Hermit - Inja

Japanese: 隠者 - いんじゃ

Japan

A person who leaves the secular world in order to reach the original world of the first sense. They are also called hermits, recluses, or hermits. They are people who wander and live in hiding on the fringes of the secular world, such as deep in the mountains where few people have been, or on the shores of a remote sea. There are many different ways in which they live, but based on their origins they can be divided into three types.

The first is when a government official or aristocrat became a monk and shaved his head. There were many reasons for this, including political downfall, old age, illness, unrequited love, and resentment at being delayed in promotion. Some well-known examples include Yoshishige Yasutane, Saigyo, Kamo no Chomei, and Yoshida Kenko, but Fujiwara no Michinaga, Taira no Kiyomori, and Fujiwara no Shunzei also lived in seclusion. Saigyo and others are known as hermits because of the brilliance of their careers as poets and writers after they retired. For government officials or aristocrats in the Middle Ages, becoming a monk and shaving one's head was the ideal. Although it cannot be said to be perfect, the majority of them ended their lives as hermits. The longing for seclusion is evident in ancient works such as Kaifuso and Kokin Wakashu.

The second was when an official monk retired. He abandoned his official rank, quit his official duties, left the official temple, and retreated to a hermitage in a villa or deep in the mountains, or became a ferryman or beggar. Genbin, Zoga, Myohen, and others were depicted in stories in "Kankyo no Tomo" and "Hosshinshu" as desirable hermits, and became widely known. Images of hermits can also be found in Genshin, Honen, and even Myoe.

The third type was when common people went into seclusion. Its origins date back to ancient times, such as En no Gyoja, a saint who practiced magic, a wandering woman, or a private monk. Even after the Middle Ages, there were many people like the Koya saints who lived around the government temples and worked at fundraising and other chores while devoting themselves to training. The "monks who have traveled all over the country," who often appear as supporting characters in Mugen noh, were also hermits.

[Masahide Sato]

China

This refers to a person who resigns from his lord or does not seek government service in the first place, and lives in seclusion in the mountains, forests, rivers, and seas in order to stick to his ideals and principles. They are also called hermits, hermits, and hermits. China has had many anecdotes about hermits since ancient times, and representative figures include Xu You, Boyi, Shuqi, and the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. In the chapter "Xiao Yao You" in "Zhuangzi," there is an anecdote about how when Yao offered to hand over the throne to Xu You, Xu You refused to accept and refused to get involved in the world of politics. This shows a Taoist view of life that values one's own life and seeks peace of mind, leaving worldly fame and profit. Furthermore, the Records of the Grand Historian, in the "Biography of Boyi," tells the story of Boyi and Shuqi, who tried to persuade King Wu of Zhou to accept their request, but was not allowed to do so, and ended up starving to death on Mount Shouyang, refusing to eat Zhou's millet (salary). This story shows a Confucian view of life in which one becomes a hermit (a hermit) in order to uphold integrity. During the Han dynasty, a view of seclusion also emerged that held that hermits who live in the morning markets (the secular world) are superior to those who hide in the mountains, forests, rivers, and seas. During the Six Dynasties period, the term "morning hiders" was even coined to mean hermits who hide in the imperial court. However, the majority of hermits were people who hid in the mountains, forests, rivers, and seas.

In China, hermits were valued as a kind of extraterritorial existence, and their intellectual lives influenced Chinese culture. Official histories from the Book of the Later Han onwards included biographies of hermits.

[Masami Kobayashi]

"Japanese Hermits" by Sakurai Yoshiro (Hanawa Shinsho)" ▽ "Monk and Recluse" by Mezaki Tokuei (Chuko Shinsho)" ▽ "The Literature of Recluse" by Ito Hiroyuki (1975, Kasama Shoin)" ▽ "The Philosophy of Recluse" by Sato Masahide (1977, University of Tokyo Press)" ▽ "Historical Views and Recluse Thoughts in China and Japan by Kobayashi Noboru (1958, Waseda University Press)" ▽ "Chinese Hermits - Warring Times and Intellectuals" by Fuji Masaharu (Iwanami Shinsho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

日本

第一義の、原郷世界に至るべく、世俗世界を離脱する人。隠遁者(いんとんじゃ)、遁世者、世捨て人ともいう。人跡まれな山奥や人里離れた海のほとりなど、世俗世界の辺境を漂泊し、そこに隠れ住む人。そのありようは多様であるが、出身からいって3種類に分けられる。

