Mouse vs Cat in Chinese Literature Page 29
and the birth of a baby boy, who is presented at a shrine, and no cat makes its appearance in these tales.27 These illustrated stories on the wedding of the mice belong to a larger group of picture books that portray the weddings of animals.28 Japan has a rich tradition of paintings showing animals engaged
in human activities that goes back to the twelfth century and that is without a counterpart on the East Asian mainland. These twelfth-century paintings
show rats fighting monkeys, but not cats. The prolific printmakers of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries not only depicted mice, rats, and cats
of all kinds in a realistic manner (including prints of cats catching mice), but also produced many prints showing cats or rodents in human dress and
engaged in all kinds of human activities.29 The famous artist Utagawa Kuni-
yoshi (1797–1892) in particular produced many prints of that latter type.30
Medieval Japanese literature includes several stories of mice who take on
human shape and in that guise try to marry young women. One story, pre-
served in a small-format picture scroll of circa 1500, tells the story of a young woman who is eager to marry, so when a handsome suitor presents himself
she is happy to accept his proposal. But when her mother, an old nun, arrives to attend the wedding ceremony and brings her cat, the groom-to-be turns
into a rat.31 In a somewhat later story, the main character is the 120-year-old rat Gonnokami, who can take on human shape. Through the intervention of
the bodhisattva Kannon (Guanyin), he marries a young maiden of only sev-
enteen. In this story the wedding is consummated, but the bride eventually
discovers her husband’s true nature and flees. Gonnokami is warned against
pursuing her because she is now married to a rich man and has a fierce cat, and he decides to become a monk.32 All these stories are known as The Tale of a Rat (Nezumi no sōshi). Under the same title, yet another story has been preserved that most likely dates from circa 1600. In this story an old monk is disturbed in his sleep by scampering rodents; when he dozes off again he
dreams he becomes a mouse, and when he complains in this guise to the other rodents about their behavior, one of them first complains about their miserable condition that allows them to come out only at night, next complains
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180
e pi l ogu e
about the amoral behavior of humans (including their use of rodents for
entertainment), then engages in a long diatribe against the pampered lifestyle of the cats, and finally preaches a long sermon on the equality of all living beings as they equally participate in the Buddha nature, which culminates
in the claim that the rodents are the purest animals on earth. The eloquent rat then undercuts these arguments by stealing the oil in a lampstand and
breaking a bowl in the process.33
