Women on horseback.

[Hanna McGaughey]

Dear list,

May this question find you well.

Recently, Travis Seifman posted some pictures of this year's Aoi Matsuri online. Yay for events again! In any case, I found myself surprised about a picture of a woman riding on horseback. Travis confirmed.

Shortly after, Diego Pellechia provided additional information, explaining that "the official part of the festival is 勅使祭 [chokushi sai] - no women there" and the "current procession 路頭の儀 [rōtō no gi] is a more 'recent addition' (I think Edo, remixed in Meiji and later)." The photo must have been a 騎女 (muna nori onna) that appears in the latter.

My question for the list is more general. I don't know how unusual women on horseback were in the premodern era because my research focus isn't on aristocratic women per se, but it wasn't something I remember seeing in pictures or reading about in monogatari. Women on pilgrimage usually walked and in the Genji monogatari women usually rode in ox carriages, no? In European and North American culture, high class women were not encouraged to ride and then only side-saddle, I believe. Was horseback riding something miko did? (Now I'm imagining miko on sacred horses, which might be going way too far.)

I would love to learn more about this topic!

Best,

Hanna

[Lisa Kochinski]

Dear Hanna and All,

I don't know about aristocratic women, but there are paintings and woodblock prints of warrior women (onna musha 女武者) on horseback. Perhaps the most well-known are images of Tomoe Gozen 巴御前, but there are others. 

As a starting point, the wikipedia page for Tomoe Gozen includes late Heian painting and other images.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B7%B4%E5%BE%A1%E5%89%8D

I would be interested to know of any other premodern images of women on horseback.

Lisa Kochinski

Pronouns: she / her / hers

PhD Candidate (ABD)

School of Religion, University of Southern California

http://dornsife.usc.edu/religion/

https://usc.academia.edu/LisaKochinski

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[A Schweizer]

Dear Hanna,

women did definitely travel on horseback. There are plenty of depictions in painting.

Since horses were expensive to buy and maintain it tends to be more of an elite phenomenon but by no means exclusively. 

Many depictions are of samurai women but also other groups rode on horseback.

I'm just pasting here a random example of a mounted nun from the Heian-period Shigisan engi emaki 信貴山縁起絵巻:

Cheers from Kyushu,

Anton

 

***

Anton Schweizer, PhD

  Professor (Art History)

  Faculty of Humanities, Kyushu University

  Building East 1, room E-B-508

  Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka-ken, 819-0395 Japan

  Phone: +81-(0)92-802-5044

  E-mail: schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp

 

シュヴァイツァー・アントン　

  教授（美術史）　九州大学・人文科学研究院

  〒819-0395 福岡県福岡市西区元岡 744

　イースト1号館、E-B-508号室

  電話番号　092-802-5044

  Eメール　schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp

 

https://www.imapkyudai.net

http://www.reimer-mann-verlag.de/controller.php?cmd=detail&titelnummer=101541&verlag=4

https://www.imapkyudai.net/beyond-the-southern-barbarians

--

[Carpenter, John]

Dear Colleagues,

As Anton points out, there is various visual evidence of elite women riding horses to make pilgrimages --- this article comes to mind, and I’m sure there must be others with literary references:

 

Ambros, Barbara. “Liminal Journeys: Pilgrimages of Noblewomen in Mid-Heian Japan.”

Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 24, no. 3/4 (1997): 301–45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30233588.

 

John

--

John Carpenter
Mary Griggs Burke Curator of Japanese Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,  212 650 2536

 

From: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of A Schweizer
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2023 9:47 PM
To: pm...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [External] - Re: [PMJS] Women on horseback.

 

Dear Hanna,

women did definitely travel on horseback. There are plenty of depictions in painting.

Since horses were expensive to buy and maintain it tends to be more of an elite phenomenon but by no means exclusively. 

Many depictions are of samurai women but also other groups rode on horseback.

I'm just pasting here a random example of a mounted nun from the Heian-period Shigisan engi emaki 信貴山縁起絵巻:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAO_OshW0AR4LvBpiW_ftZVEPzpYF05dA4_W%3Dd72ywuk4yPPi4A%40mail.gmail.com.

[Jordan Sand]

And here, from de Bary's delightful translation of Saikaku's Five Women Who Loved Love, is a kind of saddle with sidecars, with the woman (a commoner, nominally on  pilgrimage to Ise) in the middle, perhaps sitting high enough that she is neither straddling nor riding side-saddle. Ancient historian Takeda Sachiko may discuss the question of horseback riding in her East-West comparison of the gendering of dress. I don't have her book at hand, but perhaps someone on the list remembers her arguments.

Jordan Sand

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAO_OshW0AR4LvBpiW_ftZVEPzpYF05dA4_W%3Dd72ywuk4yPPi4A%40mail.gmail.com.

--

Jordan Sand
Professor of Japanese History
Georgetown University

[Robert Borgen]

Am I the only one on this list who immediately thought of Kyo Machiko riding horseback in Rashomon?  It’s a vivid image, even if it doesn’t prove anything about what Japanese women actually did back then.

Robert Borgen

On May 23, 2023, at 1:55 AM, Jordan Sand <sa...@georgetown.edu> wrote:

And here, from de Bary's delightful translation of Saikaku's Five Women Who Loved Love, is a kind of saddle with sidecars, with the woman (a commoner, nominally on  pilgrimage to Ise) in the middle, perhaps sitting high enough that she is neither straddling nor riding side-saddle. Ancient historian Takeda Sachiko may discuss the question of horseback riding in her East-West comparison of the gendering of dress. I don't have her book at hand, but perhaps someone on the list remembers her arguments.

Jordan Sand

<IMG_8183.jpg>

On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 10:49 AM A Schweizer <schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp> wrote:

Dear Hanna,

women did definitely travel on horseback. There are plenty of depictions in painting.

Since horses were expensive to buy and maintain it tends to be more of an elite phenomenon but by no means exclusively. 

Many depictions are of samurai women but also other groups rode on horseback.

I'm just pasting here a random example of a mounted nun from the Heian-period Shigisan engi emaki 信貴山縁起絵巻:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAHH_M5QbAFXoMAbuie9vQRPELb-UJHp4CzOgwCrnjTWAb5-b_Q%40mail.gmail.com.

[Scheid, Bernhard]

It may be a dubious source, but Kurosawa Akira had his noble woman riding a horse led by her husband on foot in his classic Rashomon. The setting resembles the Shigisan engi emaki (btw. Anton, sure it’s a nun? Isn’t some hair visible?). I don’t know whether Kurosawa was aware of emaki images but usually he is surprisingly accurate in such details.