　第一は、官人貴族が出家剃髪(しゅっけていはつ)した場合。出家剃髪のきっかけは、政治的失脚、老齢、病気、失恋、昇進遅滞の恨みなど、さまざまである。慶滋保胤(よししげのやすたね)や西行(さいぎょう)、鴨長明(かものちょうめい)、吉田兼好(けんこう)などが知られるが、藤原道長(みちなが)や平清盛(きよもり)、あるいは藤原俊成(しゅんぜい)なども隠遁している。西行らが隠者として知られるのは、隠遁後の歌人あるいは文人としての活躍の華々しさにある。中古の官人貴族にとって、出家剃髪することは理想であった。十全とはいえないにせよ、彼らの大多数は隠者として生涯を終えている。隠遁へのあこがれは、古く『懐風藻(かいふうそう)』や『古今和歌集』にも色濃く現れている。

　第二は、官僧が隠遁した場合。僧官僧位を捨て、公請(くしょう)を辞し、官寺を離れ、別所や深山の草庵(そうあん)にこもり、あるいは渡守(わたしもり)や乞食(こつじき)に身をやつす。玄賓(げんびん)や増賀(ぞうが)、明遍(みょうへん)などが、『閑居友(かんきょのとも)』『発心集(ほっしんしゅう)』において願わしかるべき隠者として説話化され、一般に知られる。源信(げんしん)や法然(ほうねん)、さらには明恵(みょうえ)にも、隠者のおもかげがみいだされる。

　第三は、庶民が隠遁した場合。役行者(えんのぎょうじゃ)のような呪術(じゅじゅつ)を事とした聖(ひじり)や、遊行女婦(うかれめ)あるいは私度僧(しどそう)など、その源流は古い。中古以後も、高野聖(こうやひじり)のように官寺の周辺にあって勧進(かんじん)などの雑務に携わりつつ、修行に励む人々は多かった。夢幻能(むげんのう)のワキとしてしばしば登場する「諸国一見(いっけん)の僧」もまたこの隠者である。

［佐藤正英］

中国

自分の理想や節義を貫くため、君主のもとを辞し、あるいは最初から仕官を求めず、山林江海に隠れ住む人をさす。逸民(いつみん)、逸士、隠士、隠逸ともいう。中国には古くから隠者の逸話が多く、許由(きょゆう)、伯夷(はくい)・叔斉(しゅくせい)、竹林の七賢などが代表的人物とされる。『荘子(そうじ)』の「逍遙遊(しょうようゆう)」には、堯(ぎょう)が天子の位を許由に譲ろうとしたとき、許由はこれを受けず、政治の世界にかかわることを拒否したという挿話が載っている。ここには、世俗の名利を離れて己の生を重んじ、心の安らぎを求める道家(どうか)風の人生観がみられる。また『史記』の「伯夷列伝」には、周の武王(ぶおう)をいさめたがいれられず周の粟(ぞく)（俸禄(ほうろく)）は食(は)まぬと首陽山(しゅようさん)で餓死した伯夷・叔斉の話が紹介されているが、ここには、節義を守るために隠者（逸民）になるという儒家風の人生観がみられる。漢代には、山林や江海に隠れるよりも、朝市(ちょうし)（俗世間）に住む隠者のほうが優れているという隠逸観も現れた。六朝(りくちょう)時代には、朝廷に隠れる隠者という意味で、「朝隠(ちょういん)」という語までつくられた。しかし隠者の主流は山林江海に隠れた人々である。

　中国では隠者は一種の治外法権的な存在として重視され、その知的生活は中国文化に影響を与えた。『後漢書(ごかんじょ)』以後の正史には隠者に関する伝記を載せている。

［小林正美］

『桜井好朗著『日本の隠者』（塙新書）』▽『目崎徳衛著『出家遁世』（中公新書）』▽『伊藤博之著『隠遁の文学』（1975・笠間書院）』▽『佐藤正英著『隠遁の思想』（1977・東京大学出版会）』▽『小林昇著『中国・日本における歴史観と隠逸思想』（1958・早稲田大学出版部）』▽『富士正晴著『中国の隠者――乱世と知識人』（岩波新書）』

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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