Hakuzōsu (白蔵主), also writtenHakuzosu andHakuzousu, is the name of a popularkitsune character who pretended to be a priest inJapanese folklore.
The better known version of the legend is set in Shōrin-ji (小林寺) of Sakai,Izumi Province (nowOsaka Prefecture), summarized in the actor Ōkura Toramitsu (大蔵虎光)'sKyōgen fushin gami (狂言不審紙) (1823) as well as theengi history of the said temple,[1].[2][3]
Due to the late date of both documents, their appended note that this Shōrin-ji version inspired thekyōgen play,[4][1] is considered a specious claim.[3] There is no written evidence on this anywhere close to the 16th century when the playTrurigitsune about this fox is already known to have existed (attested in the Tenshō-bon of 1581[5]) Cf.§ Tsurigitsune below.
A variant legend is set in Shōraku-ji (勝楽寺) ofŌmi Province (Shiga Prefecture), also summarized in thefushin gami.[6]
In the adaptedHyaku monogatari version, the setting shifts toKai Province (cf.§ Hyaku monogatari). Some well known elements such as the fox loving fried mouse is not in these legend texts, but are a part of thekyōgen play.
Shōrin-ji [ja] (in what is nowSakai, Osaka) in Izumi Province is said to have been foundedBunna 1/1352, propitiating the Inari dai-myōjin according to theengi history of the temple.[1] According to this document, the temple's own version of its history, Shōrin-ji had attached to it atacchū [ja] or small hall called Kōun-an (耕雲庵), where lived a priest named Hakuzōsu (伯蔵司) during the years 1526–1555[a] who had no income and destitute, thus praying 7 days and 7 nights, when a three-legged white fox darted out of the altar and curled up before him. The priest interpreted this happenstance to be a gift from the Inari deity, and fostered the fox, and from then, he received plenty of alms from devotees. The fox even transformed into a brave warrior and warded off bandits. The priest had a nephew who hunted foxes for a living, and the white fox also used his shapeshifting to impersonate Priest Hakuzō, but the man was shrewd and guessed it was the fox in disguise, so he tried to use every trick of his hunting trade to trap the fox.[1]
But the aforementionedKyōgen fushin gami dates the presence of the priest Hakuzōsu (白蔵主) at Kōun-an of Shōrin-ji much earlier, during theEitoku era years of1381 onward. He regularly venerated the Inari dai-myōjin and never forgot the daily priestly duty, thereby receiving a white fox, etc., thus otherwise matching theengi's summary.[4]
This version is reprinted in geographical and travel guides of the Edo period such as theSakai kagami (堺鑑),[9]Senshūshi (泉州志)』,[10]Izuki e]meisho zue (和泉名所図会),[11] the essayWago renjushū (和語連珠集),[12] and the encyclopediaWakan sansai zue.[13][14]
InSakai kagami (orWago renjushū) it merely states the priest found a three-legged wild fox in the woods and raised it, adding that its descendants all inherited the three-leggedness and a clan of them still occupied the premises of the same temple.[9][15]
Shōraku-ji in Ōmi Province is stated to have been established around the same period as the rival legend temple (before 1385)[b] as a subordinate temple toKennin-ji in Kyoto. This Shōraku-ji also lays claim to Hakuzōsu (白蔵主) living there, who had two nephews, named Kohei and Kojūrō.[6]
The legend of Hakuzōsu became aKyōgen play,Tsurigitsune [ja] (‘Fox Trapping’) also known by the titleKonkai (‘The Cry of the Fox’).
In this story, a hunter is visited by his uncle, the priest Hakuzōsu, who lectures his nephew on the evils of killing foxes. The hunter is nearly convinced, but after the priest departs, he hears the cry of the fox and realizes it wasn't his uncle after all but a fox in disguise. The fox resumes his natural form and reverts to his wild ways, takes the bait in a trap and is captured.[16][17]
In theHyaku monogatari version of the story, a hunter named Yasaku made his living trapping foxes for fur at the base ofMt. Yume [ja] inKai Province. An ancient fox lost many offspring, and upon learning that the man's uncle was the priest Hakuzōsu at Hōtōji (宝塔寺), assumed the priest's identity and preached the evils of animal slaying for his "future" (i.e. that thekarma would damn him to a wickedreincarnation), and carried away all the traps for a sum of money. But the fox saw the hunter walking towards the temple, and fearing his ploy would be exposed, went ahead and killed the priest, now assuming his identity permanently, and lived on for priest for another 50 years, until it was chewed to death by the dog of one Satō Tarō on the occasion of a village festival.[18][19]
In the "A Type and Motif Index of Japanese Folk-Literature" compiled by Hiroko Ikeda, motif "68* The Fox Jeers at the Fox-Trap" lists "Tsuri-gitsune,Konkwai,Hakuzoosu" as representative, with pattern "I. Fox Disguised as Uncle" conforming to these tales.[20]
