The source of this uncorrected OCR text may be viewed as a digital facsimile at: http://fax.libs.uga.edu/ THE DRAGON IN CHINA AND JAPAN BY . IDE Verhandelingen dei" Koninklijke Akademie van Wetensohappen te Amsterdam. ^VFnr^LlNG T.KTTER KLUJSTDE. NrruwR RI-TJCS. 1)EEL XIII N° 2. \.M^Ti:i{l) VM. JOIE^NNES MULLEK. 1013. PREFACE. The student of Chinese and Japanese religion and folklore soon discovers the mighty influence of Indian thought upon the Far-Eastern mind. Buddhism introduced a great number of Indian, not especially Buddhist, conceptions and legends, clad in a Bud dhist garb, into the eastern countries. In China Taoism was ready to gratefully take up these foreign elements which in many respects resembled its own ideas or were of the same nature. In this way the store of ancient Chinese legends was not only largely enriched, but they were also mixed up with the Indian fables. The same process took place ia Japan, when Buddhism, after having conquered Korea, in the sixth century of our era reached Dai Nippon's shores. Before a hundred years had elapsed the Japanese mind got imbued with foreign ideas, partly Chinese, partly Indian. To the mixture of these two elements a third one, consisting of the original Japanese concep tions, was added, and a very intricate complex was formed. Whoever studies the Japanese legends has the difficult task of analysing this complex into its parts. No mythical creature is more familiar to Far-Eastern art and literature than the dragon. It is interesting to observe how in Japan three different kinds of dragons, originating from India, China and Japan, are to be found side by side. To the super ficial observer they all belong to one and the same class of rain bestowing, thunder and storm arousing gods of the water, but a careful examination teaches us that they are different from each other. The Indian serpent-shaped Xri/ja was identified in China with the four-legged Chinese dragon, because both were divine inhabi tants of seas and rivers, and givers of rain. It is no wonder that the Japanese in this blending of Chinese and Indian ideas recog nized their own serpent or dragon-shaped gods of rivers and mountains, to whom they used to pray for rain in times of drought. Thus the ancient legends of three countries were com bined, and features of the one were used to adorn the other. In order to throw light upon these facts we must examine the VI P R K I' A C K. Buddhist ideas concerning the Nagas which came from India to the East. Being not acquainted with the Sanscrit language, we have to refer to the works of European scholars and to trans lations, in order to explain the western elements found in Chinese and Japanese dragon legends. This being our only aim with regard to the Nagas, we will deal with them only by way of introduction. In the First Book we have systematically arranged the most interesting quotations concerning the dragon in China, selected from the enormous number of passages on this divine animal found in Chinese literature from the remotest ages down to modern times. In order to give the original conceptions we did not quote the numerous poems on the dragon, because the latter, although based upon those conceptions, enlarged them in their own poetical way. The Second Book treats of the dragon in Japan, considered in the light of the facts given by the Introduc tion and Book I. I avail myself of this opportunity to express my hearty thanks to Professor DE GIIOOT, whose kind assistance enabled me to largely extend the Chinese part of this paper. Not only was his very rich and interesting library at niy disposal, but he himself was an invaluable guide to me through the labyrinth of many a difficult Chinese passage. Moreover, from the very beginning his splendid works, especially the Lldiyious Syxti'in of China, formed the basis of my studies in Chinese and Japanese religion and folklore. I also tender my best thanks to Professor SPCYF.R, who with great kindness gave me most valuable information concerning the Nagas, and to Miss E. SCHMIDT, who kindly put her know ledge and time at my disposal in undertaking the weary labour of perusing the manuscript and correcting its language. Leiden. M. W. DC VlSSER. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. THE NAGA IN BUDDHISM, WITH REGARD TO HIS IDENTIFICATION WITH THE . § 1. lrili khiff § 2. tS7m /,7V/ § 3. Li U . § 4. CJieu U § 5. / U. . 35 :ut 30 40 41 CHAPTKLi II. DIVINATION VND GE 1- Lucky omens VIII § 3. § 4. omens .................. 45 A. righting dragons ............. 45 B. Dead dragons .............. 49 G. Dragons appearing at wrong times ........ 50 D. Dragons appearing in wrong places ........ 54 Dragon-horses ................. 56 Geotnancy .................. 59 CJ [AFTER III. IrEVEKVL IXKOUMVTION. § 4. g 10. S 11- g 12. g 13. g 15. g 15. g 16- g 17. § 18. Enormous light-giving mountain gods. "Vature of the dragons ...... "What dragons like and dislike . Shape of the dragons ...... and female dragons 62 63 67 70 71 72 76 82 83 S3 "Dragon-tail-road" and other words connected with the dragon. 85 Dragon-gate ................. 86 Dragon's dens ................. 87 Dragon herds ................. 87 Dragon's pearls ................ 88 Dragon's eggs ................. 88 Dragon's bones, skins, teeth, horns, brains, livers, placentae and foetus, used as medicines .......... 90 Dragon's blood, fat and saliva ........... 96 Different kinds of dragons. ............ Kiao lung (^ ff). .............. Rearing and taming dragons ............ Dragons ridden by s/I;N wi I:\TS. g ]. Symbols of Imperial dignity and fertilizing rain, represented on garments, honorary gates, coffins etc. ....... 99 § 2. Nine different kinds of dragons, used as ornaments .... 101 g 3. Ornaments used by Wu-ist priests and mediums ..... 102 The dragons and the ball ............. 103 CII1PTER V. CM'MKCJ KUN, TIIUNDI'll VXD S1O1MI. ^-g 1. The gods of thunder, clouds and rain ......... 109 § 2. Violent rains accompanied by heavy winds and thunderstorms. Ill § 3. Rain magic and prayers. ............. 113 g 4. Iiuddhiht rain ceremonies ............. 121 C'OXTEM>. IX CHAPTER VI. EMPEllOlt-' <_'O\XECTI".I> WITH nil VGOVS. Page H\vang Ti rode on a dragon ............ 122 Yao and Kao Tsu were sons of dragons ........ 123 Sliun was visited by a yellow dragon ......... 123 Yii drove in a carriage draw a by dragons, and was assisted by a yhig limy ................ 123 Ming Hwang's vessel was moved forward by a dragon . . . 124 Two yellow dragons threatened to upset Yii's vessel .... 124 Shi Hwang died on account of having killed a dragon . . . 124 CHAPTER VII. •% Tli VN'-rOKM VTION >. g 1. The dragon's transformations are unlimited ....... 126 g 2. Appearing as old men or beautiful women ....... 126 g 3. g 4. Appearing as fishes ............... 127 Appearing as snakes, dogs or rats .......... 129 g 5. A cow transformed into a dragon g 6. Appearing as objects..... 129 130 CHAPTER VIII. Till INIIIVV NU!\ I\ C'lllNV. g 1. Reborn as a dragon ............... 132 g 2. Ponds inhabited by Dragon-kings .......... 132 g 3. Temples of Dragon-kings ............. 133 g 4. Palaces of Dragon-kings. ............. 134 BOOK II. THE DRAGON IN J VPAN. CHAPTER I. TIIR OEIOMV1, JVPVXl>i; 1)K V(iON-(,OI)S OF KIVLltS, SLVS VXD MOPNTAIVS. § 1. Ohimi. ................... 135 g 2. YamatsHuii and ^[itst^}ta. ............. 136 g 3. Watatsumi .................. 137 X CON T I. NT*. Page § 4. Mhuchl, the rivergods .............. 137 ij 5. Olio-iriitatsunii, the sea-god ............. 130 § 6. Wani .................... 139 8 7. The jewels of flood and ebb ............ 142 t; S. Take-hca Tatsu no Vikoto, the dragon-god of a sac-roil pond in lligo province ............... 143 § 9. An Emperor's dragon-tail ............. 145 CHAPTER II. T1IC CHIXUSC PliVOOX AVD Till: DK VOOV-HOll-sn V- OMi:X< IN . § 1. Flying dragon as the horse of a ghost or a siett ..... 146 ij 2. Dragon-horses ................. 147 ij 3. Carriage of a ghost drawn through the air by eight dragons.. 150 § 4. A dragon appears as a good omen .......... 