Abe no Seimei
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(921?-1005?) was an onmyoji, a leading specialist of onmyodo during the middle of the Heian Period in Japan. He is considered a legendary figure in Japanese mythology and history, and his legend has been portrayed in a number of stories and films.Seimei worked as an onmyoji for emperors and the Heian government, making calendars and advising on the spiritually correct way to deal with issues. He prayed for the well-being of emperors and the government as well as advising on various issues. He was also an astrologist and predicted astrological events. He enjoyed an extremely long life, free from any major illness, which contributed to the popular belief that he had mystical powers.
The Seimei shrine (晴明神社), located in Kyoto, is a popular shrine dedicated to him. The Abenobashi (Abe's Bridge) bridge and district, also in Kyoto, are named after him.
Life
His life is well recorded, and there is little question about it. But almost immediately after his death arose legends and myths much like those of Merlin. Many legends of Seimei were originally written in the Konjaku Monogatarishu; and in the Edo period, many fictional stories were written that focused on his heroic acts.
According to most prevailing myths, Abe no Seimei was not entirely human. He was the issue of a human father; and his mother, Kuzunoha, was a kitsune, a fox spirit. At a very early age, no later than five, he was able to command weak oni to do his bidding. His mother entrusted Seimei to Kamo no Tadayuki, a master of onmyodo, so that he would live a proper human life and not become evil himself.
The Heian period, especially the time when Seimei lived, was a time of peace. Many of his myths revolve around a series of magical battles with a rival, Ashiya Doman, who often tried to embarrass Seimei so that the former could usurp the latter's position. One noted story involved Doman and the young Seimei in a divination duel to reveal the contents of a particular box. Doman had another person put fifteen mandarin oranges into the box, with Doman "divining" that there were fifteen oranges in the box. Seimei, however, seeing through the ruse, transformed the oranges into rats, then stated that fifteen rats were in the box. When the contents were revealed, Doman was shocked and defeated, if only for the moment.
It has been said that Abe no Seimei had no children. It has also been said, with contradiction, that the onmyoji Abe no Yasuaki and Abe no Yasuchika were his son and grandson, respectively. Whether this was through adoption, or whether the story has some other meaning is unclear.
After Seimei's death the emperor had a shrine, the Seimei shrine, erected at the location of his home, where it stands today.
In fiction
His name appears in many works of fiction, often as a helpful, wise man, and rarely as an enemy.
In 1994, Yumemakura Baku started a novel series named Onmyoji with Seimei portrayed as a handsome young adult male who lived in a Heian-period world populated with mysterious beings. This was turned into a manga by Reiko Okano and became popular with teenage girls. In 2002, an NHK television series was later made, based on the novels.[link].
The movie Onmyoji, starring Mansai Nomura as Seimei, was released in 2001 (2004 in the U.S.) by Pioneer (now Geneon). In 2003, a sequel, Onmyoji II, was produced. Though they share the same name as the above series, the two franchises are unrelated; generally, the films are campier in tone.
To capitalize on the success of the Onmyoji films, Fuji television produced a miniseiries in 2004, called .[link] This series has no ties to either of the above two productions.
Seimei can also be seen in the anime Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, which was released in 2004 in the U.S. by ADV Films.
One of Seimei's rare appearances as a villain is in the anime series Otogi Zoshi.
He appears as a woman simply named Seimei, a heroine of Otogi 2, an Xbox video game.
In the PS2 game Kuon, Ashiya Doman and Abe no Seimei are featured as rivals, the latter as a female.
In the anime Harukanaru Toki no Naka de, Seimei appears as Abe no Yasuaki's creator and master. Again, he is portrayed as a powerful onmyoji.
In the story Teito Monogatari, the evil onmyoji, Kato Yasunori, claims to be a descendent of Seimei. Since it is believed that Abe no Seimei never passed on his characteristics to following generations, Kato is more credibly the descendent of the most powerful onmyoji in history. According to plot of , Kato is supposed to really be the culmination of the dead, resentful souls of the onmyoji, striking out against the foreign invaders of Japan during the 1920s. Since Kato possesses so much power in the magic of onmyodo, it could even be inferred that he is actually an incarnation of Seimei's dark side.
In the anime Spirit Warrior: Festival of the Ogres Revival, he appears as a ghost.
External references
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