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THE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL RACES
Volume VIII
CHINESE
JAPANESE
Volume I. Greek and Roman
WrujAM Sherwood Fox, Ph.D., Princeton University.
Volume II. Eddie
Ajckl Olrik, Ph.D., University of Copenhagen.
VoLU"UE III. Celtic, Slavic
Canon John A. MacCulloch, D.D., Bridge of Allan, Scotland.
Jan MACH.4L, Ph.D., Bohemian University, Prague.
Volume IV. Finno-Ugric, Siberian
Uno Holmberg, Ph.D., University of Finland, Helsingfors.
\'0LUJrE V. Semitic
Stephen Herbert Langdon, M.A., B.D., Ph.D., O.xford.
Volume VI. Indian, Iraniaji
A. Berriedale Keith, D.C.L., Edinburgh University.
Albert J. Carnoy, Ph.D., University of Louvain.
Volume VU. Armenian, African
Mardiros ANA>fiKiAN, B.D., Kennedy School of Missions, Hart-
ford, Connecticut.
AucE Werner, L.L.A. (St. Andrews) ; School of Oriental Studies, London
Volume VIII. Chinese, Japanese
John Calvin Ferguson, Ph.D.,
{Adviser to the President of the Republic of China)
Masaharu Anesaki, Litt.D., University of Tokyo.
{Japanese Exchange Professor at Harvard University, iqis-iqis)
Volume IX. Oceanic
Roland BtrRSAGE Ddcon, Ph.D., Harvard University.
Volume X. American (North of Mexico)
Hartley Burr Alexander, Ph.D., University of Nebraska.
Volume XI. American {Latin)
Hartley Burr Alexander, Ph.D., University of Nebraska.
Volume XII. Egyptian, Indo-Chinese
W. Max MtJLLER, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania.
Sir James George Scott, K.C.I.E., London^
Volume Xni. Index
PLATE I
Eight Genii Crossing the Sea
See p. 1 1 8.
THE MYTHOLOGY
OF ALL RACES
IN THIRTEEN VOLUMES
CANON JOHN ARNOTT MacCULLOCH, D.D., Editor
GEORGE FOOT MOORE, A.M., D.D., LL.D., Consulting Editor
CHINESE
BY
JOHN C. FERGUSON
JAPANESE
BY
MASAHARU ANESAKI
PROFESSOR OF THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION
AT THE IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO
VOLUME VIII
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA
MARSHALL JONES COMPANY • BOSTON
M Dcccc xxvni
Copyright, 1928
By Marshall Jones Company
Copyrighted in Great Britain
All rights reserved
Printed May, 1928
Ui
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY THE PLIMPTON PRESS • NORWOOD • MASS.
BOUND BY THE BOSTON BOOKBINDING COMPANY
CONTENTS
CHINESE
PAGE
Author's Preface 3
Introduction 5
Chapter I. Taoism 13
II. The Three Emperors 25
III. Other Prehistoric Emperors 33
IV. Intermixture of Early Religious Beliefs. 46
V. Cosmogony and Cosmological Theories . . 52
VI. Spirits of Nature 61
VII. Domestic Rites 74
VIII. Great National Heroes 85
IX. The Animal and Vegetable Worlds .... 98
X. Supernatural Beings 108
XL Occultism ^ ^33
XII. Folk-lore '. 148
XIII. Exemplary Tales 161
XIV. Theatrical Tales i74
XV. Buddhist Myths 188
XVI. Criticism 199 - ^^;
JAPANESE
PAGE
Author's Preface 207
Introduction 209
Chapter I. Cosmological Myths and Tales of Origins. 221
I Spontaneous Generation: Life and Death 221
II The Rulers of the World: The Contest between the
Sun-Goddess and Storm-God 225
III Further Conflicts and Compromises 228
IV Episodes and Myths of Origins 231
vi CONTENTS
PAGE
V The Beliefs Concerning the Soul 2^7
VI The Buddhist Paradise and the Guardians of the
World 240
Chapter II. Local Legends and Communal Cults . . 244
Topography and the Division into Clans . . . 244
Chapter III. Fairies, Celestial Beings, the Men of the
Mountain 256
I The Sources of Fairy Tales 256
II The Fairy-Maiden 257
III The Buddhist Fairies, the Tennin and the Ryujin . . 267
IV The Taoist Immortals 274
Chapter IV. Demons, Vampires and other Ghostly
Beings 281
I The Devil 282
II The Hungry Ghost and the Furious Spirit 287
III Other Ghostly Beings 289
Chapter V. Romantic Stories 293
Chapter VL Heroic Stories 303
Chapter VII. Stories of Animals 316
I Grateful Animals 318
II Revengeful and Malicious Animals 324
III The Serpent 331
IV Love and Marriage of Animals 333
V The Insects, especially the Butterfly 335
Chapter VIII. Stories of Plants and Flowers .... 338
I Mythical Trees 339
II The Genii of the Plants 340
III The Flower Fairies 342
IV The Floral Calendar 348
Chapter IX. Didactic Stories, Humour and Satire . 354
I The Adaptation of Stories to Didactic Purposes . . . 354
II The Story of Bontenkoku 356
III Humour and Satire .... 360
IV An Age of Discontent and Satire 362
CONTENTS vii
PAGE
Appendix, Folk-Lore in Folk-Songs 369
Notes, Japanese 377
Bibliography, Chinese 391
Bibliography, Japanese 395
Index, Chinese 403
ILLUSTRATIONS
FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE FACING PAGE
I Eight Genii Crossing the Sea — Coloured . . .Frontisfiece
II Central Hall, Po Yun Kuan 2 2
III I. Third Court, Po Yiin Kuan 50
2. Fourth Court, Po Yiin Kuan 50
IV Court of the Tung Yo Temple 136
V Court of the Tung Yo Temple 136
VI Chang Tao-lin, Taoist Patriarch — Coloured . . . 154
VII The Primeval Couple Creating Islands 222
VIII The Sun-goddess — Coloured 226
IX The Lady-who-makes-the-trees-bloom 232
X The Star Festival of Tana-bata 236
XI A Ghost 240
XII Shozu-ga no Baba, Guardian of the Cross-road . . . 240
XIII Jizo, Guardian of the Children's Souls 240
XIV Emma, the Pluto of the Buddhist Hells 240
XV Furu no Yashiro, a Shinto Shrine 246
XVI Mount Tsukuba 250
XVII Mount Fuji 250
XVIII The Fairies of the Cherry Blossoms and the Emperor
Temmu 260
XIX A Female Immortal Riding on a Mythical Peacock . 276
XX A Y\tw of the Gathering Place of the Immortals . . 276
XXI A Male Immortal Riding on a Chinese Dragon . . . 276
XXII The Sennin of Kume 276
XXIII Uzume and the Seven Deities of Good Fortune . . . 280
XXIV Daikoku, God of Good Fortune 280
XXV Ebisu, God of Good Fortune 280
XXVI Fuku-roku-ju, God of Good Fortune 280
XXVII Frolic of Demons 284
ix
X ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE FACING PAGE
XXVIII Shoki, the Devil Hunter 286
XXIX Sojo-bo, the Chief of the Gengu or Vampires . 288
XXX Rai-jin, Thunder 288
XXXI Fu-jin, Wind 288
XXXII Yama-uba, the Mountain Woman and her Son,
Kintaro 288
XXXIII The Maiden of Unai 296
XXXIV Shuten D6ji, The Drunkard Boy 306
XXXV Ushiwaka and Benkei on Gojo Bridge in Miyako . 310
XXXVI Momotaro, the Peachling Boy, on the Isle of
Devils — Coloured 314
XXXVII Momotaro, the Peachling Boy, on the Isle of
Devils — Coloured 314
XXXVIII A Badger in the Disguise of a Buddhist Monk . . 326
XXXIX Wedding of the Monkeys 332
XL The Classical Dance of the Butterflies — Coloured 336
XLI New Year's Day 348
XLII May Day 348
XLIII Tortoises, Symbolizing Longevity 348
XLIV Cranes, Symbolizing Prosperity 348
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
FIGURE PAGE
1 Hou-chi 6
2 Meeting of Confucius and Lao Tzii 15
3 Kuang Ch'eng-tzu 22
4 The Three Emperors; Huang Ti, Fu Hsi and Shen Nung . 26
5 Goddess of the Lo, Lo Shen 34
6 Pi Kan 40
7 Lieh Tzu 53
8 Yii Huang, the Jade Emperor 58
9 T'u-ti and his Wife 64
10 Hou-t'u 67
1 1 Ch'eng Huang 68
12 Sa Chen-jen 69
13 Jade Lady, Yii Nu 71
ILLUSTRATIONS xi
FIGURE PAGE
14 T'ien Hou y2
15 Tsao Shen, God of the Hearth 74
16 Men Shen, Guardians of the Portals 77
17 Ts'ai Shen, God of Riches 78
18 Chao Kung-ming, God of Riches 79
19 Chiang Tzu-ya 80
20 Shou Hsing, Nan-chi lao-jen, God of Longevity .... 81
21 Chang Hsien 83
22 Ta Ssii Ming 85
23 Hsiao Ssu Ming 86
24 Tung Huang T'ai I 87
25 Yun Chung Chiin 88
26 Hsiang Chiin 89
27 Hsiang Fu-jen 90
28 Tung Chiin 91
29 Ho Po 92
30 Shan Kuei 93
31 Kuo Shang 94
32 Kuan Yii, God of War 95
33 Kuo Tzu-i 96
34 The Phoenix 99
35 The Dragon, Lung 102
36 The Fox 103
37 Hua T'o, the Great Physician 1 07
38 The Taoist Trinity, T'ien Pao, Ling Pao, Shen Pao ... 108
39 Yiian Shih T'ien Tsun 109
40 Tao Chiin IIO
41 Chen Wu Ill
42 Wen Ch'ang, God of Literature II2
43 Tung Wang Kung and Hsi Wang Mu 115
44 Four of the Eight Immortals; Lan Ts'ai-ho, Li T'ieh-kuai,
Lu Tung-pin, Chung-li Ch'iian 118
45 Li T'ieh-kuai 119
46 Chung-li Ch'iian 120
47 Lii Tung-pin I2I
48 Lii Tung-pin, Chung-li Ch'iian 122
xii ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURE PAGE
49 Lan Ts'ai-ho 124
50 Chang-kuo 125
51 Han Hsiang 126
52 Ts'ao Kuo-chiu 127
53 Ho Hsien-ku 129
54 Ho Hsien-ku, Chang Kuo 130
55 Weaving Damsel and Shepherd Boy, Chih Nil and Niu Lang 131
56 Control of the Breath 146
57 Chung K'uei 152
58 Shih Kan Tang 153
59 The Goddess of T'ai-shan, Niang Niang 154
60 Yo Fei 180
61 A Hermit's Mountain Hut 195
MAP
FACING PAGE
Illustrating the Story of the Addition of Pieces of Land to
Izumo by Omi-tsu-nu 248
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
BY
JOHN C. FERGUSON
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
THIS volume should be called " Outlines of Chinese My-
thology." It lays no claim to consideration as being an
exhaustive study of Chinese mythology, which would require
many volumes. It has been possible to condense the essential
facts into this small space by an exclusion of all myths which
have any suspicion of a foreign origin and by avoiding all com-
parisons between those of China and those of other countries.
Only such traditional stories have been examined as are con-
cerned with the powers of nature, the origin of created things,
or the growth of governmental institutions and popular customs
among the Chinese people.
When the earliest written records of China were made, es-
tablished government and an orderly life among the people
already existed. There must have been also a vast store of oral
traditions. The task of those who were able to transmit their
opinions by means of writing was to explain established govern-
ment and organized life in the light of oral tradition. Out of
this attempt grew all the myths which centre around the early
rulers, celestial and terrestrial. Although the form of these
myths may have suffered many changes as they were being
transcribed to writing, their content has, without doubt, been
accurately preserved j it is with written traditions that this
study is concerned.
The sources are numerous and are too well-known to those
who are versed in Chinese literature to need mentioning, while
a detailed list would be of no help to the general reader. The
index will serve as a guide to those who wish to go further into
Chinese literary sources, as well as an aid to those to whom the
system of transliteration of Chinese sounds may be unfamiliar.
4 AUTHOR'S PREFACE '
On the part of the author the approach to the subject has been
made with full recognition that pitfalls for the unwary were
waiting at every turn. The extent of Chinese literature, the
niceties of verbal distinction, the various versions of stories
which have gradually developed into fixed accounts, the free
use of imaginative details by authors who agree only concerning
central facts, these and many other similar conditions make the
path of one working in this field slippery and dangerous. The
hope of the author is that the aid of scholarly Chinese friends
has helped him to avoid many mistakes and has enabled him to
give a presentation of the outlines of a vast subject which no
one up to the present writing has ventured to treat.
JOHN C. FERGUSON
January, 1927
vm — I
INTRODUCTION
THE origin of the tribes which first settled along the valley
of the Yellow River and expanded into the Chinese race,
is still a subject for future investigators. Wherever these early
settlers came from, they possessed strong physiques and must
have been fond of adventure, for we find them scattered along
the Yangtze River in the neighbourhood of the present city of
Hankow and far east of the hills of Chehkiang, as well as
having pushed their way to the country north and south of the
mouth of the Yellow River. The courses of the great rivers
of China being eastward, it is reasonable to suppose that the
drift of the mainland population of China has been from west
to east.
The coast provinces of China, Kuangtung, Fukien, and the
southern half of Chehkiang, give evidences of having been pop-
ulated in the first instance by seafaring people, probably of
Malay origin. They were allied to the early populations of the
Philippine Islands and Japan, spoke many dialects, and per-
sisted for a long time in their inherent tendency to split up into
small divisions. The mainland civilization of China gradually
spread south-eastward among these illiterate people, and from
the time of the T'ang dynasty in the seventh century a.d.,
absorbed them not only into the political domain, but also in-
fused into them its dominating spirit. China furnished these
tribes with literature, art and government institutions so com-
pletely that in a few generations nearly all traces of their exotic
origin had been obliterated, the only persisting reminder being
in the name " Men of T'ang " by which the people of Canton
still call themselves, thus remembering that they came into the
INTRODUCTION
realm of Chinese civilization in the T'ang dynasty, and that this
event was the beginning of their ordered life under established
government.
There was no attempt among the early annalists of China to
trace their national origin to a divine or supernatural source.
The nearest approach to such extravagance is in the account of
the birth of the legendary
founder of the Chow dynasty.
Hou-chi, to whom sacrifices were
offered by the House of Chow,
was the son of Chiang Yiian.
His mother, who had been child-
less for some time, trod on a toe-
print made by God, was moved
thereby to become pregnant, and
later gave birth to Hou-chi.
This wonderful son was reared
with the aid of sheep and oxen
who protected him with loving
care. Birds screened and sup-
ported him with their wings.
He was able to feed himself at
an early age by planting beans
and wheat. It was he who gave
to his people the beautiful grains
of the millet which was reaped in abundance and stacked up on
the ground for the support of his dependent people. This tale
has been recognized in historical times as a fable, and treated
with good-natured tolerance, though not with belief. There
has been a surprising lack of Interest among Chinese writers
concerning this subject of the origin of their race, and It will be
noted In this account of Hou-chi that nothing Is said about the
origin of his mother. The keen common sense of the Chinese
race, which has been one of their most prominent characteristics
Hou-chi
INTRODUCTION 7
in all ages, has kept them from the folly of ascribing a divine
origin to their particular race.
The historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien commences his Annals with
Huang Ti, the first of the Five Sovereigns, 2704-2595 b.c.
Some other writers go back to the earlier period of the mythical
Three Emperors, but the period in which events may be re-
garded as having historical foundations is much later even than
the time of Huang Ti. With the information which is at pres-
ent available to the world, it is not safe to place the commence-
ment of the historical period of China earlier than the fall of
the Shang dynasty, and the rise of the House of Chow, 1 1 22 b.c.
It is better still to place the beginning of reliable history as
841 B.C., which is the first exact date with which Ssu-ma Ch'ien
starts in the Shih Chi. At this period we are met with a civiliza-
tion already well established. The people not only were good
agriculturists, but also understood the art of writing. Such
remains as we ^u.ve of an earlier time are ideographs incised on
bones or cast as inscriptions on bronze sacrificial vessels. The
amount of historical knowledge gained from these is very small
and has made little contribution to our understanding of the
early civilization of China. Their chief value has been in fur-
nishing evidence that the civilization of China as we know it
in the Chow dynasty, is a continuous development from the
early civilization of the original inhabitants of China, and that
it is not an importation from outside sources. China developed
for herself a civilization distinct from that of any other nation
of antiquity, and this civilization with many changes and wide
development has remained down to our present time. It has
had a longer continuous existence than any other that the world
has ever known.
The practice of divination and the observance of ceremonies,
family and tribal, are the two outstanding features of the ancient
civilization of China. They represent the contrasting ideals of
individualistic and of social development. The conception of
8 INTRODITCTION
the individual, governed by his own innate sense of right and
wrong, as forming the basis of the state, is associated with the
practices of divination by means of which the immediate actions
of the individual should be determined and the results of his
actions foretold. The conception of the state, personified by its
tutelary head, as determining right or wrong for the individual,
is associated with ceremonial observances. The former system,
being individualistic, is liberal, while the latter is conservative.
The former provides for change amidst changing circumstances;
the latter contemplates rigidity based upon existing tradition.
It has been customary among Chinese writers to divide the
philosophic concepts of the nation into nine schools. These
are: (i) The School of Dualism, (2) The School of Letters,
(3) The School of Equality, (4) The School of Words, (5)
The School of Laws, (6) The School of Doctrine, (7) The
School of Agriculturists, (8) The School of Tolerance, and (9)
The Eclectic School. There is no need of following the intri-
cate philosophic distinctions of these nine schools in this present
discussion; it is sufficient to note that they can be classified under
the two general headings of Liberalism, as exemplified by Lao
Tzu, Tao Chia, and of Conservatism, as typified by Confucius,
Ju Chia. The development and tendencies of these two schools
circumscribe the entire body of Chinese thought, both ancient
and modern.
The line of demarcation between these two schools may be
illustrated by the adherence of the one to the Eight Diagrams
reputed to have been evolved by Fu Hsi from marks found on
the back of a dragon horse; and of the other to the ceremonial
Nine Tripods recognized by Confucius as the emblem of Impe-
rial authority. The Liberal School found ancient authorization
in " The Book of Changes," the Conservative in " The Spring
and Autumn Annals." The former was free to range over the
whole field of animal and plant life in search of an explanation
of man's relation to the universe; the latter confined itself to
INTRODUCTION 9
human activities as found in social organizations. These are
only general distinctions and cannot be pressed too far, but are
sufficient to indicate the diverging tendencies of thought in
China from earliest time.
It is convenient to start with Confucius and Lao Tzu of the
sixth century b.c, as the point from which two distinct systems
take their origin, although these men are only exponents of
systems which had already become settled. Tao, nature, with
its constant changes, became the centre of Liberalism in opposi-
tion to the Confucian theory of absolutism represented by the
Emperor. The Liberal School believed in bringing the head
of the state to the same account for his personal actions as the
humblest person j whereas under the Conservative system of
Confucius, the Emperor is restricted by no law. Even though
it is conceded that moral considerations should determine his
conduct, no legal pressure could be brought to bear upon him
as upon an ordinary man. The standard commentator of the
Liberal School, Pan Ku, makes I Yin, who is said to have lived
in the eighteenth century b.c, the first exponent of the prin-
ciples of Tao. It was I Yin who advised T'ang to plot rebellion
against the existing Hsia dynasty, and remained with him as
adviser when he established the new dynasty of Shang. The
next two exponents of the Tao are given by this commentator
as T'ai Kung and Yii Hsiung, who were attached to Wen Wang
at the time when he was planning a revolt against the cruel rule
of the last years of the Shang dynasty. The next exponent of
Tao, according to Pan Ku, was Kuan I-wu, Chief Minister of
the state of Ch'i, and the first to make a feudal state assume he-
gemony among the other states while acknowledging the nomi-
nal authority of the ruling Chow dynasty. These authoritative
examples of the early Tao teaching show it to have been in
marked contrast with the Conservatism of the School of Letters
which looked with tolerance upon the action of rulers simply for
the reason that they were rulers.
10 INTRODUCTION
The greatest political support of Liberalism was the Emperor
Shih Huang, the founder of the Ch'in dynasty. His Prime
Minister, Li Ssu, was the most untiring opponent of the Con-
servative School of his time or of any subsequent time. Both
the Emperor and his Prime Minister were firm believers in the
principles of the School of Doctrine or Tao. In personal con-
duct as well as in the establishment and administration of his
government, Shih Huang reflected no honour upon the teach-
ings of the School of Lao Tzu. He was a cruel tyrant, passion-
ate in temper, intolerant of any form of opposition and entirely
dominated by his own imperious self-will. He burned the
books of the Conservatives and destroyed their ceremonial uten-
sils in the hope of cutting himself off from the restrictions im-
posed by those who had gone before him, and of establishing
a new order. His success was only partial, for though he estab-
lished a bureaucratic form of government which continued in
its general principles down to the Republican Revolution of
191 1-12, it was controlled after his death not by the principles
in which he believed, but by those of the Conservative School.
The task of the Han dynasty, which succeeded the Ch'in estab-
lished by Shih Huang, consisted in retaining the form of gov-
ernment established by Shih Huang and of bringing it under the
domination of the philosophical ideas of the Conservative
School. If Shih Huang had been a man of a higher type of
personal character, the dynasty which he established might have
had a good chance of survival. As it happened, his government
survived in form, but came entirely under the control of an
opposing set of principles.
During the Han dynasty, about 150 B.C., the sayings of
Confucius were compiled by one of his descendants, K'ung
An-kuo. This compilation, called Lun Yil Hsun Tz^Uy was
based upon the comparison of two texts. One of these was
found with other texts, p chung shu, in a wall of the home of
Confucius when it was being demolished by Kung Wang, son
INTRODUCTION ii
of the Emperor Ching Ti, who was appointed by his father to
be King of the Principality of Lu (modern Shantung). This
text was written in the so-called " tadpole " characters, k^o-tou
wen, and is known as the " ancient text," ku wen. The other
text came from the neighbouring principality of Ch'i and, being
written in the characters which were used in the last years of the
Chow dynasty, is known as the " modern text," chin wen. The
compilation of K'ung An-kuo, with some emendations, has re-
mained the standard of the Conservative School for all succeed-
ing generations, and as it includes the Ch^un Ch^iUy or " Spring
and Autumn Annals," it carries back the account of China's an-
cient civilization to a great antiquity.
It is thus evident that there have been from ancient times two
lines of development in Chinese thought, one conservative and
the other liberal. These have not been mutually exclusive, but
have flourished side by side and not infrequently have been
found together in the writings of one person. From the western
point of view there is a lack of precision in the differences be-
tween these two schools, but to the Chinese the contrast lies in
their general ideas rather than in details.
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
CHAPTER I
TAOISM
THE School of Doctrine, Tao, has gathered around it almost
all the mythological characters of Chinese history j and
it is necessary to understand the gradual development of this
school into one of the national Three Religions — Confucian-
ism, Taoism and Buddhism. The emphasis placed upon my-
thological subjects having taken place after the establishment
of Taoism as a religion, and the object of this book being to dis-
cuss these subjects and not ethical ones, it will not be necessary
in the following pages to make any further use of the term
School of Doctrine, Tao. In its stead the term Taoism will be
used in a generic sense as including all that went before as well
as all that followed after its recognition as a religion.
There are three distinct stages of Taoism. The first of these,
which may be called the ethical, can be dated conveniently as
having begun with Lao Tzu and his writings which are included
in the Tao Teh King. This was the stage of philosophic discus-
sion, beginning about the close of the sixth century b.c. The
second stage or the magical, as it may be called, began in the
first century of the Christian era and is centred around the per-
sonality of Chang Tao-ling. He retired to seclusion in the
mountains of western China and devoted himself to the study
of alchemy and to the cultivation of purity by means of mental
abstraction. Here he was sought out by large numbers of dis-
ciples, who paid him five pecks of rice a day for their keep, from
14 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
which his teaching became known as the Wu Tou Mi Tao or
the " Doctrine of Five Pecks of Rice." This congregation of
Chang's disciples was the first stirring of the movement which
later was organized into a religion. Chang called himself
"Celestial Teacher" {t^ien shih). This was a term used by
Chuang Tzu, who states that it was conferred upon a youth of
Hsiang Ch'eng by the Yellow Emperor. According to the Su
Wen it was also given to Ch'i Po, one of the assistants of the
Yellow Emperor, who is known as the founder of the art of
healing. This was the stage of development of the magical arts
and was based upon the mysteries of " The Book of Changes "
rather than upon the ethical teachings of Lao Tzu. The third
stage, or that of an organized religion, came in the seventh cen-
tury A.D. during the reign of the illustrious founder of the
T'ang dynasty, Li Shih-min, whose dynastic title is T'ai Tsung.
Profoundly influenced by the tradition that the family name of
Lao Tzu was Li, and that this was his own patronymic, T'ai
Tsung lent his influence to the establishment of Taoism as a
religion on the same basis as the flourishing Buddhistic religion
in whose mysteries he was also a profound believer. Accord-
ing to Fen Yen Chien Wen Chiy T'ai Tsung claimed Lao Tzu
as the progenitor of his branch of the Li family.
As a religion Taoism was founded in the seventh century a.d.,
and in its religious aspects is an imitation of Buddhism. It
adopted the Buddhistic custom of building temples in which
groups of ascetics were collected for the purpose of performing
religious rites and of propagating doctrine. Early Chinese his-
tory was searched for personages who could be matched with
those from India introduced into China by Buddhism. Lao Tzu
took the place of Sakyamunij the Four Heavenly Kings (Ssu
T'ien Wang) that of the Four Lokopolasj the Three Pure Ones
(San Ch'ing) that of the Three Precious Ones (San Pao), etc.
There was little attempt on the part of this new Taoist religion
to refute any of the doctrines of Indian Buddhism, although a
)D
u
o
i6 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
close analysis of the doctrines of these two sects would show
that they are not in harmony on fundamental questions. Bud-
dhism aims at exterminating both soul and body, while Taoism
strives to etherealize the body until it reaches a state of im-
mortality. The radical difference in doctrinal teachings was
glossed over in the zeal of the T'ang Emperor to transpose the
popular belief in Buddhism into nationalistic lines. Every-
thing in Taoism is of purely Chinese origin, and however much
its form may have been influenced by the importation of Bud-
dhism, the entire body of the Taoist doctrine springs from
national sources. Taoism is a revolt against Buddhism because
of its foreign origin, while at the same time it did not hesitate
to copy slavishly its whole system of organization.
The influence of the ethical philosophy of Lao Tzu in the
organized development of Taoism was largely overshadowed
by the magical arts of Chang Tao-ling, who reverted to an
earlier source than Lao Tzu for his authority. He went back
to " The Book of Changes " (/ King)., of which Confucius said
in the " Analects " (Lun Yu) : " If my number of years were in-
creased, I would give fifty of them to the study of the / King
and then I might come to be without great faults." " The Book
of Changes " is the earliest of the Chinese classics, and, it may
be added, remains the one least understood. It must have origi-
nated several centuries earlier than the time of Confucius and
Lao Tzu, but after the time of Wen Wang, 1231-1135 b.c,
who expanded the original Eight Diagrams into sixty-four, such
as are found in this classic. The / King is concerned with the
discussion of lucky and unlucky events which are mysteriously
entwined with the names of the Sixty-four Diagrams. It speaks
of good fortune in such events as choosing a wife, in returning
home, in going on an expedition. It couples morality with good
fortune in such phrases as " there is prosperity for the hero who
is correct in conduct." It gives great honour to the ruler of
the state, and this is probably the reason that Confucius so
TAOISM 17
strongly approved of its teachings, and was content to pass over
its magic. It is the text of the official phrases used by diviners,
who, it must be remembered, were high officials in the early
governments of China. The rare passages in this classic which
refer to a philosophic conception of government are submerged
by the constant allusions to good and ill luck and to divination.
There are also three other early books which are filled with
accounts of extraordinary happenings. The Shan Hat King
(" Mountain and Sea Classic ") would appear from its name
to have been devoted to geography, as the Shui King (" Water
Classic ") might have been expected to treat of water-ways. In
reality both these treatises, which are considered classical, con-
tain accounts of all sorts of strange things in the animal and
aquatic worlds. In its present form the Shan Hat King was not
compiled until after the beginning of the Christian era, but the
tales contained therein are popular legends which had their
origin as far back at least as the Chow dynasty. The " Critical
Catalogue " of the Emperor Ch'ien Lung's library, or Ssu K*u
Chilian Shuy denies that the tenets of this classic are those of
Lao Tzu, but Taoist authors have usually claimed it as belonging
to their sect. The third classic is the Yin Fu King (" Myste-
rious Tally "), the authorship of which has been credited in
Taoist circles to the mythical Emperor, Huang Ti. This book
is largely devoted to ethical discussions in which an attempt is
made to fit the one side of the tally which covers the visible
phenomena around us with the other half which relates to the
unseen world. It discusses the hidden harmony which exists
in all animate things where only discord appears on the surface,
and reconciles the apparent disagreements between the seen and
the unseen. Special mention is made of this classic in order to
point out the fact that in addition to Lao Tzu there were other
accredited Taoists who gave their attention to ethics at the same
time as there was a constant succession of those who devoted
themselves to magical and miraculous arts.
i8 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
The Tao Teh King was given this name by Hsiian Tsung,
seventh Emperor of the T*ang dynasty, during the early part
of the eighth century a.d., but its contents are rightly reputed
to be mainly the sayings of Lao Tzu. Direct quotations from it,
as well as paraphrases of its leading truths, are given by several
philosophers earlier than the Christian era, the one nearest to
the time of Lao Tzu having lived little more than one hundred
years subsequent to him. There seems little reason to doubt
the historical tradition that such a person as Lao Tzu existed,
and that the record of his sayings is found in the Tao Teh King,
even though we allow that this book may also contain interpola-
tions and additions made by later writers. The doctrines of
Lao Tzu are stated in crisp sentences, the meaning of which has
caused endless speculation among Chinese commentators and
foreign students. The first chapter discusses the word " Tao "
which subsequently gave its name to the Taoist religion. Tao is
at the beginning of all things, existing before the creation of
the world. When it takes a form it is called Ming, " a name."
The proper relation of a philosopher to the universe is non-
action, wu weiy and quietness, ching. In general terms this
classic shows how Tao is the true teacher of man, instructing
him in humility, self-control, quietness, consideration for oth-
ers and meekness. By following its principles, man can achieve,
without striving or seeming to do so. There are a few traces of
supernatural and mysterious influences which were easily di-
verted by later Taoist teachers to the support of their magical
practices and mysterious investigations^ but taken as a whole
the classic maintains a high level in moral discussions. It has
only a forced relationship to the Taoist religion of the T'ang
dynasty, which may be justly compared to the forced relation-
ship which Li Shih-min, T'ai Tsung of the T'ang dynasty,
claimed with Li Erh, Lao Tzu, whose sayings arc found in the
Tao Teh King.
The references to the teachings of Lao Tzu made by the phi-
TAOISM 19
losophers Chuang and Lieh, as well as their own disquisitions,
are chiefly devoted to ethics. The nature of their discussions
might naturally have been considered sufficient to protect the
teachings of Lao Tzu from seizure by Chang Tao-ling of the
Han dynasty and the Emperor T'ai Tsung of the T'ang dynasty,
as a basis upon which a structure of magic could be built and a
religion established. The only reasonable explanation of their
having been unable to do so is, that since it was impossible to
harmonize the magical arts of Chang with the teachings of the
Conservative School represented by Confucius, the only possible
resort of the Emperor T'ai Tsung in founding a nationalistic
religion was to Lao Tzu whose teachings had been expressed in
such ambiguous terms that they admitted of many differing
interpretations. The Conservatives stood for the existing order,
whereas a new religion demanded changes. T'ai Tsung gave
all due respect to the Conservative class which rallied to his
support as Emperor and appreciated his patronage of orthodox
literature and art. At the same time his profound belief in the
religious teachings of Buddhism impelled him to borrow there-
from all the essential principles which should be worked over
into a new nationalistic religion for China, based upon Liberal-
ism, while at the same time it ran no risk of conflicting with
Confucian Conservatism for the reason that both had a common
origin in the ancient civilization of China.
From the foregoing it will be seen that Taoism, as developed
into a national religion In the T'ang dynasty, had a very mixed
origin. By adopting Lao Tzu as the philosophic founder of
this religion, Taoism selected the ancient sayings found in the
Tao Teh King as capable of interpretation In support of magical
arts and alchemy, and as containing nothing which could be
used against the incorporation of these grosser elements into
the new religion. The amplifications of the teach 'ug o'f Lao
Tzu by Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzii, Han Fel Tzu and Huai-nan
Tzu, which are accepted as standard interpretations of his teach-
20 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
ing, contain proportionately many more references to mysteri-
ous events and supernatural abilities than the original sayings
of the Tao Teh King, while at the same time they carry the
views of Lao Tzu concerning immortality well along the road
toward the magical practices, mystical charms and alchemic
studies of Chang Tao-ling. From the time of Chang to that of
T'ai Tsung at the opening of the Han dynasty, the influence of
the Conservative School and the Confucian classics was at a
low ebb, due in large measure to the rising popularity of Bud-
dhistic teaching which came In upon China like a flood during
this period. The whole trend of thought during those six hun-
dred odd years, was In the direction of belief in miraculous
events, worship of idols, and admiration of an ascetic life as most
conducive to religious purification. With this state of mind,
which had lasted for so long a time, T'ai Tsung found a soil
well-prepared for the new religion of Taoism in which asceti-
cism was favoured and magical arts were practised under the
sanction of the ethical teachings of Lao Tzu. To asceticism and
magic the Conservative Confucian school was unalterably op-
posed, but the mixture of Lao Tzu's ethical teaching In Taoism
and Its backward look to the early historical and mythical char-
acters of China, saved Taoism from any persecution by the Con-
servative class, not only at the time of Its origin, but also during
all later centuries. Buddhism was persecuted because It was
foreign j Taoism, which contained more superstition than its
foreign rival, was looked upon with favour because Its whole
atmosphere was nationalistic.
This strong nationalistic strain In Taoism led Its supporters
to claim the early Emperor, Huang Ti, as the real founder of
this new religion, thus going far back beyond Lao Tzu In point
of time and prestige. The principles advocated by Confucius
were attributed by him to Yao and Shun, of the twenty-fourth
and twenty-third centuries b.c, but Taoism went back three cen-
turies earlier to the first of the five sovereigns, who is reputed
TAOISM 21
to have ruled at the dawn of history. Huang Ti, usually known
as the Yellow Emperor, formed a much more convenient start-
ing point for the kind of religion that Taoism gave promise of
becoming, than the ethical philosopher, Lao Tzu, for Huang Ti
had not only had a miraculous birth, but his reign had been
filled with marvellous events. He gathered around him six
great Ministers with whose help he arranged the cyclical period
of sixty years and composed a calendar. Mathematical calcu-
lations were inaugurated. The people were taught to make
utensils of wood, metal and earth, to build boats and carriages,
to use money, to make musical instruments out of bamboo which
he first brought to China, and to do many other wonderful
things. He sacrificed to Shang Ti, the Supreme Ruler, in the
first temple erected for this purpose, and is thus the reputed
founder of the sacrificial cult. He is also given credit f jv hav-
ing built the first palace so as to distinguish his residence from
those of the common people. He studied the operations of the
opposing principles of nature, and the properties of various
herbs which he made into medicines, by the use of which human
life couJd be greatly prolonged. Before his death, at the age of
one hundred an*d eleven, the phoenix (feng-huang)y and the
unicorn (ck^i-lin), had appeared as evidences of the benignity of
his rule. These traditions concerning the Yellow Emperor had
become well established in China long before the decision of
T'ai Tsung to make Taoism a religion, and what more natural
than that the Yellow Emperor, who had become the starting
point of all miraculous and wonderful national events, should
become the actual fountain from which it could be claimed that
Taoism flowed. If it had not been for the influence of the
Conservative School which emphasized ethical teaching, there
is not much likelihood that any large emphasis would ever have
been placed in Taoism upon its connection with Lao Tzu, for
as a matter of fact, Taoism as a religion has very slight connec-
tion with any kind of ethical teaching. Its real emphasis is upon
vni— 3
22
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
magical and occult practices, and its development in China from
the T'ang dynasty onward would not have been much different
from what it has been if no relation with Lao Tzu had been es-
tablished. The true source of Taoism is rightly placed in the
mythical and magical Yellow Emperor and the ascetic Chang
Tao-ling rather than in the ethical recluse, Lao Tzu. With the
Yellow En^peror was associated Kuang Ch'eng-tzu who has be-
come a famous character.
He dwelt as a recluse in
a stone house on the
K'ung-t'ung Mountain.
According to Chuang
Tzu the Yellow Em-
peror at one time went to
this mountain to inquire
of Kuang Ch'eng-tzu
concerning philosophical
matters. Kuang Ch'eng-
tzu is popularly repre-
sented as standing with
his face upturned, with
his arms folded in such a
way as to gather up his
long sleeves, and with a
large medallion s u s -
pended from his belt. On the medallion are inscribed the
Eight Diagrams. His celestial abode is in the Capital of Si-
lence (Yii Hsu Kung). He is credited with the power of con-
trolling evil spirits and giving victory in war.
It was during the Yiian dynasty that the position of Lao Tzu
became fixed in Taoism. He had been canonized by T'ai Tsung
with the title of Hsiian Yiian Huang Ti, which means " Em-
peror of Mysterious Origin." The Yiian dynasty seized upon
the first two characters of this canonical name, and connected
Fig. 3. Kuang Ch'eng-tzu
PLATE II
Central Hall, Po Yun Kuan, Taoist Temple,
Peking
See pp. 23, 135.
TAOISM 23
them in reverence with its own name, Yuan, in the same way as
T'ai Tsung had connected himself with Lao Tzu on account of
having a common surname. This forced connection in two in-
stances between reigning houses and Lao Tzu — the T'ang
through identity of surname and the Yuan through similarity
between its dynastic name and the canonical name bestowed
upon Lao Tzu — had profound influence upon the success of
Taoism as a religion among the people. During the tim.e of the
first Yiian Emperor, Genghis Khan, a noted recluse, Ch'iu
Ch'u-chi (Ch'iu Ch'ang Ch'un), was sought out in his retreat
on the Snowy Mountain (Hsueh Shan), and from him the Em-
peror learned of the doctrines of Taoism. It is in honour of
this man that on the nineteenth day of the first moon it is cus-
tomary for residents of Peking to make pilgrimages to the Po
Yun Kuan, a famous Taoist temple outside the Hsi Pien Men.
The popular name for this pilgrimage is Yen Chiu. This temple
was the Ch'ang Ch'un palace during the Yiian dynasty and was
presented by the Emperor Genghis Khan to Ch'iu Ch'u-chi.
Tradition has it that Genghis Khan wished to betroth his
daughter to Ch'iu, and that Ch'iu, fearing possible consequences
of such a marriage, decided on the nineteenth day of the first
moon to avoid any marriage by becoming an ascetic. It is in
honour of Ch'iu's decision that this yearly pilgrimage is made.
This popular account must, however, be set aside in view of the
fact that the day celebrated was in reality the birthday of Ch'iu
Ch'u-chi. During the reign of the Yuan Emperor, T'ien Li,
1 3 29-1 332 A.D., the great statesman and scholar, Chao Meng-
fu, wrote the inscription for an immense stone tablet bestowed
by this Emperor upon the Tung Yo temple outside the Ch'ao
Yang Men which had been built under the Imperial patronage
of one of his predecessors. This tablet remains in a good state
of preservation in this large temple, and its inscription is one of
the most interesting as well as authoritative expositions of
Taoism available to students. In this inscription Taoism is
24 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
referred to as Hsuan Chiao instead of Tao Chiao, which was
the popular name. The term Hsiian Chiao never came into
popular use, but by its adoption the Yiian dynasty Emperors
went one step further in the glorification of Lao Tzu by adding
their approval to the canonization bestowed upon him by the
T'ang Emperor T'ai Tsung, and by using the canonized name
to designate this religion. Chao Meng-fu was himself a de-
scendant of the Imperial house of Sung, which had placed Con-
fucius upon the highest pedestal of honour, recognizing him as
the equal of Heaven and Earth 5 but in the inscription for this
Taoist temple, Chao exhausted his literary vocabulary in praise
of Lao Tzu, whom he associated with the Yellow Emperor, a
predecessor, and with the magician Chang Tao-ling, a successor.
It will thus be seen that the T'ang dynasty founded Taoism,
and the Yiian dynasty stabilized it.
The relation of Taoism to the mythological characters of
China with all their fabulous deeds and mysterious theories of
the universe, is complete. If we were to depend upon the views
and records of the School of Letters (Ju Chia) we should have
scant material, for we should be confined to the great names
associated with the building up of an established government,
and with the spread of the civilization instituted and developed
by them. Studies in Buddhism lead us far afield into the early
mythology of India. It is in Taoism as it now exists with Its
assumed original Inspiration from the Yellow Emperor, that
we find Incorporated all the mythological characters of early
China, and their theories of life and the universe.
CHAPTER II
THE THREE EMPERORS
AN account of the myths of China may rightly take the
Yellow Emperor, Huang Ti, as a central point of de-
parture. He is the third of the Three Emperors, San Huang,
but is the first to whom a distinct personality is assigned. The
first Emperor, Fu Hsi, is a type of the Hunting Age of the
early nomad tribes which settled China. The second Emperor,
Shen Nung, typifies the Agricultural Age during which perma-
nent settlements were established and agricultural pursuits be-
came continuous. It is only with the Yellow Emperor that a
semblance of human individuality is associated with the great
deeds which brought about the beginning of Chinese civiliza-
tion. In Huang Ti there may be gathered the achievements
and glories of several individuals whose names are lost, but at
least in him we have a mythological character as distinguished
from the generic name of periods such as those of Fu Hsi and
Shen Nung, who were entirely fabulous.
The " Chronology of the Han Dynasty " {Han Li Chih),
carries the early chronology of China back to a period of more
than two million years, divided into ten great epochs. The
first of these was inaugurated by P'an Ku, the first created be-
ing and also the first creator. This epoch was called that of
"The Nine Sovereigns " (Chiu Ti) and was followed by the
epoch of " The Five Dragons " (Wu Lung) who were sever-
ally called eldest, second, third, fourth and youngest. They
were also given the names of the five notes of the musical scale,
and the names of the planets. The third epoch consisted of
fifty-nine generations, the fourth of three generations, the fifth
26
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
of six generations and the sixth of four generations, but no
names have been assigned to any ruler in these four epochs.
The seventh epoch had twenty-two sovereigns whose virtue
was so conspicuous that their example was eagerly followed by
the men of their generation. The eighth epoch had thirteen
sovereigns, of whom the second was a ruler in modern Sze-
FiG. 4. The Three Emperors
Huang Ti, Fu Hsi and Shen Nunc
chuan and there taught the people to make silk. In this epoch
were two generations of "The Nest-builders" (Yu-ch'ao),
four generations of "The Fire-producers" (Sui-jen), and
eight generations of " Accomplishers " (Yung-ch'eng). The
ninth epoch is a bridge between the purely fanciful and the real,
and derives its name Shan T'ung from its virtue in transmitting
the succession to one whose actions are based upon the fixed laws
of the universe. The tenth and last of these initiatory epochs
THE THREE EMPERORS 27
is represented as beginning with Huang Ti, the Yellow Em-
peror, and it variously ended either with the Great Yu, founder
of the Hsia dynasty, or with Wu, the founder of the Chow
dynasty. Reference to these epochs is made only for the pur-
pose of stating the belief that the early myths of the Chinese,
as we now have them, are the result of the work of men during
the historical period of China, who gathered together the leg-
ends, folk-lore, folk-songs, and all other available data, and
arranged them in such systematic form as would explain the
development of the civilization found by them at the beginning
of the historical period. It will be noticed that these epochs end
with the Yellow Emperor, Huang Ti, which is another reason
for taking him as the central point of departure for mythologi-
cal studies. No historical credence is attached by Chinese writ-
ers to this period of the ten epochs. It is recognized by all as
entirely fanciful.
The Yellow Emperor is reputed to have derived this desig-
nation from having been born on the wu ssu day, which corre-
sponds to the element Earth. He is also said to have been
awarded the tablet (;W) by his predecessor, Shen Nung, which
signified that he possessed the virtue of Earth (t^u-te). Earth
being yellow in colour, he came to be called the Yellow Em-
peror. His family name was Kung-sun and his given name,
Hsien-yiian. His father was governor of Yu-hsiung, which is
the modern city of Lo-yang. He was a man of upright charac-
ter, and his wife, Fu-pao,was an accomplished woman who ac-
companied him on all his voyages. While they were visiting
the tombs of Fu Hsi and Shen Nung on a spring evening, there
appeared in the skies a dazzling light which surrounded the
constellation of the Great Bear with a circle of gold. Upon
their return home his wife found that she was pregnant, and
after twenty- four months, brought into the world a male child.
There were many wonderful omens at his birth, the sky deck-
ing itself with most beautiful clouds. From his youth the
28 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
child appeared to be blessed with unusual qualities of mind
and body. On the death of his father, he succeeded him as gov-
ernor of the principality of ,Yu-hsiung.
The country was ravaged at that time by Ch'ih Yu, against
whom the Yellow Emperor led the Imperial forces of Shen
Nung to victory. He was then proclaimed Emperor by the
Princes, among whom he selected the most illustrious as his
Ministers of State. His consort, Hsi-ling Shih, introduced the
culture of silk-worms and the production of silk fabric. This
is the historical basis assigned to this mythical character. The
other incidents of his life are recorded by Lieh Tzu and by the
author of Huang Ti Ping King Su Wen. The Yellow Em-
peror is supposed to have gone in dreams to distant regions and
places inhabited by spirits who walk on air and sleep on space as
if on a bed. They neither sink in water nor burn in fire, and
live without pain or sorrow or fear. After awaking from such
a dream of three months duration, he taught the people how to
control the forces of nature and their own hearts. After an-
other long sleep he acquired the power of teaching, and gov-
erned the country for twenty-seven years with such success that
it became as happy as a fairyland in which the inhabitants in-
haled air and sipped dew in place of ordinary food. They were
able to control all their natural passions, so that society lived
according to the rules of perfect virtue.
In the Su Wen a conversation is recorded between the Yellow
Emperor and Ch'i Po concerning medicine and natural science.
The good man in most ancient times, according to the dialogue,
held Heaven and Earth in his hands and grasped the principles
of light and darkness, breathing pure air and preserving his
spirit in its perfection 5 his flesh was obedient to his spirit.
Hence he was able to attain immortality like that of Heaven
and Earth. This type of good man became an ascetic and care-
fully preserved his soul so that he was able to wander through
Heaven and Earth for countless years. The Yellow Emperor
THE THREE EMPERORS 29
discoursed to his companion on the meaning of the four seasons,
and then proceeded to unfold the system of the universe.
There are three kinds of air, — that of Heaven (t^ien-ch'i) ,
that of Earth (ii-ch^i), and that of the cycle (yiln-ch'i). There
is also an evil vapour which attacks men and must be kept away,
for it is the origin of all disease. In this book Earth is repre-
sented as a body suspended in the air, moving eastward, while
Heaven moves toward the west. The Yellow Emperor asked
Ch'i Po to explain this, and he in reply described the constant
motion of the five elements, metal, fire, air, earth and water,
as similar to the motion of the sun, moon and planets in the
heavens. The space above holds the pure essence of all living
forms found on the earth. The Yellow Emperor asked: " Is
not earth underneath? " to which the reply was given that earth
is below man, but it is in the centre of space and is upheld by
the great air surrounding it. These disquisitions on natural sci-
ence are interlarded with discussions concerning medical treat-
ments which could lengthen life to limitless years.
Although we have chosen the Yellow Emperor as a source
from which the early myths of China evolve, attention also
must be paid to his two imperial predecessors, Fu Hsi, and Shen
Nung. Fu Hsi's official name as Emperor was T'ai Hao (" The
Great Almighty"). He is represented as partly human and
partly supernatural. His birth was miraculous and occurred in
the vicinity of Kung-ch'ang in the present Province of Kan-su.
The earliest extant representation of Fu Hsi is found on the
stone tablets of Wu Liang Tz'ii in Shantung Province, 160 a.d.,
where he is accompanied by a female figure, the lower part of
the bodies being in the form of intertwined tails of serpents.
This being the earliest historical evidence available at the pres-
ent time, it is clear that in the Han dynasty Fu Hsi was not con-
sidered as human. According to the Shen Hsien T'ung Chien,
Fu Hsi discovered the " Eight Diagrams " {fa kud) in the fol-
lowing way. He was on the banks of the Meng River and saw
30 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
a monster of enormous height playing on the surface of the
water. This monster had the body of a horse, scales of a fish,
and also several feet. The lower parts of the body were cov-
ered with hair, and on its back it carried a tablet. Fu Hsi spoke
to it and begged it to come up on the bank. The monster im-
mediately complied with the request, and Fu Hsi took posses-
sion of the tablet. He found fifty-five lines which were inter-
twined with figures. He carried the tablet to Fu Shan where
he studied it at his leisure, and as a result of his studies, he com-
posed the Eight Diagrams. According to tradition it was Fu
Hsi who instituted matrimony, and forbade marriage between
two people of the same surname. He drove wild animals out
of the country and discovered iron, with which he made hunt-
ing and fishing implements. He travelled eastward through
the country which now is known as Shantung, Honan and
Shensi. His capital city was at Ch'en, near K'ai-f eng in Honan
Province. He was the first to establish rules for writing, and
to offer sacrifices to Heaven on an altar in the open. His most
conspicuous work was, however, the discovery of the Eight
Diagrams, or perhaps it would be better to say that the Eight
Diagrams as found in existence at the beginning of the histori-
cal period of China, were responsible for the invention of the
myth of Fu Hsi.
Shen Nung, known as the Earthly Emperor to distinguish
him from Fu Hsi, the Heavenly Emperor, represents the age
of agricultural pursuits. He is reputed to have been born on
the mountain Lieh in the present Province of Hupeh. He was
eight feet seven inches in height, and had the body of a man
surmounted by the head of a bull. Three days after he was
born he could talk, at the end of five days he could walk, at the
end of the seventh he had a full set of teeth, and at the age of
three years he was able to till the fields. He established the
capital of his kingdom at Ch'u Fu, the birthplace of Confucius.
He is said to have invented the cart and various types of agri-
THE THREE EMPERORS 31
cultural implements. He established markets at which the
products of one part of the country could be exchanged with
those from other parts. He studied plants and their uses in
curing diseases of the body. In one day he discovered seventy
kinds of vegetable poisons. He classified three hundred and
sixty-five species of medicinal plants and wrote a book on them.
He lived to the great age of one hundred and sixty-eight and
then became an immortal.
Two other mythical tales of the period of the Three Em-
perors need to be mentioned. One is that of Ts'ang Chieh, the
legendary inventor of the art of writing, who is said to have
had four eyes. He derived his first inspiration to invent writ-
ing from noticing the marks of birds' feet in sand, and the spe-
cial style of ancient characters, to the number of five hundred
and forty, is known as " bird foot-prints writing " {niao chi-
wen). The other is that of Nil Kua who is said to have been
the sister and successor of Fu Hsi. The two characters of which
her name is composed naturally lead to the surmise that she was
a woman, though some early traditions discard the seeming im-
plication of the name, and assert that Nii Kua was a man. The
intertwining of her body with that of Fu Hsi on the bas-relief
of Wu Liang Tz'u suggests either that the two were brother
and sister, or husband and wife. A third possible explanation
which seems to me nearer the truth is that Fu Hsi was assisted
during his reign by his sister Nu Kua. In the Ti Wang Shih
Chi it is stated that Nu Kua had the body of a serpent and the
head of an ox. She instituted marriage ceremonies and assisted
her brother Fu Hsi in invocation of the gods. The statements
of the Shih Chi are that Nii Kua had the endowments of a
divine sage and succeeded her brother Fu Hsi as sovereign.
Toward the end of her reign one of the feudal princes, Kung
Kung, rebelled and sought to overthrow t. e influence of Nii
Kua. He was defeated in battle, whereupon he struck his head
against the Pu-chou Mountain and razed it to the ground. This
32 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
shook the pillars of Heaven and destroyed the corners of the
Earth. In order to repair the damage to the heavens, Nu Kua
melted stones of five colours and cut off the feet of the tortoise
in order to replace the four corners of the Earth. She burned
reed grass to ashes which she used for stopping great floods,
and thus rescued the land of Ch'i, which was the home of the
later sovereigns of China.
In this chapter I have followed the written records in class-
ing Fu Hsi, Shen Nung and Huang Ti as the Three Emperors.
The bas-reliefs of Wu Liang Tz'u have a different classifica-
tion. Fu Hsi and Nu Kua together form the first panel, Chu
Jung occupies the next, and the third is that of Shen Nung,
Huang Ti being assigned a later place among the Five Sov-
ereigns. This divergence in the two lists of the Three Em-
perors is thus seen to have been current in the Han dynasty, but
as the list which I have adopted became the usually accepted one
in later dynasties, it has seemed wise to discard my usual method
of preferring the evidence of existing monuments to that of
books, and to adopt the generally accepted list.
CHAPTER III
OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS
AS Fu HsI symbolized the Age of Hunting, Shen Nung
that of Agriculture, and Huang Ti that of Invention, so
the Great Yao and Shun are the legendary models for an Im-
perial rule based on righteousness. These are the two early
sovereigns whom Confucius taught his countrymen to regard as
the model rulers whose virtues were resplendent to all genera-
tions. The Shu King says that Yao was universally informed,
intelligent, accomplished and thoughtful, and that his glory
filled the empire. The commentary of the annals of the
" Bamboo Books " {Chu Shu) states that when Yao had been
Emperor seventy years, a brilliant star appeared in one of the
heavenly constellations, and phoenixes were seen in the court-
yards of the palace; pearl grass grew and grain was abundant j
sweet dews moistened the ground and crystal springs issued from
the hills; the sun and moon appeared like a pair of gems and
the five planets looked like threaded pearls. In the Imperial
kitchen a piece of flesh was seen which was as thin as a fan.
This, when shaken, made such a wind that all eatables were
kept cool and did not spoil. On each side of the palace-steps
grew a kind of grass which produced one pod each day up to
the fifteenth of the month. On each following day of the
month one pod shrivelled up, but did not fall. This was called
the lucky bean, also the calendar bean. There was a great flood
which was assuaged by the Emperor, but he attributed the merit
of his work to his Minister Shun, in whose f uvour he wished to
resign. On account of the flood he fasted and purified himself,
building altars near the two rivers Ho and Lo, after which he
34
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
selected a fortunate day and conducted Shun and other follow-
ers up the Shou Mountain. On the island of the Ho, five old
men were seen walking about. These were the spirits of the
five planets. They conversed together and said: " The Ho T'u
will soon appear and inform the Emperor of an auspicious time.
He who understands this is Huang Yao, each of whose eyes has
Fig. 5, Goddess of the Lo, Lo Shen
two pupils." Thereupon the five old men flew away like float-
ing stars and ascended into the constellation Mao (Pleiades).
On the Hsin-ch'ou day of the second month, between daylight
and dark, the ceremonies were all prepared. When the day
began to decline a glorious light came forth from the Ho River,
and beautiful vapours filled all the horizon; white clouds rose
in the sky and a dragon-horse appeared bearing in his mouth a
cuirass covered with scales, with red lines on a green ground.
OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS 35
This dragon-horse ascended the altar, laid down the /'^-draw-
ing, and departed. The cuirass was like a tortoise shell nine
cubits broad. The t*u contained a tally of white gem in a casket
of red gem covered with yellow gold and bound with a green
string. On the tally were the words: " Gratefully presented to
the Emperor Shun." It also said that Yu and Hsia would be the
recipients of special orders from Heaven. The Emperor wrote
down these words and deposited them in the eastern palace.
After two years, during the second month, he led his Ministers
to the Lo River into which he threw a round disk. After the
ceremony he rested and waited for the close of the day, then a
red light appeared j a tortoise arose from the waters with a writ-
ing in red lines on its back, and rested on the altar. This writ-
ing said that he should resign the throne to Shun, and accord-
ingly the Emperor did so. This is a variant account of the
origin of the ^^ ho t^u" and "/o shu" i.e., of the graphic arts
of painting and calligraphy.
It is said of Shun in the Shu King that he was in a low and
undistinguished position when Yao heard of his great intelli-
gence and first proved him in many difficult situations with the
idea of making him successor to the throne. The " Bamboo
Books " state that he had a miraculous birth. His eyes, like
those of Yao, had double pupils, for which reason he was
known as " Double Brightness." He had a countenance like a
dragon, a large mouth and a black body. His parents disliked
him. They made him plaster a granary, and then set fire to itj
but the bird-made clothing which he wore enabled him to fly
away. They put him in a well to dig it deeper, and then at-
tempted to fill it with stones from above j but on this occasion
he wore dragon-made clothing and was able to get out. Later
he dreamt that his eyebrows were as long as his hair.
On the accession of Shun, the lucky beai grew about the
stairs, and phoenixes nested in the courts. When the musical
stones were beaten in the nine ceremonial performances all the
36 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
beasts came frolicking one after the other, and a brilliant star
appeared. In the fourteenth year of his reign, at a great per-
formance with bells, resonant stones, organs and flutes, before
the service was concluded there came a great storm of thunder
and rain. A violent wind overthrew houses and tore up trees.
The drum-sticks and drums were scattered on the ground and
the bells and stones dashed about in confusion. The dancers
fell prostrate and the director of music ran madly awayj but
Shun, keeping hold of the frames from which the bells and
stones were suspended, laughed and said: "How evident it
is that the Empire does not belong to one man. This is in-
dicated by these bells, stones, organs and flutes." Thereupon
he presented Yu to Heaven and made him perform ceremonies
such as are undertaken only by an Emperor^ then harmonious
vapours responded on all sides and felicitous clouds were seen.
They were like smoke and yet were not smoke j were like
clouds and yet were not clouds j they were brilliantly confused,
twisting and whirling. The officers in mutual harmony sang of
these felicitous clouds, the Emperor leading the chorus and
saying: " How bright are ye, felicitous clouds! In what good
order are ye gathered together! The brightness of the sun
and moon is repeated from morn to morn." All the ministers
then came forward, and bowing low said: " Brilliant are the
heavens above, where the shining stars are arranged. The
brightness of the sun and moon ennoble our Emperor." The
Emperor then again sang: "The sun and moon are constant}
the stars and other heavenly bodies have their motions j the four
seasons observe their rule. The people are sincere in all their
services. When I think of music, the intelligences that re-
spond to Heaven seem to be transferred to the sages and the
worthies. All things listen to it. How thrilling are its rolling
sounds! How does it inspire the dance! " When the great
brightness was exhausted, the clouds shrivelled up and disap-
peared. Thereupon the eight winds all blew genially and
OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS 37
felicitous clouds collected in masses. The crouching dragons
came hurriedly out of their dens. Iguanadons and fishes
leaped up from their deeps j tortoises and turtles came out
from their holes, thus carrying Yu away to found the dynasty,
of Hsia. Shun then raised an altar at the Ho River, as
had been previously done by Yao. When the day declined
there came a fine and glorious light, and a yellow dragon
came to the altar bearing on his back a /'/^-drawing, on which
lines of red and green were intermingled. The writing
on this t^u was to the effect that Shun should resign in favor
ofYu.
The Emperor Yii marked out the nine Provinces, followed
the course of the hills, deepened the rivers, and defined the
taxes on the land as well as the articles which should be pre-
sented as tribute. These are the statements of the Shu King
concerning him. The " Bamboo Books " say that his mother
was named Hsiu-chi. She was a falling star, and in a dream her
thoughts were moved until she became pregnant, after which
she swallowed a pearl and gave birth to a son. He had a tiger
nose, and a large mouth j his ears had three orifices. When he
grew up he had the virtue of a sage, and attained the great
height of nine feet six inches. He dreamed that he was bathing
in the Ho River and drank up all its water. He also had the
happy omen of seeing a white fox with nine tails. As he was
looking at the Ho River one day a tall man with a white face
and a fish's body came out and said: "I am the spirit of the
Ho. Wen Ming shall regulate the waters " (Wen Ming be-
ing the personal name of Yu). Having so spoken he gave the
Emperor a chart of the Ho which contained necessary regula-
tions concerning the control of the flooded waters j then he re-
turned to the deep. Yii set about his work, and when he had
finished, Heaven gave him a dark-coloured mace with which to
announce his completed work. When the fortunes of the Hsia
dynasty which he founded were rising, all vegetation was lux-
38 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
uriant. Green dragons were seen, and from the Lo came the
writing on the shell of the tortoise called " The Great Plan."
There is another myth concerning Yii which must not be
omitted. While he was on his way south, in the middle of the
river which he was crossing, two yellow dragons took the boat
on their backs. All who were with him were afraid, but Yu
laughed and said: " I received my appointment from Heaven
and labour with all my strength to benefit man. To be born is
the course of nature j to die is by Heaven's decree. Why be
troubled by the dragons? " Hearing this the dragons went
away, trailing their tails behind them.
The next of the great Emperors was the founder of the
Shang dynasty. He is called T'ang, or Ch'eng T'ang, i.e.,
" T'ang the Successful." His family is reputed to have been
of ancient descent, and before his own miraculous birth there
had been at an earlier time another instance of this miracle. It
is said that the lower part of his face was broad, and that the
upper part tapered to a point. His face was white and whisk-
ered, his body was larger on one side than on the other, and
his voice was loud. He was nine feet high, and each of his
arms had four joints. When he came east to Lo to see the altar
that had been erected by Yao, he dropped a gem in the water
and stood at some distance. Immediately yellow fishes leaped
up in pairs. A black bird followed him and stood on the altar,
where it was changed into a black gem. There was also a black
tortoise with red lines forming ideographs, which said that the
Hsia Emperor, Chieh Kuei, was a man of low principles, and
that T'ang should supersede him. A spirit dragging a white
wolf with a hook in its mouth, entered the court of the new dy-
nasty Shang, which T'ang was called upon to found. During
his reign silver overflowed from the hills, and all metals were
plentiful.
The Shang dynasty continued for a period estimated to have
been about six hundred years. It produced no outstanding fig-
OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS 39
ures around whom mythical tales could be woven. Its best
known figure is the tyrant Chou Hsin, whose cruelty brought
about its downfall. His cruel deeds are notorious in later his-
tories. He is represented as a man gifted with sharp senses,
extraordinary mental ability and great physical strength. His
wide knowledge enabled him to make light of the frequent
remonstrances made to him by his Ministers, and his eloquence
enabled him to gloss over his own vicious acts. He constantly
boasted of his ability, and attempted to increase the reputation
of his Empire by giving prominence to his own wonderful
deeds. He was devoted to wine and debauchery, and was in-
fatuated by his consort, Ta-chi, to whom he lent a willing ear.
The deeds of this woman are recorded with the evident purpose
of teaching the folly of an Emperor's yielding to the influence
of a debauched woman. The Shu King says that she was shame-
lessly lustful and cruel j the most licentious songs were com-
posed for her amusement, and the vilest dances exhibited. A
palace was erected for her at Ch'i with a famous terrace, two-
thirds of a mile in width, surrounded by a park which was
stocked with the rarest animals. The expenditures for the
building of this palace made necessary heavy exactions which
provoked the resentment of the people. At Sha-ch'iu, which
is the modern district of P'ing-hsiang in the Province of Chihli,
there was still greater extravagance and dissipation. There was
a pond of wine, and the trees were hung with human flesh j men
and women chased each other about quite naked. In the palace
there were places where large parties spent the whole night
drinking and carousing. When these excesses brought about
rebellion by the princes, the Empress Ta-chi protested that the
majesty of the throne was not being maintained, that punish-
ments were too light and executions too infrequent. She there-
fore devised two new instruments of torture, one of these was
called " the heater," and consisted of a piece of metal made hot
in a fire, which people were forced to take up in their hands.
40
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
The other was a copper pillar covered with grease and laid
above a pit of live charcoal. Culprits were compelled to walk
across this pillar and when their feet slipped and they fell into
the fire, Ta-chi was greatly delighted. This punishment was
called " roasting." These fearful enormities caused the whole
Empire to be filled with indignation. One of the worst in-
stances of Chou's cruelty was his treat-
ment of Pi Kan. Pi Kan was a rela-
tive of the tyrant, and being a man of
good character, remonstrated with
Chou upon the debauchery of the
court. Chou became very angry and
ordered the heart of Pi Kan to be torn
out, saying that he had always heard
that the heart of a man of superior
virtue had seven orifices and that he
wished to see whether or not his rela-
tive Pi Kan was what he claimed to be.
During the reign of Chou Hsin the
small principality of Chow came into
prominence, and the Duke of Chow,
canonized as Wen Wang, led in the
rebellion which overthrew the Shang
dynasty. The site of this principality
of Chow was in the vicinity of the
present city of Hsi-an, capital of
Shensi Province. The younger son of the Duke of Chow be-
came the first sovereign of the new dynasty which took its name
from this small principality. He is known in history as Wu
Wang. As might be expected, tradition has woven many won-
derful tales around this founder of a dynasty which is con-
sidered by the Chinese as more responsible than any other for
its wide-spread civilization.
The ancestry of Wu Wang is traced back to the Emperor Kao
Fig. 6. Pi Kan
OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS 41
Hsin, whose wife became a mother in a miraculous manner.
After the birth of her child, she decided to make away with him
and left him in a narrow lane, but the child was attended by
sheep and cattle so that he did not die. She then placed him in
a forest where he was attended by a wood-cutter and his life
preserved. She then laid him upon ice in the river, but a large
bird came and covered him with one of its wings. Finally the
mother made no further attempts to dispose of the child, but
nursed him and brought him up, giving him the name of Ch'i
or " Castaway." The lower part of this child's face was unduly
developed, and his appearance was very extraordinary. When
he grew up he became Minister of Agriculture to the Emperor
Yao and rendered great service to the people.
The next step in the wonderful ancestry of Wu Wang is con-
nected with Kung Liu, grandson of " Castaway." His virtues
were so great that he was treated by the princes with the same
ceremonies as were the right of an Emperor. Thirteen gener-
ations after Kung Liu, a lineal descendant, Chi Li, was born.
It is stated that his birth had been foretold, as far back as the
time of Huang Ti, when a prophecy had been proclaimed that
" the chief of the northwest should become king in a certain
year J Ch'ang should lay the foundations of kingly dignity. Fa
exercise the judgments necessary to it, and Tan develop its
principles." This Ch'ang whose birth had been foretold, was
the son of Chi Li and was afterwards known as Wen Wangj
Fa, son of Ch'ang, became Wu Wang, the founder of the Chow
dynasty, and Tan became Chow Kung, i.e., Duke of Chow.
From this account it will be seen that both prophecy and miracle
are called in to account for the ancestry of this illustrious
founder of a great dynasty.
Wu Wang's father. Wen Wang, is described as a man with
a dragon's countenance and a tiger's shouMers. He was ten
feet in height and had four nipples on his chest. He became
chief of the West, Hsi Po, and made his capital city in Feng.
42 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
Feng was the most important centre of the dukedom of Chow,
and the location of the capital of China remained in its vicinity
for many centuries. It was the capital at the dawn of Chinese
authentic historical records, and this account of its having been
chosen by the founder of the Chow dynasty may be accepted
either as verbal tradition, or as a literary invention at the time
when the first records were made.
To add greater dignity to the ancestry of Wu Wang, many
other tales are recorded of his father. Wen Wang, the Duke
of Chow, and his mother, T'ai Ssu. On an autumn day a red
bird came to the capital with a writing in its beak which it put
down at the Duke's door. He received it with reverence and
found that the writing was to the effect that Chow should de-
stroy the existing dynasty. The Duke was about to go out on a
hunting expedition, and was told by one of the attendants that
on his trip he would not secure a grizzly bear, but would be as-
sisted by divine counsel. The hunting party went on its tour
and found on the bank a man fishing, called Lu Shang (Tai
Wang Kung). The Duke said to him that he had been wanting
to meet him for seven years. Lu Shang hearing these words
instantly changed his name, and speaking of himself as Wang
or " Hope," replied that he had fished up a semi-circular gem
on which was an inscription stating that Ch'ang, which was the
Duke's personal name, would come and receive the gem. This
was an omen that a dynasty should be established by his son.
Another tale told of Wu Wang's father is that he dreamt he
was clothed with the sun and moon. In the first month of
spring the five planets were in conjunction. A male and a fe-
male phoenix went about the capital city with a writing in their
beaks which said: "The Emperor has no principles. He op-
presses the people and has brought disorder to the Empire. He
can be tolerated no longer by Heaven. The powerful spirits
of the earth have deserted him. The conjunction of the five
planets will brighten all within the four seas." This myth adds
OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS 43
astrology to the two previous myths of prophecy and miracle in
the account of the ancestry of Wu Wang.
Wu Wang himself is said to have had a remarkable appear-
ance. His upper and lower rows of teeth were each only one
piece of bone, and he had the restless eyes of a shepherd.
When he was crossing the River Meng a white fish leaped into
his boat in the middle of the stream. He stooped down and
picked it up. It was three feet in length, and under its eyes
were red lines which formed the characters " Chou Hsin may
be smitten." Over the top of these unfavourable characters
the King wrote the one character meaning " dynasty," and im-
mediately the other words disappeared. After this he burned
the fish in sacrifice and announced the event to Heaven. At
once fire came down from Heaven, but the fire gradually
floated away in space and became a red bird with a stalk of grain
in its beak. This grain was taken as a propitious omen for the
prosperity of the country, and the fire as a direct response to the
prayer of the new Emperor. After this he went to the east and
conquered the whole country without difficulty. So easily was
this accomplished that it is said that his soldiers did not need to
stain their swords with blood, for the hearts of the people
turned to him, recognizing him as a virtuous and noble ruler.
Crops were abundant and the forest supplied timber for the
building of an Imperial palace.
When Wu Wang died, his successor, Ch'eng Wang, was still
young, and Tan, Duke of Chow, acted as regent for seven years.
He established the institutions and music of the new dynasty.
Spirit-like birds and phoenixes appeared and the mysterious
bean again grew. The regent went with the new King to visit
the Ho and Lo rivers. Having dropped a gem into the water
and finished all the ceremonies, the King retired and waited
until the day declined. Then rays of glory shone out and
shrouded all the Ho, and green clouds floated in the sky. The
green dragon came to the altar, carrying in its mouth a dark-
44 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
coloured shell with a figure on it, which he placed on the altar
and went away. On the shell in red lines were ideographs
which the regent copied. The writing was prophetic of the rise
and fall of the fortunes of the Empire down to the dynasty of
Ch'in and Han. The King took a lute and composed a song in
which he humbly stated that he personally had no virtue which
would warrant the appearance of the phoenixes, and that their
presence was due entirely to the virtue of the former kings
whose influence still extended to the homes of his humblest
subjects.
It is not necessary to discuss the many differences of the ac-
counts found in the "Bamboo Books" and those of the Shu
King. These relate chiefly to chronological data and to the nar-
rative concerning the government of Shun and the labours of
Yii. From the standpoint of mythology, the greatest difference
is in the fuller accounts of supernatural and marvellous events
recorded in the " Bamboo Books." In his redaction of the Shu
Kingy Confucius pared these down, or entirely eliminated them
in accordance with his own disbelief in the mysterious. The
" Bamboo Books," in common with the / King, emphasized
supernatural events and have preserved to posterity the ancient
myths, so essential to an understanding of the current beliefs
of later times.
No better illustration of the extraordinary divergence of
views during the ancient days of China could be found than in
contrasting the contents of the " Book of Changes " (/ King),
attributed to Wen Wang, the father of the founder of the
Chow dynasty, with the Chow Li, attributed to Chow Kung,
fourth son of Wen Wang. The I King is a book of occultism.
In it the pa kua or " Eight Diagrams," are expanded into sixty-
four, each of the original Eight Diagrams being composed of
continuous or broken lines, or a combination of them. They
were used for the interpretation of omens in the rites of divina-
tion. From this book have sprung all the mysterious investi-
OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS 45
gations and practices of the Chinese race. In marked contrast
is the Chow Li which treats of the establishment of government
and its functions. The Emperor, as " Son of Heaven " {^i*ien
fzu) was surrounded by his Ministers and by the heads of the
feudal principalities. His Ministers were the heads of the six
departments of government {liu fu). The duties of each Min-
ister were carefully specified. The plans of the Imperial pal-
ace were given in detail. All the routine of the personal life
of the Emperor, such as his dress, his meals, the words which
he should use on special occasions, and postures which he should
assume in ceremonies, were carefully stipulated. Everything
in this book relates to actual experience. To the logical minds
of Western people, it seems inconceivable that two such oppos-
ing systems could coexist among the ancient Chinese people 5
it is stranger still to know that one individual mind could ap-
prove equally of both, but herein lies an understanding of the
growth and development of Chinese civilization. Its glory has
been its inconsistency, its mixture of the sublime with the popu-
lar, the dignified with the bizarre, the true with recognized
faults. In antiquity the same mind accepted the stately cere-
monials of the Chow Li and the crude mysteries of the / King;
and withal it was not puzzled by their incompatibility. This
frame of mind has continued through the centuries. Without
an understanding of this peculiar feature of Chinese mentality,
it is impossible to understand the wide currency of belief in their
myths among a people severely iconoclastic in state ceremonials.
CHAPTER IV
INTERMIXTURE OF EARLY RELIGIOUS
BELIEFS
THE intermixture in China of early beliefs is well illus-
trated by the jade objects prescribed for the Master of
Religious Ceremonies in the Choiv Lij as these objects are inter-
preted by Dr. Berthold Laufer in the fifth chapter of his book
on " Jade." There were six jade objects with which homage
was paid to Heaven, to Earth, and to the Four Points of the
Compass. With the round tablet, fiy of green colour, homage
was paid to Heaven. With the yellow jade tube, ts^ungy hom-
age was paid to Earth. With the green tablet, kueij homage
was paid to the region of the East. With the red tablet, changy
homage was rendered to the region of the South. With the
white tablet, huy homage was paid to the region of the West.
With the black jade of semi-circular shape, huangy homage was
paid to the region of the North. The colour of the victims and
of the pieces of silk used in sacrifices to the spirits of these sev-
eral regions corresponded to that of the jade used for these
purposes.
The commentary of the Chow Li adds definite instructions
concerning the placing of these jade objects in the coffins of de-
ceased members of the Imperial house. When the body was
placed in the coffin the green tablet, kueiy was to the left and a
divided tablet at the head. The white tablet, hUy was to the
right, and the semi-circular one, huangy at the feet. The round
tablet, fiy was to be placed under the back, and the jade tube,
ts^ungy on the abdomen. In this way there was a representation
EARLY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS 47
of the brilliant cube, fang-ming, which serves as an emblem in
the sacrifices. The round disk, pij and the square tube, ts^ungy
were by their separation symbolical of Heaven and Earth. The
intimate co-relation between the jade objects used in the pre-
scribed religious ceremonies and in the burial of the dead, is
readily recognized.
The references of the Chow hi, to these symbolic jade objects
are in complete accord with our knowledge of the use of bronze
vessels for religious worship. These vessels were used in fam-
ily and national worship. In both instances they were associ-
ated with ancestral worship, which, according to the Shu King)
had its origin in the times of the mythical Emperors. Legge
points out that the title given in the Shu King to the Minister
of Religion in the time of the Emperor Shun is that of " Ar-
ranger of the Ancestral Temple." The rule of Confucius that
" parents when dead should be sacrificed to according to pro-
priety," was doubtless in accordance with the practice that had
come down from the earliest times of the nation. The spirits
of the departed were supposed to have a knowledge of the cir-
cumstances of their descendants and to be able to affect them.
Events of importance in a family were communicated to the
departed spirits before their shrines 5 many affairs of govern-
ment were transacted in presence of the ancestral tablet. When
Yao turned over to Shun the business of government, the cere-
mony took place in the " Temple of the Accomplished Ances-
tor," to whom Yao gave the credit for his possession of the
supreme dignity. During the life of Yao, Shun on every re-
turn to the capital from his visits of administration throughout
the country, offered a bullock also before the shrine of this
personage. In the same way when Shun found the business of
government too heavy for him, and called Yu to share in it, the
ceremony took place in the "Temple of the Spiritual Ances-
tor," the chief in the line of Shunts progenitors. In the re-
markable narrative concerning the prayer of Tan, the Duke of
48 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
Chow, for the recovery of his brother Wu Wang from a dan-
gerous illness, and of his offering to die in his brother's stead,
he raises three altars, one each to their father, grandfather and
great-grandfather, and prays to them as if they in Heaven had
charge of watching over their descendant. When he has ascer-
tained by divination that Wu Wang will recover, he declares
that this extension of the tenure of the throne has been renewed
by the intervening merits of the three ancestors who had con-
sented to the continuity of the ruling House. The Emperor
P'an Keng, 1401-1373 b.c, irritated by the opposition of the
wealthy and powerful feudal monarchs to his measures, and by
their stirring up the people to complain against him, threatened
them all with calamities which would be sent down upon them
by his great ancestor, T'ang. He told his Ministers that their
ancestors and fathers, who had loyally served his predecessors,
were now urgently entreating T'ang, in his spirit-state in
Heaven, to send severe punishments on their descendants.
The inscriptions on bronze vessels of the Shang and Chow
dynasties, though never fully explained or understood by Chi-
nese scholars, are at least clear in one respect, which is, that they
contain the names of men who subscribe themselves as sons, and
also contain directions to descendants to the effect that these
vessels should be carefully preserved through all subsequent
generations. The natural inference is that these vessels were
used in sacrificial ceremonies in the ancestral temples. On one
of the best known sets of bronze vessels, the Ch'i Hou set now
in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, the inscription indi-
cates that the vessels were made for the Marquis of Ch'i, and
these vessels were undoubtedly used in sacrificial ceremonies
held in honour of the early rulers who brought this small prin-
cipality into great prominence.
The intermixture of religious beliefs is further evidenced in
the earliest accounts of the worship paid to the Supreme Ruler.
The term Shang Ti, which has been adopted by translators as
EARLY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS 49
that of the Christian God, is associated in the Shu King with
Huang T'ien, " Imperial Heaven "j and the four characters
are written together as Huang T'ien Shang Ti, " Supreme
Ruler of Imperial Heaven." The powers and prerogatives at-
tached to the Supreme Ruler, Shang Ti, are attributed also to
T'ien or " Heaven." Both these terms, Shang Ti and T'ien,
are interpreted by the standard commentator of the Sung dy-
nasty, Chu Hsi, as equivalent to Li. This term Li has been
variously translated as " Order," " Law," " Principle," and
" Abstract Right," but the word " Intelligence " seems to con-
vey more of the original idea of Li in its meaning as the equiva-
lent of Shang Ti and T'ien, than any of the other translations.
The Supreme Ruler, or Heaven, was the great moral standard,
and in accordance with their compliance with its decrees, earthly
rulers were established upon their thrones 3 while acts in dis-
obedience to its laws were punished by removal from their high
positions. The Shu King says: " God acts in different waysj on
the righteous he sends down all blessings, and on the wicked he
pours out miseries." The first duty of rulers was to order their
own conduct according to the immutable decrees of Heaven so
that the people might follow their good example and lead vir-
tuous lives. If the people were debauched it was a sure sign
that the ruler was not living in accordance with the laws of
Heaven and that someone would arise to take his place, as hap-
pened at the end of the Hsia and Shang dynasties. There is no
evidence to show that the early Chinese were monotheists, in
the accepted use of that term. The position of Shang Ti in
early Chinese belief was similar to that of Jahveh among the
early Hebrews, who believed that " the Lord is a great God and
a great King above all gods "j and also that " Thou, Lord, art
exalted far above all gods." Among the Chinese the spirits of
Heaven and Earth, of the land and the grain and of the Ances-
tral Temple, were associated with high Heaven, the Supreme
Ruler. The Shu King states that " the early kings assiduously
50 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
cultivated their natural virtue, serving and obeying the spirits
of Heaven and Earth, of the land and the grain and of the
Ancestral Temple j — all with a reverent veneration." In the
same paragraph as this statement is another, warning the new
successor to the throne that he was charged with obedience to
the spirits of his ancestors, and cautioning him against disgrac-
ing their memory.