150 CHAPTER III. CVUMNO KVIN. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Shinto gods ...... Horses offered to Shinto gods Buddhism wins field. . . The Sacred Spring Park 152 150 158 159 168 170 171 172 174 175 176 177 177 S I- § 2. S 3. § 4- § 5- § 6. S 7- The "Dragon-hole" on Mount Murobu ........ Reborn as a rain-giving dragon........... Buddhist priests dominating the dragons. ....... Dragon-women in ponds ............. Stirring up the dragons by throwing iron or filth into their ponds. A dragon engraved on an incense pot believed to cause rain. Pine trees cause clouds to rise and rain to fall .... The eight Dragon-kings ............. A Buddhist dragon's suicide ............ Conclusions .................. CHAPTER IV. Tim INDIAN NVG\ IV ,1 \P VN. The Dragon-kings revere Buddha's Law. ....... 179 Dragons appear at the dedication of Buddhist temples . . . 180 Dragons living in ponds or lakes, mostly near Buddhist shrines. 181 Reborn as dragons ............... 184 Dragon-kings of the sea check the course of vessels in order to obtain special Buddhist treasures as offerings .... 187 The "jewel which grants all desires" (cintamani). .... 189 The eight Dragon-kings ............. 189 Sj 8. The Dragon-gods of the inner and outer seas ..... i; 9. Dragon-palaces ............... 5; 10. Dragons connected with Buddhist priests. ...... §11. Eight dragons ridden through the sky by a Buddhist deity v-tj 12. Curses wrought by dragons ........... ij 13. Kelics of dragons preserved in Buddhist temples .... ij 14. The " Dragon-ttower-meetiug" .......... XI Pa«e 190 191 193 194 194 195 196 VND CHAPTER V. irirVTlKM'l) Oil COVXTCTEI) WITH \NCIi:XI' J VP VNLSD DEI111>. t| 1. t; 2. {5 3. t; 4. 5; 5. § 6. § 7. tj 8. 197 199 201 202 202 202 203 204 Sagara the Dragon-king, the Yamato no orochi, Intoku Tenno and the Kusauagi sword. ............ The Thunder-god caught by Sukaru and identified with a Dragon-king ................. Watatsnmi no kami, the Sea-god, identified with a. Dragon-king. The dragon-hole in the Giou shrine. ......... The dragon-snake offered by the Sea-god to the Sada shrine . A dragon-snake as a tree-sprite on Koya san ...... The "Heaveuly Dragon's Well" at the Snwa shrine .... Kurikara Alyo-o, the dragon-shaped mountain-god ..... CHAPTER VI. TIIF DllVGOV-LAVTElJV. . Dengyo Daishi's image of Yakushi Nyorai ....... 205 Kobo Daishi's spirit. .............. 206 Jigen Daishi's spirit. .............. 207 "Dragon-lantern pine trees" ............ 207 Tide-stones connected with dragon-lanterns ....... 209 The Mountain-light and the Dragon-lantern of Gammokuzan in Etclm province. .............. 210 Kwaunon's dragon-lantern at Rynkoji. ........ 210 Tomyo-dako, Kumauo Gongcu at Nogami, Kwomyoji at Kama- kura and Zenkwoji at Nagauo ..........211 The light of Yotsuknra ............. 211 The lights of Qshijima, Ishidozan and Kurikara ..... 212 Ignes fatui in general. The dragon-lantern is the only one which arises from the sea and flies to the mountains . . 213 CHAPTER VII. TIIC CHIXKhU DKVUOXV EGGS IX JVP\.X. § 1. The dragon-fetus remains in the egg for three thousand years. 215 § 2. Dragons born from beautiful stones picked up in the mountains. 216 § 3. Thunderstoues ................. 219 2. 3- 4. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. XII C'OVITVl--. CHAPTER V11I. Till! TVl'Sl-MVKI (||^f), OK "mtWJOX's ROLL". § 1. Dragons which ascended to heaven .......... 22U § 2. Tatsuuiaki in Yedo ......... fcj U. Taisuniaki on the sea ............ S 4. Snakes rise as dragons up to the clouds ........ 224 CHAPTER IX. JVP\Nl/-b, CillVK^K AK1> 1NDI \.N DRUiOMS IV t!i:OOR\l»IIIC VI. TEMPI K A\D I'lUEriT » OIl>i. § 1. The Japanese dragon (tatsu) ........... 225 S; 2. The Chinese and Indian dragons (i-yTi or njif) ...... 227 A. Names of mountains ........... 007 B. Names of springs, waterfalls and rhers ..... . . 3^8 C. Names of islands, valleys and places ...... . ')^g D. \araes of Buddhist temples.. ........ . . 009 E. Niimeh of Buddhist priests ......... ivyj CHAPTER X. ........... OQ1 INTRODUCTION. THE NAGA IN BUDDHISM, WITH REGARD TO HIS IDENTIFICATION WITH THE CHINESE DRAGON. § 1. The Naga according to European scholars. In order to learn the Buddhist conceptions on the Naga's nature, and the reasons why the Chinese identified this serpent with their four-legged dragon, we have to consult the works of some authorities on Buddhism: KERN, HARDY, GKUNWEDEL and others. For the Naga, known in the Far East, is clad in a Buddhist garb, and the legends abont him which became popular in China and Japan were all inibned with Buddhism. KERN, in his History of Indian Buddhism l, states that the Nagas occupy the eighth rank in the system of the world, after the Buddhas, Pratyekabuddhas, Arhats, Devas, Brahmas, Gandharvas and Garudas, and before the Yakshas, Kutnbhanclas (goblins), Asuras (demons), Raksasas (giants), Pretas (ghosts, spectres) and the inhabitants of hell. "They are water spirits, represented as a rule in human shapes, ' with a crown of serpents on their heads". And in his 3fain«d of Indian Buddhism 2 we read that the}' are "snake-like beings, resembling clouds". As to the enumeration of the beings, this is different in some other texts, as we learn from a note in the same Manual3. In the initial phrase of all the Avadanas Buddha is said to be worshipped by men, Devas, Nagas, Yakshas, Asuias, Garudas, Kinnaras and Mahoragas 4. These are, however, not exactly the "Eight classes" often mentioned in Chi nese and Japanese Buddhist works. These are Devas, Nagas, Yakshas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinuaras and Mahoragas 5. 1 Hisloire du Bouddhisme danv I'lnde, Annales du Musee Guimet, Bibl. d'etudes, X et XI, Vol. I, p. 310 (295). 2 P. 59 seq. 3 P. CO, note 1. 4 LEON FEER, Auadaiia-fatatM, Annales du Musee Guimet XVIII, p. 2. 5 The phrase "Devas, Nagas and (the remaining of the) eight classes" ( ^^ -pg y^. np) is veiy often found in the Chinese sutras. EUKINS (Chinese Buddhism, p. 217) says: "Beings inferior to the DevasJJ*e*^\UjA/feoUeCTkgly the "Eight classes". This is a mistake, for, as EITEL (Sansct-j^^. OMJ. s. ffi&flfci^ip. 103) rightly explains, the Verh. Ron. Akad. v. \Vetcn3ch. (A/C Letterif.WN* *> 5tSilI,'\f0' 2. 1 2 HARDY'S Manual of Buddhism ' gives the following details con cerning the Nagas. "The Nagas reside in the loka (world) under the Trikuta rocks that support Mem, and in the waters of the world of men. They have the shape of the spectacle-snake, with the extended hood (coluber naga); but many actions are attri buted to them that can only be done by one possessing the human form. They are derrii-gods, and have many enjoyments; and they are usually represented as being favourable to Buddha and his adherents; but when their wrath is roused, their opposition is of a formidable character". With regard to Mount Meru HAHUY says: "The summit is the abode of Sekra (Qakra), the regent or chief of the dewaloka called Tawutisa (Trayastrirngat); and around it are four mansions, 5000 yojauas in size, inhabited by na(/^ftr^Hf^lftllr^i^j-GreatJap-ed-ofLeiden'nr 143, Ch. V, p. 196; CHAVANXES, Vol. I, Ch. V, p. 181, nr 48; Trip. VI, 5, p. 71. 2 Hi HP n? ^»Si $§ US' in •Great jap- ed- °f Leiden'nr 143> °h-vi> p- 27a; CnWANMES, Vol. I, Ch. VI, p. 234, nr 70; Trip. VI, 5, p. 78. 3 Wmi£V&M. 4 CHAVANNES, I.I., Vol. I, nr 94, pp. 358 sqq. (Trip. XIX, 7, p. 19; great Jap. ed. of Leiden, nr 1359, Ch. I, pp. 6 sq.). Cf. a similar tale, Vol. II, nr 207, p. 87 (Trip. XIX, 7, p. 10). 