Best

Bernhard Scheid   

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAO_OshW0AR4LvBpiW_ftZVEPzpYF05dA4_W%3Dd72ywuk4yPPi4A%40mail.gmail.com.

[Sarah Thompson]

I think it's important to point out that in all the examples cited, the horse is being led by someone else and the passenger (whether woman, child, or low-ranking man) is more or less traveling as baggage. It's my understanding that in the Edo period, only high-ranking samurai (or, in Kyoto, imperial guards) were allowed to ride on their own, controlling the horse themselves. Other people could only ride if a groom was leading the horse--hence the importance of those grooms, who often appear in tourist accounts and photos of the Meiji era.

But I can't cite any sources for that, and I don't know about earlier periods. 

And what about women of the samurai class? Tomoe Gozen surely rode, but how common was that?

Sarah Thompson

MFA Boston

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAHH_M5QbAFXoMAbuie9vQRPELb-UJHp4CzOgwCrnjTWAb5-b_Q%40mail.gmail.com.

[Jos Vos]

Dear All,

Tomoe Gozen didn't just ride a horse! According to Book IX, Chapter 4 of Heike monogatari (Kakuichi-bon; admittedly a semi-fictional source)

she rode the wildest horses and descended the steepest slopes. 

As my recent Dutch translation has it (De Val van de Taira, 2022):

Uit Shinano had heer Kiso twee schoonheden meegebracht die Tomoë en Yamabuki heetten. Yamabuki bleef in de hoofdstad omdat ze ziek was. Tomoë was de mooiste van de twee; zij had een prachtige witte huid, lang haar en ronduit betoverende gelaatstrekken. Zij was ook een felle strijdster en een uitzonderlijk krachtige boogschutter – een krijger uit duizenden die met haar zwaard iedere godheid of demon aankon, te voet of te paard. Ze bereed de wildste rossen en daalde daar de steilste hellingen mee af. Op het slagveld voorzag Kiso haar van de beste wapenrusting, een groot zwaard en een indrukwekkende boog; ze gold als zijn voornaamste bevelhebber. Keer op keer verwierf ze eer in de strijd; niemand kon zich met haar meten.

Best wishes,

Jos

---

From: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Jordan Sand <sa...@georgetown.edu>
Sent: 23 May 2023 05:55
To: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: [PMJS] Women on horseback.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAHH_M5QbAFXoMAbuie9vQRPELb-UJHp4CzOgwCrnjTWAb5-b_Q%40mail.gmail.com.

[schumacher.mark]

Hello All. Very interesting topic. Below are two links that are not directly related but of great interest. I originally asked myself, "Did Queen Himiko or Express Jingu ride horses?" From this, I discovered that Japan didn't even have domesticated horses until the late Jomon period.

1. History of Horse in Japan
https://heritageofjapan.wordpress.com/following-the-trail-of-tumuli/rebellion-in-kyushu-and-the-rise-of-royal-estates/in-the-news-ancient-horse-trappings-dug-up-at-burial-mound/when-did-horses-arrive-in-japan/

2. China, Tang Period, Terracotta Figurine, Woman Playing Polo While Riding Horse
https://www.guimet.fr/blog/une-oeuvre-la-joueuse-de-polo/

cheers from across the great pond,
mark in kamakura

[A Schweizer]

Dear all,

This is a truly fascinating conversation.

The groom is in fact an almost always present figure. Interesting to learn about legal stipulations during the Edo period, that only bushi were allowed to hold the reigns alone--I have to read up on this!

Bernhard, the woman in the Shigisan engi should in fact be a nun. The third scroll is commonly called the Amagimi no maki 尼公の巻. It is about the sister of the protagonist, Myōren 命蓮. She is an old nun (amagimi / nikō 尼公) and sets out to find her brother after many years of separation.

Kurosawa did in fact model many of his sets either on historical texts or paintings, therefore he tends to be relatively reliable (of course with occasional liberties). And indeed, the couple of Rashōmon came to my mind too.

Best,
Anton

 

***

Anton Schweizer, PhD

  Professor (Art History)

  Faculty of Humanities, Kyushu University

  Building East 1, room E-B-508

  Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka-ken, 819-0395 Japan

  Phone: +81-(0)92-802-5044

  E-mail: schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp

 

シュヴァイツァー・アントン　

  教授（美術史）　九州大学・人文科学研究院

  〒819-0395 福岡県福岡市西区元岡 744

　イースト1号館、E-B-508号室

  電話番号　092-802-5044

  Eメール　schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp

 

https://www.imapkyudai.net

http://www.reimer-mann-verlag.de/controller.php?cmd=detail&titelnummer=101541&verlag=4

https://www.imapkyudai.net/beyond-the-southern-barbarians

On Wed, May 24, 2023 at 12:47 AM A Schweizer <cici...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear all,

This is a truly fascinating conversation.

The groom is in fact an almost always present figure. Interesting to learn about legal stipulations during the Edo period, that only bushi were allowed to hold the reigns alone--I have to read up on this!

Bernhard, the woman in the Shigisan engi should in fact be a nun. The third scroll is commonly called the Amagimi no maki 尼公の巻. It is about the sister of the protagonist, Myōren 命蓮. She is an old nun (amagimi / nikō 尼公) and sets out to find her brother after many years of separation.

Kurosawa did in fact model many of his sets either on historical texts or paintings, therefore he tends to be relatively reliable (of course with occasional liberties). And indeed, the couple of Rashōmon came to my mind too.

Best,
Anton

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/DB6P189MB0277261D8ADDCC3121B37968DB409%40DB6P189MB0277.EURP189.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

[Lisa Kochinski]

Dear All,

Some years ago I prepared a mock exhibition of women warriors for an Ukiyo-e course taught by Cynthea Bogel. Here's a splendid example of a mounted woman warrior — Hangaku Gozen 坂額御前 by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年, depicted in full control (no groom) of a spirited horse. 

The screenshot is captured from the British Museum:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1906-1220-0-1508

Best regards,

Lisa Kochinski

Pronouns: she / her / hers

PhD Candidate (ABD)

School of Religion, University of Southern California

http://dornsife.usc.edu/religion/

https://usc.academia.edu/LisaKochinski

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAO_OshUrOhbdunm4hg4%2BC9fvMebWVsNyGQGMq9-vv3bjJhkzhA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Hanna McGaughey]

Dear all,

Thank you for such wonderful examples and illustrations! Fantastic to see women warriors holding the reigns.

Yes, the women in Travis' photos of the Aoi Matsuri look like their horses are all being led by grooms. Like baggage, Sarah Thompson? I guess so, although at least they're not strapped on. Or were they?

