『万葉集』に見られる神仙思想

Abstract

Taoism is one of the old folk beliefs that originated in China. People believed in the existence of hermits who have the ability to fly and have eternal life. People also believed in the existence of their own utopia. Archeological materials and documentary records shows that Taoism was introduced to Japan earlier than Buddhism, and was incorporated into the court rituals. Among literary works, the influence of Taoism is conspicuous in “Kaifuso” because there are 13 Chinese-style poems which consider Yoshino as a utopia. “the Story of Taketori” is also full of Taoist words and contents, and it shows a dramatic composition in which the human world and the supernatural world are intermingled. In “Manyoshu” the influence of Taoism is seen among poets such as Hitomaro, Tabito, Okura, and Yakamochi. This paper tried to grasp the whole picture of Taoism in “Manyoshu”. I focused on the four key words of “Tokoyo”, “Yoshino”, “immortality” and “fairy”, and tried to examine how these key words are reflected in the work. In the chapter of “Tokoyo” it is confirmed that the concept of Tokoyo which had contained a variety of images was integrated into the image of a utopia of immortality. In the chapter of “Yoshino” I examined the relationship between Fujiwara Palace and Yoshino, poetry on Yoshino in “Kaifuso” and the legend of Tsuminoe in “Manyoshu” and verified that the reason why Yoshino came to be considered as an utopia. In the chapter of “immortality” after researching the legend of “Jofuku” and “Tajimamori”, I considered the pain of aging, rejuvenating water and the elixir of life. In the chapter of “fairy” I confirmed the criticism of Okura against ascetics in the mountains and the imperial edict prohibiting ascetic practices in the mountains. Furthermore, as for the image of fairy, unlike in China, where old man is a major image, young woman is a major image in Japan.