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THE GREAT TEMPLE OF DAI-BUTSU, AT NARA.

To face page 170, Vol. II.

especially those in bronze. It really would almost appear that the ingenuity of man, moving within certain conventional limits of size and form, had exhausted itself in giving variety to them. Even those of stone exhibit great differences of design, and are often beautifully ornamented with carving and engraving.

I must observe in passing that the landscape view from the hillsides on which these temples stand is peculiarly fine, and it was refreshing-both at Nara and elsewhere, while visiting a succession of temples, and observing the infinite pains men have taken to get away from the simple elements of religious feeling and worship, and to indulge the rudest and wildest fancies in setting up their own emblems of what is divine-to step occasionally into the open air, in view of some beautiful stretch of scenery, and there, lit with the sun and blown on by the breeze, to be thankful that the power of enjoying the world and works of God is still continued to us. Under such conditions, even the distant temples and pagodas-being distantseemed scarcely to hurt the beauty and purity of nature.

One of this group of Kwannon temples is quite a chamber of the gods. The building is nearly eleven hundred and fifty years old, never having been burnt down, as so many such edifices have been. Of all the gods and goddesses here accommodated I will only mention one, but that shall be a very remarkable one-the Kwannon of a thousand hands. In strict truth this sacred lady had not, I believe, so many arms and hands as a thousand: I looked well at her, and although I do not suppose that I saw them all, I could not count many, if any, more than fifty. These were all in use, however, holding cups, lotus-flowers, mirrors, swords, croziers, infant hands, small gods, and many other necessary articles. Another Kwannon goddess. here has three eyes.

Our next visit was to the Shinto temple of Hachiman of Tamoki, in connection with which is an ancient building used as a safe-house for the temple. It is eleven hundred years old, and is built almost exactly like the log-houses of

modern Russian villages, but is raised well above the ground. The temple was built in the reign of the empress Kokei, in the middle of the eighth century.

We now visited a tea-house a little farther up the hill, from which a very fine view of the valley was obtainable, and where we made the acquaintance of a charming girl, the daughter of the house, who spoke a little English, and who, with her chaperone, completed the tour of the temples with us, adding brightness to the day's brightness. The view from the house was superb, commanding the whole valley in which Nara lies. The only building in the whole city that reminded one in the least degree of Europe was seen near the great pagoda, a mile away, and this building we found to be one of those normal schools which the present enlightened and progressive government of Japan has established throughout the country.

The Shinto temple of Kasuga came next on our route, with its sacred deer wandering about in the grounds, the gods of the temple having brought them there originally from Kashima. Four gods and goddesses have their shrines in this temple, which was built about two hundred years after the temple of Dai-butsu. The four shrines have, however, to be rebuilt every twenty years. It will be worth while to give the names, as they were given to me on the spot, of those to whom these shrines are dedicated, although they will hardly be intelligible to some of my readers. Each shall have a line to itself.

1. Takemikadotchinokami.

2. Futsunushinokami.

3. Amatsukoyanenokami.

4. Himeokami (daughter of the last-named).

I believe I shall not be far wrong, however, in identifying these deities as follows. It will be remembered that in the chapter on the Shinto Religion I had occasion to mention the gods who descended from heaven to conquer the country for Ninigi-no-Mikoto, and I gave the names as

Take-mika-dzuchi, and
Futsu-nushi,

the honorific affix "no kami" being omitted in both cases. Now the second of these names is precisely the same as that given me here at Nara, if we omit the same affix; and the first is so nearly like the other as to leave little or no doubt about their identity likewise. No direct identification of the third god has occurred to me, but I remember that in some accounts it is said that the god who was associated with Take-mika-dzuchi on his mission from heaven to Japan was Ame-no-tori-fune, and that the latter was despatched by the former to summon back the god Koto-shiro-nushi from hunting and fishing to say if he would surrender the country. It is possible, and even probable, that this may be the third god worshipped here-a supposition which at least has the merit of associating the four gods consistently together; but whether my conjecture as to the third god be correct or not, only probably Japanese scholars can say. It is, however, beyond doubt that the gods still worshipped in this temple of Nara are those who are supposed to have surrendered the country to the present dynasty at the demand of messengers from heaven.

At this temple again we found lanterns literally by the thousand-three thousand of them; no less than six hundred are lighted every night. I hope the priests who were good enough to meet us at this temple and conduct us through it ―as, indeed, did the priests of the Buddhist temples already mentioned, usually giving us tea, cakes, and cigarettes wherewithal to refresh ourselves-will forgive me for saying that this very impressive temple derived, in my opinion, most of its nobleness from the truly magnificent old sugi and other trees which everywhere abounded within its precincts, and from the noble avenues by which it was approached. Older or finer trees than many included within the torii of this temple are seldom to be found.

The important Shinto shrine of Wakamiya, which we had yet to see before leaving these eastern groups of temples, was made very interesting to us by the circumstance that the priests were good enough to have a religious dance performed for our instruction. The dancers were three

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