I'm afraid I'm still full of questions. What did the saddles look like? Did women (or other people) being led by a groom use a different saddle than warriors? Clearly the wooden contraption for multiple passengers is different and challenges my earlier statement that pilgrims walked. Good to know!

Again thanks for all the information and keep it coming if anything else comes to mind!

Best,

Hanna

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAKi0wiqMQDWqrEBCDYh6eU5jAN8R3BF%2BfN0KjfRPy3C3e6UZSA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Keller Kimbrough]

Hello everyone,

 

I’m sure that Tomoe Gozen could ride well, but my favorite psychopathic horse-riding female warrior in medieval Japanese fiction is Mida Yashanyo, the 56-year-old wife of Ukishima Dayū in a fifteenth-century kōwakamai titled Shida. In my unpublished translation of the ca. 1632 woodblock-printed edition of the story, Mida Yashanyo shouts instructions to her sons on how to ride in battle:

 

“Hey, you kids! Nothing’s more important than the fight! Even if your heart is brave, it won’t do you any good if you don’t know your tactics. When you’re few in number and need to attack an enemy line, you can use the tip-of-the-spade, pointy-arrow, fish-scale, or double crane-wing formation. The fish-scale charge takes the shape of a fish scale. The crane-wing array resembles the wings of a crane.

“If you don’t how to handle your horse’s reins, you won’t be able to strike the enemy as freely as you’d like. When you slash a man who comes at you from the front, slap your crop just enough to make your horse jump. Then scoop up the forward-reverse reins and hack down in a prayer-cut. When a man comes at you from the left, jerk up on the edge reins, slap your crop to start your horse, and then strike. When a man comes at you from the right, twist the hilt of your longsword around, slap your crop in the sawara style, and strike. Your old mother and father are watching from up here. We’ve got prime seats for the grand battle! So don’t bungle it, boys!” There was nothing to laugh about, but to rile her sons, the wife beat on an arrowslit board and cackled uproariously.

 

Then, after watching her sons fight for a while, she declares to her husband that she will join them:

 

Their mother watched and said, “I’m enjoying our children’s fight so much, I think I’ll attack from behind!” She slipped off the shawl she had donned, revealing herself to be a warrior, too. Beneath her crimson hakama trousers she wore knee plates and shin guards. Her armor had yellow-green lacings fading to white, and her hair, which was as long as she was tall, was bound up in Chinese loops. “Let me borrow this for a while,” she said as she shouldered her husband’s prized boxwood stave.

The mother rode out the forward castle gate and stood her horse at the edge of the moat. “Hello, you men of Oyama!” she shouted, declaring her lineage. “Who do you think I am? None other than Mida Yashanyo, the devil-woman daughter of Mida no Genji, Great Commander of the Watanabe League, a fifth-generation descendant of Raikō of Settsu and a third-generation descendant of Emperor Yōzei. I am fifty-six years old, and I will give this only life of mine for the son of Lord Shida! Come on if you think you can take me! I’ll show you what I’ve got.”

 

None of the enemy can defeat her, and in the end, outnumbered and exhausted, she and her husband decide to run each other through with their swords before the enemy can take their heads.

 

Does anyone else have a favorite horse-riding “tiger mom” to introduce to the list?

 

Best wishes,

Keller

 

 

R. Keller Kimbrough
Professor of Japanese
Chair, Dept. of Asian Languages and Civilizations
279 University of Colorado, Boulder
Boulder, CO  80309-0279
keller.k...@colorado.edu

https://www.colorado.edu/faculty/kimbrough-keller/

 

I'm on Microsoft Teams  CU staff, faculty, and students can chat with me here.

 

 

From: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Jos Vos <josm...@hotmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at 7:57 AM
To: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [PMJS] Women on horseback.

Dear All,

 

Tomoe Gozen didn't just ride a horse! According to Book IX, Chapter 4 of Heike monogatari (Kakuichi-bon; admittedly a semi-fictional source)

she rode the wildest horses and descended the steepest slopes. 

 

As my recent Dutch translation has it (De Val van de Taira, 2022):

 

Uit Shinano had heer Kiso twee schoonheden meegebracht die Tomoë en Yamabuki heetten. Yamabuki bleef in de hoofdstad omdat ze ziek was. Tomoë was de mooiste van de twee; zij had een prachtige witte huid, lang haar en ronduit betoverende gelaatstrekken. Zij was ook een felle strijdster en een uitzonderlijk krachtige boogschutter – een krijger uit duizenden die met haar zwaard iedere godheid of demon aankon, te voet of te paard. Ze bereed de wildste rossen en daalde daar de steilste hellingen mee af. Op het slagveld voorzag Kiso haar van de beste wapenrusting, een groot zwaard en een indrukwekkende boog; ze gold als zijn voornaamste bevelhebber. Keer op keer verwierf ze eer in de strijd; niemand kon zich met haar meten.

 

Best wishes,

Jos

 

---

From: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Jordan Sand <sa...@georgetown.edu>
Sent: 23 May 2023 05:55
To: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [PMJS] Women on horseback.

 

And here, from de Bary's delightful translation of Saikaku's Five Women Who Loved Love, is a kind of saddle with sidecars, with the woman (a commoner, nominally on  pilgrimage to Ise) in the middle, perhaps sitting high enough that she is neither straddling nor riding side-saddle. Ancient historian Takeda Sachiko may discuss the question of horseback riding in her East-West comparison of the gendering of dress. I don't have her book at hand, but perhaps someone on the list remembers her arguments.

 

Jordan Sand

 

 

 

On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 10:49 AM A Schweizer <schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp> wrote:

Dear Hanna,

women did definitely travel on horseback. There are plenty of depictions in painting.

Since horses were expensive to buy and maintain it tends to be more of an elite phenomenon but by no means exclusively. 

Many depictions are of samurai women but also other groups rode on horseback.

I'm just pasting here a random example of a mounted nun from the Heian-period Shigisan engi emaki 信貴山縁起絵巻:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/DB6P189MB0277261D8ADDCC3121B37968DB409%40DB6P189MB0277.EURP189.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

[Cynthea Bogel]

Wonderful discussion, thank you all. 

It goes without saying, perhaps, but images carry their own imaginations and texts as well (I like to say that an image [singular]  once made cannot be edited [restoration and trickery aside] so the layers of _imaginaire_ are somewhat different).  if possible, I would like to hear from those with egs. less interpretive to get closer to the hooves of the matter!