13 Another time the Buddha's disciples are compared to a great Naga who liked to give rain to the earth, but, fearing that the latter might not be able to bear the weight of the water, decided to make the rain fall into the sea'. In the Tsah f^i-i/ii khuj2, a work from the Korean Tripitaka, not to be found in NANJO'S Catalogue (for nr 1368, which bears tho same title, ia a different work) we find the following Naga tales. A Naga ascended to the sky and caused abundant rains to fall: for the devas they brought the seven precious things, for mankind fertilizing water, and for the hungry demons a great fire which burned the whole of their bodies a. Another Naga who by means of a single drop of water could give rain to one or two or three kingdoms, nay to the whole JambudvTpa, placed it in the great sea that it might not dry xip4. An exorcist of Nilgas went with his pitcher full of water to the pond of such a being and by his magic formulae surrounded the Naga with fire. As the water of the pitcher was the only refuge the serpent could find, it changed into a very small animal and entered the pitcher J. Here we see the Nagas not only as rain gods, but also as beings wholly dependent on the presence of water and much afraid of fire, just like the dragons in many Chinese and Japanese legends. With regard to the precious pearls in the possession of the Nagas as gods of the waters, we may mention a tale to be found in the J/o ho sentj eld lilh ° or "Discipline of the Maha- samghikas" (NANJO, nr 1119), translated in 416 by BUDDHABITADRV and FAH-HIEN ''. There we read about a Naga who wore a necklace of pearls, which he liked so much that he preferred it to his friendship towards a hermit. The latter, daily tortured by the Naga's coils, wound around his body, succeeded in getting rid 1 L.I., Vol. I, nr 138, p. 410 (Trip. XIX, 7, p. 24). 2 $$• £* tfjfc J$g, cf. CLIAVANNES, 1.1., Vol. II, p. 1, note 1. Goth this work and the Chuwj kiny cliwen Isah pci-yii king, Jffc jjj£. -j^t |l|| %jjj- t^ J^ (NANJO, nr 13GG) are said to be compiled by the bhiksu TAO Lioir, ]jg~ Jji , but are probably two different editions of his work; KUMARAJIVA seems to have translated TAO Liou's work in 401 A. D. 3 CHAV\NNES, 1.1., Vol. II, nr 107, p. 23 (Tiip. XIX, 7, p. 3). 4 L.I., Vol. II, nr 193, p. 63 (Trip. XIX, 7, p. 8). 5 L.I., Vol. II, nr 179, p. 42 (Trip. XIX, 7, p. 5). 6 H^ pj i$ Jflft •£&' Mahasamghika \inaya. 7 NANJO, Calal, App. II, nrs 42 and 45. 15 of him only by asking him for the precious necklace '. Also the Chinese dragons were said to have pearls at their throats. The Awuluna-mtaka, a hundred legends translated from the Sanskrit by LEON FEEII 2 contain a few passages concerning the Nagas. The most important oue is the 91th legend3, where Suparni, the king of birds, is said to have seized from the ocean a little Naga, which after having been devoured was reborn as Subhiiti and by following the Buddha's teachings reached Arhatship. He remembered to have had five hundred rebirths among the Nagas on account of a long row of wicked thoughts in previous existences. Now he used his supernatural power to convert both Nagas and Garudas by protecting the former against five hundred Garudas and the latter against a gigantic Naga, which he caused to appear. In this way the law of love was taught them, and they followed his teachings. In another legend 4 a Brahman is said to have been reborn as a Naga because he had broken his fast; seven times a day a rain of burning sand came down upon him till he succeeded in keeping a special fast. Then, after having died with abstinence of food, he was reborn in the Trayastrimcat heaven. In a third passage 5 Viriipaksha, one of the four guardians of the world, who reigns on the West side of Mount Meru, is said to be surrounded by Nagas (his subjects, who live in the West). Finally, the Nagas are mentioned among the divine beings who came to worship the Buddha: Qakra, the king of the gods, Vicvakarma and the four great kings surrounded by Devas, Nagas, Yakshas, Gandharvas and Kumbhaiidas °; another time they are enumerated as follows: Devas, Nagas, Yakshas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras and Mahoragas 7. In ACVAGHOS.V'S StitralamMra *, translated into French from KUMARAJIVA'S Chinese version by EDOUARD HUBER, the Nagas are often mentioned. "When the great Naga causes the rain to fall, the ocean alone can receive the latter; in the same way the 1 CIIA.VANNES, 1.1., Vol. II, nr 355, p. 319 (Trip. XV, 8, p. 44). 2 Annales du Musec Guimel, Tome XVIII (1891). 3 Pp. 306 sq. 4 Nr 59, pp. 227 sqq. 5 Nr 19, p. S3. 6 Nr 12, pp. 57 sq. 7 Nr 17, p. 77. 8 Kumarajlva translated this collection of tales about A.D. 410; the original Sanskrit text is lost, except some fragments, which, according to HUBER, show that Kumurajiva not always understood the text. UDDER'S translation is based upon the TOKYO edition of the Tripitaka (XIX, 4). It is nr 1182 of N^NJO'S Catalogue, entitled . —* A^ " ^EC pfffl ' litel'a"y translated: Malialamkara sutra castra. Saiiigha, (alone) can receive the great rain of the Law" '. When a merchant, Kotlkania by name, visited a town of pretas, these hungry demons uttered a long complaint, which contains the following verse : "When on the mountains and valleys the Heavenly Dragons (the Nagas) cause the sweet dew to descend, this changes into bubbling fire and spouts upon our bodies" ''. "Elapatra the Nagaraja, having violated the commandments by maltreating the leaves of a tree, after death fell among the Nagas, and none of the Buddhas has predicted the time when he shall be able to leave them" 3. "The tears (of those who, on hearing the Law of the twelve Nidanas, are moved by pity and weep with compassion) can entirely destroy the Naga Vasuki who exhales a violent poison" 4. "The Raksasas and the Picacas, the evil Nagas and even the robbers dare not oppose the words of the Buddha" J. An evil Naga guarded a big tree which stood in a large pond, and killed all those who took a branch or a leaf from it. When the bhiksus came to hew clown the tree in order to build a stupa, the people and a brahman warned them not to do so on account of the danger, but the bhiksus answered: "With regard to the poisonous Naga, you, brahman, glorify yourself. But we • rely upon the Naga of men (the Buddha), and, placing our trust in Him, glorify ourselves ..... Among all the poisonous Nagas, for this Naga king you show yourself full of respectful thoughts. The Buddha is sweet and calm, He is the King of all beings, it is Him whom we revere, the Perfect one, the Bhagavat. Who would be able to subdue the poisonous Naga, if not the Buddha's disciples?" Then they cut clown the tree, and, to the astonish ment of the brahman, no clouds, no thunder, 110 miraculous signs bore witness to the Naga's wrath, as had formerly been the case even when one leaf of his tree was taken by a human hand °. The brahman, after having uttered his amazement and anger, 1 Ch. I, nr 3, p. 30; great Jap. Tripilaka of Leiden, nr 1182, Oh. I, p. 19: ' 2 Ch. IV, nr 10, p. 100; great Jap. Trip, of Leiden, nr 1182, Ch. IV, p. 3a. 3 Ch. Ill, nr II, p. 04; great Jap. Trip, of Leiden, Ch. HI, p. 2 5 (1908); p. 2. 2 L.I., p. 21. 3 L.I., p. 3. Caiva tales, as was to be expected from the supposed first narra tor being no other than the Supreme God Civa himself" '. Next to legends of the Buddhists even mythological narrations from the Vedic age are to be found in this work, smaller collections being incorporated into it2. Among the great number of interesting legends, contained in the Kathasaritxayira, translated by TAWNEY (1880—1884), there are several in which the Nagas play a more or less important part. The first thing which strikes us is the total absence of passages devoted to their capacity of giring rain. Combining this with the same observation made above with regard to the jatakas of COVVKLL'S edition, we feel inclined to believe that this part of the Nagas' nature has been particularly developed by the Northern Buddhists. The original conceptions regarding these semidivine serpents, living in the water or under the earth, seem to have attributed to them the power of raising cloud* and thunder, and of appearing as clouds themselves, but not as rain giving beings. It is, of course, a very obvious conclusion that cloud gods pro duce rain, but it seems that this idea, which made them the benefactors of mankind, first rose in the minds of the adherents of the Mahayana school. According to the original ideas, on the contrary, they seem to have only given vent to their anger in terrifying mankind by means of dense clouds, thunder and earth quakes. Highly interesting in this respect is the following story, to be found in the KathasariUmjara 3. In the Vindhya forest in the northern quarter there was a solitary agoka tree, and under it, in a lake, stood the great palace of a mighty Naga king, Paravataksha by name, who obtained a matchless sword from the war of the gods and the Asuras. In order to get this sword an ascetic, assisted by a prince and his followers, threw enchanted mustard-seed upon the water, thus clearing it from the dust which concealed it, and began to offer an oblation with snake-subduing spells. "And he conquered by the power of his spells the impediments, such as earthquakes, clouds, and so on. Then there came out from that aQoka tree a heavenly nymph, as it were, murmuring spells with the tinkling of her jewelled ornaments, and approaching the ascetic she pierced his soul with a sidelong glance of love. And then the ascetic lost his self-command and forgot his spells; and the shapely fail- one, embracing him, flung from his hand the vessel of oblation. 