鶴亀とだるま―縁起物散歩
Mr. Kyobashi has given us a good introduction into the problem of these
two animals and Daruma san. I give you a short review. See the following
HP for Japanese: http://www.amie.or.jp/daruma/nazo.html
The Beard of Daruma was painted in the form of a
snake (rather "Dragon"｢蛇＝龍｣) in the beginning. Why did it
change to a tortoise?
The picture on the left below dates from 1777 and shows a Tumbler Doll
Daruma with Saigyoo Hooshi (a famous poet). This is probably the oldest
picture of a Daruma Doll. From then on Daruma became a popular theme.
The picture in the middle shows the face of this Daruma. His eyebrows
are in the form of a crane and the beard clearly shows the form of a snake,
or rather a wild dragon.
The picture on the left shows a modern classical Daruma Doll and as we
can see the beard looks like a tortoise lifting its head."The crane
lives 1000 years, the tortoise 10.000 years" as a Japanese proverb
goes. Both animals are symbols of longevity.
But why was it a snake in the beginning? And for what purpose did it change into a turtoise? And what about the combination with a crane? Maybe the tortoise is the painted version of the deformation of the snake's head and the scales?
 |
 The beard is a snake｢蛇｣ |
 The beard is a turtiose｢亀」 |
Tortoise and Snake 亀と蛇
I have checked out about the connection of Turtoise-Snake first and the
story brings us back to ancient China.
In Chinese culture, especially under the influence of Taoism (道教) the turtoise is the symbol of heaven and earth, its shell compared to the vaulted heaven and the underside to the flat disc of the earth. The tortoise was the hero of many ancient legends. It helped the First Chinese Emperor to tame the Yellow River, so Shang-di rewarded the animal with a lifespan of Ten Thousand Years. Thus the turtoise became a symbol for Long Life.
It also stands for immutability and steadfastness. We often see stone
grave steles on a stone tortoise or reliquiaries standing on it.
The tortoise is also regarded as an immortal creature. As there are no
male tortoise - as the ancient believed - the female had to mate with
a snake. Thus the turtoise embracing a snake became the protector symbol
of the north, but since the word "tortoise" was taboo in Chinese, it was
referred to as the "dark warrior" (genbu 玄武 ) and finally became one
of the protector gods of the four areas, Zhenwu in Chinese Taoism.
The above stone sculpture is part of a sarcophage of a Chinese aristocrat around 500, showing a turtoise entwined by a snake. The symbol of Zhenwu, the Protector God of the North, as tortoise and snake dates back to the third century B.C.
On the above picture (which is a little hard to see) we have an ink rubbing from a stele from the Pagoda of Six Harmonies in Zhejiang province, China, from about 1586. Here we see Zhenwu, the Perfected Warrior, standing on the back of a tortoise entwined with a snake. The two animals themselves where also used to represent the protector gods of the north. This tradition was carried over to Japan, where for example Tokugawa Ieyasu was very concious in choosing a place for his new capital, Edo, with a Mountain (Mt. Fuji) and the Dark Warrior in the north.
During the birthday celebrations for a Chinese emperor, a crane and a turotise had to come forth and dance for him, praying for his long life. Then the emperor himself would perform a dance praying that his reign and life be long, his country be in peace and prosperous.
You can find out more about Taoism and Zhenwu in the magnificent catalog
about "Taoism and the Arts of China".
http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/taoism/
日本語の資料を少し紹介します。
玄武は北方の神であり、北斗七星が北方の七星宿です。玄武は亀に蛇が巻きついた形をしており、勇猛で武術に優れています。天と地の間を行き来し、万霊にあがめられ、妖を斬り、魔を除き、善人に健康と平和で清らかな家庭をもたらすと考えられています。玄武は水の神でもあり、古代から名亀を所有すると富と幸運がもたらされると伝えられています。
中国には龍と蛇に区別はなく、それゆえ蛇は小龍として知られています。中国人は心の中に龍に対する敬意と不思議な親近感を持っています。黄帝は龍の生まれ変わりであると信じられており、中国人は自ら黄帝の子孫であると考え、龍種であることを誇りに思っています。
昔、古代中国人は四千年以上も前から長寿の象徴として亀を信仰してきました。彼らは亀には生命力の源である「気」を体内に取り込む力や不老不死の力、そして予知能力があると考えていました。亀には神の意を実行し、人々の運命を予言する能力があるとも信じられていました。殷の時代には大量
の亀の甲羅が吉凶を占うのに用いられ、また亀の甲羅に刻み込まれた甲骨文は中国古代文化を理解する上で役に立ちました。
http://www.morita.ne.jp/hikkigu/pelikan/genbu.htm
玄武
甲虫（甲羅を持つ全ての生物。虫は昆虫ではなく生物を意味します）の王。頭と尾が蛇である亀。あるいは蛇の巻き付いた亀。未来を予知する力があり、『礼記』では四霊獣の一として、北に置かれます。
http://member.nifty.ne.jp/hagu2/china.htm
もう一つ伝説について長い説明があります。
http://www.delco.co.jp/designmuseum/muse-de-turtese/mythology/kame_mythology.html#6
Tsurukame - Tortoise and Crane
The connection between a turtoise and a crane also dates back to China.
