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1. Japan was so termed in ancient times.
2. I.e., Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami or the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Goddess. The Goddess has an aspect of the deification of the sun as well as a trace of a human ancestress who once actually existed.
3. In ancient Japanese mythology, the name of the Moon-God is Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto or His-Augustness-Moon-Night-Possessor (or Moon-Night-Darkness), i.e., the God of the Night-Dominion.
4. Correctly expressed, Takehaya-Susano-O-no-Mikoto or His-Brave-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness is surely the deification of the rainstorm, although we admit that there are also some traces of an historical human being in him.
5. Vide Dr. G. Katō’s Article on Ame-no-Minakanushi-no-Kami in T.A.S.J., as regards this God, who probably is the highest God worshipped in the so-called primitive monotheism of Japan.
6. (1) In the Maeda manuscripts, (2) in the manuscript of the Kogoshūi to which reference is made by Mikannagi-Kiyonao (a Shintō priest of the Ise Shrine), as being preserved in the house of a certain Kawasaki-Kiyoatsu, (3) in the book Kogoshūi-Genyosho by Tatsuno-Hirochika (Japanese edition, vol. I, p. 10), (4) in the textual passage of the Kogoshūi quoted in the Ruiju-Jingi-Hongen p. 58 (Japanese edition, vol. III, p. 21. The Zoku-Zoku-Gunsho-Ruijū), (5) in the Gengenshū (Japanese edition, vol. II, p. 11), etc., we read:
“When Heaven and Earth separated, the God named Ame-no-Minakanushi-no-Kami, who was born in the midst of Heaven, had three sons of whom the eldest, Takami-Musubi-no-Kami, i.e., Sumeragamutsu-Kamurogi-no-Mikoto, is the ancestor of the Tomo and Saeki families; the second son, Tsuhaya-Musubi-no-Kami, i.e., Sumeragamutsu-Kamuromi-no-Mikoto, is the ancestor of the Nakatomi family of Asomi rank; and the youngest one, Kamumi-Musubi-no-Kami, is the ancestor of the Ki family of Atae rank.”
In the divine genealogy of the Sendai-Kuji-Hongi, Tsuhaya-Musubi-no-Mikoto (the word “Mikoto” is used indifferently with “Kami”) has a son, called Ame-no-Koyane-no-Mikoto, who is the ancestor of the Nakatomi family of Muraji rank (I.e., the seventh of the eight classes of nobility created by the Emperor Temmu in A.D. 684, and given to the heads of certain corporations. Vide the Sendai-Kuji-Hongi. The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. VII, p. 177).
In the Shinsen-Shōjiroku or Catalogue of Family Names Newly Compiled by Prince Manta, the writer states that Ame-no-Koyane-no-Mikoto is the great grandson of Tsuhaya-Musubi-no-Kami (Vide the late Prof. Kurita, The Shinsen-Shōjiroku-Kōshō or Commentary on the Catalogue of Family Names Newly Compiled by Prince p. 59 Manta, Japanese edition, vol. VIII, pp. 537, 538. vol. XVI, p. 1017).
7. Vide Sir Ernest Satow’s Article on the Toshigoi-Matsuri-no-Norito or Shintō Ritual of Praying for Harvest, elucidating the meaning of the names Sumeragamutsu-Kamurogi and Kamuromi-no-Mikoto (T.A.S.J., vol. VII, p. 114).
8. The second of the eight classes of Court Nobles established by the Emperor Temmu (A.D. 684). The eight classes are:—the first Mabito, the second Asomi, the third Sukune, the fourth Imiki, the fifth Michi-no-Shi, the sixth Omi, the seventh Muraji, and the eighth Inaki. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. II. p. 365.
9. In the Nihongi, he is called Amatsu-Hiko-Hikoho-no-Ninigi-no-Mikoto. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 64.
10. The third of the eight classes of Court Nobles. The title implies an hereditary rank of nobility.
11. In the Nihongi version, the ancestor of the Imbe family of Ki-I Province. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 81.
12. Ha-Akarutama in one account of the Nihongi appears to be Kushi-Akarutama-no-Mikoto. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 37. The late Prof. Kurita of the Tōkyō Imperial University identified Kushi-Akarutama-no-Mikoto with Toyo-tama-Hime-no-Mikoto of the Nihongi (ibid., vol. I, p. 47) and Ame-no-Akarutama of the same book (ibid., vol. I, p. 49). Vide the late Prof. Kurita’s Shinsen-Shōjiroku-Kōshō or Commentary p. 60 on the Catalogue of Family Names Newly Compiled by Prince Manta (Japanese edition, vol. XI, p. 791).
The Tamatsukuri or Jewel-making family is a sub-division of the Imbe family resident in Izumo Province.
13. In ancient Japan, a rare jewel being regarded as a divine object, possessed a magical influence, and was a kind of fetish; so, for the simple-minded Japanese of old, it was possible that through the magical virtue of the jewels a child was born.
In the Sendai-Kuji-Hongi, the Japanese reader is very familiar with a certain jewel of magical virtue, called “Makaru-Kaeshi-no-Tama,” i.e., the “Jewel endowed with a miraculous power of restoring the dead to life” (Vide the Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. VII, pp. 321, 322).
The Nihongi also mentions two notable magical gems, which Hikohohodemi-no-Mikoto used as amulets, talismans or charms, in time of peril. They are known as the Shiomitsu-Ni and Shiohiru-Ni, i.e., the Tide-flowing and Tide-ebbing Jewels (Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 94).
The Kojiki mentions a divinized jewel, which being the necklace of the God Izanagi was actually regarded as a divinity called Mikuratana-no-Kami (B. H. Chamberlain, E.T.K., p. 43).
From the Kojiki we learn that the divine emblem of the Himekoso Shrine is a crimson jewel (B. H. Chamberlain, E.T.K., p. 258).
14. Akatsu-no-Mikoto is an abbreviation of Masaka-Akatsu-Kachihayahi-Ame-no-Oshihomimi-no-Mikoto, p. 61 usually abbreviated as Ame-no-Oshihomimi-no-Mikoto (B. H. Chamberlain, ibid., pp. 48, 93).
As regards the expression “wakigo” in connection with this, vide K. A. Florenz’s German translation of the Kogoshūi (Die Historischen Quellen der Shintō-Religion, S. 448) and Nasa-Katsutaka’s Giosai. Imbe-no-Hironari’s etymological explanation of the words “wakigo” and “wakago” is hardly credible.
