‘Hakutaku hi kai zu’
Open accessAbstract
"‘Hakutaku hi kai zu’" published on 16 Oct 2007 by Brill.
AI snapshot
Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
The article examines the oldest surviving Japanese Hakutaku diagram by Fukuhara Gogaku and Bansen, linking it to Chinese Baize traditions and protective practices. It traces textual and visual evidence from Dunhuang manuscripts and later Japanese amuletic use, while noting unknown origins for the standard three-faced image.
Key findings
- The Fukuhara/Bansen work is the earliest of five known Japanese diagrams pairing Hakutaku with an inscription that presents the deity as a guardian against harmful spirits; the inscription quotes a lost 12th-century Chinese *Sheshi lu* that advises hanging the picture indoors to avert misfortune.
- Japanese magical uses are documented in the 18th and 19th centuries, including travel protection and illness; during the 1858 Edo cholera outbreak, people were instructed to place the Hakutaku image on their headrest at night.
- Baize appears in China by the 4th century CE as the deity who told Huangdi the identities of spirits; the only surviving medieval Chinese *Baize tu* is an incomplete 9th/10th-century Dunhuang manuscript P2682, with a fragment S6261, and it contains no Baize drawing.
- The oldest Baize/Hakutaku drawing is in *Tiandi ruixiang zhi*, showing a bovine body with a bearded human head; Fukuhara’s Hakutaku has three faces, each with three eyes and two horns, a form standard in Japan by the 18th century but of unknown origin.
Methods
- Design: Not stated in the paper; the text presents a source-based historical and iconographic discussion.
- Data: Five extant Japanese examples, the lost *Sheshi lu* as quoted in an inscription, Dunhuang manuscripts P2682 and S6261, the *Tiandi ruixiang zhi*, and a Dunhuang Buddhist manuscript Dh223.
- Main analysis: Compares inscriptions and images to trace the Chinese Baize tradition and its Japanese adoption, including protective customs.
Limitations
- Stated: the origin of the standard three-faced Hakutaku image is unknown; the *Sheshi lu* is lost; the Dunhuang Baize manuscript is incomplete and lacks a Baize drawing.
- Evident from the text: the argument relies on a small number of extant Japanese diagrams (five) and fragmentary manuscript witnesses, which limits certainty about transmission and dating.
- Not stated in the paper: no explicit limitations section or discussion of methodological constraints beyond the unknown origin.
Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
0 of 5 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged
- Findingown data
The inscription on the Hakutaku hi kai zu contains a long quotation from the lost twelfth-century Chinese Sheshi lu.
“The inscription includes a lengthy quotation from a lost twelfth century Chinese work, Sheshi lu 5$i!ti1 (Record of Experiencing the World), that recommends hanging the picture of Hakutaku/Baize B ;f inside the house to prevent misfortune.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Sheshi lu 5$i!ti1 (Record of Experiencing the World)
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Rests on an assumption: Sheshi lu is a lost twelfth-century Chinese work.
- Findingnone given
The Hakutaku hi kai zu, attributed to Fukuhara Gogaku and Bansen, is the earliest among five surviving Japanese diagrams that pair an image of Hakutaku with an inscription naming him as a deity who shields people from harm caused by spirits.
“The 'Hakutaku hi kai zu' by Fukuhara Gogaku and Bansen is the oldest of five extant Japanese examples of a diagram combining the image of Hakutaku (literal translation, White Marsh) with an inscription that identifies Hakutaku as a deity who protects people from being harmed by spirit-world prodigies.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim- Rests on an assumption: There are exactly five extant Japanese examples of such diagrams.
- Findingnone given
Chinese sources from the ninth and tenth centuries attest a custom of keeping a Baize picture indoors as protection against harm from spirits.
“However, the custom of hanging a drawing of Baize in the house for protection from spirit-world harm-the drawing was also called Baize tu 'diagram of (the deity) Baize'-is attested in ninth and tenth century Chinese sources.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingcitation
A fragment of the same Dunhuang manuscript is held in the Stein collection at the British Library as S6261.
“A fragment from the same manuscript is in the Stein collection of Dunhuang manuscripts at the British Library (S6261).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites S6261
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Findingreasoning
The Baize drawing used in this protective custom was also called Baize tu.
“However, the custom of hanging a drawing of Baize in the house for protection from spirit-world harm-the drawing was also called Baize tu 'diagram of (the deity) Baize'-is attested in ninth and tenth century Chinese sources.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
- Findingown data
The deity Baize/Hakutaku has an ox body and a human, bearded head.
“The deity has an ox body and a human, bearded head.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingnone given
Magical uses of Hakutaku images are well documented in Japan during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including as travel amulets and for illness.
“Magical uses of the image of Hakucaku are well documented in eighteenth and nineteenth century Japan, including as a protective amulet when traveling and for illness.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingnone given
By the eighteenth century, this three-faced form of Hakutaku was the standard image in Japan.
“This Hakutaku image had become standard in Japan by the eighteenth century.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
The Dunhuang Baize jingguai tu manuscript contains no drawing of Baize.
“The Dunhuang manuscript does not have a drawing of Baize; the tu 'diagrams' referred to in its tide are the drawings of the 'spectral prodi-gies.'”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingnone given
The Tiandi ruixiang zhi contains the earliest known picture of Baize/Hakutaku.