1 Ibidem. 2 Ibidem. 3 Ch. LXX, Vol. II, p. 149 sq. Verb. Kon. Akad. v. \\etenscli. (Afd. Letterk.) N. R. Dl XIII, N°. 2. 18 19 And then the snake Paravataksha had gained his opportunity, and he came out from that palace like the dense cloud of the day of doom. Then the heavenly nymph vanished, and the ascetic beholding the snake terrible with flaming eyes, roaring horribly !, died of a broken heart. When he was destroyed, the snake lay aside his awful form, and cursed Mrigankadatta (the prince) and his followers, for helping the ascetic, in the following words: 'Since you did what was quite unnecessary after all corning here with this man, you shall for a certain time be separated from one another'. Then the snake disappeared, and all of them at the same time had their eyes dimmed with darkness, and were deprived of the power of hearing sounds. And they immediately went in different directions, separated from one another by the power of the curse, though they kept looking for one another and calling to one another". Nagas injuring the crops are mentioned in another passage, where Svayamprabha, queen of the Asuras residing in Patala land, "makes herself surety (to king Merudhvaja) that the Nagas shall not injure the crops" 2. The seven Patalas are the nether world 3, the "home of the serpent race below the earth" 4, but also the Asuras, "who escaped from the slaughter in the great fight long ago between the gods and asuras", had fled to Patala5 and lived there. As to the Nagas having their abode in Patala land, we may refer to the following passages of the KatMsarit- suyara. "On the extreme shore he set up a pillar of victory, looking like the king of the serpents emerging from the world below to crave immunity for Patala" °. "Do you not remember how he went to Patala and there married the daughter of a Naga, whose name was Surupa 1"7 When Kadru and Vinata, two wives of Kacyapa, had a dispute as to the colour of the Sun's horses, they made an agreement that the one that was wrong should become a slave to the other. Kadru, the mother of the snakes, induced her sons to defile the horses of the Sun by spitting venom over them; thus they looked black instead of white, and Vinata, the mother of Garuda, king of birds, was conquered by this trick and made Kadru's slave. When Garuda came to release her, the snakes asked the nectar from the sea of milk, which the gods had begun to churn, as a substitute, 1 This is probably thunder and lightning. 2 Ch. CXIX, Vol. II, p. 551. 3 Vol. II, p. 549, note \. 4 Vol. I, p. 185, note 3. 5 Ch. CXVIII, Vol. II, p. 539 G Ch. XIX, Vol. I, p. 150. 7 Ch. CXXIII, Vol. II, p. 597. and Garuda went to the sea of milk and displayed his great power in order to obtain the nectar. "Then the god Vishnu, pleased with his might, deigned to say to him: 'I am pleased with you, choose a boon1. Then Garuda, angry because his mother was made a slave, asked a boon from Vishnu — 'Alay the snakes become my food' ". Vishnu consented, and Garuda, after having obtained the nectar, promised Indra to enable him to take it away before the snakes should have consumed it. He put the nectar on a bed of Kuca grass and invited the snakes to take it there after having released his mother. They did so, and Garuda departed with Vinata, but when the snakes were about to take the nectar, Indra swooped down and carried off the vessel. "Then the snakes in despair licked that bed of Darbha grass, thinking that there might be a drop of spilt nectar on it," but the effect was that their tongues were split, and they became double-tongued for nothing. What but ridicule can ever be the portion of the over-greedy? Then the snakes did not obtain the nectar of immortality, and their enemy Garuda, on the strength of Vishnu's boon, began to swoop down and devour them. And this he did again and again. And while he was thus attacking them, the snakes in Patala were dead with fear, the females miscarried, and the whole serpent race was well-nigh destroyed. And Vasuki the king of the snakes, seeing him there every day, considered that the serpent world was ruined at one blow: then, after reflecting, he preferred a petition to that Garuda of irresistible might, and made this agreement with him — 'I will send you every day one snake to eat, 0 king of birds, on the hill that rises out of the sand of the sea. But yon must not act- so foolishly as to enter Patala, for by the destruction of the serpent world your own object will be baffled'. When Vasuki said this to him, Garurla consented, and began to eat every day in this place one snake sent by him: and in this way innumerable serpents have met their death here". Thus spoke a snake, whose turn it was to be devoured by Garuda, to Jmiutavahana, "the compassionate incarnation of a Bodhisattva" ', son of Jlmutaketu, the king of the Vidyadharas on Mount Himavat. And Jmiuta vahana, "that treasure-house of compassion, considered that he had gained an opportunity of offering himself up to save the snake's life. He ascended the stone of execution and was carried off by Garuda who began to devour him on the peak of the mountain". At that moment a rain of flowers fell from Heaven, Vol. I, p. 174. 20 and Garuda stopped eating, but was requested by Jmiiitavahana himself to go on. Then the snake on whose behalf he sacrificed his life, arrived and cried from far; "Stop, stop, Garuda, he is not a snake, I am the suake meant for you". Garuda was much grieved and was about to enter the fire to purify himself from guilt, but following Jimiitavahaua'a advice determined never again to eat snakes, and to make revive those which he had killed. The goddess Gaurl by raining nectar on Jirniitavahana made him safe and sound, and Garuda brought the nectar of immortality from heaven and sprinkled it along the whole shore of the sea. "That made all the suakes there (whose bones were lying there) rise up alive, and then that forest, crowded with the numerous tribe of suakes, appeared like Patnla come to behold Jlmfltavahana, having lost its previous dread of Garuda" '. Patala-laud, the seven uuder-worlds, one of which was called Rasatala2 (sometimes equivalent to Patala)3, was inhabited by Nagas, Asuras, Daityas and Danavas (two classes of demons opposed to the gods and identified with the Asuras). There were temples of the gods (Qiva4, Durga s, the Fire-god °), worshipped by the demons. As to its entrances, these are described as moun tain caverns7 or "openings in the water"8; or wonderful flagstaffs rising out of the sea with banners on them showed the way thither °. Sometimes human kings were allowed to visit this Fairy land. Chandraprabha e.'g., after having offered to Qiva and Rudra, with his queen and his ministers, with Siddharta at their head, entered an opening in the water pointed out by Maya, and after travelling a long distance, arrived there 10. And king Chan- dasinha with Sattvaclla plunged into the sea and following the sinking flagstaff reached a splendid city ". Also king Yacahketu, after diving into the sea, suddenly beheld a magnificent city, with palaces of precious stones and gardens and tanks and wishiug- trees that granted every desire, and beautiful maidens l2. This agrees with the description of the Naga palaces which we found in the Jatakas. A temple of Vasuki, the king of the snakes, is mentioned in the \ Ch. XXII, Vol. I, pp. 182 sqq.; cf. Cli. XC, Vol. II, pp. 312 sqq. 2 Vol. I, p. 417; II, 544. 