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Saito Musashibo Benkei
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, popularly called Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk (sohei) who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune. He is commonly depicted as a man of great strength and loyalty, and a popular subject of Japanese folklore.
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Encyclopedia
, popularly called Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk (sohei) who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune. He is commonly depicted as a man of great strength and loyalty, and a popular subject of Japanese folklore. His life has been embellished and distorted by kabuki and Noh drama, so that truth cannot be distinguished from legend.
Stories about Benkei's birth vary considerably. One tells how his father was the head of a temple shrine who had raped his mother, the daughter of a blacksmith. Another sees him as the offspring of a temple god. Many give him the attributes of a demon, a monster child with wild hair and long teeth. In his youth Benkei may have been called — "demon/ogre child".
He joined the cloister at an early age and travelled widely among the monasteries of Japan. During this period, the Buddhist monasteries of Japan were important centres of administration and culture, but also military powers in their own right. Like many other monks, Benkei was probably trained in the use of the naginata. At the age of seventeen, he was said to have been over two metres (or 6.6 feet) tall. At this point he left the Buddhist monastery and became a yamabushi, a sect of mountain monks, who were recognised by their black caps. Japanese prints often show Benkei wearing this cap.
Benkei is said to have posted himself at Gojo Bridge in Kyoto, where he deprived every passing swordsman of his weapon, eventually collecting 999 swords. On his 1000th duel, Benkei was defeated by Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a son of the warlord Minamoto no Yoshitomo. Henceforth, he became a retainer of Yoshitsune and fought with him in the Genpei War against the Taira clan. Yoshitsune is credited with most of the Minamoto clan's successes against the Taira, especially the final naval battle of Dannoura. After their ultimate triumph, however, Yoshitsune's elder brother Minamoto no Yoritomo turned against him.
During the two year ordeal that followed, Benkei accompanied Yoshitsune as an outlaw. In the end they were encircled in the castle of Koromogawa no tate. As Yoshitsune retired to the inner keep of the castle to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) on his own, Benkei fought on at the bridge in front of the main gate to protect Yoshitsune. It is said that the soldiers were afraid to traverse the bridge to confront him, and all that did met swift death at the hands of the gigantic man. Long after the battle should have been over, the soldiers noticed that the arrow-riddled, wound-covered Benkei was standing still. When the soldiers dared to cross the bridge and look more closely, the giant fell to the ground, having been dead in a standing position for some time before that. This is known as the "Standing Death of Benkei" (??????, Benkei no Tachi Ojo).
It is Benkei's loyalty and honour which makes him most attractive in Japanese folklore. One kabuki play places Benkei in a moral dilemma, caught between lying and protecting his lord in order to cross a bridge. The critical moment of the drama is its climax, where the monk realises his situation and vows to do what he must. In another play, Benkei even slays his own child to save the daughter of a lord. In the kabuki play Kanjincho, filmed by Akira Kurosawa as The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail, Benkei must beat his own master (disguised as a porter) in order to avoid breaking his disguise.
In the media
Benkei has been announced as a playable character in Koei's upcoming Warriors Orochi Z for the PlayStation 3.
Benkei was featured as the bridge-keeper in Zazen Town in the Nintendo 64 game
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. His appearance as a large, brutish man with a staff parallels the engraving by Kikuchi Yosai. His name appears among several other references to legendary Japanese figures including most prominently Sasuke and Goemon.
External links
- Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, UCLA Hammer Museum:
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