There have been many misconceptions as to the status of
Shang Ti in early Chinese beliefs. These have arisen largely
from the fact that the Chinese never made anthropomorphic
images of the Supreme Ruler. They placed him high above
all in stately grandeur and magnificent power. None was so
great a God as this Supreme Ruler. Man was so inferior to
Heaven that neither his body nor his mind could be compared
to the glory and majesty of the Ruler who was high over all.
But while no images, fashioned after the model of the human
form, were made of the Supreme Ruler, the ancient Chinese
made images of another sort which fitted in with the require-
ments of their abstract metaphysical minds. A round jade disk
with a large hole bored in the centre, represented Earth. With
these were jade shapes representing each of the Four Quarters,
North, South, East and West. Laufer says that " the Chinese
did not conceive of their cosmic gods as human beings, but as
forces of nature with a well defined precinct of power, and they
constructed their images on the ground of geometric qualities,
supposed to be immanent to the great natural phenomena. The
shapes of these images were found by way of geometric con-
struction." The association of the spirits of the land and grain
and of the Ancestral Temple with the worship of the Supreme
Ruler, as equally binding upon princes and people, was not con-
sidered derogatory to the prestige of the latter. No prophets
arose in China, as in Israel, to warn the people against this com-
bination. The result was that whereas in Israel a tribal God
came to be the only God, in China the Supreme Ruler became
PLATE III
Po YiJN Kuan, Taoist Temple, Peking
1. Third Court.
2. Fourth Court.
See pp. 23, 135.
EARLY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS 51
more and more lost sight of among the multitude of gods cre-
ated in the likeness of man and other living creatures. High
ethical precepts relating to Heaven were submerged in the ris-
ing tide of nature worship.
The Emperor Shun sacrificed to the Liu Tsung or " Six Hon-
oured Ones." Legge suggests that " In going to worship the
hills and rivers and the hosts of spirits, he must have supposed
there were certain tutelary beings who presided over the more
conspicuous objects of nature and its various processes. They
were under God and could do nothing except as they were per-
mitted and empowered by himj but the worship of them . . .
paved the way for the pantheism which enters largely into the
belief of the Chinese at the present time, and of which we find
one of the earliest steps in the practice, which commenced with
the Chow dynasty, of not only using the term Heaven as syno-
nym for God, but using also the combination Heaven and
Earth." These Six Honoured Ones have been variously ex-
plained by Chinese authors. Meng K'ang says that they were
the stars, heavenly bodies, father of the wind, master of the
rain, arbiter of the cosmic space, and arbiter of fate. Another
authority divides them into two classes of three each: the heav-
enly class consists of the sun, moon and stars, the earthly class
of the T'ai Mountain, rivers and sea. Whatever may be the
correct explanation, the worship paid to these Six Honoured
Ones by the Emperor Shun proves conclusively that ancient
Chinese worship was a system of polytheism In which the Su-
preme Ruler, high above all others, was the source and standard
of all moral authority.
CHAPTER V
COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGICAL
THEORIES
IT is not possible to state that there is among the early Chinese
any, clearly defined theory of the origin of the universe.
There is a vague ascription to Shang Ti of infinite creative
power, which is involved in the worship paid to him as the Great
Ruler of the universe. We have already pointed out, however,
that the worship of Shang Ti was also associated with that of
the spirits of the earth and air, as well as of ancestors. It was
also considered to be on the same plane as the worship of
Heaven, and the two seemed to have been interchangeable.
Shang Ti, the Great Ruler, was Heaven, and Heaven was
Shang Ti J both represented the Great Law to which everything
in the universe is subject. It was not conceived of as a personal
entity, but as an all-pervading force under which all things live
and move and have their being. This conception fitted in well
with the Conservative view as to the right of kings to rule and
princes to decree justice. The regulation of all creation under
the supreme rule of Heaven found an adequate illustration in
the relation of the subjects to the ruler of a state. As the views
of the Conservative School were chiefly occupied, in their final
analysis, with the control of the state, it was deemed by them
unnecessary to inquire too closely into the nature of the Great
Ruler of the universe. For them it was enough to know that
his power is omnipotent and his will supreme. Speculation con-
cerning him was considered superfluous; their only desire was
to comply with his immutable decree.
According to the most obvious interpretation of Chapter VI
COSMOGONY — COSMOLOGICAL THEORIES 53
of the Tao Teh King, Lao Tzu seems to have ventured into the
realm of cosmogony; and whatever may be thought of the trust-
worthiness of the text there can be no doubt of the fact that its
conceptions have been adopted by all later writers of the School
of Tao. Wang P'i of the third century a.d. interprets this dif-
ficult passage of the Tao Teh King in a sense which has been
generally accepted as bringing out its original meaning j but
Giles professed at one
time that he had "not f^-r-^
the remotest idea what
it meant." Wang P'i
says in explaining the
meaning of Ku Shen
(" the spirits of the
valley"), that "a val-
ley is the abode of va-
cuity and silence, which,
though nothing else can
be found in the valley,
still remain without
form." It is thus evi-
dent that the " spirits
of the valley " mean
the " spirits of vacuity and silence." I have translated hsu as
" silence" in the sense of the word in Hood's sonnet:
" There is a silence where hath been no sound,
There is a silence where no sound may be."
The whole passage (Chapter VI) may be translated: "The im-
mortal spirits of the valley are called the great void. The great
void is called Heaven and Earth. Continually it endures, work-
ing without conscious exertion." Stripped of all unknown im-
plications, Lao Tzu's theory of the universe is that out of a
great void came Heaven and Earth whose laws are immutable.
vin— s
Li EH Tzu
54 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
There Is little or nothing in Chuang Tzu or Lieh Tzu which
amplifies or explains the mysterious Chapter VI of the Tao Teh
King, but in the " History of the Great Light " {Hung Lieh
Chuan), the philosopher Liu An, commonly known as Huai-
nan Tzu (ob., I22 b.c.) has written what is in reality a com-
mentary upon it. Huai-nan Tzii gave little attention to the
ethical teachings of Lao Tzuj his concern was with the trans-
mutation of metals and the search for the elixir of immortality.
He gathered around him large groups of ascetics {fang shih),
who devoted their time to occult practices and researches. This
type of study led Huai-nan Tzii into the consideration of the
phenomena of nature and of the original creative force.
Huai-nan Tzu emphasized the doctrine of spontaneity,
which, he said, is the original law of creation. Dragons live In
water j tigers and leopards In the mountains — all following
the natural instincts given them by Heaven and Earth. When
the spring wind blows the fragrant rain falls, bringing life to
all things j birds hatch their young and animals multiply j plants
and trees bud and leaf j the processes are not visible and yet
they come to completion. Again when autumn comes with cool
breezes and frosty air, the trees bow and are stripped of their
leaves, reptiles and insects burrow into the ground or hibernate j
still no outward compelling forces are to be seen. This law of
spontaneity is also true in Individual conduct. One should dis-
play the kindness which is Innate In the human heart and avoid
craftiness which defiles original Innocence and purity. Follow-
ing this law further, the philosopher does not need to hear
sounds or see forms In his study of natural phenomena; for in
the midst of silence and loneliness he is conscious of both.
Everywhere we find around us the works of nature, yet nature
itself cannot be found by searching, though on the other hand it
forces Itself upon our attention. If It be piled up, It will not be
high; If it be dug down It will not be low; addition will not In-
crease It, neither will subtraction diminish it; If planed It does
COSMOGONY — COSMOLOGICAL THEORIES 55
not become thin, if cut it remains uninjured j it is neither deep
nor shallow. " Shadowy and indistinct, it has no formj indis-
tinct and shadowy, its resources have no limit." Nature is the
great force that sustains Heaven and Earth, spreads to the four
quarters, fills up all within the Four Seas, supplies light to the
sun, moon and stars, and is divided into male and female prin-
ciples, Yang and Yin. By its force the sky revolves, the earth is
motionless J the wind rises, clouds gather, thunder rolls and rain
falls. All are the result of the spontaneous action of nature.
Huai-nan Tzu draws from this law the teaching that man
should be in harmony with nature, tranquil and content. As
an example of compliance with this law he states that, in early
times, Fu Hsi and Shen Nung understood the laws of nature
so that they were in communion with the Creator and were able
to assist in ordaining all things within the universe. There are
many difficulties to a full understanding of the meaning of
some passages in the text of Huai-nan Tzu, but their general
tenor seems to be in accord with this law of spontaneity.
The venerable mystic who revealed himself to Liu Hsiang,
80-9 B.C., while he was absorbed in his nightly study of the
stars, told him the mysteries of creation. He explained also
the evolution of nature from the five elements (wu hsmg) —
water, fire, wood, metal and earth. Before vanishing into space
the mystic declared himself to be the Essence of the Great
Centre — T'ai I Ching. Liu Hsiang was the author of the
" History of the Han Dynasty " and the founder of the mod-
ern style of historical composition, but he spent all his leisure
time in occult studies. From his time onward the scholars who
belonged to the School of Tao paid scant attention to ethical
problems, but gave all their attention to speculation about the
origin of life, its prolongation and its mysteriesj just as Chang
Tao-ling a century later is the starting-point for the magical
practices which have almost absorbed all else in Taoism. From
Liu's time forward it is impossible to determine just when the
S6 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
various elements were introduced which went to form the cos-
mological systems as explained by writers during the T'ang
and Sung dynasty in such books as the Sung Li Ch^Uan ShUy and
it is fruitless to attempt any chronological arrangement. There
was much confusion of thought and divergence of view until
general consent and wide acceptance were obtained for the fol-
lowing theory.
This theory is that the great self-existent, wu chiy produced
finite existence, fai chi. The finite evolved the two essential
elements of nature, Yang and Yin, which may be translated as
the male and female principles, or as positive and negative, or
as light and darkness. Chu Hsi's account says that first was the
self-existent and then the finite. The finite moved and there
was Yang (light or the male principle); the finite rested and
there was Yin (darkness or the female principle). In other
words the sexual principle as known in propagation of animal
life was predicated of nature as manifested in the finite j but
there was no attempt to describe the infinite self-existent in
terms of human forms or human experience. This primordial
cause was unknowable and unexplainable.
The T'ai Hsi King, which may be translated " The Classic
of Breath Control," is a further elaboration of the sixth Chap-
ter of Lao Tzu. This classic is without date, and the name of
the author is not known, but from its contents the probability
is that it was written during the Yiian dynasty, when so much
attention was given among the Taoists to the control of breath-
ing as one of the necessary steps in attaining immortality. The
teaching of this book is that in the universe there is but one aura,
chH, and from this comes all life and death. All finite things
are produced from the vast and inexhaustible reservoir of
this aura. For this reason the aura is called a mother, that is,
the Yin or female principle of nature which combines with the
Yang or male principle of nature to form the eternal Tao. The
Yang, male principle, is the " Spirit of Vacuity " (K'ung Shen).
4
COSMOGONY — COSMOLOGICAL THEORIES 57
The virility of this spirit unites with the receptivity of the aura
to form the creative power of the universe. The spirit and aura
both come from the original chaos, and neither of the two can
ever be increased or diminished. It is evident that this theory
of creation is a product of the Taoist School which devoted its
attention chiefly to breath control. There are other cosmologi-
cal theories in later books based upon Taoist teachings of occult-
ism, many of them being intermixed with Buddhistic theories.
The Hsin Yin King, or " Classic of Heart Revelation," is an
example of such books, but their influence, either on the ortho-
dox Taoist or on popular conceptions, has not been sufficient to
warrant detailed consideration.
The scholarly interpretations of cosmogony which have been
given above are entirely eclipsed by the vulgar theories of Tao-
ism which have captured the minds of the majority of the Chi-
nese people and which may be accepted as the teachings of
present-day Taoism. According to these the Great Creator
was P'an Ku. He came from the great chaos, and his body was
four times the size of that of an ordinary man. Two horns
projected from his head, and two tusks from his upper jaw.
His body was thickly covered with hair. Knowing the prin-
ciples of Heaven and Earth and the inherent changes of the
dual fires of nature, he was able to excavate the deep valleys
and pile up high mountains. He taught men to build boats and
bridges} he understood the qualities of the rocks and was able
to select those that were of value to mankind. With his ham-
mer and chisel he wrought the universe into shape. From his
high throne he issued his instructions to the people, whom he
divided into the two classes of nobles and commoners. Above
are the sun, moon and stars, he said, and below are the four
seas. Listening to his discourse on the manner in which chaos
was reduced to order, the people forgot their fatigue. After he
had exhausted his instructions to them, one morning he disap-
peared and was never again heard of. Thus the impersonal
58
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
powers of nature became personified in P'an Ku, who is entirely
an anthropomorphic conception. According to Jen Fang who
wrote the Shuh I Chi at the commencement of the sixth century,
this myth was introduced into China by delegates returning
from the Kingdom of Siam. It is not mentioned in the
Thing Chien Wat Chi by Liu Shu in the eleventh century.
Another illustration of
the personification of what
had been originally con-
sidered as impersonal law
or principle, occurred dur-
ing the Sung dynasty, when
the Shang Ti, or " Great
Ruler " of the classical
writings became Yu Huang,
the Jade Emperor of Tao-
ist teaching. After the dis-
graceful peace made by the
Emperor Chen Tsung in
1005 A-D- with the Kitan
Tartars, by which northern
portions of the Empire
were ceded away, the Em-
peror tried by every means
to regain his prestige. He
sought out the soothsayers,
geomancers and interpreters of dreams. In this he was en-
couraged by his Minister, Wang Ch'in-jo, who explained
to him that the revelations reputed to have been given to
the early Emperors were only inventions to secure obedience,
and that if the Emperor were to fabricate similar tales con-
cerning himself, the people would be won back to loyal obedi-
ence. In 1012 A.D. the Emperor called his Ministers together
and told them of a dream in which he had received a letter
Fig. 8.
Yu Huang, the Jade
Emperor
COSMOGONY — COSMOLOGICAL THEORIES 59
from Yu Huang which stated that Yii Huang had sent two
letters to his ancestor, the founder of the Sung dynasty, and
that now his Imperial ancestor was coming to pay him a visit.
The Emperor later informed his Ministers that his august an-
cestor had duly appeared to him in accordance with the promise
of Yii Huang. The Imperial History, T^ung Chien Kang Mu,
records these facts, and states that this is the first appearance of
Yu Huang, and that absolutely nothing is known of his origin
or life. No one previous to the dream of the Emperor had
ever heard Yii Huang spoken of. He was the invention of a
deceitful Emperor aided by a Minister who was spoken of in
the reign of his successor as " obscene." This revelation {f'ien~
shu) to the Emperor Chen Tsung, was acquiesced in by another
famous Minister, Wang Tan, in consideration of a large present
by the Emperor, and his cowardice in doing so has been fre-
quently commented upon by later writers.
Notwithstanding this fraudulent origin, Yii Huang received
during the reign of the Emperor, Hui Tsung, i loi-i 125 a.d.,
the highest possible honour in being given the title of Hao
T'ien Yii Huang Shang Ti, which means " The Great Ruler,
Almighty Heaven, Yii Huang," and to this title was prefixed
the statement that at creation he was the arbiter of divination,
the controller of time and the true embodiment of Tao. This
identification of Yii Huang as Shang Ti, the Great Ruler of the
universe, was the highest possible ascription that could be made
to him.
After this time stories of the life of Yii Huang were in-
vented. His father was Ching-te, King of a fabulous country.
The Queen was called Pao-yiieh, "The Precious Month."
Having come to middle life she had not yet borne a male child.
The King called priests to the palace to recite prayers with the
object of obtaining an heir to the throne. During the following
night the Queen had a dream in which Lao Tzii appeared to
her, mounted on a dragon and carrying a male child in his arms.
6o CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
He flew through the air and came toward her, whereupon the
Queen begged him to give her this child as heir to the crown.
Lao Tzu consented and tossed the child to the Queen. She fell
on her knees and thanked him. This was her dream. Awaken-
ing the next morning she felt herself pregnant, and at the end
of a year brought forth a child. From his earliest years the
child showed himself generous to the poor, giving away all the
riches of the palace. On the death of his father he was crowned
King, but after a few days, he ceded the crown to the Prime
Minister and left the kingdom in order to become a hermit at
P'u-ming in the Province of Shensi. Here he attained perfec-
tion of life and spent his time in healing the sick. In the midst
of his deeds of charity he died. This is the fabulous account
of his life as recorded in the Sou Shen Chi. To the common
people of China, Yu Huang and P'an Ku are the great origin
of all finite things, and to them worship is paid as the Great
Creators.
CHAPTER VI
SPIRITS OF NATURE
THE most persistent type of religious worship in China is
that offered to the spirits of Earth. The ancient Em-
peror Shun is said to have offered sacrifices to the hills in the
wang ceremony, and later mythical Emperors in the lU cere-
mony.j the Duke of Chow sacrificed a bull on the she altar in
his worship of the powers of nature. There were also the fang
sacrifices to the Four Quarters of the Earth, the yil sacrifice in
prayers for rain, the chiao sacrifice to Heaven at the winter sol-
stice, and to Earth at the summer solstice, as well as the offer-
ings on the she chi altars to the spirits of the Earth and grain
which were set up in every feudal state. There were also lesser
rites connected with the worship of nature, such as the tsu t'len
sacrifice and oblation offered by travellers on the night previous
to the commencement of a journey, the -pa sacrifice made by
travellers for good fortune in their undertakings, the sacrifice
to the ancestor of horses in the "po ceremony which is referred
to in " The Book of Odes," the sacrifice at the end of the year
which was called cha in the Chow dynasty, and la in the Ch'in,
and which was offered in thanksgiving for the harvest, the yo
sacrifice in the spring and the t'l sacrifice in the autumn, both of
which were attended by the ruler and all the princes, the kuet
sacrifice for averting evil influences and the no sacrifice for the
same purpose.
The hi Ki or " Book of Rites " records that the princes of-
fered sacrifices to the spirits of the Earth and of agriculture —
she chi. The early Chinese were an agricultural people and
their thoughts naturally turned toward some deities to whose
62 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
influence could be ascribed the blessings of good harvests. She
was the spirit of earth, and chi the spirit of grain j together they
combined the idea of gods of agriculture, as the Emperor Shen
Nung typified the origin of the cultivation of the soil. The
spirits of the earth were honoured in different measure accord-
ing to the extent of the territory over which they were supposed
to preside. Some were local, others extended throughout the
area of a duchy or feudal principality, while one spirit was
worshipped by the Emperor as being the patron of agriculture
throughout the Empire. According to the generally accepted
tradition the first person who was deified as the national god of
the soil, T'u-ti Shen or Hou-t'u Shen, was Ko Lung. He is
said to have been a descendant of the legendary Emperor, Shen
Nung, in the eleventh generation. Ko Lung was the Minister
of Public Works during the reign of Chuan Hsu, the last of
the Five Emperors, and distinguished himself by his zeal and
ability. This position as patron god of the soil has been main-
tained by Ko Lung with only two brief intervals, of which one
was during the reign of the Emperor P'ing Ti of the Han dy-
nasty, and the other at the beginning of the Ming dynasty.
The Li She, as referred to in the Shih Chij was the place
where worship was paid to the gods of the soil. It is interest-
ing to note that there was no fixed prescription as to the amount
of the sacrifice as in all other ceremonies, but that the people of
a district were expected to make offerings according to their
ability, rich districts offering more than poor ones. Another
important phase of this early nature worship is that in it oc-
curred the first instances of the personification of spiritual be-
ings. The Father of Husbandry, T'ien Tsu, is spoken of in the
Shih King or " Book of Odes " (II. 6, VII. 2) as a personality
in the same sense as ancestors. This personality was that of de-
parted human spirits, and was considered in a different category
from that of the living j but it was nevertheless distinctly mod-
elled after the human form. This first known instance of
SPIRITS OF NATURE 63
anthropomorphism in early Chinese worship is recorded as hav-
ing occurred in the Chow dynasty, and there is no available
knowledge of its extension to other objects of worship which
continued to be regarded as abstract forces, principles or laws.
These local deities impersonated the source of the kindly
fruits of the earth In the district where altars were erected or
offerings made. The local deities of a rich, prosperous district
were on the same footing as those of a poor one. There Is no
record of the use of a local god for tribal supremacy or tribal
propaganda. If prosperity reigned In one district, the local god
of the soil was thanked by the presentation of costly offerings,
but he was not heralded as greater than the local gods of neigh-
bouring districts, nor made the occasion of hostile attacks upon
supposed inferiors. There were no jealousies and quarrels
among different localities based upon the help of superior local
deities, as there were between the Israelites on the one hand
and the tabernacles of Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab and the
Hagarenes on the other. These deities were dependent for
their prestige on the quality of the soil where they were wor-
shipped, and the early Chinese would have thought of carrying
the fertile soil of one district Into the sterile fields of another,
as soon as of transferring a local deity from Its own habitat to
another place. The deity was the essential essence of the local
soil and could not be detached from It. Thus everywhere
there was worship offered to these gods on the basis of their
perfect equality. This was not henotheism, for over and
above this local deity who could control the visible world of
matter was Heaven, Supreme Ruler of the Invisible forces of
nature.
Worship of nature among the ancient Chinese was national,
tribal and local j at the present time it remains national and
local. The great national centre is the Temple of Agriculture
in Peking, which Is a large enclosure on the west side of the
street opposite to the Temple of Heaven. Here in the spring
64
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
the Emperor was accustomed to turn over three furrows with
an especially ornamented plough drawn by cows. As a local
religion it is found everywhere in China, even in the sparsely
populated agricultural districts of Manchuria and Mongolia,
where no Buddhist or Taoist temples have been built. Scat-
tered through the fields, on roadsides, on the streets of country
hamlets, small structures are seen, which are often not more
than four by six feet in size. These testify to the permanence
and universality of
nature worship.
Theoretically na-
ture worship is di-
vided into worship
of the Four Quarters
and the Centre, as
may be seen in the
raised platform in
the inner enclosure
of the Central
Park, Peking. Ac-
tually throughout the
country nature wor-
ship is offered to the
local deity, T'u-tl
lao-yeh. This deity is usually some local celebrity who has
been honoured in his life-time for benevolence or for his excep-
tional character, and at death has been elevated to the rank of
protector of the neighbourhood. Anyone after death may be
selected for this honour. When misfortune has overtaken a
place and it has been relieved by the efforts of some individual,
this man is almost certain at death to be selected as the local
deity to replace the one whose usefulness had expired, as shown
by his inability to avert calamity. A man born in a village, who
has become a high official or a prominent military leader, or a
Fig. g. T'u-ti and his Wife
SPIRITS OF NATURE 6$
prosperous merchant or a great scholar, and who had not for-
gotten his birthplace by failing to contribute to its well-being,
is almost certain at death to be made a T'u-ti lao-yeh or
local deity.
I There is no other such extensive source of myths as is af-
forded in the selection of these local deities. They are re-
corded in the Sou Shen Chiy and it is from this book that the
following tales are taken. In the last years of the Eastern Han
dynasty, 25-220 a.d., lived Chiang Tzu-wen. A native of the
district which is now known as Yang-chow in Kiangsu Province,
he became notorious as a drunkard and a libertine. He an-
nounced that his bones were of a bluish-green colour and that
therefore he expected to be deified. When he was Commander
at Mu-ling, near Nanking, he pursued a robber to the foot of
Chung Shan, now known as Purple Mountain. The robber
turned on him and fatally wounded Chiang in the forehead. A
few years later the Emperor Ta Ti of the newly- founded Wu
dynasty was surprised to meet Chiang on the road. He was
mounted on a white charger, carried a white fan, and was ac-
companied by a retinue such as he had during his life-time.
Chiang said to the Emperor: " You are having the extraordi-
nary sight of a spirit. I must be made a local god, T'u-ti Shen."
The Emperor was greatly perturbed and conferred upon him
the title of Marquis of his capital city, Nanking, gave him an
official seal, and erected a temple in his honour. He changed
the name of Purple Mountain from Chung Shan to Chiang
Shan, and made Chiang the local deity in charge of the protec-
tion of the Mountain.
This is only one example, and not too creditable, of the
choice of a deceased personage as a local deity. In most cases
the selection is made for better reasons than in this one just
quoted. Many great warriors have been deified in their native
places or in localities where they have lived. P'eng Yii-lin, the
famous Hunan General of the last generation, has become the
ee CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
protector of Hu-k'ou at the mouth of the Poyang Lake. Yo
Fei, the great General whom the Sungs appointed in the twelfth
century to repel the encroachments of the Golden Hordes of
Tartars, is buried at the side of the West Lake. He was post-
humously granted the title of the Prince of O (modern
Hupeh), but his princely rank has not prevented the farming
people of Hangchow district from making him a local protec-
tive deity, T'u-ti lao-yeh. It does not always happen that the
local deity was some particular individual who lived at a certain
time j in many instances, and it might be safe to venture in most
instances, he is only the general indefinite spirit of the soil and
has no connection with any deceased individual.
In the small shrines the deity, T*u-ti lao-yeh, is sometimes,
though rarely, found alone. In almost every instance a female
figure is seated at his right. She is known as his wife, T'u-ti
nai-nai. I have not been able to trace this custom of associating
a woman with the deity to any date earlier than the middle of
the Ming dynasty, but as yet little information on this question
is available. In larger local shrines other deities are introduced,
such as the god of wealth, Ts'ai Shen, whose horse stands at the
side of the shrine, and the god of healing, Yo Wang. Some-
times other lesser deities are also given places, such as the god
who controls smallpox and the god who controls cholera. Ref-
erence has already been made in the Introduction to Hou-chi,
the patron of grain, the product of the soil. He was Director
of Agriculture in the reign of the Emperor Yao, and sacrifices
were offered to him during the Hsia dynasty. According to
the Shih Chly sacrifices were offered to him at the same time as
to Heaven during the reign of Ch'eng Wang, second Emperor
of the Chow dynasty. The altar for this purpose was erected
in the vicinity of the capital city. In connection with another
patron of grain, Yin Hung, an interesting myth is narrated in
the Feng Shen Yen I. When Yin Hung was twelve years of
age the Empress of the tyrant Chou sought to take his life. He
SPIRITS OF NATURE
67
had already arrived at the place of execution when two im-
mortals rescued him in a whirlwind and carried him off to a safe
retreat on the mountain Tai Hua. He afterwards came out to
fight on the side of the supporters of the Shang dynasty against
the Chows, but this so outraged the Chow General that he pul-
verized Yin Hung with the Eight Diagrams. After death he
was canonized as patron of good harvests.
A myth is connected with the worship of Hou-t'u, who in
modern temples is represented
as a woman. This was origi-
nally worship of the spirit of the
earth, then it became a worship
of individuals who were hon-
oured as patrons of the soil,
and deceased Emperors or Em-
presses were designated as this
deity. Since the early part of
the Ming dynasty the god has
been transformed into a goddess,
Hou-t'u nai-nai. The general
facts concerning the evolution of
this worship are given in the
but
the
Fig. id. Hou-t'u
book Wu Li T^ung K^ao,
no explanation is given of
change of sex of the deity.
Another spirit which is now
universally worshipped through-
out China is the god of the city, Ch'eng Huang. He is men-
tioned in Chinese literature first in the annals of the Northern
Ch'i dynasty, 550-577 a.d., where it is said that a respectful
countenance and dignified prayer in the worship of Ch'eng
Huang will be answered by many blessings. During the T'ang
dynasty, when everything was given an origin in early history,
Ch'eng Huang was interpreted as being the same as Shui Jung,
68
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
one of the " Eight Spirits " (Pa Cha), to whom the Emperor
Yao offered sacrifice, according to the Li Ki. There are forms
of prayer written for his worship in the T'ang dynasty by Chang
Shuo and Chang Chiu-ling, the famous litterateurs. In the
Fig. II. Ch'eng Huang
Sung dynasty worship of Ch'eng Huang was wide-spread, and
he was ennobled as a Duke in every prefecture, a Marquis in
every department, and an Earl in every county. During the
reign of Hung Wu, in 1382, temples in his honour were de-
clared to be public government property, and it was ordered
that sacrifices should be offered to him. In the Manchu dy-
nasty Ch'eng Huang was included in the prescribed regulations
among those to whom regular sacrifices should be offered. With
Ch'eng Huang is associated his wife, for whom special rooms
SPIRITS OF NATURE
69
are set aside in the temple. The growth of this T'ang dynasty
myth into a national cult is one of the most remarkable inci-
dents in Chinese mythology and is an evidence of the great in-
fluence of Imperial patronage. The connection between Ch'eng
Huang and Shui Jung rests solely upon the identity of the orig-
inal meaning of the two names. Both have the meaning of a
Fig. 12. Sa Chen-jen
" city moat." By connecting the newly-invented Ch'eng
Huang with the mythical spirit, Shui Jung, to which the Em-
peror Yao sacrificed, the T'ang scholars gave a dignity to the
new deity which he could not have attained in any other way.
Shui Jung is only mentioned casually in the Li Ki and was not
singled out by later generations as worthy of greater respect
than any of the other " Eight Spirits." It was not until the
vin — 6
70 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
T'ang dynasty that his name was selected as a peg upon which
to hang the legend of Ch'eng Huang.
Of the five sacred mountains, T'ai Shan in Shantung Prov-
ince has been most closely connected with religious observances.
Early Emperors are reputed to have visited it. Here Confu-
cius stood and had a view of the whole empire. The Emperor
Shih Huang of the Ch'in dynasty is reputed to have set up a
tablet during his visit, and a rubbing of its inscription is still
preserved in the Tai Miao in T'ai-an city. The entire character
of the worship on this famous mountain was changed after the
visit, in 1008 a.d., of the Emperor Chen Tsung of the Sung
dynasty. This Emperor had probably been informed of the
tales connected with the daughter of Tung Hai who appeared
to Wen Wang. In his book Po Wu Chihj Chang Hua, 232—
300 A.D., says that when T'ai Kung Wang (the famous Minister
of the Emperor Wen Wang and the preceptor of Wu Wang)
was Governor of Kuan-t'an, for a full year there was a severe
drought and no sound of wind was heard. In a dream Wen
Wang saw a woman who was weeping bitterly. He inquired
the reason for her grief and she replied: " I am the daughter of
Tung Hai (' Eastern Sea ') and am married to Hsi Hai
(* Western Sea '). Tomorrow I shall return eastward to Kuan-
t'an. You are a man of high principles and distinguished nature
so that I do not dare to disturb you by returning home in a
whirlwind." The Emperor Wen Wang on the following
day ordered the recall of T'ai Kung Wang from his distant
post, whereupon the woman carried out her purpose of com-
ing back and brought with her a copious shower of rain accom-
panied with wind. She thus became known as the Lady of
T'ai Shan.
Another account of this woman is given by Chang £)r-ch'i
who lived at the close of the Ming and the beginning of the
Manchu dynasty. In his book, Hao Ang Hsien Hua, he quotes
from a romantic history, Pai Shih, that during the Han dy-
SPIRITS OF NATURE
71
nasty a lapidary fashioned two statues, one of the " Golden
Lad" (Chin T'ung), and one of the "Jade Lady" (Yu Nu).
During the Five Dynasties the hall of the temple in which these
stood, collapsed and the statues fell down. The Golden Lad
was broken in pieces, but the Jade Lady was submerged in a
pool. When the Sung Emperor, Chen Tsung, visited T'ai
Shan in 1008 a.d., he stooped to wash his hands in this pool.
He found a stone statue ^i.
floating on the surface. It
was taken out and found to
be the Jade Lady. He or-
dered his attendant Minister
to erect a temple in her hon-
our and conferred upon her
the title of T'ien Hsien Yii
Nu Pi Hsia Yuan Chii
(" First Lord of the Blue
Sky, Heavenly Fairy, Jade
Lady"). This account is
also given in the " Historical
Records " of Shantung {Shan
Tung K^ao Ku Lu). There
are many shrines to this
Lady on the mountain.
There are no myths which
have general currency asso- ^''-" '^' J'^"^ ^ady, Ye Nu
ciated with any other of the five sacred mountains. T'ai Shan
has absorbed all the interest of the Taoists, and in its name as
Tung Yo, " Eastern Peak," it has been the object of worship in
every large centre where Taoist influence flourishes. The Tung
Yo Temple, outside the Ch'ao Yang Men, is one of the most
beautiful temples of Peking, and has been under Imperial
patronage since the time of the Yiian dynasty. The myths con-
cerned with the four sacred hills of Buddhistic worship, P'u-t'o,
72
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
Chiu-hua, Wu-t'ai and O-mei, are all foreign in their origin
and do not call for attention among national legends.
T'ien Hou, goddess of the sea, is reputed to have been the
sixth daughter of Lin Yiian of the P'u-t'ien district of Fukien
Province, who lived during the Sung dynasty. From childhood
she possessed supernatural powers. Her brother carried on a
sea-trade. Whenever a great wind arose at sea, she closed her
eyes and went forth in her divine power and rescued her brother.
Fig. 14. T'ien Hou
She died at twenty years of age, but continued to exercise her
spiritual powers on the sea. She is worshipped by all sea-faring
persons. She was canonized by the Emperor Yung Lo, 1402-
23A.D., of the Ming dynasty, as " Heavenly Consort " {tHen
fet). There is a large temple in her honour on the North
Soochow Road, at the corner of Honan Road, Shanghai, which
was for many years used as the home of envoys going from or
returning to China. She is also worshipped by persons jour-
neying on rivers and canals. Ch'uan Hou, goddess of streams,
SPIRITS OF NATURE 73
is a variation in name of this goddess. There is also a ruler of
water, Shui Chiin, who rides on a horse in the water and has a
human form. He is followed in his course by fish. In the lat-
ter part of the Han dynasty he is said to have been seen during
a sacrifice to the rivers.
The wind god is called either Feng Po or Feng Shih. He is
identified with the constellation Sagittarius, as strong winds
come from the north-west. The rain god, Yii Shih, is associ-
ated with the constellation Hyades in the south-west. These
two controllers of wind and rain are mentioned in the Chow Li.
There is another deity, Yen Kung, who has power to calm wind
and waves. The Emperor Ta Ti, 222-252 a.d., of the Wu dy-
nasty, is said to have erected an altar to Yen Kung outside the
West Gate of Shanghai. This deity protected Shanghai during
an attack of pirates in the reign of Chia Ching, 152 2- 1567 a.d.,
by causing a huge tidal wave to swamp their boats during the
darkness of the night.
CHAPTER VII
DOMESTIC RITES
RELIGIOUS ceremonies connected with the home are cele-
brated at the New Year season and on special occasions
such as birthdays, departure on journeys and moving into a new
residence. These domestic ceremonies are usually spoken of
as the " five sacrifices " {wu ssu) —
(a) the hearth (tsao), (b) the portal
{men), (c) the house {hu), (d) de-
parture on journeys (hsing), and (e)
the interior of the residence {chung-
liu). These ceremonies all originated
among the early inhabitants of China,
though the present forms of observance
came into vogue centuries later. None
of them show traces of any foreign in-
fluence.
Worship of the god of the hearth,
Tsao Shen, is universal. On the night
of the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth
moon elaborate offerings of food and
wine are arranged before a paper image
of this god, after which the image is
burned, together with horses, chariots,
paper money and domestic utensils,
whereupon Tsao Shen ascends to Heaven to make his report to
the Most High regarding the condition and prospects of the
family. In the hands of this god is the prosperity or adver-
sity of the household, depending wholly upon the statements
which he makes concerning its ideals and practices.
Fig. 15. Tsao Shen,
God of the Hearth
DOMESTIC RITES 75
It is generally agreed by historical writers that the first offer-
ing to the Prince of the Furnace, Tsao Chiin, as he was origi-
nally called, was made by the Emperor Wu Ti, 140-86 b.c,
of the Han dynasty. A mystic named Li Shao-chun assured
the credulous monarch that he had received from the Prince
of the Furnace the double blessing of freedom from growing
old and from eating in order to live. He referred to the knowl-
edge of alchemy possessed by the Emperor Huang Ti by which
he was able to produce gold, and thus make a golden table-
service which caused the food served in it to confer immortality
upon those who partook of it. The Emperor Wu Ti demanded
to see an image of this new god, and one night when he had
already retired behind the curtains of his bed, Li Shao-chun
exhibited it to him. This satisfied the curiosity of the emperor
and he decided in 133 b.c. to offer a solemn sacrifice to the god
in the hope of being able to produce gold and to obtain immor-
tality. Li Shao-chiin was taken into the palace, and a year
later attempted a bolder trick. He wrote a number of mysteri-
ous sayings on silk which he caused a bull to eat. He then as-
sured the Emperor that he would find marvellous writings in
the stomach of an animal. Accordingly the bull was brought
forward as the animal which had been specified by Li, and when
it was slaughtered the writing on silk was found, but, unfortu-
nately for Li, the Emperor recognized the penmanship to be
that of Li himself. He ordered Li to be executed, but contin-
ued his sacrifices to the god. At this time, i.e. in the second
century b.c, the chief function of this god was supposed to be
the control of the furnace in which metals could be transmuted
into gold and the pill of immortality produced.
It is narrated by another writer that during the reign of the
Emperor Hsuan Ti, 73-48 b.c, the Prince of the Furnace
(Tsao Chiin) appeared to the Emperor in human form and
called himself by the name of Ch'an Tzu-fang, which suggests
a connection with Buddhistic propaganda. Ch'an Tzii-fang
76 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
wore yellow garments and his hair fell unkempt over his shoul-
ders. The Emperor was greatly impressed by this appearance
and offered the sacrifice of a lamb in his honour. Ch'an Tzu-
fang received many emoluments from the Emperor. It is said
that his great-grandson was the uncle of the Empress, Lieh
Hou, consort of the Emperor Kuan Wu, 25-58 a.d.
Between the Han and Sung dynasties the Prince of the Fur-
nace (Tsao Chiin) whose powers were connected with alchemy,
was transformed Into the god of the hearth, Tsao Shen, the
word tsao meaning both " furnace " and " hearth." As far as
I know there are no records of the way in which this change took
place, but the probability is that it occurred during the first
years of the T'ang dynasty, when the process of creating new
deities by the Taoists, and of ascribing new powers to deities
already known, flourished at the height of its popularity. The
first historical reference to the universality of the worship of
the god of the hearth at the close of the year occurs in a collec-
tion of poems called Shih Hu Tz'u, by Fan Ch'eng-ta, who
lived in the reign of the Efnperor Kao Tsung, 1 127-1 162 a.d.,
of the Southern Sung dynasty. The poet says that every family
made presents to this god preparatory to his departure to pre-
sent his report of family affairs to the Ruler of Heaven, but no
account of the origin of the custom is given. The poet refers to
the custom of worshipping this god as being universal in the
country at that time. It needed no explanation to those for
whom his poem was written.
There is much intermixture of the conceptions concerning
the god of the hearth, Tsao Shen, and the god of fire. Ho
Shen. The origin of both is traced back to Chu Jung, one of
the five ancient sacrifices (wu cht) of the Hsia dynasty. In the
Yiieh-ling Chapter of the " Book of Rites " {Li Ki)^ it is stated
that Chu Jung is the god of the Fourth Month. The T'ung
Chien (" Historical Annals ") explains that Chu Jung refers
to a grandson of the legendary Emperor, Chuan Hsu, 2513—
DOMESTIC RITES
77
2435 B.C., who was an officer of fire {Ho cheng). Chu Hsi,
the standard commentator on the Confucian classics, identifies
Chu Jung as tsao^ i.e. " furnace " or " hearth," but this is only-
one of several explanations of the " five sacrifices," a subject
on which only little information is available. Another inter-
pretation of Chu Jung makes it equivalent to Ho Shen, the god
of fire, presumably on account of the constant interchange of
the use of tsao^ " furnace " or " stove," for the fire, hOy con-
Fig. 16. Men Shen, Guardians of the Portals
tained in it. In the Han dynasty five soldiers were grouped to-
gether as a mess and used one tsao (" cooking range "). The
head man of the mess was called ho fo and not tsao fo as might
have been expected, thus showing the use of these two words
tsao and ho as having one meaning in that connection. From
this it may be justly inferred that these two words are used in-
terchangeably in the names of these two deities.
At the New Year season the double doors at the entrance of
every house are decorated with the pictures of two guardians,
Men Shen. These are usually in military dress with swords,
arrows or spears in their hands, and are reputed to ward off all
evil influences. These pictures are not alike in various parts
78
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
of the country. According to the Feng Su T*ung the earliest
was that of Ch'eng Ch'ing, an ancient warrior who is repre-
sented with a long outer garment and carrying a sword. An-
other early representation was that of Ching K'e who died 227
B.C., and who was a bold adventurer. He plotted to slay the
Prince of Ch'in, but lost his life in the attempt. The two
brothers, Shu Yu and Yu Lei were
also portrayed as guardians of the
portal, but there is no further account
of them than that they were noted
warriors of antiquity. From the time
of the first Emperor of the T'ang
dynasty, Ch'in Ch'iung and Hu
Ching-te have been most commonly
represented as the two guardians.
These were two statesmen who of-
fered their services to the Emperor
T'ai Tsung when he was nightly dis-
turbed by evil spirits during a serious
illness. They promised to remain at
the gate of his palace throughout the
whole night. During their vigil no
spirits interfered with the repose of
the Emperor, but it was at the ex-
pense of the health of his Ministers.
After a few days the Emperor called
an artist to the palace and had portraits made of the two Min-
isters in the hope that these would have the same effect as the
actual presence of the men themselves. He had these portraits
attached to the doors and, true to his expectations, they had the
same effect of warding off the evil spirits as the presence of the
statesmen. The custom rapidly spread until it is now universal
in the country. Li official residences there are four guardians,
two military and two civil.
Fig. 17. Ts'ai Shen,
OF Riches
God
DOMESTIC RITES
79
The god of riches, Ts'ai Shen, is worshipped universally in
families during the first days of the New Year, usually on the
fifth or eighth of the first moon. He is usually represented as
a visitor who desires to enter the home and is accompanied by
many servants carrying treasures which he is ready to dispense
freely to those who offer him obeisance. His origin is traced
back to Chao Kung-ming, a hermit from Mount O-mei in
IZ
X
Fig. 1 8. Chao Kung-ming, God of Riches
Szechuan, who supported with magical incantations the Shang
dynasty in its conflict with the men who founded the Chow dy-
nasty. When Chiang Tzu-ya was aiding the cause of the Chows
he decided that he must destroy the supernatural assistance
which Chao Kung-ming was giving to the Shangs. Chiang
made a straw efiigy of Chao before which he recited incantations
for twenty days. On the twenty-first day he shot an arrow of
peach-tree wood from his bow made of mulberry-tree wood,
hitting the effigy in the heart. At this very moment Chao
8o
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
Kung-ming, who was in the camp of the enemy, was seized with
mortal illness and died. During a subsequent visit to the deity
Yiian Shih T'icn Tsun, Chiang Tzii-ya was commanded to bring
into the god's presence the deceased Chao Kung-ming, where-
upon Chiang was led to express regrets for having killed Chao,
and to praise the virtues of his life. In the name of the deity
Yiian Shih, he pro-
nounced a decree can-
onizing Chao Kung-
ming and promoting
him to the presidency
0 f the Ministry o f
Riches. This is the ac-
count given in the
Feng Shen Yen I. In
addition to the family
worship of the god of
riches many temples
have images of him to
which incense is offered,
especially during the
first moon.
The interior of the
home {tse) is distin-
guished from the ex-
terior which is described
by the term hu. This interior is also called the chung-Uuy orig-
inally the air shaft which afforded light and air to homes ex-
cavated in the sides of hills. There are still many people who
live in these excavated houses in the hills of Honan, Shansi and
Shensi. This air shaft, being in the centre of the house, was
the place where the family god was placed and the god himself
came to be known by the name of the shaft, Chung-liu. In
parts of the country where ordinary houses are constructed of
Fig. 19. Chiang Tzu-ya
DOMESTIC RITES
8i
brick, the usual name for the household god is Tse Shen. I
have not been able to find an account of the origin of this cus-
tom, although there can be no doubt that it has been observed
from the earliest antiquity. This deity has never been asso-
ciated with any particular individual.
Another family ceremony, mentioned in the Tso Chuariy is
that of those moving into a
house offering sacrifice to all
persons who had resided at
any previous time on the site.
It is recognized that previous
to their own residence in this
particular spot countless gen-
erations have lived in the
same place. The object of
the sacrifice is to show respect
to those departed ones who in
their day were familiar with
this particular spot where the
family has come to live.
At the time of birthday
celebrations, offerings are pre-
sented to the stellar deity,
Shou Hsing, god of longevity.
The star from which this
deity takes his name is iden-
tified as Canopus, the second
brightest star in the heavens. When it can be seen, national
peace is assured 5 when it is invisible, dire calamities may
happen. This deity was worshipped by Shih Huang of the
Ch'in dynasty in 246 B.C., according to the records of the
Han dynasty. There are also records of the worship of Shou
Hsing by Emperors of the T'ang and Ming dynasties. At the
present time pictures of him on paper or elaborately embroid-
FiG. 20. Shou Hsing, Nan-chi
LAO-JEN God of Longevity
82 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
ered on silk or satin are used on the occasion of birthday cere-
monies. He is now represented in human form as an old man
with elongated forehead and pointed head, carrying in one
hand a crook and in the other a peach, and mounted on a fawn
which is turning its head so that it can see the face of its rider.
He is often associated with the spirits of happiness and pros-
perity, and the three are then known as Fu-shou-lu. He is also
called the " Old Man of the Southern Pole " (Nan-chi lao-
jen). Longevity is considered by the Chinese as the greatest
of all human blessings.
Another domestic deity worshipped by members of the fam-
ily who propose to start on a journey is the god of the road,
Hsing Shen. The origin of this worship is prehistoric. The
son of the fabulous Emperor Huang Ti, was named Lei. He
was fond of constant travelling and finally died while on a
journey. He was deified as the protector of wayfarers.
Among the Chinese there is no more notable characteristic
than the desire for offspring. Pilgrimages are made to temples
and prayers are made to deities whose favourable replies are as-
sumed to be readily obtainable. The chief object of such wor-
ship is the Buddhist deity, Kuan Yin, goddess of mercy. Wor-
ship of Kuan Yin began during the period of the Six Dynasties
and is now observed in all parts of the country. It was already
wide-spread at the time of the foundation of the Sung dynasty
in 960 A.D., but this did not prevent an attempt being made to
replace this worship of a foreign goddess by that of a Chinese
deity. The first Emperor of the Sung dynasty tried to elevate
Chang Hsien to the position of the deity to whom prayers for
offspring should be addressed, but his efforts were not rewarded
with success. There are conflicting tales as to the identity of
Chang Hsien. One of these states that his name was mentioned
to the Emperor by the Lady Fei who had been taken from being
the concubine of Meng Ch'ang, the last ruler of the Shu state
of Szechuan, to be the concubine of the first Sung Emperor.
DOMESTIC RITES
83
She had a portrait hanging at the doorway of her apartments
which was presumably that of her first husband j but when
questioned as to whose portrait it was, this clever woman an-
swered that it was that of Chang Hsien, a recluse of the period
of the Five Dynasties. Another account states that the por-
FiG. 21. Chang Hsien
trait was one of the founder of the T'ang dynasty, and that
Chang Hsien was only a supposititious name given to him by
this woman. In a collection of poems called Su Lao-ch^uan Tsi^
it is said that the full name of Chang Hsien is Chang Yuan-
hsiao. He was a native of Mei-shan, in Szechuan province, and
retired for contemplation as a recluse to the Ch'ing Ch'eng
Mountain in the Kuan district, also in Szechuan Province. The
author of this poem was himself rewarded for praying to Chang
Hsien by the birth of two children. This deity is reputed to
84 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
have taken up his spiritual abode in the Chia Hsien pavilion at
Chiung Chow in Szechuan Province. All the references to
Chang Hsien connect him with Szechuan Province and he may
be considered as a special guardian of this part of China. He is
represented as a man of noble bearing carrying a cross-bow and
arrows. Above his head are clouds in which are seen the sun
and the heavenly dog, reputed to devour the sun at the time of
eclipses. In addition to his ability to give children to suppli-
ants, he was also able to ward off calamities. He is given the
central position in the "All Children's Hall " {Pai-tzu T^ang),
but worship of this deity has never been wide-spread. It is a
singular example of the failure of an Emperor to supplant the
worship in temples of the foreign goddess Kuan Yin by that of
a purely indigenous deity who would have been worshipped in
the home, and as such it deserves notice. For once Imperial
patronage failed to divert the people from an earlier choice.
CHAPTER VIII
GREAT NATIONAL HEROES
AMONG the mythical heroes of China none are more pop-
ular than those who were immortalized by Ch'u Yiian,
332-295 B.C., in his poem " Falling into Trouble " (Li Sao).
Fig. 22. Ta Ssu Ming
Ch'ii Yiian rose to high office in his native state of Ch'u, but
was impeached on trivial grounds and expressed his disap-
pointment in this poem. He retired to a quiet life, and
finally committed suicide by jumping into a river on the
vm — 7
86
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
fifth day of the fifth moon. In memory of him the people
of his district offered sacrifices to him annually on this date
and the custom gradually spread until it was transformed
into the Fifth Moon Feast, or, as it is often called, the
Dragon Festival. The most interesting part of " Falling into
Trouble " is the " Nine Songs " in which eleven heroes are
Fig. 23. Hsiao Ssu Ming
celebrated. These eleven are really only nine, for Ssu Ming
is divided into two persons, senior and junior, and under Hsiang
Chiin the two daughters of Yao, Hsiang Fu-jen, are treated
each under a separate heading. If these four headings are
combined into two as is usual in literary references, the " Nine
Songs " in reality are connected with nine heroes. These were
all heroes originally of the State of Ch'u, which is the modern
Hupeh (and part of Hunan), but have become national by the
88 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
popularity of this poem. These heroes have not only been
made famous in poetry j they have also been painted by famous
artists. The " Nine Songs " painted by Li Kung-lin of the
Sung dynasty is in the Government Museum at Peking, and is
one of "The Four Beautiful Objects" (ssu met chu) of the
Emperor Ch'ien Lung. The illustrations of these heroes are
<JS
Fig. 25. YiJN Chung Chun
taken from Li's painting. The following is a short description
of each of the nine heroes:
( 1 ) Tung Huang T'ai I was worshipped in the eastern part
of Ch'u as the Eastern Emperor.
(2) Yiin Chung Chun is the god of the clouds.
(3) Hsiang Chiin is the god of the waterways of Hsiang
(modern Hunan).
(a) Hsiang Fu-jen, the two daughters of Emperor Yao, the
older being named Wo Huang and the younger Nii Ying.
GREAT NATIONAL HEROES
89
They became the Empress and Consort of the Emperor Shun.
Their graves are reputed to be at Hsiang Shan, an island in
the Tung-t'ing lake of Hunan. The Emperor Shih Huang
of the Ch'in dynasty is said to have been driven by a strong wind
on the island while attempting to cross the lake. He became
very angry and ordered all the trees and shrubs on the island to
Fig. 26. Hsiang Chun
be destroyed, thus turning the green hillsides to a dull brown
{che ch^i shan).
(4) Ssu Ming is the arbiter of life and death, the assistant
of High Heaven in controlling human events, the protector of
virtue and enemy of evil. In this elegy Ssu Ming is divided
into two beings, one senior and one junior, thus giving rise to
the wrong interpretation that the two stellar deities Shang T'ai
and Wen Ch'ang are referred to. The division into senior and
junior arbiters is probably a poetic licence, in the same way, as
90
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
Hsiang Chiin is separated from Hsiang Fu-jen in this elegy,
though they are usually joined together under the one term
Hsiang Chiin.
(5) Tung Chiin is the god of the sun rising in the East.
(6) Ho Po is god of the Yellow River, according to the
statement of Chuang Tzu. He has the form of a man. This
name seems interchangeable with that of the god of the waters,
Fig. 27. Hsiang Fu-jen
Shui Shen, of the god of the fishes, Yii Po, and of two other
gods of the waters called Feng I and Shui I. The poem under
this heading in these " Nine Songs " refers to a journey made
by Ho Po in company with a maiden who fell into the water and
was rescued by him and taken to the " fish-scale house " (yil lin
wu).
(7) Shan Kuei is a demon of the mountains. Giles, in his
Chinese Literature has translated this poem, the first part of
GREAT NATIONAL HEROES 91
which describes the demon as follows: " Methinks there is a
genius of the hills, clad in wistaria, girdled with ivy, with smil-
ing lips of witching mien, riding on the red pard, wild cats gal-
loping in the rear, reclining in a chariot, with banners of cassia,
cloaked with the orchid, girt with azalea, culling the perfume of
sweet flowers to leave behind a memory in the heart."
Fig. 28. Tung Chun
(8) Kuo Shang, the patriot who died for his country. This
patriot, according to the poem, faced a body of enemies " as
thick as the dark clouds."
(9) Li Hun, the ceremonialist, is worshipped on account of
his perseverance in the correct observation of ceremony even at
the cost of his own life.
These nine heroes have been celebrated by many poets since
the time of Ch'u Yiian, and the poetical phrases used in de-
92
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
scribing them have been reproduced and reconstructed in num-
berless poems. To literary men they are national heroes, but
they have never become popular among the common people.
They are all mythical characters.
In contrast to these, three historical characters must be men-
tioned whose lives contributed in large measure to the belief
Fig. 29. Ho Po
in mystery and magic, although there are few myths told con-
cerning these men themselves. The first of the three is Chang
Liang. At the close of the short-lived Ch'in dynasty, 209 B.C.,
two military leaders, Liu Pang and Hsiang Chi, contended for
the mastery, and for a long time the latter was uniformly vic-
torious. Finally the Kuang Wu terms of peace were negotiated
by which the father and wife of Liu Pang were restored to himj
but no sooner had they returned than Liu Pang proceeded to
break the treaty and again to attack Hsiang Chi, whom he
GREAT NATIONAL HEROES
93
shortly after defeated. Liu Pang thereupon proclaimed him-
self Emperor of the Han dynasty which passed into history
with many, achievements to its credit. Out of these troublous
times emerged the strange person, Chang Liang. He came
first into prominence by his attempt to assassinate Shih Huang,
the great Ch'in Emperor, at Po Lang Sha, which is Yang-wu
Hsien in Honan Province. After this futile attempt he retired
Fig. 30. Shan Kuei
to a hiding place in Kiang-su Province. He joined the service
of Liu Pang and it was on his advice that the Kuang Wu peace-
terms were broken. When Liu Pang became Emperor he
raised Chang Liang to the rank of Marquis, declaring that his
success had been mainly due to the wise counsels that had been
given by Chang. The Emperor further honoured Chang by
making him one of the " Three Heroes " (San Chieh). After
these honours had been conferred upon him, Chang renounced
94 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
the world " to follow the example of Ch'ih Sung Tzu " who,
according to the hteh Hsien Chuan^ was the arbiter of rain in
the period of the legendary Shen Nung. He devoted himself
to a study of the doctrines of Huang Ti and Lao Tzu, abstained
from food and sought for immortality. It was chiefly due to
his example that his descendant of the eighth generation, Chang
Tao-ling, devoted himself to the mysteries of alchemy.
Fig. 31. Kuo Shang
Out of the stirring events at the close of the Han dynasty, as
a result of which the country was divided into the Three King-
doms (San Kuo) of Shu, Wei and Wu, emerges Kuan Yu who
later became the god of war. These events are described with
further details in Chapter XIV. Kuan Yu was the sworn
brother of Liu Pei and followed him during his turbulent
career. He was given charge of Hsia-p'i (the modern Hsii
GREAT NATIONAL HEROES
95
Chow, in Kiangsi Province) but during the defeat which Liu
Pei suflrered at the hands of Ts'ao Ts'ao, he was captured.
Ts'ao Ts'ao treated Kuan Yu with great consideration. This
kindly treatment led Kuan Yii to assist Ts'ao Ts'ao when the
latter was attacked by Yiian Shao, and with his own hands he
slew Yen Liang who was one of Yiian Shao's generals. After
this exhibition of his gratitude he sent a respectful letter to
Ts'ao Ts'ao resigning his position and again joined the standard
of his sworn brother, Liu Pei. He
assisted Liu Pei in his campaigns in
Central China, and was appointed
to the charge of Hsiang Yang and
Ching Chow in modern Hupeh
Province, where he acquired a
great reputation for the benevo-
lence of his rule. In the attack
made by Sun Ch'iian, founder of
the Kingdom of Wu, Kuan Yu was
slain. The Emperor Hui Tsung,
1100-1126 A.D., of the Sung
dynasty, ennobled Kuan Yii as
the Duke of Ch'ung Hui, and his
successor, Ch'in Tsung, raised him
to the rank of a Prince during the
days when the Sungs were fleeing from K'ai-feng to Hang-
chow. The Emperor Wan Li, 1 572-1620 a.d., of the Ming
dynasty, deified Kuan Yii, conferring upon him the title of
" the patriotic assistant of Heaven and protector of his coun-
try " (Hsieh t'ien hu kuo chung i ta ti). During the reign of
Ch'ien Lung, 1 736-1 796 a.d., of the Manchu dynasty, this
title was abbreviated, but Kuan Yii was further honoured by be-
ing made the protector of the dynasty. In 19 14 the Republic
ordered that sacrifices should be offered to him in military
temples along with Yo Fei.
Fig. 32. Kuan Yu,
God of War
96
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
During the troublous times that befell the Emperor Hsuan
Tsung, 713-756 A.D., of the T'ang dynasty, one of the greatest
of China's long list of eminent generals, Kuo Tzu-i, came into
prominence. The corruption of the court which centred around
the Empress Yang Kuei-fei resulted in the rebellion of An Lu-
shan who for a time established himself as the Emperor Hsiung
Wu of the Yen dynasty (in the modern Chihli Province).
Through brilliant campaigns against
the rebel, Kuo Tzu-i succeeded in
recovering all the territory which
had been lost. He fought against
the Targuts and the Turfans. For
more than twenty years the supreme
1/7/1 llr^^^l/ X^ military power was in his hands and
IV ' Mil /lHi\>V\ he exercised it with entire loyalty
to the dissolute Emperor. He
used no favouritism in the selection
of his subordinates, and did not al-
low his troops to molest the people.
The Emperor gave his daughter in
marriage to his son. He served
during the reigns of these Emper-
ors of the T'ang dynasty, by each
of whom he was equally honoured
and trusted. He died in 781 a.d.
at the age of eighty-five. He is
said to have been more than seven feet in height and to have
had, therefore, a commanding presence. He was ennobled as
the Prince of Fen-yang in 763 by the Emperor Tai Tsung and
was given the title of " Imperial Father " (Shang Fu) by the
Emperor Te Tsung. His posthumous title was " Patriotic Mili-
tarist " (Chung Wu), In modern times he is worshipped in
many places as the god of riches. According to the Shen Hsien
T^ung Chien the origin of this worship was in a visit paid to
GREAT NATIONAL HEROES 97
Kuo Tzui by "The Weaving Damsel " (Chih Nu), who ap-
peared to him as he was about to retire on the night of the
seventh day of the seventh moon and said: " ^You are the god
of riches and of longevity. All kinds of riches and honours
attend you."
Another great patriot was Yo Fei, 1 103-1 141 a.d. He rose
at the time when the Sung Emperors were being harassed on
the northern boundaries by the Nu-chen Tartars. The Tartars
became so powerful that finally the Sungs were obliged to con-
clude with them a humiliating peace, by the termiS of which the
northern Provinces were ceded to them and they established the
Chin dynasty which reigned 11 15-1234 a.d. Yo Fei was a
faithful and loyal officer of the Sungs and finally lost his life
on their behalf, being imprisoned and murdered by the treach-
erous Ch'in Kuei. After death he was ennobled as a Prince and
his tomb on the banks of the Western Lake at Hangchow is
held in high honour. Since 19 14 his name has been linked with
that of Kuan Yii in military temples, and sacrifices are oflFered
to his memory throughout the whole country.
These are only a few of the great heroes of China. Others
of equal interest historically might have been chosen, but those
that have been mentioned have been selected on account of their
prominence either in literature or popular tradition.
CHAPTER IX
THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE WORLDS
ACCORDING to the Li Ki there are four benevolent or
spiritual animals (ssu ling). There are the unicorn {ch^i-
lin)y the phoenix (feng-huang), the tortoise (kuei), and the
dragon (lung). The unicorn is at the head o£ all quadrupeds,
the phoenix of all birds, the tortoise of all molluscs, and the
dragon of all scaly animals. There are other animals which
enter into the myths of China, such as the crane, the fox, the
tiger, but these four spiritual ones are of greatest importance.
The unicorn is said to have the body of a deer, the tail of an
ox, and the hoofs of a horse. It has one soft horn growing out
of the centre of the head. It is five-coloured on its back and
yellow on its belly. It eats no living vegetation and never
walks on green grass. It has a good disposition toward other
animals. It is said to appear at the birth of good sovereigns or
of sages. Any injury inflicted upon it is a presage of coming
disasters. Its earliest appearance was in the garden of the Yel-
low Emperor, 2697 ^-C- Later two unicorns took up their
abode in P'ing-yang, the capital city of the Emperor Yao. Still
later one appeared to the mother of Confucius before his birth,
whereupon she vomited up a jade tablet on which was an in-
scription in praise of the future sage. Just before the death of
Confucius a charioteer injured a unicorn, thus foretelling the
imminence of his death. The male is called ch^i and the female,
lin, the combination of the two characters being used as a generic
term.
The phoenix is a mysterious but most beautiful bird. Its
plumage is a blending of the five colours, and its call is a sweet
THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE WORLDS 99
harmony of the five notes. It had its origin in the sun and rep-
resents the active principle, Yang, or nature j or according to
another account it was created in the land of the sages. It
bathes only in the purest of water which flows from the K'un-
lun Mountains, and it passes the night in the cave of Tan. It
can raise its beautiful tail to the height of six feet. Wherever
Fig. 34. The Phoenix
it goes all the other three hundred and sixty varieties of birds
assemble to pay it homage. Like the unicorn it is said to have
appeared at the time of Huang Ti, and also during the reign
of the Emperors Shao Hao and Yao, 2597-2514 b.c. Its ap-
pearance is an omen of prosperity, and when it goes away the
country is visited with calamities. There are many accounts of
its appearance to fortunate monarchs, the last of these being at
the grave of the father of Hung Wu, founder of the Ming dy-
100 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
nasty, 1368-99 a.d., at Feng-yang in the Province of Anhul.
It was considered a favourable sign for this monarch that the
name of his birthplace contained the character jeng, one of the
two characters which make the name of the phoenix.
The tortoise was associated with divination from the dawn of
Chinese history. Its carapace was heated in a strong fire and
from the resultant lines or crackles the fates were foretold.
This custom was already in vogue in the time of the Yellow
Emperor, Huang Ti. The Great Emperor Yu (Ta Yu) saw a
tortoise come up out of the Lo River and on its carapace were
prophetic ideographs, as already narrated. There are frequent
references to the tortoise in the " Book of Rites " {Li Ki) and
other classical writings. It has been honoured continuously
from antiquity down to our present times. Dore mentions an
Imperial Edict issued to the late Li Hung-chang, ordering him
to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the tortoise for its protec-
tion of the dykes of the Yellow River. In ancient times a large
tortoise (yiian kuei) was considered a symbol of the control of
the Empire in the same manner as the ownership of the Nine
Tripods. It has been joined in literature with the crane as an
emblem of longevity. It has also had another symbolic mean-
ing, i.e. of the victory of right. In the Kuei She painting there
is a death struggle between a tortoise and a snake in which the
tortoise is victor. In this painting the tortoise is the symbol of
the power of righteousness, and the snake of the power of evil.
On account of its propitious nature it is used as a pedestal (kuei-
fu) on which tablets are placed. The earliest tablet of this sort
of which there is a record known to me, was created during the
reign of Ch'un Hua, 990-995 a.d., of the Sung dynasty, and on
it were inscribed passages from the " Classic of Filial Piety "
{Hsiao King). Marvellous powers are ascribed to the tortoise.
In the " Water Classic " {Shut King), it is said that when the
tortoise is a thousand years old it can converse with men. In
another book it is narrated that during the life of Sun Ch'iian,
THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE WORLDS loi
181-252 A.D., who became the first Emperor of the Wu dy-
nasty there was a man living at Yung K'ang in the prefecture
of Chin-hua, in Chehkiang Province, who caught a large tor-
toise during his wanderings over the hills. As he was carrying
it home he was overtaken by darkness and sought refuge in a
boat which was tied to a mulberry tree on the bank of a canal.
He was startled during the night by hearing the tree speak to
the tortoise and say: " Tortoise, you must surely die! " To this
the tortoise replied: " This is on account of my having gone out
on an unlucky day." The tortoise also uttered prophecies con-
cerning the destiny of the newly-founded Wu dynasty, which
were afterwards found to be correct. The name of the tortoise
is taken in vain when it is used as a term of vilification. No
worse term of abuse can be employed than to call another man
a tortoise. The generally accepted explanation of this use of
the term is that the outcast class {lo hu), who had no legal
status, was obliged during the T'ang dynasty to wear a strip of
green cloth tied around the head. The degenerate males of this
outcast class lived from the earnings of the prostitution of their
wives and daughters. This was the very lowest depth of im-
morality. As the head of the tortoise is green, it became a
symbol of the green-headed outcasts j and to call a person a tor-
toise originally meant to put him in the vilest class of human
beings, and also to name him as a bastard. This abuse of a word
which generally has an honourable meaning is similar to the use
in Western countries of the name of the Deity in swearing. In
the account of the rites of divination there is a further discussion
of the tortoise.
The last of the four spiritual animals is the dragon, though
from the viewpoint of antiquity of origin it should be first in
this class. It was a dragon-horse which brought the Eight
Diagrams to Fu Hsi in 2852 b.c, and a pair of dragons were
seen in the river by the Yellow Emperor. Dragons appeared
at opportune times when prosperity was foretold. The dragon
vm— 8
102
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
can render itself visible or invisible at pleasure, and it can also
change its appearance in colour and in size. In the spring it
mounts to the heavens, and in the autumn it seeks refuge in the
water. It is the sign and symbol of Imperial authority. Dur-
ing the late Manchu dynasty it was held in especial honour, and
the five-clawed dragon was adopted as a royal patent. Every-
thing used by the Emperor was described in terms of a dragon
Fig. 35.
The Dragon, Lung
— dragon-throne, dragon-clothes, dragon-bed, dragon-boat.
The descriptions and pictorial representations of the dragon
vary in details. When Mr. Hatch was hunting for a design
for the coins to be issued by the national mints, he found nearly
one hundred different patterns of the dragon. There are, how-
ever, certain characteristics common to all — a bearded head
with horns, a scaly body, and claws on the feet. The dragon
controls the clouds and rain. It appears in the black clouds
THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE WORLDS 103
which precede a thunder storm, and from the diflFerent shapes
which these clouds assume have arisen the various forms of the
dragon. A large horse or a very fast one is called a dragon
or sometimes a dragon-in-flight {lung fe'i). This term is in
frequent use on the signboards of livery stables, and, in recent
years, of public garages. The dragon is always, in short, an
omen of good fortune.
In addition to these four animals, there are others which
have a large place in early myths. The tiger {hu), was
Fig. 36. The Fox
mounted by Chang Tao-ling when he ascended to Heaven, ac-
cording to some accounts J others represent him as mounting a
dragon. Lao Tzu made his ascent on a cow. The tiger is often
painted on portals where it acts as guardian. It is reputed to
live to a great old age. The fox {hu li)y is the symbol of
cunning, and associates with fairies. The monkey (hou), has
control of witches and hobgoblins. The rabbit (/'^), is said
to live in the moon where it pounds out the drugs from which
the elixir of life is made. The Shan Hai King mentions many
curious animals, such as the heavenly dog {t^ien kou)^ which
has a white head and the general appearance of a foxj also
104 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
a water-horse {^shui, ma)^ with striped back and the tail of an
ox. There are four other animals with names which have
sounds similar to the symbolic meaning with which they are
connected. An example of this imitative use of words is the
word for lion which is shih. As this is also the sound of the
word which means teacher, a lion is the suggestive symbol for
a teacher. The sound of the character which means deer is
lu; it also is that of the character meaning 'promotion, and thus
a deer symbolizes promotion. The word for a bat, juy has the
same sound as the word for happiness; an eagle, ym, as that
for the answer to prayer; and each suggests its appropriate
meaning when used pictorially. The crane, hsien hOy is a sym-
bol of longevity, and the rooster a guardian against evil influ-
ences. Tseng Ts'an, a disciple of Confucius, spared the life
of a wounded crane which flew away and later returned with
its mate, each of them carrying in its mouth a pearl. These
were presented to Tseng Ts'an as a reward for his kindness.
Though there are few ancient myths connected with any of
these inferior animals which are spoken of in this paragraph,
they appear in the fairy-tales which are narrated later in this
volume, and it is well to be familiar with their symbolic mean-
ing. They are the creations chiefly of the scholars of the
T'ang and Sung dynasties, who used the marvellous tales
connected with these animals as a means of impressing the com-
mon people with the extraordinary quality of the Taoist doc-
trine, in the same way as the Buddhist propagandists gained a
hearing through accounts of the miraculous powers of their
deities.
In the vegetable kingdom several trees are especially hon-
oured on account of their supposed magical influence. The
peach-tree is a symbol of longevity. It is said that one of
these trees {f^an t'ao) grew near the palace of Hsi Wang Mu
and that its fruit ripened only once in three thousand years.
This fairy mother bestowed the fruit upon the mortals whom
THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE WORLDS 105
she favoured, such as Mu Wang and Wu Ti. Mingled with
ashes of the mulberry-tree it could cure disease and confer im-
mortality. According to the Feng Su T^ung, in ancient times
the two brothers Shu ,Yu (or Shen Shu) and Yii Lei had great
power over evil spirits. They hung an amulet on a peach-tree
which would frighten all demons. They could also bind evil
spirits with reeds and throw them to tigers for food. It is
in memory of these two men, who are called " peach men "
(T'ao Jen), that reed grass is hung over the door at New Year
time and a tiger painted on the door in order to ward off evil
influences. The frunus or plum-tree (mei)y is also an emblem
of longevity. Lao Tzu is said to have been born under a plum-
tree. Both the pine (sung) and the bamboo (cku) art emblems
of longevity. The willow is reputed, like reed grass, to be
able to ward off evil influences, and is also hung over the door
for this purpose. Several shrubs and plants are also used as
symbols. The pomegranate (shih liu), and the lotus (lien
hua)j on account of the large number of seeds which their
fruit contains, are symbolic of offspring, as is also the date-
tree, which is used on account of its name, isao tzu. The two
characters for date have the same sound as two other characters
with the meaning of " bringing offspring into the world."
The symbolic meaning attached to these trees and shrubs has
been given to them since the rise of Taoism as an organized
religion in the T'ang dynasty, and although they are now
commonly used with the symbolic meanings just mentioned,
there are no ancient myths attached to them. Their symbolism
is of comparatively modern origin.
According to the Pen Ts*ao Rang Mu there are many hun-
dreds of medicinal herbs in China, and from their ability to use
them for curative purposes, several characters famous in Chi-
nese lore have arisen. The most popular of these is Yo Wang,
the god of medicines. One of the accounts of his life says that
he was a hermit who lived during the reign of Hsiian Ti,
io6 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
827—781 B.C., and that he was a pupil of Ch'iu Chen-jSn. He
continually wandered about, and one o£ his most famous en-
counters was that with Sun Ssu-miao who died in 682 a.d.
Sun was a native of Shcnsi and was a precocious child who
studied the doctrines of Lao Tzu while still very young. One
day Sun saw a shepherd who was beating a serpent. He took
off his own clothes and gave them to the shepherd as a price
for allowing it to go free. A few days later, while he was
wandering in the fields, he saw a horseman dressed in white
approaching him. The man dismounted and saluted Sun say-
ing: " My father has ordered me to come to you with the re-
quest that you will visit him and receive his thanks." He
asked Sun to mount his horse, and soon they were in a won-
derful city at the gate of a palace. When Sun entered he was
met by a nobleman who greeted him with profuse thanks.
Shortly after a young woman brought in a child dressed in
blue, and said to Sun: " This child of mine went out to play
and a shepherd beat him frightfully. You gave your gar-
ments as a price for his liberty, and I desire to thank you."
This child was the serpent whom Sun had saved a few days
before. Sun found that his host was Ching Yang and that the
beautiful house was the "Palace of Waters" (Shui Kung).
After this incident Sun returned to his quiet house in the
mountains where he spent his time in preparing elixirs of
immortality and performing miracles. One concoction would
give immunity from pestilence if drunk on New Year's Day.
Sun is the reputed author of several books on medical subjects.
There is another account of the origin of Yo Wang. When
Han Ch'i, 1008— 1075 a.d., the great statesman who opposed
the agrarian theories of Wang An-shih, was six or seven
years of age he was very ill. He suddenly cried out: " There
is a Taoist leading a dog who will cure me." Thereupon he
broke out in a violent perspiration and was cured. According
to the Lieh Hs'ien Chuariy the person who cured him was Chang
THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE WORLDS 107
Shan-chiin, a native of Peking during the reign of the Empress
Wu Hou of the T'ang dynasty, 684-705 a.d. He practised
the Taoist magical arts and always led around a black dog
which was called "Black Dragon" (Wu-lung). According
to this account it is Chang who is popularly spoken of as " King
Fig. 37. HuA T'o, The Great Physician
of Medicines" (Yo Wang). The person who is generally
credited with having become Yo Wang is Hua T'o, who died in
220 A.D., the physician of Ts'ao Ts'ao. During his life-time
he was able to perform many wonderful cures for internal
diseases and also many surgical operations. His supernatural
power is now besought by worshippers at his shrine.
CHAPTER X
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
THERE are three grades of supernatural beings. The
highest is composed of "The Holy" (Sheng), These
are men of extraordinary ability and perfect virtue. The
second rank is that of " The Perfect " (Chen Jen). These are
persons who have perfected
their knowledge of the Way,
or Tao. Their bodies are
ethereal, and they are able to
fly through the air on the
wings of the wind. They
pass on the clouds from one
world to another and live in
the stars. They are superior
to all natural laws and are
rulers over the Immortals.
The third class is " The Im-
^__^ ^ mortals " (Hsien, or Hsien
^^VXl^ Jen). These are the ascetics
with old bodies and eternally
young spirits. They enjoy
perfect health, free from dis-
ease and death, and are for-
tunate possessors of all kinds
of happiness. It is probable that these three grades of super-
natural beings are taken from the earlier classical allusion to the
three grades of the " Worthy, the Holy and the Heavenly "
(Hsien, Sheng, T'ien).
Fig. 38. The Taoist Trinity
T'ien Pao, Ling Pao, Shen Pao
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
109
At the head of the Holy beings are " The Three Purities "
(San Ch'ing) who compose the Taoist Trinity. This Trinity
is not an imitation of the Buddhist Trinity, but was probably
also taken from classical tradition. The Tso Chuan refers to
" The Three Venerable Ones " (San Lao, i.e. Kung Lao, Shang
Lao, Lung Lao). The Li Ki mentions " The Three Officials "
Fig. 39. Yuan Shih T'ien Tsun
(San Kuan) ; the Sku King speaks of " The Three Notables "
(San Kung, i.e. T'ai-shih, T'ai-fu, T'ai-pao)j and there was
also the tradition of "The Three Emperors" (San Huang).
" The Three Purities " are also frequently interpreted as " The
Three Heavens," viz., Yu ("jade"), Shang ("superior"),
and T'ai ("highest"). In the Taoist pantheon the "Three
Purities " are (i) Yiian Shih T'ien Tsun, the " Eternal," popu-
larly known as T'ien Pao, (2) Tao Chiin, chief of all super-
natural beings, who is popularly known as Ling Pao, and (3)
no
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
Lao Tzu, who in this connection is popularly spoken of as
Shen Pao. The first of these is sovereign of the "Jade
Heaven " (Yii Ch'ing) the second is sovereign of the " Supe-
rior Heaven " (Shang Ch'ing), and the third is sovereign of
the "Highest Heaven" (T'ai Ch'ing). In enumerations of
this Taoist Trinity the place of the first Divinity, Yuan Shih,
Fig. 40. Tao Chun
is frequently taken by the Jade Emperor, Yu Huang. With
the San Ch'ing are associated " The Four Guardians " (Ssii
Wei), otherwise known as "The Four Heavenly Kings"
(Ssu T'ien Wang). Though this Trinity of " Three Purities "
was an invention of the scholars of the T'ang dynasty, it was
not until the Yuan dynasty that the myth assumed its present
form.
According to the Shen Hslen T^ung ChleUy the first of the
Trinity, Yiian Shih, was a son of the " Great Creator " (P'an
Ku). After the work of creation was completed, P'an Ku de-
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
III
sired to see what he had done. His spirit transported itself
on the wings of the wind to Fu Yii Tai where he met " The
Holy Woman" (T'ai Yuan), "The Great Original." She
was a virgin who had attained the age of eighty years and
lived as a recluse on the mountain of Ch'o Wo. She sub-
sisted solely on air and clouds, and in her own person com-
bined both the active and passive powers of nature. P'an Ku
was charmed with her
purity and made an oc-
casion to enter her body
in the form of a pure
ray of light. The
woman became preg-
nant and remained in
this condition for
twelve years, when
she gave birth to Yiian
Shih, who was able to
walk and talk from the
time he was born. A
cloud of five colours
surrounded his body.
The deity Chen Wu is
a reincarnation o f
Yiian Shih. He is the
ruler of the abode of
Fig. 41. Chen Wu
darkness, and his full title is Hsiian T'ien Shang Ti. He is also
called " god of the North Pole " (Pei-chi Chen Chun) . While
he does not take the place of Yiian Shih in the Trinity, he is
given a shrine to himself in large Taoist temples. The second
person of the Trinity is said to have been a man who fought for
the tyrant Chou Hsin, the last sovereign of the Shang dynasty.
He is represented as wearing a red garment richly brocaded,
and riding a one-horned monster, k*uei niu. It is recorded in
112
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
the Feng Shen Yen I that he was succoured by Lao Tzii in his
unsuccessful warfare, and that he devoted the rest of his life
to study and meditation. The third person of the Trinity is the
philosopher Lao Tzu, whose ethical teachings are entirely over-
looked in the accounts of supernatural powers which were con-
ferred upon him by the last Emperors of the Sung dynasty, as
well as by all the Emperors of the Yiian dynasty. Among
these tales of Lao Tzii the
most popular is that of
his journey to the west
mounted on a white don-
key.
In a class by himself, in-
ferior to the Trinity but
with great prestige, is
Wen Ch'ang, the god of
literature, who is supposed
to reside in the Great Bear
constellation. There are
many differing accounts of
his earthly life, but the
most usually accepted is
that he was one Chang Ya-
tzii who lived during the
Chin dynasty in the third
or fourth century a.d.
The Emperor Hsuan Tsung, 713-756 a.d., conferred upon him
the retrospective title of President of the Board of Rites. Dur-
ing the reign of Chen Tsung, 997-1022 a.d., of the Sung dy-
nasty. Wen Chiang appeared to the general Lei Yu-chung, who
had been appointed to suppress a rebellion, and called himself
the " Deity of Tzu-t'ung " (Tzu-t'ung Shen). This name was
taken from the tradition that Chang Ya-tzu lived in the Tzu-
t'ung district of the Province of Szechuan. During the Yiian
Fig. 42. Wen Ch'ang,
God of Literature
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS 113
and Ming dynasties the place of Wen Ch'ang as the god of lit-
erature became solidly established. He has a separate shrine in
large Taoist temples, and in many places separate temples are
built in his honour. In front of his image is a black horse,
saddled and bridled, attended by two servants who are called
T'ien-lung ("the celestial deaf one"), and Ti-ya ("the
earthly mute"). The explanation of the names of these two
attendants is that there are great secrets in literature which no
one can penetrate even if he be gifted with the greatest intelli-
gence. In its deepest meanings literature is deaf to appeals for
explanation and is dumb in its attempts to make men under-
stand.
The term " Perfect Ones " (Chen Jen) is taken from the
philosopher Chuang Tzu (third century b.c), who speaks of
Kuan Yin and Lao Tan as " Very Great Perfect Beings " (Po
Ta Chen Jen). The same philosopher gives a definition of the
word " perfect " {chen) as meaning " thoroughly sincere,"
{ching ch^en chih chih). During the flourishing periods of Tao-
ism several individuals have come to the high state of perfection.