15. This passage will bear three constructions; viz., the first being that of the author of the Kogoshūi: Susano-O’s “Setting up rods at the rice-fields” may indicate that he claimed the possession of the rice-fields. Sometimes he used dividing ropes, in place of rods, as signs of ownership. Secondly, as Aston thinks, “Setting up combs at the rice-fields” might be interpreted as having a magical meaning, but this explanation is not quite satisfactory (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 48). And thirdly, we ourselves rather agree with Dr. K. A. Florenz who interpreted the action of erecting rods in the deep mud of the rice-fields to be simply a mischievous design to injure the barefooted Japanese peasantry labouring in the paddy fields (K. A. Florenz, English translation of the Ōharai-no-Norito. T.A.S.J., vol. XXVII, pp. 80, 81).
16. The author of the Kogoshūi, misled by the Chinese character “he” (戶) which literally means “door,” gave the above-quoted interpretation, but the true meaning of the word p. 62 “kusohe” is simply “to discharge excreta,” and in the present instance, as regards both the Kojiki and Nihongi accounts, it can be readily seen that the rude Susano-O-no-Kami’s bad intention was to pollute his divine sister’s Sacred Hall before the Autumnal Harvest Festival, by evacuating his excreta in that building
17. “Ame-no-Yasu-no-Kawara” in Japanese. Aston translates as “The Bank of the Tranquil River of Heaven,” but he seems to have been misled by the Chinese characters used in the Nihongi, and so to have rendered them too literally. The true meaning seems to be that which we have rendered into English in the present text.
18. According to the Ōtonohogai-no-Norito or Ritual of the Luck-wishing of the Great-Palace (Ritual for Bringing Good Fortune to the Great Palace), not “measures of varying size,” but “consecrated axes, large and small,” may seem to be meant. Vide Sir E. Satow, Ancient Japanese Rituals, part III, No. 8 (T.A.S.J.).
19. According to the Nihongi (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 43), the Yasakani, or Yasaka Jewels, i.e., the Ever-bright Curved Jewels.
20. The identity of this tree is uncertain. Some Japanese commentators say that the word “oke” was probably inserted here by mistake.
21. With regard to the parallel passages in the Kojiki and the Nihongi, “ukefuse” signifies “to put a tub bottom upwards,” p. 63 and in this instance Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto performed a divine dance on the tub, stamping until it resounded like a drum, and thereby coming into union with the Divine, i.e., as though she were herself possessed by the divine spirit. The original expression “ukefuse” never conveys the idea of an oath, which the author of the Kogoshūi erroneously accepted.
22. “Shimenawa” is the ordinary form of the rather archaic “shirikumenawa.” According to B. H. Chamberlain, in perfect agreement with the learned Moto-Ori, “shirikumenawa” denotes straw rope so constructed that the roots of the straw project and are visible at the end of the rope. Moto-Ori’s explanation shows that this is more likely to be the proper significance of the word than “back-limiting-rope” (“shirihe-kagiri-me-nawa”) which, as Kamo-Mabuchi had previously suggested, might have originated when the event narrated in the legend was described (B. H. Chamberlain, E.T.K., p. 59). According to our view, “shime” may mean “to forbid,” just as “shimeno” denotes a “forbidden field,” so that the land encircled by a rope is simply taboo, i.e., a sacred precinct forbidden to be approached or trodden upon by ordinary unclean feet. Since the entrance to the Rock-Cave was barred by a similar rope, this “shimeno” was probably a tabooed forbidden ground or sanctuary, which laymen must not enter. We cannot understand the explanation given in a note in the Kogoshūi that this rope represents “the sun’s shadow.”
23. I.e., the Goddess of the Great August Palace. Sir Ernest Satow considers that this Goddess is simply a “Personification of the successive generations of the Mikado’s consorts” (T.A.S.J., vol. VII, p. 122). Vide note 56.
24. Literally, “tayo” means “abundant, strong or powerful,” and “iwa” “rock,” but in this case its true meaning is “strong, enduring, eternal,” and “mado” is a “window,” or “gate.” So Toyo-Iwamado-no-Mikoto signifies “the Powerful God of the Strong Gate.”
25. Kushi-Iwamado-no-Mikoto means “the Wonderful God of the Strong Gate.”
26. The culture hero Ōnamuchi-no-Kami is better known as Ōkuninushi-no-Kami, who first ruled over Izumo Province, as a local god.
27. Nowadays it is very difficult to ascertain the location of the Tokoyo-no-Kuni, for it is referred to in different ways by the Kojiki and the Nihongi. In our opinion, the word Tokoyo-no-Kuni possibly had three different meanings: the first, literally speaking, being the “Eternal Land,” or the “Land of Eternal Bliss,” or “Paradise”; the second, the “Land of Eternal Night-Darkness” or “Underworld”; and the third, a most distant country, although it exists somewhere on the earth, very far away from Japan.
28. According to the Nihongi, this Edict was issued by Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami alone (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 77).
29. Both the Kojiki and Nihongi accounts of this tradition mention three Sacred Treasures, namely, the Jewels, the Mirror, and the Sword, which have been handed down in the Imperial family as the Divine Heirlooms, without whose possession no Emperor can legitimately ascend the Throne of Japan. However, the Ōtonohogai—a Shintō Ritual in the Engishiki (10th century A.D.)—mentions only the Sacred Mirror and the Divine Sword, in this agreeing with the Jingiryō or Shintō Administrative Law in the 8th century A.D. Clearly, therefore, Imbe-no-Hironari mentioned this fact, as it is stated in the Jingiryō and in the Ōtonohogai, but the oldest traditions clearly include the Jewels in the Divine Imperial Heirloom, and that there are three is the universally held belief as witnessed by the expression “Sanshu-no-Shinki” (Three Kinds of Divine Insignia). In the Nihongi it is not two deities (Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami and Takami-Musubi-no-Kami), but only one deity (Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami) that confers the Divine Imperial Heirloom upon the Heavenly Grandson (Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 76).
30. In one account the Nihongi ascribes this Edict to Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami alone, and he who receives her command is not the Heavenly Grandson but her son Ame-no-Oshihomimi-no-Mikoto. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 83.
31. In both the Kojiki and Nihongi accounts, five instead of three heavenly attendants, called the “Gods of the Five Hereditary Corporations”, are mentioned—the two additional divinities being Ishikoritome-no-Mikoto and Tamanoya-no-Mikoto.
32. The Nihongi ascribes the first half (“We.....welfare of the Heavenly Grandson”) of this Edict to Takami-Musubi-no-Kami alone. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, pp. 81, 82.
33. In the Nihongi, the words of this Edict, “Guarding him in your attendance under the same roof against all emergencies,” are ascribed to Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami alone (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 83).