Cynthea 

Cynthea J. Bogel

Independent in Kyoto

On May 24, 2023, at 12:28 PM, Hanna McGaughey <han...@gmail.com> wrote:



Dear all,

Thank you for such wonderful examples and illustrations! Fantastic to see women warriors holding the reigns.

Yes, the women in Travis' photos of the Aoi Matsuri look like their horses are all being led by grooms. Like baggage, Sarah Thompson? I guess so, although at least they're not strapped on. Or were they?

I'm afraid I'm still full of questions. What did the saddles look like? Did women (or other people) being led by a groom use a different saddle than warriors? Clearly the wooden contraption for multiple passengers is different and challenges my earlier statement that pilgrims walked. Good to know!

Again thanks for all the information and keep it coming if anything else comes to mind!

Best,

Hanna

Am Mi., 24. Mai 2023 um 02:52 Uhr schrieb Lisa Kochinski <lis...@gmail.com>:

Dear All,

Some years ago I prepared a mock exhibition of women warriors for an Ukiyo-e course taught by Cynthea Bogel. Here's a splendid example of a mounted woman warrior — Hangaku Gozen 坂額御前 by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年, depicted in full control (no groom) of a spirited horse. 

<IMG_8183.jpg>

On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 10:49 AM A Schweizer <schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp> wrote:

Dear Hanna,

women did definitely travel on horseback. There are plenty of depictions in painting.

Since horses were expensive to buy and maintain it tends to be more of an elite phenomenon but by no means exclusively. 

Many depictions are of samurai women but also other groups rode on horseback.

I'm just pasting here a random example of a mounted nun from the Heian-period Shigisan engi emaki 信貴山縁起絵巻:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAB0BErEW30ni%3DQuAngcvgkx8HdS6YhFAGuywJ%2B_VTz9s5CU7Uw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Beatrice Bodart-Bailey]

Anybody interested in saddling a horse for travel in 17th century Japan will find a detailed description plus sketch in my translation of Engelbert Kaempfer's work: Kaempfer's Japan, Tokugawa Culture Observed, pp. 242-245. He confirms what other people have already pointed out:

"The European way of riding, where one gets onto the saddled horse and takes the reins oneself, is here, generally speaking, used only in warfare and is the right of soldiers only. It is seldom used when traveling, although often in the city when paying visits. The rider (who in this country sits hunched and awkwardly) holds the reins only out of boredom, and the horse is led to where it is supposed to go by one servant, or two for show, holding onto the muzzle ring on both sides. Saddling differs little from ours. Their saddles are closer to the German saddles than those of some other Asians. ... (p. 245).

Also, Kaempfer's sketch of the Dutch procession to Edo (p. 289) shows himself and senior interpreters permitted the use of a horse, riding in this fashion.

Cheers,

Beatrice.

Dr. Beatrice M. Bodart-Bailey

Honorary Professor, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific

Professor emerita, Otsuma Women’s University, Tokyo

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CABYqjUkcH9wx9aWykOqmwF7b%2BiBvRsx0bV%3D2KeOv255AUCXEMg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Raji Steineck]

Dear Keller (if I may), dear colleagues,

thank you for this contribution, that is an impressive quote.

I wondered about the two different reins it mentions: "forward-reverse reins" and "edge reins". Does that mean they used a pair of reins? Would you (or anyone else) have an illustration or explanation how exactly that worked?

Thank you,

Raji

---

Von: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> im Auftrag von Keller Kimbrough <keller.k...@colorado.edu>
Gesendet: Dienstag, 23. Mai 2023 16:36
An: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>
Betreff: Re: [PMJS] Women on horseback.

 

Hello everyone,

 

I’m sure that Tomoe Gozen could ride well, but my favorite psychopathic horse-riding female warrior in medieval Japanese fiction is Mida Yashanyo, the 56-year-old wife of Ukishima Dayū in a fifteenth-century kōwakamai titled Shida. In my unpublished translation of the ca. 1632 woodblock-printed edition of the story, Mida Yashanyo shouts instructions to her sons on how to ride in battle:

 

“Hey, you kids! Nothing’s more important than the fight! Even if your heart is brave, it won’t do you any good if you don’t know your tactics. When you’re few in number and need to attack an enemy line, you can use the tip-of-the-spade, pointy-arrow, fish-scale, or double crane-wing formation. The fish-scale charge takes the shape of a fish scale. The crane-wing array resembles the wings of a crane.

“If you don’t how to handle your horse’s reins, you won’t be able to strike the enemy as freely as you’d like. When you slash a man who comes at you from the front, slap your crop just enough to make your horse jump. Then scoop up the tow  and hack down in a prayer-cut. When a man comes at you from the left, jerk up on the edge reins, slap your crop to start your horse, and then strike. When a man comes at you from the right, twist the hilt of your longsword around, slap your crop in the sawara style, and strike. Your old mother and father are watching from up here. We’ve got prime seats for the grand battle! So don’t bungle it, boys!” There was nothing to laugh about, but to rile her sons, the wife beat on an arrowslit board and cackled uproariously.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/MW4PR03MB65088E1A6A1B26B9AF199522EA409%40MW4PR03MB6508.namprd03.prod.outlook.com.

[Nobumi Iyanaga]

Dear Colleagues,

Perhaps nobody has yet mentioned the case of Isabella Bird, who traveled in the northern Japan, till Hokkaidô, in 1878 (Meiji 11), on a horseback.

Best regards,

Nobumi Iyanaga

> On May 24, 2023, at 12:00, Hanna McGaughey <han...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> Thank you for such wonderful examples and illustrations! Fantastic to see women warriors holding the reigns.
>
> Yes, the women in Travis' photos of the Aoi Matsuri look like their horses are all being led by grooms. Like baggage, Sarah Thompson? I guess so, although at least they're not strapped on. Or were they?
>
> I'm afraid I'm still full of questions. What did the saddles look like? Did women (or other people) being led by a groom use a different saddle than warriors? Clearly the wooden contraption for multiple passengers is different and challenges my earlier statement that pilgrims walked. Good to know!
>
> Again thanks for all the information and keep it coming if anything else comes to mind!
>
> Best,
>
> Hanna
>
> Am Mi., 24. Mai 2023 um 02:52 Uhr schrieb Lisa Kochinski <lis...@gmail.com>:
> Dear All,
>
> Some years ago I prepared a mock exhibition of women warriors for an Ukiyo-e course taught by Cynthea Bogel. Here's a splendid example of a mounted woman warrior — Hangaku Gozen 坂額御前 by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年, depicted in full control (no groom) of a spirited horse.
>