The most notable of these " Perfect Ones " are Sun, whose
birthday is celebrated on the third day of the first moonj Liu,
born on the first day of the second moon; Tu, who ascended
to Heaven on the twenty-sixth day of the third moon ; the twins
Lang, whose birthday was the twenty-sixth day of the sixth
moon, and Hsii Hsiin, 240—374 a.d., of whom the following
incidents are related. He was appointed magistrate of Hsuan-
yang in Szechuan Province, but did not retain his office for any
length of time. He preferred to resume his studies of occult
subjects to which he had devoted his youth. Returning to his
home at Hung-chow (modern Nanch'ang) in Kiangsi Province,
he retired to the mountains. Here he perfected himself in the
occult arts as taught by Wu Meng, by means of which he was
able to do much good to the people of the neighbourhood. He
slew dragons and caused water to gush from a rock. At the
114 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
age of one hundred and thirty-four, he gathered his family of
forty-two souls together and with them all was translated to
Heaven. He is known as Hsii Chen-jen.
" The Immortals " (Hsien) are the most interesting of the
three classes of spiritual beings. Two different Chinese char-
acters are used for the word " Hsien," one with the meaning
of "a mountain-man " and the other with the meaning of "a
frolicking capering being." These Immortals or Fairies are
primarily persons who retire to the mountains for study and
meditation. The ideograph Hsien, meaning " mountain-
man," is not found in any books written previous to the Han
dynasty, and it is probable that it was invented during the reign
of the Emperor Shih Huang of the Ch'in dynasty who was a
devoted patron of the magical arts. The Immortals have the
appearance of human beings and wear ordinary clothes. They
live to a good old age, and when they die their material body
is scattered and the soul rises into the immortal ether. Other
accounts of them say that their bodies never grow old, and that
after a thousand years they have still the appearance of youth.
They have fixed abodes in the known universe, but are able to
move about from place to place at pleasure.
There are two official abodes of the Fairies. The one for
male Fairies is called Tung-hua. This is under the control of
Tung Wang. His disciples are called " Gentlemen of the
Wood " (Mu Kung). The fairyland for females is Hsi-hua,
and it is under the control of Hsi Wang Mu. Other places
of residence are spoken of as the " Nine Palaces " (Chiu
Kung), or as the " Mountains of the Immortals," (Hsien
Shan), or as the "Territory of the Immortals," (Hsien
Ching), where everything is obscure and quiet, and where there
is no disturbance by the surrounding earth or air, or as Tung
Fu. Another abode is stated to be Chiu I, a mountain which,
according to the " Water Classic," has nine peaks, the second
of which is Hsien T'an, " The Altar of the Fairies." The most
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
115
delightful abode of the Immortals is, however, " The Three
Isles of the Blest " (San Hsien Shan). These three " Island
Mountains " are P'eng-lai, Fang-chang and Ying-chou.
These islands were supposed to be in the Eastern Sea, and it
was to them that the Emperor Shih Huang of the Ch'in
dynasty, on the advice of An-ch'i, sent a sea-expedition to secure
Fig. 43. Tung Wang Kung and Hsi Wang Mu
from them the plant of immortality. The expedition was led
by Hsii Shih and Lu Sheng. It is said that the Emperor sent
in his ships three thousand youths and maidens, together
with all manner of seed grain and skilful artisans. The ships
were all lost in a fierce storm. These Isles are frequently
spoken of as part of the "Happy Land" (Fu-ti). The
" Huai-nan Wang " song tells of the abode of the King
of Huai-nan in these Isles of the Blest, where he lived as a
ii6 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
companion of the Eight Immortals. This is a ballad of great
popularity.
There are two rulers among the Immortals. The first of
these is the Fairy Queen, Hsi Wang Mu, who reigns over all
female genii, and with her is associated Tung Wang Kung, who
is the ruler of all male genii. Tung Wang Kung was invented
as a Prince-consort for the Fairy Queen. He is known also as
Mu Kung. His heavenly palace has the blue clouds for its
walls. There is very little popular interest in this Immortal,
and he is almost entirely eclipsed by his associate Hsi Wang Mu,
who is the most fascinating personage in Chinese mythology.
She is mentioned in history as connected with the visit of Mu
Wang. The visits of Mu Wang, or as he is generally called.
King Mu, fifth sovereign of the Chow dynasty, who died in
946 B.C., to various places north-west of ancient China, are re-
corded in the "Life of King Mu " {Mu Tien Tzu Chuan).
On his journeys his chariot was drawn by eight wonderful
horses. According to the " Bamboo Books " his journey was
completed in one year, but his " Life " states that it occupied
several years. The most noted of his visits was that to Hsi
Wang Mu in the K'un-lun Mountain. Hsi Wang Mu may
have been originally the local name of a place for which three
simple Chinese ideographs were used to represent the sound,
and the name of the locality may have been likewise the name
of its chieftain. There is nothing in the " Life " to indicate
the sex of this individual, but as the third of the characters,
Mu, used in the transliteration of the name Hsi Wang Mu,
has the meaning of " Mother," it was seized upon by later
writers as the name of a woman, and she has come to be the
Fairy Mother around whom countless tales are centred. The
" Life " records that when King Mu visited Hsi Wang Mu,
he carried in his hands the jade disks which were the emblem
of his high office, and that he gave valuable presents, which
were obediently accepted. He also gave a banquet to Hsi
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS 117
Wang Mu at Yao Ch'ih or " Lake of Gems," as the two ideo-
graphs mean which were selected as the transliteration of the
name of this place. Honorific stanzas were composed by host
and guest on this occasion. After King Mu had gone, Hsi
Wang Mu wrote another poem professing allegiance to him
and hoping for his speedy return. This " Life " was probably
written during the time of the Warring States in the second or
third century a.d. and is an enlargement of the reference by
Lieh Tzu to the ceremonial visit of King Mu to Hsi Wang Mu
in a chariot drawn by eight horses. After the rise of Taoism as
a religion in the T'ang dynasty, Hsi Wang Mu was selected as
one of its leading personages and the original tale as given in
the " Life " was expanded to large proportions.
The " Record of the Ten Departments " {Shih Chou Chi)
narrates that in the Eastern Sea there was a hill called Tu
Su. On this hill was a large orchard several hundred miles in
extent, where the flat peach {p^an t^ao)^ was grown. During
the Han dynasty Tung Chun sacrificed to the pigmies and
called Tung-fang So to attend. The pigmies resented this
appeal to Tung- fang and said: "Hsi Wang Mu cultivates
peach-trees which bear fruit only once in three thousand years.
The youth whom you have called to attend cannot be compared
in ability to this." It is narrated that Hsi Wang Mu gave four
peaches to Wu Ti of the Han dynasty. These peaches had a
particularly sweet flavour. After receiving them the Emperor
wished to plant the seeds, but the Fairy Mother replied that
these peach-trees only bore once in three thousand years and
that the soil of China was not fertile enough to grow them.
It is also narrated that during the reign of Hung Wu, first
Emperor of the Ming dynasty, a peach stone was found in the
treasure house of the former Yiian dynasty, which was five
inches in length and more than four inches wide. On this
peach stone were engraved ten ideographs which stated that this
stone had been given to the Emperor Wu Ti of the Han
vm — 9
ii8
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
dynasty by Hsi Wang Mu. At the present time large flat
peaches, which are also called f^an t^ao, are grown in Chehkiang
Province. They have a delicious flavour. It was customary
during the last Manchu dynasty to send baskets of these every
season to the Peking Palace.
Fig. 44. Four of the Eight Immortals
Lan Ts'ai-ho, Li T'ieh-kuaj, Lu Tung-pin, Chung-jli Ch'uan
Among the Immortals the most famous is the group known
as the Eight Immortals. The Chinese name for these is Pa
Hsien. The number of them, eight, is probably copied from
the eight oflicers of state during the reign of Wu Ti of the
Chin dynasty, 265—290 a.d., who were known as the " Eight
Gentlemen" (Pa Kung). According to the Hsiao Hsueh
(" Instruction of Youth "), written by Chu Hsi in the eleventh
century a.d., there were also during the Sung dynasty eight
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
119
gentlemen who were known as Pa Kung on account of their
scholarship. As the Eight Immortals are not mentioned in
Chinese books before the Yuan dynasty, it is probable that the
term was chosen after the model either of these eight officers
of state or of these eight scholars.
There are several differing lists of the Eight Immortals, but
the most commonly accepted one is that which is here followed:
Fig. 45. Li T'ieh-kuai
(i) Li T'ieh-kuai was originally a man of good stature and
fine appearance. From early youth he devoted himself to an
ascetic life, living in the mountains for more than forty years.
He sat on a reed mat and often forgot to eat or sleep. Being
of the same surname, Li, as Lao Tzu, he besought the Great
Master to descend to earth in order to teach him the mysteries
of life. From time to time Lao Tzii appeared to LI and
120 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
taught him the vanity of all earthly things. Sometimes Lao
Tzu also summoned Li to interviews in his heavenly abode. It
was when Li was on one of these trips with Lao Tzu to the
countries of Hsi-yii that he left his material body in charge of
his disciple, Lang Ling, with instructions to cremate it if he did
not return within seven days. On the sixth day the disciple
Fig. 46. Chung-li Ch'uan
was called home to visit his sick mother and decided to cremate
Li's perishable physical body. According to his original plan
Li returned on the seventh day from his celestial journey,
only to find that his body had been cremated and that he had
no abode. On looking around he found the body of a lame
beggar who had just died, and Li took this for his own double
or astral body. He procured an iron staff, t^ieh-kuaiy to sup-
port the deformed body which he had adopted as his own, and
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
121
from this obtained the name of Li T'ieh-kuai, i.e. " Li of the
iron staff." He is accredited with many benevolent deeds, such
as bringing to life the body of the mother of the disciple who
cremated his original body. Li the form of an old man he
sold drugs in the market place which could cure any kind of
disease, and while there he hung a gourd on the wall of the
Fig. 47. Lij Tung-pin
house. Into this gourd he retired at night, going out the fol-
lowing day to attend to his sales. He preferred to associate
with the poor and needy, thus acquiring a reputation for
benevolence. The characteristic of this Immortal is the ill-
shaped body of a beggar, who carries an iron staff in his hand,
and a gourd on his back.
(2) Chung-li Ch'iian is frequently placed as the first of the
Eight Immortals, but this premier position is changed by one
122 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
of the legends concerning him which states that his conversion
to an ascetic life was due to the influence of Li T'ieh-kuai, but
it is of minor importance which one of these Immortals is placed
first on the list. Chung-li is reputed to have lived in the Han
dynasty, and for this reason is frequently spoken of as Han
Chung-li, i.e. Chung-li of the Han dynasty. Another legend
Fig. 48. Lu Tung-pin, Chung-li Ch'uan
says that he was a military official in the service of the Duke
Hsiao of the Chow dynasty. Dore gives five different accounts
of his origin as narrated in books, but as all of them are recog-
nized to be fictitious it matters little which account is followed.
All the versions of his life agree that he was one of the search-
ers for Immortality, and that he was a mountain recluse. His
characteristics are a bearded face, a fan to which is attached a
tassel of horse hair which he carries in one hand, and usually.
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS 123
though not always, the peach of immortality in his other
hand.
(3) Lii Tung-pin, also known as Lii Yen and Lii Tsu, is said
to have sprung from a good family and to have passed the offi-
cial examinations in the highest rank. One account states that
he became the magistrate of Te-hua, which is the present city of
Kiu-kiang in Kiangsi. Later he became a recluse on the Stork
Peak (Ho-ling) of the Lii Mountains near the present site of
Ruling. It was here that he discoursed on the five grades of
genii and the three categories of merits. Here also he met the
fire-dragon who gave him a magic sword with which he was able
to perform many miracles. One account says that he made a
journey to Yo-yang as a seller of oil in the hope of making con-
verts to his doctrine. During the year which he spent on this
trip he tried to find someone who would be sufficiently unselfish
not to demand more than the amount of oil which the price war-
ranted. Finally he found one old woman who did not asK lur
more than her due. He was so pleased that he went to her
house and threw rice into a well, thus turning the water into
wine, the sale of which made the old woman wealthy. His
characteristics are the magic sword, chan yao kuaiy which he car-
ries on his back, and a fly-switch of horse-hair which he carries
in his hand.
(4) Lan Ts'ai-ho is always represented as a youth bearing a
basket of fruits and playing a flute. There has been much dis-
pute as to the sex of this personage, some stating that Lan was a
female. In Chinese theatrical performances Lan wears the
clothes of a woman and talks with the voice of a man. Lan was
fond of singing ballads, and some of these are recorded in the
Sou Shen Chi. The best known is the one beginning " Ta ta
ko, Lan Ts'ai-ho," and ending with comments upon the transi-
tory life of mortals. The characteristic of Lan is a flute held
to the lips and played upon by both hands.
These four Immortals are frequently portrayed sitting to-
124
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
gethcr under a pine-tree. Chung-li Ch'uan and Lu Tung-pin
are drinking the wine which Li T'ieh-kuai is heating for them
on a brazier, while Lan Ts'ai-ho plays for their amusement
upon a flute.
(5) Chang Kuo, who is also known as Chang Kuo-lao, is re-
puted to have been a recluse on the Chung T'iao Mountain in
Fig. 49. Lan Ts'ai-ho
Shansi Province and to have passed back and forth continually
between Fen-chow and Chin-chow in the same Province. He
himself professed to have been born during the reign of the
Emperor Yao. One account of his life says that he was sent
for by the two Emperors of the T'ang dynasty, T'ai Tsung and
Kao Tsung, but refused to go to the capital to see them. The
Empress Wu Hou, 685-704 a.d., again sent for him, but when
her messengers arrived he was already dead. After this he was
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS 125
seen alive, and the Emperor Ming Huang sent for him several
times. Later he went to the capital where he entertained the
Emperor with many magical performances. Finally during
the reign of K'ai Yiian, 713-742 a.d., he was bidden to the pal-
ace and offered a high position which he declined. A story is
told of him that the Emperor once asked the scholarly recluse
Fig. 50. Chang Kuo
Yeh Fa-shan who Chang Kuo really was, and after having been
promised immunity from the consequences of his disclosure,
Yeh replied that Chang Kuo was the original vapour. The
Emperor was unable to protect Yeh from the consequences of
his remark, and Yeh was struck dead. The characteristics of
Chang Kuo are that he is represented as riding on a white
donkey, usually backwards, and that in his hand he carries a
phoenix-feather and sometimes a peach of immortality.
126
chinp:se mythology
(6) Han Hsiang is reputed to have been a nephew of the
illustrious scholar Han Yu, 768-824 a.d., who was a strenuous
opponent of all forms of magic. He became a convert of Lu
Tung-pin, contrary to the wishes of his uncle, who desired him
to carry on classical studies in preparation for the public exam-
inations. The youth said that the object of his studies differed
Fig. 51. Han Hsiang
from that of his uncle and that he wished to be able to produce
good wine without the use of any grain and also to be able to
cause flowers to blossom instantaneously. When the uncle ex-
pressed doubt as to his being able to defy the laws of nature,
Han Hsiang put a little earth under a basin, and, upon lifting
it, disclosed two flowers, on the leaves of which were written in
gold characters a poem of two lines of seven characters each.
The poem referred to the clouds blocking the path on the
Ch'ing Peak and snow filling the Lan Pass. Han Hsiang re-
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS 127
fused to explain the meaning of the poem, but his uncle under-
stood it later when he was exiled by the Emperor to Ch^ao-chou
in Kuangtung Province. The characteristic of Han Hsiang Is a
gourd-shaped basket full of the peaches of immortality and
held in the two hands. Sometimes he is also represented hold-
ing a bouquet of flowers.
Fig., 52. Ts'ao Kuo-chiu
(7) Ts'ao Kuo-chiu, according to the Hai Yil Cheung K'ao,
was a younger brother of the Empress of Jen Tsung, 1023-
1064 A.D. He was a man of exemplary character who attempted
to persuade his dissolute brother to lead a good life. He said
to his brother: " You may escape the penalty of the law, but
you can never elude the net of Heaven which is invisible but
always present." He gave away all his money to the poor and
retreated to the mountains where he lived as a recluse. Here
\,f'
128 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
he was visited by Chung-li Ch'iian and Lii Tung-pin with whom
he conversed about spiritual matters. In reply to their ques-
tions he said that his heart was Heaven, whereupon Chung-li
replied: " The heart is Heaven and Heaven is the Way. You
now know the origin of matter." After this interview Ts'ao
was introduced by the two visitors into the company of the Im-
mortals. In rebuttal of this account of Ts'ao the critic Hu
Ying-lin points out that the historical records of the Sung dy-
nasty give full particulars regarding the brothers of this Em-
press, and that there is no account of any one of them having
decided to lead the life of a hermit. The characteristics of
Ts'ao are that he is dressed in official robes, wears an official hat
and carries in his right hand a tablet signifying his rank and his
right to imperial audience.
(8) Ho Hsien-ku is the only woman classed among the Im-
mortals, unless Lan Ts'ai-ho is conceded to have been one. She
was a native of Tseng-ch'eng in Canton Province, and lived
during the time of the Empress Wu Hou, 684-705 a.d. At
the age of fourteen she dreamt that by eating the powder of
mother-of-pearl {yUn mu jen) she would attain immortality.
After eating this powder her body became ethereal and she was
able to pass to and fro among the hills at pleasure. She always
returned to her home at night, carrying with her the herbs
which she had gathered during the day. Gradually she stopped
taking food, and at last disappeared, after having been sent for
by the Empress Wu Hou. Fifty years later she was seen float-
ing upon a cloud, and later a magistrate, Kao Huang, in the city
of Canton, was rewarded with a sight of her on account of his
great virtue. Her characteristic is the form of a beautiful
woman carrying in her hand a lotus-flower or sometimes the
peach of immortality which was given to her by Lii Tung-pin.
In a drama called " The Celebration of the Birthday of Hsi
Wang Mu by the Eight Immortals " an account is given of the
splendours in which the Fairy Queen lived. In her palace-
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
129
gardens there was abundance of strange flowers and wonderful
herbs. Rare birds strutted about, and remarkable animals per-
formed tricks for the amusement of guests. The flat peach
{f^an t^ao)^ was hanging ripe from every peach-tree in the
great orchard. In the pavilions and bowers musicians dis-
coursed and the air was filled with fragrance. The Eight Im-
FlG. 53. Ho HsiEN-KU
mortals presented a scroll to Hsi Wang Mu on which were
seventy-six characters written by Lao Tzu. The scroll itself
was made of a silk fabric which had been found by one of the
fairies, naturally woven. The seventy-six characters were set
out in stars and the tassels were made of threads cut from the
rainbow. The guests were waited upon by the five daughters
of Hsi Wang Mu and were persuaded to drink deeply. The
fairy Lan Ts'ai-ho sang a dancing song. When the sumptuous
130
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
celebration was ended the Eight Immortals left for their homes
thoroughly intoxicated. This is one of the earliest accounts of
the Eight Immortals.
The wine which the Immortals drank is called " celestial
wine " {t^ien-chiu). Those who drank of it became more in-
telligent and quick-witted. In reality this wine was a sweet
Fig. 54. Ho Hsien-ku, Chang Kuo
heavenly dew {kan-lu). The Shen I King narrates that there
was a man living on the other side of the North-west Sea who
drank five gallons of this wine daily j and no wonder, for he is
said to have been two thousand U (about six hundred miles) in
height. There is another kind of wine which is scented, and
the drinking of which is associated with the flying of kites on
the ninth day of the ninth moon. This wine is made from the
stems and leaves of the aster, which are allowed to ferment and
SUPERNATURAL BEINGS
131
are said to be ripe for drinking on the ninth day of the ninth
moon of the following year. A tale is told of Fei Ch'ang-f ang,
of the Han dynasty, that a disciple of his followed his advice to
go to the hills to drink aster-scented wine and to fly kites on this
day. On returning home he found that all his domestic animals
had met a violent death, and he knew that if he had not fol-
FiG. 55. Weaving Damsel and Shepherd Boy
lowed the wise advice given to him by Ch'ang he would have
met a similar fate. The Feng Su Chi narrates that on the hills
of the Li district (Nan Yang) of Honan Province large asters
grow. In the valley between these hills there is a village where
many of the people live to be one hundred and twenty or one
hundred and thirty years old on account of drinking water
which is flavoured by the asters. Kite-flying and the drinking
of aster-scented wine are both popularly connected with the
lengthening of human life.
Concerning Fei Ch'ang-fang, who was mentioned in the pre-
ceding paragraph, it is said that he studied magic under Hu
132 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
Kung in whose powers he was led to believe by observing that
he slept every night in a gourd which hung on his door-post.
When Fei had completed his studies and was about to start out
for his home, Hu Kung presented him with a magical rod by
the use of which he could instantly transport himself without
effort from one place to another. He thought when he reached
home that he had been absent only for a short time, but discov-
ered that more than a half-score years had passed. When he
laid down his staff in his home it became a dragon, and there-
after he was able to control the powers of darkness.
One of the most popular legends is that of " The Weaving
Damsel " (Chih Nil). She was deprived of her lover, " The
Shepherd Boy " (Niu Lang) in his youth, but magpies have
taken pity upon her in her loneliness. Every year, on the sev-
enth day of the seventh moon, magpies fly to the Milky Way
{tHen /?o), over which they make a bridge by each catching the
head-feathers of the bird nearest to him. On this bridge the
separated couple are able to pass to each other and renew their
vows of eternal love.
CHAPTER XI
OCCULTISM
THE records of the earliest events in the life of the Chinese
people reveal a race fond of speculative ideas which had
a constant tendency toward occultism. Their powers of obser-
vation were remarkable, but what they saw was absorbed rather
than analyzed. They studied natural phenomena not for the
purpose of seeking an explanation of their origin, but chiefly to
know the effect of these upon human life. They were a very
practical people in all matters relating to the facts of daily life,
while at the same time they gave loose rein to their imagination
in interpreting these facts. In other words, they were practi-
cal in recognizing effects and imaginative in interpreting causes.
The occult sciences, ao-tscy in one form or another, are found
at the beginning of Chinese history and have been practised con-
tinuously down to the present time. There have been, however,
epochs when these sciences flourished with especial strength.
Before the dawn of history the time to which the largest
number of myths trace their origin is the age of the Yellow
Emperor, as has already been mentioned in Chapter II. In
historical times the first Imperial promoter of occult sciences
was the Emperor Shih Huang 221-209 b.c, of the Ch'in dy-
nasty. He was the inheritor of the speculations found in Lieh
Tzu and Chuang Tzii which were bitter in their destructive
criticism of the ceremonial order favoured by Confucius and
Mencius, while at the same time they were wholly receptive to
belief in all kinds of marvellous events. According to these two
books, men could pass through fire without being burned, could
travel through the air, could walk through solid rock and jump
134 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
from high precipices without taking harm. These books, which
are professed expositions of Lao Tzu, form a curious combina-
tion of ethical precepts with occult practices. They were the
forerunners of the policy and ideas of Shih Huang, who is al-
most as famous in Chinese history for his patronage of occult-
ism as for his burning of the classical books and his melting the
ancient bronze vessels to make statues.
The reigns of Wu Ti, 140-86 B.C., and of Yuan Ti, 48-32
B.C., of the Han dynasty, were periods when occultism was in
especial favour j and also the reign of Ming Ti, 58-76 a.d., of
the later Han dynasty, during whose reign and that of Ho Ti,
89-105 A.D., the magician Chang Tao-ling received high hon-
ours. Another Wu Ti, 265—290 a.d., was also an eminent pa-
tron of these sciences. He was of the Western Chin dynasty.
The time of the Warring States, 420-618 a.d., was especially
favourable to the spread of all forms of experimentation in su-
pernatural aifairs, so that when T'ai Tsung, 627-650 a.d., came
to the throne and succeeded in bringing the whole country un-
der the sway of the T'ang dynasty, he found the minds of the
people accustomed to and filled with belief in magical and
occult events. It was during his reign and that of his successor
Kao Tsung, 650-684 a.d,, that these beliefs were organized
into the Taoist religion as it has been known since that time.
Kao Tsung was under the influence of a learned magician, Yeh
Fa-shan. This Emperor ennobled Lao Tzu and made his book
a classic (King) under the name of Tao Teh King. Another
T'ang emperor, Hsiian Tsung, 713-756 a.d., popularly known
as Ming Huang, raised the book hieh Tzu to the rank of a
classic under the name of Cheung Hsu Chen Kingy and Chuang
Tzu's book to the same rank with higher grade, calling it Nan
Hua Sheng Kingy sheng being one step higher than chen. He
was a firm believer in the magical powers of Yeh Fa-hsi, who is
said to have taken the Emperor with him on a journey to the
moon. The most flourishing period of occultism in the Sung
OCCULTISM 135
dynasty was during the reign of Hui Tsung, 1101-1126 a.d.,
when it absorbed many Buddhistic practices and incorporated
them into the body of Taoist ceremonials. The short-lived
Ylian dynasty excelled all other periods, however, in patronage
of occultism and in intense belief in Taoism. During this pe-
riod the two great Taoist temples of Peking were built, the Po
Yiin Kuan outside the Hsi Pien Men, and the Tung Yo Miao
outside the Ch'ao Yang Men. Both of these were under Im-
perial patronage.
These occult practices are at the present time an essential part
of the life of the Chinese people, and it is necessary to examine
their origin and content in detail. They may be roughly clas-
sified under the headings of divination, geomancy, astrology
and alchemy.
Divination is practised in many ways, the two most ancient of
which are founded ( i ) upon the lines made by heating the inner
carapace of the tortoise, and (2) upon the arrangement of stalks
of the plant milfoil or reed-grass. Divination by means of the
tortoise is credited to the Yellow Emperor, 2600 b.c, to the
Emperor Yao, 2300 b.c, and to the Emperor Yu, 2200 b.c.
The Li Ki gives many instances of it during the Chow dynasty,
1 1 22-1 255 B.C. It was by this method of divination that the
will of the Supreme Ruler, Shang Ti, was ascertained. Accord -
ing to Chapter XXIV of the Chow Li the tortoise was first be-
smeared with the blood of a sacrificial victim which was being
offered to the discoverer of this method of divination. The
inner carapace of any one of the six kinds of tortoises was heated
until five cross lines appeared. These referred to the five ele-
ments. Neither the upper nor lower portion of the carapace
was taken into consideration j it was only the right and left sec-
tions which were interpreted. The marks on these were called
the " four omens " (ssu chao). These omens determined deci-
sions concerning eight contingencies, which were military ex-
peditions, heavenly appearances, grants, treaties, results, arrival,
136 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
rain and pestilence. In divination by milfoil only the stalks of
this plant were used and these were cut into two sizes, full
length and half length. These were thrown down and then
spread out into nine groups, which were called by the names of
the nine ancient augurs. The names and meanings of the
groups corresponded to those of the Eight Diagrams, and their
interpretation was given accordingly. There is no explanation
of the connection between the use of milfoil combinations and
the Eight Diagrams j the fact of their being used simultane-
ously is, however, undoubted.
The Eight Diagrams {fa kua) reputed to have been dis-
covered by the mythical Emperor Fu Hsi, are stated by the
Chow Li to have been used in divination and to have been di-
rectly connected with the use of the tortoise and milfoil. They
are eight combinations of lines of full and half length. The
first has three whole lines, one over the other, and is called
ch^iefij i.e. " Heaven " or " the active principle of the universe."
The last consists of three divided lines, and is called k'uny
" Earth " or " the passive principle." The second refers to
breath, the third to fire, the fourth to thunder, the fifth to
wind, the sixth to water and the seventh to mountains. This is
the generally accepted explanation of the curious names given
to these Diagrams. These names have given rise to theories on
the part of several foreign writers that they are of foreign
origin, but this is entirely improbable. The Diagrams fit in too
closely with the other features of ancient Chinese life to lend
any credence to such theories. The " Book of Changes " (7
King) says that the great primordial principle, or Apex {t^ai
chi) evolved the two principles. Hang i; the two principles pro-
duced four exemplars, ssu hsiang, and from these came the
Eight Diagrams {pa kua). The " two principles " referred to
are (i) a continuous straight line called yang i, and (2)
a broken line called yin i. Yang is the active or male
principle of nature and corresponds to Heaven and light. Yin
PLATES IV, V
Court of the Tung Yo Temple, Peking,
Showing the Tablet Written by Chao
Meng-fu
Court of the Tung Yo Temple, Showing
Reverse of the Tablet Written by Chao
Meng-fu
See pp. 23, 71, 135.
OCCULTISM 137
is the passive or female principle and corresponds to Earth and
darkness. The " four exemplars " are ( i ) two unbroken lines
one over the other zzij (2) an unbroken over a broken line
. j (3) a broken over an unbroken line ^ and (4) two
broken lines, one over the other = zzi. The first, called t^ai
yangy corresponds to the sun and warmth in nature, to the eyes
and mind in man, and to supreme power in the state. The sec-
ond, called shao yin, corresponds to the moon and cold in nature,
to the ears and emotions in men, and to the unifying central
power in the state. The third, called shao yang, corresponds to
the stars in nature, to the nose and the outward appearance in
man, and to rightful power in the state. The fourth, called
t'ai yin, corresponds to the planets in nature, to the mouth and
the bodily frame in man, and to usurpation in the state. All
these metaphysical ideas are in full agreement with the state-
ments of the earliest records of China. It is thus certain that
the origin of the Eight Diagrams is connected with ancient ob-
servations of the powers of nature and with the desire to fore-
tell and explain their workings in relation to the life of man-
kind.
The three philosophical systems of divination developed
from the Eight Diagrams of Fu Hsi are known as lien-shan,
kuei-ts^ang and chou-iy which may be roughly translated as
" connections," " collections " and " transmutations." It is said
by some writers that the " connection system " (lien-shan) was
that used in the Hsia dynasty, 2205-1766 b.c, and the " col-
lection system" {kuei-ts^ang) in the Shang dynasty, 1766-
1 122 B.C., while the " transmutation system " was developed by
Wen Wang, 1231-1135 b.c, the author of the "Book of
Changes." Wen Wang, while he was imprisoned by the tyrant
Chou, studied the Eight Diagrams and added to each one a
short explanation {t^uan). He is also said by some authorities
to have been responsible for the expansion of the Eight Dia-
grams into sixty-four by the process of multiplying each origi-
138 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
nal diagram with itself and the seven others. A sixfold multi-
plication of these givec three hundred and eighty-four diagrams
{^kua yao). It is claimed that a further multiplication of these
lines brings the number up to sixteen million seven hundred and
seventy-seven thousand, two hundred and sixteen (16,777,216)
forms, which would seemingly be sufficient to include all pos-
sible changes in future events.
In Tso's Commentary on the " Spring and Autumn Annals "
{Ch'un Ch^iu) many instances are given of the use of the tor-
toise and milfoil in divination. In the Chapter on the Duke of
Min, the commentator says that just before the birth of Ch'eng
Chi, the Duke Huan, who was one of the Five Chieftains who
domineered the country during the seventh century b.c, asked
the father of Ch'u-ch'iu, master of divinations, to consult the
tortoise-shell. He received an answer that the child to be born
would be a boy who would be a great help to the reigning
House. He then consulted the milfoil and was assured that
the child would be as distinguished as his father. This answer
was predicated upon the conjunction of two sets of milfoil, one
in the shape of the ta-yu diagram ~ ~ and the other in the
shape of the cli'ien diagram ■ This is given as an example
of the method of divination. The commentator mentions other
incidents when there were consultations regarding the marriage
of a daughter, the advisability of joining the service of a cer-
tain feudal lord, military expeditions, and other events.
Since the time of the T'ang dynasty the popular methods of
divination have been by the use of bamboo slips {ch'ien), and
by the dissection of ideographs {tie tzu). According to the
Ling Ch'ten Shu, in divination by bamboo slips one hundred
long thin slips are prepared, on one side of which are written
cyclical characters such as chia chia^ chia /', etc. The other side
is left blank. The meaning of the slip which is drawn by the
enquirer is interpreted by the standard explanation of the two
characters written thereon. There are several other systems of
OCCULTISM ' 139
using bamboo slips. One of these uses forty-nine slips j in an-
other poetical stanzas are written on the slips, which are then
called "divining poems" {chHen sh'ih). In the use of the
bamboo slips an amusing tale in the life of Ti Ch'ing, eleventh
century a.d., is told by Dore. He was appointed by the Sung
Emperor Jen Tsung, to suppress the rebellion headed by Nung
Chih-kao in the distant Province of Kuangsi. Desirous of en-
couraging his soldiers to believe in the certainty of victory he
ordered a consultation of the bamboo slips in the presence of
his entire army. The slips which were chosen were all most
favourable, and it was not discovered until later that these slips
were written on both sides.
The practice of divination by the dissection of characters, i.e.
onomancy, is said by the hang Ya to have begun with the name
of Wu Wang, founder of the Chow dynasty. The radical of
this character Wu is cMh, which means " to stop," and the pho-
netic is ko, which means " arms "j the combination of the two
dissected parts means " to stop the use of arms," i.e. to bring
peace. His name was therefore prophetic of his great work in
bringing peace to the country. This method was also resorted
to by Kung-sun Shu (ob. 36 a.d.) who was led by the favour-
able result obtained to proclaim himself Emperor of Shu, the
modern Szechuan. This practice has been defended and ob-
served by leading men of all succeeding generations and is still
in vogue among the people.
Connected with divination is physiognomy, hsiang mien, i.e.
reading fortunes by the features of the face. This is a very an-
cient practice in China, as is evidenced from the fact that it is
denounced by Hsun Tzu in the third century b.c. The name
of T'ang Chii of the fourth century b.c. is preserved as a noted
reader of countenances. Details of the appearance of all the
great men of antiquity are given in books on this subject. There
is probably no other branch of the occult sciences which has had
greater influence in determining events of national importance
I40 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
than physiognomy. Confidence in powers which a man is cred-
ited with on account of the contour of his face has often deter-
mined courses of action. Belief in this art and recourse to it are
common among all classes of people at the present time.
Geomancy, of which the popular name is feng shut and the
classical name Jz^an yil, was first explained in detail by Kuo P'o,
276-324 A.D., who is said in his youth to have received from
Kuo Kung a black sack containing writings on occult subjects.
Kuo P'o is the reputed author of Tsang Shu (" Book of Burial
Customs"). In this work he says that, in burial, advantage
should be taken of the " spirit of life " or " life breath " (seng
ch'i)j in which case the winds would be scattered and the water
of the locality stopped. This attention to the winds (feng) and
water (shut) of the place of burial is what has come to be known
as feng shut or " geomancy."
There is a difference of opinion among Chinese writers re-
garding the time when this science originated, but the writings
of Kuo P'o show that it was generally accepted in his time.
The term k'a7t yil is found in the Chapter on Arts in the History
of the Han dynasty, but it is variously interpreted. Hsu Shen,
author of the Shuo Weny who died 120 a.d., had already ex-
plained these two ideographs in the sense of supervision of
heavenly and earthly laws, and this meaning is followed by
Yen Shih-ku in his annotated edition of the Han History, thus
disagreeing with the interpretation of Meng K'ang, of the third
century a.d., who is the standard commentator on this History.
It is thus evident that Kuo P'o was writing about a custom which
was well-established and generally recognized in his time.
This view is confirmed by a reference in Chapter XVIII of the
Li Ki to the white linen clothes which should be worn by an
enquirer, and to the skin cap worn by the interpreter when the
carapace of the tortoise was examined to decide upon the place
of burial of a high officer of state. The development of the
science into the determination of the fortunes of relatives and
OCCULTISM 141
descendants according to the lucky or unlucky site of the grave
of a deceased person, was a development later than the time of
Kuo P'o in the Han dynasty, and was due to the influence of
astrologers, together with other workers of magical charms.
The original idea of feng shui is easily understood when the
geographical conditions of early China are considered. " The
wind " (feng) must be kept in mind when a burial site is on an
elevation, otherwise the strong winds might blow away the
earth of which the grave-mound is made. " Water " (shui)
must be guarded against in low places lest the grave should be
permeated with water. This natural solicitude on the part of
relatives and descendants was easily taken advantage of by as-
trologers to use their own magical devices in determining sites
and in adding their promises of lucky or unlucky consequences.
The practice of feng shui is now universal in China in the choice
of burial places. It was also extended before the T'ang dynasty
to the selection of a site for the residence of the living. Many
books have been written explaining and commenting upon the
" Burial Customs " of Kuo P'o, and two different schools of
interpretation have arisen. One school bases all burial rites
upon the indications given by the Five Planets and also upon the
Eight diagrams (pa kuo). The second school bases its theories
of burial entirely upon the external appearance of the locality
and the relation of the surrounding water-streams to the dragon.
The instrument used in the selection of sites for residence or
burial is the lo-p'an. The lo-p^an (" compass ") is usually en-
closed in a wooden circular frame, and is used not only for in-
dicating directions but also for geomantic determination. On
the frame are seven concentric circles. The outer circle and the
third from the outside contain the sixty hexans; the second, the
fourth and the sixth are divided into twenty-four groups com-
posed of the twelve cyclical branches, the ten cyclical stems and
the two primordial principles, ch'^ien and khm; the fifth con-
tains four of the five elements thrice repeated (Earth omitted) j
142 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
the seventh, which is the inner one, has eight spaces named after
eight of the twelve cyclical stems. As the object of enquiry in
both these selections relates to the Earth, the name of the ele-
ment Earth is omitted from the five elements on the lo-p^an as
well as the four cyclical stems which are connected with the
negative principle of nature, Yin. Another explanation of the
omission of Earth is given by the Lu Shih, which is that Earth
is the centre of the five elements and the other elements are
placed around it at the four points of the compass. This would
place Earth at the centre of the needle of the compass —
Water
Metal Earth Wood
Fire
The Lu Shih also explains the four " heavenly appearances "
{ssu hsiang)^ as related to these four elements.
Astrology {kuan hsiang) is based upon the " Book of
Changes " (/ King). It is concerned with the male and female
principles of nature represented respectively by the sun and
moon, with which are associated the five planets. These planets
are representatives of the five elements. Mars is fire, Venus is
metal, Mercury is water, Saturn is earth and Jupiter is wood.
There are twenty-eight constellations or stellar mansions to
which such names are given as the horn, the neck, the bottom,
the room, the heart, the tail, etc., and these are related to the
seven heavenly bodies (sun, moon, and the five planets) in the
same order as in our names of the days of the week. Their
circles are subdivided by combinations of the ten cyclical stems,
the twelve cyclical branches, together with the first two of the
Eight Diagrams, as has already been explained in the descrip-
tion of the lo-f^an. In such standard works as Shou Shih Shu
by Kuo Shou-ching of the Yiian dynasty, detailed rules are
given for the use of these various signs, but there is a lack of
uniformity in the rules given by various other authors. The
OCCULTISM 143
conjunction of planets determines the fortune of certain years
and the fate of the nation. The lucky, unlucky and uncertain
days of the year were formerly published in the " Imperial
Calendar " (T^ung Shu or Huang Li), and were decided by the
position of the sun and moon in the zodiac. It is held by some
authors that the origin of astrology is not earlier that the third
or fourth century a.d., and should be placed during the time of
the " Warring States " (Chan Kuo) when the country was over-
whelmed with the internecine wars of contending princes and
each was anxious to determine beforehand the probability of
success in his undertakings.
In determining the astral influences which surrounded the
birth of an individual, there is an examination of the " eight
characters " {^a tzu) which represent in pairs the year of birth,
the month, the day and the hour. This method is said in the
WenHaiPo Sha to have been invented by Li Hsu-chung of the
eighth century a.d., a noted master of astrology, who examined
only " six characters," those of the year, month and day. The
hour is said by this book to have been added in the Sung dy-
nasty. The older T'ang History, Chiu T^ang Shih ascribes the
authorship of the system to Lii Ts'ai who took as a basis for his
calculations the " eight characters " of the Emperor Wu Ti of
the Han dynasty. A comparison of the " eight characters " of
a young man with those of the young woman whom it is pro-
posed he will marry, is always made by the middlemen who are
arranging the wedding. Enquiries as to the general good-luck
of any individual, or as to the advisability of any proposed
action, are also answered by an analysis of these " eight char-
acters."
An Inspector of Astrology was originally appointed under
the T'ang dynasty, his name at that time being Ssu T'ien T'ai.
During the Ming dynasty his name was changed to Ch'in T'ien
Chien and his duties were divided under four heads, (a) as-
tronomy {tHen wen)y (b) events {li su), (c) divination {chan
144 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
//ow), (d) futurity (t'ui pu), and his office was on the eastern
wall of the city of Peking at the place now known as the Ob-
servatory, Kuan Hsiang T'ai, where the large bronze instru-
ments are placed. This Observatory was divorced from astrol-
ogy by the Republic in 19 12, and is now devoted entirely to
modern astronomy and meteorology.
Alchemy, or the pursuit of the secret of transmuting other
metals into gold and the search for the elixir vitae, is explained
first in the Ts'an Tung ChH (" Covenant of Unity"). This
book is said by Ko Hung in his Shen Hsien Chuan to have been
written by Wei Po-yang of the second century a.d., but this at-
tribution has been generally discarded by later scholars. It is,
however, of value in showing that alchemy was practised in the
last years of the Han dynasty. The author of Ts^an Tung ChH
bases his work upon a passage in the " Book of Changes " (7
King)y which refers to the Yao Hsiang, i.e. the " Yao appear-
ances " or the " Yao manifestations." This passage reads that
"the movement of the Yao Hsiang is within j the results of
prosperity and disaster are without." This phrase may be com-
pared with the solve et coagula of European alchemists. The
standard commentaries interpret this dark saying as a reference
to Yin and Yang, the passive and active principles of nature, but
the author of Ts*an Tung Ch^i claimed that it referred to the
possibility of the transmutation of metals. The name of the
book, " Covenant of Unity," was suggested by its contents,
which are intended to prove the unity of the science of alchemy
with the teachings of the " Book of Changes," as well as with
those of the Yellow Emperor and Lao Tzii — Huang Lao.
This book was highly commended by the two great classical
scholars of the Sung dynasty, Chu Hsi and Ts'ai Yiian-ting,
the former of whom wrote an exposition of its teachings under
an assumed name. The two systems of alchemy which are
known as la chia and lu ho are based upon this book, ha chia
is the system of joining the ten cyclical branches with the Eight
OCCULTISM 145
Diagrams as indications of the favourable moment when trans-
mutation can be expected j the lu ho, as its name indicates, is the
system of experimentation with the crucible. The author of
this book is said by Ko Hung to have succeeded in preparing
pills of immortality. He gave one to a dog which dropped
dead j he then took one himself with the same result. His elder
brother, who believed in the magic power of the pills, took a
third pill and also died at once. A younger brother proceeded
to arrange for their burial, but in the midst of the preparations
the two came to life. They were thereupon enrolled as Im-
mortals.
Ko Hung, who made the first reference to the Ts\m T^ung
ChH, himself wrote a famous book, Pao P'o-tzu, on the same
subject, in addition to his other famous work, Sken Hsien
Chuan. Ko Hung is usually known from the name of his book
as Pao P'o-tzu, and deserves the first rank among those who are
responsible for the perpetuation and spread of occult teachings
in China. His influence has been greater even than that of
Chang Tao-ling, though he has not been accorded the same
high honours. He lived in the fourth century a.d. and spent
the last years of his life on the Lo-fou Mountain experiment-
ing with the pill of immortality. When he was eighty-one
years of age a friend whom he had invited came to see him but
found only his empty clothes. His body had disappeared into
the realms of the Immortals.
The Shen Hsien Chuan of Ko Hung narrates that Li Shao-
chiin learned the art of the crucible from An-ch'i Sheng, third
century B.C., who was a contemporary of the Emperor Shih
Huang of the Ch'in dynasty, as Li Shao-chiin was a contempo-
rary of the Emperor Wu Ti, second century b. c, of the Han
dynasty. An-ch'i Sheng was known by the sobriquet of Pao
P'o-tzu from which Ko named his book mentioned above. The
" Historical Record " {Shih Chi) of Ssu-ma Ch'ien narrates
that Li Shao-chiin advised the Han Emperor, Wu Ti, to sacri-
146 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
fice to the crucible, and that if he did so, the attendant deities
would cause It to transmute mercury Into gold. From this gold
the Emperor could have cups fashioned, and such cups would
cause what he ate and drank to prolong his life. He could then
visit An-ch'i Sheng in the Isles of the Blest and himself attain
to immortality. Li assured the Emperor that he himself had
visited An-ch'i Sheng in the happy abode and had seen him eat-
FiG. 56. Control of the Breath
ing dates which were as large as melons. These references to
Li Shao-chun and his master An-ch'i Sheng evidence a belief
that the use of the crucible was much earlier than the time of
the Ts^an T^ung ChHj and carry it back to the reign of Shih
Huang, 249-221 B.C., if credibility may be attached to these
legends of the two men.
Closely connected with the search for a panacea and for the
cordial of immortality are many methods for promoting long
OCCULTISM 147
life. Among these the most conspicuous are three: (i) control
of the breath, (2) control of the emotions, and (3) abstinence
from food. The control of the breath — hsing Mi or ju chH
— is a system which originated with the above-mentioned Ko
Hung. The first step in this control is to take a deep inhalation
of breath and hold it during one hundred and twenty beats of
the heart before exhalation. The period from midnight till
noon is full of vitality and this control should be practised at
that time. From noon till midnight is a lifeless period and no
benefit is gained by carrying on the exercises. If control of the
breath is attained by an individual it will cure many kinds of
disease and lengthen life. When full control is perfected, a
condition of repose supervenes and an individual reaches the
goal of a full understanting of the principle of life, tao. The
control of the emotions — ch^ing ching — with which was as-
sociated abstraction — ting kuan — is considered fundamental
to the lengthening of life, and many prescriptions leading to
this end are detailed in Taoist books. Of these none is more
important than abstinence from food — p^ kuy especially from
all kinds of meat. Vegetarianism was the first step toward
fasting.
CHAPTER XII
FOLK-LORE
THE occult sciences as described in the preceding Chapter
are the dignified forms in which the beliefs, traditions,
and customs of the common people have taken shape at the
hands of the authors whose good style has placed their books
in the category of literary writings. In addition to such books
there has been, in every generation since printing was invented,
a large number of popular publications which contain other
versions of tales and which add many accounts too undignified
to be noticed by the standard books. The origin of many of
these traditional beliefs and customs is unknown and unsought j
there has been little or no tendency to study their sources or to
analyze their meanings. They are accepted from generation
to generation by all classes as they are found, and without
doubt this process has been going on from the earliest days of
the race, thus mixing the newer tales of one generation with
those handed down from antiquity. It is often difficult to
determine how much of any given tradition is ancient and how
much modern, and perhaps this is of little consequence. The
main fact to be recognized is that all tales which have survived
can be considered rightly as expressive to some extent of the
spirit of the people.
Knowledge of the exact modern sciences has only extended as
yet to those who have been educated abroad or in schools estab-
lished during the last two or three generations. The largest
proportion of the people still accept their traditions without
any questioning. To them Heaven and Earth are full of
mystery. There is little distinction between animate and inani-
FOLK-LORE 149
matej all nature is animate. Its benevolent and malevolent
processes are alike to be regarded with awe and fear. They
are under the control or supervision of certain spirits or animals
or forces whose favour is to be gained and whose wrath is to be
avoided if possible. No country in the world is so rich in lore
as China, and no language has more proverbs than that of its
people. Every event of life has settled itself into a traditional
form and is described by some apt phrase.
. The three great events of existence, viz. birth, marriage
and death, are surrounded with traditional observances, every
one of which has its own significance. Malignant influences are
supposed to be especially active at childbirth, and many devices
are practised to avert them. Up to fifteen years of age a crisis
occurs every three years. Boys are sometimes dressed as girls
or wear rings in their ears to deceive the evil spirits who do not
care for girls. Marriages are arranged through go-betweens
by a comparison of the " eight characters " {pa tzu). If the
boy dies before the ceremony takes place, the living bride is
afterwards married to him by using his spirit-tablet as a proxy.
This ceremony of " marriage by tablet " {fao p^ai tso chHfi)
is usual when the prospective bridegroom is of a greater social
distinction than the bride. At death the deceased is dressed
in his best clothes, and in the coffin are placed any small orna-
ments of which he may have been fond during life. Paper
money, paper houses, paper horses and carts, as well as clothing,
are burned after death to ensure that the spirit is well provided
for in the future world.
Charms, talismans and amulets of various kinds are used
to avert calamity. If one wears on his body a piece of jade
he will never be thrown from an animal which he is riding.
The shoes of children are embroidered with tigers' heads j
lucky objects such as cash-swords are hung in houses, and
other objects of various geometrical shapes are worn on the
body J the fylfot or swastika is found in all sorts of places, e.g.,
150 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
on the wrappers of parcels, on the stomach or chest of idols
and on eaves of houses j the character for longevity {shou) is
also used in similar ways:
" His shoes arc marked with cross and spell
Upon his breast a pentacle."
These charms are needed at all times, for it cannot be known
when or where evil spirits will appear. It may be the ghost
of someone who has been injured by you, or merely some
devil bent on the execution of his own caprice. It may be a
hungry ghost wandering through space in search of some com-
pensation for its previous miserable existence on earth, or a
" rigid corpse " {chiang shlJi)^ which at night-fall or on
moonlight nights comes from its coffin and waylays travellers.
It may be the "woodmen" (Shan Hsiao) mentioned in the
Southern T^ang History, which have the bodies of men and
feet like the claws of a bird and which live in the trees. It
may be the demon of fire or pestilence, disease or death j but
whatever its designs may be it can be prevented from carrying
them out by the possession of true virtue or superior intelli-
gence.. As a matter of fact, virtue and intelligence are inter-
changeable ideas when one is dealing with devils.
A curious tale was told years ago by Mr. C. T. Gardiner of
the British Consular Service. " There were two partners,
named Chang and Li, returning on one occasion by way of the
canal from Yangchow, where they had been collecting debts.
Chang saw Li standing on the edge of the boat, and the crime
of pushing him into the water, and thus becoming sole possessor
of the money, suggested itself. Chang, therefore, pushed Li
into the canal. Next year, at the time the murder was com-
mitted, Chang fell very ill, and the ghost of Li appeared to
him in a threatening form, and told him that unless he paid
over the sum properly belonging to the dead man's family, he
would die. Chang promised to do so, and got well, but his
FOLK-LORE 151
health being restored he broke his promise, and still kept the
money. Again, the following year, at the same time, Li's
ghost appeared, looking still angrier. Again Chang was in-
duced to make the promise, and this time he kept it. How-
ever, his health seemed permanently to suffer, everything
went wrong, business fell off, and he determined to try and
change his luck by migrating to other parts j he consequently
went to Honan. What was his astonishment when he again
saw Li, not now in the middle of the night by the side of the
bed where he lay sick, but in broad daylight, and in the street.
His terror was extreme, he rushed forward, and made a ko-towj
and said: ' I have already done as you ordered me, why do you
still haunt me? ' To which Li replied: ^ I am no ghost j what
do you mean? ' Then Chang told him how he had twice
appeared, and how his share of the money had been paid to his
family. Li then said: * So, it was not an accident my falling
into the river? I had neglected to pay due respect to the spirit
of my father, and when I tumbled in the river, and was nearly
drowned, I thought it a punishment for my impiety.' "
Determined action on the part of a strong-willed individual
is often sufficient, without outside aid, to affect the power of
devils. A story is told of a house at Hangchow which was sup-
posed to be haunted. No one dared to live in it and it was
always locked. "A scholar named Ts'ai bought the house:
people all told him he was doing a dangerous thing, but he did
not heed them. After the deed of sale had been drawn out,
none of his family would enter the house. Ts'ai therefore
went by himself, and having opened the doors, lit a candle and
sat down. In the middle of the night a woman slowly ap-
proached with a red silk handkerchief hanging to her neck, and
having saluted him, fastened a rope to the beam of the ceiling,
and put her neck in the noose. Ts'ai did not in the least change
countenance. The woman again fastened a rope and called
on Ts'ai to do as she had done, but he only lifted his leg and
152
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
put his foot in the noose. The woman said, * You're wrong.'
Ts'ai laughed, and said, ' On the contrary, it was you who were
wrong a long time ago, or else you would not have come to this
pass.' The ghost cried bitterly, and, having again bowed to
Ts'ai, departed, and from this time the house was no longer
haunted. Ts'ai afterwards distinguished himself as a scholar."
Fig. 57. Chung K'uei
Usually, however, outside help is invoked. Chung K'uei
with his awful face is ready with his help for those who seek
it. It is said that he was a scholar in the Sung dynasty who was
frightfully disfigured by an evil spirit on the night previous to
taking his examination for the highest literary degree. As a
result of the dreadful condition of his face he was not able
to take his examination, and therefore he swore vengeance
against these demons. Being a man of extraordinary intelli-
FOLK-LORE
^53
gence in life, he has been able since death to use his great gifts
in the spirit world in combatting the evil influence of devils
which are intent on injuring mankind. The name of Chiang
T'ai Kung, i.e. Chiang Tzu-ya, cut on stone — " Chiang T'ai
Kung Tsai Tz'u " — and placed at the end of an alley-way or
written on paper to be hung over doors, is sufficient to frighten
Fig. 58. Shih Kan Tang
away evil spirits. The name of Shih Kan of T'ai Shan is also
commonly cut on stone — " T'ai Shan Shih Kan Tang " —
and used in the same way as that of Chiang T'ai Kung. The
most potent name of all is that of the " Celestial Teacher "
(t*ien shih) J who is the lineal successor of Chang Tao-ling.
Mystical characters written by him are hung at places where
their help is needed in the home. In 1707 the then incumbent
of the post of " Celestial Teacher " was ordered by the Em-
154
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
pcror K'ang Hsi to offer sacrifices at all the five great moun-
tains, and while on his journeys also to charm away the ghost
of the " white sheep " at Huang-chow, and the " red monkey "
on the Tung-t'ing Mountain of the T'ai Hu, near Wusih in
Kiangsu Province. Witches are called in by women to chant
incantations against evil influences, and the aid of powerful
ancestral spirits is invoked
by the use of medicines.
The entire range of human
inventiveness has been can-
vassed to discover propitious
means for averting misfor-
tunes.
The portentous influence
of dreams is clearly recog-
n i z e d , as dreams are
supposed to be due to the
inspiration of spirits. A re-
cluse of T'ai Shan dreamed
that the goddess of the
mountain, Niang Niang, in-
structed him to proceed to
Peking to cure the illness of
the Emperor Chen Tsung,
997—1022 A.D., of the Sung
dynasty. On arrival he
found that the Emperor was
in great pain caused by a large boil. He prescribed treatment
and relieved the Emperor of his trouble. The mother of Chang
Tao-ling is said to have dreamed that the spirit of the Pole
Star descended and gave her a fragrant herb which scented her
clothes with its perfume. On awaking she found herself with
child and in due course gave birth to a son who became the
great mystic. A man in Shanghai dreamed that he was in a
Fig. 59.
The Goddess of T'ai-shan,
Niang Niang
PLATE VI
Chang Tao-lin, Taoist Patriarch
See pp. 13 ff.
FOLK-LORE 155
place at the rear of a certain temple where he suddenly came
upon a hidden treasure of gold. As soon as he awoke he went
to the place, dug a hole and discovered a large quantity of gold,
each piece of which was marked with his own name. An old
man and woman are said to have appeared in a dream to the
Prince of Yen who became the Emperor Yung Lo, 1403-1425
A.D., of the Ming dynasty. He had just completed the building
of the present city of Peking with its nine gates and magnificent
palaces. The people were loud in their praise of the beauty
and strength of the city, and looked forward to a period of
great prosperity and peace. Unfortunately it was not long
before a severe drought ensued and the wells were all dried
up. The cause of the drought was reported by this old man
and woman to have been the disturbance of the abode of two
water-dragons at Lei Chen K'ou, a village to the east of Peking
outside the Tung Pien Men. The dragons decided to gather
up all the water of the district in two large baskets and retire.
Before doing so they wished to obtain the consent of the Prince,
and for this purpose assumed the guise of the old man and
woman in the dream. The Prince consented, but on awaking
in the morning and realizing what he had done, he concluded
that this old man and woman were none other than the dragons.
He put on his armour, mounted a black horse, and with spear
in hand, hurried out of the palace and through the city gate in
pursuit. He overtook them, plunged his spear into their
baskets, and out came a plentiful supply of water.
Cruelty, which seems inherent in human nature, has taken
many forms in China, most of which are associated with super-
natural events. The practice of burying servants and workmen
in the tombs of early Emperors seems to be well-authenticated.
Cannibalism has been practised in all the great famines which
have so often happened. The black art {tso tao) has been re-
sponsible for many evil practices, and laws directed against it
were very strict in the late Manchu dynasty. Among the ten
156 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
inhuman crimes {fu tao) mentioned in the fourth volume of
the Legal Code of this dynasty, the fifth crime includes the
mutilation of the living body to obtain certain organs for use
in witchcraft, the manufacture of the ku poison, or witch's
potion, and the employment of incantations or charms to inflict
the curse of the " Nightmare demon " (Yen Mei). A case of
mutilation of the bodies of young girls in order to secure their
vital powers was punished in 1810. The Commentary on the
Code also states that those who practise witchcraft after invok-
ing the Nightmare demon, take the eyes and ears of human
beings, cut off their hands and feet and fasten these members
upon a carved or moulded image which they employ for their
own diabolical purposes. The blood of criminals who have
been beheaded is gathered on pieces of cloth or absorbed on bits
of food which are then used as charms against evil influences.
The custom of drinking a cup of the blood of a notorious enemy
who has been slain in battle or executed after capture, was
performed by a well-known Viceroy in 1904. This potion
was supposed to add courage to the one who drank it. The
Code also mentions an abominable kind of cruelty which con-
sisted in kidnapping young persons in order to roast their organs
and bones for the purpose of manufacturing medicine. All
forms of witchcraft and sorcery which led to the maiming or
killing of persons, were punishable under the Code with the
severest penalties, viz., death by the slicing process, confiscation
of property and banishment for life of wife and sons. Such
practices were considered an illegitimate use of supernatural
powers.
Of all the animals which can influence human events, the
fox enters chiefly into popular tales. As an illustration of this,
the following is a summary of the tale of two sisters, taken
from the " Strange Stories of the Liao Studio," (Liao Chat
Chih I). There was once a young student named Shang, a
native of T'ai Shan. One evening as he was wandering alone
FOLK-LORE 157
in his garden, a beautiful young girl appeared, walked and
talked with him and entertained him vastly with her beauty and
wit. She introduced herself as the third daughter of the Hu
family, and thus called San Chieh, but would not tell him
where she lived. Night after night she appeared and their
friendship advanced. But one evening as he was admiring her
beauty she told him that she had a younger sister, Ssu Mei, who
was much more beautiful than she. At his request, she brought
Ssu Mei with her the next night, and Ssu Mei proved to be
indeed lovely. When San Chieh rose to leave, Shang begged
Ssu Mei to stay for a while. Hardly had San Chieh left when
Ssu Mei warned Shang that San Chieh was a fox, and that,
but for her own intervention, he would surely have been be-
witched. She gave him a charm to paste on his door, for, she
said, though she was also a fox herself, she knew the arts of
the Immortals and could protect him. The next day San Chieh
returned but was unable to pass the charm on the door, and
left, with bitter rebukes for her sister's ingratitude. However,
even Ssu Mei's beauty could not hold the fickle Shang, for,
when some days later she was obliged to be away a short while,
he allowed himself to be charmed by an attractive young
woman who approached him with a gift of money, telling him
that the Hu sisters could never bring him a cent, and asking
him to provide a feast for her that evening in his rooms.
Shang was perfectly willing, but as the evening was proceed-
ing gaily, the two Hu sisters appeared, drove out the intruder,
who was also a fox, and re-established their old friendship with
Shang. But affairs were not to continue thus. One day a man
appeared from a distant Province. He had been searching the
country over for the evil spirits who had killed his brother,
and found them in the house of Shang. Shang himself had
kept secret his friendship with the Hu sisters, but his father
and mother were alarmed, invited the traveller in, and told
him to act as he pleased. He at once produced two bottles,
158 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
muttered various charms, and suddenly four slender threads
of smoke were seen to pass into the bottles. He at once sealed
up the bottles, declared with joy that this whole family was
now safe, and sat down to feast with Shang's parents. Shang
himself could not feast while his friends were suffering their
sad fates, and he wandered over to the bottles. Bending over
them he heard the voice of Ssu Mei begging him to release
her. She gave Shang directions how to proceed, and soon one
little thread of smoke disappearing into the clouds was his last
view of the charming young Ssu Mei. Ten years later she ap-
peared to him one day and told him that she had attained im-
mortality. He begged her to stay with him, but as an Immortal
she could no longer mingle with mortal affairs. Only once
again did he see her, twenty years later, when she appeared in
his room, beautiful as ever, to tell him that she had come to
announce to him the approaching day of his death, so that he
might put his affairs in order, and that he need fear nothing,
for she would see him safely into the other world. And on
the day appointed, Shang died.
Evil spirits also assume the form of snakes, and conversely
snakes present themselves as ordinary mortals. One of the
most famous stories of snakes is that of the " White Serpent "
of Hangchow, which came from the Green Mountain near
Ch'eng-tu in Szechuan Province where it had lived from an-
cient times, and was accustomed to take the form of a woman
accompanied by a maid-servant. The victory of this White
Serpent over a Black Serpent which had lived in Hangchow
before the combat, is told in the novel called " Thunder Peak
Pagoda " and is as follows: " Hang-chow is a most beautiful
place. The residences of princes and nobles are here, and
beautiful flower-gardens and ancient temples are scattered
all over the place. Among these, the garden of Prince Chow
was pre-eminent for beauty 5 but Prince Chow had long been
dead, and his beautiful garden was deserted by mankind.
FOLK-LORE 159
In it were altars, pavilions, and fountains almost equalling in
splendour the gardens of the Imperial palace. Here there
resided a huge black serpent, which had been in this place for
more than eight hundred years. This serpent could ascend
into the clouds, and take the human formj and when she saw
the white serpent coming in, she hurried to prevent her en-
trance, saying: * Whence comest thou thus to invade the pri-
vacy of my garden? Dost thou not fear my wrath? ' The
white serpent, who had assumed human form, as had the other,
merely smiled and said: 'Don't talk about your power, but
pay attention to what I am going to say. I am a powerful
white serpent, come from the mountain-cavern of the winds,
where I have resided more than eight hundred years j but be-
cause I am not so powerful as I could wish, I have determined
to change my abode, wherefore you must let mie take up my
residence in this garden. Besides this, why should we quarrel,
being both spirits in the form of serpents? ' But the black
snake was not so easily pacified, and angrily exclaimed: * This
is my garden, and you are a spirit from some distant place.
How then do you dare thus to deprive me of mine own? If,
moreover, you think yourself more powerful than I am, let us
contend together three times for the mastery.' The white
serpent smiled slightly, and said: ' It is no desire of mine that
we should contend together, as I do not wish to injure one of
my species J but since you so much wish it, I will contend with
you, but upon this condition only, that whoever shall be victori-
ous in the strife, shall become the mistress, and that the con-
quered one shall always act as a slave.' The black snake, still
angry, snatched a sword and cut at the white serpent, but she,
drawing two swords, put them before her in the form of a
cross. In a few minutes the superior talent of the white serpent
became evident, for by muttering a powerful spell, the sword
was snatched from the hand of her adversary by some invisible
means, and she was left defenceless. The black serpent at this
i6o CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
was very much frightened, and kneeling down, respectfully
addressed the other, saying: ' Do not contend any longer. I
acknowledge you as my superior, and am willing to serve you as
your slave.' Matters being thus settled so satisfactorily, the
mistress and servant entered the garden together."
These are but a few examples of folk-lore and are entirely
insufficient to give the reader an adequate idea of the number
and variety of popular tales. This can be obtained by reference
to such books as Giles' Strange Stories jrotn a Chinese Studio^
MacGowan's Chinese Folk-Lore Talesy and other books. The
examples here given are intended only to illustrate the wide
scope of the traditional beliefs and customs of the Chinese
people.
CHAPTER XIII
EXEMPLARY TALES
TALES with a moral are very popular. Of these none is
ranked higher by general consent than the series col-
lected by Kuo Chii-yeh o£ the Yiian dynasty, and known as the
" Twenty-four Examples of Filial Piety " {^rh-shih-ssu
Hsiao). Each of the persons cited left an example of filial
piety worthy to be emulated by succeeding generations.
(i) The first on the list is the Emperor Shun, 2317-2208
B.C. His mother died when he was very young, and his fa-
ther took a second wife by whom he had a son Hsiang. He
preferred this son and tried frequently to do away with Shun.
The house in which he lived was set on fire, and on another
occasion he was thrown into a well, but was miraculously pre-
served. Escaping from these plots against his life he main-
tained the same respect for his father and love for his younger
brother. His exalted virtue was known to Heaven and Earth
so that when he ploughed the fields, beasts hurried from un-
known places to pull his plough, and when he weeded, birds
came to assist him. When he was only twenty years of age he
became known to the great Emperor Yao, who gave him his
two daughters, Hsiang Fu-jen, to wife, and later set aside his
own son in order that he might confer the Empire upon this
filial youth.
(2) The Emperor Wen Ti, 179—156 b.c, of the Han
dynasty, who, during his mother's illness of three years never
left her apartment nor changed his clothes.
(3) Tseng Ts'an, 505-437 b.c, a disciple of Confucius and
the reputed author of " The Great Learning," was on the hills
1 62 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
as a child gathering firewood when his mother bit her finger.
He also felt the pain at once and hastened to her aid. While
weeding in a garden he carelessly cut the root of a melon,
whereupon his father beat him mercilessly. When he related
the incident to Confucius, Confucius blamed him for not hav-
ing got out of his father's way lest he should have inadvertently
been so unfilial as to have been the cause of his father put-
ting him to death. Even after such treatment by his father,
he was so full of affection that he would never eat dates be-
cause his father had been fond of them. He only prepared
food once in three days and changed his clothes once in ten
years.
(4) Min Sun, sixth century B.C., was also a pupil of Con-
fucius. He was treated badly by his step-mother who favoured
her own two sons. He Vv^as so sparsely clad that his hands be-
came numb and he dropped the reins when driving a cart. At
last the harsh treatment of his son enraged the father and he
decided to divorce the woman, but Min Sun pleaded for her,
saying that it was better that one child should be cold than
three left motherless.
(5) Chung Yu, 543-480 B.C., another disciple of Confucius,
is more frequently spoken of as Tzii-lu. When he had been
promoted to high honours he grieved for his deceased parents
and longed for his childhood days when he carried rice for more
than a hundred li in helping to support his parents.
(6) Tung Yung, second century a.d., had no money to pay
the funeral expenses of his father and sold himself into servi-
tude in order to raise the necessary amount. When he re-
turned home he met a young woman who offered to marry him
and to release him from bondage. The creditor demanded
three hundred pieces of silk, which the prospective bride gladly
set herself to weave. She finished the work in a month and
then informed Tung Yung that she was " The Weaving Dam-
sel " (Chih Nil), who had been sent by God to reward him for
EXEMPLARY TALES 163
his devotion to his father. The name of Tung's birthplace was
changed to Hsiao Kan, which is a station on the Peking-Hankow
Railway, just north of Hankow.
(7) Yen Tzu is said to have lived in the Chow dynasty.
His parents having expressed a desire for doe's milk, he dressed
himself in deer's skins, mingled with a herd of deer, and thus
obtained the milk.
(8) Chiang Ko who lived about 500 a.d., during the trou-
blous times of the Six Kingdoms, rescued his mother from
robbers by carrying her a long distance on his back.
(9) Lu Hsii, of the first century a.d., was imprisoned for
complicity in a treasonable plot. His mother went to the prison
carrying food which the jailer delivered to him. At the sight
of it he knew that it had been prepared by his mother.
(10) T'ang Fu-jen, or as she is frequently called, Ts'ui Shih,
is the only woman mentioned for her devotion to her family.
Her mother-in-law had lost her teeth on account of age, and
T'ang Fu-jen nourished her with milk from her own breast.
(11) Wu Meng, fifth century a.d., would not drive the
mosquitoes away from himself lest there should be more of
them to annoy his parents.
(12) Wang Hsiang, 185—269 a.d., was a native of Shan-
tung. In order to gratify the desire of his step-mother for fish
during winter, he lay down naked on the ice of a pond till a
hole was thawed from which jumped two fish which he carried
home to her.
(13) Kuo Chii, second century a.d., was very poor and there
was not enough food for his mother, his wife, himself and
their young son. He proposed to his wife to kill their son so
that there might be enough food for his mother, saying that
they might have another son but they could never have another
mother. The parents agreed to bury the child alive, but when
they dug the hole in the ground they found there a bar of gold
on which was inscribed a legend stating that it was a gift of the
1 64 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
gods. This prevented the necessity of sacrificing their own
child.
(14) Yang Hsiang of the Han dynasty, was only fourteen
years of age when his father was attacked by a tiger. He threw
himself between his father and the tiger, thus saving his fa-
ther's life at the expense of his own.
(15) Chu Show-ch'ang, 1031— 1102 a.d., was the son of a
concubine and was taken away from his mother to live with
his father in Peking. When he grew up to manhood his mother
had disappeared, and he tried every possible method of finding
her, even resorting to the self-castigation of the Buddhist
priests, such as cauterizing his back and head with live incense-
sticks. He searched for fifty years and finally found his
mother.
(16) Yu Ch'ien-lou, sixth century a.d., resigned his offi-
cial appointment after ten days in order that he might return
home to care for his sick father.
(17) Lao Lai-tzu is a legendary character who is said to
have lived during the Chow dynasty. His parents lived to a
great age, and when he himself was seventy he dressed in fan-
tastic clothes and performed antics before his parents for their
amusement.
(18) Ts'ai Shun, first century a.d., nourished his mother
with ripe berries while he himself ate only green ones. After
the death of his mother a fire threatened their house. Ts'ai
Shun threw himself upon his mother's coffin and prayed that it
might be spared from destruction. His prayer was answered.
The surrounding houses were all burned but his house escaped
unharmed. During her lifetime his mother had been afraid
of thunder, and after her death, whenever a thunder storm
arose, Ts'ai Shun went to her grave to urge her not to be
alarmed.
(19) Huang Hsiang lost his mother when he was only seven
years of age and grieved so much over her death that he be-
EXEMPLARY TALES 165
came as thin as a skeleton. He devoted the rest of his life to
taking care of his father and is said to have fanned his father's
couch in the summer and to have warmed it in winter by lying
between the blankets until his father wished to retire.
(20) Chiang Shih lived during the Han dynasty and was
almost equalled by his wife in devotion to the family. His
wife walked several miles every day to bring river-water to her
mother-in-law because she knew that she preferred it to well-
water. Chiang Shih's mother was also fond of fish and as a
reward of his filial piety a spring suddenly opened near his
residence, providing delicious drinking water and producing
two fishes every day.
(21) Wang P'ou, third century a.d., lamented the untimely
death of his father, who was beheaded for making the state-
ment that the Kingdom of Wei had been defeated by Wu and
thus destroying the esprit de corps of his own people. He was
accustomed to sit beside a pine tree and weep for his father.
So copious were his tears that they caused the tree to rot.
(22) Ting Lan, first century a.d., carved a figure of his
mother in wood and offered to the effigy the same respect as
if it were really his living mother. While he was away one
day his wife refused to lend something to a neighbour who had
come for it, whereupon the neighbour struck the wooden effigy.
When Ting Lan returned at night he saw an expression of
displeasure on his mother's effigy, and, seizing a stick, went to
the house of the neighbour and gave him a sound thrashing.
When soldiers came to arrest him for this assault, they de-
sisted upon finding that the effigy was weeping tears.
(23) Meng Tsung, third century a.d., tried during winter
to get some bamboo shoots for which his mother had expressed
a desire. While strolling in a bamboo grove and giving loud
expression to his grief he was rewarded by finding bamboo
shoots suddenly springing up around him.
(24) Huang T'ing-chien, 1050-1110 a.d., is celebrated as
i66 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
one of the Four Great Scholars of the Sung dynasty, but even
this high distinction is eclipsed by his reputation for filial piety.
He watched his sick mother for a whole year without leaving
her bedside or even taking off his clothes. At her death he
grieved so bitterly that he almost lost his own life.
In the Ttmg Chow Lieh Kuo Chlh (" Records of the East-
ern Chow"), which is a novel describing events in the Chow
dynasty after 781 b.c, a tale is told of the favourite concu-
bine of the Emperor Yu Wang, 781—770 b.c. She was called
Pao Ssii. When she was a girl of fourteen she was seen by
Hung-teh, whose father had been exiled by the Emperor.
Hung-teh conceived the plan of presenting this beautiful
woman to the Emperor as a concubine, hoping thereby to secure
the favour of the Emperor and to obtain the release of his
father. The plan was favoured by the Duke of Kuo, and the
girl was admitted to the Imperial harem. She soon became a
great favourite of the Emperor and presented him with a son.
The Empress became very jealous of this concubine and plotted
with her son, who was the Heir Apparent, for the downfall of
Pao Ssu. At the time of an Imperial audience, when the Em-
peror was receiving his ministers, Pao Ssu, venturing into the
garden in front of the palace, was set upon by the attendants
of the Heir Apparent and mauled mercilessly. As soon as the
Emperor heard of it he banished the Heir Apparent, divorced
the Empress and proclaimed the son of Pao Ssu as his successor.
The Emperor did everything in his power to satisfy the whims
of this favourite woman, going so far even as to kindle for her
amusement the beacon fires on the hills which summoned his
baronial chiefs to the rescue of his capital. The dismay of
these chiefs, who had been fooled by the unnecessary call to
arms, caused great amusement to Pao Ssu, but the incident
proved fatal to the Emperor when at a later period his capital
was attacked. The beacon lights were again kindled, but this
time without effect in summoning necessary relief. The bar-
EXEMPLARY TALES 167
barians attacked the capital and the Emperor with his favourite
was slain.
This was in fulfilment of a prophecy which had been made
by an astrologer during the reign of Hslian Wang, father of
Yu Wang. During the thirty-ninth year of Hsuan Wang,
766 B.C., the Emperor left his capital and went on an expedi-
tion against the Western barbarians. While he was at T'ai-
yiian he decided to take a census of the city in order to conscript
as large a military force as possible. After doing so he returned
to his capital, but on arriving at the suburbs was met by a
crowd of children who were singing a song that had been taught
them a few days earlier by a youth wearing a red coat. The
words of the song were :
" The sun is setting, the moon is rising,
The Chow dynasty will be ruined
By bows of the wild mulberry and quivers of rattan."
The Emperor was greatly distressed by this song and ordered
the arrest of the young man who had taught it to the children.
At a meeting of the Ministers of state on the following day,
the Emperor inquired of them the meaning of the song. Po-
yang Fu, who was Director of the Astronomical Board, replied
that this youth was Mars as shown by the red colour of his coat,
and that he had sung this song as a warning to the Emperor
of the approaching overthrow of his kingdom. This over-
throw would not be brought about by the incursions of enemies
from without but by the intrigues of a woman in the palace.
This was the meaning of the line concerning the setting of the
sun and the rising of the moon, the sun meaning the Emperor
and the moon an Empress. It was this prophecy which was ful-
filled by the dire results of the influence of the concubine Pao
Ssu over the Emperor Yu Wang.
Hsu Yu is a conspicuous example of modesty in the estimate
of one's own abilities. He was one of the Four Philosophers
1 68 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
of Mlao Ku She, a hill in the Northern Sea, mentioned by
Chuang Tzu. The Emperor Yao offered to resign the throne
in his favour, but this alarmed Hsu Yu so much that he rushed
off to cleanse his ears from the contamination of such words.
He was accustomed to drink water by dipping his hand in the
brook. Some one gave him a gourd to use for this purpose.
Hsu Yu hung it on a tree near his house and the wind whistling
through the gourd made a pleasant sound. He did not consider
himself worthy to have this pleasure and threw the gourd away.
Even brigands may teach useful lessons. Confucius, ac-
companied by Yen-yuan and Tzu-kung, was travelling south
of T'ai-shan. He had an interview with Tao Chih which
nearly turned into a tragedy. " Is it not you," the brigand
said to him, " whom they call K'ung Ch'iu, false sage of the
Kingdom of Lu? In your criticisms and invectives you spare
neither military nor civil officials, and it is all simply to throw
dust into the eyes of the Prince. You are nothing but a beggar
for honours and there is no greater brigand than you. It is by
mistake that they call me * the Brigand,' Chih. It would have
been more logical to call you ^ the Brigand,' Ch'iu. You pose
as a holy man and at heart you are only a clever hypocrite,
whose words deserve not the slightest credence." Confucius
in return cried : " Why by the goodness of my heart did I raise
up these difficulties for myself! "
Liu Chih was the younger brother of Liu Hsia-hui, the dis-
ciple of Confucius. He was commonly known as Tao Chih,
the brigand. This bandit had a band of nine thousand men
under his command, and he was the cause of great trouble in
the Kingdom. His band held men as hostages, carried off
women, stole cattle and horses, and devastated all the country
which they covered. Liu Chih is worshipped as the General of
the "Five Brigands" (Wu Tao). The character for "brig-
and," tao, has the same sound as that of " road," and the term
" Five Brigands " was originally " Five Roads." It is stated
EXEMPLARY TALES 169
in the San Kuo Tien Lioh that, before the death of Ts'ui
Chi-shu, his wife in a nightmare saw a man ten feet in height
whose whole body was covered with black hair. This monster
said he had come to injure her. Upon telling her dream to a
sorcerer, he said that the one who had appeared to her was the
"General of the Five Ways" (Wu Tao Chiang Chiin), and
that his appearance in her house was a bad omen. According to
the critic T'ien I-heng of the Ming dynasty, who was an au-
thority on poetical references, the General of the Five Ways
is the god of the brigands, and the reference is taken from the
Ch'ii Ch'ieh Chapter of Chuang Tzii. The " Five Roads," i.e.,
the five qualifications of a successful brigand, are the ability to
conceal things, courage to be in the foreground, strength to be
the last to leave, prudence to know when to take action and
when to refrain, and fairness in dividing the spoils.
During the time of the Emperor Ming Ti, 58—76 a.d., of
the Eastern Han dynasty, the country was in a condition of
prosperity and peace. This was due to the genius of the Em-
peror in securing able men from all parts of the country to
assist him in carrying on the government. His selection was
not made by examination, but solely on the recommendation of
his high officials scattered throughout various districts. The
district magistrate of Yang-mei recommended a man named
Hsu Wu, concerning whom an interesting tale is recorded in
the Chin Ku Ch^i Kuan (" Curious Tales of the Present and
Past "). It is narrated that Hsu Wu was one of three brothers
and that his father had died when he was only fifteen years of
age, leaving the two younger brothers, Hsu Yen and Hsu P'u,
aged respectively nine and seven, in his charge. There was a
small estate which required careful cultivation in order to sup-
port the three brothers, and this work was undertaken by
Hsii Wu. He toiled in the fields during the day, but spent
his evenings in patient study. During both of these employ-
ments Hsii kept his younger brothers at his side. After a few
1 70 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
years Hsu Wu not only had succeeded in increasing the value
of his property, but had also acquired a good education for
himself, and in these two results his younger brothers shared.
The Elders of the district called the attention of the magistrate
to the great talents of Hsu Wu and urged that he be recom-
mended to the Emperor for appointment. When Hsu Wu
reached the capital he was first appointed secretary of a Board
and later rose to a very high position.
After a few years of service to the Government, Hsu de-
cided that he would return home and ascertain how his broth-
ers had been prospering. He found that they had made good
use of their time both in tilling the soil and in proficiency in
their studies. In order to test their real attainments, however,
Hsu Wu conceived the plan of suggesting that the estate should
be divided, and, in view of his high position as contrasted with
that of his brothers, that he should be given the larger portion
of the valuable lands and houses which had come into their
possession chiefly through the exertions of the two younger
brothers. The discipline of the two brothers had been so
severe that they readily agreed to Hsu's proposal and contented
themselves with living abstemiously in small thatched houses
while their more prosperous brother fared luxuriously in the
comfortable rooms of the central court. Hsu Wu was not
wholly neglectful of the interests of his brothers for he recom-
mended them to the magistrate, who in turn sent in their
names to the Emperor as fit persons to receive high positions.
In due time the two younger sons were appointed to responsible
posts in which they were as successful as their elder brother had
been.
