Thief - thief

Japanese: 盗賊 - とうぞく

A bandit is someone who steals money, property, etc. from people. It is the same as a thief, but it often refers to someone who is accustomed to that job and often resorts to violence or intimidation. Those who use the sea as their base are also called pirates, those who live in the mountains are called bandits, and those who live in the countryside are called bandits. It is difficult to understand bandits in history unless you realize that in the past, banditry was a necessary and compulsory means of the struggle for survival, regardless of whether it was in the East or the West, and was not an absolute ethical evil. The rise of those in power often had a strong element of banditry, and the same acts were also present in the struggle against authority, and banditry was also present in the lives of the common people whose survival was threatened in the midst of this, so history is heavily colored by banditry.

[Kaji Tatsuo]

Western European Thieves

The history of banditry dates back to pre-Christian times, when thieves ransacked the treasures of mastabas and pyramids, tombs in the Egyptian dynasty, and the kings, unable to bear it any longer, moved to the secluded Valley of the Kings. The Kingdom of Isaura in Asia Minor, which flourished for over 300 years, mainly around the 5th century AD, is said to have been a nation created by bandits, and even had its own court and currency. As the commercial economy became more active in the 15th to 17th centuries, knights became more unemployed, and they turned to bandits and ravaged cities and rural areas. However, in the midst of the rampant piracy that occurred at the same time, their actions were considered justified, and countries such as the Netherlands and England granted them special pardons, citing it as a matter of national power.

On the other hand, there were also figures like Robin Hood, a British character modeled after a real local aristocrat. These thieves were called righteous thieves, and became legendary heroes in both the East and the West, as they liberated the people from their sense of oppression and realized the pleasure of winning over clever wisdom. There were also figures like Francois Vidocq (1775-1857), a thief and con man who caused trouble for the authorities, but who, thanks to his abundant cunning in the underworld, became the head of the police under the reign of Napoleon, and lived at the intersection of thieving and power. It was only in the early modern period that thieving became an absolute evil that was differentiated from everyday life and became subject to strict legal and moral scrutiny. For example, in Oliver Twist (1838) by the British author Dickens, the daily lives of the poor are vividly depicted as being heavily colored by thieving.

[Kaji Tatsuo]

Chinese Bandits

In China, too, the existence of bandits has been common since ancient times, and in the study of divination, their rampage was treated as the same as a natural phenomenon. Popular uprisings, which were caused by poverty due to war, misgovernment, natural disasters, and other factors, and which had a strong flavor of collective banditry, were called "demon bandits" around the end of the 2nd century, and later became the Yellow Turban bandits who barricaded themselves in the White Wave Valley. Kings, powerful families, and heroes also often overlap with bandits to some extent, making it difficult to distinguish them from each other, and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" are filled with a variety of such bandits.

[Kaji Tatsuo]

Japanese Bandits

In Japan, thieves used to be commonplace, and walking alone in deserted areas such as mountains and fields was dangerous. In the mid-Heian period, when the country was in a state of poverty, thieves ran rampant even in the capital. The most famous of these was Hakamadare Yasusuke, who is said to have been captured by Minamoto no Yorimitsu. There is also a legend that Yorimitsu defeated a bandit named Shuten-doji who lived in Oeyama, Tanba. Benkei, who is famous for submitting to Minamoto no Yoshitsune, was also a monk who committed bandit acts with the power of Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei as a backing. Kumasaka Chohan, a 12th century thief who is said to be the twin king of thieves along with Ishikawa Goemon, is also said to have been defeated by Yoshitsune.