> From: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Jordan Sand <sa...@georgetown.edu>
> Sent: 23 May 2023 05:55
> To: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: Re: [PMJS] Women on horseback. And here, from de Bary's delightful translation of Saikaku's Five Women Who Loved Love, is a kind of saddle with sidecars, with the woman (a commoner, nominally on pilgrimage to Ise) in the middle, perhaps sitting high enough that she is neither straddling nor riding side-saddle. Ancient historian Takeda Sachiko may discuss the question of horseback riding in her East-West comparison of the gendering of dress. I don't have her book at hand, but perhaps someone on the list remembers her arguments.
>
> Jordan Sand
>

> <IMG_8183.jpg>
>
>
> On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 10:49 AM A Schweizer <schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp> wrote:
> Dear Hanna,
> women did definitely travel on horseback. There are plenty of depictions in painting.
> Since horses were expensive to buy and maintain it tends to be more of an elite phenomenon but by no means exclusively.
> Many depictions are of samurai women but also other groups rode on horseback.
> I'm just pasting here a random example of a mounted nun from the Heian-period Shigisan engi emaki 信貴山縁起絵巻:

> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAB0BErEW30ni%3DQuAngcvgkx8HdS6YhFAGuywJ%2B_VTz9s5CU7Uw%40mail.gmail.com.

[David Ramey]

I don't know what "reverse-forward" reins might be.  Edged reins (not edge reins) are reins that have the edges beveled.  But perhaps they are referring to the location of the reins relative to each other?

If there are four reins used on a single horse, it might be akin to a double-bridle, such as is used in classical dressage.  In the double bridle, one set of reins is used with one bit to control  horizontal flexion (bending the horse left and right) and impulsion (faster and slower).  The other set of reins is used with another bit to control vertical flexion (cresting the neck and collecting the body through an arched spine).  That would sort of fit the descriptions of how the reins are used.

David Ramey, DVM

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/ZRAP278MB07395F0535E2BFA8AE2340FDC7419%40ZRAP278MB0739.CHEP278.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

--

David W. Ramey, DVM

Ramey Equine | Medicine and Surgery

818-512-3123 | Ramey...@gmail.com

www.RameyEquine.com

[Constantine Vaporis]

During the Edo period in the government administered Gokaido road network, commoner travelers, both male and female, who opted not to walk were led on horseback by a groom. (Of course they could also ride in a palanquin.)

The special saddles were for the Ise mairi. I write about these and other issues related to travel during the period in my Breaking Barriers.

 

I’ve enjoyed this discussion very much. Thanks to all.

Constantine Vaporis

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/0CA90007-2719-4139-9153-986BC10878A0%40nifty.com.

--

Dr. Constantine N. Vaporis

Founding Director, UMBC Asian Studies Program, 2011-17

Lipitz Professor of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, 2022-23

Presidential Research Professor (UMBC), 2013-16

Professor of History, Affiliate Professor, Asian Studies and Gender & Women's Studies

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Published in October 2022 by Tuttle Publishing: 
The Samurai Encyclopedia. A Comprehensive Guide to Japan's Elite Warrior Class

[Mark Schumacher]

Hi Everyone

There is a Japanese person on Twitter named 那須富士@fujinasubi (don’t know this person).

But this person’s account includes pictures of Edo-era women riding horses. One comes from
the Ishiyamadera Engi 石山寺縁起, showing a Gion shrine maiden 祇園社の巫女 riding a horse.
Photos and links shown below.

https://twitter.com/fujinasubi/status/1181911723428605954

Ishiyamadera Engi 石山寺縁起

 

https://twitter.com/balloon_flower5/status/1657715029750448130/photo/2

『年中行事絵巻』巻九の祇園御霊会の場面で、扇と懐紙を持った騎馬の巫女が描かれている

 

https://twitter.com/DBo2750puu0hfu3/status/1652640964400541698

 

https://twitter.com/DBo2750puu0hfu3/status/1659695436007985154

 

Horse Armor

https://twitter.com/DBo2750puu0hfu3/status/1647496896129417216/photo/4

https://twitter.com/DBo2750puu0hfu3/status/1647496896129417216

https://twitter.com/DBo2750puu0hfu3/status/1647503188201975808

https://twitter.com/DBo2750puu0hfu3/status/1644606648345067525

https://twitter.com/kamakura_press/status/1647475652206141441

Saddle Set https://twitter.com/BS_Hakus/status/1644637588186341376/photo/1

bye now, mark in kamakura

---------------------------------------------------------------------

.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAHH_M5QbAFXoMAbuie9vQRPELb-UJHp4CzOgwCrnjTWAb5-b_Q%40mail.gmail.com.

--

MARK SCHUMACHER Tel/Fax: 0467-67-5005 (in Japan) and 81-467-67-5005 (outside Japan) https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/buddhism.shtml

[Keller Kimbrough]

Hello everyone,

 

“Forward-reverse reins” is my translation of omote-gaeshi no tazuna (表返しの手綱), which Asahara Yoshiko and Kitahara Yasuo, the editors of the SNKBT Mai no hon volume (page 84, note 9) describe as “unknown” (mishō 未詳). Like Asahara and Kitahara, I have no idea what sort of reins these are.

 

“Edge reins” is my translation of sumi no tazuna (角の手綱), which Asahara and Kitahara identify in note 11 as reins that are used in a mode of riding in which the reins are held up high, presumably above the horse’s head (「手綱で、手綱を上へ持ち上げて乗る法」). Asahara and Kitahara also cite a definition from the Vocabvlario de Lingoa de Iapam of 1603 (Nippo jisho 日葡辞書): 「角（すみ）の口を引く」.

 

I don’t want to bore everyone, but Mida Yashanyo and her husband really are an extraordinary couple. Here is a description of them fighting together on horseback:

 

With their horses’ reins wrapped around their fists, the couple charged into the enemy ranks. There was no one who would face them. Among her stave-wielding techniques, Mida Yashanyo used the grass cutter, stone sticker, sweep striker, tree-leaf turner, and waterwheel maneuvers to take down men and horses alike. Among his halberd-wielding techniques, Ukishima used the waist-cutting wave, lightning slash, spinning wheel, and blade-dispatch maneuvers. Mida Yashanyo would break through the enemy lines, and Ukishima would be behind her, striking all around. If their sons charged first, they charged in behind them. It was like an Indian battle––a board game in which the pawn advances first, and the rook and bishop follow and engage. And when the gold and silver generals and the knights attack, the prince follows suit. One could demonstrate the family’s tactics on a shōgi board, but how could it have compared?