34. The passage, “Serving him with the rice of the consecrated above,” is ascribed to Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami alone in the Nihongi account. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 83.
35. Certain commentators on the Kujiki (Chronicles of the Old Matters of Former Ages) explain that “those Gods” are the Thirty-Two Gods, mentioned in the Kujiki, who, besides the “Gods of the Five Hereditary Corporations,” accompanied the Heavenly Grandson towards the earth.
36. The Nihongi ascribes the Edict to Takami-Musubi-no-Kami alone. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I,. p. 81.
37. I.e., Chimata-no-Kami.
38. Later, Saruta-Hiko, Ame-no-Uzume, Chimata-no-Kami (or the God Yachimata-Hiko and the Goddess Yachimata-Hime), Sae-no-Kami, Dōsojin, and Funado-no-Kami constitute a class of Japanese phallic gods (as well as guardian gods of travellers and p. 67 divine warders against epidemic diseases), and curiously enough Saruta-Hiko, an ancient phallic god, is represented as a moral teacher in the writings of certain authors (e.g., Yamazaki-Ansai) during the Tokugawa Régime.
39. Cf. B. H. Chamberlain, E.T.K., p. 110, note 33 and p. 113, note 2.
40. According to the compilers of the Nihongi, this is Hiko-nagisatake-Ugaya-Fuki-Aezu-no-Mikoto, who is no other than the father of Japan’s first human Emperor, Jimmu-Tennō, whose enthronement ceremony took place, according to tradition, in 660 B.C.
41. Most modern scholars, whether native or foreign, are of opinion that the reign of that Emperor really began some hundreds of years later.
42. The Emperor Jimmu started on an expedition for the so-called “Eastern Conquest” from Kyūshū, the western districts of Japan, to Yamato in the east, so the “eastern provinces” here referred to denotes the Yamato districts.
43. By this Nagasune-Hiko is meant. He was one of the most stubborn opponents of the Emperor Jimmu and was killed by Nigihayahi-no-Mikoto, according to the Nihongi account (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 128).
44. According to the Nihongi, this man met the Emperor Jimmu at the port of Hayasui in Bungo Province and was employed in the service of the Imperial army whilst en route to Usa in Buzen Province, and afterwards he was ordered to ascend Mt. Kagu in p. 68 Yamato in disguise and there obtain a small lump of earth which it was indispensable to use when invoking the gods for victory. He succeeded in bringing it back safely to the Imperial camp despite the vigilance of his foes (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 112).
45. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 116.
46. In archaic Japanese “mi-araka” means “august or divine abode,” i.e., “Imperial Palace.”
47. Here the Sovereign Grandson means the Emperor Jimmu.
48. “Miki” means “august wood,” i.e., “sacred timbers.”
49. This is another Awa in the Kantō, in contradistinction to that of Shikoku, where the descendants of Hiwashi-no-Mikoto dwelt. It is often called Bōshū, and is now a portion of Chiba Prefecture. So in this text Awa-Kōri means the present Awa or Bōshū Province.
50. I.e., Takami-Musubi-no-Kami and Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami, according to the author of the Kogoshūi.
51. Vide p. 17.
52. Vide p. 17.
53. This is a divine spirit who takes charge of a person’s soul and prevents it from going astray, leaving its body behind. Hence, we have the Mitamashizume-no-Matsuri or Ceremony for Calming the August Spirit of an Emperor at the Enthronement p. 69 Ceremony (Vide W. G. Aston, Shintō, or the Way of the Gods, p. 292).
54. This is a Divine Spirit who inspires men with life.
55. Through the influence of this Divine Spirit, one’s physical health is received and invigorated. This God is probably another aspect of the Divine Spirit Iku-Musubi.
56. Vide pp. 22, 64. In the Shintō Ritual of Ōtonohogai (Luck-wishing or Blessing of the Great Palace) or Shintō Prayer to the Guardian Gods of the Imperial Palace the favour of the same Goddess is invoked for the protection of the Imperial Palace from every ill. Hirata identified this Goddess with Ame-no-Uzume or Miyabi-no-Kami (Hirata-Atsutane, The Miyami-no-Kami-Godenki. The Collected Works, Japanese edition, vol. XV, note 20 b).
57. This is a divine son of Ōkuninushi-no-Kami of Izumo Province, who, on Kotoshironushi’s stern warning, willingly sacrificed his life through loyalty to the Emperor, after surrendering the governance of his country to the Heavenly Grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto. So to the end Kotoshironushi-no-Kami remained exceedingly faithful to the Imperial cause, and therefore according to some Japanese commentators he was afterwards looked up to as one of the guardian spirits of the Imperial House.
58. I.e., the Goddess of Food; hence some of the Japanese commentators have identified her with Toyouke-Hime or Toyouke-Daijin of the Outer Shrine in Ise.
59. I.e., the Shintō Priestesses at the Imperial Court who were attached to the Jingikan or Department for the Worship of the Shintō Gods.
60. Kushi-Iwamado-no-Kami (supra note 25), the Wonderful God of the Strong Gate, i.e., the Divine-Wonderful-Strong-Gate-Keeper. Toyo-Iwamado-no-Kami (supra note 24), the Powerful God of the Strong Gate, i.e., the Divine-Abundant-Strong-Gate-Keeper. Moto-Ori suggests that either name is used in the Kojiki (Moto-Ori, The Kojiki-Den or Commentary on the Kojiki, vol. XV. The Collected Works, Japanese edition, vol. I, p. 877) to indicate one and the same God, Ame-no-Iwatowake-no-Kami. Both Gods are divine guardians of the Imperial Gates, according to one of the Shintō Rituals of the Engishiki or Institutes of the Engi Period (A.D. 901-923). As regards the eight deities enshrined at the Jingikan, i.e., the Department for the Worship of the Shintō Gods, Sir Ernest Satow’s learned comments deserve our attention (Vide T.A.S.J., vol. VII, p. 109 and pp. 120-123).
61. What the “God of Ikushima” really means is not very clear, but it appears to be the chief local guardian spirit by whose virtue the locality or country (region or island) exists.
62. I.e., Japan, as then known.
63. The meaning of the word “Ikasuri” is a burning question in learned disputations, but it seems to us that the Gods are special guardian spirits of the Imperial Court-Grounds. According to the commentators Ikebe and Kubo, “Ikasuri” is p. 71 “Igashiri” which means “dwelling place,” hence the word “Ikasuri” in the text means the grounds of the Imperial Court, and the author of the Kogoshūi probably understood by it the special guardian spirits of the Imperial Court-Grounds.