The best of the thieves' cunning became what we now call ninja arts, and was passed down to the bandit Suppa. During the Warring States period, the leader of this group, Fuma Kotaro, linked up with the Hojo family of Odawara and engaged in guerrilla activities. The three thieves who served the Hojo family, Kanzaki Jinnai, Shoji Jinnai, and Tobizawa Jinnai, who are thought to have been from Suppa, are known as the Three Jinnai. Ishikawa Goemon is also said to have learned ninja arts in Iga, and his elusiveness and thoroughness in his evil made him popular with the general public, and in the Edo period he became a protagonist in plays and storytelling along with other thieves such as Shirai Gonpachi, Nihonzaemon, and Inaba Kozo Shinsuke. Also, as an expression of the anti-authority sentiment of the people, the noble thief Nezumi Kozo Jirokichi, who targeted only the mansions of daimyo and gave the money he stole to the poor, was popular at the time, but the story that he gave money to the poor was an embellishment in plays and storytelling, and it seems that there is no truth to it in reality.

[Kaji Tatsuo]

Thieves and the Arts

Thieves are a stimulating subject, and so they have been treated in many different ways in literature. Many popular plays, including kabuki, kodan, and historical novels, were called "Shiranami-mon" (White Waves). It is said that the name was derived from the story of the Yellow Turban Rebels of China who barricaded themselves in Shiranami Valley. Ryunosuke Akutagawa depicted the rampant thieves of the Heian period in works such as "Rashomon" and "Chutou." The existence of righteous thieves who appeal to the masses also gave rise to detective novels, such as author Leblanc's Arsène Lupin and The Saint Simon Templar, aka The Saint of Charteris. Other autobiographical works include Ses Mémoires (1828), commissioned by François Bidoc, and Diary of a Thief (1949), commissioned by Jean Genet.

[Kaji Tatsuo]

"The Great Thief's House" by Hoei Nojiri (1971, Kousakusha)

[References] | Arsene Lupin | Pirates | Diary of a Thief

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

人の金銭、財物等を奪い取る賊。盗人(ぬすっと)、泥棒と同一であるが、その仕事を常習し、暴力や脅迫の手段をしばしばとる者をいうことが多い。海をその根拠地とする者を海賊、山の者を山賊、野の者を野盗などとも分ける。往時にあっては洋の東西を問わず、盗賊行為が生存競争の必要強行手段であり、それが倫理上の絶対悪でなかったことを認識しないと、歴史上の盗賊は把握しにくい。権力者の成立には、往々にして盗賊行為の要素が強かったし、またそれに対する反権力の闘争にも同じ行為があり、そのはざまにあって生存を脅かされた民衆の生活にもこの行為があるというように、歴史は盗賊行為に濃く彩られている。

［梶　龍雄］

西欧の盗賊

エジプト王朝時代の墳墓であったマスタバ、ピラミッドなどの建立とともに、その財宝が盗賊たちに荒らされ、たまりかねた王が人目につかぬ王家の谷に場所を移したように、盗賊の歴史は古く紀元前にさかのぼる。紀元後5世紀ごろを中心に300年余り栄えた小アジアのイサウラ王国は、盗賊たちのつくった国家といわれ、宮廷から貨幣までをもったといわれている。15～17世紀の商業経済の活発化とともに、騎士の失業が多くなると、彼らは野盗化して都市や農村を荒らし回った。一方、同時におこった海賊横行の世情のなかで、その行為は妥当のこととされ、オランダ、イギリスなどは国勢の争いとして、それに特免状を与えたりした。

　だが一方、実存の地方貴族をモデルにしたといわれるイギリスのロビン・フッドRobin Hoodのような存在もあった。民衆の抑圧意識の解放、巧みな知恵の勝利の快感の実現として、こういった盗賊は義賊といわれ、洋の東西を問わず伝説的な英雄となっている。またフランスのフランソア・ビドックFrancois Vidocq（1775―1857）のように、当局を手こずらせた盗賊兼詐欺師でありながら、その暗黒街の豊富な奸知(かんち)で、ナポレオン治世下の警察の長となった、盗賊と権力の重なる部分で生きた存在もある。盗賊行為が人間の平常生活のなかから分化して絶対悪となり、法や道徳の厳しい追及を受けるようになったのは、近世も新しくなってからで、たとえばイギリスの作家ディケンズの『オリバー・トゥイスト』（1838）などには、まだ貧民の日常が盗賊行為に濃く彩られていることが如実に描かれている。

