Kiyohime

Kiyohime is the daughter of a manor lord of Manago in Muro-gun, Kii Province (now Nakahechi, Tanabe, Wakayama). In the canonical tradition, set in Encho 6 (928) or the early Tengyo era (the early 10th century), she conceives a passion for the handsome monk Anchin during his Kumano pilgrimage, follows him north, transforms into a serpent at the Hidaka River, and at Dojo-ji (in Hidakagawa, Hidaka-gun, Wakayama) burns Anchin to death within the bell where he is hidden. The figure stands as a leading example of transformation yokai in Japan. The Dai-Nihon-koku Hokke Genki, lower scroll (early 11th century, by Chingen), records the figure as the "evil woman of Muro-gun in Kii," and the Konjaku Monogatari-shu, volume 14 tale 3 ("In Kii Province, a monk of Dojo-ji copies the Lotus Sutra to save a serpent"), gives the developed narrative. Later traditions include the Noh play Dojo-ji (by Komparu Zenchiku) and the kabuki/joruri works Hidakagawa Iriai-zakura and Kyokanoko Musume Dojo-ji. The Dojo-ji Engi Emaki (Muromachi period, Important Cultural Property) is the principal pictorial record. Adjacent serpent-transformation traditions include the bridge-deity Hashihime in Kanawa, Kumano serpent-bride traditions in Kishu, and Ueda Akinari's Jasei no In in Ugetsu Monogatari (a Japanese rewriting of the Chinese Bai She Zhuan).