64. The sword here referred to is the Murakumo Sword, which Susano-O-no-Mikoto found in the tail of the monster serpent when he slew it in Izumo; and the Yata-no-Kagami or Eight-hand-span or Large Mirror is believed to be the same mirror which Ishikoritome-no-Mikoto constructed and with which he induced the Sun-Goddess Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami to quit her retreat in the Rock-Cave and restore blessings to mankind by illuminating the heavens and the earth with the radiance of her bounteous light.
65. This Ritual is included in the Engishiki or Institutes of the Engi Period. Vide Sir E. Satow’s English translation of the same (T.A.S.J., vol. IX, p. 190).
66. By this Imbe-no-Hironari may mean either some other book than the Kogoshūi that he himself wrote, or a book very well known to him, but the reader should not mistake it for the Engishiki, which was not yet compiled in Hironari’s time.
67. The case is similar to the above.
68. The heavenly offences are such, for example, as were committed by Susano-O-no-Mikoto, brother of the Sun-Goddess Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami, in Heaven.
69. The earthly offences mentioned in the Engishiki or Institutes of the Engi Period are the following: “Abnormal offences against nature, such as cutting the living skin; cutting the dead skin; being an albino; being affected with excrescences; the offence of a son’s intercourse with his own mother, or that of a father with his own daughter; the offence of one’s cohabiting with both a mother and her daughter; the offence of cohabiting with animals; calamity caused by crawling worms (or accidents through being bitten by snakes or centipedes, etc.); calamity brought by the gods on high (or calamity sent by the Thunder-Gods, i.e., being struck by lightning); calamity caused by the birds on high (calamity caused, or damage done, by birds in the air); killing animals belonging to other people; the offence of using magical incantations.”
I have here taken the liberty to quote with slight alteration from Dr. K. A. Florenz’s English translation of the Ōharai-no-Norito or Ritual of the Great Purification (T.A.S.J., vol.XXVII, p. 61).
70. Vide ibid., the Ōharai-no-Norito or Ritual of the Great Purification (T.A.S.J., vol.XXVII).
71. Vide p. 30 supra.
72. The present Shiki-no-Kami and Shiki-no-Shimo in Yamato Province.
73. This old village, which the late Dr. Yoshida-Tōgo mentions in his book Dainihon-Chimei-Jisho or Dictionary of the Geographical Names in Japan Considered Historically (Japanese p. 73 edition, vol. I, p. 271), is not yet identified. It was possibly located at Chihara in Ota-Mura, according to the Shigaku-Zosshi or Historical Magazine referred to in the same book of Dr. Yoshida-Tōgo.
74. The meaning of this song is not quite clear. Even the Japanese commentators find difficulties in apprehending it, and differ in their explanations. The song may mean:—
“What a delightfully happy evening this grand banquet gives us courtiers, who at the Ceremony of the Removing of the Divine Insignia greatly enjoy ourselves throughout the whole night! O how auspicious is the snow scene this night!”
Or, the song may be read as follows:—
“We courtiers present at the Ceremony of the Removal of the Divine Insignia now enjoy great pleasure at the grand banquet throughout the whole night in the fine sacred Yuki Hall!”
As we see above, some commentators understand “snow” by the word “yuki,” whilst others interpret it as the name of a Shintō Worship Hall (or Pavilion), “Yuki” (or “Yuki-Den”), which is newly built for the Shintō Rites held at each Emperor’s Enthronement.
Taking into consideration what Ban-Nobutomo suggests in his autographic annotations to the Kogoshūi and in reference to certain passages in the Nihon-Sandai-Jitsuroku describing the scenes of the Daijō Feast at the Enthronement Ceremony of the Emperor Kōkō on the 23rd and 25th days of the 11th month in p. 74 the 8th year (A.D. 884) of Gengyō (Vide the Nihon-Sandai-Jitsuroku, vol. XLVI. The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. IV, p. 648), we may interpret the obscure meaning of the song as follows:
“Let us courtiers make merry the whole night through! Oh, how fine for us courtiers is the sacred ‘sake’ drink!”
“What a fine long robe each courtier wears at the Ceremony of Removing the Divine Insignia; it reaches below the knees!”
75. According to Tachibana-no-Moribe, one of the ablest scholars of the Tokugawa Régime, it reads as follows:—
“The courtiers’ fine long robes, reaching below the knees; how magnificent they look!”
(Vide Tachibana-no-Moribe, The Kagura-Uta-Iriaya. The Moribe-Zenshū or Collected Works, Japanese edition, vol. VII, p. 57).
Another interpretation advanced by Ikebe-no-Mahari for the first song in question is this:
“We courtiers have enjoyed ourselves greatly until late at night, singing, dancing, and gently striking the knees with our hands. O how happy and pleasant it is to-night at the Ceremony of Removing the Divine Insignia!”
The same author renders the meaning of the second song as follows:
“What a fine, long robe each courtier in the suite wears at the Ceremony of the Removing of the Divine Insignia! It reaches to the knees. Oh, how splendid is the procession to the Divine p. 75 Insignia!”
Vide Ikebe-no-Mahari, The Kogoshūi-Shinchu, or A New Commentary on the Kogoshūi, Japanese edition, vol. VI, p. 22.
Cf. B.H. Chamberlain, E.T.K., p. 298. The Emperor Ingyō.
Two other similar songs of the same sort, according to the Kōtaijingū-Gishikichō, were sung at the Ise Shrine of the Sun-Goddess, on the occasion of the Sacred Feast. These songs are:
“The courtiers are enjoying themselves very much striking their knees gently, the sound re-echoes through the Sacred Hall!”
“At the joyous divine feast in the Sacred Hall at Isuzu, the sound of the courtiers’ striking their knees echoes and re-echoes all over the Hall!”
(The Kōtaijingū-Gishikichō or Book on the Ceremonial Rites for Each Month round the Whole Year at the Inner Shrine of Ise. The Gunsho-Ruijū edited by the Keizaizasshi-Sha, vol. I, p. 39).
76. I.e., the Emperor donated some rice-fields for tillage to the shrines together with husbandmen.
77. Makimuku is in Shiki-no-Kami-Kōri, Yamato.
78. According to the tradition recorded in the Nihongi and the Kojiki, Yamato-Hime-no-Mikoto is a daughter of Hihasu-Hime-no-Mikoto, a consort of the Emperor Suinin, and not his daughter by Saho-Hime. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 174. Also, B.H. Chamberlain, E.T.K., p. 183.
79. Vide p. 29.
The author of the Kogoshūi took the Abstinence Palace to be the abode of the Guardian Priestess Yamato-Hime-no-Mikoto, but this is incorrect. That the palace or shrine was for the Sun-Goddess herself is proved by the description given in the Nihongi.
