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Benkei by Kikuchi-Yosai

Benkei with Yoshitsune

Saito Musashibo Benkei (西塔武蔵坊弁慶, 1155 – 1189), popularly called Benkei (弁慶), was a Sohei (warrior monk) who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune. He is commonly depicted as a man of great strength and loyalty, and is one of the favourite subjects of Japanese folklore. His life has been embellished and distorted by Kabuki and Noh drama, so that truth cannot be distinguished from legend.

Stories about Benkei's birth vary considerably. One tells how his father was the head of a temple shrine who had raped his mother, the daughter of a blacksmith. Another sees him as the offspring of a temple god. Many give him the attributes of a demon, a monster child with wild hair and long teeth. In his youth Benkei may have been called Oniwaka (鬼若) - "demon/ogre child".

He joined the cloister at an early age and travelled widely among the monasteries of Japan. During this period, the Buddhist monasteries of Japan were important centres of administration and culture, but also military powers in their own right. Like many other monks, Benkei was probably trained in the use of the naginata. At the age of seventeen, he was said to have been over two metres (or 6.6 feet) tall. At this point he left the Buddhist monastery and joined the Yamabushi, a sect of mountain monks, who were recognised by their black caps. Japanese prints often show Benkei wearing this cap.

Benkei is said to have posted himself at Gojo Bridge in Kyoto, where he deprived every passing swordsman of his weapon, eventually collecting 999 swords. On his 1000th duel, Benkei was defeated by Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a son of the warlord Minamoto no Yoshitomo. Henceforth, he became a retainer of Yoshitsune and fought with him in the Genpei War against the Taira clan. Yoshitsune is credited with most of the Minamoto clan's successes against the Taira, especially the final naval battle of Dannoura. After their ultimate triumph, however, Yoshitsune's elder brother Minamoto Yoritomo, turned against him.

During the two year ordeal that followed, Benkei accompanied Yoshitsune as an outlaw. In the end they were encircled in the castle of Koromogawa no tate. As Yoshitsune retired to the inner keep of the castle to commit ritualistic suicide (seppuku) on his own, Benkei fought on at the bridge in front of the main gate to protect Yoshitsune. It is said that the soldiers were afraid to traverse the bridge to confront him, and all that did met swift death at the hands of the gigantic man. Long after the battle should have been over, the soldiers noticed that the arrow-riddled, wound-covered Benkei was standing still. Upon further inspection after daring to cross the bridge, the giant fell to the ground, having been dead in a standing position for some time before that; this is known as the "Standing Death of Benkei (Benkei no Tachi Ōjō)"(弁慶の立往生).

It is Benkei's loyalty and honour which makes him most attractive in Japanese folklore. One Kabuki play places Benkei in a moral dilemma, caught between lying and protecting his lord in order to cross a bridge. The critical moment of the drama is its climax, where the monk realises his situation and vows to do what he must. In another play, Benkei even slays his own child to save the daughter of a lord. In the kabuki play Kanjincho, filmed by Akira Kurosawa as The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail, Benkei must beat his own master (disguised as a porter) in order to avoid breaking his disguise.

The Martial Arts by Susan Ribner & Dr. Richard Chin, Harper & Row publishing, 1978

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• Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, UCLA Hammer Museum: woodcut print -- "Ushiwaka and Benki duelling on Gojo Bridge" or "Gojo Bridge, an episode from the Life of Yoshitsune, Chronicles of Yoshitsune" by Tuskioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)