THE CURSED BELL
Exhibited in a small room in Myōman-ji (妙満寺) is a modest looking bell with an incredible story to tell. It is a tale of unrequited love, serpents, and bloody, fiery revenge.
How the bell came to be here is all part of the mystery
#folklorethursday

The bell originally belonged to Dōjō-ji (道成寺), a temple founded in 701 in Kishū (紀州), what is now Wakayama Prefecture.
Mostly destroyed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the temple is a shadow of its former glory...but many of its treasures, like the bell, have survived.
#道成寺 #Japan

The tale of Kiyohime (清姫) and Anchin (安珍) became a popular subject for Noh and Kabuki plays, and there are many different versions...but this is the gist.

In 928 a young ascetic called Anchin (安珍) was on a pilgrimage from his home in Ōshū (奥州白河) to Kumano (熊野).
#日本

One night Anchin stopped to rest at a home belonging to the 'Steward of Seiji' (清次) in Masago, Muro County (真砂/牟婁郡).
Seiji's daughter (maybe his wife) fell desperately in love with the young man. It is unclear if Anchin returned this love, or if they acted upon it.
#Japan

A few days later Anchin continued on his pilgrimage, promising to call in on his way home. But upon the return journey he deliberately avoided Masago town.

Betrayed, Kiyohime took to her bed and died of grief!
...a little while later a great serpent emerged from her bedchamber!

As he draws close to Dōjō-ji, Anchin discovers he is being pursued by a monstrous serpent. He begs the abbot for help, and the monks stuff him inside the temple's bell, thinking it an unlikely hiding place.

The serpent forces her way into the grounds & begins to sniff the air

Terrified by the hideous creature, the monks can only watch in horror as the serpent quickly discovers Anchin's whereabouts.

Kiyohime coils her scaly body about the bell, forcing it to the ground (with Anchin inside). Spouting fire, she boils him alive...and abruptly vanishes.

In a slightly different version of the tale Anchin regularly visits an inn belonging to Kiyohime's father.
Each time he passes by on pilgrimage he brings her a gift, and she mistakingly takes her father's teasing about a betrothal as truth.
One night she asks about marriage...

Embarrassed by the misunderstanding Anchin hurries away in the night, but Kiyohime is watching and follows him.

Coming to the swollen Hidaka River (日高川) she discovers Anchin already on the far bank. Such is her anger that she leaps into the water, and emerges as a serpent!

The end of the tale is the same...Anchin burnt to a crisp inside a red-hot bell and Kiyohime disappearing in her own flames.

Before death Kiyohime warns Dōjō-ji's abbot that any new bells cast for the temple will be cursed...a punishment for hiding Anchin from her.
#folklore

A Noh play takes up the story at this point.

With the rebuilding of the temple in 1359 a new bell is recast, paid for by Minamoto Manjumaru (源万寿丸).

The abbot warns the monks not to let any women into the grounds during the consecration ceremony...
#folklorethursday #Japan

A female dancer appears at the gate, and through a skilled performance convinces the monks to let her in.

She rushes to the bell, stands beneath it, and in a twirling dance brings it crashing to the ground

The abbot chastise the monks and tells them the story of Kiyohime.

They determine to exorcise Kiyohime's malevolent spirit by praying to Fudō Myōō (不動明王).
With great difficulty they lift the bell and a monstrous figure emerges...the abbot calls to 3 of the 5 Dragon Kings for help and finally she is forced away (into the Hidaka River).
#Japan

The story first appears in two early collection of tales: the 'Dainihonkoku Hokekyō Kenki' (大日本国法華経験記- 1040) & the 'Konjaku Monogatarishū' (今昔物語集-1120).
It was later made into a picture scroll, 'Dōjōji engi emaki' (道成寺縁起絵巻), in the Muromachi period.
#folklore