“In compliance, therefore, with the instruction of the Great Goddess, a shrine was erected to her in the province of Ise. Accordingly, an Abstinence Palace was built beside the River Isuzu” (Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, pp. 41, 176).
Moto-Ori and Kubo agreed with the view expressed by the compilers of The Nihongi (Moto-Ori, The Kojiki-Den, vol. XV. The Collected Works, Japanese edition, vol. I, p. 859. Kubo, The Kogoshūi-Kogi or Studies and Notes on the Kogoshūi, p. 90).
80. According to the Harima-Fudoki or Ancient Topography of Harima, Ame-uo-Hihoko came to Japan from Korea in the Divine Age, and the Nihongi states that he arrived in the Emperor Suinin’s reign, whilst the Kojiki dates his arrival long before the Emperor Ōjin’s time.
According to the Kojiki and the Engishiki, the Izushi Shrine is Sacred to the Eight Divine Objects, which Ame-no-Hihoko brought with him to Japan.
81. Vide note 77.
82. Vide pp. 24, 45, 46.
83. Legend ascribes several miraculous virtues to this Sword.
Not only did Susano-O-no-Kami obtain it by slaying the p. 77 monster serpent or Japanese Python, whose tail contained it, but tradition has it that wherever the Sword might be, there also was a mass of clouds. Moreover, according to the Nihongi tradition (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 205), it was by its miraculous power that Prince Yamatotakeru himself narrowly escaped being burnt to death by his treacherous enemy in the field of Yaitsu in Suruga Province. It is surely a divine object whose supernatural presence protected the Hero-Prince from personal danger, and the primitive natives regarded it as divine, although modern critics assert that it was some kind of talisman or fetish. Wherever that Sword was, the Prince was safe (as the Kogoshūi relates), whilst through its absence he was finally led to ruin, when climbing Mt. Ibuki. In old Japan the sword was considered to be endowed with supernatural, miraculous powers. The same is true of the Kusanagi Sword. Compare the chapter “On the Sword” in the Heike-Monogatari, where the miraculous virtues of the sword are specifically described (A. L. Sadler’s English translation of the Heike-Monogatari, the Book of Swords, T.A.S.J., vol. XLIX, p. 325).
84. According to the Nihongi (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 241) and the Shoryō-Shiki of the Engishiki (The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. XIII, p. 677), we may assert with some show of probability that the Empress Jingo dwelt in the Wakasakura Palace at Iware, in Toichi-Kōri, Yamato Province, although the learned Moto-Ori in his Kojiki-Den discussed and contradicted p. 78 such a view (Moto-Ori, The Collected Works, Japanese edition, vol. III, pp. 2229-2231).
85. The Three Gods of Suminoe (now called Sumiyoshi) are Uwazutsu-no-O, Nakazutsu-no-O, and Sokozutsu-no-O. They played a prominent part among the divine guardians who accompanied the expeditionary army to Korea which the Empress Jingō commanded, and, on its return to Japan in triumph, a shrine was erected at Suminoe in Settsu Province in honour of these Gods. Cf. W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 226. B. H. Chamberlain, E.T.K., pp. 231, 233.
86. I.e., Karu in Takechi-Kōri, Yamato Province.
87. Kuso, King of Kudara, sent to Japan the learned Wani, who was descended from the Emperor Kōso (Koa-Tsu) of the Kan (Han) Dynasty.
88. In Chinese characters, 弓月 or ###通王. In the 14th year of the Emperor Ōjin (according to the Nihongi) Yutsuki arrived in Japan from Kudara and tendered his allegiance. W. G. Aston says Yutsuki in Korean would be “Kung-Wol” (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 261).
89. The ancestors of the Hata family or Shin (Chin) people and the Aya or Kan (Han) were Chinese immigrants who came through Korea to Japan.
90. “Wakasakura” literally means “early cherry blossoms.” According to the Nihongi (W .G. Aston E.T.N., vol. I, p. 307), when the Emperor Richū made a feast in a boat on the Pond of p. 79 Ichishi at Iware, a cherry blossom flowering out of season in winter fell into the Emporor’s cup of “sake,” and this incident particularly attracting the Emperor’s attention, His Majesty was pleased to name his palace after it, and the author of the Kogoshūi called it “Nochi-no-Iware-Wakasakura-no-Miya” or “Later Iware-Wakasakura Palace” in contradistinction to the palace of the same name at Iware where the Empress Jingō had dwelt. Aston throws doubt on the origin of the name, pointing out that Jingō’s palace had already borne the same title. The present commentators however are of different opinion and consider that there is no doubt that the Emperor Richū dwelt in the Wakasakura Palace and that it owed its name to the pretty story of the Nihongi mentioned above. In support of their opinion, they would point out that the name of the Empress Jingō’s palace is mentioned only in a note in the Nihongi (The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. I, p. 170), and that it is not as is customary given in the main text describing the chief events at the beginning of her reign. It should be mentioned moreover that the copy of Nihongi made during the Eikyō Era (15th century) omits this note entirely (Iida-Takesato, The Nihonshoki-Tsūshaku, Japanese edition, vol. XXXVI, p. 1955). It is true the text mentions that, in the 69th year of her reign the Empress Jingō died in the Wakasakura Palace, but it must be remembered that the Nihongi was not compiled till the 4th year of Yōrō (A.D. 720) in the Empress Genshō’s reign, and the name Wakasakura becomes prominent for the p. 80 first time in the reign of the Emperor Richū when we find the Wakasakura-Be (Corporation) formed. It was also bestowed during the Emperor Richū’s reign as a family name. Vide the Kojiki (B. H. Chamberlain, E.T.K., p. 291), the Nihongi (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, pp. 306, 307) and the Shinsen-Shōjiroku (Kurita-Hiroshi, The Shinsen-Shōjiroku-Kōshō, Japanese edition, vol. II, pp. 734, 735, 1068 and vol. I, pp. 317, 318, 319).
91. Vide “Imikura” in the Emperor Temmu’s reign, p. 44.
92. According to tradition, Achi-no-Omi crossed over to Japan in the 20th year of the Emperor Ōjin’s reign and Wani in the 16th year of the same reign.
93. The name of a place in Shiki-Kōri, Yamato Province.
94. “Uzu” or “Utsu” may mean rare and precious, and “masa” fine, superior, therefore the sub-family name might mean a family under whose care rare silks of fine quality are produced.
95. I.e., Imbe-no-Hironari’s day.
96. I.e., the Government Treasury.
97. The family in the East of the Capital (i.e., in Yamato Province) is descended from Achi-no-Omi, ancestor of the Aya (or Kan) family of Atae rank, whilst the family in the West of the Capital (Kōchi) is descended from the learned Wani of Kudara.