 

I hope that more people on this list will choose to delve into the world of late-medieval fiction. There are lots of great stories out there, and it’s hard to even know what we are missing without first putting in the hours to read, translate, and write about this stuff. If anyone is curious, I wrote a bit about Shida and several other kōwakamai, otogizōshi, etc., in “Casting Spells: Combat Charms and Secret Scrolls in the Warrior Fiction of Late Medieval Japan,” Monumenta Nipponica 74, no. 2 (2019): 211-248.

“If you don’t how to handle your horse’s reins, you won’t be able to strike the enemy as freely as you’d like. When you slash a man who comes at you from the front, slap your crop just enough to make your horse jump. Then scoop up the forward-reverse reins and hack down in a prayer-cut. When a man comes at you from the left, jerk up on the edge reins, slap your crop to start your horse, and then strike. When a man comes at you from the right, twist the hilt of your longsword around, slap your crop in the sawara style, and strike. Your old mother and father are watching from up here. We’ve got prime seats for the grand battle! So don’t bungle it, boys!” There was nothing to laugh about, but to rile her sons, the wife beat on an arrowslit board and cackled uproariously.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CACyWcZKq-R8xm5dh3sExbu%3DJAAsYK0iBYaZeEtr0vLYh3y%3D%2B%2Bg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Carpenter, John]

Dear Mark,

Thanks for sharing the various links and images, including the wonderful detail from Ishiyamadera engi emaki.   I remember that we had that section of the scroll on view for one rotation during the Genji exhibition at the Met in 2019.  And, as Sarah Thompson and others have pointed out, the horse is led by a groom, as shown in the larger image below.  This is the scene of the self-professed Genji fanatic Takasue no Musume making a pilgrimage to pray to Nyorin Kannon at Ishiyamadera in 1045, as recorded in her memoir, Sarashina nikki. The image of the Gion Shrine maiden is from an unrelated nenju gyoji emaki.  Have enjoyed the posts on this subject, John 

 

 

--

John Carpenter
Mary Griggs Burke Curator of Japanese Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,  212 650 2536

 

From: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Mark Schumacher

Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2023 7:34 AM
To: pm...@googlegroups.com

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[Lisa Kochinski]

Dear Keller (if I may) and All,

Your translations of stories about the formidable fighting duo Mida and Ukishima are anything but boring! It is very generous of you to share your unpublished translations.

Late medieval stories like these reveal aspects of women’s history that warrant further exploration. The same is true of images of horse-riding and other warrior women. For example, here is a wonderful Edo-period image by Utagawa Kuniyoshi of Ishijo 石女, wife of Ōboshi Yoshio 大星良雄 (one of the forty-seven rōnin), wielding the naginata 長刀. From the series Seichu gishin den 誠忠義心傳.

British Museum: 

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_2008-3037-15401

There has been some recent work on warrior women (listed here: 

https://daily.jstor.org/onna-bugeisha-female-samurai-warriors-feudal-japan/) but there is still much to uncover.

Best regards,

Lisa Kochinski

Pronouns: she / her / hers

PhD Candidate (ABD)

School of Religion, University of Southern California

http://dornsife.usc.edu/religion/

https://usc.academia.edu/LisaKochinski

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/MW4PR03MB65086EBB019157012FD07363EA419%40MW4PR03MB6508.namprd03.prod.outlook.com.

--

Lisa Kochinski


携帯電話から送信
Sent from my mobile

[Christopher Mayo]

Dear All,

This has been an interesting thread and I really appreciate everyone’s contributions. I have learned a lot from the comments, and even though I am a bit late to the party with my comments, hopefully they will be of interest.

In my case, one of the images that this thread brought to mind was Utagawa Hiroshige’s 歌川広重 “Ise meisho Futami ga ura no zu” 伊勢名所二見ヶ浦の図. Usually, explanations of the three panels understandably focus on the six women in the foreground standing against the backdrop of the tateishi 立石, known as the “Wedded Rocks” 夫婦岩. However, in the background on the right side of the third panel, you can see a "sanbō kōjin" 三宝荒神 saddle for three. We cannot see much from behind, but I suppose they could be three women riding on the horse and in the panniers. A link to the image is shown below, but I have attached an image of the relevant section to this email.

https://hiroshige-ena.jp/collections/major-works/11 

As Constantine Vaporis mentions in Breaking Barriers (1994), which contains a wealth of information on horse usage, this "sanbō kōjin" 三宝荒神 is associated with the Ise pilgrimage (p. 242), so perhaps it is not surprising that Hiroshige included the three-person saddle in his image of Futami (part of the Ise pilgrimage). I know of at least one "sanbō kōjin" 三宝荒神 instance with a woman on the horse. It is in Ihara Saikaku’s 井原西鶴 "Kōshoku gonin onnna" 好色五人女, where a woman appears in images with the men in the panniers on either side of her (mentioned earlier in this thread by Jordan Sand), though I think the woman riding like this is meant to be somewhat humorous, so this combination might the exception to the rule. Again, this is on an Ise pilgrimage (as mentioned earlier), so perhaps we could say there were a variety of saddles associated with activities, events, or regions, including some gendered elements / behaviors.

https://www.dh-jac.net/db1/books/results1280.php?f1=katei0147&f12=1&enter=portal&lang=ja&skip=29&-max=1&enter=portal&lang=ja

Best Regards,

Chris

-----
Christopher M. Mayo
Professor, Kogakkan University
1704 Kōdakushimoto-chō, Ise-shi, Mie-ken 516-8555, Japan
-----
メイヨークリストファー
皇學館大学文学部コミュニケーション学科 教授 
〒516-8555 三重県伊勢市神田久志本町1704 
E-mail：c-m...@kogakkan-u.ac.jp 
-----

2023/05/25 14:34、Lisa Kochinski <lis...@gmail.com>のメール:

Dear Keller (if I may) and All,

Your translations of stories about the formidable fighting duo Mida and Ukishima are anything but boring! It is very generous of you to share your unpublished translations.

Late medieval stories like these reveal aspects of women’s history that warrant further exploration. The same is true of images of horse-riding and other warrior women. For example, here is a wonderful Edo-period image by Utagawa Kuniyoshi of Ishijo 石女, wife of Ōboshi Yoshio 大星良雄 (one of the forty-seven rōnin), wielding the naginata 長刀. From the series Seichu gishin den 誠忠義心傳.

<67C3849A-FC98-4142-9C19-C8202BF233E8.png>

British Museum: 

<IMG_8183.jpg>

 

 

On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 10:49 AM A Schweizer <schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp> wrote:

Dear Hanna,

women did definitely travel on horseback. There are plenty of depictions in painting.

Since horses were expensive to buy and maintain it tends to be more of an elite phenomenon but by no means exclusively. 