The sequel of this story is that when the two brothers re-
signed from their official positions and returned to their ances-
tral home, Hsii called together the Elders of the district, and
in their presence told his two younger brothers of the plan
which he had followed all these years for testing their abilities.
EXEiMPLARY TALES 171
He had become satisfied that the brothers were men of superior
talent and commendable virtue. For this reason he requested
the Elders to make a new distribution of the property and
money so that he would share equally with each of his two
younger brothers, and thus undo what must have been consid-
ered as an unjust distribution made several years previously.
The younger brothers at first objected to any change and said
that they had received in the first instance more than they had
deserved, but Hsii insisted on carrying out the plan. This re-
distribution was successfully negotiated by the Elders, and the
three brothers with their families lived to the ripe old age of
one hundred years in perfect harmony.
A story is told of Yang Yung-po, a man of the second cen-
tury A.D. He lived in a mountain pass and was accustomed to
supply drink to thirsty travellers. After carrying on this char-
itable work for more than three years, a wayfarer whose thirst
had been quenched, presented Yang with a pot of what he said
were cabbage seeds. The stranger told him to plant these seeds
in a field and that thereby he would obtain some good jade and
also a wife. After planting the seeds, Yang bethought himself
of a well-known woman of comely parts who demanded, as the
price of her willingness to marry him, two bracelets of white
jade. Yang remembered the statements made to him by the
traveller and went out to dig in his field, whereupon he was
rewarded by finding five pairs of jade bracelets. It is from this
tale that the district of Yu-t'ien in the Province of Chihli takes
its name — Yu-t'ien having the meaning of " a field of jade."
Shih P'i, a magistrate of the Te-hua district, lost his wife
when he was forty years of age, and was left with one daughter,
Yueh Hsiang, who was then eight years old. Shih P'i was a
conscientious man, upright in his dealings, and gifted with great
legal discrimination. When he returned in the evenings from
his office he would take little Yiieh Hsiang on his knee and
teach her characters, or play chess and other games with her.
172 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
One day the nurse who was playing with Yiieh Hsiang, kicked
a ball into a tank which was embedded in the floor to hold
water. They both tried in vain to pick it out, and finally called
Shih P'i, who thought this an excellent time to test the intelli-
gence of his daughter. He asked her to suggest a method of
recovering the ball. Yiieh Hsiang, after a few moments'
thought, advised that water should be poured into the cavity
and the ball would rise to the top. This they did and the ball
came out, greatly pleasing Shih P'i.
After Shih P'i had been magistrate in this place for two
years, he fell into disgrace on account of the loss of govern-
ment grain, and died of grief. He left his daughter in charge
of her nurse, but in order to pay to the government the debts
which had been left, it was decided to sell both the daughter
and the nurse. They were bought by Chia Chang, a man who
had been pardoned for an offence by Shih P'i, and thought to
show his gratitude to him by kindness to his daughter. He
took them to his own home and placed them In charge of his
wife, telling her that Yiieh Hsiang should be treated as their
own daughter. Chia Chang's wife was neither virtuous nor
wise, and finding Yiieh Hsiang both beautiful and Intelligent,
became exceedingly jealous of her. Chia, when he was away
from home trading, would find a choice bit of silk or gauze and
send it to Yiieh Hsiang to make a dress. This further irritated
the wife so much that she could no longer hold her tongue, and
she would storm and rage, using anything but the choicest lan-
guage.
After continued insults which Chia Chang tried In vain to
prevent, the wife, taking advantage of the absence of her hus-
band, seized all the pretty clothes which had been given by her
husband to Yiieh Hsiang, and then sold the girl as a servant to
a bride just married into the family of the magistrate who had
succeeded Yiieh Hsiang's father In this ofHce. On the day
following her sale, Yiieh Hsiang was given a broom and told
EXEMPLARY TALES 173
to sweep the floor. The magistrate, Chung Li, passing through
the room, found the new maid-servant leaning on her broom
and v/eeping copiously. He asked her what the trouble was,
and she told him the story o£ the ball which had fallen into
the cavity in the floor of that very room, and of her father's
praise for her intelligence in suggesting a way of recovering
it. She went on and told him of her life since her father's
death and of her ill-treatment at the hands of the wife of
Chia Chang. The magistrate was greatly impressed and
amazed to learn that she was the daughter of a man of his
own rank, and he immediately thought of a plan whereby he
might atone for having treated the daughter of the late magis-
trate as a low-born menial. He consulted with the magistrate
of an adjoining district, Kao, and arranged a marriage with
Kao's younger son. After the wedding Chung Li had a dream
in which Yueh Hsiang's father, Shih P'i, appeared to him, and
said that because of the kindness he had shown his daughter, he
had interceded with the Supreme Being, who had offered a son
as a reward to Chung Li, in order to spread the fame of the
family. The deity also highly approved of the conduct of the
magistrate Kao, and as recompense to him, had offered to
raise his two sons to high oflice. As soon as Chung Li awoke
he told his dream and went to the temple to burn incense, con-
tributing one hundred taels of his salary. In fulfilment of the
promise, his wife, at the age of forty years, had a son who be-
came Senior Wrangler. Chung Li rose to the ofiice of Grand
Secretary and lived to be ninety years of age.
Chia Chang, upon his return, was angry to find that his wife
had sent Yiieh Hsiang and her nurse away, but after investiga-
tion was satisfied to learn that they were both happily married.
He would, however, no longer live with his faithless wife, and
married one of her maids. They had two sons. Thus all
parties met with their rewards.
CHAPTER XIV
THEATRICAL TALES
THE most popular and widely known tales of early Chi-
nese life are those which concern the events at the close
of the Han dynasty, when the country was divided into the
Three Kingdoms of Shu, Wei and Wu. These were woven
into a series of historical dramas called the San Kuo Chih Yen I
by Lo Kuan-chung in the twelfth century, and soon became the
most stirring national events that have ever been produced on
the stage. The period covered is from i68 to 265 a.d. The
narrative begins with the domination of the eunuchs during the
reign of Ling Ti when the Empress Tou was regent. It was
against the power of the eunuchs that the great literary states-
man, Li Ying, vainly hurled himself at the cost of his life.
Soon the rebellion of the "Yellow Turbans" (Huang Chin)
broke out, headed by Chang Chio who succeeded in raising a
force of nearly four hundred thousand men. This large body
of men had been brought together by a common belief in the
magical powers of Chang Chio and of his two brothers. These
men made capital of this popular trust in their powers, fra-
ternized with the eunuchs and plotted insurrections.
During the rebellion, Liu Pei entered into a solemn covenant
with Kuan Yii and Chang Fei, which was known as the " Peach-
Orchard Oath" (T^ao Yiian San Chieh I), the purpose of
which was to reclaim the declining fortunes of the Han dy-
nasty. These three men, among seven hundred characters,
became the central figures of the drama; though this position
would scarcely be warranted by historic facts. Of the three,
Liu Pei is the foremost as was his right on account of his being
THEATRICAL TALES 175
the descendant of the Imperial House of Han and himself
the founder of the Han dynasty in Shu, the modern Szechuan.
He is represented as a paragon of kingly virtue. He was al-
ways calm and dignified. The men associated with him gave
him the respect due to a king. He had some ability as a leader
up to the time when he became Kingj then he lapsed into a
state of helplessness, such as is supposed to be natural to this
position. He was stern and devoted to justice even to the point
of throwing to the ground his infant son who had been rescued
with his mother by the personal valour of his General, Chao
Yiin. He blamed the child for causing a valuable general to
run the risk of losing his life. He himself was by no means
brave under all circumstances, for when defeat came he took
refuge in flight, leaving his generals and soldiers to their fate.
He had an extraordinary personal appearance. His ears were
so long that they reached to his shoulders, his arms reached be-
low his knees and he could look behind him with his eyes.
The rise of the Three Heroes was very slow. They wan-
dered from place to place associating themselves at one time
with one leader, and then with another. Sometimes they
helped Ts'ao Ts'ao, and again they are found on the side of
Ts'ao's enemies. They met with no signal success until Liu
Pei discovered the hermit, Chu-ko Liang, in his reed hut. Liu
Pei was astonished to find the profound knowledge of Chu-ko
Liang, and likened his discovery to that of a fish being restored
to the water. The record of this meeting of Liu Pei with
Chu-ko Liang occupies three chapters of the drama, thus
emphasizing the importance of this extraordinary man. After
the aid of this great General has been secured, the drama nar-
rates the preparations for the great battle at Ch'ih Pi, the mod-
ern Chia Yu Hsien, about fifty miles west of Hankow, on the
Yangtze River. The army of Ts'ao Ts'ao is represented as
numbering about one million men, and so confident was this
immense force of its success that it lay idle for a whole month
176 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
waiting for Liu Pei to appear. Previous to the great battle
there had been innumerable fights and skirmishes in which
various heroes showed their prowess, but the battle had no
sooner begun than it ended in the utter rout of Ts'ao Ts'ao.
After this great exploit little is said of the two other heroes,
Kuan Yii and Chang Fei, whereas much is made of the wonder-
ful deeds of Chu-ko Liang. He headed an expedition to the
south where he performed many deeds of valour against the
turbulent barbarians called Man L Liu Pei rose rapidly to
power and founded his new Han dynasty with his capital at
Ch'eng-tu. This kingdom was not so powerful as that of Wei
founded by Ts'ao Ts'ao, nor so wealthy as that of Wu founded
by Sun Ch'uan, but lesser attention is paid to these two king-
doms in the plot of the drama, which makes Liu Pei the leading
person.
Kuan Yii was the noblest of the Three Heroes. He re-
mained faithful to the oath which he had sworn in the Peach
Garden and was always true in his allegiance. Though he was
a great warrior, he remained a kindly man, as shown by his
allowing Ts'ao Ts'ao to escape from punishment by death for
carelessness. When Ts'ao Ts'ao had made him many valuable
presents, he returned to his companions still clad in the old
armour which had been given to him by his sworn brother. He
fought bravely against Sun Ch'uan, and rejected the offer of
mercy, though he paid the penalty of it with his life. He had
a striking personality, his long flowing beard making him very
distinguished in appearance.
Ts'ao Ts'ao was the villain of the drama. He was bold but
stupid, and is represented as always falling into traps which
were laid for him. He is resourceful in plans but always fails
to carry them to completion. His cruelty was constantly being
shown by the severe punishments which he meted out to all
who opposed his will. He killed the entire household of his
father's sworn brother with his own hands and he attempted
THEATRICAL TALES 177
to assassinate Tung Cho. He was not wholly devoid of kind-
ness, as is shown by his treatment of Kuan Yii while he was his
prisoner, finally allowing him to escape. He was bold and
intolerant, and it was these qualities which brought about his
death. He had decided to build a great palace for himself
and, in order to obtain a large pillar, ordered a pear-tree to be
cut down. Whenever the axe struck the tree groans proceeded
from it. This irritated Ts'ao Ts'ao and he determined to cut
the tree down himself, but at his first stroke he was splashed
with blood. During the following night the spirit of the tree
visited him, and after reprimanding him for what he had done,
struck him a blow on the head. This blow threw him into a
delirium, during which the spirits of the hundreds of people
whom he had slain, tormented him, and from this he never
rallied.
Chang Fel takes an unimportant part in the development of
the plot. He is described as being eight feet in height, with
large round eyes, sharp jaws, a head like a leopard and whisk-
ers like a tiger. He was courageous on all occasions, at one
time taking his stand upon a bridge and defying the whole of
Ts'ao Ts'ao^s army. He was the faithful adjutant of Liu Pei
and became his Minister after Liu Pei had set up his new
dynasty.
The other great hero of the book is Chu-ko Liang, who is
generally given the affectionate title of K'ung Ming. It would
be impossible to exaggerate the extraordinary virtues which are
ascribed to this man. Everything he attempted or advised was
certain of success. He is the perfect example of a brilliant
genius combined with exemplary virtue. He was able to call
to his aid not only the useful inventions which he contrived, but
also extraordinary powers which no one else understood.
Innumerable tales have been told concerning the great deeds
of this wonderful man. The following is an interesting ex-
ample of his brilliance in military strategy. In consultation
178 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
with Chou Yu, a clever young statesman, regarding the plan
of attack of their enemy Ts'ao Ts'ao, K'ung Ming stated that
Ts'ao Ts'ao had collected an army of a million men and
would probably attack them by water. He then inquired what
would be the best weapons to use in frustrating such an attack.
Chou Yu answered that they would need bows and arrows, but
that the army was extremely short of arrows and would need
at least one hundred thousand. K'ung Ming promised on
penalty of his life to produce the required number in three
days. He then asked for twenty or thirty large boats, a large
quantity of straw and cloth, and about forty soldiers who were
to bring drums and gongs with them. When all these were
produced, K'ung Ming had the straw made up Into shapes
like men, which were clothed and placed in position on the
decks. Very early on the morning of the third day, K'ung
Ming and a counsellor of Chou Yu's named Lu Hsun, who
had been detailed to watch events, went aboard one of the
vessels with the forty soldiers, the whole fleet was then un-
moored and the boats floated down-stream. Just as the boats
approached Ts'ao Ts'ao's fleet, a heavy fog fell, all of which
had been correctly calculated by K'ung Ming. He then or-
dered the soldiers to beat their gongs and drums and make as
much noise as possible. Ts'ao Ts'ao's archers, alarmed, and
fearing an attack, fired in the direction of the sound. This
firing continued for over an hour, when K'ung Ming ordered a
retreat. As they retired, he ordered his soldiers to shout their
thanks to Ts'ao Ts'ao for his liberal supply of arrows. The
arrows were found in greatest profusion, sticking to the straw
dummies. Over a hundred thousand were thus collected from
the enemy without the loss of a single life.
Supernatural powers and extraordinary events are frequently
mentioned in the drama. The magical leaders who were with
the Yellow Turbans were able to cause stones to fly, fierce winds
to arise, and paper men to appear from the earth. When an
THEATRICAL TALES 179
army of men from the kingdom of Wei had attacked the terri-
tory of Shu, K'ung Ming frightened them away by suddenly
appearing in a ghostly form. When K'ung Ming was on his
southern expedition, an old hermit gave him information re-
garding the best way to attack his enemies, and to Ts'ao Ts'ao
an old white-haired stranger appeared telling him how he
could build a wall about his camp. At important crises clever
advice is given by some previously obscure person, and this ad-
vice leads to a great victory. At one time the General Chao
Yun appeared with a small troop at the critical moment, when
it seemed certain that Kung-sun Chao would be defeated. The
marvellous personal appearance of Chao Yiin accomplished in
a few moments what Kung-sun Chao^s army dared not attempt.
Leaders burst into beleaguered cities or arrive with dispatches
just when the turn of events is most urgent. Rescuing forces
are hidden in convenient ravines or behind trees, ready to ap-
pear at the opportune time. Such incidents are not necessarily
historical but they contribute their share to this remarkable
drama, the parts of which have been presented in all proba-
bility to more hearers than any similar production in the history
of the world. This summary is a very inadequate presentation
of San Kuo Chih, which would require a book devoted wholly
to its translation if one tried to describe all its scenes.
Kuo Ai of the T'ang dynasty was the son of Kuo Tzu-i. He
was one of a large family of seven sons and eight daughters.
On account of the great merit of his father, the Emperor T'ai
Tsung arranged the marriage of his daughter with Kuo Ai.
This was a high honour, but was considered appropriate, inas-
much as Kuo Ai's father had already been raised to the rank
of Prince of Feng-yang. The young couple did not get on
very well together, the husband boasting that it was due to the
merit of his father that the Emperor held his throne, and the
wife making too much of her rank as a Princess. One day
Kuo Ai told his wife that she might be very proud of having
i8o
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
an Emperor for her father, but that if his father wanted to be
Emperor he could easily become such. At this she became very
angry and said some harsh things to her husband, whereupon
he twice slapped her on the face. She rushed off in a rage to
tell her father, the Emperor, and accuseci her husband of dis-
loyalty on account of the remarks which he had made about his
father, Kuo Tzu-i.
The Emperor took the
episode very calmly
and said that the squab-
ble which they had had
was probably due en-
tirely to their youth.
While the daughter
was stating her case to
her father, Kuo Tzii-i
himself appeared upon
the scene bringing his
son Kuo Ai with him,
whom he had bound in
chains. He requested
the Emperor to order
the summary execution
of his son for the dis-
respect which he had
shown to the Emperor's daughter. The Emperor refused to
do so and with magnanimity of spirit pardoned everybody.
Other theatrical tales centre around Yo Fei and his wife.
After the death of Yo Fei's father he was taught by his
mother, and many instances are dramatized depicting the care
which the mother took of her son. She chose for him a good
wife, and after his marriage he obtained the highest degree in
the national examinations. After volunteering for service in
suppressing the northern invaders, he himself became the vic-
Yo Fei
THEATRICAL TALES
i«i
tim of false charges. Being imprisoned he was obliged to be
absent from his family, and many songs are introduced into
plays praising the virtue of Yo Fei in placing public duty be-
fore that which he owed to his mother. When Yo Fei returns
home he finds his wife and inquires from her where his mother
is. His wife informs him that his mother divides her time
between teaching his young son and worshipping Buddha. He
hastens to see his mother and tells her it was only on account
of his desire to see her that he left camp. The mother replies
that her only wish is that her son should be loyal to the Em-
peror. The mother and wife are torn between the two natural
feelings of keeping Yo Fei at home and of wishing him to do
his duty to his country. It was the time when the Emperor had
been taken prisoner by the Nu-chen Tartars and the capital
was in the hands of the enemy. Yo Fei wanted to go to the
rescue of the Emperor, but could not persuade himself that it
was right for him to do so in view of what he should do for
his mother. His mother remonstrated with him for this and
insisted that he should go. Before sending him off she tattooed
four characters on his back which meant " Serve your country
with pure loyalty." Yo Fei left his mother and his wife with
their blessings upon his head, although he had assured both
that it was probable he would never return.
The last days of the unfortunate Ming Emperor, Ch'ung
Cheng, 1427— 1444 A.D., were full of stirring events, some of
which have been dramatized in the famous tragedy " The
Lamentation of Ch'ung Cheng " (Cheung Cheng T^an). The
scenes that took place between the Emperor and his family on
the fatal days which resulted in the capture of Peking on
April 9, 1444, by the rebel Li Tzu-ch'eng, are depicted with
striking detail. The Emperor recalls the calamities which have
befallen the Empire during the seventeen years of his rule —
famine, flood, pestilence, drought, fire — all ending in rebel-
lion which his own troops were powerless to quell. Entering
vra— 13
1 82 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
her court-yard he beheld the Empress shedding bitter tears,
but seeing the troubled face of the Emperor she restrained her
own feelings and tried to comfort him. While they were
talking together the boom of cannon and the neighing of horses
mingled with the shouts of the men who were attacking the
city. Their son entered and the Emperor left him with his
mother while he remained wrapped in his own gloomy
thoughts. Suddenly he realized that the two had been gone
for a very long time and started to find them, only to discover
that the Empress had thrown herself into a well. While he
was lamenting the death of his Empress his beautiful young
daughter hastened to his side. The Emperor said to her:
" How can I allow you to fall into the hands of the rebels? "
and thereupon, after tenderly embracing her, slew her with
his own sword. He then commanded a servant to go with him
to Coal Hill (properly called Prospect Hill or Ching Shan)
and to bring writing material. The Emperor partially dis-
robed himself and climbed, bare-headed and bare-footed, half-
way up the eastern side of the hill. Here he stopped to write
his last words: " Rebels have captured the Empire. How can
I face my ancestors? Do what you like with my body, but do
not injure my Innocent people." He put this writing into
his pocket, loosened his own silk girdle, went up a fir-tree, to
a limb of which he tied the girdle and thus hanged himself.
When the victorious Li Tzu-ch'eng had been led to the
spot where the Emperor was hanging, he ordered the body
to be taken down and treated with respect. "This was an
Emperor who loved his people," was his comment when Li
read the paper which was taken from the body of the dead
Emperor.
There are many other plots centreing around great characters
such as were conspicuous at the founding of the various dy-
nasties. In contrast with these historical plays are those with
modern plots which are to a certain extent didactic. As an
THEATRICAL TALES 183
example of such plays the following is a summary of " The
Willow Lute " {Liu Ssu Ch^n). This play has been popular
in China for the last two generations.
Li Chi was a wealthy merchant whose wife had died leaving
him a son, Po T'ung, and a daughter Kwei Chi. He had mar-
ried for a second time, taking to wife a woman by the name
of Yang San-chun. It became necessary for Li Chi to take a
business trip into a distant province. While he was gone his
wife entered into a low intrigue with a wealthy libertine of the
city, T'ien Wang. One day Po T'ung, the son, saw this man
coming out of his step-mother's room, and violently accusing
him, he drove him out of the house with blows. The step-
mother flew into a towering rage, and when Kwei Chi, the
sister, and her old nurse came to Po T'ung's assistance, she set
the girl to grinding rice and sent the boy to the hills to gather
fuel.
Kwei Chi and the old nurse followed Po T'ung out to the
hills, and Kwei Chi begged her brother to go at once and seek
their father, giving him her ear-rings and head ornaments to
pay for his travelling expenses. After bidding him an affec-
tionate farewell, Kwei Chi watched until he was out of sight,
and then in the presence of her old nurse, jumped into the
river, saying she would rather die than return to her step-
mother. The nurse returned home mourning, but with re-
venge in her heart against the wicked Yang San-chun.
But Kwei Chi was not drowned, for the Water-god of the
river rose out of the depths and bore her away in his arms. It
happened that same day that a retired officer, Liu Hsiao-hsiang,
with his wife, Lady Wang, was travelling on the river in a great
junk. The Water-god brought Kwei Chi to the surface close
by the boat, and she was rescued and taken on board. The old
couple were so impressed with Kwei Chi's sad story and so
charmed with her appearance that, being childless, they decided
to adopt her as their own daughter.
1 84 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
The fate of Po T'ung had not been so happy. He wandered
far and wide in search of his father until his money was all
spent. Worn and discouraged, he sought refuge in a monastery,
where the old abbot took him in as an acolyte. The prefect of
that district, coming to the monastery one day to offer incense to
the gods, was so much struck with the appearance of Po T'ung
that he offered to adopt him. The abbot willingly let him go
with the prefect, who promised to educate him in such a way
that Po T'ung should have every opportunity for official ad-
vancement.
Meanwhile, sad things had been happening at the home of
Li Chi. The old nurse, after seeing her beloved charge drown
herself, as she thought, returned home to accuse Yang San-
chun, and was kicked and beaten to death by her and her low
companions. Shortly after, a new complication arose. Chao
Chung, who was betrothed to Kwei Chi, came to the house to
make final arrangements for the marriage. Yang San-chun
invited him to wait in the library, and then plotted with T'ien
Wang that they should keep him there until the middle of the
night when they would set fire to the building. But as Chao
Chung waited there, the ghost of the old nurse appeared and
told him of all the evil doings of the wicked step-mother, the
supposed death of poor Kwei Chi, and the plot against his own
life. Chao Chung, incredulous at first, was finally convinced
and fled. His plight was indeed pitiful, for his father had died
leaving him very poor. He tried to make a living by writing,
but was robbed of what little he had, and finally was reduced to
begging and came to the door of Liu Hsiao-hsiang, the retired
soldier who had adopted Kwei Chi. Liu was struck with his in-
telligent expression, and on questioning him, found that Chao
Chung's father had been one of his closest friends. So Liu at
once took Chao Chung into his family, to give him every chance
for study in order that he might attain literary eminence.
Chao Chung's troubles were now over, but his heart was still
THEATRICAL TALES 185
sore at the loss of Kwei Chi, and he would often take his willow
lute, the emblem of his betrothal, and sing to himself of his
sorrow and his loneliness. One day he happened to leave the
lute in the garden, where Kwei Chi, whom of course he had not
yet seen, found it. She recognized it at once as the lute which
had been given to her lover as a marriage pledge, and rushed in
to ask her adopted father and mother how it chanced to be there.
In response to their questions she told them of her betrothal to
Chao Chung. They were delighted at the amazing coincidence,
and asking Kwei Chi to retire, they sent for Chao Chung.
When he came in, old Liu Hsiao-hsiang suggested that a mar-
riage might be arranged between Chao Chung and their daugh-
ter. Chao Chung told them of his betrothal to Kwei Chi and
said he desired no other wife. They then called for Kwei Chi,
and the surprise and delight of these two young people at find-
ing each other again was beyond description. The marriage
was at once arranged and took place amid great festivities.
But while things were going so well with the son and daugh-
ter, their poor old father, Li Chi, had fallen upon terrible days.
He returned from his long trip penniless, having been robbed
by two highwaymen of all his earnings. He reached home to
be greeted by the news from his wife that his son and daughter
had both died of a serious illness. As he was mourning them,
a maid-servant came to him and told him the truth about his
wife's unfaithfulness and the fate of Po T'ung and Kwei Chi.
Yang San-chun overheard the maid's charge, flew to her evil
associate, T'ien Wang, and together they plotted the most
wicked deed of all. They kicked the poor maid-servant to
death, placed her body in the room of Li Chi, and then T'ien
Wang went to the magistrate's office and accused Li Chi of hav-
ing outraged and murdered the girl. Li Chi was brought be-
fore the magistrate and tortured on the rack until he confessed,
to save his poor old bones, whereupon he was thrown into prison.
Meanwhile Chao Chung passed his literary examinations bril-
1 86 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
liantly and was appointed magistrate of the district of Pao
Ch'ing, Kwei Chi's old home. With his wife he proceeded at
once to take up his new appointment. Poor old Li Chi was be-
ing tortured in his prison-cell while his sufferings were un-
known to his own daughter liv'ing happily so near him. The
god, Tai Po, one night took pity and conveyed the words and
groans of Li Chi to the ears of his daughter. She thought she
had been dreaming, but the next morning made inquiries and
found that in truth it was her own father who was thus confined
and suffering. She sent for him, and, having disguised herself
so that he would not recognize her, heard his sad tale of the
unjust accusation and her step-mother's crime. Kwei Chi went
at once to her husband to plead for her father's release. He
said he could do nothing, since the old man had made a written
confession, but that the new Governor would be arriving that
day and that the case might be laid before him. But there was
one difficulty. Li the absence of the old man's son, who could
appear to plead for him? Kwei Chi immediately said that
since her brother was not there she herself would plead in his
stead. When Chao Chung protested that such an act would
disgrace him as a magistrate, Kwei Chi said that to save her
father's name she would despise any office and climb to Heaven
or crawl to the depths of the earth. Her husband was much
touched by her filial devotion and promised to help her, regard-
less of the public consequences.
The Governor arrived, entered the Hall of Justice, and
called for the first case. Kwei Chi was brought before him and
handed him a statement of her suit. The Governor commenced
to read it, started violently, looked at Kwei Chi, then ordered
the court to be cleared and Kwei Chi conducted to an inner
room. When he followed her in, she discovered that the Gov-
ernor was none other than her long-lost brother, Po T'ung.
Her husband, the magistrate, came in and joined in the happy
reunion, and their father Li Chi was at once sent for. He ar-
THEATRICAL TALES 187
rived to find his family restored to him, and their happiness
was complete. And as for the wicked Yang San-chun and her
companion, they found the fate that they deserved on the exe-
cution-ground.
CHAPTER XV
BUDDHIST MYTHS
BUDDHISM entered China from Central Asia in the year
67 A.D., during the reign of the Emperor Ming Ti. The
two bonzes, Matanga and Gobharana, brought with them Bud-
dhist books which they are said to have carried on the back of a
white horse. They settled at Lo-yang which was then the capi-
tal, and the Emperor built for them, east of the city, the first
monastery in China and named it " The Monastery of the
White Horse " (Pai Ma Ssu). The buildings on this site have
been repaired many times during succeeding dynasties. Bud-
dhism made slow progress in China. The bonzes, who were
nearly all foreigners, devoted their time to the translation of
books. In the Chin dynasty, during the latter part of the third
century a.d.. Buddhism began to flourish under Imperial pat-
ronage. During the reign of An Ti of the Eastern Chin dy-
nasty. Fa Hsien made his famous journey to India to secure
books, pictures and relics. The Chin dynasty was succeeded by
the Liu Sung, 420 a.d., and during this dynasty Buddhism
made further progress in propaganda. Wu Ti, 502-550 a.d.,
the founder of the Liang dynasty, aided in disseminating the
new faith and set an example to his people by taking monastic
vows and by public preachings of Buddhistic doctrines. It was
during his reign that the Indian patriarch, Bodhidharma, who
was the twenty-eighth successor of Buddha, came to China by
sea, landing at Canton. He was well received by the Emperor
at Nanking and continued his journeys northward to the region
ruled by the Northern Wei dynasty, generally known as the
House of Toba. Here he entered the Shao Lin Temple on
BUDDHIST MYTHS 189
the Sung Mountain where he sat for ten years in contemplation
with his face to the wall. He was the founder of Zen, a
Mahayana School, which later became the most prominent and
widely diffused sect of Buddhism in China. Its teachings
agreed in almost all particulars with the ethical teachings of Lao
Tzu in the Tao Teh King, and the methods of its hermit de-
votees corresponded to those of the early ascetic followers of
the Tao. This likeness of the Mahayana teachings to those of
the liberal philosophers of early China accounts chiefly for the
later rapid spread of Buddhistic doctrines throughout the coun-
try. This religion was recognized as foreign in origin, but it
was claimed to be Chinese in reality as far as its teachings were
concerned. In later centuries its foreign elements caused it to
be persecuted, as in 446 a.d. when Ts'ui Hao discovered a secret
supply of arms in a Buddhist temple at Ch'ang-an, on account
of which Buddhism was prohibited, priests were put to death
and temples burned. Again in the eighth and tenth centuries
there were severe persecutions, but during all the opposition the
close resemblance of the teachings of the Mahayana sect to the
contemplative asceticism of the followers of the Tao preserved
for it a place in the national life of China. After the rise of
Taoism as an organized religion under the Emperor T'ai Tsung
of the T'ang dynasty, it was recognized that there were but few
distinctions between the Mahayana type of Buddhism and the
established form of Taoism. Taoism adopted to a large extent
the Buddhistic methods of organization, and Buddhism on its
part sloughed off more and more its foreign characteristics.
There came to be three religions, San Chiao, recognized offi-
cially throughout the country, viz. Confucianism, Taoism and
Buddhism.
In previous chapters no mention has been made of the myths
connected with Buddhism, for the reason that any myths which
are peculiar to it are foreign in their origin and therefore can-
not be considered as Chinese even though they are current
190 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
among the people. Most of the other Buddhistic myths which
are of Chinese origin are shared in common with Taoism j but
a few remain exclusively Buddhistic. One of the most noted
mythological accounts is that of the adventures of Yuan
Chuang, a priest of the seventh century, who travelled to India
in search of Buddhist books. On his return he dictated an ac-
count of his travels to Pien Chi, and his narrative is chiefly con-
cerned with a description of the various countries through which
he had passed during his journey of sixteen years. This book
is called Ta T^ang Hs'i Yu Chi (" Western Travels in the
T'ang Dynasty "). During the Yiian dynasty the noted Taoist
Ch'iu Ch'u-chi was sent by the Emperor Genghis Khan to India
and was accompanied by his pupil Li Chih-ch'ang. On their
return Li wrote the account of their wanderings and of the
miraculous events which he had learned to have happened to
the priest Yiian Chuang on his earlier visit.
The title of Li's book is taken from the earlier one, and it is
called Hsi Yu Chi. This later book is full of miraculous events
which, although they are interpreted from a Taoist standpoint,
are all connected with the Buddhistic monk Yiian Chuang, and
for this reason are classified under the heading of Buddhistic
myths. The first part of this book contains an account of the
wonderful genealogy of Yiian Chuang.
There was a young student by the name of Chen Kuang-jui,
of the city of Hai-chow. Hearing that a competitive examina-
tion was to be held in the capital city of Ch'ang-an, he decided
to go up and try his fortune. When the examination was over
it was found that Chen had taken first place. He was at once
appointed to a magistracy in Kiang Chow, whither he proceeded
with his old mother and his bride, the daughter of the Chan-
cellor Wei Cheng. After a few days of travel, the old lady
became so fatigued that they stopped at an inn to rest. One
morning Chen bought a yellow carp from an old fisherman,
thinking that his mother would enjoy it. But as he carried off
BUDDHIST MYTHS 191
his purchase he noticed that the fish had closed its eyes, and he
remembered an old saying that a fish which closed its eyes was
not what it seemed to be. So he at once threw the fish back into
the river. After staying some days at the inn, they found that
the old mother was still not able to travel. As Chen was
obliged to be at his post by a certain time, he got a house for his
mother, made her quite comfortable and then proceeded on his
journey with his wife.
When they came to the river Ch'ang Kiang, they took a boat
to be ferried across. One of the boatmen, named Liu Hung,
became enamoured of the beauty of Chen's wife, and with the
aid of one of his companions, concocted a wicked plot. They
waited until it was dark, and, when they had reached a deserted
spot, they fell upon Chen and his servant, murdered them and
threw their bodies into the river. The young wife tried to
throw herself in after her husband, but was prevented by Liu
Hung who dressed himself in Chen's clothes, secured his letter
of appointment, and set out for Kiang Chow. Chen's body
sank to the bottom of the river, where it was found by one of
the spirits of the night-watch and reported to the Dragon King.
The Dragon commanded the body to be brought before him,
and at once recognized Chenj for, as it happened, the Dragon
himself had been in the body of the fish which Chen had re-
stored to the water. The Dragon at once ordered that Chen's
ghost and soul should be brought to him from the temple where
they had taken refuge. When the ghost of Chen had appeared
before the Dragon King, and had described in detail the foul
murder, the Dragon in return told of his indebtedness to Chen,
invited his ghost to be a general in his own body-guard, and had
his body carefully wrapped up and preserved until the proper
time should come to restore Chen to life. On the journey to
Kiang Chow, Chen's wife first resolved to kill herself, and then
decided that, as she was pregnant, it was her duty to wait until
her child was born. If it should be a son, he could avenge his
192 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
father's death. When they reached Kiang Chow, the villain
Liu was accepted as the new magistrate, Chen. In due time
Chen's wife gave birth to a son. When Liu Hung saw the
child he ordered it at once to be killed, but the mother begged
that he would wait until the next day, when she herself would
cast the child in the river. The next morning she bit her arm
and, with the blood, wrote on the baby's clothing his name and
those of his parents, and why he had been cast into the river.
Then she bit a small piece out of the child's right small toe so
that she would be able to recognize him in future, and wrapping
him up carefully took him to the river's edge. Just as she was
about to cast him in, a plank came floating by. Thanking
Heaven for answering her prayers, she tied the child to the
plank and set him adrift. The plank floated away, and finally
grounded in front of the Chin Shan monastery where the abbot,
hearing a child's cry, came out and rescued him. He read the
writing on the child's clothing, put it away carefully, and
brought up the boy in the monastery. When he was eighteen,
he was made a Buddhist monk and was given the name of Yiian
Chuang, Finally the old abbot told him the tale of his arrival,
and showed him the blood-written characters on his baby-clothes
with their tragic story. Yiian Chuang immediately begged
leave to seek his mother, which the abbot granted. He found
her still at Kiang Chow, made himself known to her, and great
was her joy at the miraculous return of her son. They then
planned that Yiian Chuang should seek his grandfather, the old
Chancellor Wei, and through him petition the King for the
punishment of Liu Hung and his confederate. Yiian Chuang
at once set out for the capital. When the King heard the story,
he was so much incensed at the villainy of Liu Hung and the
deception which he had so long practised that he gave immedi-
ate orders for the arrest and punishment of the two criminals.
The Chancellor and Yiian Chuang went back to Kiang Chow
with the troops who were to carry out the King's orders. Li
BUDDHIST MYTHS 193
Ku, the confederate, was first beaten and then cut into a thou-
sand pieces, while Liu Hung was taken to the river-bank near
the place where the murder was committed. There his heart
and his liver were torn out and burned, with sacrifices to the
spirit of the murdered Chen. The report of this was at once
carried to the Dragon King who summoned the ghost of Chen,
told him that his murderers had met their deserts and that, as his
wife and son were sacrificing on the river bank to him, he might
that day return to them. He then gave Chen many beautiful
gifts and ordered some of the spirits to release Chen's body,
carry it to the mouth of the river, and there return to the body
its soul. As Chen's wife was bewailing and lamenting her dead
husband at the edge of the river, suddenly a corpse was seen
floating toward them. As it came near, she recognized it as the
body of the long lost Chen. They drew it ashore, and as they
were wondering how such an amazing thing could have hap-
pened, suddenly the body began to move, and sat up. And
then Chen opened his eyes, to the astonishment and joy of his
wife and son. He appeared equally astonished at finding him-
self where he was, but soon heard the whole story. There was
great rejoicing all through the city at the resuscitation of Chen
Kuang-jui, and the King was so interested that he appointed
Chen to a high educational post. Yiian Chuang, the son, re-
turned to the Chin Shan monastery.
In every possible way Buddhism adapted itself to Chinese
opinions. It adopted Chinese architecture for its temples. It
allowed the government to impose upon it a form of organiza-
tion on the pattern of that of the State. It chose country sites
for its great monasteries, and gradually developed four great
centres in famous mountains which now rival, if indeed they
do not surpass, the original noted " five mountains " {wu yo).
The four Buddhist mountains are (i) P'u-t'o, on an island
called by the same name off the coast of Chehkiang, near
Ningpo, (2) Chiu-hua, in the Province of Anhui, situated
194 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
southwest of Wuhu, (3) Wu-t'ai, in the Province of Shansi,
and (4) O-mei, in the Province of Szechuan. By invoking
and honouring spiritual beings whom it found already existing
in China, Buddhism departed from the teaching of its founder,
and the chief intimate connection with this teaching was main-
tained through its insistence upon the duty of meditation. The
practice of meditation was well-known in China before the ar-
rival of Buddhism, and had been carried on from ancient times
by the " Masters of Recipes" {fang shih). These men were
known in the Chow dynasty and flourished in large numbers in
the Ch'in. They were recluses who devoted their whole time
to magical practices such as necromancy, exorcism and incanta-
tions. Buddhism found these men a good example for its own
priesthood and their abodes models for its temples.
There has never been any clear-cut distinction between Bud-
dhism and the teachings of the Liberal School which culminated
in the Taoist religion. This has been true not only among the
common people, but also among learned writers. Even the
Emperor Hui Tsung, 1100-1126 a.d., of the Sung dynasty,
who was an ardent supporter of Taoism, conferred upon Buddha
the title of " The Golden Immortal of Great Knowledge " (Ta
Chio Chin Hsien), thus incorporating him by Imperial author-
ity in the Taoist pantheon. The Chinese have given their own
adaptation in many instances to the Buddhistic deities brought
from India. The historic Buddha, §akyamuni, is represented
in the attitude of meditation seated on a lotus-blossom, or as
about to enter Nirvana, when he is represented as the Sleep-
ing One (O-fo). The best known of the celestial Buddhas is
O-mi-t'o-fo (Amitabha) and his name is recited as the beads of
the rosary are counted. The Laughing Buddha, (Maitreya),
Mi-le-fo, is a tutelary deity in a class by himself. Among the
Bodhisattvas, or lower grade of deities, the most important is
Kuan Yin, goddess of Mercy. A Chinese legend makes her
the daughter of a King who lived in the seventh century b.c,
196 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
though before the T'ang dynasty this deity was honoured as a
male figure. The development of the worship of Kuan Yin is
entirely due to Chinese influence, and she may be rightly con-
sidered as a Chinese deity. With her is associated another dis-
ciple, Ta-shih-chih, and together they are placed with the his-
toric Buddha as a Trinity of Three Holy Ones (San Sheng).
There are three other noted disciples, viz. Wen-shu (Maii-
jusri) who usually rides on an elephant, P'u-hsien who rides
on a lion, and Ti-tsang who is the Supreme Ruler of Hell and
has under him the twelve Kings of Hell. In addition to the
saints (Lo-han) and patriarchs, there are the tutelary gods who
are also adapted to Chinese ideas. Of these gods Wei T'o is
the best known. He is a warrior, with a sword which is some-
times held in his hands and sometimes rests crosswise on the
arms with the hands folded in prayer. Among these tutelary
gods is also found Kuan Ti (Kuan Yii) the national god of
war. In everything may be seen the moulding influence which
the traditional customs and beliefs of China have had upon the
form taken by Chinese Buddhism.
One of the best illustrations of the fusion of Buddhistic tra-
dition with indigenous beliefs is the account in the Shen Hsien
T'ung Chien of the feast given by the Pearl Emperor, Yii Ti,
to his assembled officers whom he wished to consult about his
proposed visit to the West for the purpose of studying Bud-
dhism. Yii Ti was distinctly an indigenous creation of the
Chinese mind, but he is also covered over with a heavy layer of
Buddhistic conceptions. The place where he assembled his offi-
cers was the Hall of the Thirty-third Heaven. He asked them
to help him to formulate plans for a visit to Buddha so that he
might receive Instruction from him. Their united answer to
him contains the gist of the admixture of Buddhist and Taoist
thought which is now so common. They said: "Every one,
who through seven generations has cultivated the principles of
the Immortals, and has not deviated from them, himself be-
BUDDHIST MYTHS 197
comes an Immortal. You have already attained this high hon-
our, but it will be necessary for you to follow your studies for
nine generations before you can go to the West. If you wish to
rid yourself completely from the miseries of life and death,
you must become incarnate, lead the life of a hermit, and by
practising virtue, finally become a Buddha. Otherwise your
wish cannot be fulfilled." Yii Ti became a man, passed through
several incarnations, and finally was admitted to the Buddhist
paradise where he attained his desire of being taught by Buddha.
It is a long tale full of interesting details, all of which illustrate
the admixture or commingling of Buddhist and Taoist teach-
ings in such a manner that it is difiicult to separate them.
The people of China have only adopted such Buddhistic
ideas as have been readily assimilated into their previous con-
ceptions. The ancient religion of China, both in its Conserva-
tive and Liberal forms, recognized the supervision and control
of mundane affairs by higher powers who rewarded the good
and punished the wicked. Their worship of ancestors showed
their belief in the continued existence of the soul after death.
It was therefore easy for the people to accept the Buddhistic
teaching about rewards and punishments with its accompani-
ments of Heavens and Hells, and also the doctrine of reincar-
nation or transmigration of souls. Buddhism became the
means for the delivery of souls from torment. Although this
doctrine of the lot of a soul in the future world being influ-
enced by prayers from this world is not in harmony with origi-
nal Buddhist teachings, it has been fostered among the common
people as if it were thoroughly orthodox. It is unquestionably
the emphasis which Buddhism has placed upon the relation of
man to the future world that has given it its strong hold upon
the people. Even with the highly educated and the highly pro-
moted, a change in circumstances or the facing of approaching
death attracts them to the teachings of Buddhism and to the
observance of its ceremonies. Notwithstanding the adherence
vin — 14.
198 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
of the people to many of the external observances of Buddhist
temples, it must be remembered that the people of China share
very little in the genuine ideas of Buddhistic teaching. They
observe such ceremonies as conform to the general principles of
their own indigenous religion which is represented on the one
hand by the State ceremonies, and on the other by the traditions
embodied in Taoism. China cannot be considered as a Bud-
dhistic nation.
CHAPTER XVI
CRITICISM
THE way of the propagators of myths has not always been
smooth. Confucius said: "Although you may respect
spiritual beings, hold them at a distance. This is the part of
wisdom." This agnostic attitude toward everything supernat-
ural may be considered the ideal of the Confucian teaching j this
teaching exhausted man's duty by circumscribing it within the
bounds of the known world.
Wang T'ung, 583-616 a.d., of the Sui dynasty, was a strong
opponent of all forms of myth. He upheld the teachings of
Confucius and criticised Tso-ch'iu Ming, the author of the Com-
mentary on the " Spring and Autumn Annals" {Tso Chuan\
for introducing so many legends into his book. For the same
reason he condemned the " History " {Shih Chi) of Ssu-ma
Ch'ien and its supplement by Pan Ku. He was the first to
throw discredit upon the tradition of the Feng Shan ceremony
having been performed by seventy-two ancient Emperors, be-
ginning with Wu Huai and continuing down through the Hsia,
Shang and Chow dynasties. Wang T'ung was a man of upright
character and unusual intelligence. At nineteen years of age he
made a journey to the capital, Ch'ang-an, and laid before the
Emperor "Twelve Plans for Peace" (t'ai-p^ing shlh-er ts^e)^
which were approved but pigeon-holed. He must be given
credit for having been one of the first critics of fables, but he
was as a voice crying in the wilderness. The T'ang dynasty,
which came into power shortly after Wang T'ung's death, gave
no heed to his admonitory writings, although it is said that the
Emperor T'ai Tsung held them in high respect. They did not,
200 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
however, check or restrain the generations which immediately
succeeded him from becoming the most prolific sources of myths
in the long history of China.
It was not until the Sung dynasty that the pioneer work of
Wang T'ung received due recognition. Ma Tuan-lin, author
of Wen Hslen T^ung K'ao, praises his work. Ma himself was
an able critic. He canvassed the whole field of antiquity with
the view of expurgating it of myths and finding precedents for
the benevolent autocracy in which he believed. There was a
great amount of critical work done during the Sung dynasty,
but none was of greater importance than that of Ma Tuan-lin.
The most bitter as well as the most amusing critic of myths,
was Han Yii, 768-824 a.d., of the T'ang dynasty. In 819 he
was in the position of Censor when the Emperor Hsien Tsung
proposed to pay unusual respect to one of the finger-bones of
Buddha which had been preserved as a relic in a temple at Feng
Hsiang in Shensi Province. This bone was enclosed in a case
which could only be opened once in thirty years, but when
opened would bring great prosperity to the Empire. The Em-
peror ordered it to be escorted to the capital and opened in the
palace with elaborate pomp and ceremony. Following the ex-
ample of the Emperor all classes of the people from highest to
lowest offered gifts to the relic. Han Yii, single-handed, op-
posed the demonstration with a spirit which must be considered
heroic when the conditions of the times are remembered. In
his remonstrance Han Yii pointed out that Buddhism is only a
barbaric superstition which was introduced Into China during
the Han dynasty. Previous to its arrival the Emperors of an-
tiquity lived to a good old age, the Empire was at peace and its
people contented. After this new teaching began, disorder and
ruin followed in close succession. The Empire was broken up
into small principalities and the dynasties were of short dura-
tion. The more devoted the rulers were to Buddhistic teaching,
the more disaster they brought upon themselves and the coun-
CRITICISM 201
try. When the first Emperor of the T'ang dynasty came to the
throne it was his original intention to prohibit Buddhism, but he
was dissuaded by his Ministers from carrying it into effect.
" When you, the present Emperor, came to the throne I had
great expectations that you would carry out this proposal of
your illustrious ancestor, and was pleased when you issued pro-
clamations prohibiting the people from becoming Buddhist or
Taoist priests. Only a few years have passed since you took this
commendable action and now you are found reversing entirely
your former opinions. You have employed a host of priests to
escort a bone of Buddha to the capital. You must know that
this procedure cannot bring blessings upon yourself j you must
have ordered it in the hope that it would lead the people to ex-
pect a prosperous year, or perhaps even for the purpose of
amusing them. The populace, however, misunderstands your
object and interprets what you have done as a sincere reverence
for Buddha. Soon you will see them observing all the objec-
tionable rites of this false religion to the neglect of their proper
duties to the State. It is ridiculous to pay such honour to the
bone of any dead person. In ancient times when funeral rites
were conducted with propriety it was not allowable to touch a
corpse, but now you have encouraged your Ministers to handle
such a loathsome object as the bone of a dead person. You must
renounce what you have done, throw the disgusting bone into
a river or burn it so as to warn the people against such infamous
delusions."
These were the caustic words of Han Yu. Some of the Min-
isters recommended that he should be condemned to death for
such unjustifiable railing against his Sovereign j but a saner view
was taken by the Emperor himself, who appointed him to the
distant post of Prefect of Ch'ao-chou in Canton Province. Han
Yu later described this place in a memorial as the " abode of
typhoons and crocodiles where the air is malarial and poison-
ous." Here he remained during the tragic years when the Em-
202 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
peror came under the influence of the hated eunuch, Ch'eng
IVuI, and spent most of his time searching for the elixir of life.
It is generally believed that the Emperor was poisoned by one
of these potions, as was also his son and successor, Mu Tsung.
The calamities against which Han Yu had warned the Emperor
actually came to pass during the life-time of this faithful and
fearless Minister.
Han Yii had a delightful sense of humour along with his
keen discrimination. He issued a solemn proclamation against
crocodiles in the name of the Imperial power of which he was
the local representative. This was a sly thrust at the over-
weening complaisance of officials with the whims of the Em-
peror. The proclamation was issued in 820 a.d. and was ad-
dressed to the crocodiles. He reminded them of the lenience
with which he had treated them since he had assumed the office
of Prefect. This was in contrast even to what had been done
by ancient kings who had not hesitated to drive out all snakes,
reptiles and poisonous creatures. " It is only because this place
is so far from the capital seat of Imperial power that you, croco-
diles, dare to lurk round in the waters of the coast where you
plunder food and propagate your young. However, I am the
duly appointed representative of the all-powerful Emperor
and am charged with the duty of caring for his people who live
in this district. In my high position of responsibility I shall not
allow myself to be terrorized by you, crocodiles. If you have
any intelligence you will listen to my words. Within three
days you are commanded to betake yourselves to the Great
Ocean where you will find myriads of fish upon which you can
feed. If you cannot reach a desirable place in three days I will
extend the time to five or even seven days, but beyond that
period I will not suffer your presence in these waters. If you
disobey my commands I will select the most expert of my offi-
cers and men and we shall come with bows and poisoned arrows
with which we shall utterly exterminate vour whole race."
CRITICISM 203
It is characteristic of the credulity of the age in which Han
Yli lived that none of his contemporaries allowed themselves
to comment upon this proclamation except in terms which took
it seriously. One of them gravely remarks that following the
issuing of these orders a violent storm raged for several days
during which the crocodiles were all driven away. There could
be no better evidence than this of the grip of occult influences
in which the people of the T'ang dynasty were held.
A similar performance to that of Han Yu with the crocodiles
was enacted by Hu Yin of the Sung dynasty, who died 1 1 5 1
A.D. It occurred in this same city of Ch'ao-chou. The " Sung
Dynasty History " {Sung Shih) records that when Hu Yin was
Prefect of Ch'ao-chou he heard of the mysterious powers of a
large serpent which, the priests claimed, had power to control
the prosperity of the district. Former incumbents of the office
of Prefect had been accustomed to pay high respect to this ser-
pent, but Hu Yin decided to expose the fallacious pretensions
which were claimed for it by the priests. He ordered it to be
brought to his official residence and then said to it: "If you are
a spirit, change yourself into one within three days, or at the
end of that time I will kill you." There was no transformation,
and Hu Yin carried out his threat, destroyed the serpent and
punished the deceitful priests.
Many other similar examples of opposition might be quoted,
but they would be lost in the multitude of corroborations of
miraculous interventions with which Chinese books are crowded.
As in every country, the intelligent objectors to superstitious
beliefs formed a small minority in the age in which they lived.
It is only by succeeding generations that the value of their
courageous criticism has been recognized. With the growth of
modern scientific knowledge there will be a gradual loosening
of the hold which these beliefs have upon the people, and the
work of the pioneer critics will be increasingly appreciated.
JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
BY
MASAHARU ANESAKI
LITT.D.
UNIVERSITY OF t6ky6
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
TPIE purpose of this book is not to tell amusing stories for
the entertainment of the curious so much as to give to the
serious reader a general view of the nature and the variety of
Japanese myths and folk-tales. Therefore the stories are told
as concisely as possible, and care is always taken to point out the
connections, conceptual or historical, that exist between differ-
ent stories.
A good deal has been said about the religious beliefs that
underlie the stories, for the author deems the mythopoeic activ-
ity of the human mind to be inseparable from its religious be-
liefs. He does not, however, commit himself to any conclusion
as to the precise nature of the connection between the two, or
as to the priority of either over the other.
On the other hand, the author is fully aware that many an
idea or story must be traced to the circumstances of the people's
social life, which varied with each epoch in their history. That
view of the subject has been touched upon in some places,
though not so fully as the author would have done if he had not
been limited by the space allowed. Something more will be
said concerning it in the author's Japanese Art in its Relation to
Social Life (to be published by the Marshall Jones Company).
Many books have been written on the mythology and folk-
lore of the Japanese, but they are usually limited to a particu-
lar branch of the subject or else they aim merely to entertain.
The present book may perhaps claim to be a more or less sys-
tematic treatise on the whole subject. That fact, the author
hopes, may to a certain degree compensate the reader who finds
the book disappointingly unamusing.
208 AUTHOR^S PREFACE
The author intended to include a chapter on the epic He'tke
Monogatariy because its story, both the main thread and epi-
sodes, was widely recited by the rhapsodists, and became the
source of much later story-telling and dramatic writing. But
the limits of space obliged the author to omit the chapter and to
leave the subject to a separate publication.
Cordial thanks are due to the authorities of the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston, through whose courtesy most of the illus-
trations have been taken from the works of art in its possession.
M. ANESAKI
Karuizawa, Japan,
January, 1927.
INTRODUCTION
THE PEOPLE, THE LAND AND CLIMATE IN
RELATION TO MYTHOLOGY AND
FOLK-LORE
THE long archipelago that skirts the eastern seas of Asia,
now known as Japan, was in early times inhabited by
hairy aborigines called Ainus. The word " Ainu " means
" man " in their own language. Between two and three thou-
sand years ago parties of invaders began to come from the
mainland, probably landing at more than one point and at
many different times. These invaders drove the aborigines
gradually before them, first to the east and then to the north.
It is not certain whence the conquerors came, but the most
probable hypothesis is that they came across the Sea of Japan
from the Asiatic continent by way of the Korean peninsula.
It must not be forgotten that the basic stock of the Japanese,
like that of the Koreans, differs in many respects from the
Chinese. The origin of the Japanese must be sought some-
where further north than the home of the Chinese or Han race.
On the other hand, the affinity of the Koreans with the Japan-
ese is well established,^ and kinship may some day be satis-
factorily traced with other races that inhabit the north of
Asia.
But the Japanese are a composite people, and the race seems
to have been modified by several immigrations, most frequently
from the eastern coasts of China, or from the southern islands,
and occasionally from the western side of the Sea of Japan.
These different stocks are distinguished by the majority of
210 INTRODUCTION
scholars in this way: the true Japanese usually has an oblong
face and an aquiline nosej the Chinese element is seen in a
flatter face and more prominent cheek-bones j and the southern
or Malaysian type is marked by a round, dumpling face and
narrow eyes. The predominance of the Chinese features in
the western islands is very naturally explained by the easy
connection by sea between that part of Japan and the mouth of
the Yang-tze River.
On the other hand, the existence of a southern element may
be deduced from the fact that the southern parts of the western
islands are said, in legendary history, to have been disturbed
from time to time by turbulent invaders from farther south
called the Falcon-men (Haya-to) and the Bear-race (Kuma-
so). It is in this part of the country too, chiefly in the province
of Satsuma, that personal names compounded with " bear "
occur most frequently. Moreover the southern coasts of the
island Shikoku are rich in such names as " So and so Horse "j
and these coasts were naturally the nearest stepping-stones for
the immigrants from the south. Besides these prehistoric ac-
cretions to the population of the archipelago, the semi-historical
and historical records frequently mention immigrations from
China and Korea j and these later immigrants were active in
disseminating their more advanced civilization throughout the
islands.
Having said so much for the hypotheses of modern scholars,
let us see what the ancient legends ^ of the people tell us about
their origin and their arrival at their present abode.
The creators of the islands are said to be two of the " heav-
enly gods." We shall hear more about them when we come
to consider the cosmological myths. One of their children was
the Sun-goddess, who ruled the universe high in Heaven and
became the progenitrix of the ruling family of Japan. Once
in August the Sun-goddess looked down toward the " Middle
Land where Reeds Grow Luxuriantly," i.e. the Japanese
INTRODUCTION 211
•archipelago j she saw that the country was disturbed by various
*'' evil spirits " and that they rioted and surged " like blue-
bottle flies." She sent warning messages to these evil spirits,
and later several punitive expeditions were dispatched against
them and the earthly gods, who finally surrendered their lands
to the " heavenly gods." Among those who were thus subdued
were the descendants of the Storm-god, a brother of the Sun-
goddess", who ruled the coasts of the Sea of Japan, opposite the
eastern coasts of Korea.
Afte.'.- the way had thus been paved, the Sun-goddess sent
her grandson down to the islands, in order " to rule the country
for eternity." The party reached the island of Tsukushi
(modern Kyushu) at the summit of a high peak, and settled
down in the region of Himukai (the land " facing the sun ")
on the Pacific coast of the western island. As a matter of fact
that region is rich in old mounds, which are now being ex-
cavated, and a great many interesting relics of prehistoric
antiquity are being brought to light.
From the region " Facing the Sun " the waves of migration
and conquest swept eastward, along the coasts of the Inland
Sea. The objective was the central region, known as Yamato,*
which Was finally reached by Jimmu Tenno, the legendary
founder (^f the Imperial dynasty. Here again the conquerors
encountered the resistance of the " Earth-spiders," the
" Eighty-owls," the " Long-legged- fellow," the " Fury-
giants," etc.; but there were on their side, it is said, others who
belonged to the same tribe as the conquerors and who had
earlier settled down in the central region. In these battles the
descendants of the Sun-goddess were once defeated, because
they fought facing the sun, and thereafter they fought with the
sun at their backs. In the end, the solar descendants were vic-
torious and they settled in the region of Yamato which re-
mained the seat of Imperial residence up to the end of the
eighth century. The principal stock of the Japanese, repre-
212 INTRODUCTION
sented by the descendants of these conquerors, is therefore
called the Yamato race.
Whatever the mythical significance or historical value of
these stories may be, the Yamato race always believed in ^ its
descent from Heaven and worshipped the Sun-goddess as the
ancestress of the ruling family, if not of all the people. They
also endeavoured to force this belief on the subjugated peoples,
and partly succeeded in impressing them with that and other
associated ideas. These legends and beliefs, together with the
accompanying religious practices, make up the original religion
of the Yamato race, now known as Shinto, of which we shall
presently speak further. The ancient records of Shinto * were
compiled early in the eighth century, for the purpose of con-
firming the celestial origin of the Yamato race and perpetuating
the history of that people. They contain cosmological myths
and legendary histories, chiefly drawn from oral tradition, but
modified by Chinese ideas, and a great deal of folk-lore is also
embroidered on the legends of the race, for the Japanese have
always reverenced ancestral traditions of any sort. These offi-
cial records of Shinto contain the chief stock of ancient mythol-
ogy, and they have been kept comparatively free from the
foreign influences which, in later years, had so much effect on
Japanese literature and art.
Naturally, the people's propensity to tell stories and to use
mythopoeically their own ideas about natural and social phe-
nomena added much mythic material to that found in the offi-
cial records. Some of it, no doubt, was introduced by immi-
grants from other lands and was therefore foreign to the
original traditions of the race. We shall not make any positive
assertions about the " racial character " or " innate inclination "
of the people as manifested in their native ideas or imagery.
Yet no one can deny that diff"erent peoples show clearly differ-
ent mental and spiritual traits in viewing their own life and in
reacting toward their environment. The natural features and
INTRODUCTION 213
climate of the land inhabited by a people no doubt have a great
influence upon their myth-making activity. But the way in
which they react to these external conditions is determined by
their temperament, their traditional stock of ideas and the alien
influences to which they have been subjected. The Japanese
were always susceptible to the impressions of nature, sensitive
to the varied aspects of human life, and ready to accept foreign
suggestion. Let us consider how these conditions influenced
the development of Japanese mythology and folk-lore.
Nature seems to have favoured the Japanese people by pre-
senting to them her most soothing and charming aspects. The
islands exhibit nearly all stages of geological formation, and
the climate ranges from the semi-tropical heat of the south-
west to the severe winters of the north. Continental magnitude
is, of course, lacking, but the landscape is richly diversified by
mountains and streams, inlets and promontories, plains and
forests. Fairies may well be imagined to roam in the woods
and by the many waterfalls j in the spring haze and in the sum-
mer clouds semi-celestial beings may easily be visualized j the
dark surface of lakes surrounded by steep cliffs and soaring
peaks is well adapted to be the abode of gloomy spirits or to be
the scene of conflicts among fantastic genii. The cloud-like
blossoms of the cherry-trees are said to be produced by the
inspiration of a Lady-who-makes-the-trees-bloom, and the
crimson leaves of the maples are conceived to be the work of
a Brocade-weaving-Lady. The spirit of the butterfly appears
in the spring night, wearing pink robes and veiled in greenish
wreaths. In the plaintive singing of the " pine insect " the
people hear the voice of the dear one who has been reborn
among the withering bushes of the fields. On the lofty sum-
mits of snow-covered peaks great deities may dwell, and among
the iridescent clouds may be heard celestial music. Beyond the
distant horizon of the sea is the land of perpetual green of the
palace of the Sea King.
vni— IS
214 INTRODUCTION
The susceptibility of the people's mind to their surroundings
is shown in the early growth of a poetry in which they sang the
beauty of nature and the pathos of human life, of love and of
war. That early poetry is simple in form and na'ive in senti-
ment, yet it is touching and delicate. The people felt in har-
mony with the changing aspects of nature, exhibited in the phe-
nomena of the seasons, in the varieties of the flora, in the
concerts of singing birds or insects. Their sentiment toward na-
ture was always expressed in terms of human emotions j things
of nature were personified, as men were represented as living in
the heart of nature. Man and nature were so close to each
other that the personified phenomena were never totally dis-
sociated from their natural originals. This circumstance has
often been misinterpreted by Western observers, who declare
that the Japanese lack the personifying power of imagination.
But the truth is that the degree of personification is not so
complete as it is in Greek mythology, and that the imagination
never went so far as to obscure its source in the actual physical
world.
It is also true that the Japanese myths and stories are not so
well connected and systematized as they are with the Aryan
peoples. There is in Japanese mythology a certain cycle of
cosmological ideas, but the links are often missing and many
single stones remain quite dissociated. Lightness of touch is
characteristic of Japanese imagination, and readiness in impro-
vising is no less conspicuous. The careful insistence on the
ofiicial account of the ancestry of the people may seem to
conflict with the lack of system that appears elsewhere, and
Buddhist influence certainly modified the peculiar character-
istics which determined the mythology of the race. Yet
Buddhism was adapted by the Japanese to their own mental
disposition, and the great system of Buddhist mythology was
broken up into single tales or brought down to the humbler
level of actual human experience. Delicate, imaginative, pleas-
INTRODUCTION 215
ing, but never lofty, sensitive but scarcely penetrating, so we
may characterize the temperament of the people as manifested
in their mythology and poetry, art and music. In consequence
of these traits there is a lack of tragic strength in their mythol-
ogy. They have no idea of a tremendous catastrophe of the
world; the conflicts that occur almost never end in sublime
tragedy but in a compromise. Even the tragedies found in
the later tales and dramas are characterized by the mournful
submission of the heroes, and only exceptionally by the conflict
of a demoniac will with fate. This may be partly owing to the
mild influence of the land and the climate, but it is largely the
result of the temperament of the people, as we shall see if we
consider their native religious ideas.
The primitive religion of the people is called Shinto, which
means the " Way of the Gods " or " Spirits." This belief
amounts to an animistic view of the world, associated with the
tribal cult of the clan deities. The word animism is used here
to mean the doctrine that the things of nature are animated like
ourselves, either by a soul or by a peculiar kind of vitality.
Seeing the world in this light, the Japanese used to revere any-
thing, whether a natural object or a human being, that seemed
to manifest an unusual power or beauty. Every one of these
objects or beings is called a kamij a deity or spirit. Nature is
inhabited by an infinite host of these deities and spirits, and
human life is always closely associated with their thoughts and
actions. The genius of an awe-inspiring mountain is called the
deity of the mountain; it may at the same time be regarded as
the progenitor of the tribe which inhabits the foot of the moun-
tain, or, if not the ancestor, it may at least be invoked as the
tutelary god of the tribe.
Therefore the Shinto religion is a combination of nature-
worship and ancestor-cult, and in most cases the nature-myth
is inseparable from the story concerning the ancestral deity and
from his worship, because the curiosity to know the origins of
2t6 introduction
things works as strongly toward the physical world as toward
one's own individual and social life. That is the reason why
Shinto traditions combine the simple poetry of nature with
philosophic speculations about the origins of things. These
two aspects of Shinto are inextricably mingled in the existing
communal cults and they have given rise to many local legends
and myths. In these stories fancy played a part, but never to
the exclusion of earnest religious belief. This is the cause of
the curious tenacity of the Shinto legends among the people.
The most important foreign influence that reached Japan,
certainly so far as religion, art and literature are concerned, was
that of Buddhism. In the domain of mythology Buddhism
introduced into Japan a great deal of the Hindu imagination,
which is characterized by grandeur of scale, by richness of
imagery, by lofty flights of fancy. Buddhist literature, im-
ported into Japan and welcomed by the people, belonged to
the branch of Buddhism known as Mahayana, or the " Broader
Communion." In those books an infinite number of Buddha-
lands, or paradises, is said to exist, and each of them is de-
scribed in gorgeous and fanciful language. In a paradise there
are avenues of trees decorated with jewels, ponds full of lotus
flowers, birds singing perpetually in concert with the music
played by celestial beings. The air is filled with miraculous
scents and the earth is paved with precious stones. Innumer-
able varieties of celestial beings, Buddhas, saints, angels and
deities inhabit these paradises. When a large number is re-
ferred to it is spoken of as " billions of myriads " {koti-niuta-
asankhya). A long time is described thus: Suppose you grind
the " great thousand " of worlds into fine dust and bring each
one of the particles to one of the innumerable worlds scattered
over the vast cosmos; the time required for that endless task
will perhaps compare to the number of the world-periods passed
by Buddha in his work.
Not only did the lofty flights of Buddhistic imagination ex-
INTRODUCTION 217
pand and stimulate the development of Japanese mythology,
but the innumerable Buddhist stories had a remarkable influ-
ence on the growth of Japanese folk-lore. Buddha is repre-
sented as having lived past lives without number, and these
oflFer inexhaustible stories of adventure and compassionate acts
which are found in the Jatakas ("Birth-stories"), Nidanas,
and Avadanas (stories of the causes of Buddha's attainment).
Buddhist doctrines are also elucidated by many picturesque
similes and parables. As students of Buddhism and Indian
literature know well, most of these stories are told as the actual
experience of Buddha and of others in their existence in every
form of human, animal or even plant life.^ They were used
very often for didactic purposes in Buddhist sermons, but they
helped to stimulate folk-lore as well, by familiarizing people
with the idea of personified animals and plants and by supply-
ing plots and morals to the fabulists.
Through this channel Japanese folk-lore derived much of its
materials from the same source from which ^Esop took his
fables, and many of those Indian stories became so completely
naturalized in Japan that they are widely known among people
who do not know that they come from an alien source. We
shall set down only a few of these Hindu-Japanese stories in
this book, and pursue no further the subject of the important
Indian influence on native folk-lore. We ought to call atten-
tion, however, to the fact that Japanese folk-lore is afl^ected
not only by these particular foreign accretions but by the gen-
eral type of idea and imagination fostered by the Buddhist
religion.
Buddhism is pre-eminently a pantheistic religion, and
teaches that every being, sentient or non-sentient, is in spiritual
communion with ourselves and is destined, together with us, to
attain Buddha-hood. All beings are separate in appearance
but make up one continuity, united by the indissoluble tie of
moral causation, and based on one and the same reality. The
21 8 INTRODUCTION
continuity of life pervading all existences — this teaching in-
spired the Japanese with a broad sympathy toward their fellow
beings and surrounding nature. The religious ideal of Bud-
dhism consisted in realizing in thought this truth of the oneness
of existence, and in living a life of the broadest sympathy.
Seen in this light the universe is only a stage of spiritual com-
munion, and nothing in it is outside the pale of close fellowship.
This fundamental teaching and ultimate ideal were, more-
over, brought closer to our life of sympathy by the teaching of
karma, which meant the bond of moral causation. According
to that doctrine the present life is to be viewed as one link in
the endless chain of moral causation; one's present life is de-
termined by the qualities of one's own past deeds and is destined
to determine the life that is to come. That is the '' serial
continuity" of our existence j in addition there is a collateral
continuity.
That expression means that the individual life is not an iso-
lated product of one's own karma but plays always a part in
one broad common destiny, enjoyed or suffered together with
one's fellow-beings. " Even touching of sleeves between two
persons, as if by mere chance, is a result of the karma that
connects the two." This sentiment is felt in every human
relation. Parents and children, husband and wife, and other
less close relationships are manifestations of the continuity that
persists through life and may persist far into the future.
Not only human relationships but the physical surroundings
of one's life are also connected by the same tie of karma. " If
a Buddhist sees a butterfly flying among flowers, or a dew-drop
glittering on the leaf of a lotus plant, he believes that the
connection and the afiinity that exist between these objects are
fundamentally like the links that bind human beings in their
life relations. That we enjoy the joyous singing of night-
ingales among the plum-blossoms is owing to the necessity of
the karma that connects us with these creatures."
INTRODUCTION 219
In such a pantheistic religion there was always a strong incen-
tive to the play of poetic fancy as well as a constant urge toward
close sympathy with one's fellow-beings and one's physical
environment. Buddha himself, according to the Indian tales,
experienced in his countless reincarnations an infinite variety of
animal lives. So all his followers may have had such experi-
ences, and many stories tell how the narrator lived once as a
bird and used to sing among flowers, whose spirit later became
his wife.
As Buddhism stimulated imagination to dwell on the ties
that connect our life with other existences, Taoism supplied
additional material for fantastic stories about the supernatural.
Taoism represented the poetic genius and romantic tendency of
the Yutzu Valley Chinese in contrast to the practical and sober
traits of the northern Chinese, represented by Confucianism.
It laid a special emphasis on the necessity of returning to na-
ture, by which it understood a life freed from all human fet-
ters, social conventions and moral relationships. Its ideal
consisted in attaining through persistent training a life in com-
munion with the heart of nature, " feeding oneself with ambro-
sial dew-drops, inhaling mists and cosmic ether." The Taoist
who attained this ideal condition was called a Sennin or " Man
of the mountain," and was supposed to roam freely in the air
and to live an immortal life. The ideal of immortal existence
was often combined with the Buddhist ideal of perfect emanci-
pation from human passions, and this religion of naturalistic
mysticism was the natural source of many imaginary tales of
men or supermen who lived " in the heart of nature " and per-
formed their miraculous achievements by virtue of their re-
ligious merit.
Besides the miracles ascribed to these " Men of the moun-
tains," some of the most popular personifications of natural
objects owe their origin to a combination of Taoist beliefs with
Buddhist naturalism, represented by the Zen school. We shall
220 INTRODUCTION
meet with one of the instances in the story of the " Mountain
Maid."
The physical surroundings of the Japanese and the religious
influences which have been mentioned were favourable to an
opulent growth of tale and legend in which the phenomena of
nature were personified and imagination played freely. Yet
there was one counteracting force, and that was Confucianism.
The teachings of Confucius were rationalistic, and his ethics
tended to stifle human imagination and to limit human activity
to the sphere of civic life. Although the influence of Con-
fucian ideas in ancient Japan was limited to social and civic
institutions, these ideas could not but discourage the develop-
ment of folk-lore and imaginative creations. There had been
myths and legends in ancient China, but Confucius scorned
them and made them ridiculous. The Confucian literati in
Japan in turn looked with contempt upon folk-lore and similar
romantic tales. Especially during the three hundred years
between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries, the com-
plete sway of Confucian ethics as the moral standard of the
ruling classes was a great hindrance to the natural development
of the imaginative power of the race.^ Nevertheless the ancient
traditions were preserved among the people and there is in
Japan a stock of myth and legend which rivals that of any other
nation.
In considering the mythology and folk-lore of the Japanese,
it is convenient to divide the stories into four classes. These
classes are: (i) cosmological myths and stories of origins, or
explanatory myths j (2) products of the imagination, i.e. fairy
tales and similar flights of fancy j (3) the play of romantic in-
terest in human life, i.e. romantic love stories and heroic tales j
(4) stories told for their moral lessons, or those which may
be interpreted as implying morals — fables or didactic stones,
together with humour and satire/
JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
CHAPTER I
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS AND TALES
OF ORIGINS
I. SPONTANEOUS GENERATION: LIFE AND
DEATH
JAPANESE mythology, like the mythologies of many other
peoples, knows nothing about a creation by fiat, but postu-
lates the origin of things in spontaneous generation and their
development by generative succession. The explanation of the
origin of the universe through creation is grand j the myths of
spontaneous generation and transformation are soothing. The
former is monotheistic, for everything is made to depend on the
will and power of one almighty creator} the latter is hylozoistic,
or pantheistic, for all existences are credited with vitality in-
herent in themselves. It was this primitive Japanese concep-
tion of things which manifested itself in Shinto animism and,
later on, harmonized well with Buddhist pantheism.
Of course, there was a certain unlikeness between Shinto
animism and Buddhist pan-psychism. The former posited
metamorphosis by chance, or by the arbitrary will of a deity,
whereas the latter explained every change by the law of cau-
sation, both physical and moral, and denied any change through
chance. Yet this theoretical difference offered no grave ob-
stacle to a harmony between the two conceptions and the
mythologies that grew out of themj the arbitrary metamorpho-
222 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
sis of the Shinto conception was modified by the Buddhist con-
ception of causal transformation, and the latter was simply
extended in the popular mind by a looser idea of causation.
In the end the combination of these two conceptions made uni-
versal the belief that everything is endowed with an innate
vitality, and changes within itself as well as through external
circumstances. The application of this idea to all existences
gives us the key-note to all Japanese myths and tales.
In the beginning, as the ancient records ^ of Shinto tell us,
there was chaos, like an ocean of oil. Out of the primeval chaos
grew something like the sprout of a reed. It proved to be a
deity who was called the Eternal-Ruling-Lord," and together
with him were generated two deities, called respectively the
High-Producing-god and the Divine-Producing-goddess.^
We are not explicitly told that these two were husband and
wife, yet most probably they were so conceived. At any rate
these three are regarded as the original triad in the generation
of gods, men and things. But almost nothing further is heard
about them, except that some clans claimed descent from one
or another of them and that the High-Producing-god some-
times appears behind the Sun-goddess, as if he were her nou-
menon or associate.
The primeval triad is followed by a series of gods and god-
desses, who seem to be thought of as couples and were probably
personifications of germinating powers, such as mud, vapour
and seeds. All these are said to have " hidden themselves,"
i.e. died, but not after the fashion of human mortality. After
a succession of these spontaneous generations and disappear-
ances, a couple appeared who were destined to generate many
things and many important gods. They were the " Male-who-
invites " (Izanagi) and the " Female-who-Invites " (Izan-
ami),* and we must learn more about them.
The two deities were sent down to the world by " command
of the celestial deities " in order to bring forth things on earth.
PLATE VII
The Primeval Couple
Izanagi and Izanami, standing in the clouds and
creating an island out of the sea-water. See pp. 2 2 2—
223.
By Yeilakul, a modern genre painter. In posses-
sion of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 223
They descended from their home by the " Floating Bridge of
Heaven." ^ The male deity groped through space with his
sword, and the drops of salt water dripping from the tip of the
sword coagulated themselves into a little islet, called Ono-
koro, i.e. " Self-coagulating." ^ Upon that they landed and
were married, after they had gone round the islet in opposite
directions and met at the farther side. The first child born
to them was a miscarried creature, like a jelly-fish, on account
of a misdemeanour of the goddess during the wedding cere-
mony. That child was thrown into the water. Thereafter they
begot many things, or deities, such as the sea, the waterfalls,
the wind, the wood, the mountain, the field, etc. It was by the
power of the Wind-god that the primeval haze was dispersed
and things stood forth distinctly. After the birth of these and
many other deities, including the islands of the Japanese archi-
pelago (and, according to one version, also the rulers of the
universe, the sun, the moon and the storm), the birth of the
gods of fire proved fatal to the goddess, Izanami. Her death
was not unlike that of a human being from a fever, and it may
be called the first instance of human mortality. After death
she descended into Hades.^
The death of the mother goddess is the beginning of the
antithesis between life and death, and of other cycles of similar
contrasts, like that of light and darkness, of order and atrocity,
etc.
The goddess Izanami died and descended to the Japanese
Hades, Yomotsu-kuni ("the Land of Gloom"). Her hus-
band Izanagi, like Orpheus, followed her to her subterranean
abode. The goddess asked him not to look at her. Yet, being
eager to see her, the husband lighted a little torch and, in the
darkness of the pit, beheld the ugly, decaying figure of the
goddess. She was angry at her husband's disobedience and,
wishing to punish him by imprisoning him too in the Land of
Gloom, she pursued him as he fled. She called together all
224 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
the furies (Shikome, " the ugly females ") and ghosts of the
place, and they nearly caught him, but he threw behind him the
wild grapes and bamboo shoots that grew on his comu^ and
the furies stayed to eat the fruits. After several narrow es-
capes and extraordinary experiences, the male deity succeeded
in reaching the boundary between Hades and the terrestrial
world. The furies and ghosts no longer pursued him, but the
female deity came as far as the pass into the world. There
the husband lifted a large rock and blocked up the aperture
that led to the upper world.
Then said the goddess in furious anger: "Henceforth I
shall cause to die every day one thousand of thy people in thy
realm." The god answered: "Then I shall give birth to one
thousand and five hundred every day."
The two deities thus came to a final breach, and from
that day the births and deaths in this world are kept at the
proportion named. Through this breach between the origi-
nal couple who had generated all things in the world came
the division of the world between life and death. Let
us see how this antithesis is developed in a further mythic
cycle.
When the male deity succeeded in escaping capture by the
spirits of darkness and death, he purified himself, according to
the ancient custom, in a stream. The pollutions occasioned by
his contact with death in the Land of Gloom were washed
away one by one. From these stains came out various spirits
of evil and also spirits of protection against ill, the deities of
rapids, of whirlpools, etc. The last born were the Sun-goddess,
the "Heaven-illuminating Deity" (Ama-terasu), out of the
Father-god's left eye ; the Moon-god, the " Guardian of the
Moonlight Night" (Tsuki-yo-mi), out of the right eyej and
the Storm-god, the " Swift-impetuous Deity " (Susa-no-wo),
out of his nostrils. Of the three the Moon-god dwindled into
insignificance and the two others now began their contest.
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 225
II. THE RULERS OF THE WORLD: THE CONTEST
BETWEEN THE SUN-GODDESS AND THE
STORM-GOD
The eldest sister, the Sun-goddess, was resplendent in fea-
ture, dignified in attire, magnanimous and benignant in char-
acter, and shone gloriously in the sky. The rule over the heav-
ens was allotted to her. On the other hand, the youngest
brother, the Storm-god, was gloomy in appearance, full-
bearded, furious and impetuous in temper and strong in phy-
sique. The sea was the realm entrusted to his rule. While the
Sun-goddess fulfilled her duties and cared for the promotion
of life and light, the Storm-god was unruly, neglected his
realm and caused every sort of riot and tumult. Crying and
raging he declared that he longed for the mother's abode, and
in his transports of fury he ravaged all the orderly arrange-
ments made by his sister, such as the irrigation works of the
rice-fields, and even the holiest place prepared for the feast
of the new harvest. The division of realms made by the
Father-god led to endless conflicts between the agent of life,
light, order and civilization and the author of disorder, destruc-
tion, darkness and death. We see the antithesis between the
primeval male and female deities, which had resulted in the
strife between life and death, transferred to a more desperate
conflict between the Sun-goddess and the Storm-god.
An interesting episode in the story is the visit of the Storm-
god to the sister's heavenly abode, which ended in a com-
promise between the two. When the Sun-goddess perceived
that her brother was ascending toward her realm, " the Plain
of High Heaven " (Taka-ma-no-hara), she was sure that
he was coming to usurp her domain, and made ready to meet
him, fully armed and with weapons in her hands. When at
last the Storm-god confronted her across the heavenly river
226 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
.Yasu," he explained that he had not come with mischievous
designs but simply to say farewell to his sister before going to
his mother's realm. In order to testify to the mutual confi-
dence thus established, they agreed to exchange their posses-
sions and thereby to beget children.