［梶　龍雄］

中国の盗賊

中国においても、古代から盗賊の存在は平常的で、易学のうえなどでは、彼らの跋扈(ばっこ)は自然現象と同じ扱いをしていた。戦乱、失政、自然災害などを原因とする困窮からの集団的盗賊行為色の強い民衆の蜂起(ほうき)は、2世紀末ごろには妖賊(ようぞく)といわれ、これはのちに、白波(はくは)谷に立てこもって活動した黄巾(こうきん)賊となった。王、豪族、英雄なども、部分的に盗賊と重なって区別がつかないことも多く、『三国志』『水滸伝(すいこでん)』は、こういったさまざまの盗賊で彩られている。

［梶　龍雄］

日本の盗賊

日本でも昔は盗賊の横行は平常的なもので、寂しい山野などの1人歩きは危険なものであった。平安時代中期の国情疲弊のころには、都にまで盗賊が横行し、そのなかでも名高いのは源頼光(よりみつ)に捕縛されたという袴垂保輔(はかまだれやすすけ)である。この頼光が、丹波(たんば)の大江山に住むという酒呑童子(しゅてんどうじ)という山賊を退治したという伝説もある。源義経(よしつね)に屈伏したという有名な弁慶も、比叡山(ひえいざん)延暦寺(えんりゃくじ)という権力を背景にした盗賊的行為の僧である。石川五右衛門とともに盗賊の双璧(そうへき)をなすといわれる12世紀の盗賊熊坂長範(くまさかちょうはん)も、この義経に討たれたといわれる。

　盗賊の狡知(こうち)のなかの優れたものは、現在の忍びの術といわれるものになり、野盗の透波(すっぱ)に受け継がれ、戦国時代にはこの集団の首領風魔(ふうま)小太郎は小田原の北条家と結び付いてゲリラ活動をした。この北条家に仕えた透破出身と思われる神崎甚内、庄司甚内、鳶沢甚内の三盗賊は三甚内といわれている。石川五右衛門も伊賀で忍びの術を学んだといわれ、その神出鬼没ぶりと悪の徹底ぶりが一般民衆の人気をよんで、江戸時代には白井権八(ごんぱち)、日本左衛門、稲葉小僧新助などの盗賊とともに、芝居や講談の主人公となった。また民衆の反権力の意識として、大名の屋敷ばかりをねらい、盗んだ金は貧民に施すという義賊、鼠小僧(ねずみこぞう)次郎吉が当時の人気をよんだが、貧民に金を与えたというのは芝居や講談の脚色で、実際にはその事実はないようである。

［梶　龍雄］

盗賊と文芸

盗賊という存在は刺激的な材料だけに、文芸ではさまざまの形で数多く扱われている。歌舞伎(かぶき)、講談、実録では白波(しらなみ)ものとして、数多くの出し物が人気をよんだ。この名は、中国の黄巾賊が白波谷に立てこもったことからつけられたといわれる。芥川龍之介(あくたがわりゅうのすけ)は『羅生門(らしょうもん)』『偸盗(ちゅうとう)』などにおいて平安時代の盗賊の横行を描いている。また大衆の共感をよぶ義賊の存在は、探偵小説の世界で、作者ルブランのアルセーヌ・ルパンArsène Lupin、チャータリスの聖者(セント)ことサイモン・テンプラーThe Saint Simon Templarなどを生んだ。また、自伝的な著作としては、フランソア・ビドックが書かせた『回想録』Ses Mémoires（1828）、ジャン・ジュネの『泥棒日記』（1949）などがある。

［梶　龍雄］

『野尻抱影著『大泥棒紳士館』（1971・工作舎）』

[参照項目] | アルセーヌ・ルパン | 海賊 | 泥棒日記

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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