From the early seventeenth century, we have yet another story called The Tale of the Cat (Neko no sōshi). This tale begins with the historical decree of 1602 allowing all cats in the city of Kyoto the liberty to freely kill mice and rats. An old monk first dreams of a rodent that confesses to him that mice
and rats cannot change their ways, and in the following night he dreams of
a cat that confesses to him that cats cannot stop themselves from killing
rodents, sinful as the taking of life may be. Following this, the rodents meet, and after deliberation decide to vacate the city. The Japanese cat in The Tale of the Cat claims to descend from the tiger, but to have adjusted its size when crossing over to the small country of Japan; it also claims to communicate
with other cats in Sanskrit.34 While The Tale of the Cat shows some similarity to the Arab tale of the dispute between the mouse and the cat in that both
the rodent and the feline defend their behavior to a man of wisdom, it should be noted that the Japanese story does not directly confront the two animals as happens in the Middle Eastern tale (and in the Chinese accounts of the
court case of the mouse and the cat). Even in Ando Shoeki’s (1703–1762) Tales from the World of the Law (Hōsei monogatari), when all animals gather in peace to judge the behavior of humans, the mice smartly keep their distance from the cats, even though the text places them close together.35 Very wisely so, as the cats compare their skills in catching rodents to learn from each other in Issai Chosan’s “The Miraculous Skills of Cats” (Neko no myōjutsu)
of 1727.36
For a Japanese description of an all-out war between the cats and the mice, we have to wait until the middle of the nineteenth century. The National Diet Library houses an illustrated woodblock-printed booklet by a certain Yoshitora titled The Battle of the Cats and the Mice (Neko nezumi gassen), which narrates its story in eight pictures with accompanying text. In these pictures, the cats and mice are outfitted as proper samurai.37 The eight illustrations depict the following scenes: The cat monster Nekomata (a mythical cat with
two tails) decides to wage total war against the rats (1), which is discussed by the mice warriors (2). When Nekomata attacks with his bowmen, the mice
retreat (3), but they counterattack by putting paper bags over the heads of This content downloaded from 129.174.21.5 on Wed, 17 Jul 2019 13:04:45 UTC
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C ats a n d M ice i n L ov e a n d Wa r f rom E a st to W e st 181
cats (4).38 When the cats return and use rat poison (5), the mice bring out a huge paper-mâché figure of a dog that scares off the cats (6), but once they know the dog is fake, the cats return in force. But when the mice are about to be defeated, the deity Daikokuten appears and orders a truce (7). The final illustration is given over to Daikokuten (8).39 Daikokuten, the god of wealth, is one of the most popular deities in Japan and is often depicted with a sack of rice and a white mouse, his favorite animal.40 The story of the battle