The Sun-goddess gave her jewels to her brother, and the
Storm-god gave her his sword. Both of them drank from
the heavenly well in the river-basin and put into their mouths
the things they had exchanged. Out of the sword in the mouth
of the Sun-goddess came forth the goddess of rapids and whirl-
pools and finally a splendid boy, whom she named her beloved
son. Out of the jewels in the Storm-god's mouth, were pro-
duced the gods of light and vitality.
So ended the encounter on the banks of the Yasu River with
evidences of mutual confidence, which, however, proved only
temporary.
In spite of their understanding, the Storm-god did not cease
his outrageous conduct. He went so far as to destroy the rice-
fields built by the Sun-goddess and to pollute her holiest ob-
servances. After these unbearable offences not only against
her but against the holy ceremonies she had instituted,
the Sun-goddess hid herself from her atrocious brother in a
heavenly cave. The source of light disappeared, the whole
world became dark, and evil spirits ran riot throughout the
world.
Npw eight millions of gods, embarrassed and confused,
assembled in front of the cave, and consulted among them-
selves how the light might be restored. As the result of their
consultation, many things of divine efiicacy were produced, such
as mirrors, swords, and cloth offerings. Trees were set up and
decorated with jewels 5 cocks were brought that they might
keep up a perpetual crowing j bonfires were lighted 5 and a
dance was performed by a goddess called Uzume,^ with merry
musical accompaniment. The curious dance of Uzume so
PLATE Vni
The Sun-goddess Reappearing from the
Heavenly Cave, in Front of Which the Gods
are Trying to Induce Her to Come Out by
Means of Charms and a Dance
On the left side stands the sakakl tree on which a
mirror, jewels and strings are hanging. The dancer
is Uzume (cf. Plate XXHI) who wears a curious
dress, together with stag horn moss, which is used as
a charm. She dances on a flat tub put upside down.
Beside the tub there are cocks, the " long singing-
birds of the Eternal Land." One god on the right
side is raising a mirror, a sign of sym.pathetic magic
to welcome the sun, while other gods are engaged in
opening the Heavenly Cave. The Sun-goddess is
represented as a young lady, wearing jewels on her
breast. See p. 226, and cf. Aston's Shinto ^ pp. 100—
lOI.
The picture is by Yeitaku, a modern genre painter.
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COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 227
amused all the assembled gods that their laughter filled the air
and made the earth tremble.
The Sun-goddess in the cave heard the merry noise and was
curious to know what was going on outside. No sooner had
she opened an aperture of the cave and peeped out, than a
powerful god widened the opening and drew her out by force,
while the other gods prevented her from slipping back into the
cave. Thus the Sun-goddess reappeared. The universe was
once more brightly illuminated, evil vanished like haze, and
order and peace prevailed on earth. When the Sun-goddess
re-appeared, the eight million deities joined in joyful tumult
and their happy laughter pervaded the universe. This is the
cheerful climax of the whole cycle of the cosmological myth,
and it is an interesting fact that in modern times parts of
Haydn's Creation have been adapted to the choral songs which
describe this scene.
Perhaps this episode originally represented the reappearance
of light and warmth after a great storm or after a total eclipse
of the sun. But the compilers of the mythological records had
also in mind an exaltation of the supreme rule of the Imperial
ancestress, threatened for a time with danger from a usurper,
the victory of order and peace over barbarism, of the Imperial
government over rebellious traitors. Although there is every
reason to believe that there was a purely natural background
for the myth of the Sun-goddess and the Storm-god, the Shin-
toists have interpreted it as a historical record, celebrating
the triumph of the Imperial rule. Nor is this interpretation
wholly devoid of truth if we consider that we have to deal with
a myth of natural phenomena combined with a race-view of
social life, a mixture in short of what German scholars call
Natur-mythus and Kultur-mythus.
228 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
III. FURTHER CONFLICTS AND COMPROMISES
The rule of the Sun-goddess was restored, and the assem-
bled gods decided to punish the outrageous Storm-god. His
beard was stripped off, his possessions were confiscated and he
was sentenced to banishment. Then began his wanderings and
adventures.
He descended to the region of Izumo, on the coast of the
Sea of Japan. There he killed a monster serpent with an eight-
forked head. When he cut the monster's body to pieces, a
sword came out of its tail, and Susa-no-wo, the Storm-god, sent
the weapon to his sister goddess as a tribute to her and her de-
scendants. This sword, it is said, is handed down in the ruling
family as one of the three insignia j the other two are a jewel
and a mirror.^"
We must pass over several other adventures of Susa-no-wo,
but it is interesting to know that he is regarded as the pioneer
in the colonization of Korea and that he is said to have planted
the forests in the region of Kii, on the Pacific coast. The place
which he visited in Korea is called Soshi-mori, which meant
" Ox's Head," and another name of the god is Guzu Tenno,
" the Celestial King of the Ox's Head," in which capacity he Is
revered as a guardian against plague and identified with Indra,
the Hindu Storm-god. The story of his work in Kii, a name
which may mean " forests," is that he came down from Izumo
to the Pacific coast and planted the mountains with hairs from
his head and his beard which became trees. There is a place
on the eastern coast of Kii, where the grave of Susa-no-wo Is
said to exist ; the villagers celebrate his festival by covering the
grave with flowers. Thus was the Storm-god transformed Into
the genius of forests.
But the chief field of Susa-no-wo's activity was in Izumo.
There his descendants are believed to have reigned ever since
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 229
his time, having instituted a theocratic regime connected with
the priesthood of the sanctuary of Kitsuki, which was dedicated
to him and to his children/^ Here the purely cosmological
myth ends and the quasi-historical tale begins, in which the
Sun-goddess's grandson and Susa-no-wo's son-in-law play the
chief parts.
The successor of Susa-no-wo was Oh-kuni-nushi, " the Great-
Land-Master." The story of his marriage with a daughter of
Susa-no-wo is the familiar one of a woman seized without the
consent of her father or even of herself. While Susa-no-wo
was asleep, Oh-kuni-nushi tied all his hair to the beams of the
house and made off with the daughter, together with her fa-
ther's three precious things, a sword, a bow and arrows, and a
harp. Susa-no-wo was awakened by the harp, which played of
itself as Oh-kuni-nushi bore it away, but the younger god made
good his escape while Susa-no-wo was loosing his hair. Susa-
no-wo pursued the other, but when he caught up with him he
said, apparently in admiration of his subtlety: " Now I shall
give thee my daughter together with the treasures. Therewith
rule the country, and thou shalt be called Utsushi-kuni-dama,
< the Soul of the Beautiful Land.' " "
In ruling the country and developing its resources, the Great-
Land-Master found a powerful helpmate in a dwarf god,
named Suku-na-biko, " the Small-Renown-Man." This per-
sonage approached the Land-Master as he was standing on the
beach, coming from the sea in a raft, clad in moth's wings and
wearing a mantle of feathers. The Land-Master took up the
dwarf on his palm and learned that he was a child of the Di-
vine-Producing-goddess and familiar with the medical art.
The two became like brothers and co-operated in developing
the land, in cultivating various useful plants and in curing the
people's diseases.
There are several amusing stories about this dwarf god, and
some of the later tales of dwarfs and elves were derived from
vm — 16
230 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
these sources. His legs were so small that he could not walk,
yet he knew everything in the world and went everywhere.
His end was a peculiar one. When the millet in his fields ^^
ripened he climbed one of its ears, and as the stalk rebounded
he was thrown so far off that he never came back, but went to
Tokoyo, " the Land of Eternity." Yet this dwarf god is be-
lieved still to appear and to lead people to places where there
are curative springs. Therefore he is often called " the god of
hot springs," a natural enough function for a medical divinity.
The joint activity of the two deities established the adminis-
tration of Susa-no-wo in Izumo, and a state was founded there.
Meanwhile, the Sun-goddess desired to send her beloved
grandson, Ninigi (" the Prosperity-Man "), to the eight is-
lands (the Japanese archipelago) generated by the primeval
couple. After several failures, her ambassadors finally suc-
ceeded in getting the better of the rulers of Izumo and other
adjoining states. The most interesting of all the episodes is
that of the subjugation of Izumo, for it deals with the conflicts
and the final compromise between the two clans, descended
from the Sun-goddess and the Storm-god respectively.
This is the story: Well understanding the difficulties of the
undertaking, the Sun-goddess sent two of her best generals,
Futsu-nushi (" the Sharp-cutting Lord," the genius of the
weapon) and Take-mi-kazuchi (" the Valiant-August-Thun-
der") to the realm of Oh-kuni-nushi. After a long resistance
Oh-kuni-nushi and his sons, the lords of Izumo, yielded to the
demand of the armed ambassadors that Izumo should be ruled
by the August Grandchild of the Sun-goddess. But a condition
was agreed upon, that all the power of the visible world should
be delivered to the Grandchild, while things " hidden " should
still be subject to the rule of the Great-Land-Master and his
descendants. By " things hidden " was meant all mysteries
beyond the visible physical world, the occult arts of divination,
sorcery, exorcism and the medical arts.
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 231
The long conflict between the two parties was concluded
in this pact, which was in accordance with the original ordinance
laid down by the primordial progenitor. The cycle of antithe-
sis, between life and death, between light and darkness, between
wisdom and barbarism, did not develop into a tragic dualism
to be fought out, as in some other mythologies, but ended in
a compromise which long characterized the Japanese philoso-
phy of life, until Buddhist religion came to obscure these primi-
tive beliefs. The legendary part of Japanese history often
mentions, in connection with various misfortunes, the demand
of the Great-Land-Master for propitiation, and the helpful
advice of the Sun-goddess given in the name of her noumenon,
the High-Producing deity.
After the account of the understanding between the Sun-
goddess and the Storm-god comes the story of the descent of
Ninigi, the August Grandchild of the Sun-goddess, to the
Japanese archipelago. This story we have spoken of in the
Introduction 5 with it the cosmological mythology ends and
the legendary history of the country and of the ruling dynasty
begins.
IV. EPISODES AND MYTHS OF ORIGINS
The cycle of the cosmological myths aims at elucidating the
origin and formation of the world, of natural objects and —
what was more important in the view of the compilers of the
ancient traditions — the origin of the ruling dynasty. In out-
lining the ancient mythology we have omitted many episodes
which were meant to explain the sources of natural objects, of
social customs, and of human institutions. In these myths of
origins, poetic imagination worked side by side with supersti-
tious ideas, and the general conceptions of the world and of life
were combined with the belief in the efficacy of ceremonies. A
few of them, however, ought to be set down.
232 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
The Moon-god, as we have said, plays very little part in the
mythology, but there is one story about him that serves two
purposes. It is this:"
The Sun-goddess once told her brother, the Moon-god, that
he must go down to earth and see what a certain goddess like-
mochi, " the Food-genius," was doing. The Moon-god ac-
cordingly descended to the place where Uke-mochi was, close
to a large katsura-trte,.^^ The genius of food-stuffs, seeing the
heavenly god coming down to her, wished to entertain him.
For this purpose she turned her face toward the land, and
forthwith from her mouth came out a quantity of boiled rice;
when she turned her face to the sea, fishes, large and small,
came out of her mouth j and when she faced the mountains,
game of all sorts issued from it. Instead of appreciating this
entertainment, the Moon-god became enraged because the
goddess offered him things that came forth from her mouth,
and forthwith killed his unfortunate hostess. Out of the body
of the Food-goddess came various food-stuffs j the horse and
the cow were born from her headj silkworms were produced
from her eyebrows; millet grew on her forehead; the rice-
plant on her abdomen, etc.^^ Such was the origin of these
useful things.
When the Moon-god returned to Heaven and told his sister
of his experience, the Sun-goddess was much displeased at his
irritability and cruelty and said to him: "Oh, cruel brother,
I shall see you no more." Therefore, the moon appears after
the sunset, and the two never look on one another face to
face.
Another story tells the origin of a ceremony for asking the
favour of the Harvest-god.
When the Great-Land-Master cultivated his rice-fields, he
gave his workmen beef to eat. There came by a son of Mi-
toshi-no-kami, the god of the harvest, who saw the fields
stained by the impurities caused by beef-eating. He told his
PLATE IX
The Ladv-who-makes-the-trees-bloom
See p. 233.
By S. Tomita.
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 233
father, and the Harvest-god sent a host of locusts to the fields,
which ate up nearly all the rice plants. Through his powers of
divination the Great-Land- Master learned that the disaster was
caused by the wrath of the Harvest-god. In order to propitiate
the offended god, the Great-Land-Master offered a white boar,
a white horse and a white cock. Then the Harvest-god was
appeased and taught him how to restore his rice plants, how to
fan the hemp, how to set up a phallus, and how to offer to it
various fruits and berries. So the locusts were driven away and
the Harvest-god propitiated. Thereafter the three white ani-
mals named above were always offered to the Harvest-god."
This is a simple story of propitiation, but the noteworthy point
is that eating beef is evidently regarded as an offence against
the Harvest-god.
We have already seen how the ratio between births and
deaths originated in a quarrel between the primeval deities.
There is a curious story that explains the short life of the
Imperial princes.
Ko-no-hana-sakuya-hime, " the Lady-who-makes-the-trees-
bloom," was the beautiful daughter of Oh-yama-tsumi, the
Mountain-god j and her elder sister was the ugly Iwa-naga-
hime, " the Lady of Rock-perpetuity." When Ninigi, the Au-
gust Grandchild, descended to earth, he was attracted by the
beauty of the Bloom-Lady and asked her father's consent to his
marriage with her. The father offered both his daughters, but
Ninigi's choice of course fell upon the younger. Soon a child
was born to the Bloom-Lady. The Rock-Lady said: "If the
August Grandchild had taken me in marriage, his descendants
would have enjoyed a long life, everlasting as a rockj but since
he married my younger sister, his posterity will be frail and
short-lived like the flowers of the trees."
The trees referred to are the cherry-trees, and the story
probably originated in a poetic fancy about the trees that grow
at the foot of Mount Fuji. Fuji is a steep volcano and on its
234 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
peak bare rocks soar defiantly against the sky, whereas the
lower parts are covered with trees and bushes. Especially
common is a kind of wild cherry-tree with pendant branches
and delicate flowers. The Bloom-Lady is worshipped at a
lovely spot where cool water gushes forth from virgin rock, and
her shrine is surrounded by a grove of these cherry-trees. The
sanctuary has stood there from time immemorial and the per-
sonification of the Father Mountain and his two daughters
must be very ancient.
In the story the personified objects are brought into relation
with the Imperial family, and the myth is turned into an ex-
planation of the short life of its members. In that process the
story has lost much of its primitive character, and yet the
transformation of a local legend, elaborated with poetic fancy
into an explanatory myth, is interesting. The Bloom-Lady
in other stories and in pictorial representations is conceived as
a fairy who hovers over the trees, scattering in the sky the
pinkish clouds of cherry-blossoms. She is also called the
genius of plum-blossoms, because they were sometimes called
" the flower."
The counterpart of the Bloom-Lady is Tatsuta-hime, " the
Lady-who-weaves-the-brocade " (of autumnal leaves). Prob-
ably she was originally a goddess of wind and therefore of
weather 5 but since the place where her shrine stands, Tatsuta,
was famous for its maple trees gorgeously coloured in the
autumn, she became better known as the genius of autumn.
Another goddess, the genius of spring, Saho-yama-hime by
name, is also referred to in poems. Her name is probably
derived from the Saho-yama Hill which stands to the east of
Nara (the Imperial residence during the greater part of the
eighth century), since the east was regarded as the direction
whence the spring comes. It is also to be observed that the river
Tatsuta is to the west of Nara, and the west is the region whence
autumn appears.
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 235
From the many poems that sing of these two goddesses, we
select two from the English version by Clara A. Walsh/^
" The goddess of the Spring has spread
Upon the budding willow-tree ,^
Her lovely mesh of silken strands;
O wind of Spring, blow lovingly
And gently, lest the willow thread
Entangled be."
And:
" Fair goddess of the paling Autumn skies.
Fain would I know how many looms she plies,
Wherein through skilful tapestry she weaves
Her fine brocade of fiery maple leaves —
Since on each hill, with every gust that blows,
In varied hues her vast embroidery glows,"
The ancient mythology of Japan is curiously destitute of
stones concerning the stars. One scanty reference is made to
them in connection with the funeral of Amo-no-Waka-hiko,
" the Heavenly Youth," after whose death a friend of his was
mistaken for him.^^ In the song sung by the wife of the latter
in which she explains that he is not Waka-hiko but his friend,
the word tana-hata Is used to describe the brilliant features of
the one who shines in Heaven, because the funeral of Waka-
hiko took place In Heaven.
Now, tana-hatay though obscure In its etymology, is a festival
held on the evening of the seventh lunar month, in honour of
the two stellar constellations called the Herdsman and the
Weaver-maid. The story of these two is that they are allowed
to meet on the two sides of Ama-no-kawa, " Heaven's River,"
on that evening, for the only time In the year. The story evi-
dently came from China. Its romantic character pleased the
Japanese from the first and the festival has long been cele-
brated.
The reference to tana-bata, therefore, was not to an Integral
236 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
part of Japanese mythology, but a figurative allusion which all
Japanese would understand and appreciate. Yet the story and
the celebration were so completely naturalized that a purely
Japanese word was used for them.
The interest that the Japanese poets take in the story is illus-
trated by a poem of the eighth century, which we reproduce
here from Miss Walsh's Master Singers of Jafani^^
" The shining flood of Heaven's River gleams,
A scarf of silver flung on utmost blue.
And on the shore whereby its radiance streams,
The lonely Herdsman feels his grief anew.
" Since those far days when all the world was young.
For the Weaver-maid his longing soul has pined,
And gazing on that flood his heart is wrung
With burning love-thought, passion undefined.
" Fain would he cross in fair, red-painted barque,
Furnished with trusty oars begemmed with spray,
To cleave the flood with level keel at dark.
Or with calm tides to cross at break of day,
" So stands the lover by those waters wide,
Gazing all-piteous at the arching sky.
So stands he by the far-flung shining tide,
Gazing with many a heart-despairing sigh.
" And waves her scarf, with which the wild winds play,
His arms outstretched, his soul with love afire.
While still the lagging Autumn makes delay.
Nor swift wings bridge the path to his desire! "
The celebration of this festival is today universal j it is mostly
observed by girls and women. They set up bamboos and hang
pieces of variegated paper from the branches j they write poems
on these papers in praise of the two stars, or else prayers ad-
dressed to them asking for their sympathy in love affairs.
They tie variegated yarns to the bamboos, as offerings to the
Weaver-maid, supposed to symbolize the unending longing of
love. Besides other offerings the women pour water into a pan
PLATE X
The Star Festival of Tana-bata
Notice the two star constellations in the sky and
the hanks of yarn, puddings, wine, etc, offered to
them. The offerings are arrayed on a large table
placed in a garden. KotOy the Japanese harp, is on
the table, and it is played in honour of the star lovers.
See pp. 235 ff.
From Yamato Bunkoy an illustrated description of
Japanese festivals and customs, printed in the 1 8th
century.
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 237
and dip In it the leaves of the kaji-trtt, looking the while at the
reflections of the twinkling stars in the water. They believe
that they find omens in the appearance of the water and of the
leaves. (Plate X.)
V. THE BELIEFS CONCERNING THE SOUL
In spite of the prevalent animistic belief, not much is said
about the soul in the ancient Shinto records. The soul is con-
ceived to be something like a ball, as its appellation tama-shuy
probably " ball-wind," indicates. It is composed of two in-
gredients or functions, one mild, refined and happy, and the
other rough, unruly and vigorous."^ The former remains al-
ways with the body, but the latter can leave it and work beyond
the ken of the person to whom it belongs. It is said that the
Great-Land-Master once saw, to his amazement, his own
" rough soul " coming from the sea, and that this soul was the
chief agent of his achievements. But it is uncertain whether all
persons were believed to possess the double soul or only men
of special power and ability. However that may be, the soul
is an existence more or less beyond the confines of the bodyj
but it is again uncertain whether the soul after the death of the
body necessarily goes to one of the future abodes.
As for the future abodes, we have already heard of the
Land of Gloom j Its antithesis Is the Plain of High Heaven,
where the celestial gods reign. But even more widespread than
the belief In these places was the belief that the soul, after
death, sojourned for an Indefinite time close to the abode of
human beings.
The ancient beliefs about the soul, however, were vague and
unimportant, and it is chiefly under Chinese and Buddhist
Influence, especially under the latter, that the Japanese came
to define and elaborate their Ideas of the soul and of Its future
destination. Let us see what these Ideas were.
238 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
The Chinese conception of the soul is based upon the physical
theory of the two principles, Yin and Yang. According to them
the soul is composed of two factors, one closely related to gross
matter, and the other subtle and aerial. The destinies of
these two factors were determined partly by the nature of the
person to whom they belonged, and partly by the place of
burial. But these ideas did not influence Japanese folk-lore so
much as the elaborate teachings of Buddhism on the matter of
transmigration.
Properly speaking, Buddhism denied a permanent resting-
place to the soul and taught a perpetual process of change in a
man's moral character. This continuity, the serial and col-
lateral continuity of karma, as we have said before, stood for
the soul in the common belief, and the destiny of the soul was
held to be its transmigration from realm to realm, from the
heavenly world to the nethermost hell." Buddhist mythology
is full of minute details about the pilgrimage of the soul to and
from these realms, and the ghosts of those who wavered un-
certainly between them were thought sometimes to appear to
men. One of the most popular tales about the wanderings of
the soul says that there is a river, on the bank of which the soul
could decide whither it would go. The stream was called
Sanzu-no-Kawa, " the River of the Three Routes," because the
ways departed thence in three directions, one toward the hells,
the second toward the beast life, and the third toward the realm
of the "hungry ghosts" (Sanskrit Preta). On these three
roads there were various posts at which the soul was examined
by the judges, the Plutos of Buddhism j and finally there was
the dreadful king-judge, Emma (Sanskrit Yama-raja), in the
hells, who gave sentence of punishment according to the sinful-
ness of the souls that came before him. These scenes were
often depicted in pictures like the graphic representations of
the Last Judgment and the pains of hell painted by artists of
mediaeval Europe.
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 239
But the ghost that played the greatest part in folk-lore was
one which was neither good enough to go to the heavenly-
world nor bad enough to be doomed to eternal punishment.
A soul of this kind, one which was in " chu-Uy" i.e. the inter-
mediate stages, appeared in ghostly apparitions, somewhat like
a human figure but devoid of legs and ghastly in its pallor. A
ghost appears to those survivors, with whom in life it had some
connection, whether of love or of hatred, for it is attracted to
such persons either by attachment or by the desire for revenge.
These apparitions are frequent in folk-lore, but are so much
like one another that there is little need to describe them by
means of separate stories.
There is a pretty but melancholy story of the chu-u existence
which deals with the souls of dead children. Their abode is a
desolate river-basin with gravel and sand, called Sai-no-kawara,
" the River-basin of Offering." To quote from the hymn
dedicated to Jizo, the protector of the children :^^
" In the pale grey Land of Meido (' the Realm of Gloom '),
At the foot of Shide (' Wandering after Death ') Mountain,
From the River of Souls' dry bed
Rise the murmurs of voices,
The prattle of baby-voices,
The pitiful accents of early childhood."
Here the souls of dead infants, deprived of their parents' affec-
tionate care, wander without prospect, long for their relatives,
yet do not forget to play among themselves. They heap stones
and gravel in the shape of a Buddhist pagoda, and while they
play they sing in pretty childish voices:
" Building the first Tower, and praying
The gods to shower blessings on Father;
Piling the second, imploring
The gods to shower blessings on Mother;
Heaping the third Tower, and pleading
For Brother and Sister, and dear ones."
240 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Then come cruel devils who destroy the little towers and drive
away the innocent souls of the children. But the compassionate
god Jizo comes to the rescue, the rings jingling at the tip o£
his pilgrim's staff. He steps on the sandy river-bed, and
wherever he steps lotus flowers grow. He drives away the
demons and consoles the terrified children:
" Be not afraid, little dear ones,
You were so little to come here,
All the long journey to Meido!
I will be Father and Mother,
Father and Mother and Playmate
To all children in Meido!
*' Then he caresses them kindly.
Folding his shining robes round them,
Lifting the smallest and frailest
Into his bosom, and holding
His staff for the stumblers to clutch.
"To his long sleeves cling the infants.
Smile in response to his smiling.
Glad in his beauteous compassion,"
VL THE BUDDHIST PARADISE AND THE
GUARDIANS OF THE WORLD
We shall have more to say of the Buddhist theory or mythol-
ogy of transmigration, especially with reference to the inferior
births, in connection with Japanese folk-lore. At present we
shall speak of the Buddhist paradise as distinguished from the
heavenly worlds, because the latter are a result of transmigra-
tion and are subject to decay, while paradise stands unchanged
beyond them all.
Buddhist mythology taught that there were numerous
" realms of Buddhas," '* paradises, so to speak, furnished by
various Buddhas to receive their respective believers. These
PLATES XI, XII, XIII, XIV
A Ghost
This is an apparition of a female ghost, with a
phosphorescent flame, and represents a soul tormented
by hatred or jealousy. The Japanese ghost is usu-
ally understood to be void of feet, but here a foot is
faintly depicted. The artist Okyo founded a real-
istic school and his works are famous for their faith-
fulness to nature. See p. 239.
By Maruyama Okyo (dated 1779). Original in
possession of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The Genii of the World Beyond
Shozu-ga no Baba (the guardian of the cross-roads
on the journey of the soul). Every soul transmi-
grating to the various resorts beyond has to pay a
tribute to the old woman sitting at the cross-roads
where the three ways of transmigration begin. See
p. 238.
Jizo (Ksitigarbha), the guardian of the children's
souls. See p. 240.
Emma (Yama-raja), the Pluto of the Buddhist
hells. He is a furious manifestation of the same
genius as the benign genius, Jizo. See p. 238.
By Kukuchi Yosai (178 8- 1878). In possession
of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
3- f
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 241
Buddha-lands are the realizations of the compassionate vows
of those Buddhas to save beings from transmigration, and
manifestations of the immeasurable merits accumulated by
them for this purpose. The Buddhist paradise, therefore, is
an embodiment of the Buddha's wisdom and compassion, as
well as of the faith and enlightenment of his believers, and it is
called the " Land of Purity," (j5do) or " Realm of Bliss "
(Gokuraku), presided over by this or that Buddha.
To dwell no longer on the doctrinal views concerning the
paradises, the beliefs in those realms of bliss had a great influ-
ence on the popular imagination, and the descriptions of those
happy conditions are frequent in myths and tales. The descrip-
tions are, however, pretty much alike and say little more than
that the paradises are the realms of perpetual splendour and
infinite bliss. Yet we can distinguish three m_ain paradises,
qualified in different manners and located in different quarters.
They were Tosotsu-ten (Tusita), or the " Heaven of Content-
ment," of the future Buddha, Maitreya (Japanese Miroku),
situated somewhere high in the skyj Gokuraku j5do (Su-
khavati), accomplished by the Buddha Amita, the Buddha of
Infinite Light and Life, situated in the west; and lastly Ryoju-
sen (Grdhra-kuta), idealized from the Vulture Peak where
Buddha Sakya-muni is believed to have preached the " Lotus
of Truth."
The first, the Heaven of Contentment, is a paradise still in
formation, because the Lord Maitreya is to become a full
Buddha in the future, and his paradise has been prepared for
those who are to be led to the final perfection on his appear-
ance; therefore it is a kind of ante-room for a real paradise.
Belief in this heaven is common among the people, and many
stories are told of the occasional visits made by human beings
to it.
The idealized Vulture Peak is placed in the third world and
is to be realized by every true Buddhist in this life through his
242 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
enlightenment in the truths taught in the Lotus. It may be
taken to stand for the present world transformed, and this
idealization of the actual world led the true Buddhists to take
a poetic and symbolic view of their surroundings, including
the animals and flowers, and impressed them with the possibil-
ity of close spiritual communion with the external world.
When we come to speak of tales of animals and plants, we
shall refer to the idea that the soul of an animal or a plant can
be saved by the miraculous power of the scripture Lotus;
that idea is a result of the belief in the paradise of Vulture
Peak which is within the reach of anyone who is enlightened in
the truths revealed in the scripture.
But the paradisaical conception that exercised the greatest
influence upon popular beliefs was that of Gokuraku Jodo, and
when a paradise is mentioned without qualification the paradise
of Amita-Buddha is meant. Therein is a pond filled with
ambrosia, the lotus-flowers bloom in it, the terraces of trees are
decorated with jewels, the birds of paradise sing their heavenly
songs, the bells hanging on the trees play sweet music in the
soft breeze, and hosts of angels (Tennin) hover in the sky and
scatter flowers over the Buddha and his saints.^^ These descrip-
tive details were familiar to all Japanese j they appear again
and again in poetry and in tales, and they were often used in
daily conversations.
According to Buddhist cosmology, the innumerable para-
dises are inhabited by beings of ideal perfection, and the uni-
verse, which contains countless worlds, is thronged with spirits,
some benevolent and some malicious.
Postponing the consideration of the malicious spirits to a later
Chapter, we may say a word here about the great guardians of
the world, the kings of the hosts of benevolent spirits. They
are four in number and are represented as warriors In full
armour, with swords or spears in their hands, and trampling
upon demons. The guardian of the east is Jikoku-ten (Dhrta-
COSMOLOGICAL MYTHS 243
rastra), "the Watch of the Lands "j the south is guarded by
Zocho-ten (Virudhaka), " the Patron of Growth "j in the west
stands Komoku-ten (Virupaksa), " the Wide-gazing " j and in
the north Bishamon-ten (Vaisravana), "the Wide-hearing"
or " Renowned." They are always on the watch for demons
who attack the world from the four quarters of the heavens,
and have special and tender care for Buddhists.^^ There were
pictures of these guardian kings in most Buddhist temples and
they were favourite figures in the religion of the people. Of
the four, Bishamon was most popular and in later times he was
even vulgarized into a patron of wealth.
It will be interesting here to refer to the Chinese counterpart
of the Buddhist guardians. Chinese cosmology teaches two
cosmic principles, Yin and Yang, and five elements in the for-
mation of the world J and the guardians of the world repre-
sented principles and elements predominant in each of the four
quarters. The guardian of the south, where the positive prin-
ciple, Yang, rules, and the fiery element predominates, is sym-
bolized as the " Red Bird." In the north rules the " Dark
Warrior," a tortoise, the symbol of Yin, the negative principle,
and of the element water. The " Azure Dragon " in the east
symbolizes the growing warmth of spring and the element
wood. The " White Tiger " in the west represents autumn and
the metallic element." These Chinese world-guardians existed
side by side with the Buddhist kings, without being confused
with them in the popular mind.^^
CHAPTER II
LOCAL LEGENDS AND COMMUNAL
CULTS
TOPOGRAPHY AND THE DIVISION INTO CLANS
THE larger islands of Japan are intersected everywhere by
ranges of hills and rivers flowing between them, which
cross the islands perpendicularly to their length. Every valley
has its characteristic features, surrounded by fantastic peaks or
occupied by lakes that fill the low ground. The sea-coasts are
usually marked by bold cliffs, by alternate inlets and promon-
tories, by islets and rocks scattered over the bays. The land
thus widely diversified was, in ancient times, divided among
tribes of varying character and occupation j even to this day the
communes retain many of the ancient traditions and observances,
which they associate with ancestral memories and maintain as a
matter of local pride. The topographical features and the com-
munal heredities sufficiently explain the invention and preserva-
tion of scores of local legends peculiar to the different provinces
and communes.
The compilation of oral traditions, in the eighth century,
was primarily intended to give sanction to a political unity based
on the worship of the chief deity, the Sun-goddess. Yet many
communal legends and folk-tales were embedded in the central
narrative which dealt with the origin of the nation. Some
stories were common to many tribes, others were apparently
known only to single communities 5 but all found place in the
national mythology. Moreover, by special command in 713
— very near the time of the greater compilation — the local
LOCAL LEGENDS — COMMUNAL CULTS 245
legends in each province were collected, and in course of time
several records of that sort, called Fudo-kij or " Records of Air
and Earth," were compiled, of which a few are preserved com-
plete, while of others many fragments remain. In later cen-
turies, especially during the feudal ages, similar labours were
undertaken, and besides the official registers of feudal states
there is a quantity of literature concerning the geography and
the local traditions of different provinces. These books are
usually called Meisho-Zuye which we may translate as " Illus-
trated Guidebook to Famous Places," and they supply rich ma-
terial for the study of local legends, a kind of Heimats-kundey
as the Germans call it, of the various provinces and cities.
In these stories, the origins of natural objects and phenomena
are ascribed to the primeval deities j the personification of such
objects is interwoven with the historical traditions of the tribes
and their ancestors^ and to the creative activity of mythical be-
ings are attributed the formation of the land, the source of
streams and fountains, of plants and animals. These stories,
partly the result of ancestral memories, partly the result of the
naive imagination of the primitive folk, were recorded in the
Meisho-Zuye y were sung by bards and handed down from gen-
eration to generation in folk-songs, and often they were made
a part of religious ritual and of festival observance.
If we consider the matter rightly, folk-lore is a living thing.
Legends change, grow and migrate, as communities expand and
social conditions change, as intellectual interests widen and the
imaginative faculty becomes refined. When a new region was
made habitable or a secluded valley was opened to communica-
tion, the unfamiliar hills, rocks, forests and streams gave rise to
new stories. During the centuries of the feudal regimey when
semi-independent clans kept close within their respective dis-
tricts, the clan spirit showed itself in legends that glorified the
past of the tribe and lauded the genius of the region it inhabited.
The strife between two neighbouring clans often became in
VIII — 17
246 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
these legends a contest between the genii of the respective terri-
tories, or of certain striking natural features in those territories,
such as a mountain or a lake. In them we find popular bits of
folk-lore entangled with the mythopoetic inventions of the
literati, and Shinto ideas are confused with imagery suggested
by Buddhism or Taoism. It is probably true that legendary
invention was more active when the country was politically di-
vided and the clan spirit reigned, than in the times of national
unity. Today the complete unity of the nation, together with
the increased facilities of communication, tends to destroy the
characteristic features of the provincial life; moreover the
spread of scientific education causes more and more of the peo-
ple to look upon the old stories as silly. There may come a day
when the ancient legends will be only preserved in written col-
lections; yet it is a question, not only in Japan but elsewhere,
whether the mythopoetic faculty of mankind is destined wholly
to disappear before the realism of modern education.
However that may be, in ancient Japan the local folk-lore
was an inseparable part of the communal cult of the tribes.
The belief in the common origin of the clan folk was testified
to by the cult of their ancestral or tutelary deity, cemented by
religious observances and perpetuated by the ever-flowing
stream of legend. Striking natural features, such as a hill or a
forest, a promontory or a lakeside, were of old and are today,
dedicated to the clan deity, who was believed to be the ancestor
of the tribe, or to the tutelary genius of the region. A simple
shrine of wood stands in the gloomy shade of old trees, usually
at a spot which commands the best view of the sacred place, and
it becomes the centre of communal life. There the people as-
semble on festival days, at thanksgivings for harvest, at prayer-
meetings for rain or for deliverance from pestilence, and on
other occasions of common interest. Some memory of the deity
is preserved in a natural object which is believed to have had
its origin in the benevolent interest of the deity in the people of
PLATE XV
Furo-No-Yashiro, a Shinto Shrine Dedi-
cated TO A Sword Believed to Possess Mirac-
ulous Power
Notice the topography and surroundings of the
spot and several adjunct shrines beside the main
building in the centre. The trees surrounding the
shrine are chiefly pines and sitgi. For an account of
such shrines see pp. 246—7.
Taken from Y ainato Mrisho Zu, the illustrated
descriptions of the famous places in the province of
Yamato.
LOCAL LEGENDS — COMMUNAL CULTS 247
his choice. That object may be a giant tree, which the deity is
said to have planted, or in which his spirit is believed still to
abide. It may be a rock, on which he once sat, or which is sup-
posed to be his weapon left behind him and petrified. It may
be a fountain which the deity has caused to gush forth.
Besides the chief shrine there are likely to be many subsidiary
shrines in the neighbourhood. Each is dedicated to a peculiar
deity or spirit and has its own story associated with the divine
or miraculous manifestation of the worshipped one. These
smaller shrines are scattered about in various places, in a grove,
or by the waterside, or close to a waterfall, or on a hillock. It
is not necessary to erect a shrine, however, in order to indicate
the sacred character of a place. A straw-cord to which pieces of
paper are tied, the sign of sanctity, can be suspended for this
purpose. A tree near which a spirit appeared or a miracle took
place is often distinguished in this way, and a cool fountain, a
giant rock, or an old grave, may be thus marked even if it has
no definite divine association.
In short, every place is regarded as sacred if there is some
tradition of gods, spirits, fairies or ancestors connected with it,
and those places are set apart and consecrated according to the
customs of the ancient Shinto religion. The whole country is
studded with sanctuaries of this kind 5 each locality has at least
one such, and stories are told about each of them. The motives
of the different stories are often much alike, but each is jeal-
ously preserved not only in oral tradition, but in religious ob-
servances and festivals, among the community to which it is
peculiar. To that extent, the Japanese people may be said to be
still living in a mythological agej in fact the Shinto religion
teaches that the country is the land of the gods, who even now
linger among human beings and hover about in the sky, among
the forests, or on the peaks and hills.
The oldest of the local legends is concerned with a curious
topographical feature of the province of Izumo, to which, as
248 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
the reader will remember, the Storm-god was exiled by the
heavenly powers.
This region is believed to have been the scene of much that
happened during the age of the great gods, and since time im-
memorial the great shrine of Kitsuki has stood on the shore of
the Sea of Japan. Izumo is the province which was by chance
the first home in Japan of that poetic genius, Lafcadio Hearn,
and there he gained his earliest appreciation of the Japanese
people and of their art and their poetry. In Izumo there seems
to linger some breath of the age of fable, the result doubtless
of the venerable antiquity and the charming beauty of the
region.
The province occupies a narrow strip of land between the Sea
of Japan and the mountain range that forms the backbone of
the mainland. On its northern side there is a long peninsula
connected with the mainland on the west by a sandy beach, and
separated, on the east, by narrow straits from similar sand
beaches. This is the way in which the tradition explains that
peninsula:
Omi-tsu-nu (" Beach-Field-Master ") was a grandson of
Susa-no-wo, the Storm-god, whom he succeeded as ruler of
Izumo. He saw that his country was only a narrow strip
of land and he wished to enlarge it. Accordingly he looked
northward toward Korea and saw that there was plenty of un-
used land along the eastern coast. He fastened a long rope to
that piece of land and tied the other end of the rope to Mount
Sahime. Then he caused his people to pull on the rope and
draw the land toward Izumo. When the piece was finally
joined to Izumo, the rope was left lying on the beach, which is
therefore called So-no-hagahama, " the long beach of hemp."
In similar fashion he pulled pieces of land from islands in the
Sea of Japan, and fastened them to the coast of Izumo. The
last of those ropes he bound to Mount Taisen, and its remains
made the beach of Yomi (see the map). So the Beach-Field-
^'^^
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W
X
uz
n:
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LOCAL LEGENDS — COMMUNAL CULTS 249
Master succeeded in enlarging his land by adding to it the penin-
sula which now makes the northern part of the province.^
With regard to Izumo, the names of the province and of
some places in it are said to have originated in connection with
the adventures of Susa-no-wo, after he had been expelled from
the Plain of High Heaven and had come down to that province.
As he walked beside the river Hi, the Storm-god came upon an
old couple who wept in distress. Their only daughter, Won-
drous Inada-Princess, was to be sacrificed to a dragon, who de-
manded a young woman every year. Susa-no-wo escorted the
girl to the place of sacrifice, on the upper part of the river. The
dragon appeared and drank all the sake-h^tr that was set out for
him and then attacked the girl, whereupon the valiant Storm-
god chopped the animal to pieces. The girl subsequently be-
came the wife of Susa-no-wo.
As the wedding approached, Susa-no-wo went about the prov-
ince in search of a specially lovely spot for the ceremony.
When he came to a certain place, it gave him the greatest pleas-
ure, and he said: "My heart is refreshed" (suga-suga-shi).
Hence the place is called Suga, and there to this day stands a
shrine dedicated to the god and his wife. Moreover, at the
marriage he sang a poem of celebration which ran thus:
Yakumo tatsu Many clouds arise,
Izu-mo yahe-gaki On all sides a manifold fence,
Tsuma-gome ni To receive within it the spouses,
Yake-gake tsukuru — They form a manifold fence —
Sono yahe-gaki wo! Ah! that manifold fence! "^
Hence came the name " Izumo " which means " the rising
clouds," and hence also came Lafcadio Hearn's Japanese name
" Yakumo " which means " the eightfold clouds."
Thus Susa-no-wo became the lord of Izumo, and the Great
Shrine of Kitsuki was erected in his honour. With his shrine,
pre-eminent in its sanctity, are connected many stories and ob-
servances that concern Susa-no-wo and his descendants. Ac-
2S0 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
cording to one of the stories this sanctuary is the place where all
the deities of Japan assemble in the tenth lunar month, in order
to arrange all the marriages that are to occur in the country dur-
ing the coming year. This is evidently to be traced to the story
of Susa-no-wo's marriage at this spot to Inada-Princess, and it
also reflects the Japanese custom of arranging marriage through
an intermediary called a go-between.
The assembly of the gods is said to be held at four o'clock in
the morning of the first day of the tenth month, and the people
carefully keep indoors at that hour in order not to disturb the
deities. When all the gods have come together the Dragon
King brings his offering to the assembly. The Dragon King,
accompanied by innumerable hosts of maritime beings, appears
on the sea J the sea is illuminated, the tide rises, and the sky is
full of radiance. This scene is represented in a mystery-play
of the fifteenth century. The priest who attends the Great
Shrine goes to the beach to receive the dragon's offerings: this
is an annual ceremony. A peculiar fact connected with this
myth of the gods' assembly at Kitsuki is that in other parts of
Japan the tenth month is called the " month without gods "
(Kami-nashi-zuki) , but in Izumo it is called the " month with
gods " (Kami-ari-zuki) .
Susa-no-wo, the Storm-god, is the subject of the story of hos-
pitality, and his wanderings are supposed to have taken him to
the various places where his shrines stand. Although the origin
of the story is not certain, the names of the persons concerned
seem to be of Korean origin. This is the story:
After he had been driven from the Plain of High Heaven,
Susa-no-wo travelled about as a miserable outcast. One night,
when the rain was pouring down, he knocked at the door of a
man named Kotan-Shorai.^ Seeing a man clad in a mean straw
mantle and wearing a rain-hat made of a kind of reed, Kotan
thought it safer to turn away the dubious visitor. Susa-no-wo,
in great distress, then knocked at the door of Somin-Shorai, a
PLATES XVI, XVII
A Pair of Screens with Landscapes
A. Mount Tsukuba. B, Mount Fuji.
The pictures are not intended for illustration of
the legend of the two mountains, but simply for the
sake of landscape. Yet we can see how the two
mountains conspicuously seen from the plain of
Hitachi and neighbouring provinces gave rise to the
legend of hospitality ascribed to them. See p. 251.
By Kano Shosen (died in 1880). In possession of
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
(
(
LOCAL LEGENDS — COMMUNAL CULTS 251
brother of Kotan. Somin gave the traveller a hospitable wel-
come. Next morning the Storm-god took leave of his host with
gratitude and said to him: " I am Susa-no-wo, the god who con-
trols the spirits of fury and pestilence. By way of discharging
my indebtedness to you I shall protect you and your descendants
from the attack of evil spirits, if you will attach to your gate-
way a sign that can be recognized." Hence comes the custom
of putting up at the gate a charm against pestilence or smallpox
on which is written " the descendants of Somin-Shdrai."
This same story is told in another form, being applied geo-
graphically:
Long, long ago, when Mi-oya-no-kami, the Ancestor-god,
went about the country, one evening he asked for lodging at
Mount Fukuji in Suruga. The god of Fukuji was a miser and,
unwilling to give the traveller food, turned him away from the
door. The Ancestor-god, resenting the discourtesy, said:
" Thou art a miser and shalt suifer for thy discourtesy and be
henceforth covered with snow and frost. Food shall always be
scanty for thee and few people shall come to visit thee." Then
the itinerant god turned to Mount Tsukuba, in Hitachi, and
there he was warmly received by the god of Tsukuba. The
Ancestor-god thanked him and said: " Thou art a kind-hearted
man. Henceforth thou shalt always have an abundance of food
and many people shall visit thee." Accordingly Mount Fukuji
is rarely visited and is hoary with snow and frost, but Tsukuba
is ever popular and attracts many pilgrims.*
Simple legends, one much like another, are told about foun-
tains. A certain man, gifted with miraculous power, is said to
have dug in the ground and set free a fountain. The man to
whom this power is ascribed is often Kobo Daishi, the founder
of Shingon Buddhism in the ninth century. In north-eastern
Japan, the miracle is often ascribed to Yoshi-iye, the famous
general who led the expeditions against the Ainus in those prov-
inces in the eleventh century, and the legends seem to have had
252 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
their origin in the belief that the general was under the protec-
tion of the god Hachiman, or " Eight-banners," whose shrine
is situated at Iwa-shimizu, or the " Virgin-rock fountain."
The stories of Kobo are always associated with his missionary
wanderings. Once when he was travelling, the story runs, he
was received by an old woman who lived in a place destitute of
water. Kobo, in order to reward her for her hospitality, created
the fountain by stabbing the earth with his pilgrim's staff.
Yoshi-iye's exploits are said to have occurred during his mili-
tary expeditions. One summer day, we read, his soldiers suf-
fered from heat and thirst. The general prayed to his tutelary
god, Hachiman, and when he pierced a rock with his bow and
arrow a gushing fountain appeared, thereafter never to run dry.
Hot springs are believed to have had their origin in a divine
appearance of Suku-na-biko,^ the medicine-man among the an-
cient gods.
Among the legends relating to Kob5 Daishi there are many
that account for certain local peculiarities. There are no foxes
in the island of Shikoku. That is because Kobo drove out the
animal as a punishment for its attempt to deceive the great Bud-
dhist teacher during his wanderings through Shikoku. In
places where there are no mosquitoes, the fact is explained by
Kobo's special favour, shown to the inhabitants of the place
because they received him hospitably.
There is a village in Kozuke where Irish potatoes do not grow
well. When K5bo came to that village and asked for potatoes
the proprietor of the farm told him that the potatoes were as
hard as stones, for he was not willing to give them to the beggar
monk. Kobo said: " Is it really so? Then it shall always be
so." Henceforth the potatoes raised in that village were really
as hard as stones.
There is at a certain place a mountain stream whence vapour
rises. Once when Kobo passed that stream a boy came to him
and asked him to write some letters for him. Having no paper
LOCAL LEGENDS — COMMUNAL CULTS 253
Kobo wrote some letters in the air. The boy then asked Kdbo
to write more on the water of the stream. Kobo wrote the Chi-
nese ideogram for dragon and intentionally omitted one point.
The boy, miraculously too, added the point. Then still more
miraculously the ideogram became an actual dragon which flew
off out of the water. Hence the trace of the flying dragon
above the water.
Fine trees are frequently made the theme of local legend,
and twin trees especially are connected with the memory of
lovers. Among trees the pine plays the greatest part, and next
to it the sugi-tTQCj the camphor-tree, and the gingko.
Here is the story of twin pine-trees told in the ancient Fudo-
ki of Hitachi: Once upon a time there were in Hitachi a fine lad
of the name Nase and a handsome girl of the name Aze.*' Each
of them was famous for a beauty which caused the other vil-
lagers to admire as well as to envy them. They fell in love
with each other, and one night, on the occasion of the annual
meeting of the villagers for exchanging poems, Nase and Aze
exchanged verses which gave expression to their love.^ They
left the others and betook themselves to a forest close by the sea
shore. Here they talked of their love through the night.
There was no one else there, but the pine-trees played gentle
music on their murmuring needles, and they passed the night as
if in a sweet dream.
When over the ocean horizon the day began to dawn and the
morning twilight penetrated into the pine forest, the lovers for
the first time realized that they were far from their home.
They were afraid to return to their own people, because of the
insinuations of the other young people and the censure of their
elders which they would have to meet. They wished to remain
forever by themselves, apart from the world. They embraced
each other and wept, and were metamorphosed into the two
pine-trees, entwined with each other among the other trees.
In this story the twin trees are symbolic of a passionate love,
254 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
but in another legend two pine-trees are likened to an old couple
and represent conjugal fidelity, i.e. the famous trees of Taka-
sago, of which we shall speak in a later chapter.
On the sea coast, where the wind blows constantly from one
point of the compass, there are often trees whose branches ex-
tend only in one direction. Nearly every one of those trees has
a story of its own which tells the reason why the branches seem
to yearn toward some object in the direction toward which they
point. This is a typical one:
In Tango, upon a long, sandy beach, there is such a pine-tree,
the branches of which extend toward Miyako, the capital. The
daughter of a nobleman in Miyako was stolen by a kidnapper,
as often happened in the middle ages. She was taken to Tango
and sold to a local chief. She often stood under this tree gazing
toward her home and weeping for her parents. The tree felt
sympathy for the poor girl and gradually turned all its branches
in the direction of her home.
Rocks furnish similar motives to the myth makers. The most
famous one is the standing rock of Matsura, on the western
coast of Kyushu, whence ships used to embark for China. Once
w^hen a court noble was despatched to China, his wife Sayo-
hime accompanied him to Matsura, watched the ship that car-
ried her husband vanish beyond the horizon, and stood there,
waving her scarf in farewell, until her figure was metamor-
phosed into the rock, which stands there today and is known as
the rock of Sayo-hime. A curious projection of the rock is said
to be the hand with which she waved him good-bye.
Climatic conditions furnish useful material for local legends.
This is one of the stories concerning the periodical storms that
visit Japan in autumn. It is the story of the " Hira hurricane,"
Hira being the name of the mountain range that soars above
the western shore of Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan.
Once upon a time there lived a fine young man, the keeper of
a lighthouse on a promontory on the eastern side of Lake Biwa.
LOCAL LEGENDS — COMMUNAL CULTS 255
A fair maiden lived in a village across the lake from the light-
house. Once the girl visited the promontory and saw the light-
house keeper. They fell in love and agreed to meet by night,
when no one should know of it. So the maiden used to visit the
beloved every night, crossing the lake in a small boat. Whether
on a calm night the ripples reflected the moon's light, or whether
in darkness the lake was rough and angry, the girl's boat never
failed to reach the promontory, because the twinkling light
guided her safely to her beloved.
The summer passed in this way and the autumn came. The
young man had been made happy by the loving girl's faithful-
ness j but at last her audacity, and her indifference to the danger
of discovery or of death by drowning, so unusual in a young
girl, aroused in the heart of the young man something like sus-
picion. He began to question whether the girl was really a hu-
man being or whether she vras a dragon-girl or an ogre. At last
he determined to see whether she could find her way to him
without the guiding light, and so one night he extinguished the
light in his lighthouse. The girl, as usual, had set out in her
boat, but when the light went out she quickly lost her way. She
rowed about helplessly, quite uncertain where she was. She be-
came desperate, and made up her mind that her lover was faith-
less. In her grief and terror she cursed him, herself and the
world. Finally she leaped into the water, with the prayer that
a storm might destroy the lighthouse. No sooner had the girl's
body disappeared in the water, than the wind rose and soon be-
gan to blow to a hurricane. The storm raged all night. When
morning dawned, the lighthouse, together with its keeper, had
disappeared, for the waters had swallowed it up.
Hence, every year, on that very day, a certain day in the
eighth lunar month, a storm rages over the lake. It blows from
the range of the Hira Mountains, where the unfortunate girl
once lived, and therefore it is called the Hira hurricane.
CHAPTER III
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS,
THE MEN OF THE MOUNTAIN.
I. THE SOURCES OF FAIRY TALES
THE Japanese people always believed in the existence and
activity of spirits, both of natural objects and of the dead;
yet curiously enough, their mythology, as handed down in
Shinto tradition, is poorly supplied with fantastic beings and is
quite vague in giving personality to its deities. Many of the
deities are hardly more than names, others are worshipped as
the ancestors of the various clans, and the stories about them are
taken by the people as facts rather than as bits of poetic imagina-
tion. That is chiefly because the early Shinto records were com-
piled, as we have said, in the form of historical narrative, their
authors desiring to produce something that should rival Chinese
history in antiquity and supposed authenticity. What we recog-
nize today as myths were originally made to appear as historical
facts, just as the official history of China had carefully turned
the racial legends of that people into alleged chronicles of pure
fact. The pseudo-rationalism of the Shinto records is largely a
product of Chinese, that is, of Confucian, influence.
It must not, however, be supposed that the Japanese were in-
capable of imagining the existence of fairies and other fantastic
beings. We shall find many traces of fairies and similar beings
in the ancient traditions of the Japanese, and there is a very con-
siderable store of fairy stories in the literature and oral tradi-
tions of the people. The greater part of this sort of fiction
seems to have been derived from Chinese and Indian sources,
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 257
and the Japanese genius is more often shown in the skilful adap-
tation of such stories to local conditions than in original in-
vention. The strain of Hindu ideas and stories came, of
course, through the channel of Buddhist literature, which
derived in turn from the highly refined Vedic and Sanskrit
literature. It reached Japan chiefly through Chinese trans-
lations.
The Chinese stories were mostly derived from non-Confucian
sources, chiefly from the Taoist literature. In a strictly histori-
cal study of Japanese fairy tales, it would be necessary to dis-
tinguish critically these two elements of continental origin from
the smaller stock of native lore. But in this work we shall con-
fine ourselves to setting down some of the stories as they are
commonly circulated among the people, without considering
their sources or the changes they have undergone during the
process of adoption.
II. THE FAIRY-MAIDEN
A fairy who is quite indigenous to Japan is Ko-no-hana-
sakuya-hime, " the Lady-who-causes-trees-to-bloom." To her
we have already referred in speaking of the myths of origins.
She is the fairy of cherry-blossoms, and is represented as hover-
ing in the sky and making the cherry-trees bloom, probably by
breathing on them. Her marriage with the grandchild of the
Sun-goddess may be regarded as an instance of the marriage of
a celestial maiden to a human being.
But a more typical example of such a union is offered in the
story of the Swan-maiden. This maiden has no personal namej
she is conceived to be a celestial maiden furnished with feathers
or wearing a robe of feathers. The most highly idealized ver-
sion of the story is " The Robe of Feathers " in one of the No
dramas. In brief it is as follows:
Once, on a fair day, a number of fairy maidens came down
258 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
to earth and bathed in a fountain, hanging their feathery robes
on trees near the pool. A man passed by the place and seeing
the beautiful garments took one of them down from its tree.
The maidens in alarm at the intrusion flew off to the sky; but
the maiden whose robe had been taken, could not fly away with
her companions but had to remain on earth and marry the man.'"
She gave birth to a child, and then having, by stratagem, recov-
ered her feathery robe, she flew back to Heaven.
The story is a version of the tale of the Swan-maiden so well
known in the folk-lore of various nations, though there is no
proof that the Japanese story was borrowed from any other peo-
ple. But in its idealized version in the No drama the maiden
is represented as one of the fairies in attendance on the heavenly
princes who reside in the Moon palace, an idea clearly taken
from a Buddhist story of the moon. Moreover, in this version
the maiden preserves her virginity intact, and the chief motive
of the tale is the contrast between the noble purity of the celes-
tial maiden and the greed of mankind. The story is as fol-
lows: "
It was a beautiful spring day. A celestial maiden came down
to the pine forest of Hiho, a sandy beach on the Pacific coast
whence there is a grand view of Mount Fuji soaring into the
sky on the other side of the water. The maiden was charmed
by the beauty of the place and forgot her heavenly home. A
fisherman happened to pass by; he perceived a miraculous scent
which perfumed the air, and saw a wonderful robe of feathers
hanging on a pine-tree. While the fisherman was examining
the robe and wondering what it was, the fairy appeared to him
and told him that it was hers — the robe of feathers which was
a property of all the heavenly maidens. The greed of the man
was aroused and he rudely refused to return the robe. The
maiden lamented her loss and finally persuaded the fisherman
to return the robe by dancing before him one of the celestial
dances. The scene is described as follows :
FAIRIES, CELESTIAJL BEINGS 259
(Fairy's lamentation)
Fairy
" Vainly my glance doth seek the heav'nly plain,
Where rising vapours all the air enshroud,
And veil the well-known paths from cloud to cloud."
Chorus
" Clouds! wand'ring clouds! she yearns, and yearns in vain,
Soaring like you to tread the heav'ns again;
Vainly she sighs to hear, as erst she heard.
The melting strains of Paradise' sweet bird:
That blessed voice grows faint. The heav'n in vain
Rings with the song of the returning crane;
In vain she lists, where ocean softly laves.
To the free seagull twitt'ring o'er the waves;
Vainly she harks where zephyr sweeps the plain;
These all may fly, but she'll ne'er fly again! "
(Fairy's dance)
Fairy
" And in this firmament a palace stands
Yclept the moon, built up by magic hands; "
Chorus
" And o'er this palace thirty monarchs rule,
Of whom fifteen, until the moon be full,
Nightly do enter, clad in robes of white;
But who again, from the full sixteenth night,
One ev'ry night must vanish into space.
And fifty black-rob'd monarchs take their place,
While, ever circling round each happy king,
Attendant fays celestial music sing."
Fairy
" And one of these am I."
Chorus
" From those bright spheres
Lent for a moment, this sweet maid appears:
26o JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Here in Japan she lights (heav'n left behind)
To teach the art of dancing to mankind.
E'en when the fcath'ry shock
Of fairies flitting past with silv'ry pinions
Shall wear away the granite rock!
Oh, magic strains that fill our ravished ears!
The fairy sings, and from the cloudy spheres,
Chiming in unison, the angels' lutes,
Tabrets and cymbals and silv'ry flutes,
" Ring through the heav'n that glows with purple hues,
As when Someiro's western slope endues
The tints of sunset, while the azure wave
From isle to isle the pine-clad shores doth lave,
From Ukishima's slope, — a beauteous storm, —
Whirl down the flow'rs; and still that magic form.
Those snowy pinions, fluttering in the light.
Ravish our souls with wonder and delight."
Fairy
" Hail to the kings that o'er the moon hold sway!
Heav'n is their home, and Buddhas, too, are they."
Chorus
" The fairy robes the maiden's limbs endue "
Fairy
" Are, like the very heav'ns, of tend'rest blue: '*
Chorus
" Or, like the mists of spring, all silv'ry white,
Fragrant and fair, — too fair for mortal sight!
Dance on, sweet maiden, through the happy hours!
Dance on, sweet maiden, while the magic flow'rs
Crowning thy tresses flutter in the wind
Raised by thy waving pinions intertwin'd!
Dance on, for ne'er to mortal dance 'tis given
To vie with that sweet dance thou bring'st from heav'n;
And when, cloud-soaring, thou shalt all too soon
Homeward return to the full-shining moon
Then hear our pray'rs, and from thy bounteous hand
Pour sev'nfold treasures on our happy land;
PLATE XVIII
The Fairies of the Cherry Blossoms Playing
Music in Unison with the Koto Played by
THE Emperor Temmu
The costume of the sitting Emperor is not of the
/th century but of the loth century. The fairies are
depicted in the attire of Buddhist angels (Tennin).
See p. 261.
Taken from Yamato Meisho Zw.
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 261
Bless ev'ry coast, refresh each panting field,
That earth may still her proper increase yield !
But ah, the hour, the hour of parting rings!
Caught by the breeze, the fairy's magic wings
Heav'nward do bear her from the pine-clad shore,
" Past Ukishima's widely-stretching moor,
Past Ashitaka's heights, and where are spread
The eternal snows on Fujiyama's head, —
Higher and higher to the azure skies,
Till wand'ring vapours hide her from our eyes! "
The " Azuma dance," as it Is called, Is supposed to have Its
origin in the dance of this fairy on the beach of Miho, and in
like manner the " Goset " or " Five Tact dance " Is ascribed to
the fairies of the cherry-blossoms. When the Emperor Tem-
mu, who reigned in the seventh century, was playing on the
Koto in the palace of Yoshino, the place of cherry-blossoms,
five fairies appeared in the sky, playing on their instruments in
harmony with the royal musician, and danced before him the
dance of five tacts. Thereafter, the music and the dance be-
came one of the festivities regularly observed after each Im-
perial coronation. In the No drama, the chorus describes the
scene In these words:
" O what a wonder!
Music is heard in the sky,
Miraculous perfumes fill the air.
Petals fall from heaven like rain drops!
Are these not signs of a peaceful reign?
Hearken! sweet beyond all imagination
Sound and resound in unison
Harps and guitars, flutes and horns,
Bells and drums, of all kinds;
A grand orchestra makes harmonious the serene air, —
The soothing breeze of the spring.
To the accompaniment of heavenly music
Celestial maidens dance, hovering in the air,
Fluttering their sleeves of feathers,
Flying and wavering among the cherry-blossoms."
vm — 18
262 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Another story in which a fairy maiden descends to the earth
is that of " the Lady of Brilliancy " (Kaguya-hime). One of
the versions is as follows :
Once upon a time an old man lived in the province of Suruga,
where is Mount Fuji. He cultivated bamboo-trees. One
spring two nightingales made their nest in his bamboo grove,
and there he found a charming little infant who called herself
Kaguya-hime. The old man took the child and nursed her with
great affection. When she grew up she was the most beautiful
girl in the country. She was called to the Imperial residence
and was made Princess-consort of the Emperor. Seven years
passed after the marriage and one day the Princess said to her
husband: " I am not like you a human being, yet a certain tie has
held me to you. Now my time on earth is ending and I must
return to my celestial home. I am sorry to leave you, but I
must. In memory of me keep this mirror, in which you may see
my image."
With these words she disappeared from his sight. The Em-
peror missed his beautiful consort so much that he determined
to follow her to Heaven. Accordingly he climbed to the sum-
mit of Fuji, the highest mountain in the country, carrying the
mirror in his hands. Yet when he had reached the summit he
could find no trace of the lost maiden, nor could he by any
means ascend further toward Heaven. His passion was so
strong that a flame burst out of his breast ^ and set the mirror
ablaze. The smoke drifted up into the sky, and from that day
it continually arises from the summit of Fuji.
Another version of this story is known as " The Bamboo-
hewer." According to this version the old man found the tiny
girl within a bamboo stem, and when she grew up many men
sought her in marriage. She asked her suitors to achieve some-
thing difficult and promised to marry the one who should best
accomplish the task assigned to him. Five suitors agreed to sub-
mit to the test and each was bidden to bring a certain precious
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 263
thing to the lady. The suitors did their best, but they all failed.
Accordingly each man invented a clever falsehood to account
for his want of success. But the maiden saw through their
stories and rejected them all. So far the story is didactic and
satirical.
Now the ruling Emperor, hearing of the girPs beauty, wished
her to come to his palace, but she would not, though she sent
him letters and poems. The Emperor found some consolation
in reading these communications, but suddenly he learned that
the maiden was of heavenly origin and was going back to her
father's palace in the moon, on the night of the full moon in
mid-autumn. The Emperor, wishing to keep the maiden on
earth, sent an army of troops and ordered them to guard her
house. The night came, a bank of white clouds appeared in the
sky and the troops found themselves unable to shoot or to fight
because their arms and legs were paralyzed. So the maiden
was brought home by her father, the Moon King. She left a
casket of medicines and a letter to the Emperor. After the
maiden's disappearance, the Emperor sent his men with the
casket to the summit of Fuji. There they burnt the medicines
and hence arises the smoke of the volcano.
Not only do celestial maidens descend to earth and wed hu-
man beings in Japanese folk-lore, but a maiden of the deep sea
realms sometimes becomes the wife of a mortal, though when
such marriages occur, according to the tales, the man usually
descends to her abode. Universally, however, the fairy and her
mortal lover are destined to an early separation. These stories
of the sea-maidens are not merely romantic love tales; they are
largely occupied with the description of a world beneath the
ocean or far beyond the sea. The separation of the married
couple is the result of the yearning of the being, who has left
his or her true element, for the old home. When the maiden
descends from Heaven, her return is due to the expiration of her
alloted term on earth, while, when a human husband has gone
264 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
down into the sea, the separation follows the breaking of a
promise he has made. Moreover, the stay of the human bride-
groom in the ideal realm seems very short to him, but when he
returns to the world he finds that he has been a long time away.
His earthly abode has disappeared and all his relatives have
long been dead. This motive, which reminds the reader of Rip
van Winkle's experience, hints at the contrast between the evan-
escent existence of mankind and the endless duration of the
ideal life.
The idea of a world beyond our own was stimulated by Bud-
dhist and Taoist teachings, and in the later development of these
stories such influences are clearly to be seen.
The most famous story of this type is that of the fisher boy
Urashima — or more properly Urashima Taro, " the Son of
Beach-Island." His native place is generally located in Tango,
on the Sea of Japan, but sometimes in Sumi-no-ye, on the Inland
Sea. The oldest versions are found in the Shinto chronicles and
in an anthology of the eighth century.* In the chronicles his
stay in the world beyond is said to have lasted seven hundred
years and his return is mentioned as a historical fact. The story
was later connected with the Buddhist tradition of the Dragon
Palace (Ryu-gu), and the maiden of the story is known as Oto-
hime, the youngest daughter of the Dragon King.
The story, in its simplest form, is as follows: The fisher boy
Urashima was abroad upon the sea in his boat when he saw a
young lady coming toward him. She wished to take him to her
home, and he followed her to a distant realm in the deep water,
where stood a splendid palace. The lady was the daughter of
the king, and Urashima married her. After three years of
happy married life had passed, Urashima was seized by the de-
sire to see his parents at home. His wife was too tender to
resist him and, on parting, gave him a casket which would bring
him back to the Dragon Palace, on the sole condition that he
should never open it. Urashima came back to his native place
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 265
but found it totally changed. To his dismay he learnt that sev-
eral hundred years had passed since he had gone away and that
his mysterious disappearance had been handed down as a tradi-
tion among the villagers. In great distress of mind, hoping to
find some solace in the casket given him by his wife as the pledge
of returning to the Dragon Kingdom, he opened the lid. He
was astonished to see wisps of white smoke rise from the casket
and drift away toward the sea. No sooner was the casket emp-
tied than his whole body was shaken by a chill j presently his
hair grew white and he became an old man, hundreds of years
old. Urashima died on the spot and he is enshrined there on
the coast of Tango.^
The story of Urashima stimulated the invention of various
story-tellers who added curious details to the forms of it cre-
ated by them. One version, probably of the fifteenth century,
says that Urashima, after having opened the casket, was meta-
morphosed into a crane, a bird which is supposed to live a thou-
sand years, and that he, the crane, and his wife, the tortoise, are
even now living on indefinitely. This tale illustrates a peculi-
arity of that age — the unwillingness of the people to listen to
stories that were in the least tragic in character, in spite of, or,
perhaps, because of the fact that it was a time of warfare and so-
cial disintegration. On the other hand, a modern writer who
has dramatized the story depicts Urashima as the typical repre-
sentative of the youth of today, who seeks after dreamy ideals
without being willing to make strenuous effort or submit to
methodical training.
A similar story concerning the daughter of a Sea King is
ascribed to the grandmother of the legendary founder of the
Empire.®
Hiko-Hohodemi, " the Flame-flash," once lost a fish-hook
which he had borrowed from his elder brother Ho-no-susari,
" the Flame-fade." When the former was urged by his
brother to return the hook and was troubled as to what he
266 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
should do, a certain old deity advised him to travel beyond the
sea. Accordingly he passed over the sea in a boat and arrived
at a palace built of some material like the scales of fish. It was
the residence of the Sea King, and there Hiko-Hohodemi met a
beautiful woman. She was Toyo-tama-hime, " the Lady
Abundance-Jewel," the daughter of the king, and the king was
glad to have his daughter married to a deity from heaven —
for Hiko-Hohodemi was a descendant of the Sun-goddess.
After the couple were married they lived a happy life together
for three years, when the husband revealed to his fairy wife
that he had come to her realm in search of the lost fish-hook.
It was quite an easy matter for his father-in-law, the ruler of
the deep sea, to find the hook, and Hiko-Hohodemi thereupon
journeyed back with it to his home-land, followed by his wife.
Now, after they had come to the terrestrial abode, the fairy
wife gave birth to a son. Before the delivery the mother, ac-
cording to custom, was taken to a cottage specially built for the
occasion. The wife asked the husband not to look into the cot-
tage at the moment of birth because she must then take on her
original shape of a woman-dragon. In spite of his promise, the
husband peeped into the cottage, and so the wife left her hus-
band and child and returned to her home beyond the sea.
The Buddhist and Taoist influences were of momentous im-
portance in the development of fairy lore in Japan, and the
primitive conceptions of ideal or fantastic existences were by
those influences made much more definite and elaborate. In
general the Buddhist importations were of two categories, one
being the Devatas (Japanese Tennyo or Tennin, the heavenly
maidens), who hover in the sky, and the other the Nagas
(Japanese Ryujin, or dragon spirits), who reside in the deep
sea. The Chinese or Taoist literature introduced the Hsien
(Japanese Sennin), literally " the Men of the Mountains," who
are semi-celestial beings, mostly of human origin, and who per-
form magic feats and live immortal lives.^ These immortals
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 267
are o£ both sexes, old and young, some of weird appearance and
others with handsome and noble features j but all are fed on
ambrosial foods and live lives of total emancipation, neither
molested by, nor caring for, human afFairs. Although the be-
ings of these different categories were occasionally amalgamated
in a new realm completely Japanese in invention, they are usu-
ally kept quite distinct. Let us take up the three categories one
after another, and examine a few stories that illustrate the parts
which they play in Japanese mythology.
III. THE BUDDHIST FAIRIES, THE TENNIN AND
THE RYUJIN
In India the Devatas are female deities in general, but the
word is also applied to the female genii of trees and fountains.
Buddhist lore is full of these beings, some of whom are defi-
nitely personified though others are mere abstractions. The
Japanese Tennyo, who are copied from the Devatas, roam in
the sky, clad in fluttering veils and without wings. They play
music and scatter flowers in the air, and their presence is per-
ceived through their celestial music and their heavenly per-
fume. Often they are borne aloft on iridescent clouds and de-
scend to hill-tops or promontories, or they illumine the dusk of
the forests. They surround pious Buddhists and perform the
duties of ministering angels j they inhabit the blooming woods
in the guise of flower fairies j they appear wherever good musi-
cians play on their instruments, and join in concert with the hu-
man performersj sometimes they appear as women, and love
stories are told of their love affairs with men. They are repre-
sented in sculpture, and appear as panel decorations in Buddhist
temples J they are depicted in pictures, sung of in poems, cele-
brated in fairy tales, and some of them are actually worshipped
in shrines in certain very beautiful spots. Occasionally they are
identified with Shinto goddesses, and since the thirteenth cen-
268 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
tury such confusions are common in folk-lore as well as in art
and religion.
The Hindu Naga is a creature who lives in the deep sea and
whose body is conceived to be like that of a serpent. In Bud-
dhist books some Naga tribes are said to live among the moun-
tains, but they are always spoken of as guardians of water.
Whether or not the Japanese story of the Sea-god is a product
of Hindu influence, the conception of Ryujin, the Dragon-god,
was very early amalgamated with that of the Sea-god, and the
latter, the father of Lady Abundance- Jewel, was often identi-
fied with Sagara, one of the Hindu Naga kings. The Ryujins
inhabit the deep sea, where there stands a splendid palace built
of coral and crystal, and where the Dragon King, Ryu-wo, rules.
The Dragon King has a human body, though he wears a serpent
on his crown, but his retainers are serpents, fishes and other ma-
rine monsters. The Dragon King is a noble and wise being,
the guardian of Buddha's religion and of Buddhists. But his
benevolence is often defeated by the silly or malicious conduct
of his ignorant kinsfolk, and on this account the dragon world is
sometimes engaged in warfare with the heavenly kings. The
dragon tribes are also believed to have the rain and the storm in
charge. So stories are repeatedly told of wise Buddhist priests
who can control these marine monsters and cause them to give
rain in time of drought, or of Buddhist pilgrims and mission-
aries sailing between Japan and China who command the
dragons to quiet the rough sea, or of a Buddhist zealot, waiting
for the appearance of the future Buddha, and metamorphosed
into a dragon and living on indefinitely beneath the water.
The most conspicuous figure of the sort in folk-lore is a
daughter of the Dragon King. Her Japanese name is Benten,
the Hindu Sarasvati. She is believed to be the guardian of
music and public speaking and also the giver of wealth. She is
represented as a Hindu goddess, clad in variegated robes with
long sleeves and with a jewel in her crown. Sometimes she is
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 269
said to have appeared in person to a famous musician, sometimes
in response to the prayer of a pious Buddhist for wealth, some-
times in the shape of a beautiful woman she attracts the love of
human beings. She partakes of the nature of a celestial maiden
as well as that of a Dragon Princess and she is often identified
with certain goddesses of the sea in the old mythology. She is
worshipped at many beautiful spots on the sea coast. The rep-
resentation of her appearing from waves reminds one of the
classic myths of Venus, and her constant association with a musi-
cal instrument, hiwa (Sanskrit vind, a kind of banjo) adds her
to the company of the Muses. Her worship has been very
popular since the twelfth century, and in later times she came
to be regarded as one of the seven deities of good fortune of
whom we shall hear more.
Many local legends cluster about her and her shrines. The
most famous of the shrines dedicated to her is that of Itsuku-
shima, or Miya-jima, " the Isle of the Temple," well known
to tourists as the isle where neither birth nor death was per-
mitted to take place — a sort of Japanese Elysium. The island
is situated in the Inland Sea and a shrine dedicated to a Sea-
goddess has stood on its beach since time immemorial. Later it
was enlarged and adapted to the worship of Benten, who had
come to be identified with the original Sea-goddess. The pres-
ent temple is extremely curious and beautiful. It consists of a
group of buildings and galleries, standing on a sandy beach
upon which the tide rises until the edifices appear as if they
floated on the water — a veritable image of the Dragon Palace.
Along the galleries hang rows of iron lanterns, and their light
is reflected in the sea below, while the sacred deer roam about
on the beach, near to the temple, when the water is low. The
steep and rocky heights of the island rise behind the temple,
furnishing a splendid background for the picturesque and grace-
ful Dragon Palace. The man who conceived the idea of com-
bining the grandeur of nature with the beauty of architecture,
270 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
and who embodied the story of the Dragon Palace in the wor-
ship of the Dragon Princess, was Kiyomori, the military dicta-
tor of the twelfth century and the hero of the epic He'tke
NLonogatari.
While Kiyomori was the governor of the province in which
this island is situated, he one day went forth upon the sea and
saw a tiny boat approaching his boat. It was a boat of shell
which shone with the lustre of pearl, and it hoisted a scarlet sail
of fine satin. Therein three fairy-like ladies were seen. Kiyo-
mori received these ladies with great reverence, and they told
him that they were Benten (or the ancient Japanese Ichiki-
shima-hime) and her two sisters. They promised the warrior an
extraordinarily fortunate career, if he should enlarge the tem-
ple and renew the worship of the deities. He hastened to obey
their command, and from that time Kiyomori's family has al-
ways borne the scarlet ensign, which once floated in mastery
over the whole of Japan.
Another spot famous for the worship of Benten is Chikubu-
shima in Lake Biwa. The island rises steeply from the water
and its cliffs are overgrown with evergreens. The poets are
never tired of singing of its beauty, and popular fancy attributes
all sorts of fairy wonders to the place. There stands a shrine
dedicated to Benten, whose music is heard in the waves and
ripples that beat against the rocky cliffs, and whose image is seen
hovering in the sky when the moon transforms the island and
its surroundings into a realm of silvery light. It is said that, on
a certain day in spring, when the full moon is in the sky, all the
deities and fairies of the country meet at Chikubu-shima and
make up a great orchestra. One folk-tale connected with this
concert of the gods is about a boy who was somehow trans-
formed into a fairy being and added to the company. He dis-
appeared, leaving with his foster-father the instrument which
he used to play. Naturally enough, musicians deem it a great
honour to practise their art at Chikubu-shima j and one is said to
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 271
have seen the goddess herself, who appeared to him and in-
structed him.
There is another famous Benten shrine on E-no-shima, " the
Picture Island," near Kamakura, on the Pacific coast. The
legend connected with this shrine is that the Fairy Queen en-
shrined there was wedded to a Dragon King who lived in a
pond on the main island, close to the sandy beach that connects
the island with the mainland. According to this story, the
dragon was an unsightly and serpent-like being, and Benten is
said to have yielded to the passionate love of the creature only
after long resistance.
The belief in the serpent tribes of the sea is general, and
there are many stories concerning them and the mysteries of the
under-water world where they are supreme. Most often they
have to do with the storms which the Dragon Kings can arouse
or quell, or with mysterious lights that are seen on the sea.
These lights are called Ryu-t5, or " lanterns of the dragon,"
and are believed to appear on festival nights at certain sanctu-
aries on the sea shore. The most famous one is the Ryu-to that
heralds the approach of the dragons, who bring offerings to the
deities assembling at the Great Shrine of Izumo, on the Sea of
Japan. No one but the priests of the shrine is permitted to go
abroad on that night j the priests go down to the beach and re-
ceive the offerings of the Sea-gods. The ebb and flow of the
tide are ascribed to the power of these marine fairies, who have
a mysterious jewel-crystal that can make the sea rise or fall.
The serpent tribes are supposed to be eagerly covetous of other
crystals that have similar magic power.
There is an interesting tale which illustrates this belief. It
is concerned with the mother of Fujiwara-no-Fusazaki, a fa-
mous minister of state. Thus it runs:
Once the Emperor of China sent across the sea certain
sacred treasures of his land which he wished to deposit in a
Buddhist temple, which was founded and supported bv the
272 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Fujiwara family. The ship that carried the treasures to Japan
encountered a terrible storm, as it approached the coast of Sanuki,
in the Inland Sea. The storm arose with mysterious sudden-
ness and it subsided as suddenly. When the storm had passed,
the captain of the ship noticed that one of the treasures was
missing. This was a crystal in which the image of Buddha was
perpetually reflected. The other treasures were safely trans-
ferred to the temple, and then Fubito, the chief of the Fu-
jiwara family, began to consider how to recover the lost crystal.
He strongly suspected that it had been stolen by the Dragon
King, who had been guilty of a similar offence on other
occasions.
So Fubito went down to the coast of Sanuki and hired all the
divers of the province to search for the lost treasure. None of
them was successful, and Fubito had abandoned all hope of
finding the crystal, when a poor fisher-woman begged that she
might try. The reward she asked was to have her only child ^
brought up in the noble family of Fujiwara, if she should find
the divine crystal. No one believed she could succeed, but she
was permitted to try.
She dived into the water and sank down and down until she
came in sight of the Dragon Palace and saw the crystal gleam-
ing on the top of a tower. The tower was surrounded by vari-
ous kinds of sea monsters, and at first she saw no way of getting
at the crystal. But fortunately the guards were asleep, and the
fisher-woman audaciously climbed to the top of the tower. She
seized the crystal and tried to swim away, but the guards awoke
and pursued her so closely that she could not escape. Suddenly
it occurred to her that blood was abhorrent to these sea monsters
and kinsfolk of the Dragon King. She stabbed herself, and the
sea monsters were afraid to pursue her any further through
the bloody water. When the man above pulled her up out of
the sea by the long rope that was tied about her waist, she was
at the point of death, but the treasure was found hidden in her
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 273
bosom. So the treasure was recovered by the woman who sac-
rificed her life for her child.
The child, the story goes on to say, was adopted by Fubitoj
he became the famous statesman Fusazaki and built a Buddhist
temple at the spot in memory of his mother. The temple
stands there to this day.^
We may add another story to illustrate the nature of the
Dragon King as the guardian of Buddhism as well as of the sea
route. In the Middle Ages, many pious priests attempted to go
over to China and further to India, but only a few succeeded in
reaching China and none got as far as India. Now, a monk, be-
ing desirous of visiting the home-land of Buddhism, passed sev-
eral nights at the shrine of Kasuga in praying for the safety of
the journey. One night a Dragon King guarding the Kasuga
shrine appeared to him and persuaded him to abandon the plan,
because the scene of Buddha's sermon on Vulture Peak could be
shown by him in vision. The priest complied with the counsel
and was shown the vision.