Many depictions are of samurai women but also other groups rode on horseback.

I'm just pasting here a random example of a mounted nun from the Heian-period Shigisan engi emaki 信貴山縁起絵巻:

<Screen Shot 2023-05-23 at 10.43.25.png>

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAKi0wiq7TSHRmMQKU4T2V1zSE0ua-gxcimcf0239BjkugzFftw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Melissa Ann Kaul]



Dear all

This is truly an exciting discussion!

Perhaps I can offer some food for thought. 

In November 2021, I had the opportunity to travel to Kumamoto to attend the last Yabusame 流鏑馬 ceremony of the year, which both Yabusame schools, the Takeda Ryû (http://yabusame.main.jp/index.html) and the Ogasawara Ryû (https://www.ogasawara-yabusame.com/) hold together. I was allowed to be present during the preparations and was able to talk to the two headmasters. I was also able to take some pictures of the (Edo period!) saddles and bridles, which I will attach to my answer. 

The following points were important: 

1. in contrast to the western style of riding, the reins play practically no role in Japanese horsemanship, as the horse must be controlled with the legs alone, so that it was guaranteed that one could shoot with the bow and insert arrows. This is also very important in today's yabusame art. 

2. especially in Yabusame, a seat is required that raises the rider only a few millimetres (a paper sheet wide, I was told) from the saddle so that he is not shaken back and forth by the horse's gait (similar to polo). 

3. today the future of the yabusame tradition is in women's hands. 80% of today's yabusame novices are women and the Takeda school also has women riding in its events. The Ogasawara School also trains women. Unfortunately, both headmasters could not tell me exactly when this practice became permissible, but both also referred me to the women warriors mentioned. 

4. In the parade, which takes place before the actual ceremony, the horses are also led by a groom and this is not on the cloth reins but on specially attached lead reins. I was told that this was safer because the horses could be frightened in the crowds and the riders, with their bows and arrows in their hands, could only intervene to a limited extent. 

These are the main points that stuck in my mind. 

In my dissertation on the animal descriptions in Andô Shôeki, I argue, based on the research of Tsukamoto Manabu 塚本学, that Japanese horsemanship was slowly lost due to the urbanisation of the samurai class and the resulting lack of space during the Edo period. Tsukamoto describes that the actual "war horses" thus became more and more dangerous in the cities, as they were practically untrained. In contrast, the smaller pack horses, which carried people as "baggage", were bred for this purpose and were much calmer in temperament. These horses were led by a groom on reins and could not be controlled "from above". 

It is my deep conviction that there is still much to learn about the human-horse relationship in Japan. I am looking forward to more input!

Best regards, 

Melissa Ann Kaul

----------------------------------------------------------------

Melissa Ann Kaul, M.A
Research Assistant
University of Zurich
Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies
Phone: +41 44 634 31 88

Melissa...@aoi.uzh.ch

Von meinem iPhone gesendet

Von meinem iPhone gesendet

Am 24.05.2023 um 10:35 schrieb Nobumi Iyanaga <n-iy...@nifty.com>:

Dear Colleagues,

Perhaps nobody has yet mentioned the case of Isabella Bird, who traveled in the northern Japan, till Hokkaidô, in 1878 (Meiji 11), on a horseback.

Best regards,

Nobumi Iyanaga

On May 24, 2023, at 12:00, Hanna McGaughey <han...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear all,

Thank you for such wonderful examples and illustrations! Fantastic to see women warriors holding the reigns.

Yes, the women in Travis' photos of the Aoi Matsuri look like their horses are all being led by grooms. Like baggage, Sarah Thompson? I guess so, although at least they're not strapped on. Or were they?

I'm afraid I'm still full of questions. What did the saddles look like? Did women (or other people) being led by a groom use a different saddle than warriors? Clearly the wooden contraption for multiple passengers is different and challenges my earlier statement that pilgrims walked. Good to know!

Again thanks for all the information and keep it coming if anything else comes to mind!

Best,

Hanna

Am Mi., 24. Mai 2023 um 02:52 Uhr schrieb Lisa Kochinski <lis...@gmail.com>:

Dear All,

Some years ago I prepared a mock exhibition of women warriors for an Ukiyo-e course taught by Cynthea Bogel. Here's a splendid example of a mounted woman warrior — Hangaku Gozen 坂額御前 by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年, depicted in full control (no groom) of a spirited horse.

<Screenshot 2023-05-23 at 10.42.54.png>

The screenshot is captured from the British Museum:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1906-1220-0-1508

Best regards,

Lisa Kochinski

Pronouns: she / her / hers

PhD Candidate (ABD)

School of Religion, University of Southern California

http://dornsife.usc.edu/religion/

https://usc.academia.edu/LisaKochinski

On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 9:42 AM A Schweizer <schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp> wrote:

Dear all,

This is a truly fascinating conversation.

The groom is in fact an almost always present figure. Interesting to learn about legal stipulations during the Edo period, that only bushi were allowed to hold the reigns alone--I have to read up on this!

Bernhard, the woman in the Shigisan engi should in fact be a nun. The third scroll is commonly called the Amagimi no maki 尼公の巻. It is about the sister of the protagonist, Myōren 命蓮. She is an old nun (amagimi / nikō 尼公) and sets out to find her brother after many years of separation.

Kurosawa did in fact model many of his sets either on historical texts or paintings, therefore he tends to be relatively reliable (of course with occasional liberties). And indeed, the couple of Rashōmon came to my mind too.

Best,

Anton

***

Anton Schweizer, PhD

 Professor (Art History)

 Faculty of Humanities, Kyushu University

 Building East 1, room E-B-508

 Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka-ken, 819-0395 Japan

 Phone: +81-(0)92-802-5044

 E-mail: schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp

シュヴァイツァー・アントン　

 教授（美術史）　九州大学・人文科学研究院

 〒819-0395 福岡県福岡市西区元岡 744

　イースト1号館、E-B-508号室

 電話番号　092-802-5044

 Eメール　schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp

https://www.imapkyudai.net

http://www.reimer-mann-verlag.de/controller.php?cmd=detail&titelnummer=101541&verlag=4

https://www.imapkyudai.net/beyond-the-southern-barbarians

On Wed, May 24, 2023 at 12:47 AM A Schweizer <cici...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear all,

This is a truly fascinating conversation.

The groom is in fact an almost always present figure. Interesting to learn about legal stipulations during the Edo period, that only bushi were allowed to hold the reigns alone--I have to read up on this!

