Anchin and Kiyohime

Japanese: 安珍･清姫 - あんちんきよひめ

The names of the male and female protagonists in the Dojoji legend of Kishu. A woman who was betrayed by a traveling monk to whom she had sworn her love turns into a snake in rage and follows the man to Dojoji. The gist of the Dojoji tale is that the man escapes to the temple, where women are not allowed, and hides inside the bell, where she burns him and the bell to ashes in the flames of her rage. The universality and timelessness of the theme of the intensity of a woman's pure passion has made this tale beloved by many Japanese people since ancient times, and has inspired numerous literary works. The earliest documented appearance of the Dojoji tale is in the "Wicked Woman of Muro County, Kii Province," which appears in the "Dai Nippon Hoke Kenkyo-ki" compiled by the monk Chingen during the Chokyu era (1040-44).

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

紀州の道成寺伝説における男女の主人公の名。愛を誓った旅の僧に裏切られた女が，憤怒の果てに蛇身に変じ，男のあとを追って道成寺に至る。女人禁制の寺に逃げ込み，鐘の中に隠れた男を，鐘ごと瞋恚（しんい）の炎で焼きつくしたというのが，道成寺説話の骨子である。女の純粋な情熱の激しさというテーマの普遍性･永遠性をもって，この説話は古来多くの日本人に愛好され，おびただしい文芸作品を生み出した。　道成寺説話の文献に現れる最も早いものは，長久年間(1040‐44)に沙門鎮源の撰した《大日本法華経験記》に載せる〈紀伊国牟婁（むろ）郡悪女〉である。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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