Inferior to the Dragon tribe but, like them, a denizen of the
sea, is Ningyo, the Fisher-woman/° Her head is that of a
woman with long hair but her body is that of a fish. This mer-
maid-like creature often appears to human beings in order to
give them advice or warning. Pearls are said to be her tears,
and according to one tale a fisherman who caught her in his net,
but set her free, received her tears as a reward which filled a
casket with pearls. Another belief about her is that a woman
who eats of her flesh gains perpetual youth and beauty, and
stories are told of women who were fortunate enough to have a
taste of that miraculous food.
Another fairy-like being of marine origin is the Shojo;
though he does not actually belong to the sea but is believed to
come across it to Japan. Probably he is an idealized personifi-
cation of the orang-outang which is native neither to China nor
to Japan, though occasional specimens have, in one way or an-
274 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
other, found their way thither. The Shojo is a merry embodi-
ment of Epicureanism, who, deriving his chief pleasure from
perpetual drinking, is therefore regarded as the genius of sake-
beer. His face is red or scarlet and boyish in appearance. His
long red hair hangs down nearly to his feet; he has a dipper
for ladling sakSy wears gaudy dresses of red and gold, and
dances a sort of bacchanalian dance.
There are no definite stories about these creatures, but a
group of two or three Sh6j5 is often depicted in pictures or
modelled in little statues j and their characteristic dance is per-
formed to the accompaniment of choral songs which praise
them and the drink they love.
IV. THE TAOIST IMMORTALS
Next let us consider the Sennin, " the Man of the Moun-
tain," the ideal man of Taoist mysticism, as he is modified by
the popular imagination of the Japanese. The Sennins are be-
lieved to perform supernatural feats; they can fly through the
air, ejecting their own images from their mouths, walk upon the
waves of the sea, produce a horse from a magic gourd, summon
mysterious animals at will out of vacancy, and so forth. But
the essential thing about them is that they are beyond the effect
of worldly change and commotion and enjoy immortal lives in
blissful serenity and total emancipation from care. They are
ideal recluses who have passed beyond all human limitations
and are in perfect communion with nature; the men in whom
the macrocosmos is embodied and who are therefore the true
" children of nature."
They are variously said to have their home amidst some dis-
tant mountains, or in the happy islands, or even in the sky itself,
and their assembly is conceived to be like a meeting of poets or
of " free talkers." But the Sennins are pre-eminently indi-
vidualists, and even when they feast together, each of them is
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 275
sufficient unto himself and finds his en j oyment in himself. This
myth has its source in the long period of unrest in China during
the centuries that followed the fourth. At that time of social
disintegration many talented men retired from the world.
These mysterious recluses came to be idealized by the people,
and in time to be confused with supernatural beings. The idea
of the secluded and meditative life found sympathy in Japan
during the time of confusion in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, and their stories of the Sennins became the popular
fairy-tales of the period.
The best known of the Sennins are Tobo-saku, " the Prime
Man of the East," and Weiwdbo, " the Queen Mother of the
West." The former is an old man who never grows any older,
and who lives somewhere in the East. His immortality is sym-
bolized by a peach which he holds in his hand, and evidently he
represents the ever rejuvenating vitality of the spring. The
Queen Mother lives on a plateau, close to Heaven, far to the
west of China. She is a beautiful lady of eternal youth, sur-
rounded by a court of young fairies and revered by all Sennins
and fairy-like beings as their queen.
Many of the Sennins are associated with the animals or plants
that symbolize their respective qualities. For instance, Rafu-
sen, which probably means " the Buoyant Subtlety," is the fe-
male genius of the plum-blossom, the flower beloved by Chi-
nese and Japanese poets as the pioneer of spring and the typical
representative of pure perfume and chaste beauty. Rafu-sen is
supposed to wander among the plum-trees in the night, espe-
cially in the moonlight. Kinko Sennin, " the High Man with a
Harp," rides on a pure white crane and plays on his instrument
as he flies through the air. Kiku-jid5, " the Grace-boy of the
Chrysanthemum," is the genius of that flower. He is an eternal
boy and lives somewhere in the mountains, at a fountain by
which chrysanthemums bloom and from which, by the virtue of
the flowers, a stream flows endowed with wonderful curative
276 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
power. Gama Sennin, or " the Toad- Master," has the power
of producing any number of toads and of riding on them
through the sky.
These and many other Chinese Sennins were Imported into
Japan where they are more often represented In painting than
celebrated in folk-lore. But Japan also produced its own Sen-
nins. The most conspicuous of them Is En-no-Ozuna, known as
Gydja, or " the Ascetic Master." Gyoja is the mythic figure of
a famous ascetic who disciplined himself among mountains in
the eighth century. He Is said to have built a rocky bridge
from one mountain to another, by enforcing the service of gods
and spirits, demons and goblins. During this work, the genius
of one of the mountains connected by the bridge refused to
obey Gyoja's command, because he was so ugly that he hesitated
to appear among the other spirits. Gyoja punished the diso-
bedient spirit by shutting him up In a cave, in which he is con-
fined to this day. This story perhaps refers to that stage in the
religious history of Japan, when the Taolst-Buddhist ideal
was getting the better of the old native beliefs. Further, It Is
said that Gydja was condemned by the government authorities
as a magician, and during his exile he performed a number of
supernatural feats. This typical Japanese Sennin still exerts a
certain spell over the popular imagination, and his Image Is to
be seen In many a cave, seated on a chair with a staff In his hand.
According to the usual belief, however, the Sennins are in
danger of losing their supernatural powers If they are tempted
to yield to human passions, as was Ikkaku Sennin, " the One-
horned." " He passed through a long training and gained the
power of performing miracles. He was once engaged in strife
with the Dragon tribe and confined them all within a cave. As
a result no rain fell — because rain is controlled by the Dragons
— and the whole land suffered from a disastrous drought.
Now the king of the land, Benares, learned the cause of the
calamity, and contrived a stratagem to tempt the powerful Sen-
PLATES XTX, XX, XXI
A Group of Three Pictures Representing the
Realm of the Taoist Immortals (Scnnfn)
A lady Immortal riding on the mythical peacock,
howo.
A palace standing on high terraces and command-
ing a wide view of mountains and v/aters, where the
Immortals are gathering.
A male Immortal, called Kinko Sennin, riding on
a Chinese dragon, the symbol of infinity. See pp.
274 ff.
By Kano Seishin (i8th century?). In possession
of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
n: ^
^
fc
r-~ .t;
X
uq
:z
cL r^
f-H
z
O —
z
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 277
nin and thus to set free the Dragons. To that end the king sent
the most beautiful of his court ladies to the mountain where the
One-horned was living. The Sennin was so much charmed by
the lady's beauty that he consented to drink the wine she offered
him. As the Sennin became intoxicated his powers departed
from him and the dragons were able to break out from their
confinement. The Sennin aroused himself and tried to fight his
enemies. But it was too late. The dragons escaped into the
sky and the rain poured down in torrents. So the king's plot
succeeded and the land was refreshed.
Another well known example of a fallen Sennin is that of
Kume-no-Sennin. He lived as an ascetic among the mountains
near Kume-dera, a Buddhist temple, and attained the remark-
able power of feeding on air and flying in the sky. One day,
when he was enjoying himself in the air, he saw beneath him a
woman who washed clothes by the river side. His attention was
attracted by the white feet of the woman gleaming in the
water. He yielded to the allurement and thereby lost his super-
natural power. He fell to the earth, fortunately unhurt, but he
never regained his miraculous gifts. He is said to have married
the woman and left posterity. His fate is always quoted as a
typical instance of downfall from on high j but the story seems
also to be one of that numerous class which deals with a mar-
riage between a heavenly being and a human being.^^
Not only are stories of Sennins widely popular in Japan, but
belief in these supernatural beings is to a certain extent still a
living force among the people. Candidates for Sennin-ship
feed themselves on dry vegetable food and avoid any cooked
food j they go to and fro among the mountains, they bathe often
in cold water and seldom sleep under roofs. They hope for
the immortality of the bodily life and they believe themselves
to have certain supernormal powers. One of them was sure that
he saw purple clouds coming down from Heaven ready to re-
ceive him if he should jump from a lofty cliff. He dared to
VIII — 19
278 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
perform the feat, but his assurance proved to be a delusion and
he was killed. Yet these miracle-mongers are often revered by
the common people and stories about them are in very frequent
circulation.
The Men of the Mountain, self-sufficient as they were, had
their own society. Their meetings were often pictorially repre-
sented. (Plates XX and XXI.) These were supposed to oc-
cur in an ideal region called Senkyo, the realm of the Sennins, a
region among the mountains where pine-trees symbolic of lon-
gevity grow soaring to the heavens, and where terraces com-
mand wide views that correspond to the free and spacious minds
of the Sennins. There they exchange opinions, compose poems,
play music or engage in meditation. This ideal realm was the
paradise of the Taoists, but unlike the Buddhist paradise, it is
not a shining or resplendent world. It is only an ideally beauti-
ful spot inhabited by those immortals, who form a community
of their own, but are not so well organized and united as those
who dwell in the Buddhist paradises.
The Senky5 was often depicted in pictures which in turn stim-
ulated poetic imagination in the Japanese to dreams of ideal
serenity and aloofness, of total emancipation from all worldly
anxieties, of immortal felicity and of freedom from illness and
death. Many Japanese Buddhists, who were much imbued
with Taoist doctrines, attempted to copy the ideal life of the
immortals. They imitated the gathering of the immortals in
the tea-party of a peculiarly quiet and contemplative type, or
in meetings for free conversation and rhyming competition, and
they planned their abodes and gardens in imitation of the ideal
Senkyd." In short, the conception of the Senkyo was a source
of real inspiration to the folk-lore and the aestheticism of the
Japanese.
It was in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that the Chi-
nese ideas of the Sennin and the Senkyd found widest circula-
tion in Japan and became assimilated with the popular beliefs
FAIRIES, CELESTIAL BEINGS 279
of the Japanese. That period was an age of eclecticism, and
just as the Buddhists readily absorbed the Taoist ideals of life,
so the Shintoists no longer clearly distinguished their own ideas
and traditions from Buddhist conceptions. This tendency re-
sulted in the establishment of a group of deities, or immortals,
who were regarded as the patron genii of fortune and longevity,
and were taken from all available sources. The group under-
went several changes, but toward the end of the sixteenth cen-
tury it fell into a definite arrangement and became known as
the "Seven Deities of Good Fortune" (Shichi Fukujin).
These deities are:
1. Ebisu, originally the miscarried son of the primeval de-
ities, who was like a jelly fish," is modified to a merry patron
of good fortune. He has a round white face with a perpetual
smile. In his right hand he carries a fishing-rod with which he
catches the sea-bream, the fish that is regarded as symbolic of
good luck.
2. Daikoku, " the Great Black Deity," who was a modifica-
tion of the Hindu Maha-kala," was combined with the Japa-
nese O-kuni-nushi, " the Great-Land-Master," whose name,
written in Chinese ideograms, was pronounced like Daikoku.
This deity is represented as a dark-skinned, stout man with a
smiling face. He bears a bag on his shoulder and a mallet in
his right hand. He stands on two rice bags, which, together
with the bag on his shoulder, symbolize an inexhaustible source
of wealth, and the mallet is also believed to produce anything
wished for by his worshippers. The rat is the animal associated
with Daikoku.
3. Bishamon, the Buddhist Vaisravana, is the guardian of
the north, who subjugates the devils and protects the righteous.
In popular thought he is the giver of wealth, and the Buddhist
shrine in his right hand is supposed to contain money. He is
associated in pictures and folk-lore with the centipede.
4. Benten, whom we have seen as a fairy, is the only female
28o JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
figure in the groups she is regarded as the patron of female
beauty as well as of wealth. Her messenger is the white ser-
pent.
5. Fuku-roku-ju, or "the genius of Fortune-Wealth-Lon-
gevity," is a Chinese figure said to have been once a Taoist sage.
He is also spoken of as an incarnation of the southern pole stars.
He has a singularly long head, which is believed to be emblem-
atic of all that he gives to mankind. He is always accompanied
by the white crane, symbolic of longevity.
6. Ju-rojin, " the Aged Man of Longevity," is also a Taoist
immortal and a patron of long life. A dark-brown deer is his
animal and he wanders among the trees and grasses, which are
symbolic of health and long life.
7. Hotei, the lover of children, is a fat monk who is believed
originally to have lived in China. He is an embodiment of
cheerfulness, and is always playing with children, whom he
sometimes takes about in the bag which he carries. His bag is
also said to contain many treasures which he bestows on those
who never worry about the troubles of this life.
In this group of deities, or immortals, we have a combination
of mythical figures of Hindu, Chinese, and Japanese origin
which have been a good deal vulgarized by the popular desire
for riches and good fortune. These deities have their worship-
pers, but they are not always treated with respect. They are
often made the subjects of comic representations, pictorial or
theatrical, and are favourite themes for folk-song. The Japan-
ese genius for cheerfulness and merry-making has made pos-
sible the curiously contradictory aspects in which the seven de-
ities appear both in art and literature.
PLATES XXTIT, XXIV, XXV, XXVI
UZUME AND THE SeVEN DeIIIES OF GoOD
P'ORTUNE
Uzume is the goddess, or female genius, of cheer-
fulness, famous as the one who danced before the
Heavenly Cave and induced the Sun-goddess to come
out. Here she is made companion of the seven Deities
of good fortune, who are arrayed in the picture from
left to right as follows: — Uzume, Ehisu, Benten,
Ju-rojin, Daikoku, Fuku-roku-ju, Hotei and Bisha-
mon. The whole company is represented at a merry
banquet. See p. 279.
By Kazan, also known as Toshu (early 19th
century). In possession of Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston.
The Seven Deities of Good Fortune in
Landscapes
Daikoku sitting in a cottage filled with rice, and
Hotei treading a foot-path with two children.
Ebisu fishing in a boat and Bishamon appearing on
a cloud close to a waterfall.
Fuku-roku-ju flying on a crane, Ju-rojin sitting in
a pavilion, and Benten playing music on the water-
side, where a dragon appears. See p. 279.
The whole group is depicted in a faint echo of the
classic style of the Kano Academy and adapted to the
popular taste of the age.
By Kano Yosen, also known as Korenobu (died
1808). In possession of Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston.
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CHAPTER IV
DEMONS, VAMPIRES AND OTHER
GHOSTLY BEINGS
THE Japanese adopted the Buddhist angels and the Taoist
immortals with very little modification j but it was other-
wise with the demons and other ghostly beings that were taken
over from Hindu or Chinese sources, and it is often extremely
difficult to trace the identity of such conceptions. It is a fact,
however, that the evil spirits of the ancient native mythology
are vague and shadowy objects, hardly more than names/ Al-
most all the demons or ghostly beings in Japanese folk-lore are
of foreign origin, though Japanese imagination has shaped
them into forms quite unlike those which they wore in other
lands.
Creatures of this sort may be divided into three classes,
though the lines between the classes are in many cases obscure.
They are :
1. Ghosts, pure and simple, which are deteriorated forms of
wandering human souls.
2. Demons, beings of infernal origin, created to chastise the
wicked, but often busy in pure mischief and then almost comic
in character.
3. Aerial vampires, called Tengu, and similar furious spirits
that rage in the air.
It may be expedient at this point to say something more con-
cerning the Buddhist doctrine about the transmigration of the
soul. Besides the four superior stages on the way to Buddha-
hood, there are various classes of inferior unperfected spirits.
The highest of them inhabit the heavens (Deva). Of these
282 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
celestial or angelic beings, we have already spoken. These
heavens are not to be mistaken for paradises, because their ce-
lestial inhabitants are subject to change and decay. Next comes
mankind, whose inferior souls become in turn the hungry ghosts
(Japanese Gaki, Sanskrit Preta). Some of these ghosts are
merely tormented by perpetual hunger and thirst, but some
others are vengeful spirits who roam about the world and do
evil to those whom they have cause to hate, or even to quite in-
nocent persons. The next class are the Asura, or furious spirits,
cruel and arrogant, and much more powerful than ordinary
ghosts. These are usually the reborn personalities of those who
died in battle; eager for revenge they hover in the sky, fighting
among themselves, or attacking those human beings who were
their enemies. The lowest order of existence is found in the
infernal regions (Naraka). The spirits born in this dark place
appear rarely in the world; but the devil, or Oni, who inhabits
the hells plays a considerable part in popular folk-lore.
I. THE DEVIL
The Oni range from the giant who may devour the whole
world, through ogres and vampires, to the little goblin-like
mischief-makers. But the Japanese usually think of an Oni as
an ugly and hideous devil, who comes up from the infernal re-
gions, to drag down sinners to the hells, to punish wicked men
who are still alive, or to terrify men of bad disposition. His
body varies as to its colour; it may be blue, pink, or grey;
his face is flat, his wide mouth stretches from ear to ear. On his
head grow horns; he has often a third eye on his forehead; his
feet have three toes with pointed nails, and his fingers are also
three in number. He is nearly naked and his loin-cloth is made
of the skin of a tiger. He can walk about the world or fly
through the air. In his right hand he often carries a big iron
rod furnished with sharp spikes.
VAMPIRES AND GHOSTLY BEINGS 283
These demons are supposed to appear with a cart wrapped in
flames, to seize the soul of a wicked man who is about to die.
The cruel torments they devise for lost souls in hell are the
subjects of much vivid and fantastic imagination. But they be-
long to the purely Buddhist mythology and bear a curious re-
semblance to the imps and devils of mediaeval Christian super-
stition.
But in spite of their terrifying aspect, the Oni of Japanese
folk-lore have a distinctly comic aspect. They are fond of in-
terfering in human affairs, but they are easily baffled by simple
incantations or charms, and their consequent irritation is often
made the subject of a humorous story. They are easily de-
ceived, and their demoniac strength as well as their frightful
appearance makes them all the more ridiculous when they are
fooled or made helpless by those whom they meant to annoy.
A curious old tale, told in a collection of stories that was writ-
ten in the twelfth century, illustrates in an amusing manner this
peculiarity of the Oni. It is known as " Taking Off the
Lumps " (Kobu-tori)."
There was once an old man who had a big lump on his right
cheek. One day he stayed so late in the forest cutting wood
that he was obliged to take shelter for the night in the hollow
of a large tree. In the middle of the night he heard confused
noises near by and at last he realized that they were made by a
group of Oni, which included every variety of devil. He
peeped out to watch them and saw them sitting at a merry ban-
quet and dancing one after another, some skilfully and others
most awkwardly. The old man was very much amused at the
sight, and, being overtaken by a desire to take part in the frolic,
he crept out of the tree and began to dance too. The devils
were amazed at the unexpected apparition, but were delighted
to have a human being in their company and to observe the old
man's clever dancing.
They spent an hour or two very pleasantly, and when they
284 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
parted, the Oni asked him to come again another night and
show them more of his art. The old man consented, but the
devils insisted on a pledge. They might have taken his nose
or ears, but decided to take the lump on his right cheek,^ for he
made them believe that was the thing he was most loth to part
with.
When the old man got home to his village, the people were
amazed to see the lump gone from his cheek, and the story soon
circulated through the whole community. Now there was an-
other old man in the same village who had a lump on his left
cheek. Hearing the wonderful story, this man wished that the
devils might remove his lump in the same way. The following
night he went to the mountain, as he had been Instructed, and
waited for the coming of the devils. They came as before and
began to eat and drink and dance. The old man crept out of
his shelter timidly and tried to dance. But he was no dancer,
and the devils soon saw by his awkward movements that he was
no match for the man who had danced for them the night be-
fore. They were very angry j they seized the old man and con-
sulted among themselves how they should punish him for his
impertinence. They finally decided to attach the lump which
they had taken as a pledge from the first man to the right cheek
of their prisoner. So the old man with a lump on his left cheek
got one on his right cheek as well and came back to the village
in great distress.
The story teller adds a didactic remark to the effect that one
should never envy another's fortune. But the moral is appar-
ently an afterthought of the writer 3 the original motive of the
story was purely humorous.
The same collection contains other stories about devils, in
which they appear now as terrible, now as comic objects. For
instance, a wandering itinerant monk once met a frightful devil
among the mountains. In spite of his monstrous and dreadful
aspect, the devil was weeping bitterly. The monk wondered at
PLATE XXVII
Frolic of Demons
Two parts of a long roll representing a frolic of
monstrous beings, animals and demons, after the
model of the famous caricature painter Toba Sojo.
See p. 283.
By Hironobu (early i8th century). In possession
of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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VAMPIRES AND GHOSTLY BEINGS 285
that and asked the reason of it. The devil explained that he
had once been a human being, and because of the revengeful
spirit which he cherished toward his foe he had become a devil.
He had succeeded in taking revenge not only on his enemy but
on his descendants through several generations, for a devil lives
much longer than human beings. Now he had killed the last
of his enemy's lineage, and he had no more enemies whom he
could injure. Yet he must continue to live gnawed by the cease-
less desire for revenge.
The misery of this devil consumed by passions which he could
not satisfy embodies a lesson which the Buddhists were fond of
teaching, yet a monster weeping for such a cause has something
grimly humorous about him. From this story perhaps comes
the familiar proverb — " Tears even in the eyes of a devil."
Another proverb runs — " Even devils know how to pray to
Buddha," and it is a favourite subject for pictures. A devil
with a face of horrible ugliness is drawn in monastic robes and
beating a little flat bell that hangs from his breast j he is sup-
posed to repeat Buddha's name in unison with the sound of the
bell. Devils caricatured in this way are abundant in Japanese
painting, especially in the work of the later genre painters.
As a counterpart to the devils, Japanese folk-lore has a sort
of archangel Michael in the person of Shdki. He is said to
have lived in China in the eighth century. The story runs that
after he had failed in his official career he killed himself. Yet
the Emperor showed him great honour after his death, and he
undertook to guard the Imperial palace against devils. He is
represented as a giant wearing the coronet and robes of a Chi-
nese official of that time and having a sword in his hand. His
eyes glare about angrily and his cheeks are covered by a beard.
He chases the devils about remorselessly, and in pictures of his
devil-baiting, the contrast between his gigantic figure and the
ugly little mischief-makers is made highly amusing. (Plate
XXVIII.) The figure of Shdki always appears on the flags
286 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
hoisted on the Japanese May Day, a festival * on which the evil
spirits of plague and disease are exorcised.
Some of the Oni are said to possess a miraculous mallet,
quite like that of Daikoku,^' which can grant anything that is
desired. A story that bears upon this point is that of Issun-
boshi, " the One-inch Dwarf."
Once upon a time, an aged couple who were without children
prayed to the god of Sumiyoshi for a child, even if he should
be only one inch in height. Their prayer was granted and a
pygmy boy was born to them. He was called Issun-boshi, or
" the One-inch Boy," and he was a clever child. When he
grew older, though he grew no larger, he wished to see the
world and to start a career in Miyako, the Imperial capital.
His parents gave him provisions, and the dwarf started on his
journey, taking a wooden plate and a chop stick, which he used
as a boat and rudder in crossing streams. When he came to
Miyako he was taken into service by a nobleman and soon be-
came a useful servant.
One day he escorted the princess of the house to the temple
of Kiyomizu, and on the way back an Oni stopped them and
threatened to devour them. The clever and courageous Issun-
bdshi jumped into the mouth of the Oni and pricked the Oni's
mouth and nostrils with his sword, which was a pin. The Oni,
finding the pain unbearable, sneezed out the curious little as-
sailant unhurt and ran away. When the Oni had vanished the
princess found a mallet, apparently left behind by the Oni in
his flight. Now she knew that the Oni sometimes had a won-
derful mallet which could cause any wish to be realized, and so
she took it up and swung it, crying out that Issun-bdshi should
become a man. The One-inch Dwarf immediately became a
man of noble stature. The princess was grateful to him for
saving her from the Onij and Issun-b5shi was grateful to the
princess for making him a man. So they married and lived
happily ever after.
PLATE XXVIII
Shoki, the Devil-Hunter
Shoki, the devil hunter, appearing from within a
curtain, and a little oni coming through the temple,
dancing. The little demon is apparently intoxicated.
He wears a tripod incense-burner on his head and has
a cup in his hand. See p. 285.
By Kano Hogai (died 1888). In possession of
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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VAMPIRES AND GHOSTLY BEINGS 287
11. THE HUNGRY GHOST AND THE FURIOUS
SPIRIT
Less dreadful but perhaps more miserable than the Oni, are
the Gaki, or hungry ghosts, who perpetually suffer from hun-
ger and thirst, and before whom any food or drink is consumed
in flam.es. In the Buddhist books they are of various descrip-
tions, but in Japanese folk-lore they are wretched beings, ter-
ribly emaciated except as to the belly, which is swollen abnor-
mally. The swollen belly and the wide mouth symbolize their
never-sated hunger, and they flock wherever there is any waste
of food and drink. Not many stories are told about them, but
any human being, who is greedy either for money or in appe-
tite, is likened to a Gaki. So besides the pictures of the Gaki,
which are very common, there is frequent reference to these
unhappy creatures both in tales and in proverbs.
The third order of lost spirits introduced into Japanese
mythology by Buddhism is the Shura, or " Furious Spirit."
The abode of the Shuras is the sky, where they gather to fight
one another in hostile groups. In appearance they are like war-
riors j their roars of rage are like the thunder, while their
throng often obscures the sun or moon. The Shuras are rein-
carnations of warriors who died in battle. There are no Valkyr-
ies in Japanese folk-lore j these furious beings are all males,
and they embody the spirit of hatred and revenge. The Shuras
were confused more or less with another type of creature, prob-
ably Chinese in origin, a sort of aerial ogre who is very com-
mon in Japanese folk-lore, under the name of Tengu.
The Tengu is of two kinds, the principal and the subordinate.
The chief Tengu wears red robes like a bishop, and a small
coronet like that of a mountain priest, and he carries a fan made
of feathers in his right hand. His expression is angry and
threatening, and he has a prominent nose, which is supposed to
288 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
be symbolic of pride and arrogance. The Tengu chiefs have
distinct personalities and titles, and each of them is believed to
reside on a particular high peak. On the other hand, the in-
ferior Tengus are subject to a chief and must always serve him.
Their mouths resemble the beaks of birds and their bodies are
furnished with small wings. In that respect they are like the
Hindu Garuda but they are much smaller in stature. They
flock in a giant cryptomeria tree, near where their chief resides,
and thence fly to and fro as they are despatched on his er-
rands. Therefore they are called Koppa Tengu, or " Leaflet
Tengus."
The Tengus are, as we have said, reincarnations of those
whose high and revengeful spirit is unquenched, of those who
were proud and arrogant, especially priests, or of those who
died in battle. These beings hold counsel in the top of a great
cryptomeria and, according to the decision, attack those whom
they hate or whom they wish to fill with their own proud spirit.
In the ages of war, the three centuries that followed the four-
teenth, the Japanese were obsessed by superstitious dread of the
Tengus and stories about them were manifold.
Closely allied with the Tengu and the Oni are the genii of
thunder and of wind, called Rai-jin and Fu-jin respectively.
Their nativity is uncertain but they are much like the Oni. The
spirit of thunder is a red Oni and the spirit of wind, blue. The
Rai-jin has a round frame behind his back, to which are fastened
little drums. The Fu-jin has a large bag, from which he pours
forth streams of wind, from a breeze to a hurricane, according
to the extent to which he opens the bag. There are no particu-
lar stories about them, but they are frequently represented in
statues and pictures, sometimes humorously, as when Rai-jin
is shown tottering about like a drunkard, or Fu-jin is swept
away by the wind that he himself has let loose.
PLATES XXIX, XXX, XXXI, XXXII
Sojo-Bo, THE Chief of the Tengu, 'rocETHER
WITH THE Small Tengu
Sojo-bo appears here as a furious spirit hovering
among dark clouds. A coronet on his head is like
that worn by the mountaineering priests; he has a
pilgrim's staff, instead of the fan of feathers; his
robes are those of regular Buddhist monks. The little
Tengu are here represented as birds. See p. 309.
By Donshu, of the modern Kyoto School, dated
1852. In possession of Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston.
Thunder and Wind
See p. 288.
By Kyosai (died 18S9). In possession of Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston.
Yama-uba, THE Mountain-Woman, and Her
Son Kintaro, the Child of Nature
The Mountain-Woman appears here as a fearful
woman of the mountain, wearing variegated but
■worn-out robes, with fruits in a basket. Her son,
Kintaro, is represented in red colour, therefore dark
in the reproduction. See pp. 289 ff.
Taken from the Kokka, in a private collection
in Osaka. A duplicate of the same picture executed
on a wooden plate is in the galleries of Itsukushima.
By Rosetsu, an unruly disciple of the realist Okyo
(died 1799).
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VAMPIRES AND GHOSTLY BEINGS 289
III. OTHER GHOSTLY BEINGS
These then are the ghostly beings imported from the Asiatic
continent and modified by the Japanese. We shall next de-
scribe some of the original Japanese conceptions of the same
sort. These are all of later origin, probably not earlier than
the fourteenth century.
Yuki-onne, " the Snow- Woman," is a young woman ghastly
white in complexion, slender in stature, gentle and alluring in
manner. She appears to any one who is exhausted by struggling
against a snow-storm. She soothes him and lulls him to sleep,
until the man loses consciousness and dies. She is said some-
times to incarnate herself as a beautiful woman and to marry a
man, whom she finally kills.
Myojo-tenshi, " the Morning-star Angel," is a handsome
boy clad in the manner of a noble prince. He appears to wise
and virtuous men and guides them on their journey. This is
said to have happened often to itinerant monks, and thus the
belief belongs rather to the purely Buddhist lore than to folk-
lore at large.
Japanese folk-lore has no clear conception of a class of beings
like Dryads or Nymphs, but there are tales about the spirits of
particular forests, fountains, and lakes. The spirits of forests
and mountains are generally ghostly creatures either male or
female, while those of the waters are fishes, tortoises or ser-
pents. One of the genii of mountains is Yama-uba, "the
Mountain- Woman," who is believed to roam about in the
mountains and to appear in various shapes. Her name seems
once to have been a general word for all female spirits of the
mountains, but later it was applied to one particular spirit about
whom stories began to be told.
One of the tales concerning the female spirits of the moun-
tains is that of Momiji-gari, or " The Maple Itinerary "j there
■\
290 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
is a famous version of this story in the lyric drama. One
autumn day a warrior went into the mountains to enjoy the
beautiful crimson of dying maple leaves. When he had gone
deep into the forest, he came upon a company of ladies holding
a feast behind brilliant curtains of satin which were drawn
around them. He joined their company and was pleasantly
entertained, especially by the chief of the party, a young noble-
woman. While the warrior was enjoying himself with music
and the rice-beer that the lady provided, the sky suddenly dark-
ened and a furious storm rushed down from the surrounding
mountain peaks. In the midst of the confusion the lady was
transformed into an alarming demon which threatened his life.
The terrified warrior roused himself from the spell under
which he lay and, regaining his composure and his courage,
managed to make his escape from this treacherous spirit. In
this story, the female genius is not given a name ^ but she re-
minds one strongly of Yama-uba.
Yama-uba, " the Mountain-Woman " sometimes assumes a
terrifying aspect, but she is generally represented as a hand-
some woman and is said to have married a warrior. Their little
son is called Kintard or Kintoki. The boy is a genuine child of
nature, sturdy and courageous; he fears nothing and plays with
wild animals. He may be called the Siegfried of Japanese
folk-lore. He is said to have become a retainer of the famous
warrior Raiko, of whom we shall hear in Chapter VI. '^ In the
lyric drama the boy's mother is idealized into a fairy, a person-
ification of the clouds and mists, who roams among the moun-
tains and also visits human abodes. This is an extract from the
drama in question.
Chorus
" Mountain-maid we call her.
But no one knows her birth-place or her fixed abode.
She lives in the clouds and beside all the streams.
There is no place, even among the remotest mountains.
Where traces of her are not found."
VAMPIRES AND GHOSTLY BEINGS 291
The Maid
" Although I am not a human being."
Chorus
" She manifests herself in a wondrous figure of monstrous size.
Formed out of clouds and mists,
And by transforming herself according to her surroundings. , . .
See the willow leaves bursting green from the buds,
And the flowers blooming, beautifully pink.
All by themselves and left to themselves.
Likewise the Mountain-maid ever roams about the world.
Sometimes she consoles the wood-cutter,
By giving him a resting place under a blooming tree.
Along the trails on the slopes of mountains ...
Again she steps into the window,
Beside which a girl manipulates her weaving loom.
And tenders her help to the toiling hands;
Just as the nightingale singing on the willow tree
Weaves the green threads of the pending branches."
Chorus
" In the spring, as the blooming season approaches,"
The Maid
" I roam about searching for blossoms."
Chorus
" In the autumn, when the evening is calm and the air translucent,"
The Maid
" I migrate from mountain to mountain.
Enjoying the silvery light of the moon."
Chorus
" In the winter, when the clouds bring storm and snow,"
The Maid
" I hover in the flying snow, along the slopes and peaks."
292 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Chorus
"She roams endlessly among the clouds of illusion;
And see her figure like the mountains,
Yet changing perpetually.
She hovers around the peaks,
Her voice is echoed from the dales.
The figure close by only a moment ago
Is passing away, moving up and down.
To the right and the left, encircling the summits,
Wandering along the ranges, flying and drifting,
And finally leaving no trace behind."
CHAPTER V
ROMANTIC STORIES
ALWAYS and everywhere love is a powerful stimulus to
sentiment and imagination. No emotion is so readily
idealized by the human mind, and the literature, oral or written,
of every people is rich in the romantic fictions that deal with
the countless aspects and manifestations of the tender passion.
Every love story, of course, reflects the prevailing sentiment
and the social environment of the time in which it was pro-
duced. Accordingly no story can be called absolutely universal
in its appeal. Yet some are so naive, so simple, and so touching,
that they live on from age to age, always bearing a message to
the human heart. They are filtered, as it were, through the
varying sympathies of generations, and everyone finds some
echo of his own experience in them. The romantic story of this
sort is a product of what Richard Wagner called the re'm-
menschlichy and is to be distinguished from tales and novels
that are more intricate in structure and more intense in passion,
but at the same time less direct and less certain in their appeal
to the emotions of the race. Such stories belong to the common
emotional tradition of mankind. We know that the heroes and
heroines are creations of the imagination, yet we cannot escape
the feeling that they have a reality more genuine than that of
many actual men and women. Theirs is an ideal reality j they
are changeless and immortal prototypes of the lovers of every
age and clime.
There were two great epochs in Japanese history favourable
to the production of romantic stories of this special type. In
the ancient days down to the end of the eighth century, the im-
294 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
agination of the race was still in the primitive and mythopoeic
stage of development. In that epoch nature myths were often
translated into simple and charming tales animated by the mo-
tive of human love. Again between the tenth and twelfth cen-
turies there was an age of romantic sentiment which had its
origin in the peculiar atmosphere of the court life and was stim-
ulated by the Buddhist conception of reality. Later, in the
fifteenth century, there was a revival of this interest in romantic
love, but the movement was not creative as the other two had
been J it only refined and elaborated the materials handed down
from former times.
In the stories of the two epochs which I have mentioned, the
characters are sometimes personifications of natural objects, but
more often they are human beings who represent the sentiments
and ideals of the period. First let us reproduce a story from
the ancient mythological records, which deals with personified
phenomena of nature.^
There were two brothers, Haru-yama no Kasumi-onoko and
Aki-yama no Shitabi-onoko, i.e. " the Mist-man of the Spring
Mountain " and " the Frost-man of the Autumn Mountain."
At the same time there lived a beautiful girl named Izushio-
tome, i.e. " the Grace-maiden," who was born of the eight di-
vine treasures — the spear, jewels, etc. — brought over by a
Korean prince to Japan. Now, the elder brother, the Frost-
man of Autumn was eager to marry the girl, but she would have
none of his love. He told his younger brother, the Mist-man
of Spring, of his failure and promised to make him a fine pres-
ent if he should succeed in winning the girl. The Mist-man
said that he felt sure of his success, and then asked his mother ^
how he should win the heart of the girl. His mother made for
him robes of the fine tendrils of the wistaria and gave him a bow
and arrows to carry when he visited the maiden. When the
Mist-man arrived at the house of the Grace-maiden, his robes
were purple, and his bow and arrows also were adorned with
ROMANTIC STORIES 295
beautiful wistaria flowers. The girl welcomed the handsome
flower-bedecked youth, married him and had a child by him.
The Mist-man then went to his elder brother, told him of
his success and asked for the promised present. But the Frost-
man was very jealous of his brother and would not fulfil his
promise. So the Mist-man went to the mother and complained
that his brother had deceived him. The mother in turn was
angry with the Frost-man and laid a curse upon him ^ that he
should wither like an uprooted bamboo and fall sick. Accord-
ingly the Frost-man became seriously ill. Yet when he re-
pented of his breach of faith, and prayed for his mother's par-
don she forgave himj he was cured, and all lived together in
harmony.
Another story which also deals with a girl and her two lovers
dates from the eighth century. Although the story seems origi-
nally to have had a natural background, it is told as if it were
an actual episode of human love, and the graves of the three
were often in later years pointed out to sympathizing passers-by.
The story runs thus : *
There lived in the province of Settsu a girl famous for her
beauty, who was known as the maiden of Unai. Many lovers
wooed her, but she cared for none of them. When all the
others had given up hope, two young men, equally handsome,
remained as undiscouraged suitors. Each vied with the other in
trying to win the girPs heart by visiting her and making her
costly presents. The parents, ready to see their daughter mar-
ried to one of the young men, but unable to decide between
them, determined that an archery contest should decide the
question. The suitors came on the appointed day, equipped with
bow and arrows. The girl and her parents stood by to watch the
contest, and the suitors were to shoot at a bird that had alighted
on the surface of a river that flowed by the maiden's house.
They shot, and each arrow hit the bird, one at the head and the
other at the tail. So the matter was still undecided.
296 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
The girl, tormented by the difficulty of choosing between her
lovers, grew despondent and threw herself into the river. The
two lovers thereupon lost all desire for life and followed the
example of their beloved. So the three were joined in death
and they were buried together on the river bank, the maiden in
the middle and a lover on either side.
Before giving examples of the stories produced during the
second romantic epoch, we ought to say something about the pe-
culiar ideals of that interesting time. It was the age of the
" cloud-gallants " and the " flower-maidens," of the luxurious
nobles and ladies who moved amidst the romantic and artificial
surroundings of the Imperial court. It was an epoch of aes-
theticism and sentimentalism, in which free rein was given to
emotions that were refined and cultivated by the somewhat en-
ervating atmosphere of Miyako, the Imperial capital. Every
member of this picturesque society, man or woman, was a poet,
sensitive to the charms of nature and eager to express every
phase of feeling in verse. Their intimate feeling for nature
and for the varied emotions of the human heart was expressed
in the word aware ^ which meant both " pity " and " sympathy."
This sentiment had its source in the tender romanticism of the
age J it owed much, too, to the Buddhist teaching of the oneness
of existences, of the basic unity that joins together different be-
ings, and which persists through the changing incarnations of
one individual. That conviction of the continuity of life, both
in this existence and hereafter, deepened the sentimental note,
and widened the sympathetic reach of aware. It is not strange
that the reign of aware produced many romances of love, both
in actual life and in the stories of the period.
Not only through its metaphysical doctrine of the unity of
existence and of the continuity of karma, but through the ideal
of the " One Road," Buddhism impressed on the " cloud-
gallants " and the " flower-maidens " of that time a sense of
the oneness of life. According to this teaching, beings, whether
PLATE XXXIII
The Maiden of Unai and Her Lovers
Shooting Birds
See p. 295.
Taken from Settsu Meisho Zu drawn by Yutei
(late 1 8th century).
iOk_
ROMANTIC STORIES 297
human or animal or even vegetable, are destined finally to at-
tain ideal perfection. The basis is common, the aim is the same,
and the way leading to the perfect enlightenment is one for all
beings, whatever their different dispositions and capacities.
This was the teaching of the " One Road," and the Buddhist
scripture which expounded it most fully was the Lotus of
Truthy the Johannine Gospel of Buddhism. The book is full
of similes and parables, apocalyptic visions and stimulating
prophecies, and it gave tremendous impetus to the romantic
sentiment of the age. The greatest romance of this period was
the Genj't NLonogataUy the stories of the love adventures of
Prince Gen ji, and the author of that book has embodied the
truths taught in the Lotus with singular felicity and charm in
his graceful narrative.
The stories of Prince Gen ji's love adventures are not re-
markable for plot or incident, but they are very delightful in
their affectionate association with the beauties of nature. In
other words, the varied characters of the women who figure
in these love affairs are not only illustrated by the circumstances
of love, but by their suggested likeness to certain seasons and
to certain physical surroundings. For instance, the Lady Vio-
let is an intelligent and sprightly woman, whom the prince met
while she was quite a child, and her love affair with him is nar-
rated in a succession of tender episodes and of happy days like
a perpetual spring. On the other hand, the Lady Hollyhock,
the prince's legitimate wife, is a jealous woman of passionate
temperament j her life runs stormily, tormented by her hus-
band's waywardness, and she is even attacked by the revengeful
spirit of another jealous woman.^ These stories, excellently
representative of the sentiment of aware y appealed to the Japa-
nese of the Middle Ages so deeply that they became the classic
models of romantic love tales. They were repeatedly sung in
verse, referred to in other books, embodied in lyric dramas, and
depicted in pictures j and the persons and incidents of the stories
298 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
attained so much reality in the people's minds that many authors
treated the romances as if they were actual and not fictitious ad-
ventures. The popularity of the stories may be seen from the
fact, that a set of symbols ^ was devised to stand for each chap-
ter of the book, and for its particular persons, circumstances and
instances.
Besides Genjl Monogatari there are several books represent-
ing the same ethos and sentiment, and some of the tales attained
a popularity rivalling that of Genji. The scenes where these
stories are laid were often visited, and some persons were said
to have seen the romantic lovers in apparitions, to have con-
versed with them and to have converted their souls, still en-
tangled in the passion of love, to the Buddhist religion. Such
Buddhistic romantic tales are found composed In lyric dramas
since the fourteenth century, and the old romances obtained a
still wider circulation through them. These dramas, called
" Utai," are not dramatic, in the modern sense of the word, but
are rather lyrical narratives of the persons who have had such
experiences, recited In a kind of chant to the accompaniment of
orchestra and choral song. In these performances, which are
called " No ", the characters who appear on the stage are two
or three In number j they converse In recitative and perform cer-
tain dances. The No are not unlike the Greek tragedies In tech-
nique, but the subjects are sentimental and romantic rather than
tragic. These plays were performed before assemblies of
nobles and warriors, and even today they are patronized by the
educated classes, and the stories they represent are known al-
most universally among the people. Although these stories do
not belong to folk-lore In the proper sense, they may as well be
illustrated here, since they are so characteristic of the people's
vein of sentiment.
First of all these is the story of Ono-no-Komachi, the Ideal-
ized type of female beauty In Japanese literature and folk-lore.
She was a court lady who flourished in the ninth century. Not
ROMANTIC STORIES 299
only did her beauty attract many " cloud-gallants " to woo her,
but she was a poetess of high gifts. Having met with ill for-
tune in her love for a certain nobleman, she rejected all other
suitors, left the court, and lived out a long life as a recluse.
Many stories are told about her, but the best known is that of
her appearance to the poet Narihira, who is himself the hero of
many romantic stories, and her conversation in verse with him.
The story ascribes her cruelty toward lovers to her pride in
her own beauty, and asserts that her solitary life in later years
was the just punishment for that pride. The unfortunate
Komachi is often depicted in pictures as a miserable old woman
sitting on a sotobay a piece of wood erected beside a tomb in
memory of the dead. It is of this Komachi, lonely and for-
gotten, that the poem speaks:
" The flowers and my love
Passed away under the rain,
While I idly looked upon them!
Where is my yester-love? " *
Thus she died 5 no one buried her, and her corpse remained
exposed to the weather. Some years later Narihira, the poet
of love, passed a night at the spot, not knowing that it was there
that Komachi had died. He heard a faint voice among the
bushes, and it repeated a poem complaining of the solitude.
Then Komachi's apparition disclosed itself, and confessed to
Narihira that she repented of her pride and suffered sadly from
loneliness. On the following morning Narihira discovered a
decayed skull among the grass. " Think," the story concludes,
" of the transitoriness of physical beauty and the vanity of all
pride in it."
The poet Narihira was one of the " cloud-gallants " of the
ninth century, whose life was a succession of romantic love af-
fairs. There exists a collection of stories which is ascribed to
his own pen. One of them is about his boyhood love, and is
called the story of the Tsutsu-izutsu, or " Well-curb."
300 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Narihira had a girl friend whom he had loved since early
childhood. Often, in their early years, they stood beside a well,
and, leaning together on the well-curb, exchanged smiles as
each looked into the other's face, reflected in the water. When
Narihira grew up, he fell in love with another woman. His
former love stood beside the well, alone j she thought of those
early days and, remembering the poems he had composed on
the well-curb, wrote verses of her own, contrasting the happy
past with the unhappy present.
That is the old story. The No-drama, " Well-curb," has for
its scene this old well. An itinerant monk visits the place and
meets the ghost of the woman, deserted by her lover. She tells
him her story, performs a dance expressing her despair, and
vanishes. The chorus sings:
" The soul of the dead woman, the ghost of the poor girl,
Colourless like a withered flower.
Leaves no trace behind it, in the temple-ground of Arihara.
The dawn approaches as the bell rings gently;
In the twilight of the early morning there remains
Only the frail banana-leaves ® wavering in the morning air.
No sound is heard but the melody that the breeze plays on the pine
needles.
The dream is broken and the day has come."
Let us return to the famous stories of Prince Genji. He was
a prince of royal birth, so handsome and so debonair that he
was called " the Bright." One of his mistresses, the lady of
the Sixth Avenue, had been abused and insulted by his jealous
wife, Lady Hollyhock j and when she died, her revengeful
spirit attacked not only Lady Hollyhock but other mistresses of
the prince. The prince always remembered the dead woman
affectionately and once made a visit to the country place where
her daughter was living.
A No-drama takes this country place for its scene. As is very
often the case in these dramas, an itinerant monk visits the place
on an autumn night. The pale light of the moon silvers the air,
ROMANTIC STORIES 301
and the insects among the long grasses sing their plaintive tunes.
There the ghost of the unfortunate lady of the Sixth Avenue
appears to the monk, who saves her tormented soul. The mo-
tive in this No-drama consists in the contrast between the agony
of the ghost and the serenity of the night j but among the peo-
ple it is popular because it celebrates the passionate attachment
of the lady to the prince even after her death.
Quite similar in motive and effect is the lyric drama " Eve-
ning-glory." This is the story:
Prince Genji once took a mistress named Yufugawo, or
" Evening-glory," ^° to an abandoned palace in the Sixth
Avenue. During the night a ghost appeared to the lovers.
Poor Yufugawo was so terrified by the apparition that soon
after Genji found her dead. The desolate solitude of the place,
the ghastliness of the apparition, and the tender care of the
prince for the terrified girl are so vividly described in Genji
Monogatariy that the name of Yufugawo and that of the pal-
ace, " the villa on the river bank," came to suggest always a sad
and tragic ending to a love affair, or the unhappy separation by
death of lover and beloved.
A lyric drama founded upon this story has for its scene a
flower festival held early in autumn and organized by a monk
for the flowers' spiritual enlightenment. Various flowers are
displayed in front of a Buddhist altar and the monk offers his
prayer for the spirits of the flowers. Then, among the blos-
soms the pale " Evening-glory " begins to smile, and from it
appears the figure of the dead woman. Her unhappy spirit is
soothed and pacified by the religious merit of the festival j she
expresses her thanks for her salvation, and vanishes among the
flowers.
From the many other love stories in the same book, let us
take one other concerning General Kaoru, the Fragrant, a son
of Prince Genji — for the book continues its narrative into the
second generation of this amorous family. Kaoru was a man
302 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
of tender heart, but more quiet and reserved than his father,
and the stories in which he appears are on the whole less gay
than those of which his father is the hero.
Kaoru loved a princess called Ukifune, which means " the
Floating Boat." She lived in the country with her hermit
father and took no part in the social life of Miyako. Kaoru
often visited the princess in her lonely home, the retirement of
which he found grateful, but circumstances hindered him for a
while from visiting her, and the diffident princess dared not
even write to him in Miyako. Not unnaturally she grew sus-
picious that her lover was unfaithful, and another prince named
Niou, " the Scented," who was Kaoru's rival, lost no opportu-
nity to encourage that suspicion. In this mood of despondency,
Ukifune used often to wander along the river bank near her
home. Her own name, " the Floating Boat," suggested to her
mind the evanescence of life and vanity of all hopes, and the
swollen stream of the river, which the rains had filled, seemed
to invite her. So she threw herself into the water, but was
saved by a monk who was passing by. Thereupon she became a
nun and passed the rest of her life in a nunnery. Such is the
melancholy story j its gentle pathos appeals strongly to the
Japanese mind.
CHAPTER VI
HEROIC STORIES
AMONG every people, the deeds of early heroes easily
take on a mythical or semi-mythical character, and when
the hero lived far in the past his fame is so much affected by
this mythopceic process that it becomes difficult to tell what are
historical facts and what are legendary embellishments. There
is still another type of heroes whose actual existence can never
be established, but whose legendary deeds are so much a part of
popular tradition that they are always thought of as persons no
less real than those whose exploits are unquestionably authentic.
We shall, in a brief survey of the Japanese heroic tales, draw
illustrations from both classes.
A very famous hero in the ancient mythology was Susa-no-
wo, the Storm-god, who, as we have heard, vanquished the
eight-headed dragon and saved a young woman from being sac-
rificed to that horrible monster. Similar stories are told about
his sons, who are said to have subjugated various " gods " who
were found in their dominions, the modern province of Izumo.
But we need not delay over these stories, which are purely
mythical j the strictly heroic stories may be said to begin with
the valiant Yamato-Takeru.
This prince was an emperor's son and he is said to have lived
in the second century, a.d. He was sent on an expedition
against the disobedient tribes of the west, in order to revenge
the atrocities which they had committed upon his brothers. On
one occasion, disguised as a young woman, he gained admittance
to the house of a chief, and his disguise was so ingenious that
the enemy had no suspicion of the truth. The chief became in-
304 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
toxicated at a feast, which he gave for the supposed lady, and
the prince stabbed him and subjugated the whole tribe. We
are told that the title " Japan-Warrior-Hero " was given to
Yamato by the dying chief in admiration of the prince's sub-
tlety and courage/
After his triumphant return the prince was sent to the eastern
provinces, where the Ainu aborigines were still unsubdued.
On the way he prayed at the holy shrine of Atsuta, where had
been deposited the sword which Susa-no-wo took from the
eight-headed dragon that he slew. Now, Yamato-Takeru took
the miraculous sword with him, and It was this sword which
saved him from serious peril among the Ainus. The barbari-
ans pretended to surrender to the prince, and invited him to a
hunt on a wide prairie, but they set fire to the underbrush while
the prince was in the midst of the wilderness. With his sword
he hacked down the bushes around him, and having escaped un-
hurt from the fire he subdued the barbarians. Hence the mi-
raculous sword is always called Kusa-nagi, " the Grass-mower."
At another time during this expedition the prince's boat was
overtaken by a terrible storm. Knowing that the Sea-gods had
caused the storm by way of revenge upon the possessor of the
sword which had been taken from them, and that they would
not allay the tempest without a human sacrifice, the prince's
consort threw herself Into the water. Thereupon the boat was
able to cross the sea In safety.
After several further adventures, the prince returned to
Atsuta. There he heard that an evil spirit was in revolt on a
mountain not far from the place, and went forth to bring It to
terms. But this proved to be the last of his adventures, for he
fell sick of a fever, which the evil spirit brought upon him. He
returned to Atsuta once more, but did not recover from his sick-
ness. When he died and was burled, a white bird flew out of
the mound. Another burial mound was raised at the spot where
the bird disappeared from sight. But again the bird flew out
HEROIC STORIES 305
and a third mound was erected. So there are three places, each
of which is said to be the prince's grave." The metamorphosis
of the prince into a bird may be interpreted in several ways, but
we have no room to discuss its meaning.
Next to Yamato-Takeru comes the Empress Jingd, who is
said to have subjugated the principality of Korea in the third
century. Her expedition was undertaken in obedience to the
oracle of a deity, and the voyage is said to have been effected
by the help of two jewels presented to her by the Sea-gods.
One of these jewels had the miraculous power of raising the
waters of the sea, and the other had that of lowering them. By
means of these treasures the Imperial lady could control the
ebb and flow of the tide and bring her mighty army safely across
the sea.
Whatever the historical source of this legend may be, the
heroine together with her son,^ born on the return from the ex-
pedition, and her aged councillor, are a famous triad of heroes.
Their images are often carried in the annual dolls' festival for
boys, and their favour is invoked in order that the boy may par-
take of their heroism and their victorious prowess.
In the eleventh century began the heroic age of Japan, char-
acterized by the rise of the warrior class. The clan that played
the greatest part in the history of the time was the Minamoto,
and among the early heroes of the Minamoto clan, Yoshi-iye
is the most popular. Yoshi-iye celebrated the ceremony that
marked his attainment of manhood before the sanctuary dedi-
cated to Hachiman, the son of Jingo, and in later times these
two heroes were revered as the patrons and protectors of the
Minamoto clan, and therefore of warriors in general.
The animal closely associated with the hero-deity, Hachiman,
the god of Eight Banners, was the white dove, and the Mina-
motos always regarded the appearance of doves above their
battlefields as a good omen. The heroic deeds of Yoshi-iye are
associated with his military expeditions to the north-east of
3o6 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Japan, and reference has already been made to local legends
about him.*
The most popular and famous of the early Minamoto gen-
erals is Raikd, or more properly Yorimitsu. He was always
surrounded by four valiant lieutenants/ and there are tales
about each one of them. The best known of their joint adven-
tures is the expedition against a group of devilish beings, whose
head was Shuten D5ji, or " Drunkard Boy," and who had their
stronghold on Mount Oye-yama.
The Drunkard Boy was a kind of ogre who fed on human
blood. His face was boyish but he was of giant size and went
clad in scarlet robes. His retainers were devilish beings, vari-
ously repulsive in appearance. As their forays for plunder and
outrage spread from the neighbourhood of their abode to the
capital, and noble ladies became their victims, the government
ordered Raiko to vanquish the devils. Already, Tsuna, one of
Raikd's four lieutenants, had overcome a great ogre and cut off
one of his arms, so there was reason to hope that the Drunkard
Boy was not invincible either, but it was not an easy matter for
Raiko and his followers to make their way into the strongly
fortified haunt of the ogre.
Raiko determined to disguise his men as a company of the
mountaineering priests, who were accustomed to wander about
the hill country. In this way the party gained admittance to
the devil's stronghold, to which they were guided by a mysteri-
ous man, who also gave Raiko a quantity of magic drink with
which to intoxicate the ogres.
The ogres received them unsuspectingly, and when evening
was come, the supposed priests offered the Drunkard Boy and
his retainers the drink which they had brought, and amused
them by singing and dancing before them. When the ogres ap-
peared to be sufficiently befuddled, the warriors threw off their
priestly robes, appeared in armour and helmets, and succeeded
after a hard fight in killing the chief ogre and all his retainers.
PLATE XXXIV
Shuten Doji, the Drunkard Boy
Taken from a long scroll of the i8th century, a
poor specimen of the Kano school. The part shown
here represents Raiko offering the magic wine to the
Drunkard Boy, the latter being entertained by his
devilish retainers who are dancing and singing.
Raiko and his five retainers are in the disguise of
mountaineering priests. Behind them stand their
travelling trunks, which they carry on their backs on
the journey. See p. 306.
Original in Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
HEROIC STORIES 307
The spirit of the Drunkard Boy raged furiously even after the
death of his body, and his head, cut off by Raikd, soared upward
in the air, and tried to attack him. But the heroes, through
their valour and the divine assistance, remained masters of this
extraordinary situation. The city of Miyako was filled with
joy when the triumphant Raiko, together with his four lieu-
tenants, came back bearing the monstrous head of the Drunkard
Boy, and leading a train of women whom they had delivered
from captivity in the ogre's den.*'
The alternate rise and fall of the two military clans, Mina-
moto and Taira, which took place in rapid succession during the
last half of the twelfth century, was a rich source of heroic
stories. These two clans are collectively called Gem-Pei,^ and
their rivalry, their victories and their defeats form the substance
of epics, romances and dramas. One of the most popular epical
heroes is Tametomo, the famous archer j but still more well
known are Yoshitsune, his friend and retainer Benkei, and his
mistress, Shizuka.
We shall better understand their stories, if we know some-
thing about the historical background of those legends. The
two military clans became influential in the political arena
through the civil war of 1 157, although the way had long since
been prepared for them. But the balance of power between
them was not easily preserved, and when another civil war broke
out in 1 1 59, the Minamotos were totally defeated by the Tairas.
In the war of 1 157 each party was equally divided in the two
contending camps j Tametomo was on the losing side, and one
of his brothers fought on the other, and in the passion of the
moment dared even to execute his own father. Tametomo, of
whom we shall hear more later, was exiled to an island in the
Pacific Ocean. In the second war the Tairas, as we have said,
overcame the Minamotos, and the Minam^oto leader, Tame-
tomo's brother, was killed. He left three sons, whom the con-
querors were about to put to death, but whom they finally
3o8 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
spared. That act of mercy bore unfortunate fruit for the
Tairas, for these three boys lived to vanquish them thirty years
later. When that time came, the eldest of the three orphans
was the chief of the Minamoto clan, but the most famous war-
rior was Yoshitsune, the youngest of the three brothers and the
most popular of all Japanese heroes.
Now Tametomo, the unlucky uncle of Yoshitsune, was fa-
mous for his archery even in boyhood. Discontented with the
conditions in Miyako, where the Fujiwara oligarchy oppressed
the military men, Tametomo fled from the capital and went
into the west, when he was only fourteen years old. There his
adventures among the local warriors made him a dreaded hero
and the leader of many less famous chiefs. When in 1 157 war
broke out in Miyako, Tametomo returned to fight on the fa-
ther's side. But his party was finally defeated, his father was
killed and he himself went into exile.
But his adventurous spirit was not subdued. He overcame
the inhabitants of the island where he was banished and ruled
over them as a king. The government of Japan learned of it
and sent an expedition to the island. When Tametomo saw the
ships approaching, he took his strongest bow and with an arrow
hit one of the ships, so that a large hole was pierced in its side,
and the ship sunk. The wonderful archer could have sunk the
other ships in the same way, but he hesitated to do that or even
to defend himself by the help of the islanders, because either
course meant that more men would be killed on his own account.
Accordingly he withdrew to the interior of the island and killed
himself.
That is the old legend, but the popular imagination was
never satisfied with such an ending, and desired to have the hero
preserved for more heroic deeds. A tradition was long current
that Tametomo had not died, but had fled out of the island and
had more wonderful adventures somewhere else. Taking that
for a foundation, a writer of the nineteenth century pretended
HEROIC STORIES 309
to tell the later life of the hero — how he went over to the
Loochoo islands and founded there a royal dynasty. This
fancy, together with the fictitious exploits which the writer pro-
vided for his hero, became so popular, that many people today
believe in the historicity of those stories and call Tametomo the
first king of the Loochoo islands.
The second and more famous hero was Yoshitsune, who as a
child was called Ushiwaka. In the second civil war, he nar-
rowly escaped with his life, and the legends say that he and his
brothers were spared by the victorious chief of the Tairas be-
cause of his love for their mother. The youngest of the three
was sent to a monastery at Kurama, a mountain in the north
of Miyako, and lived there as a page to the abbot, with the name
Ushiwaka Maru.
The little Ushiwaka even in his childhood was always plan-
ning to revenge his family's defeat by the Tairas. Considering
that the first qualification of a good warrior was accomplished
swordsmanship, the boy betook himself every night, when
everyone else was asleep, to the forests near the monastery,
where he practised tirelessly with a wooden sword against the
standing trees. The harsh and tyrannical rule of the Taira
clan had already begun to provoke the people to revolt, and, ac-
cording to the legends, the supernatural Tengu folk sympa-
thized with the spirit of rebellion. The genius of Mount Ku-
rama was one of them, a chief Tengu named Sojo-b5. One
night Sojo-bo appeared to Ushiwaka, to offer his aid to the lad,
sympathizing with his enthusiasm for revenge.
Imagine the scene. In the blackness of night among the
mountains there was not a sound. Suddenly the giant monster
Tengu stood before the boy armed with his wooden sword.
The Tengu's furious eyes glared in the darkness of the forest,
his robes were scarlet, and in his right hand he carried the Tengu
fan.^ The giant Tengu asked the boy why he continually exer-
cised himself in the use of the sword. Ushiwaka confessed his
vin — 21
310 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
burning desire for revenge, and the Tengu, in high approval of
his ambition, promised to teach him certain secrets in the art
of swordsmanship and to instruct him in military tactics and
strategy. Then S5jo-bo called his retainers, the Leaflet Tengus,
and bade them give Ushiwaka the benefit of their experience
and skill in perfecting his sword play.
After that Ushiwaka met the Tengus every night, and very
soon the boy became so great a master of fencing that none of
the minor Tengus was his match. Finally S6j5-bo, proud of
the boy's progress, taught him all the secrets of the military art
and gave him a roll in which all those secrets were written
down. So Ushiwaka was graduated, as it were, in military sci-
ence at the forest school of the Tengus, and all his famous
military achievements in later years are believed to be the result
of Soj 6-bo's zealous instructions.
Ushiwaka was not so conceited as to believe that his unaided
prowess was sufficient to carry his plans to success, and he prayed
regularly to Kwannon, the goddess of mercy, for constant pro-
tection and guidance. For that purpose, he visited every night
a temple of the goddess called the Kiyomizu Kwannon, in the
south-eastern part of Miyako. On the way he had to cross
the bridge of Goj5, the Fifth Avenue Bridge, which spanned
the river Kamo, the Arno of the Japanese Florence, and the
nightly appearance of the mysterious youth, his face veiled in
thin silk, became a subject of gossip among the people of
Miyako.
At that time there was a soldier monk named Benkei, who
had formerly belonged to the monastery of Mount Hiei, but
who was then sojourning in Miyako seeking some exciting ad-
venture. Benkei heard the tale of the veiled youth and was
eager to find out whether he was a human being or a supernatu-
ral apparition. Accordingly Benkei armed himself with vari-
ous weapons — several swords, a heavy iron rod, a large saw,
etc., and put on his black monastic robes and hood.
PLATE XXXV
USHIWAKA AND BeNKEI, ON THE BrIDGE OF GojO
OR Bridge of the Fifth Avenue in Miyako
Note the contrast between the boyish youth veiled
in a white mantle and the giant monk clad in black.
See pp. 309 ff.
By Ukuta Ikkei (died 1858). In possession of
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
HEROIC STORIES 311
As he lay in wait for the mysterious lad, he heard the sound
of the boy's lacquered clogs on the planks of the bridge. Nearer
and nearer he came until just as he reached the middle of the
bridge, the giant monk stood forth and cried: "Stop, O lad!
Who art thou? "
Ushiwaka paid no heed to the challenge. The sturdy Benkei
tried to stop him, but the boy pushed forward without so much
as looking at the monk. This provoked Benkei so much that he
aimed a sword stroke at the boy, which the latter parried with
a blow that struck the weapon from the monk's hands. Under-
standing that he had a serious fight on his hands, Benkei caught
up his iron rod, but the lad leaped high in the air and avoided
the powerful swinging blow. To make matters worse he
laughed mockingly at the angry monk, who aimed blow after
blow at his elusive opponent — all in vain. The boy leaped
around, above, before and behind him as if he were a bird. The
long training of Ushiwaka in his fencing matches with the
Leaflet Tengus proved its value, and Benkei had finally nothing
to do but to kneel before the mysterious lad and ask his pardon.®
Ever after Benkei was a faithful retainer of Ushiwaka and
fought at his side in all his battles until at last he died for his
young lord's sake.
There are many tales of the warlike deeds of Yoshitsune, as
Ushiwaka came to be called, and of Benkei his friend. To-
gether they won great victories over the Tairas, and together
they went into banishment when Yoshitsune suffered under his
elder brother's jealousy and suspicion. These tales, especially
that of the last desperate fight, and of Benkei's last moments,
when he died facing alone the arrows flying from the bows of
his triumphant enemies, are told today with a never-flagging
admiration and enthusiasm." But they are too many and too
long to be told here, and we will speak of only a single episode
in the heroic life of Yoshitsune.
After his brilliant victories which broke the power of the
312 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Taira clan, Yoshitsune remained in the Imperial capital,
Miyako, but he soon became estranged from his elder brother,
the military dictator. The head of the Minamoto clan was en-
vious of his younger brother's fame, and there were plenty of
courtiers who were ready to feed his jealousy and his suspicion.
He ended by banishing Yoshitsune, who was driven out of
Miyako by a surprise attack. He took refuge in Yoshino, a
place long famous for its beautiful cherry-blossoms. There too
he had to take arms against the treacherous monks whom his
brother's emissaries had roused against him.
All this time he was accompanied by Benkei and other faith-
ful retainers and also by his mistress Shizuka. When he was
driven out of Miyako, one of his lieutenants died for him. His
peril was such that he had to disguise himself as a mountaineer-
ing priest, and to go about with only one or two followers. The
pitiful situation of the hero, his sorrow over the death of his
faithful retainer, and his sad parting with his mistress, are all
subjects of favourite legends.
The tragic story of Yoshitsune's banishment makes a pathetic
ending to his brilliant earlier career. From that time his life
was a succession of misfortunes and hardships and he finally
met death in defeat," but through it all he remains noble and
courageous, and the heroic quality of the man is shown no less
in his bearing under adversity than in his triumph on the battle-
field. No other hero of Japan, whether historical or imaginary,
is so popular as Yoshitsune j and no other had a career so full of
brilliant, romantic exploits, of pathetic misfortunes, and of
thrilling vicissitudes.
The four centuries which followed the twelfth witnessed the
rise of the feudal regime. War between the clans was con-
tinual and the period is naturally rich in heroic romances. Most
of the stories are founded too firmly on historical fact to be
treated in a book of mythology. But the age did produce a
good many stories of heroic deeds that were wholly imaginary
HEROIC STORIES 313
or even fantastic, but which did, nevertheless, reflect perfectly
the spirit of the time.
The chief motives in these stories were adventure and re-
venge. Of the former class the story of Raiko's expedition
against the ogre Drunkard Boy, which we have already told, is
fairly typical. One of the earliest and most famous stories in
which revenge supplied the motive is " Soga." This is the
story of two orphan boys who succeeded, in the face of many
difliculties, in killing the murderer of their father. The epi-
sode is a historical one. It took place in the last part of the
twelfth century and so much moved the sympathy and imagina-
tion of the people that the story has grown to be a permanent
part of Japanese folk-lore.^'
The story is too authentic to be in place here, but there are not
a few romantic tales of this period which are, so far as we know,
purely imaginative.
The most popular of them all is the story of Momotaro, or
" the Peachling Boy." " It is so popular today that the f olk-
lorists of Japan are planning to erect a bronze statue of the
fictitious boy-hero. Every Japanese child knows the story well.
Thus it runs:
Once upon a time there was an old couple who lived near the
mountains. One day as the wife was washing clothes in a brook,
a large peach came floating down the stream. The old woman
took the fruit to her husband, and when he opened it a strong
baby boy emerged. The old couple adopted the boy, who grew
up to be a bright and stirring lad. He determined to go upon
some lively adventure, and decided in the end to visit the Isle
of Devils. His mother made some sweet dumplings for him,
and Momotaro started off alone with his provisions. On the
way a dog met him and asked of him one of the dumplings.
Momotaro gave him one and the dog followed on after him.
Then, in similar manner, Momotaro's company was increased
by a monkey and a pheasant, and they all sailed away for the
314 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
devils' island. On their arrival they attacked the stronghold of
the devils, and it proved to be not a difficult task for them to
subjugate the monsters. They came back with much treasure
which they had taken from the devils. The old couple wel-
comed the boy joyfully, and the animal friends of Momotard
danced before them.
An heroic tale associated with the fairies of the sea, is that of
Tawara Toda, " the warrior Toda of the Rice-bale," who is
said to have lived in the eleventh century. One night, when
Toda crossed ths famous bridge of Seta over the outlet of Lake
Biwa, he saw a monstrous serpent lying on the bridge. He
passed by it with calm composure as if it were nothing extraordi-
nary. Later that night a young woman paid a visit to his house.
She explained that she was the daughter of the Dragon King,
and that she admired him for the cool courage which he had
shown on the Seta bridge, for it appeared that the great serpent
was the young lady herself in another form. She then asked
him whether he would undertake to vanquish a monstrous centi-
pede which was killing many of her kinsfolk.
Toda, quite ready to oblige the lady, went out upon the bridge.
As he awaited the monster he watched the lightning flash around
Mount Mikami on the other side of the lake, and he saw two
glaring lights like burning mirrors — the eyes of the monster
centipede. T5da shot two arrows at those gleaming eyes, but
the arrows rebounded as if from iron plates. Then Tdda, real-
izing that spittle was a poison fatal to a centipede, shot a third
arrow wetted with saliva. The monster fell lifeless, and the
dragon folk were saved from the threatened extermination of
their whole race.
The following night the dragon lady visited Toda again to
thank him for his valiant help in time of need. She asked him
to honour her and her kinsfolk by visiting her palace. He fol-
lowed her to the palace under the water of the lake, where he
was entertained with every delicacy that the water can produce.
PLATES XXXVI, XXXVII
MOMOTARO, THE PeaCHLING BoY IN THE IsLE OF
Devils Receiving Their Homage
Momotaro sits under a pine-tree surrounded by his
retainers, the Monkey, the Dog and the Pheasant, to
whom the devils are bringing jewels, corals, etc. A
large hat and a mantle raised on a tablet in front of
Momotaro are the mythical garments, wearing which
any one could pass unnoticed by others. On the ex-
treme left two devils are taking the mysterious mallet
(See p. 286) together with jewels. See p. 313.
A pair of screens in bright colours, by Shiwokawa
Bunrin (late i8th century). The work is dated
1792. In possession of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
HEROIC STORIES 315
As he was leaving the palace, the Dragon King gave him three
gifts J a bale of rice which proved to be, like Fortunatus's purse,
inexhaustible, a roll of silk which gave him a never-ending sup-
ply of clothing, and a bell which had come first from India and
had been hidden at the bottom of the lake for a long time.
Toda dedicated the bell to a temple on the lake-side and kept
the other two treasures himself. In his further adventures he
found the miraculous things of the very greatest service, and
from his possession of the unfailing rice-bale he was always
called by the people, Tawara Toda, " Lord Toda of the Rice-
bale." ''
CHAPTER VII
STORIES OF ANIMALS
SHINTO animism is still a living force among the Japanese
people. As we have seen already, Japanese mythology
based its conceptions of things on the belief that everything ani-
mate or inanimate has its soul, with activities more or less analo-
gous to those of the human soul. This belief is not seriously
entertained today, but during the period when myths and leg-
ends had their origin, the popular imagination was full of
animistic imagery. Not only were animals and plants supposed
to think and act after the fashion of man and woman, but their
metamorphosis into other forms of life as well as into human
beings was the principal theme of folk-lore.
Buddhism encouraged this animistic conception of nature
through the teaching of transmigration. Mankind is, accord-
ing to this doctrine, only one of the manifold phases of exist-
ence which include celestial beings, animals, plants, and even
goblins and demons. Animals are indeed less self-conscious
than mankind, and plants again still less mobile and intelligent,
yet their lives may pass into those of human beings or into other
forms of existence. Philosophically speaking, the Buddhist
doctrine is not mere animism, yet, as it was understood by the
popular mind, it really amounted to an elaboration and exten-
sion of the original animism of Shinto. Accordingly the naive
tales about animals and plants, which come down from primi-
tive times, have often been enriched by touches of pity and
sympathy or by sad reflections on the miseries of existence in
general, which show clearly the influence of Buddhist teachings.
Since one's dearest friend after his or her death may have been
STORIES OF ANIMALS 317
born again as an animal or plant, and since one may have once
passed oneself through such a phase of transmigration, other
existences are not held to be foreign and remote, but are con-
nected with ourselves in one way or another, either by a kinship
in the past, or else in the future. These reflections and senti-
ments early determined the people's attitude toward other be-
ings, stimulated the mythopceic propensity of their imagination,
and deepened their sympathetic interest in the creatures about
whom the tales are told.
Most often it is the odious shrewdness of some animal or an
amusing peculiarity in its behaviour that forms the basis of the
animal tale. There are also many stories about animals which
have shown special gratitude or attachment to human beings,
and these usually reflect the mutual interdependence of all ex-
istences and the special emphasis laid by both Buddhism and
Confucianism on the virtue of gratitude. Naturally these fa-
bles, for such they are in fact, have often a moral or didactic
purpose, and some of them may be heard of when we come to
speak of the didactic tales which are so common in Japanese
folk-lore.
Perhaps the oldest of the animal stories is that of the " White
Hare of Inaba," ^ which is told in connection with the adven-
tures of Oh-kuni-nushi, the hero of the Izumo tribe.
Once there lived in the island of Oki a white hare. He
wished to cross the water and to reach the mainland. Accord-
ingly, he asked a crocodile whether he had as many kinsfolk
as he, the hare, had, and pretended to believe that the crocodile
had overstated the size of his family. He told the crocodile to
call every one of his tribe and make them lie on the surface of
the sea in a long row. " I can then step over you and count
how many crocodiles there are in the world," said the hare.
The crocodiles agreed to the proposal and formed one long
row from Oki to the mainland j so the hare jumped over them
until it came to the last one which lay close to the shore. Proud
31 8 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
of the success of his trick, the impudent hare began to laugh at
the ease with which the stupid crocodiles had been duped. But
he boasted too soonj the last crocodile seized him, plucked out
all his fur and sank beneath the water. So the unfortunate hare
was left lying on the beach naked and shivering.
Now there was a family of many brothers in Izumo. Every
one of them wished to win the love of a certain princess who
lived in Inaba. They all set out for Inaba to lay siege to the
lady's heart, but the older brothers were cruel to the youngest,
Oh-kuni-nushi, and made him carry all their luggage. So the
poor brother toiled along far behind the others. As they walked
along the beach the elder brothers saw the hare, and instead of
sympathizing with the poor animaPs pain, they deceived him
into thinking that he could relieve it by plunging into the sea-
water and then exposing his body to the wind and sunlight.
When the hare followed their mischievous advice, his skin
cracked open and bled, and he suffered intolerably from the
pain. Then Oh-kuni-nushi came up, pitied the suffering ani-
mal, and told him to wash in fresh water and cover his body
with the soft pollen of the cat-tail. The hare was very grate-
ful to the young man and said to him: " None of your cruel
brothers shall marry the lady of Inaba, but you alone shall win
the lady's heart." The hare's words were fulfilled. Oh-kuni-
nushi married the lady and became the ruler of Izumo, and
when after their death memorial shrines were built for him and
his wife, the White Hare of Inaba shared their honours with
them.
I. GRATEFUL ANIMALS
The most popular of the grateful animals in Japanese folk-
lore is the sparrow.
Once upon a time a kind-hearted old woman saw a sparrow
whose wings were injured so that it could not fly. She picked
the bird up, put it in a cage and nursed it until its strength was
STORIES OF ANIMALS 319
restored. When the bird was quite well, the woman let it out
of the cage and the bird flew away in great delight. Some days
later, as the old woman was sitting on her verandah, the self-
same sparrow flew up and left a little seed as if to express its
gratitude. It was a seed of the gourd, and when the old woman
put it in the ground the plant grew sturdily and bore many
gourds. The woman harvested the gourds and got a great
quantity of delicious pulp from them. Moreover, she pre-
served the dry gourds, which miraculously furnished an inex-
haustible store of rice. So the old woman was able to feed her
less fortunate neighbours through the generosity and gratitude
of the little bird.
Another woman lived next door, but she was greedy and
malicious. She knew all about her fortunate neighbour and was
very envious of her luck. Thinking that the same inexhaustible
wealth might be obtained from any sparrow, she struck one
down and then nursed it, as her neighbour had done. In the
same manner also she released the sparrow when it had re-
covered from the wound. After some days, the sparrow re-
turned and left her also a gourd seed. She planted it and the
plant bore a few gourds. But the pulp was so bitter that even
the greedy woman could not eat it. She preserved the dry
gourds and hoped to get rice out of them. The gourds were
indeed as heavy as stones, and the old woman felt sure that she
could get more rice than her neighbour. But when she opened
them, not rice but bees, centipedes, scorpions, serpents and other
vermin came out of them and stung the woman until she died
of the poison.
Another version of the same story is known as the tale of
" The Tongue-cut Sparrow." It is even better known than the
other, though that is probably the original one. Once there was
a greedy and cruel woman. She punished a sparrow, which had
eaten some of her starch, by cutting out its tongue. Her neigh-
bour, a kind-hearted woman, nursed the poor bird, and the
320 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
sparrow flew away when its wound had been healed. By and
by the kind woman with her husband made a visit to the spar-
row's house which was all built of bamboo. The sparrow and
its fellows welcomed the old couple and entertained them hos-
pitably. They gave them delicious food and drink and per-
formed for them the famous sparrow-dance." When the old
couple took their leave, the sparrows presented them with two
caskets, one large and one small. The good old man said: " We
are old and we cannot carry a great casket like this, so let us be
content with the smaller one." When they got home they
opened the casket, and out of it came an unending succession of
precious things.
Now the greedy woman who had cut the sparrow's tongue
was envious of her fortunate neighbours. She inquired where
the sparrow's house was to be found, and made a visit there
together with her husband, who was, like herself, covetous and
jealous. They were entertained by the sparrows as their neigh-
bours had been, and when they started home, accepted the
larger of the caskets which were offered them, because they
thought that it must contain more precious things than the other.
When they reached home they opened the casket, and lo! not
jewels but goblins and monsters came out of it and devoured
the greedy couple.
The didactic purpose of this story is quite clear.
Another bird celebrated for its grateful spirit is the manda-
rin duck. Once upon a time, says a popular story, there was a
rich man who was extremely fond of birds. One day he caught
a beautiful male mandarin duck and brought it home. A cage
was made for the bird and it was entrusted to the care of a
young servant. The servant took the greatest interest in the
duck, but it was depressed and melancholy and would eat noth-
ing. The servant tried every means he could think of to tempt
the bird's appetite, but in vain. A maid-servant who was em-
ployed in the same house told him that she could guess why the
STORIES OF ANIMALS 321
duck was so sad. The mandarin duck, she said, was always ex-
tremely devoted to its mate, and the captive was doubtless pin-
ing for the mate from which it was separated. She advised the
man to let the duck go lest it should die of sorrow. The serv-
ant was afraid that his master would be angry if the bird were
released, but the maid persuaded him to be merciful to the duck
even at the risk of his master's anger. So the bird was set free
and it flew away in great delight. When the master found the
cage empty he was furious. The servant admitted his fault and
asked pardon for his carelessness, but the rich man was by no
means appeased and henceforth treated the servant with great
harshness.
Now when the maid-servant saw the unhappiness which her
advice had brought on her fellow servant, she began by pitying
him and ended by falling in love with him. The man re-
sponded both to her pity and to her love, and the two showed
their mutual affection so openly that the other servants of the
house began to speak evil of them. The master at last heard
the gossip about the love affair of the two servants, and some-
how learned the share they had had in the escape of the man-
darin duck. His anger was rekindled and he bade the other
servants bind the man and the girl and throw them into the
river. Just as they were about to be cast into the water, two
messengers from the provincial governor appeared on the
scene and announced that a decree just issued forbade any pun-
ishment by death within the province. So the two servants
were released and taken by the messengers to the governor's
official residence. On the way the sun set, and in the dusk the
two messengers seemed to disappear like mist. The man and
the woman sought for them in vain. The couple lay down to
sleep in an abandoned hut, where the two messengers appeared
to them in a vision and told them that they were indeed the
mandarin duck which had been set free and his mate. They ex-
pressed their gratitude to the two servants, resumed their shape
322 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
as birds and flew away. The two servants married and lived
happily ever after, loving each other as devotedly as do the
mandarin duck and his mate.
In another story it is the dog that plays the leading part.
Once upon a time there was a local official who was covetous and
greedy. He got money by raising silk-worms which it was his
wife's duty to feed. Once she failed to rear them successfully
and the husband scolded her and turned her out of doors.
