著者

小池 淳一

出版者

国文学研究資料館

雑誌

国文学研究資料館紀要. 文学研究篇 (ISSN:18802230)

巻号頁・発行日

no.44, pp.259-273, 2018-03

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本稿は日本の民俗文化におけるニワトリをめぐる伝承を素材にその特徴を考察するものである。ここではニワトリをめぐる呪術や祭祀、伝説を取り上げ、民俗的な世界観のなかでのニワトリについて考え、その位相を確認していく。それによって文芸世界におけるニワトリを考究する前提、もしくは基盤を構築する。まず、呪術としては水死体を発見するためにニワトリを用いる方法が近世期以降、日本各地で見いだせることに注目した。生と死、水中と陸上といった互いに異なる世界の境界でニワトリが用いられたのである。続いてニワトリが関わる祭祀として、禁忌とされたり、形そのものが神聖なものとされる場合があることを指摘した。さらにその神格としても移動や境界にまつわるとされることを述べた。最後に伝説においても土中に埋められた黄金がニワトリのかたちであったり、年の替わり目にニワトリが鳴いて黄金の存在を示すといった例が多く見いだせることを確認した。総じて、ニワトリをめぐる伝承の多くは移動や変化に関わり、またその存在は特定の時空でくり返し、想起されるものであった。まさにニワトリは境界をめぐる伝承を集約する鳥なのであった。こうした生活世界における伝承を改めて意識することで、かつてのニワトリに対する感覚を思い起こし、境界という時空が持つ可能性と潜在的な力を再認識することができよう。This article is an examination of salient features found in traditional Japanese folk customs associated with the domestic fowl (niwatori). More specifically, I look at a handful of magical incantations, religious rites, and legends surrounding the domestic fowl as a means of grasping the role of this bird within the Japanese folk imagination, which understanding will, it is hoped, serve to enrich our appreciation of this same bird's role in literature and the arts.First, I point out the ritualistic practice, found all throughout Japan since the early modern period, of using a domestic fowl is order to ascertain the whereabouts of a corpse of one who died by drowning. In such instances, the domestic fowl serves as an intermediary between two different between life and death, and between the world under water and that upon the land. Next, I foreground the various ways in which the domestic fowl was viewed during certain religious rituals: sometimes it was considered as a taboo object, while at other times its very form was seen as sacred. I then note how the domestic fowl, thus elevated to sacred status, was venerated during certain times of communal movement, as well as at certain liminal sites. Finally, I confirm a number of instances in which the domestic fowl is linked to gold: Gold buried under the earth was reported at times to resemble the shape of this bird. Also, the bird was believed to sing out at the start of a new year, thereby signaling the presence of gold nearby.In conclusion, the domestic fowl was associated in the folk imagination with an array of set occasions—specific times and venues-which were, in turn, often related to significant movements or transformations. As such, the domestic fowl took upon itself a number of traditions reminiscent of one form or another of liminality. By reconsidering these lived traditions, we are able to catch a glimpse of how Japanese people perceived this familiar bird, as well as gain added insight into the various possibilities and latent power of liminal spaces and events.