World of Sacred Animals

Qilin on Zuiun(cloud of good luck) kozuka
Signed Sōyo(monogram)
Important Mounting
Mid-Edo period

Sōyo was born in Edo (Tokyo) in Genroku 13(1700) and later, he was adopted to Yokoya Sōmin who established machibori (town carving) metal-works. As the inheritor of the original family Yokoya, Sōyo made many of the skillful and elegant masterpieces. The finishing of this kozuka is called bō-kozuka which has no frame and it is showing a qilin flying through the zuiun in takabori technique (high relief). The front leg swinging forward and the eyes gazing high in the sky are expressing the liveliness of the qilin which is so dynamic that it looks like it is coming out from the hilt. It is a masterpiece which was handed down from the Tsugaru family of Hirosaki (Aomori prefecture) in the domain administration time.

Katagi Saya Reijyū--zu Kiniroe Soroikanagu Koshi-gatana Koshirae
(Sacred animals drawn in gold lacquer work on the sheath for koshi-gatana made of hard wood, Edo period)

Zuiun and a hō-ō(Chinese phoenix) in gold lacquer work relief are applied on the sheath made of the imported wood, a qilin on the menuki(a peg to keep the sword and the handle together), a reiki(sacred turtle) on the kurigata(a knob on the side of the sheath) and the kojiri(a protective fitting at the end of the sheath) and a ryū(dragon) on the ko-zuka, kōgai(a hair accessory) and other metal parts. The ryū, hō-ō, qilin and reiki are called shirei(4 spirits) and they were mentioned in the Scripture of Confucianism “Rai-ki” as the animals appear as a sign of a good fortune. The Shi-rei designed all over the sword furniture are expressed so lively that they are bringing happiness.

Qilin

According to what is written in “Rai-ki”, qilin is a sacred animal which arrives as a sign of good news when the king conducts a virtuous act of politics. It is said that the figure of the qilin looks like that of a deer, the face looks like a dragon and the body is scaled. It also has a cow tail, horse hooves and a horn on top of the head which is covered with flesh. Thus, as it is said to never hurt any kind of living things, the qilin is a sacred animal which is believed to be a sign of the arrival of peaceful times. In the ancient history book “Shunjū”, there is a story called “Kakurin(Capture of qilin)” which ends with how the sacred animal qilin gets captured and killed. There are many different interpretations on this story but some say that it is indicating the end of virtuous politics.

Hō-ō (Chinese Phoenix)

In the ancient Chinese literature such as “Shikyō”, “Shunjū-sashi-den” or “Rongo”, a hō-ō is written as a sacred animal which “appears when a virtuous emperor is born”. It is said that the hō-ō only drinks water from a spring called Rei-sen, eats only fruits from a bamboo which bear fruits but once every 60 years and rests in Chinese parasol trees.
The design called “Kiritake Hō-ō-mon” inspired by these Chinese history books is used for the emperor’s clothes, Kōrozen-no-gyohō, together with the qilin design.

Ryū(dragon)

In China, there has been faith in ryū as a symbol of the emperor’s power or as a god of water from ancient times and Japan had the same faith in it as well. Since it was also considered a guardian god in Buddhism, it is the most common sacred animal in the shirei. It is said that a ryū can make thunder clouds and storms with its roar or turn into a tornado and fly freely in the sky as it likes to. It is often designed with a hōju(sacred gem) held under its chin.

Reiki(sacred turtle)

In Chinese myths, a reiki is drawn with a mountain called Hōrai-san where a hermit lives on its back. In Japan, it often gets confused with a turtle called mino-game which has algae grown like a tail on its shell. Turtles are believed to get a strong spiritual power after living more than 1000 years. Together with cranes, they were considered as a symbol of long life and were used in many designs.