“The oldest drawing of Baize/Hakutaku is in the Tiandi ruixiang zhi”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim- The authors state this as an assumption: The Tiandi ruixiang zhi was brought to Japan from China.
- Findingcitation
A ninth- or tenth-century Chinese Buddhist manuscript from Dunhuang, now in St. Petersburg as Dh223, contains an account of Baize that confirms the bovine image.
“An account of Baize in a ninth or tenth century Chinese text, a Buddhist manuscript from Dunhuang now in St. Petersburg (Dh223), confirms the bovine image.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Dh223
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Findingreasoning
In the title of the Dunhuang manuscript, the 'diagrams' are drawings of spectral prodigies.
“The Dunhuang manuscript does not have a drawing of Baize; the tu 'diagrams' referred to in its tide are the drawings of the 'spectral prodi-gies.'”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Interpretationreasoning
The Hakutaku hi kai zu shows that this Chinese practice was taken up in Japan, perhaps by the ninth century.
“The 'Hakutaku hikai zu' reflects the adoption of this custom in Japan, perhaps as early as the ninth century.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisecitation
The Sheshi lu quotation advises hanging a picture of Hakutaku/Baize inside a house to avert misfortune.
“The inscription includes a lengthy quotation from a lost twelfth century Chinese work, Sheshi lu 5$i!ti1 (Record of Experiencing the World), that recommends hanging the picture of Hakutaku/Baize B ;f inside the house to prevent misfortune.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Sheshi lu 5$i!ti1 (Record of Experiencing the World)
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Rests on an assumption: Sheshi lu is a lost twelfth-century Chinese work.
- Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 4
- May combine two claims. 3
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Findingnone givenDuring the 1858 cholera outbreak in Edo, people were advised to place a Hakutaku image on their headrest at night for protection.
“During the 1858 cholera epidemic in Edo (modern Tokyo) people were told to protect themselves by setting the image of Hakutaku on their headrest before retiring at night.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimMay combine two claims.
Findingown dataFukuhara Gogaku's Hakutaku painting depicts three faces, every face having three eyes and two horns.
“The Hakutaku image painted by Fukuhara Gogaku has three faces, each face with three eyes and a pair of horns.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Findingnone givenThe earliest Chinese attestation of Baize dates to the fourth century CE.
“Baize is first attested in China in the fourth century CE as the deity who revealed to Huangdi ii1ir (Yellow Thearch) the identity of all the spirits, forming the basis for the medieval Chinese demonological text Baize tu t3 ;f lJil”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimMay combine two claims.
Findingnone givenThe Tiandi ruixiang zhi is listed in a late-ninth-century Japanese bibliography but is unknown in Chinese histories and bibliographies.
“The work is listed in a late-ninth century Japanese bibliography but is unknown in Chinese histories and bibliographies.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Findingnone givenBaize revealed to Huangdi the identities of all spirits.
“Baize is first attested in China in the fourth century CE as the deity who revealed to Huangdi ii1ir (Yellow Thearch) the identity of all the spirits, forming the basis for the medieval Chinese demonological text Baize tu t3 ;f lJil”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimMay combine two claims.
FindingcitationA single incomplete Dunhuang manuscript, titled Baize jingguai tu, is the sole surviving medieval Chinese Baize tu; it is held in the Pelliot collection at the Bibliothèque nationale de France as P2682.
“The only extant example of the medieval Chinese Baize tu is an incomplete Dunhuang manuscript copied in the ninth or tenth century with the title Baize jingguai tu B ;ffM:IIJil (White Marsh Diagrams of Spectral Prodigies), now in the Pelliot collection of Dunhuang manuscripts at the Bibliotheque nationale de France (P2682).”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites P2682
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
InterpretationreasoningThat revelation story underlay the medieval Chinese demonological work Baize tu.
“Baize is first attested in China in the fourth century CE as the deity who revealed to Huangdi ii1ir (Yellow Thearch) the identity of all the spirits, forming the basis for the medieval Chinese demonological text Baize tu t3 ;f lJil”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim- Rests on an assumption: Baize tu is a medieval Chinese demonological text.
The authors state this as an assumption.
The Tiandi ruixiang zhi was brought to Japan from China.
“a work presumed to have been brought to Japan from China”
The paper relies on this without support.
Sheshi lu is a lost twelfth-century Chinese work.
“a lost twelfth century Chinese work, Sheshi lu 5$i!ti1 (Record of Experiencing the World)”
The paper relies on this without support.
Baize tu is a medieval Chinese demonological text.
“the medieval Chinese demonological text Baize tu t3 ;f lJil”
The paper relies on this without support.
There are exactly five extant Japanese examples of such diagrams.
“five extant Japanese examples”
- Authors
- Harper, D.
- Corresponding author
- Harper, Donald
- Venue
- Asian Medicine
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2007-10-16
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 214-216
- ISSN
- 1573-420X (ISSN-L)
- 1573-4218
- OpenAlex
- W2083282380
- Semantic Scholar
- 88d8c853d44cd8fffe0d66bf8341aca6572a0ae0
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Asian Medicine (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology, Conservation, and Geographical Studies
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