3 II, 185, note 4. 4 II, 198, in the form of Ilatakegvara. We read on p. 109 of the Sanrj hyaiirj Kamahayanikatt, an interesting old-Javanese text translated by J. KATS, that Icvara, Biahrna and Vishnu by order of Vairocana filled heaven with gods, the earth with men, and the netherworld (Patala) with Nagas. 5 II, 207. 0 II, 547. 7 I, 440. "There are on this earth many openings leading to the lower regions", II, 197. 8 I, 417. 9 II, 269. 10 I, 417. 11 II, 269. ' 12 II, 289, cf. II, 544. There was also a Ganges in the Netherworld; II, 198. 21 game work '. There was a festive procession in his honour, and oreat crowds worshipped him. His idol stood in the shrine, which ^•a^ full of long wreaths of flowers like serpents, "and which therefore resembled the abyss of Patala". To the South of the temple there was a large lake sacred to Vasuki, "studded with red lotusses, resembling the concentrated gleams of the brilliance of the jewels on snakes' crests; and encircled with blue lotusses, which seemed like clouds of smoke from the fire of snake poison; overhung with trees, that seemed to be worshipping with their flowers blown down by the wind". Other passages relate about Nagas assuming human shapes3, either to escape Ganida (who in this work is alwaj's mentioned us one being), or to embrace a Nagi. In the former case Garnda himself persecuted the Naga in human form, in the latter the suake-god, discovering that he was deceived by his wife during his sleep, "discharged fire from his mouth, and reduced them both (her lover and herself) to ashes". § 3. The Naga a,a a giver of rain, We have seen above that the Naga's capacity of raising clouds and thunder when his anger was aroused was cleverly converted by the Mahayana school into the highly beneficient power of giving rain to the thirsty earth. In this way these fearful ser pents by the influence of Buddha's Law had become blessers of mankind. It is clear that in this garb they were readily identi fied with the Chinese dragons, -which were also blessing, rain giving gods of the water. The four classes into which the Mahayanists divided the Nagas were: 1. Heavenly Nugas (^ ]||), who guard the Heavenly Palace and carry it so that it does not fall. 2. Divine Nagas (fjljj j||), who benefit mankind by causing the clouds to rise and the rain to falL 3. Earthly Xagas (itfa f|)> wno drain off rivers (remove the obstructions) and open sluices (outlets). 1 Ch. LXXIV, Vol. II, p. 225. Viisuki is also mentioned Vol. I, p. 32, where Kirtisena, his brother's son, is said to have married Crutfirtha, the daughter of a Brahman. His daughter Ratnaprabha is mentioned Vol. I, p. 544. He cursed a Naga king who had fled from battle, Vol. II, p. 171. The serpent Vas>uki served as a rope with which to whirl round mount Mandara, when the sea was churned and produced Qii or Lakshmi, Vol. II, p. 568, note 1. 2 Ch. LXI, Vol. II, p. 54; Ch. LXIV, Vol. II, p. 98. 23 guarding the trea > Cakravarti-rajas) 4. JWayaa who are ly'my hidden suries of the "Kings of the Wheel'' and blessing mankind '. The Taiheiki2, a Japanese work, relates an Indian tale in which a Dragon (i. e. Naga) king is said to have caused rain. A nien (f[{j, the Chinese equivalent for a wonder-working ascetic), annoyed by this, caught all big and small dragons of the inner and outer seas, and shut them up in a rock. Owing to their absence not a drop of rain fell for a long time, and the crops were spoiled by the heavy drought. Then the king, moved with compassion for his people, asked his advisers how this ascetic's power could be broken and the dragons let loose. The answer was, that a beautiful woman could seduce him and thus put a stop to his magic capacity. So the King despatched the greatest beauty of his harem to the cottage of the ascetic, who immediately fell in love with her and, losing his supernatural power, became an common man and died. The dragons, no longer under his influence, flew away to the sky, and caused the winds to blow and the rain to fall. A passage from JIN-CHCAU'S Buddhist Kosmoa 3, dealing with the Naga kings, and translated by BEAL in his Catena of Buddldtt scripture* from the Cldne.te*, mentions four sutras, one of which, the ]\fahamegha sUtra^ shall be treated below in § 4. As to the Lau-Tdn^) sutra, the title of which is not explained by BEAL, so that we know neither the Chinese characters nor the Sanscrit equivalent, this sutra is said there to contain the following passage: "To the North of Mount Sumeru, under the waters of the Great- Sea, is the Palace of Sagara Nagaraja, in length and breadth -i -~j Cf. the Japanese Buddhist dictionary Bukkyo iroha jilen, 4$?, sgy ^f A ja, written in 1901 (sec. ed. 1904) by MIURA KENSUKE, ^ }|fj fft J$f. Vo1- ). 56 s. v. -|j|[; the Chinese work Tfien tfioh kit lei shu, «y|* Tftfe S *g ||fe , II, written in the Ming dynasty by CH'EN JEN-SIH, JJ! t . The same Chinese work enumerates as follows the three sorrows (j^fj) of the Indian dragons: 1. Hot winds and hot sand, which burn their skin, flesh and bones. 2. Sudden violent winds, which blow away the palaces of the diagons and make them lose their treasures, clothes, etc., so that they can no longer hide their shapes. 3. Golden-winged bird-kings (Garuda kings) who enter the dragons' palaces and devour their children. 2 -^ 2p jljl ) written about 1382, Ch. XXXVII, p. 6. 3 Fah-kai-on-lih-to ( £fc J1^, Fah-kai is Dharmadhalu). 4 P. 48. SOOOO yojanas; ^ ig surrounded by precious walls, a beautiful railing, garden and parks, adorned with every species of decora tion". This Sagara, one of the eight Great Naga kings mentioned above, apparently obtained the principal rank among the rain bestowing Nagas of the sea, worshipped by the Northern Buddhists. From the Saddlmrma, smrtyiiptusilir'ma xutm', which BEAL, without giving the Chinese title, wrongly calls Saddharma Prakasa sasana utitrn, but which I found in NANJO'S Catalogue sub nr 6^9, BEAL quotes the following passage: "Down in the depths of the Great Sea 1000 yojauas is a city named Hi-loh, its length and breadth 3000 yojaiias; it is occupied by Nngarajas. There are two sorts of Nagariijas: 1. Those who practise the Law of Buddha; 2. Those who do not do so. The first protect the world; the second are opposed to it. Where the good Nagas dwell it never rains hot sand, but the wicked Nagas are subject to this plague, and their palaces and followers are all burned up. Whenever men obey the Law, and cherish their parents, and support and feed the Shamans, then the good Nagarajas are able to acquire increased power, so that they can cause a small fertilizing rain to fall, by which the five sorts of grain are perfected in colour, scent, and taste.... If, on the contrary, men are disobedient to the Law, do not reverence their parents, do not cherish the Brahmans and Shamans, then the power of the wicked dragons increases, and just the opposite effects follow; every possible calamity happens to the fruits of the earth and to the lives of men". Finally, the Buddliavataiiisakn mahavaipulya sutra3 contains a large number of interesting passages with regard to the Nagas as gods of clouds and rain. BEAL translates as follows: "In the midst of the Palace of the Naga-raja Sayara there are four pre cious gems, from which are produced all the gems of the Ocean. Here also is the Palace of Jambuketu, the Naga-raja's eldest son; also the palace of Vasuki Naga-raja, and eighty myriads of other Dragons, each having his separate palace". "There are five sorts of Dragons: 1. Serpent-dragons; 2. Lizard- dragons; 3. Fish-dragons; 4. Elephant-dragons; Toad-dragons". IE 679)- 2 NANJO, nrs 87 and 88: "^-* Hb" ljjj| 4$l S5t jjjz $g , litt. Mahamipulya Tiud- dhaoalamsaka sutra ; nr 87 is translated by BUDDHABIIADUA ( ^ ^ , who worked A. D. 398 — 421, cf. N\NJO, Appendix II, nr 42, p. 399) and others; nr 88 is a later and fuller translation by QIKSHANA.NDA, A. D. 095— 099. 