between the cats and the mice must have been quite popular at that time, because it was treated twice by ukiyoe artists of the nineteenth century in their color prints: Utagawa Yoshitsuya adapted the theme in a single print in 1843, while Utagawa Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) in 1859 produced a set of six full-color prints devoted to the war between felines and rodents, clearly inspired by Yoshitora’s booklet. In 1895, during the Sino-Japanese War, which was decided by Japan’s destruction of the Chinese Northern Fleet, a certain Utagawa Kunitoshi
produced a one-page print titled The SinoJapanese Naval Battle between the Cats and the Mice (Neko to nezumi Ni-Shin kaisen zu), in which warships are replaced by wooden tubs as brave Japanese cats defeat their mice opponents.41 In a print by Kobayashi Kiyochika of the same year, a Japanese cat ship bags a Chinese rat ship. But in Sketches from Hel , Yoshitoshi’s contemporary Kawanabe Kyōsai included one image of mice cruelly taking their
revenge on a cat.42
While the theme of the war between the cats and the mice is encountered
widely in Northeast Africa and from east to west in Eurasia, the literary and visual adaptations of the theme appear to be largely original in each language.
Each culture chose a local literary genre that allowed for satire, and each culture invented its own details of the story.
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> Glossa ry of Chinese Ch a r acter s
An Shigao 安世高
Daode jing 道德經
“Axian” 阿纖
Dazhan Mao’ershan 大戰貓兒山
Deng Xiaoping 鄧小平
Bada Shanren 八大山人
Deng Zhimo 鄧志謨
Bai Yutang 白玉堂
Devaraja Li 李天王
Baijia gong’an 百家公案
Di Qing 狄青
Bainiao chaofeng 百鳥朝鳳
die 蝶 (butterfly)
Bainiao ming 百鳥名
die 耋 (septuagenarian)
Bainiu gaozhuang 白牛告狀
Ding Yusheng 丁雨生
Bao Gong 包公
Diyong Furen 地湧夫人
Bao Youfu 包柚斧
Dongfang Shuo 東方朔
Bao Zheng 包拯
Dongping geyao yanyu ji 東平歌謠諺語
baojuan 寶卷
集
Beishi 北史
Duan Zhidi 段志的
ben 本
Duke Huan of Qi 齊桓公
“Benmao shuo” 本貓說
Duke Wen of Jin 晉文公
bianfu 蝙蝠
Bigan 比干
Eight Cha 八蜡
Empress Lü 呂后
cangshu 倉鼠
Erlang 二郎
Cao Cao 曹操
errenzhuan 二人轉
Cao Ye 曹鄴
Erya 爾雅
Cao Zhi 曹植
Erya yi 爾雅翼
Caomang shi 草莽詩
Caoshan Benji 曹山本寂
Fang Xunshi 方濬師
Cha jiu lun 茶酒論
Feihong 蜚鴻
Chang’e 嫦娥
Feng Menglong 馮夢龍
Chao Yuan 晁元
Feng Xun 馮詢
Chen An 陳黯
Fengdu 豐都
Chen Menglei 陳夢雷
fu 福 (happiness)
chou 丑
fu 賦 (rhapsody, declamation piece)
Chu Renhuo 褚人獲
Fubai Zhuren 浮白主人
Chuangwang 闖王
Funiao fu 鵩鳥賦
Chuci 楚辭
Ciyun baojuan 慈雲寶卷
Gan Luo 干羅
Concubine Li 李妃
Gao Di 高第
Concubine Liu 劉妃
Genbenshuo yiqie youbu binaye poseng
Cui Youfu 崔佑甫
shi 根本說一切有部畀奈耶破僧事
gong’an 公案
Dai Biaoyuan 戴表元
“Gou mao shu” 狗貓鼠
dan 旦
Goujian 勾踐
183
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184
Gl os s a ry of Ch i n e se Ch a r act e r s
Guan Longfeng 關龍逢
Jin Ping Mei 金瓶梅
Guanyin 觀音
jing 精
guci 鼓詞
Jinglü yixiang 經律異相
Gujing ji 古鏡記
Jingshi tongyan 警世通言
Jingwei 精衛
Han Xin 韓信
Jingzhiju shihua 靜志居詩話
Han Yu 韓愈
Jinpai 金牌
Han Zhang 韓章
jinqu 錦曲
Hao Wanhui 郝万慧
Jinshu yinmao Li Bao 金鼠銀貓李寶
haomi 耗米
Haozi qu mao 耗子娶貓
Kaiyuan chuanxin ji 開元傳信記
