57308
A mid-19th century title reads _Daimotsu-no-ura ayakashi no zu_ ,
大物の浦罔像[あやかし]の圖, which I would translate as _Picture of the 'Sea Phantoms' at
Daimotsu-no-ura_.

  1. I cannot grasp why the kanji 罔像 have been used to represent the word _ayakashi_. Preliminary research indicates that 1. 罔 can have a Goon reading of _mō_ (もう), Kan'on reading of _bō_ (ぼう), and Kun reading of _ami_ (あみ), _shiiru_ (しいる), _nai_ (ない), basic definition of "net," and 2. 像 has a reading of _zō_ (ぞう, historical hiragana ざう), meaning "image, figure, statue, picture, portrait" and "figure, form, shape, appearance." I can't find 罔像 in any online dictionaries, and originally pondered whether 罔像 might allude to some kind of "deceptive image" or "deceptive figure" given other compounds using the character 罔. Any insights?

  2. The furigana あやかし in the title definitely indicates that 罔像 should be read as _ayakashi_. Wikipedia indicates that _ayakashi_ is usually seen as 妖 - which brings me to the other part of my question: how does 妖 read as _ayakashi_ when 妖 = _yo/yō_ (よう); _yao_ (やお); _aya_ (あや); but the _kashi_ is not accounted for? _Yō_ (妖) can be interpreted as "mysterious, bewitching, unearthly," or "weird." Zack Davisson ('What Does Ayakashi Mean in English?', and 'What Does Yokai Mean in English?'), suggests that _yō_ (妖) hints at paranormal or supernatural phenomena that are perplexing, intriguing, and enchanting, rather than phenomena that are frightening or horrifying, and is seen compounded in words such as _yoka_ (妖花), an "ethereally beautiful flower," or _ayashii_ (妖しい), "bewitching, charming." So why is _ayakashi_ represented by a single kanji?

The word _Ayakashi_ is said to be a collective name for _yōkai_ (妖怪, ようかい),
ghostly forms that appear above the surface of water, that is, tend to appear
at boundaries - the places where one thing becomes another thing - the
boundary between the ocean and the air rather than the dark depths. They might
be thought of, or translated as, "strange phenomenon of the sea." General
references indicate that _ayakashi_ are sea ghosts, apparitions, phantoms, or
spectres: in various Japanese prefectures they are largely considered to be
"atmospheric ghost lights that appear above water," and are clearly linked to
the _funayūrei_ (船幽霊, ふなゆうれい, "boat ghosts"), for in Yamaguchi and Saga
prefectures _ayakashi_ refer to _yūrei_ who drowned at sea and try to sink
boats and drown swimmers either for revenge or to swell their ranks. They are
known to float up to the surface of the water, appearing first as _kaika_ ,
then transforming into figures. Zack Davisson also mentions that in Noh
theatre the "male mask of a ghost or violent god is called _ayakashi_ " though
the word uses particular kanji, 怪士 ( _ayaka_ , 怪, "strange," and _shi_ , 士,
"warrior").
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-15T17:42:17.917
57289
2018-03-16T14:04:43.370
2018-03-16T08:31:21.780
26637
26637
question
translation meaning kanji readings
How does ayakashi, あやかし = 妖 or 罔像?
As you've
noted,[「アヤカシ」](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A4%E3%82%AB%E3%82%B7_\(%E5%A6%96%E6%80%AA\))
is the name of a class of Japanese demons ( _yōkai_ ) that appear on the
surface of water. 「アヤカシ」is the core word that gives the meaning, regardless of
the kanji used to represent this word.

* * *

The kanji representation「罔像」is indeed uncommon. To understand where it came
from, firstly note that「像」and「象」are variants when it comes to the meaning
_image, appearance_.「象」( _elephant_ ) was borrowed as a phonetic loan
character for this meaning ever since Old Chinese, as the word representing
_elephant_ and _image_ were homophones (and are still homophones in modern
Chinese and Japanese on'yomi).

Then, note that「罔像」is more commonly written as「罔象」.「罔象」is a complete word
attested as early as [_Guoyu_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guoyu_\(book\)):

> 《國語・魯語下》： “水之怪曰龍、罔象。”
>
> _The monsters/demons of the water are called_ 「龍」 _and_ 「罔象」.

「罔象」is thought to be a variant
of[「[魍魎]{もうりょう}」](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wangliang), maybe formed as a
result of dialectical corruption of some variety of Ancient Chinese languages.
This makes the characters「罔象」phonetic loans (characters used to represent a
word regardless of meaning). In any case, it originally referred to a monster
in Chinese folklore, but due to the similarity* of this monster to the
Japanese water demon the kanji representation was sometimes borrowed for the
latter.

The earliest appearance of「罔象」in Japanese literature may be from the [_Nihon
Shoki_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihon_Shoki) for the god「[闇罔象]{くらみつは}」(
_dark water spirit_ , alternatively rendered as 闇御津羽), so most likely the use
of「罔像」to represent「アヤカシ」is a reference to water spirits existing back from
ancient Japanese folklore.

* * *

* _Note that folklore and legends also travelled around East Asia as well, where they would merge with existing traditions._
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-16T14:04:43.370
57308
2018-03-16T14:04:43.370
26510
57289
answer