesans, Jigoku became ill and died at a young age. Ikkyū was by her side at her death. Her final poem expressed her last act of compassion:
Ware shinaba776Please respect copyright.PENANAWbuYEAHKAD
yakuna uzumuna776Please respect copyright.PENANACgt2XYKnzK
no ni sutete776Please respect copyright.PENANAtomScNoy9i
uetaru inu no776Please respect copyright.PENANAyGaYK5wBti
hara wo koyase yo776Please respect copyright.PENANAKbxztHPzff
(When I die776Please respect copyright.PENANAJ4dkG2a4ll
Do not burn me or bury me776Please respect copyright.PENANAC2Ys1AEMRE
Throw me into a field776Please respect copyright.PENANAXRCJF9dTWd
So that I may feed776Please respect copyright.PENANAp0MKMINcVY
The starving dogs)
Ikkyū lay her to rest in a field as she wished, and then built a grave for her in Kumeda Temple in the nearby village of Yagi.
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