98. I.e., the descendants of Achi-no-Omi.
99. The name of a place in Takechi-Kōri, Yamato Province.
100. Some commentators surmise that “Byakuchi” might have been mistaken for “Byakuhō,” while others say that “Byakuhō” p. 81 is correct as it stands, because it is mentioned in the Taishokukan-Kamatari-Den or Biography of Fujiwara-no-Kamatari, where the author says that the 5th year of Byakuhō falls in the 5th year of Byakuchi in the Emperor Kōtoku’s reign. Vide the Gunsho-Ruijū, or A Collection of Miscellaneous Works (Japanese edition, vol. LXIV). Dr. H. Hoshino (and perhaps others), one of the present collaborators, advances the opinion that the expression Byakuhō or White Phœnix is simply the idealized expression of Byakuchi or White Pheasant, so that possibly “Byakuhō” and “Byakuchi” are identical, even though it is true that this has been a subject of some controversy among Japanese scholars, for, as is seen in the Emperor Shōmu’s Edict of A.D. 724 (the 1st year of Shinki), it is next to impossible to determine which is the exact date of the so-called Byakuhō and Sujaku Eras (The Shoku-Nihonki, vol. IX. The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. II, pp. 151, 152). Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 373.
101. Toyosaki-no-Miya, the Emperor Kōtoku’s Palace, is identified by some historians with the present Honjō, or Toyosaki Village, in Nishinari-Kōri, Settsu Province, while others opine that Toyosaki was on the site where Ōsaka Castle now stands.
102. Nagara is in Settsu Province.
103. Naniwa in Settsu Province is the present Ōsaka.
104. Sakashi, according to the Kachō or Lineage Book of the Imbe Family, an historical writing preserved by the Imbe family, is the son of Komaro, whose remote ancestor Tamakuahi-no-Mikoto, p. 82 mentioned in the Engishiki or Institutes of the Engi Period, descended from Ame-no-Tomi-no-Mikoto. Moreover, the same book says that Imbe-no-Muraji-Kōbe (or Kobito) was among those who compiled a history of Japan, which was begun in the year A.D. 681, in the Emperor Temmu’s reign. The Nihongi also mentions the same fact (Vide Aston, E.T.N., vol. II, p. 350). And Sakashi was the grandfather of Imbe-no-Muraji-Kōbe.
105. This court ceremonial cap is made of cloth of gold brocade with a pattern of Shōhakusen, a sacred mountain of ancient Chinese legends. Its brim, made of the same cloth, has also a pattern of Taihakusen, another legendary Chinese sacred mountain. With this ceremonial cap, the courtier wore a scarlet robe. Vide Aston, E.T.N., vol. II, p. 229.
106. Some commentators consider that it was added by some other person later than the time of Imbe-no-Hironari.
107. On the first and last days of the Divine Ceremony, the two Uraha-no-Kami, the Gods who preside over divination, were invoked, according to the Engishiki or Institutes of the Engi Period (Japanese edition, vol. I, Jingi, I, Shijisai-Jō).
Also vide W .G. Aston, Shintō, or the Way of the Gods, pp. 337-345.
Uraha-no-Kami, Futonorito-no-Kami and Kushi-Machi-no-Kami. Ban-Nobutomo, The Seibokukō, vol. I. The Ban-Nobutomo-Zenshū, Japanese edition, vol. II, p. 454.
108. Kiyomihara, a place at Asuka, in Takechi-Kōri, Yamato.
109. I.e., the reign of the Emperor Mommu (A.D. 697-707).
110. Of the fact that the first worship of the Shintō gods of the nineteen shrines in Japan was conducted by the State in the 3rd year of Keiun (A.D. 706), when it was reported that the divine names had been recorded in the documents kept in the Shintō Bureau (Vide the Shoku-Nihongi, vol. III. The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. II, p. 41).
111. The reign of the Emperor Shōmu (A.D. 724-749).
112. At this time Imimaro was the chief of the Nakatomi family.
113. When the Heavenly Grandson came to earth the divine attendants in his suite were Ame-no-Koyane-no-Mikoto, Futotama-no-Mikoto, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, Ame-no-Oshihi-no-Mikoto, etc., while those who accompanied the Emperor Jimmu were Hi-no-Omi-no-Mikoto of the Ōtomo family, Shiinetsu-Hiko, Yatagarasu, Ame-no-Tomi-no-Mikoto, Ame-no-Taneko-no-Mikoto, Nigihayahi-no-Mikoto, etc.
114. I.e., the Heavenly Grandson is Amatsu-Hiko-no-Mikoto, commonly known as Ninigi-no-Mikoto, and the first human Emperor is the Emperor Jimmu.
115. The Kojiki or Records of Ancient Matters, the Nihongi or Chronicles of Japan, etc.
116. I.e., Amaterasu-Ō-Mikami and Takami-Musubi-no-Mikoto.
117. Kaisui or Kai-Shi-Sui (Chieh-Tzu-Tui) was a retainer of p. 84 Bunkō (Wen-Kung +628 B.C.), otherwise known as Chōji (Chung-Erh), who later on became Feudal Lord of Shin (Chin) in China. Because Kenkō (Hsien-Kung +651 B.C.), father of Bunkō, under the evil influence of his favorite concubine Riki (Li-Chi), killed his eldest son Shinsei (Shen-Sheng), his heir apparent, Chōji, his second son, ran away to foreign lands. During his wanderings in various countries, Chōji had a most faithful companion, named Kai-Shi-Sui. When the fugitive heir, impoverished and forlorn, was overtaken by hunger and fatigue, this loyal retainer Kai-Shi-Sui was willing to serve him, with flesh torn off his own thighs. Some five years after Kenkō’s death, Chōji returned to his native country and restored peace and order there, after which he became Lord of Shin, when his retainers who accompanied him during his wanderings, were all duly rewarded, except Kai-Shi-Sui.
Kai-Shi-Sui, greatly incensed by the injustice of his master Chōji’s unfair rewards, retired to the Menjō mountain (Meen-Shang-Shan) as a recluse, and abandoned the world. Then the repentant Chōji never failed to send his servants to the mountain to seek for Kai-Shi-Sui, but in vain, for, sad to say, Kai-Shi-Sui had been burnt to death, since in their eagerness to find him, some thoughtless persons set fire to the forest of the mountain, hoping thus to force Kai-Shi-Sui to quit it in response to his former master’s invitation. Vide the Shiki (Shih-Chi). H. A. Giles, A Chinese Biographical Dictionary, NO. 353, p. 139.
