Medical Science In 16th Century Japan
Pink Tentacle has a new post translating some information from a book of medical knowledge written in 1568 by a now-unknown resident of Osaka. It contains descriptions of disease critters such as the following:
Gyochu, Haimushi Gyochu, a deadly critter responsible for leprosy, acts as a messenger to the underworld. On the night of Koshin-no-hi (an important date occurring every 60 days on the Chinese calendar), Gyochu leaves the body to visit Enma-daio (Lord of the Underworld) and tell him of your misdeeds. Enma-daio is known to punish people for bad behavior by reducing their remaining time on earth.
Haimushi, a creature with an appetite for rice, causes problems with the lungs. If the Haimushi exits the lungs and cannot find its way back, it turns into a fiery will-o’-wisp (hitodama) and the person dies. The herb byakujutsu is effective in warding off Haimushi.
Click here to check out the rest of the critters.
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I wonder how the person who drew the critters knew what they look like?
“On the night of Koshin-no-hi (an important date occurring every 60 days on the Chinese calendar), Gyochu leaves the body to visit Enma-daio (Lord of the Underworld) and tell him of your misdeeds.”
It was belieaved that this worm leaves the body when a person is asleep. So Japanese people used to gather in temples every 60 days on the night of Koshin-no-hi. They gave a party there overnight to avoid falling asleep. If they can keep awake untill sunrise, the worm cannot go out of the body to report misdeeds to Enma-daio. The party that Japanese held on the night of Koshin-no-hi was called Koshin-machi (庚申待). It must have been a fun day for Japanese in the pre-modern period.