The crane too was a symbol of Long Life and also the symbol of the relationship
of Father and Son according to the Confucian philosophy. Furthermore the
crane is a symbol of wisdom. When a highranking Taoist priest died, it
was said he was "turning into a crane".
In Japanese Buddhist art, we have a candle holder in the form of a crane
standing on a tortoise (tsurukame shokudai 鶴亀燭台). This kind of temple
decoration was often used by the New Sect of the Pure Land (joodo shinshuu
浄土真宗). Usually the crane was carrying a lotos flower with a long stem
in his mouth and the flower was formed in a way to hold the candle. These
types of illumination stands were produced since the Muromachi Period.
In an explanation about the famous temple Hongan-Ji we can also read about this candleholder.
鶴亀の燭台は主として大谷派で用いているが、『考信録』に「元は世間の調度で、室町まで、祝言の床飾りであったと池坊の大巻にあり、今は仏具に限るようになった。唐にて道家の荘厳という説もあるが信じられず」とあり。余間等には本派でも用いている。
http://www.jade.dti.ne.jp/~otera/gon6.htm
真宗大谷派（東）の仏壇は、宮殿は東本願寺阿弥陀堂を模し、
屋根が二重唐破風で、柱は黒塗り、燭台は鶴亀をあしらう。
It is a little hard to make out the two candleholders in the middle beside
an incense burner and the flower vases.
http://www.gyoda.co.jp/buddha5.htm
At the famous Tooshoogu Shrine in Nikko, there is a huge monument in the
form of Crane/Tortoise.
日光東照宮の鶴亀の燭台。
There is a store that sells Tsurukame zabuton covers.
座布団にも鶴亀。
http://www.tsutsugaki.org/gallery/tsurukame/item-tsurukame.html
For enlargement 拡大
http://www.tsutsugaki.org/gallery/tsurukame/tu-66.htm
In the tradition of Kaga Yuuzen, there is also a door curtain (noren)
with this decoration as a wedding present for a bride.
“Hanayome Noren”（花嫁のれん）is said to be the origin of " Kaga Yuzen"
a sheet of cloth on which felicitous designs such as "Shoochikubai"(pine
leaves, bamboo and plum flowers) or "Tsurukame"(crane and tortoise) are
hand dyed and used as one of the bridal items.
http://www.kimono.or.jp/dic/eng/03Dye-Hokuriku.html
Finally a classic Noh-Play with this conspicious title.
能舞台にも鶴亀があります。
http://deall.ohio-state.edu/grads/yip.7/projhome.htm
The famous Daruma from Shirawaka features
more good luck symbols: The Pine/Bamboo/Plum with Crane/Tortoise. (Shoochikubai
Tsurukame). The tradition goes back to Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758 -1829).
松平定信公のおかかえ画匠・谷文晁の考案によると伝えられる「鶴亀松竹梅」を取り入れた縁起だるま。
白河市 Shirakawa Town
谷文晁の絵付けによる白河だるまは顔全体が鶴亀松竹梅をあらわし、福々しい顔が特徴です。
・販売 価格 みやげ用 200円〜3万円
・佐川だるま製造所 TEL 0248(23)4239
・白河だるま総本舗 TEL 0248(23)3978
http://www.bpf.or.jp/sanpin/mingei/daruma.html
http://www.shirakawa.ne.jp/~kyouiku/syo_da.html
We still do not know when and why the snake changed to a tortoise on the
face of Daruma, but we keep looking. But the roots of these animals as
symbols for good luck and longevity go way back to ancient China and the
Taoist tradition.
亀に雄がないので、メスが蛇と子供をつくる古い中国の説がなんともいえない。ダルマに関係があるのか？まだまだ謎が残ります。だるまさんと中国の道教に関係があろのでしょうか。
Finally just one more stone Daruma with Crane and Tortoise as his facial
features in my collection.
もうひとつ石達磨の顔に鶴亀があります。
Please share your ideas about this subject with us.
gokuraku@po.harenet.ne.jp
