[16] Such figures are really elaborate tiles, and are called
_onigawara_, or “demon-tiles.” It may naturally be asked why
demon-heads should be ever placed above Buddhist gate-ways. Originally
they were not intended to represent demons, in the Buddhist sense,
but guardian-spirits whose duty it was to drive demons away. The
_onigawara_ were introduced into Japan either from China or Korea--not
improbably Korea; for we read that the first roof-tiles made in Japan
were manufactured shortly after the introduction of the new faith
by Korean priests, and under the supervision of Shōtoku Taishi, the
princely founder and supporter of Japanese Buddhism. They were baked at
Koizumi-mura, in Yamato;--but we are not told whether there were any of
this extraordinary shape among them. It is worth while remarking that in
Korea to-day you can see hideous faces painted upon house-doors,--even
upon the gates of the royal palace; and these, intended merely to
frighten away evil spirits, suggest the real origin of the demon-tiles.
The Japanese, on first seeing such tiles, called them demon-tiles
because the faces upon them resembled those conventionally given to
Buddhist demons; and now that their history has been forgotten, they are
popularly supposed to represent demon-guardians. There would be nothing
contrary to Buddhist faith in the fancy;--for there are many legends of
good demons. Besides, in the eternal order of divine law, even the worst
demon must at last become a Buddha.
[17] _Osmanthus fragrans._ This is one of the very few Japanese plants
having richly-perfumed flowers.
[18] The word “sotoba” is identical with the Sanscrit “stûpa.”
Originally a mausoleum, and later a simple monument--commemorative or
otherwise,--the stûpa was introduced with Buddhism into China, and
thence, perhaps by way of Korea, into Japan. Chinese forms of the stone
stûpa are to be found in many of the old Japanese temple-grounds. The
wooden _sotoba_ is only a symbol of the stûpa; and the more elaborate
forms of it plainly suggest its history. The slight carving along its
upper edges represents that superimposition of cube, sphere, crescent,
pyramid, and body-pyriform (symbolizing the Five Great Elements), which
forms the design of the most beautiful funeral monuments.
[19] These relations of the elements to the Buddhas named are not,
however, permanently fixed in the doctrine,--for obvious philosophical
reasons. Sometimes Sakyamuni is identified with Ether, and Amitâbha with
Air, etc., etc. In the above enumeration I have followed the order taken
by Professor Bunyiu Nanjio, who nevertheless suggests that this order is
not to be considered perpetual.
[20] The above prayer is customarily said after having read a sûtra, or
copied a sacred text, or caused a Buddhist service to be performed.
[21] Dai-en-kyō-chi (Âdarsana-gñâna). Amida is the Japanese form of the
name Amitâbha.
[22] “Great (or Noble) Elder Sister” is the meaning of the title
_dai-shi_ affixed to the _kaimyō_ of a woman. In the rite of the Zen
sect _dai-shi_ always signifies a married woman; _shin-nyo_, a maid.
[23] This _kaimyō_, or posthumous name, literally signifies:
Radiant-Chastity-Beaming-Through-Luminous-Clouds.
[24] The Supreme Wisdom; the state of Buddhahood.
[25] _San-Akudō_,--the three unhappy conditions of Hell, of the World of
Hungry Spirits (_Pretas_), and of Animal Existence.
[26] “Haijō Kongō” means “the Diamond of Universal Enlightenment:” it
is the honorific appellation of Kūkai or Kobodaishi, founder of the
Shingon-Shū.
[27] From a Zen sotoba.
[28] In Japanese “Sanbodai.” The term “tower” refers of course to the
_sotoba_, the symbol of a real tower, or at least of the desire to erect
such a monument, were it possible.
[29] In Japanese, _Anuka-tara-sanmaku-sanbodai_,--the supreme form of
Buddhist enlightenment.
[30] From a sotoba of the Jodo sect.
[31] From a sotoba of the Jōdo sect. The Amida-Kyō, or Sûtra of Amida,
is the Japanese [Chinese] version of the smaller Sukhâvatî-Vyûha Sûtra.
[32] _Gokuraku_ is the common word in Japan for the Buddhist heaven. The
above inscription, translated for me from a sotoba of the Jōdo sect,
is an abbreviated form of a verse in the Smaller Sukhâvatî-Vyûha (see
_Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts_: “Sacred Books of the East”), which Max Müller
has thus rendered in full:--“In that world Sukhâvatî, O Sâriputra, there
is neither bodily nor mental pain for living beings. The sources of
happiness are innumerable there. For that reason is that world called
Sukhâvatî, the happy.”
[33] From a sotoba of the Jōdo sect.
[34] Sotoba of the Jōdo sect.
[35] Sotoba of the Jōdo sect.
[36] Sotoba of the Zen sect.
[37] Sotoba of the Zen sect.
[38] Tathâgata.
[39] From a sotoba of the Zen sect.
[40] Avatamsaka Sûtra.--This text is also from a Zen sotoba.
[41] From a tombstone of the Jōdo sect. The text is evidently from the
Chinese version of the Amitâyur-Dhyâna-Sûtra (see _Buddhist Mahâyâna
Texts_: “Sacred Books of the East”). It reads in the English version
thus:--“In fine, it is your mind that becomes Buddha;--nay, it is your
mind that is indeed Buddha.”
[42] Pratyeka-Buddha sastra?--From a sotoba of the Zen sect.
[43] _San-zé_, or _mitsu-yo_,--the Past, Present, and Future.