118. This intruder was a Buddhist priest, named Dōgyō, who p. 85 meant to return to Shiragi (Silla) with the Divine Sword. Vide W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. II, p. 290.
119. Some commentators, both Japanese and foreign, as, for example, Watanabe-no-Ikarimaro and Prof. K. A. Florenz, understand by the Chinese characters 聖皇 the Emperor Shun (舜, Shun) of Ancient China. They see therefore in the passage ### a description of the religious ceremonies performed by him when he ascended the Throne in succession to the famous Emperor Gyō (堯, Yao). They base their opinion simply on the ground of the passage being identical with that in the Chinese classical book Shokyō or Shu-Ching (書經) [Shun-Ten or Shun-Tien (蕣典)]. In our opinion, however, Imbe-no-Hironari, the Japanese scholar, made use of the passage cited above merely, because of its rhetorical value in describing a similar event at the Enthronement Ceremony of his own Emperor. The present translators are inclined to support this latter view agreeing with some native commentators (Kubo, The Kogoshūi-Kōgi, Japanese edition, p. 115. Prof. K. A. Florenz, Die Historischen Quellen der Shintō Religion, S. 447. Tatsuno-Hirochika, The Kogoshūi-Genyoshū, Japanese edition, vol. III, p. 8).
120. Up to the Emperor Sujin’s time the Sacred Mirror had remained under the same roof with the sovereigns in the Imperial Palace. Vide p. 37.
121. Vide p. 21.
122. I.e., Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto. Vide p. 21.
123. Vide p. 32.
124. Vide pp. 31-33.
125. These two tabernacles are called the “Yuki-no-Miya” (“Yuki-Den”) and “Suki-no-Miya” (“Suki-Den”).
126. In Japanese, “Ōniematsuri” or “Daijōsai.”
127. As to the two ceremonies here mentioned, vide p. 31.
When the Emperor Jimmu subjugated the Yamato districts, Ame-no-Tomi-no-Mikoto was the chief priest of the Imbe family, who officiated at both ceremonies, and not Futotama-no-Mikoto. Vide p. 31.
128. The Hōki Era (A.D. 770-780), i.e., the reign of the Emperor Kō-Nin (+A.D. 782).
129. Vide the Shoku-Nihongi, Japanese edition, vol. XXXII, 1st month, 4th year of Hōki (The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. II, p. 566).
130. Apparently the Government Authorities did not accept Imbe-no-Hironari’s protest, for nearly the same expression as “Nakatomi with Imbe under him” is retained in the Engishiki or Institutes of the Engi Period (Vide the Engishiki, vol. XXXI. The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. XIII, p. 891).
131. Ame-no-Koyane-no-Mikoto of the Nakatomi family and Futotama-no-Mikoto of the Imbe family were in the Heavenly Grandson’s escort, when he descended from the Plain of High Heaven, and Ame-no-Taneko-no-Mikoto of the Nakatomi family and Ame-no-Tomi-no-Mikoto of the Imbe family were actually in p. 87 the Emperor Jimmu’s suite on his journey from Kyūshū to Yamato. Both families equally participated in Shintō celebrations.
132. The Enryaku Era (A.D. 782-805), i.e., the Emperor Kammu’s reign.
133. This princess was the Emperor Kammu’s daughter and her appointment as Guardian Priestess of the Ise Shrine was made in the 1st year of Enryaku (A.D. 782). She was entrusted with the same sacred office as her distinguished Imperial predecessors, Toyosukiiri-Hime-no-Mikoto and Yamato-Hime-no-Mikoto, had held some centuries before.
134. The Ryō-no-Shūge states that in the 5th year of Shinki (A.D. 728), by Imperial Command, the Seventh Court Rank was conferred on the hierarch Nakatomi, the offical priest attached to serve the Imperial Guardian Priestess at Ise, whilst Imbe in the same Bureau received the Eighth Court Rank, notwithstanding that this was contrary to the ancient customs and usages. At any rate one thing is certain, viz., that Nakatomi’s seniority to Imbe by one grade in Court Rank was not first inaugurated in the Enryaku Era of the Emperor Kammu, when his Imperial daughter was appointed to the Ise Shrine, as Imbe-no-Hironari erroneously states here in the text.
135. In medieval Japan, popularly known as “Dazaifu” in Kyūshū.
136. Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto was a mirth-provoking figure of an inspired prophetess who danced before the Heavenly Rock-Cave, p. 88 when myriads of gods anxiously desired to induce the Sun-Goddess to emerge from it; and from that time her descendants Sarume-no-Kimi played an important part as inspired court diviners in the Chinkonsai or Spirit-quieting Ceremony for the Emperor’s Sake (Vide the Sendai-Kuji-Hongi, vol. V, the Tenson-Hongi and the Tennō-Hongi. The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. VII, pp. 264, 322).
As for the idea attached to “spirit” by the ancient Japanese, vide W .G. Aston, Shintō, or the Way of the Gods, p. 27, and his E.T.N., vol. I, p. 61. Also consult his E.T.N., vol. II, p. 373, as regards the origin and nature of this “Spirit-quieting Ceremony.”
137. The ancestral god of the Kagamitsukuri is Ishikori-tome-no-Kami (vide p. 20, et passim), that of the Tamatsukuri is Kushi-Akarutama-no-Mikoto (p. 17), that of the Tatenui is Hikosashiri-no-Kami (The Sendai-Kuji-Hongi, the Tenson-Hongi. The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. VII, p. 225), that of the Shizuri is Ame-no-Hazuchio-no-Kami (p. 20), that of the Omi is Nagashiraha-no-Kami, and the Ancestral Goddess of the Kanhatori is Ame-no-Tanabata-Hime-no-Kami (p. 20).
138. The 9th year of Shōhō (i.e., Tempyō-Shōhō) of the Emperor Kōken’s reign falls in A.D. 757.
139. A case, contrary to this Imperial Ordinance, occurred in the 2nd year of Tempyō-Hōji (A.D. 758), when Kawachi-no-Kimi, Imbe-no-Sukune-Hitonari, and Nakatomi-no-Asomi-Ikemori, p. 89 were appointed Imperial Envoys to the Ise Shrine (Vide the Shoku-Nihongi, vol. XXI. The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition. vol. II, p. 356).
140. The tutelary god of a locality, or the god of land. Some (not very convincingly) identify this god with the Ōkuninushi-no-Kami of Izumo Province.