24 "fiat/am Naga-raja, assuming the appearance of Maheshvara, exerting his great strength, mightily assists all sentient creatures. His influence extends from the four continents up to the Para- uirmita VaQavartin Heaven. He spreads out the clouds diversified with every colour, excites the varied brightness of the lightning, causes the changing peals of thunder, raises propitious breezes, distils fertilizing sltowera. But though this Naga-raja is well affected towards men, the good principles which prevail in the world are the real source of propitious rain falling. Again it is said that A)iat'• °n p- ^ °f nr iss we find the NiTga-king Kumbhlia (Crocodile) (^ flfa JJ£ ^j| ^£ ), i.e., as BE*.L (Galena, p. 423) rightly remarks, the well-known god Kompira of Japan. When at the Restau- ration the Shintoists reclaimed all their temples from the Buddhists, they wrongly declaied Kompira to be an obscure Shinto deity, called Kotohira, and thus took possession of all the shrines of this Naga-king, the protector of sailors and of those -who travel on sea. 2 P. 11 sq. 3 clouds" », "Great cloud wheel" 2 etc. "By the utterance of these names of Tathagatas, 0 snake-king, all woes of all snakes are set at rest, and [though] fraught with ills they create here in Jambudvlpa showers in season and for a season, and make all grass, shrubs, herbs, forest-trees, and corn to grow". At the request of the Naga king the Buddha utters a Dharam called ]\Iahakarmiodbhava, "which causes rain in time of drought and checks excessive rain", and invokes the Nagas: "0 miglity snakes, bring rain here by the appointment of the truth of all Devas, hail! By the appointment of the truth of Brahma, rain here in 'Jambudvlpa, hail!" Then follow prescriptions for the Great Cloud-circle (or iclied) rite. "He who desires a mighty rain must perform this rite in an open space, overspread by a blue canopy, shaded by a blue ban ner, on a clear spot of earth; (being) a prophet of the Law, seated on a blue seat, fasting according to the ashtanga, with A\ ell-washed limbs, clad in pure raiment, anointed with fragrant odour, wearing the three white stripes, he must recite it for a day and night continuously facing the east; he must place four full vessels, filled with pure blue water, after prayers to the Tathagatas also, according to his power, an oblation, and flowers and odours; 'then the prophet of the Law, after having painted towards the four quarters with liquid cow-dung on a reed, iu the eastern quarter three hastas high must depict the snake-king called Tricvrshaka (Three-crested), with cow-dung: in the southern quarter him called Paucacirshaka (Five-crested) five hastas high; in the western, seven hastas high, SaptacTrshaka (Seven-crested); in the northern, NavacTrshaka (Nine-crested), nine hastas high..... Afterwards, at a season of drought, he shall recite this chapter, 'The Great-cloud-circle', for one day or for two, until it needs shall rain seven nights". Then by numerous invocations the snake kings are summoned. On p. 309 we read that this "Whirlwind'1 chapter, also called "The Heart of all Serpents" must be recited by the prophet of the Law, after three snake kings with their retinues having been painted with cow-dung for thrice seven days uninterruptedly: a triple-crested one in the East, a seven-crested one in the West, yV :§^ fpiffl 5?H ^R • ^' ^'le Dame °f tne sutra itself: "Great Cloud wheel sutra for asking rain", translated by NANJO into, "Sutra on asking rain of the Great Cloudwheel". 28 and a nine-crested one in the North. "A blue canopy and blue dress, blue banner (are to be used) and all the offering is to be made blue". 'The cloud-mouarchs too must be depicted, emitting a shower, and rubbing against one another; at the end masses of rain-birds and lightning are to be painted", and offerings of parched rice, fish, flesh and honey-food without curds must be made. After all these preparatory measures the prophet of the Law, pure and clad in pure raiment, must recite this "Whirlwind" chapter, "the Heart of Snakes". BKAL ' gives a short abstract of this siltra (nr 188), as he found it in the Chinese Tripitaka. Of the great Naga kings enumerated hi the beginning the third one is Smjara a, the principal sea god of Chinese Buddhists, who often called him simply "The Sea- dragon-kiug". By this name he is also indicated in the titles of the two sutras nrs 456 and 457 of NANJO'S Catalogue 3. The fourth Naga king, Anavatapta 4, was well-known in Japan, as we will see below 5. To him nrx 437 of NANJO'S Catalogue is devoted (translated A. D. 308) °. In the fifth place the Naga king Manasvin 1 is mentioned. Then follows Varuna ", the Naga king, different from the deity of this name, called in China the Deva of the Water9, which name reminds us of the famous Suttem/ii 10 of Tokyo. Professor SPETER. had the kindness to point out to me that in the J\laJiai'astu ", where the Buddha blesses Bhallika and Trapusa, among the protectors of the West Virupaksha, the Nagas and Varuna are mentioned. As to Virupaksha, one of the four guar dians of the world, he is the sovereign of all the Nagas. Varuna, the Brahmanic god of heaven, is at the name time the regent \ A catena of Buddhist scriptures from the Chinese (1871), p. 419 sqq. 2 The first and second are Nanda and Upananda. Sagara is written '&. •yjft %tt , cf. EITEL, Sanskrit-Chinese dictionary, s. v. (there wrongly ^^ instead of |j£). 3 Nr 4-50: /r4fe a^ '/Q $^ ^ /^> ''Buddhabhashita Sagara Nilgai aja 'JS. yfe S g qp |{£ £fc £ H ^ , "Sutra on the Seal of the Law, spoken by Duddlia for the sake of the Naga-king Silgara". 4 - 5 Book II, Ch. Ill, § 4. 6 Anavatapta nagaiiija pariprkklui sutra. The Chinese title is quite different. ' I$J SR Slf • Cf. EITEL, 1.1. s.v. Munasa, where Manasvin is wrongly said to be the tutelary deity of lake Miinasarovara (in Tibet identified with lake Anavatapta, cf. KAWAOUCHI, Three years in Tibet, Ch. XXVI, pp. 139 sqq.). 8 ^||#R. 9 iC^. 10 fcjt'g. 11 III, 308, 13. 29 of the sea, and, as one of the eight Lokapalas, guardian of the West'. It is remarkable that there were apparently two beings of the same name, both deities of the water and of the West, Varuna the deva and Varuna the Naga king. ' After Takshaka2, Dhrtarashtra 3 and Vasuki4, of whom the first, and the third both belong to the eight great Naga kings of Northern Buddhism '', MucUinda °, also called MahumuciUnda, who, as we have seen above, protected Qakyamuni during the seven days of meditation, and Elci[jatra', who consulted the Buddha about rebirth in a higher sphere, are enumerated, followed by 176 others. The same Naga kings, except Mucilinda and Elapatra, are mentioned in the so-called Anumantraita, an invocation of the Nagas found in the Bower MS. from Alingai, about which R. MORRIS" writes the following: "As regards to the contents of the MS., fol. 3 apparently contains a charm which is intended to force the Nagas or snake-deities to send rain. The mutilated line 1 enumerates, it would seem, various plants which are to be used as ingredients for an oblation. Line 2 gives the Mantra for the oblation..... The end of line 2 and the following lines to the end of the page contain the so-called Anumantrana, a further invocation of the snake-deities, intended to propitiate them by a declaration of the worshipper's friendly relations with various individual Nagas. This snake-charm, which appears to be Buddhistic, was probably composed in Southern India. For it mentions 'the district on the banks of the Gola', i. e. the Godavarl..... The language of this piece is the incorrect Sanskrit, mixed with Prakrit forms, which is common in the Buddhist works of the early cen turies of our era, as well as in the Buddhist and Jaina inscrip tions of the same period". MORRIS compares the list of names found in the Anumantrana, 1 Cf. EITEL, 1.1., s.v. 2 fS I UA ^ •{*£; (Dhrtaiostra). ' ca"s '"'" Ditara/isha, but MORRIS writes Dhritarashlra 5 See above p. 4, cf. pp. 20, 21, 23. 