Asian Angels (Celestial Maidens)

[aimeekitty]

I'm looking for information on Asian angel myths, specifically the one that is alluded to in the manga "ayashi no ceres". (it's similar to the selkie myth too.)

I'm not looking for information about the Manga, I'm looking for information about the original myth, which I know exists and I've read somewhere, but for the life of me, today I can't find any good "hits" for it! I tried the library and the bookstore to no avail, and the internet often gives so many false positives.

I want a really good source for this folklore please! If at all possible, I'd like to know if there is a specific Korean version of this tale with angels called "Shyun-nyur".

Thanks so much!

Comments

[acquiesce.livejournal.com]

It's funny, the legend is a huge influence on my film this year :3

While in my search for information on it, I came across a few good websites that I can't seem to find right now ; ; Though, there was a Noh play based on the legend. There's also a holiday/festival, and there are several locations where it is believed that the celestial maiden had descended to.
Believe it or not, a really good resource on the legend is the English translated version of the Ayashi no Ceres artbook. Just go to your local bookstore, they should have it there. Towards the back of it, there's at least 4-6 pages full of the different legends that appear in so many areas of Japan, and all over the world, complete with a map and fairly detailed information.

[acquiesce.livejournal.com]

Ok, here's some more information on where you can learn more about the legend and its variants:

Photos of where one of the legends originated (http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:HDfZOwk9FzIJ:www.photo-japan.jp/pict/2003/042/index_en.html+hagoromo+legend&hl=en&client=firefox-a)
Text on the legends (http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:LqOxSfrdJvgJ:www.pitt.edu/~dash/japanlove.html+robe+of+feathers+legend&hl=en&client=firefox-a)
another version of the legend (http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:w5b2_Aa0kK8J:folkloreandmyth.netfirms.com/japan.html+robe+of+feathers+legend&hl=en&client=firefox-a)
Book to check out: Japanese Children's Favorite Stories Book Two Compiled by Florence Sakade; Illustrated by Yoshio Hayashi; Tuttle Publishing, 2004
another tiny bit of info on the legend (http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:hRLRmqphipQJ:www.wonder-okinawa.jp/015/english/chokun/gokumi/enmoku/index02.html+robe+of+feathers+legend&hl=en&client=firefox-a)

An awesome film to check out is Lotte Reiniger's Adventures of Prince Achmed which is loosely based on the legend as well (and has gorgeous animation!)

Good luck, I hope that helped~

[fyredancer.livejournal.com]

I have a book of Japanese myths and legends and the "haguromo" tale is in it. In my version, though, she merely dances for the fisherman, then returns to the heavens. She wasn't a "tenshi," per se, but a celestial being, I suppose?

I can't provide any info on the Shyun-nyur, alas.

[jennekohan.livejournal.com]

I think that is the tenyou? The tenyou had a robe that if taken by a human man would make her stay with him and she could not return to heaven. I think that's it because the selkie as well as the peri are stories where faerie girls have some sort of clothing (seal skin for selkies, silky garmet with feathers for the peri) that are stolen by human men to keep the girls by their sides. That is, until the faeries find their clothing again and run away.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

yup! I know the fairy tale, but I wanted to find some pages about it. ^_^

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

thankyou! it does help! :)

[laurean.livejournal.com]

Just as a sidestory, there's a few european versions of this tale...but..you already mentioned that through the selkie myth. ^_^;; heh (skipped that part)

The Stolen Skin and selkie myths
http://www.dancingleaves.com/allison/stories/stolen_skin/stolen_skin.html
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type4080.html

Sometimes the story says that the maiden is part bird (such as a crane or a swan). The Chinese story is the Peacock maiden. (link to it, and more swan maiden stories)
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/swan.html

More swan maiden stories
http://www.primitivism.com/swan-maidens.htm


The shall or skin is called a hagoromo. (angel's raiment) The hagoromo gives a Tennyu(Celestial maiden) her ability to fly)

The legened you're speking of appearently is supposed to originate from Miho no Matsubara beach (where the story takes place).
http://www.shizuoka-cb.jp/scbEng/5e/mshm1e.html
http://www.koitsu.com/Miho%20no%20Matsubara.htm
http://www.koitsu.com/Fuji/Hiroshige%202-%20Miho%20no%20Matsubara.html

The maidens are called Tennyo, so look up information on that.

Noh play of Hagoromo (The celestial maiden story)
http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/npj/npj31.htm

Another version of the play
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/noh/TylHago.html

http://www.sinfonia.or.jp/~manfan/kahoukai.html
Website has a video of some of the play. (click the main picture)


Hope that helps out a little bit. You might go to the library and check out Hearn's Japanese folklore books. He might have written something useful? :)

[trickster-brat.livejournal.com]

[karisu-sama.livejournal.com]

Do apsaras count?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsara

[ajmeow.livejournal.com]

There is a chinese version too. I have the video of the dance play thingy they did. I'll bring it back from MD and lend it to you. =D

Probably not relevant but I've always liked it.

[slai.livejournal.com]

Hi Aimee,

Not sure this will do much help, but there is a Korean manga version of the tale called Faeries' Landing released by TokyoPop, which I suspect you already know ^^;!