THE MYTH OF NINGYO VS MERMAID
To every culture, there is a Great age long Tradition, the origin of most of this traditions around the World remains unknown and would remain a Mystery. Some of this came around from chain of events from the past just like the Ningyo!
Ningyo is a Japanese version of Mermaids, translating to "Human Fish" or Hangyo-jin(Half Fish Human). All this are according to ancient Japanese Folklore which states a clear distinct feature between western Mermaids and the Ningyo.
Having a Monkey's mouth with small Fish-like teeth ,shining golden scales and a quiet voice like a skylark or a flute-
A couple of Asian countries lacks Legends about the western Mermaid(as described by early Explorers) but they own strong myths about snake spirits which could transform into human, half-man half-serpent called Nagas/Nagini by indians. This spirit of the water are comparable to mermaids because of their close features e.g Beautiful, Seductive, Innocent and Vengeful.
Early Explorers tells tales of their sea expeditions giving details of their mermaid encounters, this had prompted Japanese traders to create a coy in a Monkey with a fish tail as Ningyos were described and called them "Ningyo dolls". This cause a great mislead and misinformation to the European Explorers who thought they had seen something similar in the Asian Coasts.
In 1880, the legend of Ningyo was adopted and the news spread all the way to China from Japan. even though it had been seen periodically in Japanese Folklore tales; but not as friendly as the Western description of Mermaid by these drunks and home sick sailors who had interchanged their wives at home with this image of mermaids found at Sea.
Unfortunately, there has not been enough concrete evidence about Mermaids except as depicted in Books and Movies, but this features of Mermaids and Ningyo granting wishes to Human, and their underwater habitat makes this creatures essentially similar. It was acclaimed that early western explorers have egocentric take on foreign folklore, hence they had a choice to appropriate or blend their own myth with those of foreigners.
The Western-centric/Eurocentrism Knowledge of this different begins had caused confusion, this two creatures have their supernatural powers which makes them cousins e.g all the Havoc at Sea is blamed upon Mermaids while Ningyo are known to cause stormy weathers when captured. So also is the believe of catching a mermaid would grant humans their wishes, and the meat of a Ningyo when eaten is rumored to grant immortality.
Scientifically, the authenticity of the existence of mermaids has caused several debates and social brouhaha for decades now, for this reasons; people had fallen in love with this creatures, some even worshiped them in some regions of the world and a lot of people would be thrilled if they actually Existed!
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That picture of that shriveled mermaid-like object had been circulating online and had been proved to be fake. That is the work of Juan Cabana http://www.thefeejeemermaid.com/gallery.htm who manufactures and sell mummified mermaids.
But man would always be interested in mermaids.
I wish they dont exist for real, there have been real time documentaries on Mermaid and i could bet 100% they are real.
It's easy to fake things, under thorough scrutiny it all turns to hoaxes. But as with most things that are shrouded in mystery, we can only hope the truth comes out.
"snake spirits which could transform into human, half-man half-serpent called Nagas/Nagini by indians." - @oluwoleolaide
Thank you for your post! I am going off on a tangent here but this immediately made me think of Nagini - Voldemort's snake. We do not get too much information about her, other than that she is extremely powerful. I had always assumed that this power came from her being bound to Voldemort as a horcrux but now with your post I am wondering if she was one of these snake spirits - perhaps from a strong line. I wonder if she made the autonomous choice to join with Voldemort. He does treat her more gently and respectfully than almost any human and puts more trust in her too. I always thought that this was only because she was literally a part of him. An origin story about Nagini would be very interesting! Thanks for the food for thought!
Wow!
Thanks for Linking it with Harry Potter, it never occured to me that way...
Great post, nigeriyo is a mystery indeed, and it looks terrifying in the picture, inspite of Disney make it look like a pretty thing for young lads, you can see that it's logic skin can never be underwater, so no arial is pretty Disney redheaded mermaid, lol,
Have seen quite a lot movies on mermaids. Scary though.
Never knew in reality, there could be an existence in mermaids as depicted in movies.
Informative mysterious mermaid article. Lol!
Good post. Today I've learned something new and thank you for that :)
Do mermaid really exist??? If they do that means they are atlantians ... And that means Atlantis ain't a myth. But a creation with half fish and half human are supernatural. We we're told when we were kids that they do exist but no prove yet. I search online but no scientific proof yet.
Nice post good to know
beautiful post
I have been hearing about mermaids since I was small. It was so common that some of my classmates in primary school claimed to have encountered her so many times by the river bank. Though they could not have a good look as it disappeared inside the water immediately she was spotted. It is always a fascinating topic. Thanks for the post and your kindness in sharing.
i think mermaid is an imagination by the locals. Science does not give any explanation yet. Some day before there was a mermaid caught in india and had a 7 sec video that went viral. And that's it.... No one can say about it later.