The Seven Tengu Scrolls

This is a study of visual and textual images of the well-known mythical Japanese creature tengu in medieval Japan, focusing on a late 13th century illustrated hand scroll known as the Tengu zoshi. This half human, half bird trickster figure came to represent destructive, impure, and transgressive impulses. In examining representation of the tengu, the author reflects on the place and nature of evil in the medieval Buddhist imagination.