水虎考略
天保７年（1836）
古賀侗庵著
タイトルの「水虎」とは、「水の虎」と書く。河童のこと。河童の情報を集め、考証を加えた江戸時代の河童研究書です。江戸時代後期の写本で、原本を編纂したのは、幕府の昌平坂学問所の儒学者、古賀侗庵（こがとうあん）。全国各地の河童に遭遇した人から聞取った情報を、侗庵の弟子の幕府の役人たちを介して集め、これに日本や中国の文献の記事をあわせて1冊にまとめました。これに江戸城の御殿医で、有名な本草学者でもある栗本丹州（くりもとたんしゅう）が、各地で捕らえられたり、目撃された河童の写生図を多数加えています。
享和元年に水戸で網にかかった河童の図では、背の高さが３尺５寸あまり（１mあまり）、胸が盛り上がり、首がずんぐりと太く短いとあります。頭に皿、背中に甲羅が描かれています。
現在の福岡あたりで見つかった河童は全身に猿のように細かな毛が生えています。人の言葉を理解し、相撲を好み、人に見られることを嫌うとあります。背中に甲羅がない点に注目。
明和の頃に江戸の本庄で捕まった河童の身長は２尺（60㎝）。全身に水苔のようなものが生えていて、鯰のようにぬるぬるとするとあります。
丹州は、『説文』『淮南子』『大和本草』などの記述を紹介して、河童は山や川の精の一種であると推測しています。河童に限らず、こうした珍しい動物や植物の情報を当時の一級の学者たちは全国規模で盛んにやりとりし、熱心に研究していました。未知の生物、河童と共生していた江戸時代の日本人の自然観が窺われる資料です。
Suiko Koryaku
The 7th year of Tenpo (1836)
Writer: Touan Koga
“Suiko” in the title is written in kanji as “tiger of the water” and means kappa, a mischievous riversprite. Information about kappas was gathered from all over Japan and this investigation was added to these Edo era research documents. This book from the latter half of the Edo era is a copy of the original. The original was compiled by Touan Koga, a follower of Confucianism and a teacher of the Shoheizaka school of the shogunate. Touan Koga’s disciples from the shogunate scoured the country to hear from people who had experiences with kappa and that information plus articles gathered from Japanese and Chinese literature was added to this book. Furthermore, the many added sketches of captured and witnessed kappas were done by Tanshu Kurimoto who was a famous natural historian and doctor from Edo castle.
This is a figure of a kappa which hung in a net in Mito in the first year of Kyowa. The height is 3 shaku 5 sun. That means it was a little more than 1 meter. The chest is swollen and the neck is thick and short. On its head, a plate and on its back, a shell, are drawn.
This is a kappa found in the area currently known as Fukuoka. Fine hair, like that of a monkey, grows all over the body. It is written that they understand human words, like sumo and try to avoid being seen by people. Notice a shell is not drawn on the back of this one.
The kappa caught in Honjo of Edo during the time of Meiwa has a height of 2 shaku. In other words it is about 60 centimeters. Something like bog moss grows all over the whole body and it is said to be slippery like a catfish.
Tanshu guessed that kappa were a kind of mountain or river spirit from information in the ancient Chinese books, “Setsumon” and “Enanji” and from Japan, “Yamato Honsou”. Top class scholars were eager to exchange research across the country, not only on kappa, but also rare and unknown animals and plants. Through this book we can see the view of nature of Japanese during the Edo era at a time shared with an unknown creature, the kappa.
Library017 小藤太物...