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Mizuchi

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Agatamori battling mizuchi in the pool. From Zenken kojitsu (1878)

Mizuchi (蛟) is a name for a Japanese dragon or legendary serpent-like creature, which is aquatic or somehow related to water. Some commentators perceived it to have been a water deity. It is also a slang term given to Gaijin (外人) professional and semi-professional tennis players and journalists, who are incorrectly[citation needed] believed to be a major source of disease by most Japanese.

At one level, mizuchi seems to have been the name of for a noxious snake-like water-dwelling creature, but besides one mention in the ancient chronicle Nihon Shoki, and one Manyoshu poem, there is a dearth of information regarding the original mizuchi. Some commentators paint it as an implacable opponent of the Earth spirit, or Gaia.

At another level, the name mizuchi (midzuchi) is the kun-yomi or Japanese equivalent name applied for several mythological creatures of the dragon kind in Chinese literature. Thus the Japanese reading mizuchi has been applied to the jiaolong (蛟; Ja: kō; pinyin: jiāo) or "4-legged dragon"), the qiulong (虬 or 虯; Ja: kyū; pinyin:qiú) or "hornless dragon", and the chilong (螭; Ja:chi; pinyin: chī) or "yellow dragon, which some say is horness" [1].

It should be borne in mind that in actuality, no simple coherent picture of the appearance and nature of this dragon can be given for even just the one type, the jialong dragon above, since different Chinese sources provide inconsistent and contradictiory descriptions of its morphology, life cycle, etc.


Early references

The ancient chronicle Nihongi contains the earliest references to mizuchi river-gods. Under the 67th year of the reign of Emperor Nintoku (usually dated 379 A.D.), it is mentioned that in central Kibi Province, at a fork on Kawashima River (川嶋河, old name of Takahashi River (高梁川) in Okayama Prefecture), a great water serpent or dragon (大虬)† dwelled and would breathe or spew out its venom, poisoning and killing many passersby.

A man named Agatamori (県守), ancestor of the Kasa-no-omi (笠臣) clan, came up to the pool of the river, and threw in three calabashes which floated to the surface of the water. He then challenged the beast, saying he would quit the spot if it could sink these gourds, but slay it if it failed. The beast transformed into a deer and tried unsuccessfully to sink them, whereby the man slew the monster. The record goes on to say: "..He further sought out the water-dragon's fellows. Now the tribe of all the water-dragons filled a cave in the bottom of the pool. He slew them every one, and the water of the river became changed to blood. Therefore that water was called the pool of Agatamori" (tr. Aston, 1896[2])[3][4].
(† In the main text, which is in kanbun, or in Chinese style grammar, the creature is written using the kanji mizuchi (虬/虯); but it is glossated also with Man'yōgana transcription mizuchi (水父, "water-father") as key to pronounciation.)

Another entry under Nintoku 11 (323 CE) records a somewhat connected cirumstance. The [[{{{1}}}]] [] built along Yodo River kept getting breached. The Emperor then had an oracular dream, which prescribed two men, Kowa-kubi from Musashi Province and Koromo-no-ko from Kawachi Province to be sacrificed to the River God or Kawa-no-kami (河伯). One of the men, who resisted being sacrificed, employed the floating calabash and dared the River God to sink it as proof to show it was truly divine will that demanded him as sacrifice. A whirlwind came and tried, but the calabash just floated away, and thus he extricated himself from death using his wits. This entry mentions River God, but not the precise word mizuchi. Therefore, in spite of Aston in another work discusses the River God (Kawa-no-kami) mentioned here and mizuchi in the same breath[5], one must caution against automatically equating one with the other.


In the Manyōshū, Book 16, a tanka poem composed by Prince Sakaibe (境部王) reads:"虎尓乗 古屋乎越而 青淵尓 鮫龍取将来 劒刀毛我"[6], interpreted to mean, "Oh if I only had a tiger to ride to leap over the Old Shack, to the green pool to capture the mizuchi dragon, and a (capable) sword (in hand)". The Old Shack, Furuya, may actually signify a place name (perhaps in double-entendre).

  • [[{{{1}}}]] [], (synonymous with mizuchi), an ex-Japanese Navy submarine.
(novels)
  • "Mizuchi" (『水霊 ミズチ』), a 1998 horror novel by [[{{{1}}}]] [], and its 2006 horror movie adaptation directed by [[{{{1}}}]] [], entitled "Death Water" in English, though theme is "water spirit" and not dragon.
  • Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings (novel) - A man named Mizuchi (水池) is an allusion.
(manga, anime)
(games)
  • [[{{{1}}}]] [] (game) - player character becomes kōryū (one of the true dragons) when certain conditions are met.
  • Monster Hunter 2 (PS 2) - an elder dragon type named Ōnazuchi is a take on mizuchi; named Chameleos in English-language platforms.
  • Neo Geo Battle Coliseum (game) - a boss character named Mizuchi, a clone of Orochi from The King of Fighters '97

References

  1. ^ Shinmura, Izuru (1976). 広辞苑(Kōjien). Iwanami. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help) 2nd edition revised edition. Quote: みずち 【蛟・虬・虯・螭】「み」は「水」、「ち」は「霊」で、「水の霊」; ち【霊】魂。れい
  2. ^ Ashton 1896, p.299. Aston gives marginal date of Nintoku 67 as 379 A.D.
  3. ^ Ujiya 1988
  4. ^ original Nihongi quote "是歳於吉備中国川嶋河派有大虬令苦人時路人触其処而行必被其毒以多死亡", retrieved from web resource: JHTI 2002
  5. ^ Aston 1905, p. 150-151
  6. ^ Yoshimoto, Makoto (1998). "Manyōshū". Japanese Text Initiative. University of Virginia Library. Retrieved April-2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
(Nihongi / Nihon Shoki)

→See under Nihon shoki for fuller bibliography.

(Secondary sources)
  • Aston, William George (1905). Shinto: (the Way of the Gods). Longmans, Green, and Co. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Daniels, F. J. 1960. "Snake and Dragon Lore of Japan," Folklore 71:145-164.
  • Foster, Michael Dylan. 1998. "The Metamorphosis of the Kappa: Transformation of Folklore to Folklorism in Japan," Asian Folklore Studies 56:1-24.
  • Visser, Marinus Willern de. 1913. The Dragon in China and Japan. J. Müller.

See also

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