[44] “Mind” is here expressed by the character _shin_ or _kokoro_.--The
text is from a Zen sotoba, but is used also, I am told, by the mystical
sects of Tendai and Shingon.
[45] Krityânushthâna-gñâna.--The text is from a sotoba of the Shingon
sect.
[46] More literally, “Self and Other:” i. e., the Ego and the Non-Ego
in the meaning of “I” and “Thou.” There is no “I” and “Thou” in
Buddhahood.--This text was copied from a Zen sotoba.
[47] From a Zen sotoba.
[48] The Chinese word literally means “void,”--as in the expression
“Void Supreme,” to signify the state of Nirvana. But the philosophical
reference here is to the ultimate substance, or primary matter; and the
rendering of the term by “Ether” (rather in the Greek than the modern
sense, of course) has the sanction of Bunyiu Nanjio, and the approval of
other eminent Sanscrit and Chinese scholars.
[49] Literally, “illuminates the Zenjō-mind.” Zenjō is the Sanscrit
_Dhyâna_. It is believed that in real _Dhyâna_ the mind can hold
communication with the Absolute.--From a sotoba of the Zen sect.
[50] From a sotoba of the Tendai sect.
[51] From a Jōdo sotoba.
[52] Literally, “the Great-Round-Mirror-Wisdom-Sûtra.” Sansc.,
_Adarsana-gñâna_.--From a Zen sotoba.
[53] Sotoba of the Zen sect.
[54] _Pratyavekshana-gñâna._
[55] From a Zen sotoba.
[56] _Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts_: “Sacred Books of the East,” vol. xlix.
p. 180.
[57] From a sotoba of the Zen sect.
[58] Lit.: “the Inscription of the Tower of Diamond,”--name of a
Buddhist text.
[59] The Six States of Existence are Heaven, Man, Demons, Hell, Hungry
Spirits (_Pretas_), and Animals.--The above is from a Zen sotoba.
[60] Sotoba of the Nichiren sect.
[61] _San-doku_ or _Mitsu-no-doku_, viz.:--Anger, Ignorance, and
Desire.--From a Zen sotoba.
[62] Japanese title of the Saddhârma-Pundarika Sûtra. See, for legend,
chap. xi. of Kern’s translation in the _Sacred Books of the East_
series.
[63] There is a great variety of _sîla_;--five, eight, and ten for
different classes of laity; two hundred and fifty for priests;--five
hundred for nuns, etc., etc.--Be it here observed that the posthumous
Buddhist name given to the dead must not be studied as referring always
to conduct in this world, but rather as referring to _sîla_ in another
world. The _kaimyō_ is thus a title of spiritual initiation.--Some
Japanese Buddhist sects hold what are called _Ju-Kai-E_ (“_sîla_-giving
assemblies”), at which the initiated are given _kaimyō_ of another
sort,--_sîla_-names of admission as neophytes.
[64] That is, according to the Japanese reading of the Chinese
characters.
[65] By the old calendar, the eleventh month was the Month of Frost.
[66] The second year of the period Shōtoku corresponds to 1712
A.D.--(For the meaning of the phrase “Dragon of Elder Water” the reader
will do well to consult Professor Rein’s _Japan_, pp. 434-436.)
[67] This beautiful kaimyō is identical with that placed upon the
monument of my dear friend Nishida, buried in the Nichiren cemetery of
Chōmanji, in Matsué.
[68] Signifying:--“believing man of mind as chastely pure as the snow
upon a peak in winter.”
[69] This is the kaimyō of the lady for whose sake the temple of
Kobudera was built; and the words “Mansion of Self-witness” here refer
to the temple itself, which is thus named (_Ji-Shō In_). The Chinese
text reads:--“Ji-Shō-In den, Kwo-zan Kyō-kei, Daishi,”--literally,
“Great Elder-Sister, Dawn-Katsura-of-Luminous-Mountain, dwelling in the
August Mansion of Self-witness.” The katsura (_olea fragrans_) is a tree
mysteriously connected, in Japanese poetical fancy, with the moon; and
its name is often used, as here, to signify the moon. _Katsura-no-hana_,
or “katsura-flower” is a poetical term for moonlight.--This kaimyō is
remarkable in having the honorific term “August” prefixed to the name of
the mansion or temple,--a sign of the high rank of the dead lady. The
full date inscribed is “twenty-eighth day of Mid-Autumn” (the old eighth
month) “of the seventeenth year of Kwansei” (1640 A. D.)
[70] The prefix _dai_ (great) before the ordinary term _dōji_ (male
child) is of rare occurrence. Probably the lad was of princely birth.
The grave is in a reserved part of the Kobudera cemetery; and the
year-date of death is “the fourth of Enkyō”--corresponding to 1747.
[71] The tomb bearing this kaimyō is set beside that inscribed with the
kaimyō preceding. Probably the boys were brothers. In both instances we
have the honorific prefix “dai,” and the term “August” qualifying the
mansion-name. The year-date of death is “the second of Kwan-en” (1749).
[72] Probably a princely child,--sister apparently of the highborn boys
before referred to. She is buried beside them in Kobudera. Observe here
again the use of the prefix _dai_,--this time before the term _dōnyo_,
“child-girl” or “child-daughter.” Perhaps the _dai_ here would be better
rendered by “grand” than by “great.” Notice that the term “August”
precedes the mansion-name in this case also. The date of death is given
as “the sixth year of Hōreki” (1756).