I went through & snagged a few more images for comparison. Thing is, modern images are usually for special events, and finding the "we wear this everyday" really means going back to about 1930s or earlier... but yeah, I think what throws me are the proportions of the body length. (I'm used to longer bodies, too, and taller people, which might be part of it.)
I had figured I'd skip married-women pictures, since I doubted they'd be an analogue for an unmarried man... dressing as a woman... man, sometimes this makes my head hurt. Regardless, judging from the kabuki image and the okinawan image, it's not unheard of for a man to wear (at least on stage) an obi/sash that broad. Still, no sign anywhere of men with a big freaking BOW in their obi. Ahem.
Heh, the xiezhi looks kind of like a shishi but the shishi have rounder faces, not so pointy a nose. (Aren't shishi called lion-dogs -- actually, are they supposed to be Chows? I've never thought to ask that before. Hrm.) Anyway, given the connection of the goat with the xiezhi, and the "able to identify truth and indicate falsehood" that matches almost perfectly with the storyline.
Oh, almost forgot: the xiezhi's equivalent in Japan is called a kaira, I think it is, but I couldn't find a thing on it. Well, outside comments on forums & whatnot -- nothing with citations of any sort, or any hints on where else to look. (And I am way way too unmotivated right now to find the energy to go digging through the house-library for that book on Asian mythological beasties. All the stacks have been thrashed badly when I reorganized the living room & moved the books into the guest bedroom, and now I can't find ANYTHING without a four-hour commitment. Bleah!)
The entire notion of the Buddhist Oni just cracks me up. Other religions (*cough*judeoxtian*cough*) turn the local spirits into devils to be vanquished. Buddhism says, "oh, no! they're one of us, they're the good guys!" Talk about a turn-around on the usual. Heh.
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Date: 3 Dec 2008 05:30 am (UTC)I had figured I'd skip married-women pictures, since I doubted they'd be an analogue for an unmarried man... dressing as a woman... man, sometimes this makes my head hurt. Regardless, judging from the kabuki image and the okinawan image, it's not unheard of for a man to wear (at least on stage) an obi/sash that broad. Still, no sign anywhere of men with a big freaking BOW in their obi. Ahem.
Heh, the xiezhi looks kind of like a shishi but the shishi have rounder faces, not so pointy a nose. (Aren't shishi called lion-dogs -- actually, are they supposed to be Chows? I've never thought to ask that before. Hrm.) Anyway, given the connection of the goat with the xiezhi, and the "able to identify truth and indicate falsehood" that matches almost perfectly with the storyline.
Oh, almost forgot: the xiezhi's equivalent in Japan is called a kaira, I think it is, but I couldn't find a thing on it. Well, outside comments on forums & whatnot -- nothing with citations of any sort, or any hints on where else to look. (And I am way way too unmotivated right now to find the energy to go digging through the house-library for that book on Asian mythological beasties. All the stacks have been thrashed badly when I reorganized the living room & moved the books into the guest bedroom, and now I can't find ANYTHING without a four-hour commitment. Bleah!)
The entire notion of the Buddhist Oni just cracks me up. Other religions (*cough*judeoxtian*cough*) turn the local spirits into devils to be vanquished. Buddhism says, "oh, no! they're one of us, they're the good guys!" Talk about a turn-around on the usual. Heh.