著者

北條 勝貴

出版者

物語研究会

雑誌

物語研究 (ISSN:13481622)

巻号頁・発行日

no.9, pp.20-31, 2009-03-31

---

In ancient China, it was originally thought that a person who suffered an abnormal death became a demon and committed evil to the living. The general procedure (fashion) in dealing with demons involved solely elimination through a ritual of confrontation, not a religious service. Although sentiments among the people started to upset such customs (traditions), during the Zhanguo Period thereafter, religious practices pertaining to demons became commonalized via national intervention. It was in the bereaved seeking to deliver (redeem) the dead in agony (in anguish) that led to the nation's involvement in addressing those who had undergone an unnatural death. Hence, the more intimate the deceased is to one, man (mankind) cannot help but speak on behalf of the departed. However, those statements after all are plagiarisms of the account of the dead that attempt to preserve (maintain) and reinforce the legitimacy (rights) of the individual and community. Only the very dead can determine the meaning of death ; rather, only can we cultivate (nurture) our sensitivity toward the voices of the expired. In fact, since that in itself is a difficult task that requires the potency of a tough and flexible mind, it may therefore turn into an opportunity to relativize the existing (current) frame of reference.