141. Mitoshi-no-Kami, the God of Rice-Crops, is said to be a grandson of Susano-O-no-Kami.
142. The meaning of the words “katakannagi” and “hijikannagi” is not very clear. Some conjecture that they represent two kinds of diviners (whether male or female is uncertain), one is literally “shoulder-diviner,” and the other “elbow-diviner;” the one being an augur who obtains an omen by means of a bird called “shitodo” (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. II, p. 345, note 3) or a Japanese meadow bunting (emberiza ciopsis), the other, a diviner by means of rice-grains and a domestic cooking-furnace ring. Some commentators surmise that “katakannagi” is a diviner who takes charge of the divination for an ordinary dry field, while “hijikannagi” is a diviner for a wet rice-field, so entrusted with the work of divination for it (Cf. Ban-Nobutomo, The Seibokukō or Enquiries into Genuine Divination. The Ban-Nobutomo-Zenshū or Collected Works, Japanese edition, vol. II, pp. 533-536. Hirata-Atsutane, the Koshiden or Exposition of the Ancient Histories, Japanese edition, vol. XIX, pp. 26-29).
And, moreover, in ancient Japan, the domestic cooking furnace p. 90 was regarded as a god and enjoyed an offical worship. Vide the Engishiki. The Kokushi-Taikei, Japanese edition, vol. XIII, p. 135.
W. G. Aston left the two difficult words “hijikannagi” and “katakannagi” untouched in his book on Shintō (Vide W. G. Aston Shintō, or the Way of the Gods, p. 196).
Matsushita-Kenrin seems to understand by the Kogoshūi passage in question a kind of divination practised by means of the bones of the “shitodo” bird, the Japanese meadow bunting. Vide the Isho-Nihonden or Exposition of the Foreign Notices of Japan. (Japanese edition, vol. I, 1, p. 11).
143. Anciently a white wild boar, but in later times a white pig, when white wild boars became unobtainable. A somewhat parallel passage is extant in the Mahāyāna Buddhist Sūtra Bussetsu-Jokyō-Saigen-Kyō or the Sūtra on Removing Fear, Misfortune, and Anxiety (Skt. Śrīkaṇṭha Sūtra. Nanjiō’s Catalogue, No. 398).
The Sūtra says that when the Buddha Śākyamuni was staying in the Veṇuvanavihāra at Rājagṛha a terribly virulent epidemic disease was raging in Vaiśāh, of which countless people there died daily. The Government Authorities were at a loss how to act. A Brahman priest proposed to propitiate the angry gods, or demons, by erecting an altar in their honour. Another Brahman priest advised that a great temple be erected at the cross-roads in the capital to propitiate these gods, or demons. A third advised a still more efficacious remedy, viz., to worship the gods or demons by offering several hundreds of white-coloured animals p. 91 —horses, camels, cows, sheep, cocks, and dogs.
A very similar case is mentioned in a history of China, entitled “Sui-Shu” (隋書), published by command of the Chinese Government under the supervision of Wei-Chêng (魏徵) in A.D. 636. Some old religious customs of Chên-La (真臘), the modern Cambodia, are described as follows:—
“During the 5th and 6th months every year, when the climate is very unhealthy, the people offer white wild boars, white oxen, and white sheep in sacrifice outside the western gate of the citadel, believing that if they did not do so the harvest of ‘five cereals’ would be bad, their ‘six domestic animals’ die, and the people suffer from pestilence” (The Sui-Shu, Chinese edition, vol. LXXXII, vide the Chên-La).
144. Scrophularia Oldhami Oliv.
145. Belamcanda punctata Moench (=B. chinensis Lem.).
146. Coix Lacryma-Jobi L.
147. Xanthoxylum piperitum D C.
149. We find the myth of Pan-Ku in a certain Chinese book, entitled Teiō-Goun-Rekinenki (Ti-Wang-Wu-Yun-Li-Nien-Chi). Cf. Nimbō, The Jutsu-I-Ki (Jen-Fang, The Shu-I-Chi).
We venture to use Aston’s quotation from Mayer’s Chinese Manual (p. 174), which says, “Pan-Ku came into being in the Great Waste. His origin is unknown. When dying, he gave birth to the existing material universe. His breath was transmuted p. 92 into the wind and clouds; his voice into thunder; his left eye into the sun, his right eye into the moon; his four limbs and five extremities into the four quarters of the globe and the five great mountains, his blood into the rivers; his muscles and veins into the strata of the earth, his flesh into the soil, etc.” (W. G. Aston, E.T.N., vol. I, p. 28). A similar idea is also found in the Ṛg Veda (x, 9) which, like the Chinese myth of Pan-Ku, says that the moon came from the God Brahmā’s mind, the sun from his eye, the great Gods, Indra and Agni, from his mouth; whilst the Wind-God Vāyū came from his breath, and the earth and sky were formed from his feet and head.
Another Buddhist Sūtra similarly described the Brahmanistic God Maheśvara:
“The God Maheśvara,—the ethereal heaven is his head, the earth is his body, the water is his urine, the mountains are his excrements, all the living beings are worms in his belly, the wind is his vital breath, the air his bodily heat, both good and evil are the Karma or constituents of his character” (The Gedō-Shōjō-Nehan-Ron. Nanjiō’s Catalogue, No. 1260).
150. An allusion to the Tendainofu (Tien-Tai-Fu) by Sonshaku (Sun-Cho) in the Monzen (Wen-Hsuan), one of the Chinese Classics. Vide also the Shūsuihen (Chiu-Shui-Pien), by Sōshi (Chuang-Tzu), a follower of Rōshi (Lao-Tzu) and contemporary of Mōshi (Meng-Tzu, Mencius) in the 4th century B.C., according to the Chinese tradition.
151. In other words, Japan.
152. Gyō (Yao) and Shun (Shun) are the prototype of ideal Emperors in ancient China.
153. I.e., all over the world.
154. In certain editions we find the dates differently mentioned, e.g., “the 12th month in the 3rd year of Daidō” or “the 2nd month in the 3rd year of Daidō,” or “the 12th month in the 2nd year of Daidō,” instead of “the 2nd month in the 2nd year of Daidō,” an attempt to synchronize with the date when Imbe-no-Hironari had already been promoted to the Lower Grade of the Junior Fifth Court Rank (he was actually promoted to the Lower Grade of that rank on the 17th day of the 11th month in the 3rd year of Daidō), as mentioned at the beginning of the popular edition of the Kogoshūi, which enjoys a large circulation.
This is no doubt an addition by some scribe at a later date than the time the original manuscript was written by Imbe-no-Hironari himself. In the Hōryūji or Ryakunin manuscript we find no date mentioned at all at the end of it. And one of the Maeda manuscripts mentions that there is a sort of manuscript with no such date at all.
Vide pp. 5-9.
Sacred-Texts Shinto Index