6 a filtl^- 7 # M $t M (Efttpatna). 8 Journal of the Psli Text Society, 1891 — 3, pp. 63 seqq., Notes and queries by tha Rev. R. MORRIS, nr 44. Cf. the Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes, Vol. V, nr 2. each time preceded by the words "I keep friendship with", with those mentioned in the Great Cloud-wheel Rain-asking sutra in BE\L'S Catena, those found in the Smldharma Paiidarlka ttutra and those of Southern Buddhism. Nanda and Upanancla, Anava- tapta, Takshaka, Dhrtarashtra and Virupaksha are mentioned in all these lists, Sagara (wrongly called Samharaka in the Mingai MS.) in the three former, as well as Vasuki, while Varuria and Manasvin are not found in the Lotus and in Southern Buddhism. Further, the MS. gives several other names, as NaTravana, Ivvshna, Gautamaka, Maiii, Dandapada etc. Dhitarashtra and Virupaksha are the regents of the East and the West, and also Nilga kings; as to NaTravana, this is, according to MORRIS, perhaps Vaicravana, the regent of the North. Kislma and Gautamaka are mentioned in the Divyavadana as two Naga kings. Prof. DE GROOT ' gives a very interesting description of the whole rain ceremony, as it is performed in Chinese Buddhist monasteries in times of drought, by order of the authorities or of influential laymen. An altar is erected, mostly in the court-yard before the great temple of the Triratna, but sometimes at the foot of the mountain on which the monastery is situated; there a Kwan-yin temple is often appointed for these ceremonies and for the prayers for rain, sent up by the mandarins and the people. Once or twice DE GROOT saw a shrine dedicated to Sagara Nagaraja, the special sea-god of the Chinese Buddhists; it was opened only in time of drought. The altar corresponds with the prescriptions of the sutra, mentioned above2. On the gates of the four sides dragons are painted, two on each, with their heads turned to the inside. The cow dung of the Hindus is replaced in China by a yellow reddish clay, which is used for adorning the platform inside the enclosure. The estrade upon this platform is covered with blue silk, as well as the tables for the sutras, utensils, offerings, and the chairs of the performing monks, of whom the leader looks to the East, the others to the North and South. According to DE GROOT, the colour blue is chosen in China because this is the colour of the East, from where the rain must come; this quarter is represented by the Azure Dragon, the highest in rank among all the dragons. We have seen, however, that 1 Coda du Mahayana en Chine, Ch. VHI, pp. 148 sqq. 2 Of. also nr 177 of the Supplement of the Tripitaka (third volume of bundle 3), p. 3806: jfi , "Doctrine concerning the altar for piayingfor rain according to the Mahamegha sutra." 31 the original sutra already prescribed to use the blue colour and to face the East. Moreover, the Azure Dragon has nothing to do with Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhists only copy an ancient Indian rite. Indra, the raiugod, is the patron of the East, and Indra-colour is nila, dark blue or rather blue-black, the regular epitheton of the rain clouds '. If the priest had not to face the East but the West, this would agree with the fact that the Nagas were said to live in the Western quarter and that in India the West corresponds with the blue colour. Facing the East, however, seems to point to an old rain ceremony in which Indra was invoked to raise the blue-black clouds. On the eastern, southern, western and northern tables tablets are placed on which the principal dragons of these quarters, whose Indian names are mentioned above, are painted, with three, live, seven and nine heads instead of the crests or hoods of the Nagas. Often other tablets representing attendants of these great dragons stand at their sides. All the dragons have waves at their feet and clouds above their heads. Finally, twenty eight black poles with long blue flags, each with a burning oil lamp between four flower vases filled with fresh flowers, represent the twenty eight constellations. We find these twenty eight blue banners mentioned 011 p. 21 a of the Chinese text of the sutra (NANJO, nr 186); BENDALL'S translation of the Sanscrit text, however, speaks only of one blue banner2. DE GROOT explains the fact that all the poles are black by the connection of this colour with the North, with Yin and the water". This may be right, as the sutra itself does not mention the colour of the poles, so that the Chi nese in this respect could follow their own ideas. In the morning of the first day of the ceremonies the leading priest with the abbot and the highest authorities of the monastery offer incense in the great temple of the Triratna, and, while the dharams of Kwan-yin are recited, the temple and the rain altar are purified by sprinkling pure water upon them, (as arnyta). Now the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, dragon-kings and saints may descend upon the altar without contaminating themselves. The leading monk and the abbot rise from their seats and offer incense; at the same time the choir thrice sings a lamentation about the 1 Professor SPEYER had the kindness of pointing this out to me. One of the many passages where a blue-black colour is mentioned is Mahabharata, Book III, 10, 13. 2 Pp. 303, 309. 3 Black horses were the principal offerings to the rain gods of Japan, see below, Book II, Ch. Ill, § 2. drought and a prayer for rain, followed by an invocation of the Triratna. Then some moments of profound silence allow the offi ciating monk to sink into dhyana and to see by his mental eyes the Biiddbas, Bodhisattvas, dragon-kings and saints descending and listening to the prayers. On awakening he orders to recite seven times the dharam of the "'Light-king of the Great Wheel" (i. e. the sun), in order to correct the mistakes which might be made in the ritual. Thereupon the monks invoke by name all the 187 Naga kings mentioned in the sutra and thrice recite the first kind of dharams, given by the Buddha to these kings according to the same holy text. These "magic formulae are accom panied by the sound of vajra bells, and followed by a terrible noise of drums and cymbals in order to make them more power ful. Then follows the invocation of all the 54 rain-giving Tatha- gatas, enumerated in the sutra, each monk having a small incense- burner in his hand, which they also used in invoking the Naga kings. After a second dhyana of the leading monk having rendered efficacious the second kind of dharam, given by the Buddha and recited by the monks in the same way as the former, the cere mony is closed by expressing the hope that the rain may soon come, sent by the Triratna and the dragon kings. A little later, in the course of the forenoon, the offerings, placed on the altar, are solemnly presented to the dragons, and songs and prayers are sent up to them, as well as to the Triratna and all the devas. Often a paper figure of one of the Taoistic "Celestial Generals", with a written request for rain in his hand, is burned, that he may take it to Heaven. In the afternoon the leading monk with the abbot and as many other monks as they want take their seats upon the altar and recite the Great-Cloud-Wheel sutra. All these ceremonies are daily repeated till it rains sufficiently. If the drought lasts too long, Kwau-yin's dharams and prayers for rain are continued night and day, small groups of monks relieving one another in all the buildings of the monastery. The main point of the ceremony is the purity of the altar and of the priests themselves; for the drought, like all calamities caiised by some crime of men, can only be stopped by pure ceremonies performed by pure priests. Especially because they never eat animal food, the monks are religiously cleaner and therefore much more able to make rain than