He 何 (surname)
kang 炕
He Zunshi 何尊師
Heavenly Master Zhang 張天師
Lady Gao 高氏
Hong Mai 洪邁
Lady Gu 顧夫人
Hongniang 紅娘
Lady Qi 戚氏
Hou Han shu 後漢書
Lao She 老舍
Hu Di (Mengdie) 胡迪夢蝶
“Laoshu gao limao” 老鼠告貍貓
Hualiu 驊騮
laoshu jianü 老鼠嫁女
huang 皇 (imperial)
“Laoshu jianü ci” 老鼠嫁女詞
huang 黃 (yellow)
laoshu quqin 老鼠娶親
Huang Han 黃漢
Laoshu zitan 老鼠自嘆
Huang Quan 黃荃
Laoxue’an biji 老學庵筆記
Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅
Laozi 老子
Huang Zhijun 黃之駿
li 貍 (cat, wildcat)
Huangting jing 黃庭經
li 里 (measure of distance, roughly
Huayan qule tanxiao jiuling 華燕趣樂談
one-third of a mile)
笑酒令
Li 李 (surname)
Huiwentang 會文堂
Li Bao 李寶
“Huying dazhan wenzai ge” 胡蠅大戰蚊
Li Deyu 李德裕
仔歌
Li Fuyan 李復言
Li He 李賀
Im Che 林悌
Li Jing 李敬
Immortal Dong 董真人
Li Jing 李靖 (heavenly king)
Li Kejin 李克金
Ji Yun 紀昀
Li Liangxue 李梁學
Jia Xishan 賈希山
Li Mengyang 李夢陽
Jia Yi 賈宜
Li Mengyin 李夢寅
jiamao 家貓
Li Mi 李密
Jiang Ping 蔣平
Li Ping’er 李瓶兒
Jiang Taigong 姜太公
Li Shimin 李世民
Jiang Tingxi 蔣婷錫
Li Si 李斯
Jianhu miji 堅瓠密集
Li Yifu 李義甫
Jie 桀
Li Yu 李漁
Jiemao fu 詰貓賦
Li Zicheng 李自成
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Gl os s a ry of Ch i n e se Ch a r act e r s
185
Liang Yusheng 梁玉繩
Master Hu 胡生
Lianshi 奩史
Meng Zhang 孟章
Liao Bingxiong 廖冰兄
Mengliang lu 夢粱錄
Liaozhai zhiyi 聊齋志異
Mi Heng 禰衡
Liji 禮記
Minister Wang 王丞相
“Limao huan taizi” 貍貓換太子
Minjian wenxue 民間文學
Limao shan 貍貓山
mo 末
Ling Mengchu 凌蒙初
Mo Hongmei 莫紅梅
“Lisao” 離騷
Monk Sha 沙和尚
Liu Bang 劉邦
Liu Bei 劉備
Namao jing 納貓經
Liu Ji 劉基
nanguan 南管
Liu Jinchan 柳金蟬
Nanquan Puyuan 南泉普願
Liu Kezhuang 劉客庄
Nezha 哪吒
Liu Shizhong 劉時中
Nichang xupu 霓裳續譜
Liu Shu 柳舒
Niu fu 牛賦
Liu Xiang 劉向
Niu Sengru 牛僧孺
Liu Xianting 劉獻廷
Niu su yuan 牛訴冤
Liu Yuanqing 劉元卿
Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元
Pai’an jingqi 拍案驚奇
Liuchu xiangfa 六畜相法
Pan Jinlian 潘金蓮
Longtu 龍圖
Pan Peizhong 潘培忠
Longtu gong’an 龍圖公案
Pan Renmei 潘仁美
Lou Ashu 阿鼠
Pei Kuan 裴寬
Lu Xun 魯迅
Lu You 陸游
Pu Songling 蒲松齡
Lu’er 騄駬
Lü’er 绿耳
“Qian mao” 遣貓
Lunhui xingshi 輪迴醒世
Qian Yong 錢泳
Luo Yuan 羅愿
Qian Zhongshu 錢鍾書
Luyi ji 錄異記
Qiantang sanren An Yushi 錢塘散人安
遇時
Ma Tongxiu 馬佟秀
Qiji 騏驥
Ma Yiqin 馬一琴
Qin Gui 秦檜
mao 貓 (cat)
Qinding gujin tushu jicheng 欽定古今圖
mao 髦 (eighty years of age)
書集成
mao 卯 (one of the twelve cyclical
qingqu 清曲
characters)
Qinjing 禽經
Maocheng ji 貓城記
Qixia wuyi 七俠五義
“Maogao” 貓誥
Qu Yuan 屈原
maoguishen 貓鬼神
Qutu Zhongren 屈突仲任
Maosheng 貓乘
maoxucao 貓鬚草
ren 仁
Maoyuan 貓苑
Ren Ping 任憑
Master Bin 彬師
Ren’er 仁兒
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186
Gl os s a ry of Ch i n e se Ch a r act e r s
Saihua 賽花
Sun Three 孫三
San Miao 三苗
Sun Wukong 孫悟空
Sanbao taijian xia Xiyang ji tongsu
yanyi 三寶太監下西洋記通俗演義
Taiping guangji 太平廣記
Sanguozhi yanyi 三國志演義
Taohuanü 桃花女
sanjiao 三教
Tu’an Gu 屠岸賈
Sanzang 三藏
sao 騷
Wang Baochuan 王寶釧
Shanxi minjian wenxue 山西民間文學
Wang Cai 汪采
shen 神
Wang Chutong 王初桐
Shen Qifeng 沈起鳳
Wang Dousheng 王A生
Shen Zhou 沈周
Wang Du 王度
Shennong 神農
Wang Jiusi 王九思
Shenwu fu 神烏賦
Wang Qiugui 王秋桂
sheshu 社鼠
Wang Xizhi 王羲之
Shi Jun 施俊
Wang Yanmei 王衍梅
Shi Yukun 石玉昆
Wang Yaping 王亞平
Shiji 史記
Wang Zhiying 王稚影
Shijing 詩經
Wanshou 萬壽
Shiren yuxie 詩人玉屑
wei 未