Abandoned by the husband and left with only one silk-worm,
she lavished all her care upon it. One day the precious worm,
upon which her hope of a living depended, was eaten by her
dog. She thought at first of killing the dog, so furious was her
anger, but she reflected that the worm could not thus be re-
stored, and that the dog, after all, was her only companion.
She was quite at a loss how to sustain life, but she calmed her
troubled mind by thinking of Buddha's teaching of love and of
karma.
One day her dog somehow had his nose injured. The
woman found a white thread protruding from the wound and
tried to pull it out. The thread came out endlessly until she
had got hundreds of reels of fine silk thread. Then the dog
died. She buried the animal under a mulberry-tree, praising
Buddha for the grace which he had shown her through the
dog. The tree grew swiftly and silk-worms appeared among
the leaves. The silk which they produced proved to be the best
in the country, and the woman sold it all to the Imperial court.
Her former husband coming to learn of this, repented of his
greed and cruelty. He rejoined his wife and thenceforth they
lived in peace and prosperity.
The list of grateful animals is a long one. It includes the
cow, the monkey, fishes, the dog, the horse, and even the wolf
and the fox; but the bee is perhaps cast for this role as often as
any other creature. The following is one of the most popular
of such stories.
STORIES OF ANIMALS 323
Once there lived in Yamato a warrior named Yogo. He was
totally defeated in a battle and took refuge in a cave. There
he saw a bee caught in a spider's web, and, in sympathy for the
fate of the unhappy insect, he broke the web and set it free. As
he slept in the cave, he saw in a dream a man clad in brown
robes, who stood before him and said: " I am the bee that you
rescued and I shall repay my indebtedness by helping you in
your next battle. Do not despair, but fight again, even though
your followers are few. But be sure that you build first a little
shed and put therein a great many jars and bottles, as many as
you can find."
Encouraged by this vision, Yogo gathered his retainers and
made preparations as he had been bidden. Then innumerable
bees appeared from all directions and hid themselves in the
bottles. The enemy learned that Yogo was at large again and
sent an army to attack him. When the battle was joined the
bees came out of their shelter and stung the swarming troops of
the enemy until they fled in confusion and Yogo won a great
victory.
As a last instance of this type of tale let us give the story of
a grateful crane which married her benefactor.
Once there was a nobleman who lost all his fortune and lived
in a country place. One day he saw a hunter catch a pretty crane
which he was about to hang. Out of pity the nobleman begged
the hunter to spare the crane's life. But the cruel man would
not let the bird go without an ample ransom, and since the kind-
hearted nobleman had nothing left but his precious sword, he
offered it to the hunter, and was glad to surrender this last relic
of his former greatness since he could thus save the life of the
crane.
The next evening a young lady accompanied by a single re-
tainer came to his door and asked shelter for the night. The
host was amazed to see such a fine lady in that retired place, but
he received her hospitably. The lady told him that she had
324 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
been driven from her home by a cruel step-mother ^ and, since
she had no place to go, she asked if she might stay with him in
the cottage. The nobleman permitted her to do so, and in the
course of time the two fell in love and were married. The
young wife gave the husband a quantity of gold that she had
brought with her, and so the couple lived very comfortably to-
gether. But their idyllic life did not last long. One day the
feudal lord of the region organized a large hunting-party, and
the wife had to tell her husband that she was in reality the crane
which he had once saved and that she must now return to her
home in the kingdom of the birds. She took her husband to the
wonderful palace of her parents, but the couple were finally
separated by fate.*
II. REVENGEFUL AND MALICIOUS ANIMALS
The revengeful animal is as common in Japanese folk-lore
as his grateful fellow. Sometimes the animals revenge them-
selves on one another, sometimes on mankind. In these stories
we usually meet with an expressed belief in the power of witch-
craft which malicious animals possess, and their achievements
are often triumphs of malice and shrewdness. Animal cunning,
especially in nursery tales, is contrasted with human foolish-
ness j while nothing is more common than a superstitious dread
of the power for mischief that certain animals are supposed to
possess. Theoretically we may divide the stories of this sort
into those that are told for the entertainment of children, and
those which are the product of deep-seated popular superstition.
Yet a good many stories are on the border line and partake of
both characters, and it is such stories that unfortunately tend to
make children timid, fearful and superstitious. We shall take
up first the stories of witchcraft and wicked malice, and go on
to those which are only tales for the nursery.
The animals regularly credited with uncanny powers are the
STORIES OF ANIMALS 325
fox, the badger, the cat, and the serpent j other animals are only
occasionally said to be so gifted. We have read about the ser-
pent in connection with the myths of the Dragon tribe. Of the
other three, the fox is the most ancient figure of superstition,
the stories about him dating from the tenth century or even
earlier. The cat and badger entered into folk-lore later, prob-
ably since the fourteenth century. In every case, Chinese in-
fluences seem to have given the first stimulus to the Japanese
imagination. The earliest native lore handed down no super-
stitions of this kind.^
The most famous fox-witch is Tamamo-no-Maye, a court
lady who is said to have lived early in the twelfth century. In
reality she was a very old fox with an eight-forked tail, and her
peculiar wickedness consisted in turning herself into a beautiful
woman and in bringing ruin on a state by tempting its ruler to
sin. She had succeeded wonderfully in this disagreeable art in
India and China, and then she came over to Japan, thanks to her
power of swift flight through the air. While she was engaged
in her malicious machinations, her secret was discovered by a
wise nobleman who finally broke her spell by the miraculous
power of a divine mirror. Before the mirror the fox lost its
power of transformation, appeared in all its dreadful hideous-
ness, and flew away eastward. An army sent in pursuit of the
monster was aided by the host of warriors who issued from the
mirror, and the fox was killed.
Its evil spirit took refuge in a rock that stood on the prairies
of Nasu, and so thereafter any one, human being or animal, who
touched the rock was instantly killed. The stone was long
known as the " Death-stone " of Nasu-no. The evil spirit was,
however, finally exorcised by a virtuous monk and the rock
ceased to be a death-stone.*
This is the story of a revengeful fox: Once there was a peas-
ant named Jinroku. One day he found a fox sleeping in the
bushes upon his farm. Out of pure mischief he frightened the
326 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
animal and chased it until it was almost exhausted, but he did
not kill it. Some days afterward, Jinroku saw in a dream a di-
vine figure which told him that there was a great quantity o£
gold in a vase buried deep in his farm. Jinroku was not at first
so credulous as to believe in the truth of the dream, but when
the same vision appeared again and again to him and to other
members of his family, he was tempted to unearth the hidden
treasure. Keeping the matter a secret he began with his sons to
dig. Their toil, however, was unsuccessful, and he soon aban-
doned his search for the money.
Then in a dream the same figure appeared and, rebuking Jin-
roku for his lack of faith and patience, said: " I am the patron
god of gold and fortune, and I know well the existence of all
the treasures in earth. Thou hast failed in discovering this
treasure, since thou hast not put full confidence in my oracle,
and also because thou hast wished to keep the revelation a se-
cret. Now then, make a great feast, invite all thy neighbours j
make the revelation public, and begin to dig in earnest. Then
thy success will be certain. Have no doubts." Jinroku was
now thoroughly convinced of the genuineness of the apparition
and did in all things as he had been told. This time a few pen-
nies were found, and, encouraged by that result, Jinroku dug
deeper and deeper. A few more pennies appeared one after an-
other, but no treasure was found, and Jinroku became an object
of ridicule to all his neighbours. So did the tortured fox re-
venge itself on its tormentor.
There is no room to tell all the stories of this type, but we
will add one instance of pure mischief of which the fox was sup-
posed to be guilty.
Once, long ago, a man went, with his servant, to look for a
lost horse. After much fruitless search they were making their
way through a meadow. They saw a gigantic cryptomeria-tree
standing in the way, although they had never before seen any
tree in this meadow. They almost doubted their own eyesight,
PLATE XXXVIII
A Badger in the Disguise of a Buddhist Monk
A badger in disguise of a Buddhist monk sitting
beside a water-kettle on the hearth. See p. 329 and
The Wonderful Tea-Kettle in Hasegawa's
Jafmiese Fairy Tale Series, no. 16.
A rough drawing by Hokussi (early 19th century).
In possession of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
STORIES OF ANIMALS 327
yet both saw the tree very clearly. They thought then that they
had mistaken the spot, but that they knew to be impossible, and
as a last resort they concluded that the mysterious tree must be
the work of some evil spirit. So they shot arrows at the giant
tree, and immediately it disappeared. They got home safely,
and when, next morning, they returned to the meadow, they
found an old fox lying dead with a few twigs of cryptomeria in
its mouth.^
The stories that deal with the badger are similar to those
about the fox, but the badger is never so malicious as Reynard.
Both animals are usually represented as deceiving men by turn-
ing themselves into the likeness of human beings — a monk or
a boy — a distinction that was perhaps suggested by the differ-
ent colours of the two animals. The cat also, especially if it be
old, is dreaded as a malicious creature j and though the trans-
formations of the fox and the badger are usually temporary,
the cat often takes human shape permanently, and is the active
agent in a long and complicated story like that of the fox
Tamano. During the feudal regime^ especially in the eight-
eenth century, many stories were current in which a cat was said
to turn itself into a beautiful woman in order to become the
mistress of a feudal lord and to cause the ruin of his state. But
these stories are not, properly speaking, folk-lore, though they
illustrate the popular belief in the cat's malicious nature and
magical power.
The colours of the cat's fur had much to do with popular
ideas about the creature. The most dreaded cat was a red or
pinkish brown animal which was called the " golden flower "
cat. Then came a cat in which the three colours, black, white
and brown, were mixed. The magical powers of black or
white cats were believed to be less remarkable, but a totally
black cat was thought to have the power of foretelling the
weather, and sailors were always glad to have one about their
ship.
328 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
The following is a characteristic story about a " golden
flower " cat.
Once upon a time a Samurai found a " golden flower " cat in
the forest and brought it home to his mother, who became ex-
tremely fond of it. Some time later, the cat disappeared, and
immediately the old lady began to avoid the light, complaining
that her eyes troubled her sadly. Yet she would have no medi-
cal treatment, and her son, in spite of his anxiety, could not per-
suade her to come forth from the dark corners in which she hid
herself. Then suddenly, two of the housemaids disappeared,
and no trace of them could be found, until one day, a servant,
digging in the garden, discovered the clothes of the two girls
covered with blood-stains, and on digging further uncovered
their bones. The horrified servant hurried to the house to tell
his master what he had found, but he was met by his master's
mother, who in furious anger threatened the servant with death,
if he should tell anybody of his discovery. The servant was so
much frightened at the old lady's threats that he left the house
in silence.
A few days later the Samurai's neighbour saw the old woman
washing her bloody mouth in a brook near the house. While
he watched her a dog came up, and the old lady, as soon as she
perceived the dog's approach, leaped over a hedge and ran away.
This convinced the neighbour that the " golden flower " cat had
devoured the Samurai's mother and transformed itself into her
likeness. He went to the Samurai and told him what he had
seen. The latter took several dogs to his mother's room and
opened the door. The witch-cat was powerless before the dogs
and they promptly killed it.
Another story of a malicious cat is concerned with shooting
arrows. Once there was a Samurai boy who used to hunt with a
bow and ten arrows. One day, when he was leaving the house,
his mother advised him to take one arrow more than usual.
The boy did as she suggested without asking the reason. He
STORIES OF ANIMALS 329
spent the whole day without seeing any game, and as the eve-
ning came on, he sat down to rest upon a rock. While he sat
there enjoying the calm evening and the rising moon, curiously
enough, another moon rose behind him in the west. He was
amazed at the sight and quickly made up his mind that it must
be the work of an evil spirit. Accordingly he shot an arrow at
the second moon. It struck the moon but rebounded harm-
lessly from it. The boy shot his second arrow, then his third
and fourth, and so on to the tenth — all in vain. Then he took
the eleventh and discharged that also. There was a dreadful
cry and the sound of something falling to the ground. He
went up to the spot and found a giant cat lying dead with a
mirror in its paws.
He hurried home and told the adventure to his mother. She
told him that she had seen a cat early in the morning counting
his arrows, and she had advised him to take an extra arrow be-
cause she had thought the cat's behaviour very suspicious. The
cat, it seemed, had a mirror with which it protected itself against
the ten arrows j but since it thought there were no more than
ten, it had then let the mirror fall and was hit by the eleventh
arrow.
From the many nursery stories about revengeful animals we
select that of the fox-cub that took revenge on a badger which
had betrayed its mother.^
Once a forest was so much ravaged by the hunters that there
remained in it only a badger and a fox and the fox's male cub.
They lived together in much distress, and when all their provi-
sions were exhausted, the fox and the badger devised a plan to
get some food. The badger feigned to be dead and the fox,
turning itself into a human being, carried the apparently dead
badger to the market.
The fox got money for the badger and bought food with itj
then the badger managed to escape and made its way back to
the forest. When the provisions thus obtained were exhausted,
330 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
the animals repeated the trick, but this time the fox played dead
and the badger sold its body. The malicious badger, however,
wishing to have all the food for itself, cautioned the buyer to
watch it carefully and to make sure that it was dead. The man
who had bought the fox killed it accordingly, and the badger
ate up all the food and would not give a taste to the fox-cub.
The cub understood the treachery of the badger and planned
a subtle revenge. One day he said to the badger very inno-
cently: " Uncle, people know that both the fox and the badger
are experts in witchcraft, but no one knows which of us is the
more skilful in the art. Let us have a competition and see
which is the cleverest." The badger laughed at the cub's con-
ceit, but agreed to the plan, intending to find a way to get rid of
the cub also. So the two animals went together to the town to
try their magic powers upon human beings. As they came near
the town the cub fell behind and disappeared. The badger
therefore sat down to rest near the edge of the town 5 by and
by it saw a long procession passing over a bridge, with the palan-
quin of a Daimyo in the centre. The badger was sure that this
show was an illusion wrought by the cub, and jumped at once
into the midst of the procession, crying out : " Now, you stupid
cub! I have discovered thy trick. Surrender to me! " But the
procession was a real one, and the Daimyd's retainers beat the
insolent badger to death with their staves, while the cub looked
on from a safe distance. So the little cub took his revenge on
the murderer of its mother.
A more amusing nursery tale is that of " The Monkey and
the Crab." ^ Once there was a crab who lived near a persimmon
tree. When the fruits were ripening, the crab wished to have
some, but since he could not climb the tree, he asked a monkey
to throw him down some persimmons. The monkey took the
ripe ones for himself and threw the unripe ones down to the
crab. The poor crab was hit by a hard persimmon and, when it
died, many baby crabs came out of its womb.
STORIES OF ANIMALS 331
Now the children of the crab wished to take revenge on the
murderer of their mother, but they were too small to fight the
monkey. So they begged help from other creatures and inani-
mate objects, and those which came to their assistance were a
chestnut, a funori^"^ a bee, a pounder and a rice-mortar. The
chestnut crept into the monkey's house and hid itself in the
oven. When the monkey came home and approached the stove
to fill its tea-kettle, the chestnut burst and injured the mon-
key's eyes. The monkey opened a case where it kept a kind of
bean-cheese, in order to apply this to the burned place, and the
bee flew out and stung the monkey's face.^^ The frightened
monkey slipped on the funori and fell down. Then the
pounder and the mortar fell from the roof upon the monkey
and knocked it senseless. The crabs thereupon attacked the
helpless monkey and cut it into pieces.
III. THE SERPENT
Of all the animals in Japanese folk-lore, the serpent plays
perhaps the greatest part, and superstitious ideas concerning the
" walking rope " are still widely held by the people. The ser-
pent, especially if it be white, is regarded as the patron of
wealth and is almost worshipped as a symbol of the goddess
Benten. We have seen an instance of that in the tale of " Toda
of the Rice -bale." But often the serpent is represented as a
very malicious and revengeful creature. A jealous woman is
likened to, or said to turn herself into, a serpent. In one story
a woman pursuing her fleeing lover becomes a large serpent as
she crosses over a stream, and then coils around and melts a
bronze bell in which the unfaithful lover has concealed him-
self." In another story a warrior renounced active life and be-
came a monk, because when he saw the shadows thrown upon a
paper screen by his wife and concubine, their hair was trans-
formed before him into serpents which fought one another."
332 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
The serpent is also regarded as a symbol of lascivlousness.
That idea gave rise to many stories of the obstinate attachment
of a serpent to a woman, and the consequent birth of a child,
either human or semi-monstrous. Some families were even be-
lieved to have descended from such a union and to be protected
by their serpent progenitor.
We may add also that many a lake or pond is believed to
have a serpent as its genius, though it is not always clear whether
a mythical dragon or the actual reptile is meant. Stories about
these genii are much alike all over Japan, and nearly the same
story is frequently told of different localities. These semi-
mythical serpents are believed to possess miraculous powers, es-
specially that of controlling weather, and offerings are made on
the lake-side in time of drought. The male genii are said occa-
sionally to tempt women into the water, while the female ser-
pents may appear in the shape of beautiful women and marry
human beings. They appear sometimes as ordinary serpents,
but many of them are supposed to have the power to transform
themselves into monstrous dragons.
Here follows one of these stories, that of the male serpent
Nanzo-bo. There was once a Buddhist monk called Nanzo-
bo." He was desirous, like some Buddhists in the Middle
Ages, of witnessing the work, and hearing the sermons of, the
future Buddha Maitreya, who, it was prophesied, was to appear
in the world after some billions of years. Guided by a divine
oracle, he decided to become a dragon, and by that means to
survive in the water until Maitreya should appear, for the
dragon is believed to be so long-lived as to be almost immortal.
For this purpose he retired to a lake-side at the foot of Mount
Kotowakej there he recited continually the Lotus of Truthy and
by the virtue of that disciplinary act was gradually transformed
into a serpent.
One day he saw a young lady coming to him who said that
she was attracted by his voice as he recited the holy text, and
PLATE XXXIX
Wedding of Monkeys
Wedding of animals, such as foxes, rats, etc., is
frequently told in stories and depicted in pictures.
Here we have a picture of the wedding of two
monkeys. The monkey bridegrom sitting on the left
is singing the wedding song, while the bride, wearing
a white head-cover, is raising the wedding wine-cup
on her head. On the table between them are seen a
little pine-tree, a symbol of longevity' and prosperity, a
crab, also a symbol of longevity, and the sea-weed
kornbuy signifying " joy," because of a play of words
connecting the word kombu with the word yorokobu,
" to be glad," " to be in joyful state." See p. 333.
By Sosen (dated 1799). In possession of Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston.
STORIES OF ANIMALS 333
wished to cohabit with him/^ He was surprised at her request,
but on learning that she was the serpent genius of the lake, he
complied with her wish and they lived together in the lake. A
few days later, the wife serpent said to him: " There is a male
serpent in another lake near by who has long wished to marry
me. If he should come here to see me he will surely be very
angry to find you here. Be ready for him."
Not long after, the other serpent appeared, and a fight im-
mediately began. The serpent attacked Nanzo-b5 with its
eight-forked head, and Nanzo-b5 fought with his nine-forked
head, for the eight-rolls of the holy scripture on Nanzo-bo's
head became each a head and thus gave him nine. Nanz5-bo
won the fight and the rival dragon fled discomfited to its home
lake where it lived as a small serpent.
IV. LOVE AND MARRIAGE OF ANIMALS
Love and marriage between different animals or between an
animal and a human being are often the subject of Japanese
folk-tales. The most famous story is that of the female fox
Kuzu-no-ha, who fell in love with a warrior and lived with him
through years of married life. The episode of her parting
from the son born of the marriage has been dramatized, and to
that drama the story owes its popularity, for as a tale it has no
special originality or interest of incident.^® In a similar story
the spirit of an old willow-tree, O-Ryu by name, is married to a
warrior and has to part from him when the tree is cut down. In
the dramatized form of the story, the chief motive is the agony
she manifests as each axe stroke cuts deeper and deeper into the
tree.
A popular nursery tale which tells of an animal marriage is
" The Mouse's Wedding." ^^ The simple story relates how
two young mice wedded, quite as human beings do. But an-
other version of the story is didactic in tone and inculcates the
334 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
moral that a marriage should be arranged between equals, not
between people of different stations in life. It says that a ven-
erable couple of mice were extremely proud of their only
daughter and wished to have her married to a person of high
rank. But when she was rejected in turn by the Moon, the
Cloud, and the Wind, the parents finally decided to give her in
marriage to one of their mouse clerks/*
" The Owl and the Eagle " is another popular story of this
type. Once upon a time, it says, there lived an owl named
Fukuro. He fell in love with a bullfinch. Miss Uso-dori, who
lived in another forest, attracted by the beauty of her singing.
Fukuro consulted his retainers, the crow Kurozaemon and the
heron Shimbei, as to how he might win the favor of Uso-dori.
They told him that the lady had rejected the suit of the eagle.
Lord Uye-minu (" Never-looking-upward, " i.e. fearless), and
advised the owl to abandon his hope. But the owl would not
follow their advice and sent a love-letter to Uso-dori through
Miss Shiju-gara (the Manchurian great tit).
The letter was both witty and passionate," and Miss Uso-
dori was so moved by it that she replied as follows:
" I am in no way worthy of your love and admiration and do
not wish to arouse the jealousy of others through accepting your
love, especially that of Lord Uye-minu. Yet in the distant
future, when flowers shall bloom in Heaven and fruits shall be
ripe on earth, we shall meet in the western paradise of Amita-
Buddha."
Fukuro understood this response to mean a meeting after
death and a polite rejection of his love. Dejected at his failure
and struggling between his passion and his determination to be
resigned, he suddenly found comfort in the counsel of a certain
deity whom he worshipped. This deity revealed to him the
hidden meaning of the letter: that the flowers in Heaven were
stars, the fruits on earth, dawn, and the paradise a shrine of
Amita-Buddha on the western side of the hill. Fukuro was
STORIES OF ANIMALS 335
overjoyed at this happy interpretation and went at once to meet
his beloved at the shrine.
Now the other birds very soon learned of the meeting and
they wrote poems complaining of the good fortune of Fukuro.
From them the eagle Uye-minu found out what was going on,
and he flew into a jealous rage. His retainers attacked the
lovers when next they met near the shrine of Amitaj Fukuro
managed to escape, but Uso-dori fell a victim to their violence.^**
Fukuro, the owl, was so much distressed by the death of his be-
loved that he donned monastic robes and went about the coun-
try as an itinerant monk. That is the reason why you always
find the owl in the forests near Buddhist temples.
V. THE INSECTS, ESPECIALLY THE BUTTERFLY
Finally, insects are not unknown in folk-lore, though they
are much more commonly the subject of poetry and painting.
Yet they do appear as fairies, play with flowers, return indebt-
edness, or seek after Buddhist enlightenment. We have heard
the story of the grateful bee, and there are similar tales about
grateful fire-flies or butterflies. Dragon-flies are often sung of
in folk-music, and a particular kind, red in colour, is thought to
be associated with the returning of the dead to their old homes
in this world.^^ The butterfly in folk-lore is a tiny fairy with
variegated wings j the cricket weaves on its loom and warns men
by its singing to prepare for the coming winter; matsu-mushi
(Calyptotryphus marmoratus), the " pine insect," pines and
waits for its friend."
Of all these, the butterfly is the most popular, and certain
instrumental music and a characteristic dance representing the
fragile little creature are often performed at festivals." The
butterfly appears also in the No-drama. This is the story:
An itinerant monk visits Miyako and passes a night in a de-
serted palace. It is a calm spring night j the air is soft and hazy
336 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
and the tender light of the moon illumines the scene. A woman
appears and tells the monk of the glories of the past, when
flowers bloomed in the gardens and music and feasts made the
place merry. Then she confesses that she is in reality the spirit
of the butterfly, which enjoys the company of all flowers except
the plum-blossom (Japanese wme) which blooms very early in
spring, and she asks the monk to lead her to the Buddhist en-
lightenment through which she can live in communion with all
beings. She is then transformed into a butterfly, clad in pink
with a green wreath upon her head and variegated wings. The
monk recites the scripture Hokke-kyoy " The Lotus of Truth,"
and as he recites, the butterfly sings and dances. The last part
of the drama is composed of the fairy^s song and the chorus,
which is as follows:
*' Flowers bloom according to the seasons,
Her heart roams among the stems of the trees.
Here, close to the Imperial gardens, in the deserted palace ground.
Wild flowers bathe in the soft breeze of spring.
The yellow birds [Japanese nightingales] sing among the branches,
See the butterfly dancing among the clouds of blossoms,
Among the petals flying like snow-flakes,
Fluttering her sleeves and sweeping aside the petals.
Oh! what a charming sight it is to see!
When the spring has passed and summer has gone.
And autumn is passing, and all the flowers are withering,
There remains only the frosty white of the chrysanthemums.
Round and about the tiny twigs on which the flowers remain,
The butterfly dances like a turning wheel,
Turning and whirling she is turned toward Buddhahood.
See the fairy dancing the dance of the Bodhisattva,
Of the dancing and singing celestials.
Her figure little by little withdraws from us.
Into the dawning sky of the spring night;
See her wings wavering in the whirling circles of mists.
See how her figure gradually disappears in the morning haze! "
By way of transition to the stories of the plants and flowers
let us add one more tale of the butterfly, in which it appears
PLATE XL
The Classical Dance of the Butterflies
The classical dance, known as the Bu-gaku, is of
continental origin, being derived from India, Indo-
China, China and Korea; but several forms of it were
developed in Japan in the course of the 9th, 1 0th and
iith centuries. The Butterfly Dance shown here,
representing butterflies dancing among flov/ers, is one
of these Japanese versions.
By Hirotsura (died 1864), Tosa School. See p.
335. In possession of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
STORIES OF ANIMALS 337
as the incarnation of the human soul roaming among the flow-
ers which it had loved during its earthly life.
Once upon a time there was a young man named Sakuni.
His life was spent in planting and tending flowers. He mar-
ried a girl who had the same tastes. The couple cared for noth-
ing but the beautiful flowers in their spacious garden. A son
was born to them and the boy inherited their love for flowers.
After many years of this idyllic life the husband and wife died.
The son cultivated his plants and grasses more carefully than
ever, as if indeed they were the spirits of his dead parents.
When spring came the boy observed that two butterflies ap-
peared day after day and fluttered together among the flowers.
He loved the butterflies and took care that no ill befell them.
One night he dreamed that his dead parents came to the garden,
moved about admiring the flowers, and finally became butter-
flies. Next morning the boy hastened to the garden and found
the same butterflies flying about among the flowers, just as he
had seen them in his dream. So he knew that the lovely butter-
flies were really the souls of his parents, and he fed them on
honey and sheltered them carefully.
CHAPTER VIII
STORIES OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS
WE have already had occasion to speak often of trees and
flowers and to tell certain stories about them. There are
many such, and all are based on the popular belief that plants
are endowed with souls not unlike the human soul. There is
no hint of malice or shrewdness in their nature, for the trees and
flowers are thought of as pretty fairies or similar beings, always
gentle and modest. They converse with one another or with
human beings j they have love affairs among themselves or
marry human beings, like the willow tree, which, as we saw,
transformed itself into a woman. They apply to Buddhist
monks for instructions in Buddhist teachings and attain a cer-
tain degree of enlightenment. When they fight, as they occa-
sionally do, they are never ferocious. In some instances the
plant manifests gratitude, as did the garden radishes which ap-
peared as armed men and defended the man who was extremely
fond of that vegetable.^
The plants and flowers, like the insects, are less figures of
folk-lore than of art and poetry; and yet they are often per-
sonified in poetry, and some of these poems gave rise to inter-
esting stories; moreover flowers that are depicted frequently in
pictures have come to assume quite definite personalities in the
popular imagination. Finally, the places which plants and
flowers occupy in the festivals of the seasons are closely asso-
ciated with the mythical persons who are celebrated at those
festivals. We have seen already that certain plants are always
associated with the Sennins, and we shall hear more of them
when we come to the " Floral Calendar."
STORIES OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS 339
L MYTHICAL TREES
Very old trees are regarded as semi-divine, and there are
many such, famous all over Japan. There are also mythical
trees, pure creations of the imagination. Besides the heavenly
tree of Buddhism, Japanese folk-lore has a celestial tree in the
katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), a kind of laurel which is
said to live in the moon and to be visible in the dark spots on its
surface. Although the idea seems to be of Chinese origin, it
has become so naturalized in Japan that the " katsura of the
moon " is a common expression. A poem of the ninth century
says:
" Why does the moon shine so brilliantly
On this clear autumn night?
May it perhaps be because
The celestial katsura reddens in bright crimson,
Like the maple leaves in our world? "
One of the giant trees attributed to the mythical age is the
monstrous kunugt (Quercus serrata), a kind of oak, which is
said to have stood in the island of Tsukushi and to have been so
enormous that the shadow it threw in the morning and at sun-
set reached hundreds of miles from the place where it stood.
When it fell, the stem was like a long hill-range, and hundreds
and thousands of people could walk upon it. The story seems
to have been invented to explain the origin of the coal which is
abundant in that island.
Another mythical tree is the giant chestnut which Is said to
have stood in the district of Kurita ("Chestnut-field ") In the
province of OmI. Its branches spread so far that the nuts fell
scores of miles away, and one of the mounds made up of these
nuts Is supposed to be in the province of Ise. The shadow of
this tree covered many districts, and the people of Wakasa, in
the north-west, complained that the rice crops failed because
of that shadow. So the governor of OmI ordered the tree to be
340 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
cut down, and many wood-cutters were set at work. But all the
cuts they inflicted upon the stem of the tree were mysteriously
healed during the night, and on the following morning the
giant chestnut stood unhurt.
This strange phenomenon was owing to the fact that the
spirits of other trees and grasses respected the giant tree as their
king and came every night to heal its wounds. However, it
happened one night that a certain kind of ivy, called hko-kusa-
kazuray or " one-grass-ivy," came with the others to minister to
the great tree. But the chestnut was too proud to be nursed by
such an insignificant thing as the ivy, and rejected its service.
The ivy was insulted and planned to be revenged on the
haughty chestnut tree. So it appeared in a vision to the wood-
cutters who were wearying of their fruitless task, and told them
how the miraculous restoration was brought about. Moreover,
the revengeful ivy told them how to prevent the healing by
burning the tree. When this was done, the wounds could not
be healed and the giant tree fell. The place where it fell is the
" Tree Beach " on the Lake Biwa in Omi.
IL THE GENII OF THE PLANTS
Among the trees the pine is the most conspicuous in the land-
scape, and therefore in painting, poetry, and folk-lore.^ The
most renowned of pine-trees are the two at Takasago, whose
genii are said to appear often in the moonlight, like a white-
haired man and his wife, cleaning with besoms the ground
strewn with pine-needles. One version of the story makes the
husband the genius of a pine-tree that stands on the other side
of the sea, and it tells how he comes every night to Takasago.
The story is a very slender one, and the circumstance that makes
the trees so famous is that they appear in a popular lyric drama,
in which the old couple call down blessings on the peaceful
reign of the Emperor. The song is in part as follows:
STORIES OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS 341
" The waves are still on the four seas,
Soft blow the time-winds, yet the trees
Sway not, nor rustling foliage stirs.
In such an age blest are the firs
That meet and age together.
Nor heavenward look and reverent gaze,
Nor words of gratitude and praise
Our thanks can tell, that all our days
Pass in this age with blessings stored
By bounty of our Sovereign Lord! " *
This is a favourite song at weddings, and the genii, symbolic
of longevity and conjugal fidelity, are also displayed on such
occasions in miniature representations on tablets.
The cryptomeria (Japanese sugi) is almost as frequently
mentioned as the pine in Japanese folk-lore. It does not as-
sume the fantastic shapes in which the pine often growsj it is,
on the contrary, famous for its straightness and symmetry, and
for the luxuriant density of its foliage. A giant sugi or a group
of such trees is frequently associated with a Shinto shrine, and
the tree has become almost symbolic of the gloomy mystery of
a Shinto sanctuary — a Gothic structure, so to speak, built by
nature's hands. The sugi is also believed to be the favourite
abode of the Tengu folk, who hold their assemblies in sugi-
groves.
A very old story in which the sugi-trte. appears is that of the
sanctuary of Miwa which is dedicated to the Great-Land-Mas-
ter.
A woman who lived in Yamato was visited every night by a
handsome man who would not reveal his identity. The woman,
wishing to know who he was, tied a long string to his clothing,
and followed it when he left her in the morning. She found
that the man disappeared in the mountain of Miwa at a spot
where three giant sugi-tr&ts stood. The group of trees was
thereafter regarded as the abode of the divine Great-Land-
Master, and so the sanctuary of Miwa has no temple buildings
VIII— 23
342 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
but is sheltered by the trees. Somewhat similar stories are told
about several other Shinto holy places.
The genius of the ichoy or gingko-tree is an old woman. The
stem and branches of the gingko, as the tree grows old, produce
curious pendant overgrowths which are fancied to resemble a
woman's breasts. Accordingly the genius of the tree is held
to have especial care over nursing-mothers, and it was often
the custom of mothers to worship an old gingko-tree.
In quite recent years a singular story became current in Tokyo
concerning a gingko-tree that grew in Hibiya Park, in the heart
of the city. The place was originally waste ground in which
no trees grew except this one old gingko. When the park was
being constructed, the gingko began to wither, much to the dis-
tress of the gardeners. Every expedient was tried to keep it
alive, but all apparently in vain. One day toward evening,
when the chief gardener was standing alone by the tree, con-
sidering whether there was anything else he could do to pre-
serve it from decay, an old woman suddenly stood by him. She
asked why he was troubled and he told her. The old woman
smiled and said: " The gingko is the tree of milk, as you know.
Now it is a long time since this old tree has tasted milk. Pour
plenty of cow's milk about its roots and the tree will thrive
again." Then she disappeared as mysteriously as she had ap-
peared. The gardener did as she advised, and the tree began at
once to recover its strength. It still stands in the centre of the
park.
III. THE FLOWER FAIRIES
The Flower Fairies of Japanese folk-lore are in all essentials
like the Buddhist Tennin, and are always associated in the popu-
lar mind with music and dancing. We have spoken of the five
fairies of the cherry-blossoms j there are two others which are
met with in the lyric dramas. One is the fairy of the purple
wistaria that blooms early in summer, and the other is that of
STORIES OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS 343
the bashoy or banana-plant, the leaves of which are sadly torn
by the autumn wind.
In the drama about the wistaria- fairy the scene is laid on the
beach of Tako on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Here follows
a part of the choral song sung in accompaniment to the dance of
this fairy:
" Quite without help of boat or chariot
Glides the Spring onward.
Leaving behind the singing cetterias and the flying petals.
Beneath the white clouds of the fading cherry-blossoms,
The wistaria drops its violet dew-drops.
Behold the moon in the hazy sky of the spring night,
Dimly reflected in the water which the wistaria dyes with its bright
violet.
Rare indeed is a sight like this on the beach of Tako
Where the pines grow on the far-stretching strand."
" The soft zephyr of the spring evening
Plays its melody on the needles of the pines,
And breathes the air, ' Live Thousands of Years.'
And on the branches hang the blooming wistaria.
Whose violet clusters, like iridescent mists.
Trail over the dense growth of the evergreen forest.
Behold the fairy dancing amidst the purple haze,
Fluttering her sleeves made of the feathery clouds of clustering
wistaria.
Sing, O ye trembling leaves of the pendant willows,
Dance together, O ye flying petals of flowers,
Dance with them, O fairy of the wistaria-grown field!
The colours and the scents of trees and flowers melt and mingle
In the serene air of the Tako beach,
Where the ripples quietly undulate
In the misty light of the moon,
Reflecting the fluttering garments of the dancing fairy.
On and on, to and fro.
Dances the fairy of the purple wistaria,
Until the morning twilight dawns on the iridescent clouds,
Until finally her figure is lost in the trailing mists."
Another lyric drama is constructed around the very different
dance of the fairy Basho. The scene is laid at a hermitage
344 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
among mountains, where a hermit monk recites every evening
the scripture Hokke-kyo. A woman visits the place every night
and sits outside the hermitage. One night the monk asks her
who she is. She confesses that she is the genius of the bashd-
plant that stands in the garden.^ She says: —
" Here in the desolate garden I appear!
Having bathed in the dew of grace,
Bestowed on the leaves of basho by the shower of Truth,
— Of the Truth, which is not easily to be met with —
Behold Basho, thus transformed and clad in human robes,
Yet without flowers."
{Then Bosho and the chorus alternately)
" Frailty and evanescence
Are not merely qualities of womanhood.
But here Basho, clad in robes of dull colours.
Without the tints and beauties of the flowers
Stands, shy, with tattered sleeves! "
{Basho dances in choral songs)
" WTiether sentient or devoid of sense.
Whether a blade of grass or a tree.
Life is nothing but a manifestation
Of the ultimate reality, which is without any distinctive marks,
A formation nourished by rain and dew,
Composed of frost and snow,
Appearing on the field of the universal soul.
Of the cosmos, present even in the dust.^ . . .
Life is only a dream, transient like Basho's leaves! . . .
In the pale purity of the moonlight,
Clad in the robes of ice,
Wearing the skirt of frost.
Woven of the warp of frost and the woof of dew {she dances) .
Like the Moon-fairy's robe of feathers,
Like her, I wave my sleeves of banana-leaves,
The sleeves fluttering like fans of banana-leaves,
And cause wind to sweep over
Miscanthus and patrinia, grasses and flowers,
Growing in the desolate garden of the hermitage.
STORIES OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS 345
Delicate as the dew, subtle as a phantom,
All is dispersed by the wind.
Blowing over the giant pine-trees,
Blowing over thousands of leaves and flowers.
Behold thousands of leaves and flowers
Have all been shattered and scattered;
No figure of the woman can be traced,
But torn leaves of basho lie upon the ground! "
A Story in which the Buddhist element is very conspicuous is
that of " Mr. Butterfly and his Flowers." ^
There was a man who lived in a suburb of Miyako and who
never married, but devoted himself to cultivating the flowers
in his garden. Besides the flowers he had no other companion
than his old mother, to whom he was profoundly devoted. No
one knew his name, but he was known as Mr. Butterfly. When
his mother died he was left alone among his flowers, but even
they added to his melancholy, for they were destined to fade
and wither, and it grieved him to see them die when the frosts
of autumn came. As he looked about his garden and listened
to the mournful sound of the Buddhist temple-bells which ring
in the dusk of the evening, he could not keep his mind from
brooding on the evanescence of worldly things, and he finally
decided to abandon the world.
Accordingly he became a hermit and went to live among the
mountains far from Miyako. One evening there was a knock-
ing at his gateway. He went out and found there an old lady
clad in bluish robes who asked him to preach to her on the re-
ligion of Buddha. He hesitated at first to let her in, but on
second thoughts decided that he might safely admit so old a
woman. While she sat in the hermitage and listened to the
monk's discourse a young lady dressed in willow green and
wearing a purplish mantle came in and sat down quietly beside
the older woman. Then, curiously enough, as if emerging
from the mist, more ladies appeared, one after another, one
clad in yellowish green, another in white and pink, another in
346 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
white and purple, etc. Finally the congregation became a com-
pany of nearly thirty women, old and young, clad in variegated
colours, all of whom listened attentively to the hermit's sermon.
The hermit did not know what to make of all this, but he went
on stoutly with his sermon, emphasizing the vanity of the
worldly life and describing the final destiny of all existences,
not only of mankind but of plants and beasts as well. When he
made an end, the women expressed their appreciation and con-
fessed that they were in reality the spirits of the flowers he had
loved and that they had come in order to share in his Buddhist
attainment. Each of them left a poem, which was an expres-
sion of gratitude as well as a confession of faith. ^
As the last of them disappeared, the morning dawned j the
grasses and bushes that grew around the hermitage quivered
softly in the morning air and sparkled cheerily with new-fallen
drops. The hermit was impressed anew with the truth of the
teaching that all creatures were destined to become Buddhas,
and he lived for the remainder of his life in great piety.
A good many pretty and romantic stories are told to account
for the origin of various plants and flowers. Omtnameshi (Pa-
trinia scabiosaefolia), for instance, is a grass with a slender stalk
and tiny yellow clustered flowers that bloom early in autumn.
Side by side with the delicate ears of susuki (Miscanthus sinen-
sis) it bends and sways in the autumnal breeze and suggests the
idea of tenderness and submissiveness. Therefore it is called
ominameshij the " woman flower." ®
The story of its origin is as follows:
A certain woman, as the result of a misunderstanding, be-
lieved herself to have been abandoned by her lover who was
named Ono-no-Yorikaze. She therefore committed suicide by
throwing herself into a river that flowed near the man's house.
When she was buried, a peculiar kind of grass grew out of her
grave. This grass was the Patrinia. The lover, Yorikaze,
grieved bitterly for his unhappy mistress and at last he too
STORIES OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS 347
drowned himself. He was buried beside the woman, and out
of his grave grew the Miscanthus. Ever since the two grasses
grow side by side and are rarely to be found apart.
A similar story is told about a kind of ivy with tiny leaves
which grows on the rocks. Its name is Teika-kazuray Teika
being the name of a poet who lived in the thirteenth century.
The poet loved a princess who was also a poetess. She died and
was buried in the precincts of Nisonin, a Buddhist monastery
in Saga, near Miyako. Teika grieved for her so passionately
that his attachment was embodied in the ivy which clung to her
tomb. Even today the stone covered with the ivy is shown to
those who visit the monastery.
The plants are not invariably harmless and affectionate, how-
ever j here is a story in which they show jealousy and quarrel-
someness.
In Yoshino, famous for its cherry-blossoms, there stood a
beautiful cherry-tree which bore flowers of " eightfold petals,"
and was called therefore Lady Yaye-zakura (" the eight-pet-
alled cherry "). Nearby lived a prince, Susuki (Miscanthus),
young and valiant, and he fell in love with Lady Yaye-zakura
who was in the full glory of her bloom. The lady resisted for
a time young Susuki's love, but when her petals began to fall
she submitted to her lover and permitted Susuki to embrace the
petals among his green leaves.
Now an Ume (Japanese plum-tree) was also in love with
Yaye-zakura and he became very jealous of his more successful
rival. He determined to be revenged, and persuaded his fel-
low trees that they were all in disgrace because the most beauti-
ful of the trees had fallen in love with a mere grass. All the
trees assembled under the banner of the plum-tree and pre-
pared to give battle to the grass-folk.
The grasses rallied to the defence of Susuki and his lady, and
a battle ensued as fierce as any of the battles fought by men.
Victory seemed more than once to incline to the grasses j but
348 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
when the famous general Kusu-no-ki (camphor-tree) came to
the rescue of the trees and set fire to the grasses the battle was
decided in favour of the trees. Prince Susuki died on the field
and so did many of his followers. The Lady Yaye-zakura, in
her sorrow, shaved her hair and put on the robes of a nun.
Hence she is known by the name Sumi-zome-zakura (" cherry-
tree in black robes ").°
IV. THE FLORAL CALENDAR
Plants and flowers are, of course, associated with the seasons
in which they bloom, and are conspicuous in the festivals that
accompany each season. There is a very well known " Floral
Calendar " in which the places famous for each flower in turn
are named, and poems and stories concerning them are related.
The symbolism of the flowers is derived chiefly from their re-
spective characteristics and from the associations of the seasons,
and the stories to a large extent find their source in poetic
figures or in mythical narratives, both native and foreign.
Among the foreign influences the greatest by far is that of
Chinese poetry. ^'^
In the " Floral Calendar " the seasons used to be arranged
according to the months of the old lunar calendar j and the dis-
location caused by the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in
1873 has been adjusted in various ingenious ways. We shall
give the stories of the " Floral Calendar " as they are told to-
day in Tokyd.
The plants for the New Year's days (from January ist to the
7th, or to the 15th) are the pine, the bamboo and the plum-
blossom. The pine, by its evergreen needles, represents pros-
perity; the bamboo, the virtue of straightforwardness. The
plum-blossom is chosen because it is the first of all flowers to
bloom. We have read of the genius of the pine; that of the
plum-tree is a Chinese conception, Raf u-sen, " the Fairy of the
PLATES XLI, XLII, XLIII, XLIV
The Festivals of the Months
New Year's Day. The entrances of the house on
the left side are decorated with the reguhir sym-
bols of New Year's Day, pine and bamboo. Two
men wearing broad toga-like robes are the Man-zai
dancers, a regular feature of the occasion. Boys are
playing with bows and arrows, while girls inside the
enclosure on the right side are playing hago-itay a kind
of battledore and shuttlecock. See p. 348.
The Japanese May Day, the day for boys. Dolls
representing legendary heroes are set forth in the house
in the centre, and miniature weapons are placed out-
side. In one of the flags there is the figure of Shoki,
the devil-hunter (See p. 285) while a doll on the
top of another flag pole represents Shojo, the mythical
orang-outang-like being. See p. 273. The festival
was observed on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month,
now on May 5th. See p. 349.
The two pictures are taken from a series of the
festivals of the twelve months drawn on a pair of
screens.
By Itcho (1652— 1724), who adopted his art of
the classical school to genre paintings. In possession
of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Tortoise and Crane, the Symbols of
Longevity and Prosperity
Note that these animals represented for emblematic
purposes are combined with the plants symbolizing the
same qualities. See pp. 348-349, 363-370.
By Ganko, an artist of the Kano school. In pos-
session of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
f^:>#r - -"^f
^ <
^vn.
' - \rT\ it K
^: r
_--N^r
11 '^^ ' T//.'
STORIES OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS 349
Floating Veil," who appears at night among its blossoms and
scatters abroad their perfume. The animal associate of the pine
is the crane, symbolic of longevity j that of the bamboo is the
sparrow, which dances among its twigs j and the companion of
the plum-blossom is the nightingale." Other flowers of early
spring are the narcissus, symbolic of purity j the adonis (Japa-
nese fukujuso), which represents the fertility of life even be-
neath the snow, and is believed to bring good fortune and
health J and the yuzuri-ha (Daphniphyllum macropodum), the
name of which suggests endless continuity.
The spring is heralded by the willow j its pendant branches
suggest gracefulness and its light green leaves a fresh life. The
willow-leaves, together with the blossoms of the cherry and of
other trees, make up the brocade of spring, woven by the hands
of the Lady of Mount Sano, the genius of spring. The cherry-
blossoms are made to bloom by the Lady-who-makes-the-trees-
bloom, of whom we have heard already. After the cherry, the
peach, both in its flowers and its fruit, is held to be endowed
with power against the plague. The peach-blossoms are the
flowers chiefly associated with the girls' doll-day, celebrated on
March 3rd, and represent fecundity. The succession of spring
flowers is concluded by the azalia with which the people deco-
rate a little shrine erected to the baby Buddha on his birthday,
now celebrated on April 8 th, but properly about one month
later.
Blooming almost at the same time as the azalia, but regarded
as the heralds of the coming summer are the wistaria, the globe
flower (Kerria), and the tree-peony. The wistaria is the sym-
bol of brightness but also of transitoriness: one of the stories
about it we have told. The iris is best known by kakttsubata^
one of its numerous varieties. It is associated in decorative
painting with yatsu-hashi (" the eight-planked bridge "), which
is mentioned in one of Narihira's love stories. Another variety,
shobuy^ is the flower of the boys' doll-festival, celebrated on
350 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
May 5th; it is believed to protect against evil spirits. For that
purpose its leaves are hung from the eaves of every house, and
put also in bath-water. The practice originated in China. The
globe-flower, (Japanese yaniabukt) is admired because of its
bright yellow colour. The branches of the yamabuki-hvish.
which bend tenderly downward are associated, in poetry and
painting, with the little streams, beside which they often grow.
The tree-peony is symbolic of enchanting beauty. A simi-
lar meaning is attributed to fuyd (Hibiscus mutabilis) and
to the hydrangea 5 the former symbolizes a beautiful but
unhappy woman, the latter a woman who is fascinating and
fickle.
The flower of summer most often mentioned in classical
poetry is the blossom of a kind of orange tree, tachibana (Citrus
nobilis), the tiny flowers of which are very fragrant. The
legend declares that, by the request of the sovereign, it was
brought to Japan by a noble from Tokoyo-no-kuni, or the Eter-
nal Land, a southern island where the trees are always green.
The fragrance of the flower is associated with the song of
the cuckoo. More popular are the convolvulus, or morning-
glory, and the pale flower of the bottle-gourd, or evening-glory.
The morning-glory is associated with Korea, perhaps because its
other name is " Chosen," or " Morning-calm," which is also
the Japanese name for Korea. The reader will remember the
tale in Chapter V about the evening-glory, taken from the love
adventures of Prince Genji, and the lyric drama founded upon
it. The friend of the moon in summer is the evening primrose j
its Japanese name is tsukimiso, or " the grass that looks at the
moon." The cat-tail and similar plants are likened to the frogs'
spears, the Tengu's nose, etc., and amusing pictures of these
grasses and animals are common in Japanese art, though there
are no special stories about them.
But the most real flower of summer is the lotus-flower, first
introduced from India with Buddhism, and always associated
STORIES OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS 351
with the Buddhist ideal of purity and perfection. It is symbolic
of purity, because the plant grows out of muddy water, and yet
neither stalk nor leaf nor flower is defiled by any stain. The
lotus-flower embodies the ideal of perfection, because its fruit
is ripe when the flower blooms, symbolizing the oneness of
Buddhist instruction and enlightenment. The Buddhist para-
dise is said to possess a pond filled with ambrosia, wherein the
lotus grows and blooms in various colours and with heavenly
fragrance. Therefore in every Buddhist temple-ground there
is a lotus pond. Stories are also current that lotus-flowers have
grown out of the graves of pious Buddhists. The lotus-flower
is therefore the emblem of Buddhism and it is widely used in
the decoration of Buddhist temple-buildings and in Buddhist
paintings. Buddhas and Buddhist saints are shown seated on a
dais-like lotus-fruit with petals. The soul of the dying Bud-
dhist is wafted upward on it, and in cemeteries the grave-stone
often rests on a carved lotus.
The coming of autumn is marked by the appearance of the
"seven grasses" which are: — kikyo (Platycodon grandi-
florum), a kind of blue-bellj ominameshiy the "woman-
flower," already spoken of j fuji-bakama (Eupatorium sinen-
sis), the "wistaria skirt "3 waremokoy a flower-like little
cat-tail J karukaya; susuki or obana^ or Miscanthus, above spoken
of j and hagi (Lespedeza bicolor), a bush plant. These are al-
ways associated with singing insects, and the people go to the
fields to admire these charming wild flowers and at the same
time to listen to the plaintive music of the insect musicians.^^
The Miscanthus is the flower for the festival of the full moon
in the ninth lunar month, when puddings are offered to
O-Tsuki-sama or " Mr. Moon."
In October and November the chrysanthemum and the
maple rule. The white and yellow of the wild chrysanthemum
bring blessings from the fountain of youth where Kiku-Jido,
" the Chrysanthemum Boy," resides. Its petals and leaves are
352 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
dipped into sake-heer which confers on mankind the blessings
of health and longevity.
The variegated and domesticated flowers of the chrysanthe-
mum are named after various poetic figures and legendary
characters. The tale of " The Chrysanthemum Boy's Foun-
tain " and of the stream that flows out of it furnishes the mo-
tive for a feast called the " Feast of the Winding Stream." A
winding stream is made in a spacious garden filled with chrys-
anthemums. Men and women who know how to make verses
sit scattered along the banks of the stream. Tiny wooden cups,
red-lacquered and flat in shape, are set afloat at the fountain-
head and come drifting down the stream. In each of them
there is a piece of paper on which a poetical subject is written.
Each of the persons who sit upon the bank takes one of the
cups from the stream, drinks a cup of sake, and composes
a poem on the theme he has drawn. The feast is a rhyming
competition and at the same time symbolizes a communion in
the ambrosia of the chrysanthemum fountain of eternal
youth.
The maple-leaves, though they are not flowers, are regarded
as akin to flowers. In poetry and painting the crimson of the
maple is associated with the melancholy whining of the deer,
because the animal is heard at the time when the leaves begin to
turn crimson. Sometimes the maple is also allied in poetry with
the bright moonlight of an autumn evening; there is, for in-
stance, a poem in Kokin-shu, an anthology of the ninth century,
which says:
"The frosty moonlight cold and white
Shines so clear, that we may see
Each maple-leaf float from its tree.
And weave a perfect tapestry
In silence of the Autumn night." "
The poem on the katsura-tret in the moon, already referred
to, also links the moon and the maple tree in the artist's imagi-
STORIES OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS 353
nation, but that association is far less popular than that of the
maple with the deer.
This closes the " Floral Calendar " of the year. Several
berries which redden in the winter bridge over the gap between
the autumn and the coming spring.
While we are occupied with tales about animals and plants
we ought to say something concerning Japanese heraldry.
Every Japanese family, however lowly it may be, has its family
crest. The wide use of crests had its origin in the designs
painted on flags and other articles in military use, and dates
from the age of feudal warfare which lasted from the four-
teenth to the sixteenth century. The chrysanthemum, which is
the crest of the Imperial family, is said to have been in use as
early as the ninth century j and the butterfly of the Tairas and
the sasa-rindoy the bamboo-leaves with flowers, of the Mina-
motos, were probably first adopted in the twelfth century.
It is a significant fact that Japanese heraldry makes little use
of animals but much of flowers. The flowers are convention-
alized in simple outlines, and complicated designs such as we
find in European coats-of-arms are extremely rare. There are
few tales to account for the choice of particular crests j one fam-
ily, however, which displays the cross section of a cucumber,
asserts that its members were originally worshippers of a certain
deity, the genius of the cucumber, who took them under his pro-
tection when they agreed not to eat the fruit of the cucumber
vine.
CHAPTER IX
DIDACTIC STORIES, HUMOUR AND
SATIRE
I. THE ADAPTATION OF STORIES TO DIDACTIC
PURPOSES
ALMOST any story can be turned to didactic ends by the
skilful fabulist, but animal stories are better suited than
others to that purpose. In Japan it is most often the tale of the
grateful animal that is so used, for Japanese ethics have always
laid especial emphasis on the virtue of gratitude. No doubt
many stories of that type were originally invented to convey
moral lessons, the wit or shrewdness of the animals contrasted
with the folly or stupidity of mankind, and the human being is
discomfited because he allows his reason and his morality to be
overcome by passion or appetite — most frequently by the sin
of greed, as exemplified, for instance, by the wicked woman in
the story of " The Tongue-cut Sparrow," and by the man who
dug for treasure at the instance of a revengeful fox.
A great many folk-tales were adapted to moral or religious
purposes by the Buddhist priests. They were especially fond
of using romantic stories, such as those of Komachi or of Prince
Genji, in order to teach the fleeting character of physical beauty
and the sad karma of romantic love. In like manner they
found means to depict the torments caused by hatred, anger,
arrogance, and similar passions in stories of the Tengu who
were the re-incarnations of defeated warriors, or of the unhappy
demon who could not satiate himself with revenge though he
DIDACTIC STORIES, HUMOUR, SATIRE 3S5
vented his animosity against one generation after another of his
enemy's descendants.^
One of the stories that was clearly invented to teach a moral
lesson is that of " The Hunter and the Little Monkeys." There
was once a hunter who shot a monkey. He brought it home
and hung it up from the ceiling in front of the fire-place. In
the night he was awakened from sleep by the noise of little pat-
tering feet. He sat up in bed, and looked about him. He saw
by the light of the dying fire a number of little monkeys who
warmed themselves at the fire-place, and then one after another
tried to warm the cold body of the dead monkey in their em-
brace. They were, as he understood, the children of the dead
monkey, and his heart was so deeply moved with compassion
that he never again went hunting, but sought another means of
livelihood.
A warning against laziness is found in the story of Chin-chin
Ko-bakama^ or " The Little Fairies of the Tooth-picks." ^
There was once a lady who did almost nothing for herself but
left everything to her servants. She had a curious, lazy habit
of hiding all the tooth-picks she used between the mattings on
the floor. One night, when she was sleeping alone, she heard a
noise close to her pillow and saw many little men clad in katni-
shimo (a sort of square-shouldered garment with a broad skirt,
hakama) who danced and sang about her bed. Her sleep was
disturbed in this way for several nights in succession. When
her husband came home she told him how she had been an-
noyed. Accordingly he kept watch that night, and when the
little fairies appeared he drew his sword. At once they fell
down lifeless, and, behold, they were the old toothpicks that
the woman had hidden away.
A didactic tale of higher meaning is the rather familiar story
of " The Blind Men who met with an Elephant " j it is intended
to teach the foolishness of sectarian strife and the danger of tak-
ing a half-truth for the whole. The story is of Indian origin
356 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
and is frequently used by Buddhist teachers. Several blind
men once fell to discussing what an elephant was like. They
could not agree, and determined to test the accuracy of their
respective conceptions by a first-hand examination of a real ele-
phant. They had themselves led up to an elephant, and each
man put forth his hands to feel the animal. The first man got
hold of one of the beast's huge legs and said that an elephant
was like the stem of a giant tree; another felt the trunk and he
said that the elephant was much like a snake; the third man
climbed up on the back of the elephant and he found the ani-
mal to be like a little hill; the fourth took hold of the tail and
he insisted that the elephant was like a hossUy a duster made of
hair. The experience of the blind men teaches us that the great
truths of cosmic existence can never be grasped by those who
approach them from a single point of view.
II. THE STORY OF BONTENKOKU
In some cases didactic purpose is combined with a very florid
flight of fancy. Such a story Is that of " Bontenkoku, or the
Realm of Brahma," which dates probably from the sixteenth
century. It is one of the most elaborate of Japanese fairy-
tales.
Once upon a time there was a young prince of high rank in
the Imperial court. After the death of his parents, the prince
dedicated his music to the spiritual welfare of the dead ^ by
playing on a famous flute which had been handed down in his
family. He passed seven days in this way; on the eighth, as
he sat playing his flute, a bank of iridescent purple clouds ap-
peared in the sky. The clouds approached nearer, and therein
he saw a celestial being who bore himself with dignity, seated
In a golden chariot and attended by beautiful angelic figures.
This resplendent being said to the prince : " I am Brahma, the
Lord of the highest Heaven. The melody of thy flute has
DIDACTIC STORIES, HUMOUR, SATIRE 357
thrilled my whole realm and we approve thy filial piety and
thy religious devotion. I desire that thou shouldst marry my
only daughter J if thou consentest, thou mayst expect her this
evening when the moon rises a little before midnight."
The prince could hardly believe the reality of the vision, yet
when evening came he arranged everything for the reception of
his heavenly bride, and sat down to play on his flute. Suddenly
in the sky now illuminated by the moon, he saw the bank of
purple clouds coming down from on high. The air was filled
with delicious perfume and among the clouds sat a wondrous
fairy princess. The marriage ceremony was performed to the
accompaniment of mysterious heavenly music. The miraculous
marriage soon became known, and such was the seraphic beauty
of the bride that many men desired her. The emperor himself
was envious of the prince's good luck, and determined to get
rid of the young man and take the fairy princess for himself.
Accordingly he commanded the prince to accomplish various
impossible things. One day he said: " Since thou art son-in-
law to the heavenly lord thou canst surely show me the dance
of the heavenly peacock with a musical accompaniment by the
heavenly nightingale (kalivinka). If thou do it not, thou shalt
be driven from this country in disgrace." The prince was much
troubled at this command and consulted his fairy wife concern-
ing it. It was an easy matter for the daughter of Brahma to
summon those celestial birds, and they came down to earth at
her call. They were despatched to Miyako where they de-
lighted the Imperial court with the beauty of their dancing and
their music.
Then the emperor ordered the prince to bring him the daugh-
ter of the ogre chief, one of Brahma's retainers. The fairy wife
had no trouble in calling the girl to the Imperial palace, and she
amused and entertained the court with her many coloured robes
and her curious dancing. Then the emperor demanded to
have the Thunderers brought before him. They came at once
vin — 24
358 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
when the princess summoned them. Their roar was so terrible
that the emperor begged them to stop, but they would obey no
one but the prince, the husband of the celestial lady.
Not yet discouraged, the emperor said to the prince: " I pre-
sume that thou canst obtain the signature of thy father-in-law
together with his heavenly seal. Get it for me or I shall not
permit thee to stay in my country." There was nothing for the
prince to do but to go himself to the highest Heaven and ask
his father-in-law for his sign-manual and his seal. The fairy
provided her husband with a miraculous horse which would bear
him up to Heaven. When he reached Brahma's palace, he was
received most hospitably by his father-in-law and entertained
sumptuously. While the prince was eating the celestial rice
served to him, his attention was attracted by a haggard and hun-
gry creature of a repulsive aspect which was confined in the next
room. The monster asked the prince to give him a mouthful
of rice, and the compassionate prince did so. No sooner had
the creature eaten the rice than he broke his fetters, burst from
his cell and flew away into the sky.
The startled prince inquired about the escaped prisoner and
learned that he was the devil king of the south sea, who had
tried to get possession of Brahma's daughter and had therefore
been put in fetters and left to starve. But now, since the celes-
tial rice endowed anyone who ate it with miraculous powers, the
devil had resumed his former strength, and it was a question
whether he could be subdued again even by Brahma's warriors.
The whole affair was most unfortunate, but there seemed now
to be no help for it, and so Brahma gave the prince the divine
signature and the seal. He hurried back to his terrestrial home
only to find that the devil king had already carried away his
dear fairy wife. The distressed husband prayed continually in
tears to Kwannon, the goddess of mercy, that his wife might
be restored to him. One night as he was praying in Kwannon's
temple, the goddess appeared in a vision and told him how to
DIDACTIC STORIES, HUMOUR, SATIRE 359
find the place where his wife was confined. Following the god-
dess's instruction, the prince took ship and sailed southward.
After sailing thousands and thousands of leagues, his boat
came ashore on a rugged beach. The prince landed and began
to play upon his flute. Certain dark-skinned devils were at-
tracted by the sound, and they found his music so charming that
they told him where the captive princess was. The prince went
thither, and, when he came to the palace, he let his wife know
of his presence by means of his flute, to which she replied by
playing in harmony with him on her own flute. The devil king
had been called to another place and had gone thither in his
chariot which could travel three thousand leagues a day. The
guards who were in charge of the princess were so much
charmed by the music of the flutes that they offered no opposi-
tion when the prince put his wife in a chariot which the devil
king had left behind and took her away. This chariot, how-
ever, could travel only two thousand leagues a day.
When the guards awoke from their enchanted slumber and
saw that the princess was gone they beat signal drums that
sounded throughout all the realm of the devils. The devil
king, hearing the drums, came back in a hurry, learned what
had taken place, and started at once in pursuit. His chariot was
soon able to overtake the other and he would surely have caught
them and wreaked his fury on them, if the heavenly birds had
not appeared upon the scene and driven the devils down to the
bottom of the subterranean world. So the prince and princess
were saved and came safely to their home.
It is said that this prince and princess are the god and goddess
enshrined at Ama-no-Hashidate, and that they protect mankind
from the malice of the devils.
36o JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
III. HUMOUR AND SATIRE
In most of the didactic stories, the points are emphasized by
exaggerating the results either of human wickedness or foolish-
ness. These exaggerations are often humorous or satirical,
and it is often hard to tell where the didactic tale passes over
into mere humour or satire. The story of the fallen Sennin of
Kume is more humorous than seriously didactic, especially
when we learn that the Sennin married the woman who caused
him to lose his Sennin power. In the story of Kaguya-hime,
the stratagems and contrivances invented by the lady's suitors to
get or to forge the rare things that the Moon-fairy required as
the condition of her consent to the marriage, are distinctly
amusing.
The humorous and satirical motives that are found in so
many legends and folk-tales were freely used by the writers of
the farces known as Kydgen, which are played between the No
dramas. Let us give a few instances 3 the farce called Zazen or
" Abstraction " * has this plot :
A man wished to visit his mistress but, in order to do so, he
had to deceive his jealous wife. He told her that he was going
to sit for a day and a night in " Zazen," a tranquil meditative
state, and that during this time no one, not even she herself,
should enter his room. But because he was afraid that his wife
would come into his room after all, he ordered his servant to
sit in his place and cover himself completely with a large piece
of cloth. Then he departed to his mistress, confident that he
had prepared for every emergency. But his wife was too sus-
picious to keep away from the room for so long a time. She
opened the door, therefore, and saw a man sitting with covered
head. She spoke to him but as he gave her no answer, she
pulled off the cloth and found the servant sitting there instead
of her husband. She sent the man away and took his place.
DIDACTIC STORIES, HUMOUR, SATIRE 361
covering herself with the cloth as the servant had done. When,
next morning, the husband came back from his mistress, he
never suspected what had happened in his absence and told the
supposed servant everything that he had done with his mistress.
When he had committed himself sufficiently the wife threw off
the cloth, to the dismay of the unfaithful husband.
Another Kydgen is that called " The Three Deformed
Ones." A rich man, who was extremely charitable, announced
that any man who was deformed or had lost his sight or hearing
might come to his house, where he would feed and keep him as
long as he lived. Now a vagabond who had gambled away all
his money heard of the offer, and, pretending that he was blind,
came to claim the rich man's charity. He was hospitably wel-
comed. The next man to present himself was a friend of the
first impostor. He pretended to be deaf, and the third was an
equally spurious cripple. The charitable man received them all
gladly and entertained them well. One day he had occasion to
go from home and he entrusted to the three deformed men the
care of the magazines where his wine, silk and other goods were
deposited. When he had gone, the three men put off their dis-
guises, helped themselves to the wine and had a merry banquet
with singing and dancing. They were in such spirits that they
quite forgot that their benefactor was likely to return at any
moment. In the midst of their sport he appeared j he found
his deaf protege singing, the cripple dancing, and the blind man
watching the dance and clapping his hands in time with the
steps. When the three impostors saw their protector standing
before them, each of them tried hurriedly to resume his respec-
tive disguise, but it was too late and they were all driven from
the house.
A third farce is called " The Aunt's Wine." A dissipated
young man knew that his aunt had a quantity of good sake-hccr
and asked her to give him a cup of it. She would not consent,
for she knew that, with him, one cup meant an infinite succession
362 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
of cups. When the young man found that he could not get his
way by persuasion he determined to get it by frightening his
good aunt. So he got a devil-mask and appeared in that dis-
guise. The terrified old lady begged the supposed devil to take
all her provisions if he would only spare her life. The young
fellow began to drink under his mask and as he grew more and
more intoxicated, it became too troublesome for him to slip the
mask aside while he drank. Accordingly he put his mask on
one of his ears, turning that side of his person toward his aunt,
and drank by putting the cup to the side of his mouth which was
turned away from her. His aunt became suspicious, made in-
vestigation and detected the deceit. She lost no time in driving
the drunken nephew out of the house.
IV. AN AGE OF DISCONTENT AND SATIRE
There was one period in particular when satire was very prev-
alent in Japanese literature. It covers the last part of the
eighteenth and the early years of the nineteenth century. At
that time the government undertook to censor literary produc-
tions and to enforce various irritating sumptuary regulations.
The stories and novels of the time are obviously and obtrusively
moral and have little literary value. A reaction soon took
place, yet there was for a long time too little freedom of expres-
sion. Many a writer took refuge in hiding a satirical purpose
beneath a pretended seriousness, or in disguised sarcasms against
the regime. It is only in work of this kind that any vigour or
originality displayed itself. The usual productions showed all
the lifelessness and tediousness of a conventionalized and arti-
ficial literature. Among the imaginative works of this period,
the most popular were two books of imaginary journeys by
Bakin, the most voluminous writer of Japan. They were the
Wa-So-Byoye or the " Wanderings " of the Japanese Chuang-
Chu, — Chuang being the Chinese Taoist who dreamt that he
DIDACTIC STORIES, HUMOUR, SATIRE 363
had become a butterfly, and doubted whether he himself had
become a butterfly or a butterfly had become Chuangj and
Musd-Bydyej or " The Dream-Vision-man." "
The Japanese Chuang-Chu was a resident of Nagasaki. He
was once fishing from a boat when a storm blew it far from
shore and he drifted over the sea without knowing at all where
he was. The first land he reached was the Land of Immortality
where there was neither illness nor death. The people there
were all weary of life and prayed continually to the god of Death
to deprive them of life or at least of health, but all in vain.
Wa-So himself, after he had lived there for a time, found him-
self, too, wishing to die, since death was the only thing that was
wanting there. He attempted suicide by jumping from a high
cliff, but his body fell to earth so softly that he was quite unin-
jured. Then he tried to drown himself, but he floated ob-
stinately on the surface of the water. His only escape was to
migrate to another realm, which he finally succeeded in doing
on the back of a crane.
The land to which the crane bore him was the Land of
Opulence. There the people desired poverty so earnestly that
the god they worshipped was Poverty and the deity they
dreaded was Wealth. Thence the crane carried Wa-So to the
Land of Vanity, then to the Land of Antiquities, the country of
those who would never consent to any change, then to the Land
of Wantonness, and finally to the Land of Giants. One of the
giants picked Wa-S5 up to examine him, and when he dropped
him again Wa-So found himself at home in Nagasaki. Under
the pretence of describing the singular customs of the inhabit-
ants of these topsy-turvy countries, Bakin found it possible to
depict with no little satirical humour many of the peculiarities
of the social life of his time.
In a continuation of this book Wa-So becomes weary of his
humdrum life at home and longs to go a-wandering again. He
puts out to sea, and this time a tortoise appears to carry him to
364 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
fresh adventures. The first place to which the tortoise brings
him is the Land of Purity, where he is annoyed by the finicky
neatness and cleanliness of the people. He escapes and travels
by the tortoise-back route to the Land of the Long-legged and
the Long-armed. These strange folk had never thought of
diminishing their respective deformities by means of intermar-
riage, but Wa-So induced them to do so. Before he had an
opportunity to observe the result of this expedient, Wa-S5 had
to journey through mountain-passes and jungles to the Land
of the Miser J and then over wide, tedious prairies to the Land
of the Dauntless. Other regions he visited were the Land of
Gold and Jewels and the Land of the Long-haired and the
Long-eared Barbarians whose life was not much higher than
that of the beasts. At last he came to the Island of Women.^
Wa-So was eagerly welcomed by the female inhabitants of this
island who were almost mad at the idea of seeing and embracing
a male being. Wa-So became the guest of honour at the court
of the queen, but found his position really that of a prisoner
and tried to flee. He awoke to find that his adventures were
nothing but a dream.
Muso-Byoye, " The Dream-Vision-man," was conducted on
his travels by Urashima, the ancient hero who became the bride-
groom of the Dragon Princess. Urashima gave Mus5 his
bamboo fishing-rod and line, and Muso made a kite from them
on which he was able to fly through the air. The first place he
visited was the Land of the Children, where the Father, the
Mother and the Nurse were deities representd by images, and
where the people had nothing to do but play, quarrel and cry.
The kite next carried Muso to the Land of Concupiscence.
While Muso stood amazed at the shameless lust of the people
his kite sailed away and he was quite at a loss how to proceed
on his journey. Then he met Urashima, who was living as a
hermit among the lustful people and who gave Muso a boat in
which he sailed to the Land of Perpetual Drinking. Muso was
DIDACTIC STORIES, HUMOUR, SATIRE 365
very ready to join in the drinking party, but in the midst of it
he was caught by a gigantic eagle which carried him off to the
Land of Greed. There he found his kite again and on it he
travelled to the Land of Liars, to the Land of Never-satisfied
Passions, and finally to the Land of Delight. The king of that
realm was Urashima again, and he, when Muso had satiated
himself with the pleasures of this happy land, sent the wan-
derer back to his home in Japan.
APPENDIX
JAPANESE
FOLK-LORE IN FOLK-SONGS
JAPAN has a rich stock of folk-songs, from very ancient ones re-
corded in the eighth century to those that were only collected after
the breaking down of the feudal barriers in the last century. Since
they are the products of the sentiment and imagination of the common
people they contain frequent allusions to popular folk-tales, but the lan-
guage is often so obscure that we can only guess to what legends refer-
ence is made. Moreover, plays upon words and riddles are very fre-
quent; the result is that very few of the songs can be put into intelligible
English.
Some popular songs are lyrical improvisations, but the majority are
traditional expressions of popular feeling on various occasions of social
or communal festivity. Such are the planting of the rice and the rice
harvest, when the people work together in the fields or assemble at the
village shrine to give thanks; the gathering of the villagers to raise a
ridge-pole for a new house (the ceremony which corresponds to the
laying of the corner-stone among Western peoples) ; the speeding of
pilgrims to Ise or other sanctuaries, and the celebration of their return;
open air dancing during the nights of midsummer, called 5o«-dancing,
in which all the villagers join; the celebration of the Tana-bata festi-
val, when the girls march about in procession, or the processions of the
boys on New Year's Day. Besides the songs sung on these public occa-
sions, there are many others, such as lullabies, the boys' songs as they
chase and catch insects, the songs of the children when they discover
the first twinkling star in the evening, the songs of the horse-drivers,
of the palanquin-bearers, etc.
Many of these songs are known everywhere throughout Japan, with
slight variations in words and melody. Though the variations are
rarely of importance, we can, by comparing them, get additional light
on the interpretation of the songs, and we can learn much from them
concerning the different conditions and sentiments that prevail in dif-
ferent parts of the country.
Another point to be observed is that many of the popular songs used
today have been handed down virtually unchanged for several hundred
years. There are indeed some later songs dating from the seventeenth
370 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
or eighteenth centuries, but they can easily be detected by reason of the
superior literary polish given them by the literati of the peaceful Toku-
gawa epoch. One specimen of this class is given below in " The Rats'
Complaint."
The first specimen we shall give is a song of felicitation on the
occasion of building a new house, wherein nearly all the lucky figures
of Japanese folk-lore are embedded: —
" A thousand years lives the crane,
Myriad years the tortoise,
Nine thousand the Prime-man of the East (Tobo-saku),
Eight thousand the fisher-boy of Urashima,
One hundred and six years lived General Osuke of Miura.
Live long, live long, as long as all these added together, —
Twenty-eight thousand one hundred and six years in prosperity.
Sailing hither comes the Ship of Treasures,
With its sails of brocade and satin,
With curtains purple in colour.
Therein are all the Seven Deities of good luck,
Banqueting merrily, exchanging cups of sake, —
They bring heaps of fortune to the house! "
Another version of the same song is as follows: —
" A crane and a tortoise abide in the house.
They play by the pine-tree,-^
And the pine-tree and bamboos prosper forever!
" Last night I dreamed a lucky dream,
Lucky, lucky, indeed very lucky: —
I saw the Moon, the Moon, as on my pillow I was lying.
Embracing the rising Sun,
And drinking from a golden cup the ambrosia of sake!
" The time is spring, in the third month.
Daikoku appears first, followed by Eblsu,
And after them myriads of ships loaded with treasures! "
Next comes one of the songs of the planting season exalting Ta-no-
kami, the Field-god. In this song Ta-no-kami is conceived of as a baby
shortly to be born, and the allusions show that he is likened to a noble
baby-prince : —
" In India, yard! ^
In the Plain of High Heaven, yare!
There lives a god, the father of Ta-no-kami sama}
APPENDIX 371
" In India, yare!
In the pond where reeds grow, yare!
There abides a goddess, the mother of Ta-no-kami sama.
" Ta-no-kami sofna, yare!
In which month was he conceived? yare!
Between the first and the third!
" Ta-no-kami sama, yare!
In which month will he be born?
Within less than ten months!
" Ta-no-kami sama, yare!
Who is his nurse? yare!
The young princess of the Dragon Palace!
" Ta-no-kami sa?7ia, yare!
How is his baby dress cut? yare!
Measured seven times and cut at once, yare!
" Ta-no-kami sama, yare!
Where is the fountain whence to take water for bathing him?
The Virgin-rock of Yamashiro! *
" Ta-no-kami sama, yare!
Who fetches the water to bathe him?
The young lord of Kamakura! °
'* Ta-no-kami sama, yare!
Of what colour is his baby dress? yare!
It is purple with gay patterns, yare!
" Ta-no-kami sama, yare!
What crest has his baby dress, yare!
Two feathers of a falcon within a pentagon, yare!
" Ta-no-kami sama, yare!
Where shall we welcome him? yare
In the hollow plain of Mishima, yare.''^^
Another planting song makes hardly any allusion to the myths and is
more lyrical in character: —
" Plant rice-plants on the fields,
On our dear fields;
Plant, plant until the Moon and the stars shine!
372 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
" I should be glad to plant rice on the fields,
Until the morning star shines and even beyond that!
If only the fields were my beloved one's! "
Another says: —
" Pouring, pouring falls the rain.
Yet at last it will clear up.
When shall my heart be cleared? "
This refers to the fact that the planting falls in the rainy season, in
June, and the song is more of a love song than a planting song.
A song sung in picking tea-leaves: —
" Pick, pick tea-leaves in the tea-picking!
How much has been picked in tea-picking?
A thousand leaves have been picked in tea-picking!
"An even thousand, picked and accumulated one by one;
Even as the peak of Fuji is made up of grains and soil.
" Never be tired, never cease to pick leaves,
Pick, pick with the hands full! "
This little lyric is often sung in beating wheat: —
" Soft breeze, bringst thou a message from my home?
Soft breeze, if thou speakst, what is thy message from home? "
The following must be our only specimen of the lullaby. It is one
of the most attractive of them all, however: —
" Sleep, baby, sleep!
On mountains steep
The children of the hare are straying.
Why are their soft brown ears so long and slender,
Peeping above the rocks where they are playing?
" Because their mother, ere yet they were born,
Ate the loquat-leaves in the dewy morn.
And the bamboo-grass long and slender —
That's why the ears of baby-hares are long.
Sleep, baby, sleep to the lilt of my song." ''
We have spoken of the Tana-bata festival and quoted from an an-
cient poem on it; there are many popular songs made for the festival.
One is as follows: —
APPENDIX 373
" On the seventh day of this midsummer month,
Tana-bata, the Herdsman, longs to see his wife
On the other side of Heaven's River.
" Should it rain. Oh, poor lover,
How shall he cross the river? "
Another refers to the belief that good penmanship can be achieved
if one celebrates the Tana-bata festival conscientiously: —
" Oh, dear Tana-bata sama!
Oh, dear Tana-bata sama!
Let my hands be raised! ^
" Papers in four colours.
Yarns in five colours,
Hung high on the spotted stems of bamboo,
These are my humble offerings,"
A love song with allusion to Tana-bata: —
" Would that I might become a star,
The star of Tana-bata!
The crimson leaves of the maples^
Might then bridge over the stream,
And serve to convey my love across!
The coloured strings might bind my longing desire
To her pretty heart! "
The follovi^ing is a song based on the superstition that to see a shoot-
ing star flying toward you is an omen of a coming good fortune: —
" The bright star of the evening
Shines in the sky among the meteors.
In the morning bright are
The trails of white clouds.
Let the tiny stars of gold shoot towards me
From among those bright ones in heaven."
We shall close with a little song used in the Bon-dance. It is called
" The Rats' Complaint " : —
" Hear in pity the rats' complaint!
We cannot but envy the good fortune of the cat.
May it happen that in the future life
We shall be born as cats!
What a happy fortune have the cats!
vm — 25
374 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
For they arc loved by men and live with them,
And are fed upon delicious foods.
Cats are privileged to sit on noblemen's knees. . . .
What bad fortune (karma) has caused us to be born rats?
Why must we live such a miserable life?
Wherever we go in the wide world,
Cats and weasels threaten us and chase us.
The cats indeed sometimes fail to catch us,
But the weasels and serpents never fail. . . .
Yet there is a paradise even for us,
A summer night when there is plenty of rice and corn.
But when the winter comes and food is scanty.
We have nothing to bite on but caskets and pieces of wood.
Nothing nutritious, but only hard things to bite. . . .
To Buddha we bring some offerings (in excrements).
Yet we steal often from Him things that are offered to Him.
Surely we are destined to a sad future,
Alas can it never be otherwise?
How much more fortunate should we be, if, at least.
We were born as white rats! "
NOTES
JAPANESE
Introduction
1. This is based on the similarity of physiognomy and of language.
In mythology and folklore the Koreans have been much influenced by
China, and yet their kinship with the Japanese may later receive addi-
tional proof through more careful research in this field.
2. Kojikiy pp. 93 f. ; Nihongiy i. 64 f.
3. The etymology of the word Yamato is disputed. According
to the commonly accepted theory it means " Mountain-gateways," be-
cause the region is surrounded by mountains on all sides and opens
through a few passages to the regions beyond the mountain ranges.
