Accepted Paper
Paper short abstract
This presentation will elucidate how deformed children and creatures were perceived and treated in medieval Japan. It will also discuss the reasons for this perception, based on historical sources.
Paper long abstract
This presentation elucidates how deformed children and creatures were perceived and treated in medieval Japan. Medieval historical records contain accounts of children born with severe deformities, such as two heads or four hands. From a Buddhist perspective, the birth of deformed children was understood as the result of the karma of the parents or the child itself from a previous life. For instance, Buddhist story collections contain numerous such narratives. Conversely, historical texts and aristocratic diaries, drawing upon Chinese historical writings, record the perception of such births as supernatural phenomena. Thus, within medieval society, the dual interpretations—as karmic retribution and as supernatural occurrences—coexisted without contradiction. Moreover, while deformed children were perceived as inauspicious, they were also believed to possess special abilities unavailable to healthy individuals. For instance, tales recounted children running immediately after birth, becoming exceptionally wise and accomplished nuns, or possessing extraordinary strength.
Deformed infants at birth, or deformed fish and birds discovered, were often discarded as unlucky omens. This was because discarding them was believed to offer some measure of protection against misfortune. However, accounts also exist of dissecting the bodies of deformed infants or consuming deformed fish and birds. The treatment of deformed children, fish, and birds underwent changes from the early to the late Middle Ages. This presentation will also address these shifts.Why did medieval people cut up the bodies of deformed children and eat deformed fish and birds? Drawing on historical texts, noble diaries, and folktales, I shall discuss the reasons for this, including their relationship to medicine and pharmacology.
| Abstract in Japanese (if needed): | 本発表では、日本の中世において、奇形児や奇形の生き物がどのように認識され、いかに扱われたのかを明らかにする。奇形児の誕生の理由は、親や本人の前世の業によるものだと認識された一方、怪異としても認識された。また、奇形児は、不吉なものとして認識されつつも、健常者には持ち得ない特別な能力を持つとも考えられた。 中世の史料には、奇形児の死体を切り取ったとする記述や、奇形の魚や鳥を食べたとする記述も確認できる。奇形児や奇形の魚、鳥などに対する扱いは、中世前期から後期にかけて変化していく。奇形児の死体を切り取り、奇形の魚や鳥を食べた理由について、医療や薬との関係を含めて論じていくことにする。 |
Perceptions of Children with Disabilities in Pre-Modern Japan ―From a Historical Perspective―