Bernhard, the woman in the Shigisan engi should in fact be a nun. The third scroll is commonly called the Amagimi no maki 尼公の巻. It is about the sister of the protagonist, Myōren 命蓮. She is an old nun (amagimi / nikō 尼公) and sets out to find her brother after many years of separation.

Kurosawa did in fact model many of his sets either on historical texts or paintings, therefore he tends to be relatively reliable (of course with occasional liberties). And indeed, the couple of Rashōmon came to my mind too.

Best,

Anton

***

Anton Schweizer, PhD

 Professor (Art History)

 Faculty of Humanities, Kyushu University

 Building East 1, room E-B-508

 Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka-ken, 819-0395 Japan

 Phone: +81-(0)92-802-5044

 E-mail: schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp

シュヴァイツァー・アントン　

 教授（美術史）　九州大学・人文科学研究院

 〒819-0395 福岡県福岡市西区元岡 744

　イースト1号館、E-B-508号室

 電話番号　092-802-5044

 Eメール　schw...@lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp

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On Tue, May 23, 2023 at 10:32 PM Jos Vos <josm...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Dear All,

Tomoe Gozen didn't just ride a horse! According to Book IX, Chapter 4 of Heike monogatari (Kakuichi-bon; admittedly a semi-fictional source)

she rode the wildest horses and descended the steepest slopes.

As my recent Dutch translation has it (De Val van de Taira, 2022):

Uit Shinano had heer Kiso twee schoonheden meegebracht die Tomoë en Yamabuki heetten. Yamabuki bleef in de hoofdstad omdat ze ziek was. Tomoë was de mooiste van de twee; zij had een prachtige witte huid, lang haar en ronduit betoverende gelaatstrekken. Zij was ook een felle strijdster en een uitzonderlijk krachtige boogschutter – een krijger uit duizenden die met haar zwaard iedere godheid of demon aankon, te voet of te paard. Ze bereed de wildste rossen en daalde daar de steilste hellingen mee af. Op het slagveld voorzag Kiso haar van de beste wapenrusting, een groot zwaard en een indrukwekkende boog; ze gold als zijn voornaamste bevelhebber. Keer op keer verwierf ze eer in de strijd; niemand kon zich met haar meten.

Best wishes,

Jos

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[Mostow, Joshua Scott]

Dear All,

Although outside of the pre-modern/pre-Meiji focus, I thought I would share my surprise when coming upon the following in a Bunmei kaika dōke Hyakunin isshu by Fusō Hiroshi and illustrations by Kawanabe Kyōsai. The italicized commentary is from a modern edition that I’m afraid I can’t put my hands on at the moment. 

I’d be grateful for anyone’s insight on the matter. 

Joshu Mostow

12. Archbishop Henjō

hakama kite                            Wearing hakama

uma o hashirasu                     and riding their horses

machi-naka no                        through the town,

otome no sugata                    O stop, if but for a moment,

shibashi todomen                  these maidens’ forms.

           A regulation was issued in the Tenth Month of 1872 forbidding the riding of horses while exposing body parts such as thighs or legs.

On May 24, 2023, at 11:36 PM, Melissa Ann Kaul <melissaa...@gmail.com> wrote:

[CAUTION: Non-UBC Email]



Dear all

This is truly an exciting discussion!

Perhaps I can offer some food for thought. 

In November 2021, I had the opportunity to travel to Kumamoto to attend the last Yabusame 流鏑馬 ceremony of the year, which both Yabusame schools, the Takeda Ryû (http://yabusame.main.jp/index.html) and the Ogasawara Ryû (https://www.ogasawara-yabusame.com/) hold together. I was allowed to be present during the preparations and was able to talk to the two headmasters. I was also able to take some pictures of the (Edo period!) saddles and bridles, which I will attach to my answer. 

The following points were important: 

1. in contrast to the western style of riding, the reins play practically no role in Japanese horsemanship, as the horse must be controlled with the legs alone, so that it was guaranteed that one could shoot with the bow and insert arrows. This is also very important in today's yabusame art. 

2. especially in Yabusame, a seat is required that raises the rider only a few millimetres (a paper sheet wide, I was told) from the saddle so that he is not shaken back and forth by the horse's gait (similar to polo). 

3. today the future of the yabusame tradition is in women's hands. 80% of today's yabusame novices are women and the Takeda school also has women riding in its events. The Ogasawara School also trains women. Unfortunately, both headmasters could not tell me exactly when this practice became permissible, but both also referred me to the women warriors mentioned. 

4. In the parade, which takes place before the actual ceremony, the horses are also led by a groom and this is not on the cloth reins but on specially attached lead reins. I was told that this was safer because the horses could be frightened in the crowds and the riders, with their bows and arrows in their hands, could only intervene to a limited extent. 

These are the main points that stuck in my mind. 

In my dissertation on the animal descriptions in Andô Shôeki, I argue, based on the research of Tsukamoto Manabu 塚本学, that Japanese horsemanship was slowly lost due to the urbanisation of the samurai class and the resulting lack of space during the Edo period. Tsukamoto describes that the actual "war horses" thus became more and more dangerous in the cities, as they were practically untrained. In contrast, the smaller pack horses, which carried people as "baggage", were bred for this purpose and were much calmer in temperament. These horses were led by a groom on reins and could not be controlled "from above". 

It is my deep conviction that there is still much to learn about the human-horse relationship in Japan. I am looking forward to more input!

Best regards, 

Melissa Ann Kaul

----------------------------------------------------------------

Melissa Ann Kaul, M.A
Research Assistant
University of Zurich
Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies
Phone: +41 44 634 31 88

Melissa...@aoi.uzh.ch

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[Anne Walthall]

I'm coming late to this fascinating thread, but I was just like to reiterate what Constantine wrote. When Matsuo Taseko, a  commoner, left her home in the Ina valley to go to Kyoto in 1862, early in her trip when it was getting late, she chose to ride a horse led by its owner. She even wrote a poem about it as it wasn't something she normally did.

see my book on her—The Weak Body of a Useless Woman.

Anne Walthall

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From: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Constantine Vaporis <vap...@umbc.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2023 7:47 AM

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[Raji Steineck]

Hello Keller, everyone,

thank you for this additional information.

I'm ever more intrigued. Melissa Kaul has brought information from her Yabusame practice to our attention, stating that reins were not important to Japanese horsemanship. But in your quotes, we see emphatic reference to the skillful use or reins.
Would anyone know of further references telling us more about the use or non-use of reins by mounted warriors, female or otherwise?

Yours,

Raji

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Von: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> im Auftrag von Keller Kimbrough <keller.k...@colorado.edu>

Gesendet: Mittwoch, 24. Mai 2023 17:49

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