This seems to be a plausible interpretation, because it is most natural to
the Japanese language. But it is a puzzling fact that the name is
written in Chinese ideograms which mean " great peace." However,
the ideogram meaning " peace " seems to have been used simply for the
Chinese appellation of the Japanese " wa," which, designated in an-
other letter, seems to have meant " dwarf." Chamberlain's theory
is that Yamato was Ainu in origin and meant " Chestnut and ponds."
But this is improbable when we take into account the fact that the
ponds, numerous in the region, are later works for irrigation.
4. The two chief compilations were: Kojikiy or Records of Ancient
Matters (compiled in 712), now accessible in B. H. Chamberlain's
English translation; and Nihongi, or Chronicles of Japan (720), Eng-
lish by W. G. Aston.
5. See e.g. T. W. Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth Stories y or J ataka
Talesy London, 1880.
6. It is a curious fact that the greatest of modern writers of tales,
Mr. Iwaya, known among children as " Uncle Sazanami," became a
writer after a long struggle against the resistance of his father who
was a Confucian scholar.
7. The author's intention was to speak of the original sources in the
treatment of his subject and on the different periods in the formation
of Japanese mythology and folk-lore. But he has not done so because
most of those materials are inaccessible in English, and those that are
accessible are set down in the Bibliography. Some points regarding the
various periods are touched upon under particular topics.
378 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Chapter I
1. For all the cosmological myths see Kojiki, pp. 15 f.; Nihongiy
f. 1-34.
2. Kuni-toko-tachi, i.e. " the-One-who-stands-perpetually-over-
the-world," or Ame-no-minaka-nashi, i.e. " the-Lord-in-the-centre-of-
heaven." It is disputed whether these two were one and the same, or
two different deities.
3. Taka-mi-musubi and Kami-mi-masubi. Kami in the latter
name is rendered above by " divine," and means " miraculous."
4. Izana-gi and Izana-mi, gi being masculine and mi feminine.
5. Often interpreted as the rainbow.
6. Aston and some others see here a trace of phallicism. Cf. the
Hindu myth of Pramanthyus.
7. It may be of some interest to cite the Ainu parallel of the pri-
meval couple. According to it, the couple agreed to work together to
make the island of Yezo. The husband began on the east side and the
wife on the west. While the male deity was hard at work on the east-
ern side, the female fell to chatting with another goddess, and her work
consequently fell far behind that of her husband. So when he came
to her after completing his portion, the goddess finished her part in a
great hurry. That is the reason why the western coasts are rough and
rugged, while the eastern shores are lower and less indented.
8. The name Yasu is usually interpreted as meaning " peace."
But another interpretation is that it meant " many sand-banks " or
" broad river-basin." The natural basis of the conception may be the
Milky Way or the rainbow.
9. The name Uzume means " blessing," " wonderful." She is
usually represented as a woman of merry expression, and with a round,
flat face. See Plates IX and XXIII.
10. More is said about this story in Chapter II.
11. Of this shrine of Kitsuki we shall speak more than once below.
Cf. also N. L. Schwartz, " The Great Shrine of Idzumo," TASJ
xli, 191 8.
1 2. There are several names of this god. It seems that several per-
sons were combined into one.
13. Placed in the island of Awa, probably meaning the peninsula in
the south-eastern corner of Japan. " Land of Eternity " was con-
ceived to be beyond the expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
14. Nihongi, i. 32-33.
15. Of the connection between this tree and the moon we shall see
more below.
16. It has been pointed out by Dr. S. Kanazawa that the corre-
NOTES 379
spondence of these products with the parts of the body forms a play
upon words, not in Japanese but in Korean. The parallels in Korean
are as follows : Tnori for head and mar for horse ; nun for eyes and nug
for silkworm; fat for belly and fid for rice; fochi for the genitals and
fori for wheat; kui for ears and kuiri for panic; kho for nose and
khong for beans (the Teikoku Bimgakuy 1907, pp. 99 f.). This seems
to prove the hypothesis that the story came over to Japan from Korea,
or had originated before the two peoples were separated.
17. A white horse is offered to Tatsuta-hime, a goddess of wind
^nd weather, and also the genius of autumn, when rain is asked for.
A black horse is offered in praying for the cessation of rain. Of this
goddess we shall hear more presently.
18. C. A. Walsh, The Master Singers of Jafan (in the Wisdom of
the East stv\ts), pp. 74, 84.
19. Nihongiy i. 75; Kojiki, p. 99.
20. Walsh, pp. 47, 48.
21. See further the author's Religious and Moral Develofment of
the Jafanesey Chapter I.
22. Of these realms we shall speak again in connection with ghosts
^nd spirits.
23. These quotations are from the versified version of the Jizo
Wasan made by Clara A. Walsh, in her Master Singers of Jafan, pp.
66—68, adapted from Lafcadio Hearn's prose version. Concerning the
deity Jiz5 (Sanskrit, Ksiti-garbha), see the author's Buddhist Art,
Chapter III. The mournful tune of the hymn is very impressive, and
the author himself can never forget the deep impression made in his
childhood, when his neighbours who had lost their little child chanted
this hymn.
24. Sanskrit Buddha-Kshetra. Buddhism teaches the existence of
innumerable Buddhas, who have appeared in the world in the past, and
who are to appear in the future. The paradises are the abodes of the
past Buddhas.
25. See further SBE vol. xxi, and Anesaki, Buddhist Art, Chapters
I and II.
26. See further Anesaki, Buddhist Art, Chapter II.
27. Besides the four elements distributed to the four quarters, earth,
the fifth element, was supposed to stand in the middle and to rule the
Middle Kingdom. This latter belief was not known in Japan.
28. The two sets of guardians, in their graphic or glyptic repre-
sentations, correspond after a fashion to the Christian symbols of the
four Evangelists and the figures of the Archangels. The respective
Japanese names for the four genii are: Shu-jaku, Gem-bu, Sei-ryo,
and Byak-ko.
38o JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Chapter II
1. The stor}' is told in the Fudb-kl of Izumo, which is one of the
few ancient Fudb-ki preserved.
2. Nihongi, i. 53-54; Kojikiy pp. 63-65.
3. The appellation Shorai is usually understood to mean " future,"
but I suspect it to be a corruption of a Korean title. The names Somin
and Kotan are not Japanese. It is a known fact that the stories of
Susa-no-wo are in some points connected with Korea.
4. The story is told in the Fudd-k'i of Hitachi, where these two
mountains are seen conspicuously. See Plates XII and XIII.
5. See above, p. 229.
6. The name Nase may mean " Dear One " or " Be Not Jealous."
Another name sometimes given to the man is Naka-samuta (" the Mid-
dle Cool Field "). Aze may mean either " Trail " or " My Dear,"
and another name is Unakami-aze (" the Trail on the Sea "? ).
7. In ancient Japan the custom of organizing this meeting among
young men and women was the same everywhere. The poems ex-
changed between Nase and Aze are obscure, but amount to this: " I
would have thee, O Aze, decorated like a young pine tree with pieces
of hemp hanging on the branches." The reply is: "The rising tide
may conceal thee, O Nase, yet even stepping over eighty islets and rocks
I would desire to follow thee! " "Pieces of hemp hanging" refers
to a charm used to bind lovers.
Chapter III
1. In one of the versions ascribed to Hinu-yama in Tango the man
is an old man and he adopts the fairy. Many men compete for her
favour, but all of them fail. So far the story resembles that of Lady
Brilliance, which is told below. When her suitors urge her to marry,
she flies away to heaven.
2. See an English translation in B. H. Chamberlain, The Classical
Poetry of the Jafanese, London, 1880. The latter part of the trans-
lation is reproduced below.
3. The Japanese phrase for a strong passion is " the breast aflame."
4. Cf. M'Aow^i, p. 368. For a poetic version of the eighth century
see B. H. Chamberlain, Japanese Poetry^ London, 191 1, pp. 1 1— 13.
Lafcadio Hearn tells the story in his Out of the East, London, 1895,
in the article, " The Dream of a Summer Day." There are many
other English versions, e.g., A. L. Whitehorn, Wonder Tales of Old
Jafariy pp. 71 flF.; Y. Ozaki, The Jafanese Fairy Book; etc.
NOTES 381
5. Along the coasts of Japan there are several mounds said to be
Urashima's grave. One of these, near Kanagawa, was made use of by
Bakin, who wrote a Japanese " Gulliver " about a jfisherman who lived
near the mound. See below, Chapter IX.
6. Nihongiy i. 92— 1 04; Kojikiy p. 1 26 f. ; Jafanese Fairy Tale
Ser'ieSy No. 1 1 .
7. For more concerning these immortals, see Anesaki, Buddhist
Arty Chapter IV.
8. One version is that the child was Fubito*s natural son.
9. This story is dramatized in one of the No dramas; the drama
represents a visit paid by Fusazaki, the child of the dead woman. The
story is told in more detail in Y. Ozaki, The Crystal of Buddha, Yoko-
hama (Kelly and Walsh).
10. The male is Same-bito, " the shark-man." Cf. Lafcadio
Hearn, ShadowingSy London, 1 900.
11. Sanskrit, Eka-srga. Cf. Takakusu, The Story of the Rsi
Ekasrnga (Hansei Zasshi), 1 898, p. lO f.
12. See Tsure-zure-gusa, tr. by G. B. Sansom, TASJ xxxix, 1911.
13. Cf. further, Anesaki, Buddhist Arty Chapter IV.
14. See supra y p. 223.
15. Kdla meant originally "death," but kala modified to kala was
interpreted to mean " black."
Chapter IV
1. The ancient Shinto mythology speaks of Maga-tsumi, the wicked
spirits, whose chief is Oh-maga-tsumi, the Great Evil-doer, and whose
hosts are believed to be attendants of the Storm-God and his descend-
ants, especially of the Great-Land-Master. But neither their appear-
ance nor their evil deeds are ever described. These creatures were al-
most totally eclipsed by the Buddhist demons, and it was Hirata, the
pseudo-rationalistic revivalist of Shinto, who revived the dread of these
evil-doers in the nineteenth century. But his influence did not reach
the people at large.
2. Cf. Jafanese Fairy Tale SerieSy No. 7, " The Old Man and the
Devils," tr. by Hepburn.
3. Derived from the idea that the Oni devours human flesh.
4. See further on this festival, infra, p. 350.
5. For Daikoku's mallet, see sufra, p. 279. Similar mysterious
sources of inexhaustible supply are told of in " The Rice-bale of
Toda," see p. 315. The idea of a one-inch boy may be traced to that
of the Small-Renown-Man, see p. 229.
382 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
6. But the place is specified as Mount Togakushi in Shinano.
7. Cf. infroy pp. 306 flF., and A. L. Whitehorn, Wonder Tales of
JafaUy pp. 129 if.
Chapter V
1. Cf. /iTo/Vy^/, pp. 261— 264.
2. Who the mother was the tale does not say: probably she was in-
tended to personify Nature.
3. The curse was this: the mother made a basket of bamboo, put
therein stones taken from a river-basin, and mixed in it bamboo-leaves
and salt. The words of the curse show that the leaves were intended to
symbolize growth and withering, while the salt symbolized the ebb and
flow of the tides of the sea.
4. Cf. Chamberlain, Japanese Poetry y London, 191 1, pp. 16—18.
5. In Sanskrit, Saddharma-fundarlka. For more about this book
and its influence see Anesaki, Religious and Moral Develofment of the
Jafanesey Chapter III; and Nichirefi, the Buddhist Profhet.
6. Many other women are typified by their names, mostly taken
from flowers. They are the ladies Wistaria, Mugwort, Young Fern,
and Pink Plum, while others have such names as Evening Mist, Cicada,
or Wild Duck in the Clouds. Of the Lady Evening-glory we shall
hear more presently.
7. The symbols consist of various combinations, amounting to
fifty-two or fifty-four, of five vertical lines with one or two horizontal
lines. These symbolic patterns were originally used in a game of dis-
criminating the several varieties in incense. Cf. the author's Japa-
nese Art.
8. Yone Noguchi, The Spirit of Japanese Poetry y {Wisdom of the
£"«jf series), London, 1 9 14, p. 112.
9. The banana-plant is always associated with frailty and evanes-
cence in Japanese literature. See Chapter VIII.
10. "Evening-glory" is the name given to the flowers of the
bottle-gourd plant. The pale flowers blooming in the dusk of evening
suggest something lonely and melancholy, and well symbolize the tem-
perament and fate of the unfortunate girl.
Chapter VI
1. Observe that the story has some similarities with that of Susa-
tio-wo.
2. Cf. Nihongiy i. 200—210; Kojiki, pp. 205— 223. The attempt
of a modern Japanese scholar to make out of the prince a prophetic
NOTES 383
redeemer is surely a total failure. We refer to it in order to show how-
much importance the Japanese give to these early legends.
3. He is deified and known as Hachiman, the god of the Eight
Banners. He became later the patron deity of the Minamoto clan.
4. See sufra, p. 252.
5. The number " four " in this and similar cases is taken from the
number of the four guardian kings in Buddhist mythology, for which
cf. sufra, p. 242, and Anesaki, Buddhist Art.
6. Cf. Japanese Fairy Tale Series, No. 18, " The Ogre's Arm "
(tr. by Mrs. T. H. James), and No. 19, " The Ogres of Oye-yama."
7. Gen is the Sino-Japanese pronounciation of the Chinese ideo-
gram which was used to designate the name Minamoto, while Hei or
Pei in compound with Gen was that of the name Taira. The two epics
are Hei-ke Monogatari and Gem-Pei Seisui-ki, an expanded version of
the former. See further on these conflicts, De Benneville, Saito
Musash'tbo Benkei.
8. For the appearance of the Tengus, see Chapter IV, sufra,
P- 287.
9. Notice the Christophorus motive so common in folklore.
10. The dramatized versions of some of these are accessible in G. B.
Sansom's English translations of the No-dramas — " Benkei at the
Barrier " and " Benkei in the Boat," in TASJ xl, 19 1 2.
11. Like his uncle, Tametomo, according to some traditions, he is
said to have gone over to Yezo, and even farther to the Asiatic continent,
and to have become Genghiz Khan.
12. The first draft of the story is the Soga-Monogatari probably from
the first half of the thirteenth century. There are several dramatized
versions from the fifteenth century and following centuries. A cir-
cumstance that added to the popularity of the story is that the revenge
was completed in the camp of a large hunting party organized by
Yoritomo at the foot of Fuji.
13. Cf. Whitehorn, Wonder Tales of Old Jafan, p. I ff. ; Fairy
Tale Series, No. I, and several other books on Japanese folklore.
Notice in the story a trace of the story of Rama's expedition to Ceylon.
That story had long been known in rough outlines through Buddhist
books, though not very widely circulated. Cf. K. Watanabe, " Oldest
Record of the Ramayana in a Chinese Buddhist Writing," {JRAS,
Jan. 1907).
14. Jafanese Fairy Tale Series, No. 15 (tr. by B. H. Chamberlain) ;
Whitehorn, Wonder Tales of Old Jafan, pp. 139 fir.
384 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
Chapter VII
1. Japanese Fairy Tale SerieSy No. 1 1, pp. 68—71.
2. Hence a proverb: "The sparrows never forget to dance even
when they are a hundred years old."
3. This frequently occurs in stories of the Middle Ages in Japan.
4. This is an example of a visit to the wonderful palace beyond
the actual world.
5. M. W. de Visser, " The Fox and the Badger in Japanese Folk-
lore," TJSJ xxxvi, 1908, pt. iii; " The Dog and the Cat in Japanese
Folk-lore," i'^., xxxvii, 1909.
6. See B. H. Chamberlain, The Classical Poetry of the Jafanese,
London, 1880, pp. 147-156.
7. The story is in Kon-jaku Monogatariy " Tales Ancient and
Modern," written in the eleventh century. This book is one of the
oldest of the kind, and was followed by many others.
8. "The Cub's Triumph," Jafanese Fairy Tale Series, No. 12.
Another story of a badger is that of " Kachi-kachi Yama." A badger
caught by a wood-cutter devoured the man's wife. A hare came to the
assistance of the distressed wood-cutter and finally succeeded in drown-
ing the badger, ibid.. No. 5.
9. Cf. Jafanese Fairy Tale Series, No. 3.
10. A kind of starch made of sea-weed, slippery when diluted.
11. Hence a proverb: "A stinging bee on a weeping face." It
means a double annoyance and trouble.
12. This is the story of Hidaka-gawa, well known through its popu-
lar dramatization and the serpent dance that accompanies it.
13. This is another famous story of Kato-Saemon, the warrior, also
dramatized.
14. Also called Nanso-bo. The etymology of this name is obscure,
but bo means a priest or monk. The story is told in different localities.
15. The Buddhist idea is that the karma, which causes one to be-
come a serpent, establishes a fellowship with other serpents, and there-
fore may make possible a love relation with any of them. In spite of
his pious intentions Nanzo-bo was then in reality a beast.
16. The lights seen in the dark night hovering over marsh-lands
are often explained as torches lighted for the wedding of two foxes.
17. Jafanese Fairy Tale Series, No. 6.
18. Y. Ozaki, The Crystal of Buddha, pp. 69-81.
19. The letter is written in imitation of the birds' language, and
makes poetic allusion to the characteristics of various birds.
20. The name Uso-dori may mean a " lying bird," and the name
may have given rise to the story.
NOTES 385
21. Cf. the Chapter on Dragon-flies in L. Hearn's A Jafanese
Miscellany y London, 190 1.
2 2. The word matsu means both " pine-tree " and " to wait." The
story is that two friends who were very fond of hearing the singing
insects went out to the field of Abe-no. One of them died there, and
ever since he sings plaintively in harmony with the insects while he
waits for his friend to join him.
23. See Plate XL.
Chapter VIII
1. Tsure--zure-gusay tr. by G. B. Sansom, TASJ xxxix, 49-50.
2. The tribute paid to the pine-tree is of Chinese origin, yet its
evergreen naturally suggests prosperity, and the magnitude which it
often attains well symbolizes longevity.
3. According to the version of Clara A. Walsh, Master Singers of
Jafany p. 70.
4. Basho is the banana-plant, but the name has associations in Chi-
nese and Japanese totally different from those in English. In Japan
the banana-plant bears no fruit, its leaves are always associated with the
idea of frailty, and their torn and withered appearance in autumn sug-
gests evanescence.
5. More is said in the poem about the relation between reality and
appearance, from the Buddhist point of view of the " Middle Path,"
for which see further Anesaki, Nichiren.
6. Kocho Monogatariy from the seventeenth century.
7. The flowers are enumerated in the story as follows: bottle-gourd
(or "evening-glory"), yamahuki (Kerria ]a.ponica), o?ninames hi, or
the " lady-flower " (Patrinia scabiosaefolia), lily, convolvulus, chry-
santhemum, wistaria, lotus, etc. The story was evidently suggested by
the simile of the plants in the fifth chapter of The Lotus of Truth.
8. The name may mean " depending on wind," or " little field."
Whether the name was fictitiously invented for the story or was a real
name cannot be established.
9. Its flowers are of a bluish tint.
10. Cf. E. W. Clement, Japanese Floral Calendary Chicago, 1905;
M. B. Huish, " Flora and Flower Festivals," in his Jafan and its Arty
London, 1889; Carruthers, Jafan^s Year.
1 1. The Japanese uguisUy commonly called " nightingale," has very
diflFerent associations from those of the western nightingale. Its gay
singing is regarded as heralding the coming of spring. Its note is said
to repeat Hokke-kyoy the Japanese name of the Buddhist scripture, The
Lotus of Truth.
386 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
12. A mattress is often made of its leaves. According to Professor
Weiner of Harvard University, mattresses of this kind were exported
from China to Central Asia and further west, and hence the name
" bed " or Betty a corruption of the Chinese word but, corresponding to
the last syllable of shobii.
13. Cf. Anesaki, Jafanese Arty Chapter I.
14. Clara A. Walsh, The Master Singers of JapaUy p. 103. Re-
ferring to this poem Miss C. E. Furness of Vassar College has some-
thing interesting to say. She writes: " I should like to mention one
poem because it touches upon a point which I have often observed but
have never seen referred to anywhere. I have often noticed the moon-
light falling upon a tree whose leaves have turned with the autumn
frosts. There are several near our Observatory, and as my work takes
me out of doors in the evening I have looked up at the moon through
the leaves or seen it shining full upon a tree. The effect is more beau-
tiful when the leaves are yellow than when they are red. Then it
seems like fairyland or even something more ethereal than that, for I
cannot associate fairies with the stillness of the night. Often it is so
silent that one can hear a leaf fall, touching other leaves softly as it
drops through the branches and comes to rest gently on the ground.
Japanese poems on nature seem to be more intimate, more melancholy
than ours."
Chapter IX
1. See page 285.
2. Japanese Fairy Tale Series, No. 25.
3. For the idea and practice of " dedication," in Japanese, eko, see
Anesaki, Buddhist Art, Chapter I; any work performed with pious in-
tention is believed to effect the spiritual welfare of the deceased.
4. B. H. Chamberlain, The Classical Poetry of the Japanese, pp.
199 ff.
5. Cf. B. H. Chamberlain, " Wasaubiyauwe, the Japanese Gul-
liver," TASJ vii, part 4 ; L. Mordwin, " Glimpses of Dreamlands," in
Chrysanthemum, Yokohama, 1 88 1— 2, where the first two chapters of
Wa-So-Byoye are reproduced.
6. For the Island of Women cf. The Mythology of all Races, vols,
iii. 117 and ix. 140, and references there; also J. A. MacCulloch, The
Religion of the Ancient Celts, Edinburgh, 191 1, p. 385.
Appendix
I. A pine-tree is regarded as indispensable in a respectable garden,
and often a crane and tortoise in bronze or pottery are placed under it.
NOTES 387
2. Yare is a joyous exclamation. It is repeated much more fre-
quently in the original.
3. Sama means " venerable."
4. The site of the temple of Hachiman, see sufra, p. 252.
5. The heir of the Minamoto Dictator.
6. The god of Mishima was revered by the Minamotos and the
Samurais in general next to Hachiman.
7. C. A. Walsh, The Master Singers of Japan, pp. 71—72. This is
given there on Hearn's authority, as a cradle song in Izumo, but it is
a song almost universally used in Japan.
8. I.e. " attain dexterity in hand-writing."
9. Earnest thought or desire is called the " red heart," and a favour-
able response to a love-letter is said to be " of fine colours " or " well-
tinged."
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vm — 26
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1924-
CouLiNG, S., Encyclopaedia Sinica, Shanghai, i()lj-
De Groot, J. J. M., The Religious System of China, 6 vols., Leyden,
1892-1910.
The Religion of the Chinese, New York, 1 9 10.
Dennys, N. B., The Folk-lore of China, London, 1876.
Dore, Henri, Recherches sur les superstitions en Chine. (There is
an English translation of this. Shanghai, 19 14.)
Douglas, R. K., Confucianism and Taoism, London, 1877.
Chinese Stories, Edinburgh, 1 893.
Du BosE, Hampden C, The Dragon, Image and Demon, London,
1886.
Du Halde, J. B., History of China, Tr. R. Brooks, (3rd ed.), Lon-
don, 1 74 1.
Edkins, J., Religion in China, London, 1 878.
Faber, E., " Taoism," China Review, xiii. 23 1.
Ferguson, John C, Index to " China Review," Shanghai, 19 18.
Outlines of Chinese Art, Chicago, 19 19.
Ferguson, Peter B., Index to " Journal of the North China Branch
of the Royal Asiatic Society," Shanghai, 1 924.
Fung, Yu-LAN, Comparative Study of Life Ideals, Shanghai, 1925.
Giles, Herbert A., Biographical Dictionary , Shanghai, 1897.
Chuang Tzii, London, 1889.
Confucianism and Its Rivals, London, 1915*
Gems of Chinese Literature, London, 1 884.
39^ CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
Glossary of RejerenceSy Shanghai, 190O.
Religions of Ancient Chinay London, 1905.
Stra7ige Stories from a Chinese Studio, 2 vols., London, 1880.
Giles, Lionel, Sayings of Lao Tzu, London, 1904.
Taoist Teachings, London, 1913.
Hackman, H., Buddhism as a Religion, London, 1 9 10.
Henke, F. G., Wang Yang-ming, Chicago, 1916.
HiRTH, F., Ancient History of China, New York, 19 1 1.
Howell, E. B., The Inconstancy of Madame Chuang and other
stories translated from Chin Ku Ch'i Kuan, Shanghai, 1 925.
Johnson, R. F., Buddhist China, London, 1913.
KiNGSMiLL, T. W., " The Tao Teh King," China Review, xxiv.
147-155, and 185-196.
Laufer, B., Jade, Chicago, 191 2.
Legge, James, The Chinese Classics, translated, 3 vols., London,
1867-76.
The Chinese Classics (Chinese and English), Hongkong,
1861-72.
The Religions of China, London, 1880.
The Texts of Confucianism {Sacred Books of the East series),
4 vols., Oxford; I. The Shu King; 2. The Yi King; 3, 4. The
Li Ki.
The Texts of Taoism {Sacred Books of the East series), 2
vols., Oxford; I, 2. The Tao Teh King; Writings of Kwang-
'L-ze, etc.
Ll Ung Bing, Outlines of Chinese History, Shanghai, 1 9 14.
Macgowan, J., Chinese Folk-lore Tales, London, 1 910.
Mackenzie, D. A., Myths of China and Japan, London, 1924.
Martin, W. A. P., Hanlin Papers, London, 1890.
Hanlin Papers (Series 2), Shanghai, 1894.
Mayers, W. F., Chinese Reader's Manual, London, 1 9 10. (Reprint)
Parker, E. H., China and Religion, London, 1905.
SooTHiLL, W. E., Three Religions of China, 2nd ed., London, 1923.
Wei, F. C, Political Principles of Mencius, Shanghai, 1 9 16.
Werner, E. T. C, Myths and Legends of China, London, 1922.
Wieger, L., Folk-lore chinois moderne, Sienhsien, 1907.
Moral Tenets and Customs in China, Ho-tsien-fu, 1 9 13.
Textes historiques, 3 vols., Paris, 1 905.
Taotsme, Paris, 1911 — 13.
Wylie, a.. Notes on Chinese Literature (new edition), Shanghai,
1902.
The Chinese books from which translated quotations are made are
mentioned in the Text and Index.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 393
II. PRINCIPAL ARTICLES CONNECTED WITH CHI-
NESE MYTHOLOGY IN THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
RELIGION AND ETHICS (VOLS. I-XII)
Ball, J. D., " Hospitality (Chinese)," vi. 803-4.
" Human Sacrifice (Chinese)," vi. 845-7.
" Hymns (Chinese)," vii. 4—5.
"Images and Idols (Chinese)," vii. 130— I.
" Life and Death (Chinese)," viii. 14-16.
" Light and Darkness (Chinese)," viii. 51-2.
"Music (Chinese)," ix. 16-19.
" Names (Chinese)," ix. 143-5.
" Prayer (Chinese)," x. 170-1.
" Sin (Chinese)," xi. 535-7.
"Tonsure (Chinese)," xii. 387-8.
Bateson, J. H., " Festivals and Fasts (Chinese)," v. 843-4.
Bullock, T. L., "Calendar (Chinese)," iii. 82—4.
" Ethics and Morality (Chinese)," v. 466-8.
CoRNABY, W. A., " God (Chinese)," vi. 272-4.
De Groot, J. J. M., " China (Buddhism in)," iii. 552-6.
" Confucian Religion," iv. 12-15.
Dukes, E. J., " Feng-shui," v. 833-5.
Fu, Tung, " Sun, Moon, and Stars (Chinese)," xii. 74-80.
Gray, L. H., " Calendar (Chinese)," iii. 82-4.
" Fiction (Primitive, Oriental, etc.)," vi. 5.
" Mean (Chinese)," viii. 510-I.
Henke, F. G., " Wang Yang-ming," xii. 673-5.
Hyamson, a. M., "China (Jews in)," iii. 556-60.
Ito, C, " Architecture (Chinese)," i. 693-6.
Johnson, H. J. T., " Priest, Priesthood (Chinese)," x. 290-3.
Johnston, R. F., " Magic (Chinese)," viii. 259-62.
" Old Age (Chinese)," ix. 466-9.
" Ordeal (Chinese)," ix. 516-8.
" Purification (Chinese)," x. 470-4.
" Vows (Chinese)," xii. 646-9.
"War-gods (Chinese)," xii. 692-4.
"Worship (Chinese)," xii. 759-62.
MacLagan, p. J., " Demons and Spirits (Chinese)," iv. 576-8.
"Education (Chinese)," v. 183-5.
" Family (Chinese)," v. 730-3.
" Heroes and Hero-gods (Chinese)," vi. 646-7.
"Literature (Chinese)," viii. 89-91.
" Love (Chinese)," viii. 164.
394 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
" Mcncius," viii. 547-9.
'* Micius," viii. 623-4.
" Saints and Martyrs (Chinese)," xi. 51.
" Suicide (Chinese)," xii. 26.
Taoism," xii. 197—202.
Parker, E. H., " Blessedness (Chinese)," ii. 672-5.
Richard, T., " Sects (Chinese)," xi. 309-15.
Takakusu, J., " Yuan-chwang, Fa-hian and I-tsing," xii. 841— 3.
Walshe, W. G., " Altar (Chinese)," i. 337-8.
" Birth (Chinese)," ii. 645-6.
"Chastity (Chinese)," iii. 490-I.
" China," iii. 549-52.
" Communion with the Dead (Chinese)," iii. 728—32.
"Communion with Deity (Chinese)," iii. 751—2.
" Confucius," iv. 16-19.
" Cosmogony and Cosmology (Chinese)," iv. 138—41.
" Crimes and Punishments (Chinese)," iv. 269—72.
" Death and Disposal of the Dead (Chinese)," iv. 450—4.
" Fate (Chinese)," v. 783-5.
" Fortune (Chinese)," vi. 91-3.
" Mysticism (Chinese)," ix. 87-9.
Wu, Chao-chu, " Law CChinese)," vii. 830-1.
JAPANESE
JRAS
MDGO
SBE .
TASJ
TCHR
TJSL
L ABBREVIATIONS
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fiir Na-
tur- und Volkerkunde Ostasiens, (Tokyo).
Sacred Books of the East.
Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan (Yoko-
hama).
Transactions of the International Congress of the
History of Religions.
Transactions of the Japan Society, London.
II. TEXTS
I. Shinto
Ancient Japanese Rituals. Tr. by Sir E. Satow, TASJy vols, vii, ix,
1879, 1 88 1, and continued by K. Florenz, //),, vol. xxvii, 1899.
Das Shinto Gebet der grossen Rcimgung. H. Weipert, MDGOj vol.
vi, 1897.
Japanese Texts, Primitive and Medieval. Ed. with Introd., Notes,
and Glossaries by F. V. Dickins, C.B. 2 vols. Oxford, 1906.
Ko-ji-kiy or Records of Ancient Matters. Tr. by B. H. Chamberlain.
Supplement to vol. x, TASJ 1883. Index by N. Walter and
A. Lloyd, ib.y 1906.
Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan to A.D. 6gy. Tr. by W. G. Aston.
Supplement i to TJSL. 2 vols. London, 1896.
Nihongi oder Japanische Annalen. (Teil iii) Ubersetzt und erklart
von K. Florenz. Supp. to vols, v and vi, MDGO 1892—7. Re-
vised ed., 1903.
2. Buddhist
Buddhist Mahay ana Texts. 2 parts in I vol. l. The Buddha-Karita
of Asvaghosha, tr. E. B. Cowell. 2. The Sukhavati-Vyuha, The
V agrakkhedikoy The Pragtla, Paramita-Hridaya-Sfiira, tr. F. Max
Miiller. The A mitdyur-Dhy d?ia-S Citra , tr. J. Takakusu. (SBE
vol. 49).
The Saddharma Pundarikay or the Lotus of the True Law, tr. H. Kern.
{SBE vol. 21).
396 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
III. GENERAL WORKS
Anesaki, M., Buddhist Art in Relatio7i to Buddhist Ideals. Boston,
1915-
NichircHy The Buddhist Prophet. Cambridge (U. S. A.),
1916.
Religious History of Jafan. Tokyo, 1 897.
" Buddhist Influence upon the Japanese," TCHR (Oxford,
1908), i. 154-7.
Honen, the Pietist Saint of Japanese Buddhism," ibid.y i.
122-8.
Aston, W. G., History of Japanese Literature. London, 1899.
Shinto: The Way of the Gods, ib., 1905.
" Tori-wa, its Derivation," TASJ xxvii, 1899.
Balet, L., Etudes sur le Bouddhis7ne japonais. (^Melanges japonaisy
nr. 18, 21, 22). Tokyo, 1906.
Brauns, D., Japanische M'drchen und Sagen. Leipzig, 1 885.
Brinkley, F., Japan and China, Their History y Arts, and Literature.
12 vols. London, 1903—4.
Chamberlain, B. H., Japanese Poetry. London, 191 1.
The Classical Poetry of the Japanese, ib.y 1 8 80.
■ The Languagey Mythology y and Geographical N omenclature
of Japany viewed in the Light of Aino Studies. Tokyo, 1887.
Things Japanese y^ l^onAon, 1 905.
Chamberlain, B. H., and Mason, W. B., Japan ^ (Murray's Hand-
books), ib.y 1 9 13.
Clement, E. W., Japanese Floral Calendar. Chicago, 1905.
A Handbook of Moderji Japan. London, 1 904.
" Japanese Calendar," TASJ xxx, 1902.
" Japanese Medical Folk-lore," ib.y xxxv, 1907.
Cobbold, G. a.. Religion in Japan. London, 1894.
Florenz, K., Der Shintoismus. In Die Kultur der Gegenwart: die
Orientalischen Religionen.' Berlin and Leipzig, 1 9 13.
Die historischen Quellen der Shinto-Religion. Aus dem Alt-
jap, und Chin, uberset-zt und erklart. Gottingen und Leipzig,
1919.
Die Japaner. In Lehrhuch der Religions geschichte begrundet
von Chantepie de la Saussayey i. 262—422. Tubingen, 1925.
Geschichte der Japanischen Litteratur. Leipzig, 1 906.
Japanische Mythologie. Nihongi, Zeitalter der Gbtter.
Nebst Erganzungen aus andern alt en Quellenwerken. Tokyo,
1901.
Greene, D. C, " Remmon Kyokwai," TASJ xxix, 1901.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 397
" Tenri-kyo, or the Teaching of the Heavenly Reason," ibid.,
xxiii, 1895.
Griffis, W, E., The Religions of Japan. London, 1 895.
Japanese Fairy World, ib.y 1 887.
Haas, FI., Der Buddhismus. In Die Kultur der Gegenwart: Die
Orientalischen Religionen.^ Berlin and Leipzig, 1 9 13.
" Annalen des jap. Buddhismus." MDGO x. 1904.
" Der heilige Kanon des Buddhismus in Japan." ibid.y x,
1904.
Hall, J. C, " A Japanese Philosopher on Shinto," TCHR (Oxford,
1908), i. 158-65.
Harada, T., The Faith of Japan. New York, 1914.
Hearn, L., Gleanings in Buddha- fields. London, 1 897.
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan. 2 vols, ib.y 1905.
In Ghostly Japan, ib.y 1 899.
Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation. New York, 1904.
Hildburgh, W. L., " Japanese Household Magic," TJSL 1908.
Japanese Fairy Tale Series. 16 numbers in 4 vols. Tokyo, l888.
JoLY, Yi.., Legend in Japanese Art. London, 1907.
Lloyd, A., The Creed of Half Japan. London, 191 1.
Shinran and his Work. Tokyo, 1909.
" Formative Elements of Japanese Buddhism," TASJ xxxv,
1908.
The Remmon Kyo," TASJ xxix, 190 1.
howEL.1., P., Occult Japan. Boston, 1895.
" Esoteric Shinto," TASJ xxi, x-xii, 1893-4.
MiTFORD, A. B., Tales of Old Japan. 2 vols. London, 1 87 1.
MuNRO, N. G., " Primitive Culture in Japan," TASJ xxxiv,
1906.
Nanjio, B., The Twelve Japanese Buddhist Sects. Tokyo, 1 887.
NrroBE, I., Bushido.^^ New York, 1905.
Noguchi, Y., The Spirit of Japanese Poetry {WisdoTn of the East
series). London, 19 14.
Okakura, K., The Ideals of the East. London, 1 904.
Omori, Z., " A History of the Zen Shu in Japan," TCHR (Oxford,
1908), i. 128-132.
" Principles of Practice and Enlightenment of the Soto Zen
Shu," ibid.y i. 150-4.
OzAKI, Y., Japanese Fairy Tales. New York, 1 903.
The Japanese Fairy Book. London, 1 922.
Revon, M., Anthologie de la litterature japonaise. Paris, 1 9 10.
Le Shinntoisme. ib.y 1905.
Manuel de la litterature japonaise. ib.y 1 9 10.
398 JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
" Les anciens rituels du Shinto consideres comme formules
magiqucs," TCHR (Oxford, 1908), i. 165-181.
Satow, Sir E., " The Revival of Pure Shinto," app. to TASJ iii. 1875.
" The Shinto Temples of Ise," ibid.y ii. 1874.
Other articles in TASJ. See also under Section II.
Schiller, E., ShintOy die V olksreligion Jafans. Berlin-Schoneberg,
191 1.
ScHURHAMMER, G., Shinto y der Weg der G otter in Jafan: Der Shin-
toisfnus nach den gedruckten und ungedruckten Berichten der
jafa7iischen Jesuiten?nissionare des 16. und ij. J ahrhunderts .
Bonn and Leipzig, 1923,
Schwartz, W. L., " The Great Shrine of Idzumo, Some Notes on
Shinto, Ancient and Modern," TASJ xli, 19 13.
VissER, M. W. DE, ShintOy de godsdienst van Jafan. Leiden.
Articles on "The Tengu," "The Fox and the Badger in
Japanese Folk-lore," " The Dog and the Cat in Japanese Folk-
lore," Ty^5/ xxxvi-xxxvii, 1908-9.
Walsh, C. A., The Master Singers of Japan {Wisdom of the East
series). London, 1 9 10.
Wenckstern, F. von. Bibliography of the Japanese Empire. 2 vols.
London and Tokyo, 1895— 1907.
Whitehorn, a. L., Wonder Tales of Old Japan.
IV. PRINCIPAL ARTICLES ON JAPANESE RELIGION
IN THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION AND
ETHICS (VOLS. I-XII)
Anesaki, M., " Asanga," ii. 62.
" Asvaghosa," ii. 159-160.
" Dhyana," iv. 702-4.
" Docetism (Buddhist)," iv. 835-40.
" Ethics and Morality (Buddhist)," v. 447-455.
" Hymns (Japanese)," vii. 46—7.
" Life and Death (Japanese)," viii. 37—9.
"Missions (Buddhist)," viii. 700-5.
" Philosophy (Japanese)," ix. 869-73.
" Pilgrimage (Japanese)," x. 27—8.
"Prayer (Buddhist)," x. 166-70.
" Sun, Moon, and Stars (Japanese)," xii. 88.
" Transmigration (Buddhist)," xii. 429—30.
" Vows (Buddhist)," xii. 644-6.
Armstrong, R. C, " Ninomiya Sontoku," ix. 374-5.
AsHiDA, K., "Japan," vii. 481-489.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 399
Aston, W. G., " Abandonment and Exposure (Japanese)," 1. 7.
"Adoption (Japanese)," i. iio-ii.
"Altar (Japanese)," i. 346.
"Architecture (Shinto)," i. 773.
" Art (Shinto)," i. 886.
" Crimes and Punishments (Japanese)," iv. 285-8.
" Shinto," xi. 462-71.
Batchelor, J., " Ainus," i. 239-252.
Blackman, W. S., " Rosaries," x. 851-2.
Clement, E. W., " Calendar (Japanese)," iif. 114-117.
CouRANT, M., " Korea," vii. 755-8.
Davids, T. W. Rhys, " Sects (Buddhist)," xi. 307-9.
Geden, a. S., " Priest, Priesthood (Buddhist)," x. 288-90.
Gray, Louis H,," Fiction (Primitive, Oriental, and Grsco-Roman),"
vi. 5-6.
Harada, T., " Family (Japanese)," v. 740-I.
" God (Japanese)," vi. 294-5.
" Images and Idols (Japanese and Korean)," vii. 146-8.
" Names (Japanese)," ix. 167^8.
" Purification (Japanese)," x. 495-6.
" Suicide (Japanese)," xii. 35-7.
HiLDBURGH, W. L., " Charms and Amulets (Japanese)," iii. 449-
451.
Lloyd, A., " Death and Disposal of the Dead (Japanese)," iv. 485—
497-
" Demons and Spirits (Japanese)," iv. 608-612.
" Daibutsu," iv. 388-91.
"Drama (Japanese)," iv. 888-895.
MacCulloch, J. A., " Blest, Abode of the (Japanese)," ii. 700-702.
" Lycanthrophy," viii. 21 1.
" Religious Orders (Japanese)," x. 718.
" Temples," xii. 244.
MuRAOKA, H., " Music (Japanese)," ix. 48-51.
Nakajima, T., " Law (Japanese)," vii. 854-5.
" Marriage (Japanese and Korean), viii. 459—60.
Re VON, M., " Ancestor Worship and Cult of the Dead (Japanese),"
i- 455-457-.
"Asceticism (Japanese)," ii. 96—7.
" Communion with Deity (Japanese)," iii. 774—5.
" Cosmogony and Cosmology (Japanese)," iv. 162—6.
"Divination (Japanese)," iv. 801— 6.
" Heroes and Hero-gods (Japanese)," vi. 662—4.
" Hospitality (Japanese and Korean)," vi. 814-6.
400
JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY
" Human Sacrifice (Japanese and Korean)," vi. 855-8.
" Magic (Japanese)," viii. 296-300.
" Nature (Japanese)," ix. 233-40.
" Old Age (Japanese)," ix. 474-5.
"Possession (Japanese)," x. 131— 3.
" Prayer (Japanese)," x. 189-91.
"Sacrifice (Japanese)," xi. 21—4.
" Saints and Martyrs (Japanese)," xi. 61—2.
" Sin (Japanese)," xi. 566-7.
" Worship (Japanese)," xii. 802-4.
Robinson, C. H., " Flowers," vi. 53-4.
Tachibana, S., Ethics and Morality (Japanese)," v. 498-501.
Takakusu, J., " Dhyana," iv. 702-4.
" Kwan-Yin," vii. 763-5.
Wogihara, U., " Vasubandhu," xii. 595-6.
INDEX TO CHINESE TERMS
INDEX
TO CHINESE TERMS
jAn-ch'i Ch'ang ^,41, 42.
(An-ch'i Sheng ^ Si ^. ii5. Ch'ang-an g ^, 189, 190, 199.
145, 146. Ch'ang Ch'un ^ ^, 23.
An Lu-shan ^ M\U, 96- Chao Kung-ming i^ & M, 79,
An Ti ^ f}f , 188. 80.
Ao-tse ^ m, 133- Chao M^ng-fu ^ ^ ^, 23, 24.
Cha ^, 61. Chao Yiin ^ ^, 175, 179.
Chan Hou ^ |^, 143, 144. Ch'ao-chou \^ 'h\i, 127, 201.
Chan Kuo f^ ^, 143. Ch'ao Yang Men |9 r# P"!, 23,
Chan Yao Kuai %f ^ 'S. 123- 71. I35-
Ch'an Tzu-fang p ^ 3§^, 75, 76. Che Ch'i Shan j^ i^ flj, 89.
Chang ^, 46. Chen |^, 134.
Chang Chio 5M ^, I74- Chen Jen 1^ \, 108, 113.
Chang Chiu-ling ?M1h^> 68. Chen Tsung ^ ^, 58, 59, 70, 71,
Chang fir-ch'i 51 ^ H^, 70. 112, 154.
Chang Fei ^g M, I74, 176, I77- Chen Wu ^ 5^, in.
Chang Hsien ^ i\h, 82, 83, 84. Ch'en I^, 30.
Chang Hua ^ ^, 70. Ch'eng Chi j^ ^, 138.
Chang Kuo 5g :^, 124, 125. Ch'eng Ch'ing ^ ^, 78.
Chang Liang ^ ^, 92, 93. Ch'eng Huang ij^ ^, 67, 68, 69,
Chang Sang-chiin ^ ^ ^, 106, 70.
107. Ch'ang T'ang ^ •^, 38.
Chang Shuo ^ |^, 68. Ch'gng Ts'ui ^ H, 202.
Chang Tao-ling ^ it H, 13, 14, Ch'eng-tu fi% ^^, 158, 176.
16, 19, 20, 22, 24, 55, 94, 103, Ch'eng Wang j^ i, 43, 66.
134,145,153,154. Chi Li ^g, 41.
Chang Ya-tzu ^ 55 ^, 112. Ch'i ^, 41.
Chang Yuan-hsiao 3S i^ ^, 83. Ch'i ^, 9, 32, 67.
403
404
INDEX
Ch'i ft. 56.
Ch'i iji 39-
Ch'i Hon ^ i5^, 48.
Ch'i-lin ait i|, 21,98.
Ch'i Po m id, 14, 29.
Chia Chia fp tp, 138.
Chia Ching ^ ]S^|, 73.
Chia Hsien ^ fill, 84.
Chia I ^ 2,, 138.
Chia Yu Hsien ^ ^ U, I74-
Chiang Ko HI ^. 163.
Chiang Shan ^ \li, 65.
Chiang Shih ^ |^, 150, 165.
Chiang T'ai Kung Tsai Tz'ii
^±&^i^, 153-
Chiang Tzu-wen M ^ '^> 65.
Chiang Tzu-ya ^ ^ ^, 79» 80,
153-
Chiang Yiian ^ ^!!^, 6.
Chiao 5fP, 61.
Chieh Kuei ^ ^, 38.
Ch'ien ^, 138.
Ch'ien |^, 136, 141.
Ch'ien Lung ^ H, 17,88,95.
Ch'ien Shih ^ |^, 139.
Chih K, 168.
Chih Nil ^ ic, 97, 132, 162.
Ch'ihPi#M- 175-
Ch'ih Sung Tzu ^ |5- ^, 94.
Ch'ih Yu li: X, 28.
Chin-chow # jl'li, 124.
Chin dynasty # $E, 97, 112,118,
188.
Chin-hua ^ ^, loi.
Chin Ku Ch'i Kuan
Chin Shan ^ ^J, 192.
ChinT'ung ^ g, 71.
Chin Wen -^^, 11.
Ch'in Ch'iung ^ j^, 78.
Ch'in dynasty ^ |B, 10, 44, 61,
70, 81, 89, 92, 114, 115, 133,
145, 194-
Ch'in, Prince of ^ 2, 78.
Ch'in Kuei ^ ;j^, 97,
Ch'in T'ien Chien ^%^, 143.
Ch'in Tsung fc ^, 95-
Ching ^, 18.
Ching Ch'eng Chih Chih
l^iic ;t M, 113-
Ching-chow fjj JH, 95.
Ching K'e fij fSj, 78.
Ching Shan ^ ^J, 182.
Ching-te -J^ ^, 59.
Ching Ti :^ ^, 11.
Ching Yang jg |^, 106.
Ch'ing Ch'eng lJf |^, 83.
Ch'ing Ching ^ @, 147.
Chiu-hua fi ^, 72, 193.
Chiu I jh M, 114-
Chiu Kung fi ^, 114.
Chiu T'ang Shih ^ ^ ^, 143.
Chiu Ti % ^, 25.
Ch'iu R, 168.
Ch'iu Chen-jen f/i M A, 106.
Ch'iu Ch 'u-chi ^ mm, 23,190-
Chiung Chow JIS j^H, 84.
Ch'o Wo il^- lit, III.
INDEX
405
Chou Hsin ^f ^, 39, 40, 43, 66,
III, 137-
Chou-I M ^, 137-
Chou Yu MI 1;, 178.
JChow, Dukeof [61.
\chow Kung m S, 40, 41, 44,
Chow dynasty jH IE, 61, 63, 66,
79-
Chow Li M li, 44, 45, 46, 73,
135, 136.
Chu it, 105.
Chu Hsi ^ ^, 49, 56, 77, 118,
144.
Chu Jung fj §^, 32, 76, 77.
Chu-ko Liang H :^ ^, 175, 176,
177.
Chu Show-ch'ang ^
I, 164.
Chu Shu n #, 33-
Ch'u ^, 85, 86, 88.
Ch'u Ch'ieh BJ^ ^, 169.
Ch'u-ch'iu ^ H, 138.
Ch'u Fu ffi -i., 30.
Ch'u Yiian^ i^, 85,91.
Chuan Hsii ^ JM, 62.
Ch'uan Hou j\\ jg, 72.
Chuang Tzu ^ -^j 14, 19, 22,
53, 90. 113, 133, 134. 168, 169.
Ch'un Ch'iu ^ fk, n, 138.
Ch'un Hua f^ it, 100.
Chung K'uei ^ jl^, 152.
Chung-li Ch'uan M ^ ^, 121,
122, 124, 128.
Chung-liu 4* s", 74. 80.
Chung Shan M UJ> 65.
Chung T'iao »f» ^, 124.
Chung Wu ,^. ^, 96.
Chung Yu '(tf' ^, 162.
Ch'ung Chgng T'an ^; fli 1^,
181.
Ch'ung Hsii Chen King
# ^ M fl, 134-
Ch'ung Hui ^ ^, 95.
Erh-shih-ssu Hsiao H -f' [jg ^,
161.
Fa^, 41.
Fa Hsien ^^ m, 188.
Fan Ch'eng-ta ^ ^ :^, 76.
Fang :;^, 61.
Fang-chang^ ^, 115.
Fang-ming ;:^ Pg, 47.
Fang Shih sS^ ±, 54, 194.
Fei, Lady ^,82.
Fei Ch'ang-fang ^ ^ ^ 131,
132.
Fen-chow ^ ^'M, 124.
Fen-yang '^ ^, 96.
Feng t=t, 41, 42.
Feng Hsiang Ji, ^, 200.
Feng Ui ^, 90.
Feng-huang M, M, 21, 98.
Feng Po )i. fa, 73.
Feng Shan fvj- 1^, 199.
Feng Shen Yen I |^ jplji fjj ^, 66,
80, 112.
Feng Shih I^ ^ ,73.
Feng Shui ^ 7j<, 140, 141.
FengSu Chi ^ f^ fS, 131.
Feng Su T'ung M- f^ ^, 78, 105.
4o6
INDEX
Feng-yang Ji, H, lOO, 179.
Fen Yen Chien Wen Chi
f'\ m E m IE. 14-
Fu liia, 104.
Fu Ch'i W: M, 147-
Fu Hsi f^ % 8, 25, 27, 29, 30,
31,32, 33, 55, loi, 136.
Fu-pao Pt ^, 27.
Fu Shan i^ \li , 30.
Fu-shou-lu la W #, 82.
Fu-ti la ilil, 115.
Fu Yu Tai ^^ii, in.
Genghis Khan J^ ^ ^, 23, 190.
Hai Yu Ch'ung K'ao
m ^ « #, 127-
Han dynasty ^ 16, 10, 19, 20,
29, 32, 44, 55, 62, 70, 73, 75,
76, 81, 93.
Han Ch'i j^ J^, 106.
Han Fei Tzu W4^ ^, 19-
Han Hsiang ^ M, 126, 127.
Han Li Chih i| M jg, 25.
Han Yii H :i:, 126.
Hao Ang Hsien Hua ^ Jg P3I IS,
70.
Hao T'ien Yu Huang Shang Ti
^ ^ ^ m Ji ^, 59-
Ho fsr, 33, 34, 37, 43-
Ho Cheng jK JE, 77-
Ho Hsien-ku {pJ i\\\ t&, 128.
Ho-ling % #, 123.
Ho Fo iKiti, 77-
HoPo ^ fQ, 90.
Ho Shen jK 1$, 76, 77-
Ho Ti ^n i^, 134-
HoT'u^pTI;'^,34.
Hou 5^, 103.
Hou-chi j^ ^, 6, 66.
Hou-t'u J^ i, 62, 67.
Hou-t'u nai-nai Ja it^]) ^J5, 67.
Hsi Hai M i^f*, 70-
Hsi-hua ^ |^, 114.
Hsi-lingShih M H ^. 28.
Hsi Pien Men ® ^ Pl 23, 135.
Hsi PoM'fa,4i-
Hsi Wang Mu ffi ^ ^, 104, 1 14,
116, 117, 118, 128, 129.
Hsi-yu ^ ^, 120.
Hsi Yu Chi M M 12, 190.
Hsia My 35, 66, 76.
Hsia-p'i T SP, 94-
Hsiang ^, 161.
Hsiang Ch'eng M 1^, H-
Hsiang Chi ig ^, 92.
Hsiang Chiin -^1=0 ^, 86, 88, 90.
Hsiang Fu-jen ^B ^ A, 86, 88,
90, 161.
Hsiang Mien ^^ ®, 139.
Hsiang Shan ^ tlj, 89.
Hsiang Yang ^ I^, 95.
Hsiao, Duke # &, 122.
Hsiao Hsiieh /> ^, 118.
Hsiao Kan # i^, 163.
Hsiao King ^ J^, 100.
Hsieh T'ien Hu Kuo Chung I
TaTi w,%mm!^^mi^'B.
95-
Hsien Jili, '^, 108, 114.
/y
INDEX
407
Hsien Ching {[I] if, 114.
Hsien Ho 'filj tl. 104.
Hsien Shan i\\\ |Ij, 114.
Hsien T'an i\\\ ig, 114.
Hsien Tsung ^. ^, 200.
Hsien-ylian ^ ^, 27.
Hsin-ch'ou ^ 3:, 34.
Hsin Yin King .6 pp ^, 57.
Hsing ^, 74.
Hsing Ch'i ^ ^, 147.
Hsing Shen fr W. 82.
Hsiu-chi^ a, 37-
Hsiung Wu ^ iS;, 96.
Hsu Chen-jen f^ M A, ii4-
Hsii Hsiin fp ^, 113.
Hsu Shen fp ti, 140.
HsuShih# Tp, ii5-
Hsii Yu fp ^, 167, 168.
Hsuan Chiao ^ ^5:, 24.
Hsuan Ti m. 1^. 75» I05-
Hsuan T'ien ^ ^, iii.
Hsiian Tsung ^ ^, 18, 96, 112.
Hsiian Wang |a i. 167.
Hsuan-yang ;S^ |§, 113-
Hsiian Yiian Huang Ti
^X li ^, 22.
Hsiieh Shan g llj, 23.
Hsiin Tzii ^ ^, 139.
Hu m, 46.
Hu (house) ^, 74, 80.
Hu (tiger) ^, 103.
Hu Ching-te j^J f5c ^, 78.
Hu-k'ou^ n,66.
Hu Kung ^ 5^, 131, 132.
Hu Li M S. 103.
Hu Yin t^ ^, 203.
Hu Ying-lin ^ B i|, 128.
Hua T'o ^ He, 107.
Huai-nan Tzii ^ [^ ^, 19, 54»
55-
Huai-nan Wang ^ ]^ i, 115.
Huan, Duke |1 S-. 138.
Huang ^, 46.
Huang Chin ^ rtl, I74-
Huang Hsiang ^ ^, 164.
Huang Lao ^ ^, 144.
Huang Li # g, 143.
Huang Ti ^ ^, 7, 17, 20, 21,
25, 27, 32, 33, 41, 75, 82, 94,
99.
Huang Ti Su Wen ^ ^ ^ ff9,
28.
Huang T'ien Shang Ti
1: X Ji ^. 49-
Huang T'ing-chien "M. M ^y
165.
Huang Yao ^ ^, 34.
Hui Tsung '^ g?, 59, 95, 135,
194.
Hung-chow ^ ^tl, 113.
Hung Lieh Chuan ^ I'-J -^j 54.
HungWu ^ ^, 68, 99, 117.
I King ^ ^, 16, 44, 45, 136,
142, 144.
I Yin ^ ^, 9.
Jen Fang ^ W, 58.
Jen Tsung C ^. 127. 139-
Ju Chia ^ ^, 8, 24.
4o8 INDEX
Jui J^, 27. K'uei Niu ^ 4^, III.
K'ai-feng ^ M. 30, 95- . K'un i\\\, 136.
K'ai Yiian |}{-] jc. 125. K'un-lun l^ ^, 99, 116.
Kan-lu -^ gg, 130. Kung-ch'ang ^ h. 29.
K'an Yii 1,11 M, 140. Kung Kung it X, 31.
K'ang Hsi /^ ^^, 154. Kung Lao X ^, 109.
Kao Hsin ^ ^, 40. Kung Liu ^ ^1], 41.
Kao Huang ]g #, 128. Kung-sun ^ ^, 27,
Kao Tsung f^ g?, 76, 124, 134. Kung-sun Chao ^ ^ PS, 179-
Ko Hung B i^, 145. 147- Kung-sun Shu ^ J^ ^, 139.
Ko Lung ^ f[|, 62. Kung Wang ^ i, 10.
K'o-tou Wen 14 il- ^, n. K'ung An-kuo JL ^ ®, 10, H-
Ku ^, 156. K'ung Ch'iu JL £. 168.
Ku Shen ^ jjil}!, 53. K'ung Ming ?L ^3, ^11. 178,
Ku Wen 7^ ^5:, 11. 179.
Kua Yao ^k 3t, 138. K'ung Shen ^ jjHI, 56.
Kuan (district ) if, 83. K'ung-t'ung |fi§ |Ii[^, 22.
Kuan Hsiang fS ^, 142. Kuo Ai |p ^, 179, 180.
Kuan Hsiang T'ai iS ^ t, I44- Kuo Chii fjj ;g, 163.
Kuan I-wu W ^ ^> 9- Kuo Chu-yeh IP ^ H, 161.
Kuan-t'an -^ ig, 70. Kuo Kung ||J ^, 140.
Kuan Yin P ^, 113. Kuo P'o % Ji, 140, 141.
Kuan Yin |g,^, 82,84, 194, 196. Kuo Shang ^ ^, 91.
Kuan Yii % ^, 94, 95, 97. I74. Kuo Shou-ching IP ^ f!c, 142.
176, 177, 196. Kuo Tzu-i IP ^ ^, 96, 97, 179,
Kuang Ch'eng-tzu ^ J^ ^, 22. 180.
Kuang Wu % ^, 76. La Hi, 61.
Kuang Wu ^ ^, 92, 93. La Chia |^ ^, 144.
Kuei %, 46. Lan Pass ^ ^, 126.
Kuei ^, 61. Lan Ts'ai-ho ^ 7^ ^P, 123, 124,
Kuei ^, 98. 128, 129.
Kuei-fu ^ g^, 100. Lang H % (Erh Lang), 113,
Kuei She ^ 4;t:, loo- Lang Ling % %■, 120.
Kuei-ts'ang ^ ^, 137. Lang Ya 1% ^, 139.
INDEX
409
Lao Lai-tzu ^ ^ J-, 164.
Lao Tan ^ |fi, 113.
Lao Tzu ^ ■?, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14.
16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,
24, 52, 53. 54. 56, 60, 94, 103,
105, 106, no, 119, 120, 129,
134. 189.
Lei M. 82.
Lei Chen K'ou H I^ P, I55-
Lei Yu-chung § # 0, 112.
Li (district) IP, 131.
Li S, 49-
Li Chih-ch'ang ^ j?, S, IQO.
Li Erh ^ :^, 18.
Li Hsii-chung ^ ^ 't', I43-
Li Hun ^ :^, 91-
Li Hung-chang ^ ^ ^, 100.
Li Ki m. 12, 61, 68, 69, 76, 98,
100, 109, 135, 140.
Li Kung-lin ^ ^ I^, 88.
Li Sao m ^. 85.
Li Shao-chun ^ /> ^, 75, 145,
146.
Li She a jfi, 62.
Li Shih-min ^ tft S. H. 18.
Li Ssii ^ ^, 10.
Li Su M M, 143-
LiT'ieh-kuai $ ^ i^, 119. 120,
121, 122, 124.
Li Tzii-ch'eng ^ g J^, 181,
182.
LiYing$ Ji, 174.
Liang I M ^. 136. [ 156.
Liao Chai Chih I |p 5^ jg ^,
Lieh ^J, 30.
Lieh Hou ^J jg, 76.
Lieh Hsien Chuan ^ij {ilj ^, 94,
106.
Lieh Tzu ^1} ■^, 19, 28, 53, 117,
134.
Lien Hua jg 1^, 105.
Lien-shan ^ \lj, 137.
Lin Yuan ;^ ]^, 72.
Ling Ch'ien Shu M ^ #. 138.
Ling Pao ^ X, 109.
Ling Ti M ^, 174-
Liu fij, 113.
Liu An fiJ ^, 54.
Liu Chih W K, 168.
Liu Hsia-hui W T E, 168.
Liu Hsiang fiJ [n], 55-
Liu Pang fiJ US, 92, 93-
Liu Pei fiJ H, 94, 95, 174. I75»
176, 177.
Liu Pu 7^ igp, 45.
Liu Shu fi] tS^, 58.
LiuSsuCh'in;^!^^, 183.
Liu Sung fiJ 5^, 188.
Loi^, 33,35, 38, 43, 100.
Lo-fou M'^^ H5-
Lo-han ^ ^, 196.
LoHulH^, loi.
Lo Kuan-chung ^ J| 4*, I74-
Lo-p'an S ^, 141, 142.
Lo Shu ^# #, 35-
Lo-yang '^ ^, 27, 188.
Lu ^, 104.
Lu^S II, 168.
4IO
INDEX
Lu Hoii jK, 144-
Lu Hsu n m, 163.
LuHsiinl^^, 178.
Lu Shengg;/!^, 115.
Lu Shih ^ iti, 142.
Lu Jg, 61.
Lii (Mts.) it ilj, 123.
Lii Shang g f.], 42.
Lu Ts'ai S ^, 143.
Lu Tsu S H, 123.
Lu Tung-pin g \^ ^, 123, 124,
126, 128.
Lii Yen g gg, 123.
Lun Yii Hsiin Tz'ii
m m m if, lo.
Lun Yu H M, 16.
Lung H, 98.
Lung Fei fl ^, 103.
Lung Lao ^ ^, 109.
Ma Tuan-lin Jf^ ^ ^, 200.
Man I # H, 176.
Mao ^, 34.
Mei if^, 105.
Mei-shan/i ^Ij, 83.
Men pi^, 74.
Men Shen p^ |lp, 77.
Meng Ch'ang :^ ^, 82.
Meng K'ang li; j^, 51, 140.
M^ng River ^ M. 29, 43.
Meng Tsung :^ ^, 165.
Mi-le-fo 5i 1; ^, 194-
Miao Ku She |^ $^ |^, 168.
Min, Duke of Fj| :&, 138.
Min Sun f^ |0, 162.
Ming ig, 18.
Ming dynasty BQ fB, 62, 67, 70,
72, 81, 99.
Ming Huang nj :a, 125, 134.
MingTi nj fff, i34» 169. 188.
Mu Kung ;fc ^g-, 114, 116.
Mu-ling 1^ 1^, 65.
Mu T'ien Tzu Chuan
li^-?^, 116.
Mu Tsung |§ ^, 202.
Mu Wang ^ i, 105.
Nan-chi lao-jen ^ @ ^ A. 82.
Nan Hua Sheng King
M^^-'M., 134.
Niang Niang ^ ^g, 154.
Niao Chi-wen % [^. ^, 31.
Niu Lang ^ BP, 132.
No m 61.
Nu-chen :^ ^, 97, 181.
Nil Kua^ $^, 3i» 32.
Nil Ying ic ^, 88.
Nung Chih-kao HI? if , 139.
O, Prince of fP i, 66.
0-fo g«. #, 194-
0-mei ^ ;i, 72, 79, 194.
0-mi-t'o-fo H 5i f^ ^, 194.
Pa ^,61.
Pa Cha A !^, 68.
Pa Hsien A {tij, 118.
PaKuaA#.30, 44. 136, 141.
Pa Kung A &, 118.
Pa Tzii A ^. 143, 149-
Pai Ma Ssii g j^ #, 188.
Pai Shih g i^, 70.
INDEX
411
Pai-tzu T'ang "g" J- '^, 84.
Pan Ku ffi @, 9, 199.
P'an Keng # M, 48.
P'an Ku m ■^, 25, 57, 58, 60,
no, III.
P'anT'ao !^ ^, 104, 117, 118,
129.
Pao P'ai Tso Ch'in ^ f^ ^"^ U'
149.
Pao P'o-tzu ^ # ^. 145-
Pao-yiieh M J! , 59-
Pei-chi Chen Chun ;lb |g M ^.
III.
Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu
:^^m n, 105.
Peng-lai MM' ii5-
P'eng Yii-Hn ^ ^ m, 65.
Pi M, 46, 47-
Pi Chung Shu H ff #, 10.
Pi Kan Jt T, 40.
P'i Ku ^ m, 147.
Pien Chi ^ i^, 190.
P'ing-hsiang ^p ||J5^ 39.
P'ingTizp^, 62.
P'ing-yang ^ ^, 98.
Po {&, 61.
Po Lang Sha ff ^ ^\ 93.
Po Ta Chen Jen 1$ ;;fc ^ A. 1 13-
Po Wu Chih it 4^ ^., 70.
Po-yang Fu 'fQ |^ 3C, 167-
Po Yun Kuan Q S HI, 23, I35-
Po-yang Lake S> H ^. 66.
Pu-chou ;f )^, 31.
Pu Tao ;f^ 3^, 156.
P'u-hsien ^ g, 196.
P'u-ming ^ pg, 60.
P'u-t'ien ^ B9, 72.
P'u-t'o^I?g, 71, 193.
San Chiao H ^, 189.
San Chieh H f^, 93-
San Ch'ing H Wy I4, ^^9> no.
San Hsien Shan H '([li U4, 115.
San Huang H #, 25, 109.
San Kuan H W, 109.
San Kung H ^, 109.
San Kuo H ^,94.
San Kuo Chih Yen I
H S]gig^, 174, 179-
San Kuo Tien Lioh H g H B§.
169.
San Lao H ^, 109.
San Pao H M, 14.
San Sheng H ^, 196.
Seng Ch'i ^ ^, 140.
Sha-ch'iu ^^ flj, 39.
Shan Hai King \li •/§ ^, 17, 103.
Shan Hsiao lU M, I50-
Shan Kuei [Ij ^, 90.
Shan T'ung p^ jg, 26.
Shan Tung K'ao Ku Lu
Shang _h, 109.
Shang Ch'ing _L ^, no.
Shang dynasty M ^- 7. 9, 38,
40, 48, 67, 79.
Shang Fu fi] 3C, 96.
Shang Lao fg ^. I09-
Shang T'ai ±, o , 89.
412
INDEX
Shang Ti Ji ^, 21, 48, 49, 50,
58, 59. 135-
Shao Hao /p ^, 99.
Shao Lin /J? ;f^, 188.
Shao Yang /> %, 137.
Shao Yin /> I^, 137.
SheChi tfc 5fS, 61,62.
Shen Hsien Chuan jiii]i {ill -f^,
144. 145-
Shen Hsien T'ung Chien
JJitlJ {ill Ji ^. 29. 96, no, 196.
Shen I King fill ^ ^, 130.
Shen Nung jjiijJ Jt, 25, 27, 29, 30,
32,33.55.62,94.
Shen Pao fifp ^, no.
Sheng ^, 108, 134.
Shih p, 104.
Shih Chi ^ le, 7. 31. 62, 66,
145. 199-
Shih Chou Chi -j- 'i\\ ffi, 117.
Shih Hu Tz'u ^ ^ f^, 76.
Shih Huang \^ ^, 10, 70, 81, 89,
93, 114, 115, 134. 145. 146.
Shih Kan -^ fc. I53-
Shih King ^ g, 62.
Shih Liu '^ ta, 105.
Shou "if, 34.
Shou #, 150.
Shou Hsing % ^, 81.
Shou Shih Shu S B# #, 142.
Shu ^, 82, 94, 139, 174, 175,
179.
Shu King ^ ^, 33, 35, 37, 39,
47, 49, 109.
Shu Yu m. ^. 78, 105.
shuh I Chi MHie, 58.
Shui Chun 7jC ^, 73.
Shul I 7jC ^, 90.
Shui Jung 7jC Iff, 67, 69.
Shui King 7jC ^, 17, 100.
Shui Kung 7jC ^, 106.
Shui Ma 7jC j^, 104.
Shui Shen 7jC $$, 90.
Shun H, 20, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37,
44,47,51,61,89, 161.
Shuo Wen |^ 3!^, 140. [123.
Sou Shen Chi \% jjilp |E, 60, 65,
Ssu Chao 0 ^^, 135.
Ssfi Hsiang 0 ^, 136, 142.
Ssii K'u Ch'uan Shu, ^%^%
17-
Ssu Ling 0 ^, 98. [ 199.
Ssu-ma Ch'ien "^ J^ jg, 7, 145,
Ssu Mei Chu PS ^ K. 88.
Ssu Ming H ^, 86, 89.
Ssii T'ien T'ai "^ ^ #, 143.
Ssu T'ien Wang 0 ^ ^, 14,
no.
Ssii Wei pg ^, no.
Su Lao-ch'iian Tsi ^ ^ ^ M,
83.
Sui-jen j^ A. 26.
Sun ^, 113.
Sun Ch'uan ^ ^, 95, 100, 176.
Sun Ssu-miao ^, ,®> ^, 106.
Sung dynasty ^ ^E, 24, 49, 56,
68, 71,88,95,97.
Sung ;^, 105.
INDEX
413
^
Sung Li Ch'iian Shu 7^
56.
Sung Mountain ^ ^Ij, 189.
Ta-chi i(H a, 39> 40.
Ta Chio Chin Hsien -J^ ^ ^ iJ^,
194.
Ta-shih-chih ::^ ^ M, 196.
Ta T'ang Hsi Yu Chi
:kM'M^t^, 190.
Ta Ti i<i ^, 65, 73.
Ta-yu i<: m, 138.
Tai Miao 15 ®, 70-
Tai Tsung f^ ^, 96.
T'ai ic, 109.
T'ai Mountain ^ \U, 5i» 70. 7i.
153, 154. 156.
T'ai-an # ^, 70.
T'ai Chi ic @, 56, 136.
T'ai Ch'ing ic ^, no.
T'ai-fu ± ff , 109.
T'ai Hao ± ^, 29.
T'ai Hsi King i^ ,|, ^, 56.
T'ai Hu ± m, 154-
T'ai I Ching ±Z,n, 55.
T'ai Kung ± &, 9.
T'ai Kung Wang ic ^ M. 7o.
T'ai-pao ^ 'l^, 109-
T'ai-p'ing Shih-erh Ts'e
iC ¥ + ^ J^-. 199-
T'ai Shan ^ ^ii, 168.
T'ai Shan Shih Kan Tang
miU^m-^, 153-
T'ai-shih :^ ^, 109.
T'ai Ssu ic M. 42.
T'ai Tsung :;*: ^, 14. 18, 19, 21,
22, 78, 124, 134, 179, 189, 199.
T'ai Yang ic I^. I37-
T'ai Yin ic 1^, 137-
T'ai Yiian :j^ 7^1 m-
T'ai-yiian ic i^, 167.
Tan 0^, 41, 47.
Tan :Q-, 99.
T'ang dynasty ^ ^H, 5, 6, 9, 14,
18, 19,22,24, 56.
T'ang ^,38, 48.
T'ang Chu ^ ^, 139.
T'ang Fu-jen ^ ^ A, 163.
Tao, Taoism •^, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16,
17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,
55. 56, 57, 108, 147, 189.
Tao Chia j^ ^, 8.
Tao Chiao 3^ ^, 24.
Tao Chih ^ %, 168.
Tao Chiin -^ ^, 109.
Tao Teh King jt m &, 13, 18,
19, 20, 52, 53, 54, 134, 189.
T'ao Jen ^ A, io5-
T'ao Yiian San Chieh I
^ gl H ^ ^, 174-
Te-hua m it, 123.
Te Tsung M ^, 96.
Ti,fi, 61.
Ti-ch'i M M, 29.
Ti Ch'ing ^ #, 139-
Ti-tsang ilji p^, 196.
Ti Wang Shih Chi Ti? i ifi: |B,
31-
Ti-ya;® ©, 113.
414
* INDEX
T'ien %, 49, 108.
T'ien-ch'i % j^, 29.
T'ien-chiu % fg, 130.
T'ien Fei % ^E, 72.
T'ien Ho % ^, 132.
T'ien Hou % /p, 72.
T'ien Hsien Yii Nii Pi Hsia
Yiian Chiin ^ m ^ 'k ^ M.
7C ^. 71-
T'ien I-heng H M I&, 169.
T'ien Li % M, 23.
T'ien-lung % ^, 113.
T'ien Pao 5^ g, 109.
T'ien Shih X U, H, I53-
T'ien-shu ^ #, 59.
T'ien Tsu ffl M, 62.
T'ien Tzu ^ ^, 45.
T'ien Wen ^ ^, 143.
Ting Kuan ^ U, H?-
Ting Lan T Hi. 165.
Toba ffi ^, 188.
Tou, Empress g /^, 174.
Ts'ai Shen U S^, 66, 79.
Ts'ai Shun ^ ]|^, 164.
Ts'ai Yiian-ting ^ x ^, 144.
Ts'an T'ung Ch'i # [r] ^, 144.
145, 146.
Tsang Shu ^ ^, 140.
Ts'ang Chieh j^ ^, 31.
Tsao Jja:, 74, 76, 77.
Tsao Chiin ^):± ^, 75, 76.
Tsao Po ^^i fe, 77.
Tsao Shen ^th ^1$, 74. 76.
Tsao Tzu ^ J', 105.
127,
Ts'ao Kuo-chiu ',"/ ^
128.
Ts'ao Ts'ao # J^, 95, 107, 175,
176, 177, 178, 179.
Tse ^, 80.
Tse Shen ^ jjiip, 81.
Ts'c Tzu i^ij ^, 138.
Tseng-ch'eng it ^it, 128.
Tseng Ts'an ^ :§, 104, 161.
Tso ^, 138.
Tso-ch'iu Ming ^ fiS PJ, 199.
Tso Chuan ;£ '^j 81, 109, 199.
Tso Tao ;£ 3I, 155.
Tsu Tien ^ ^, 61.
Ts'ui Chi-shu ^ ^ §f , 169.
Ts'ui Hao H ^, 189.
Ts'ui Shih ^ ^, 163.
Ts'ung ]^, 46, 47.
Tu :^, 113.
TuSu^^, 117.
T'u m, 35.
T'u (rabbit) ^, 103.
T'u-te i: ^, 27. [66.
T'u-ti lao-yeh ± m ^ M, 65,
T'u-ti nai-nai ± il!i $;) ^]), 66.
T'u-ti Shen i: i^ t4, 62, 65.
T'uan M, 137.
T'ui Pu ft ^, 144.
Tung Cho H ^, 177.
Tung Chow Lieh Kuo Chih
^mmrn ^g, i66.
Tung Chun ^ ^, 90, 117.
Tung-fang So ;^ :^ |5g, 117.
Tung Fu fl^ }{.}, 114.
INDEX
415
Tung Hai ^ -/§, 70.
Tung-hua ^ ^, 114.
Tung Huang T'ai I :^ M ic — ,
88.
Tung Pien Men :t ffi PI I55-
Tung-t'ing ^ ^, 89, 154.
Tung Wang ^ i, 114.
Tung Wang Kung y^^ ^, 1 16.
Tung Yo ^ ^, 23, 135.
Tung Yung H ^, 162.
T'ung Chien jg ^, 76.
T'ung Chien Kang Mu
m^m 0,59-
T'ung Chien Wai Chi
mm^u, 58.
T'ung Shu ai #, 143-
Tzu-kung ^ ;^, 168.
Tzu-lu ^ 1^, 162.
Tzu-t'ung Shen # yg Jill}J, 112.
Wan Li H ^, 95.
Wang ^, 42, 61.
Wang An-shih i ^ ^, 106.
Wang Ch'in-jo ^ fc ^. 58.
Wang Hsiang ^ ^, 163.
Wang P'i i 535, 53.
Wang P'ou i M, 165.
Wang Tan 3: 0., 59-
Wang T'ung ^ jg, 199, 200.
Wei|^, 94, 165, 174, 179.
Wei Po-yang H f[^ [^, 144.
Wei T'o t ^, 196.
Wen Ch'ang ^ ^, 89, 112.
wen Hai Po Sha X M ^ M,
143.
Wen Hsien T'ung K'ao
35: i^ ii #, 200.
Wen Ming -^ ^, 37.
Wen-shu ^ ^, 196.
WenTi^ ^, 161.
Wen Wang ^ ^, 9, 16, 40, 41,
42, 44, 70, 137.
Wo Huang ^ ^, 88.
Wu ^, 65, 73, 94, loi, 165, 174,
176.
Wu Chi i^ @, 56.
Wu Hou ^ jp , 107, 124, 128.
Wu Hsing 2 ^, 55.
Wu Huai ^ tg, 199. [67
Wu Li T'ung K'ao 2 li ii #
Wu Liang Tz'u 1^^^,29,31
32. [25
Wu Lung (five dragons) 3^ fg
Wu-lung (black dragon) ^ f|
107.
WuMeng^l£, 113, 163.
Wu Ssu 3l ;1E. 74-
Wu Ssu jr^ E, 27.
Wu-t'ai 5El 4, 72, 194-
Wu Tao Chiang Chiin
S it 0 ¥, 169.
Wu Ti 3^ ^, 75, 105, 117, 118,
134, 143, 145, 188.
Wu Tou Mi Tao 2 ^ 7^ it, 14.
Wu Wang ^ ^, 27, 40, 41, 42,
43,48,70, 139.
Wu Wei ^ ^, 18.
Wu Yo 31 ^, 193-
Yang [g, 55, 56, 99, 136, 144.
4i6
INDEX
Yang-chow J^ ^,65.
Yang Hsiang ^§ >§■, 164.
Yang I I# ^, 136.
YangKuei-fei;^-:^i(E.96.
Yang-wu Hsien H E J^. 93-
Yao %, 20, 33, 35, 37. 38, 47. 66,
69, 86, 88, 98, 99, 124, 135,
161, 168.
YaoCh'ih^ M, 117.
Yao Hsiang ^ ^, 144.
Yeh Fa-hsi ^ vS S- I34-
Yeh Fa-shan H ^ #, 125, 134-
Yen 3l|, 96, 155.
Yen Chiu m A, 23.
Yen Kung ^ <&, 73-
Yen Liang || ^, 95-
Yen Mei g^ M. 156.
Yen Shih-ku M U '^> I40-
Yen Tzu U ^. 163.
Yen-yuan H {Jj{|, 168.
Yin it, 55. 56, 136, 142, 144-
Yin Fu King It ^ ^, 17.
Yin Hung |^ ^, 66.
Yin I m ^. 136.
Ying (eagle) fig, 104.
Ying-chou ^ ^#1, 115.
Yo 1^,61. [181.
Yo Fei -^ M, 66, 95, 97, 180,
Yo Wang ^ i, 66, 105, 106.
Yo-yang -^ |^, 123.
Yu-ch'ao ^ 1,, 26.
Yu-hsiung ^ ^r, 27, 28.
Yu Wang ^ 3i. 166, 167.
Yu ^, 35. [ 135.
Yu ^, 27, 36, 37, 38, 44, 47, 100,
Yu^,6i.
Yu ^, 109.
Yii Ch'ien-lou f^^u Mi 164.
Yu Ch'ing 3i If, no.
Yu Hsiung ^ ^g, 9.
Yu Hsu Kung ^ ^ g, 22.
Yu Huang ^ M, 58, 59, 60, no.
Yu Lei ^ g, 78, 105.
Yu Lin Wu ^ i| M. 90-
Yu Nu 5. ^, 71.
Yii Po ^ fa, 90.
Yu Shih M ai?. 73.
Yu Ti ^ ^, 196, 197.
Yii-t'ien ^ EB, 171.
Yiian Chuang ^ ^, 190, 192,
193-
Yuan dynasty x ^, 22,23, 56,
71, no, 112, 117, 119, 135,
142.
Yiian Kuei jt ^> 100.
YuanShao^lg, 95.
Yiian Shih T'ien Tsun
X itp ^#, 80, 109, no. III.
Yuan Ti x '^. 134-
Yueh-ling ^ ^, 76.
Yun-ch'i S ^. 29.
Yun Chung Chiin S 4* ^. 88.
Yiin Mu Fen U ^ B, 128.
Yung-ch'eng IS" J^, 26.
Yung K'ang ^ ^, loi.
Yung Lo ^ M, 72, 155-
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