Foreign object - Foreign object

A type of fairy tale. A work in which birds, animals, fish, insects, plants, etc. are given human qualities. Broadly speaking, there are works in which other species are made to do the same things as humans, and works that have as their theme marriage between other species and humans. The former, such as the "Twelve Rui Emaki" scrolls created before 1452 (the first year of the Kyotoku era), often feature battles or poetry contests between different species. The latter are closely related to traditional tales passed down since ancient mythology, and famous works include "The Crane Scroll," "The Clam Scroll," and "The Mouse Scroll." The interesting poses of the different species made them good material for picture scrolls and Nara picture books, and they remained popular until the early Edo period.

[Takanobu Matsumoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

御伽草子(おとぎぞうし)の一種。鳥獣魚虫あるいは草木などに人間性を付与して登場させた作品。大きく分けて、人間と同じ行為を異類にさせる擬人物と、異類と人間との婚姻を主題にした作品とがある。前者は1452年（享徳1）以前成立の『十二類絵巻』をはじめ、異類同士の合戦や歌合(うたあわせ)を内容としたものが多い。後者は古代神話以来の伝承説話と関係が深く、『鶴(つる)の草子』『蛤(はまぐり)の草子』『鼠(ねずみ)の草子』などが有名である。異類の姿態のおもしろさから、絵巻や奈良絵本の好個の材料となって、江戸時代初期まで流行した。

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