![]() ![]() ![]() Oni are said to reside in Jigoku, or Buddhist hell, and are servants of Enma Daiō, the ruler Jigoku and Meido. According to Shinto myths, a part of the soul of either a deity or a mortal, known as an aramitama, can become an oni if that person or deity has been insulted or wronged in some way. In some tales a person can become so wicked that they turn into an oni even before they die. When a particularly wicked person dies, it is believed that they will either be reborn as, or transformed into, an oni. Īccording to Japanese Buddhism, oni constitute one of the six orders of life in the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth known as samsara. Rather, they are considered to be wrathful and uncontrolled, but still able to be converted to Buddhism. Unlike demons in Christianity, oni are not considered to be intrinsically evil. The term oni is often translated to English as " ogre" or " demon," due to their similarity to demons from Christian traditions. At the end of their powerful limbs are clawed hands and feet, and they are often shown carrying their choice weapon: a large, heavy iron hexagonal club, called a tetsubō, which is used for torturing victims. Oni typically have large mouths with long, almost tusk-like, canines. In other cases, an oni may be cyclops-like, with only a single eye. Sometimes oni are depicted with a third eye on the center of the forehead. Oni are depicted in Japanese artwork with a variety of skin colors, including: black, blue, green, red, and yellow skin and they often have large locks of unkempt hair. Translated literally, " ushi" means " ox," and " tora" means " tiger." According to Japanese folklore, this direction was considered to be ominous, and was sometimes referred to as kimon, or " oni's gate" ( 鬼門 ( きもん ) ). This combination of ox horns and tiger skin is a play on " ushitora," the Japanese word for the direction north-northeast. They are typically depicted wearing little-to-no clothing, but when clothed they are usually shown wearing a loincloth made of tiger skin. Oni usually possess one or two short horns, which are said to be that of an ox. īesides 鬼, oni can be alternatively spelt out phonetically using the hiragana おに ("o-ni"). Over time, as the term "oni" grew in popularity over similar terms, such as mononoke, the oni developed from being a primarily invisible spirit, to a monstrous creature with a definite form. Īccording to Wamyō ruijushō, a dictionary from the 930's CE, oni is a corruption of the Chinese character 隱 (" on"), meaning " hiding," where the concept of hiding is related to the concept of the spirits of the dead. Eventually, the 鬼 symbol came to represent both ancestral and evil spirits of the dead. This character was originally an ancient Chinese hieroglyphic that represented the position that a deceased body would be placed in for burial during the Yin Dynasty (1500-770 BCE). The kanji (Japanese writing utilizing Chinese characters) for oni is 鬼. ![]()
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