laymen. As to the ceremonies for stopping too abundant rains, called "praying for good weather" ', these are described by DE GROOT Hit- 33 in the same chapter. The same sutra may be used, because it has the power of ruling the rain, but these ceremonies are seldom performed on such an extensive scale. As a rule a yellow paper tablet with an invocation of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who reside above the rays of the sun and are mentioned in the "Sutra of the vajra brilliant flames (the beams of the sun), which puts a stop to wind and rain".1, is erected in the hall of the Triratna and offerings are made to them. Then Kwan-yin is invoked and this Bodhisattva's dharams are recited, or those of the "Medicine-Master, Tathagata of the liu-li (one of the sapta- ratna, probably the bluish precious stone called vaidurya) light" 2, i. e. the sunlight, and the latter's name is invoked a thousand times. DE GROOT explains this Medicine-Master to be the oriental Sun, who cures Nature and drives away all illnesses caused by the demons of Darkness. His cult, the counterpart of that of Amitabha, the occidental Sun, is based upon a sutra, which we find mentioned in N^NJO'S Catalogue sub nr 171 3. This Tathagata is the well-known Yctkushi j^i/orai of Japan. It is quite clear that he is considered to be most powerful in causing the rains to stop and refreshing the earth by his rays. Thereiipon Qakya- muni, the Buddhas who are above the brilliant flames, and all the Nagas are supplicated to grant good weather, and besides the two former the Medicine-Master and Kwan-yin are each invoked thrice in kneeling attitude. Finally, the Buddha, Dharma and Saiigha are, as always, praised as the refuge of all. The same ceremonies are repeated by other monks till the rain stops, and then a larger number of them for the last time celebrates the rites as a sign of gratitude and satisfaction. In Japan, which in summer time has much more to suffer from prabhasa Talhagata piirunpranidhana yuna sulra. "Sutra on the merits and viitneof the original vow of the Medicine-Master, the Tathagata Vaidurya light; translated by HUEN TSANG, A.D. 050. Cf. nrs 170, 172, 173. According to NAISJO, nrs 170, 171 and 172 are later translations of the twelfth Sutra of nr 107; the main title of this work is /ji^} gfr -^ y^4 jS jjj|ft W $jL, BuddhablMshilamahab/ushekariiilhidharanisiilra, "Sutra on the divine dharanl of the Great washing of the top of the head (baptism), spoken by Buddha". This is apparently the Kanja-kyo, ffjjj; J"jp ^^, "Sntia on the washing of the top of the head", recited in the fifth .month of A.D. 880 in the SacieJ Spring Park at Kyoto, for stopping the abundant rains {Sandal jitsuroku, Ch. XXXVII, P- 541). Verb. Ron. Akicl. v. Wetensch. (Afd. Lettork.) N. R. Dl. XTII, N° 2. 3 34 continuous and heavy rains than China, ceremonies for stopping rain are frequently mentioned in the annals, as we shall see below l. But also rain prayers were very frequent, and the Bud dhist priests eagerly took advantage of the opportunity to surpass the Shintoists and extend their sphere of influence. Thus the Great-Cloud-Wheel sutra (NANJO, nr 188), mentioned above, was recited by fifteen Buddhist priests in the Sacred Spring park (Shinsen-en) at Kyoto, in the sixth month of the year 875 of our era2. At the same time sixty other priests in the Taikyokuden, one of the buildings of the Imperial Palace, recited parts of the MahaprajTiupriramita sutra 3, which is very often mentioned in the Japanese annals as having been partly read in rain ceremonies 4). Sometimes also the Vajra-prajnapuramita sutra s was used. In the fifth month of A.D. 880 the Kanjo-tyo6, "Sutra on washing the top of the head (baptism)", was recited in the Sacred Spring park for stopping the abundant rains. Also in China other sutras are used in rain ceremonies, e. g. the Vtijra-prajTiuparamita sutra, the Buddlutblinshita Sm/dra Naya- raja sutra 7, "Sutra on the Sea-dragou-king (i. e. Sagara), spoken by Buddha", etc. This is logical, for, as DE GROOT 8 remarks, according to the 39th commandment of the Mahayana code all punishments for crimes committed — and drought is such a punishment — are to be taken away by reciting the sutras and viuayas of the Mahayana. 1 Book II, Ch. III. 2 Cf. helow, Book II, Ch. Ill, § 3; Sandai jilsuroku, Ch. XXVII, p. 41 4. ^ ~fc $$%. ^j* ^M' Malt**l»'ajri(l sutra; NANJO'S Catalogue, nr 1, gives the full title: ^ ^ ^ $£ |H ^ ^ ^, and states that it was translated in A.D. 059 by the famous pilgrim HUEN TSANG. 4 Cf. Sanitai jitsiiroku, Ch. XX, p. 335 (sixth month, 871); Ch. XXIII, p. 372, (fifth month, 873); Ch. XXV, p. 380 (second month, 874); Ch. XXXII, p. 460 (seventh month, 877); Ch. XXXVII, p. 543 (sixth month, 880). ^ |j£ '• Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. XXIII, p. 372; NA.NJO, nrs 10-12. , see above, p. 33, note 3; Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. XXXVII, p. 541 ; - HI 3l |M; NANJ°' nr 45°; t'anslated A.D. 205—310. Cf. m-457: 3: Wt & EP ^' "sstra on the Seal of the Law sP°ken by Buddha for the sake of Sagara Nagaraja". These sutras were spoken in Sagara's palace at the bottom of the sea. 8 L.I., p. 156; cf. p. 72. 5 & Mil 1- 6 ^| Jpf NANJO, nr 107. 7 BOOK I. THE DRAGON IN CHINA. CHAPTER I. THE DRVGON IN THE CHINESE CLASSICS. § 1. Yih king. The oldest Chinese work which mentions the dragon is the Yih King1. We read there the following explanation of the lowest line of the first of the diagrams, which corresponds with Heaven: "First, nine: a drwjon hidden in the water is useless"*. According to the commentators the meaning of this sentence is that the lowest line of this diagram, representing the dragon lying in the deep, is a sign that it is not the time for active doing. Therefore LEGGE 3 translates: "In the first (or lowest) line, undivided (we see its subject as) the dragon lying hid (in the deep). It i-* not the time for active doing". This translation is more explicative than true, for the text simply gives the words: "First, nine: a dragon hidden in the water is useless". As to the word nine, this is explained by the commentary entitled "Traditions of Clieny"* to mean the "fullness of Yang", because it is three times three, i. e. a multiplication of the undividable number which represents Yang. As the undivided strokes of the diagrams are symbols of Yang and the divided ones of Yin, the meaning of the two first words of the sentence is, as LEGGE translates, that the lowest line is undivided. The characters ^J ^, however, do not mean: "it is not the time for active doing", but simply: "useless"5. The dragon, symbolized by the lines of the diagram of Heaven, be cause he is the Yang creature xar' s^o^v, is represented by the i Book ?fli||jg^#r#,ci,.i, _t^,i£. 2 ^LJiil^jffl. 3 Section I, p. 57. 5 Prof. DE GROOT kindly pointed out to me the simple and clear meaning of this and the following sentences. 4 =g [ lowest line as still lying in the depth of the waters. In this condition the heavenly giver of fertilizing rains is still useless to mankind. This ninst be the original meaning of these words, but the diviners concluded from this aselessuess of the hidden dragon that one had to abstain from active doing. The second line of the same diagram is explained by the Yih king as follows: "JVme, second; a dragon is seen in the rice fields; advantage; a great man will be seen" '. LEGHE translates: "It will be advantageous to meet with the great man". Although this translation follows the commentators, the meaning is clearer if we divide the sentence as we have done above. The appearance of a dragon in the rice fields gives advantage, i. e. the fertilizing- rain gives good crops. The original meaning of the character ^|], which consists of rice and a knife, is apparently Jiurvest, which was, of course, identical to advantage. Further, "a great man will be seen". Here we see the dragon representing great (espe cially holy) men, who are as full of Yang as the dragon himself. Even in those olden times his appearance apparently was con sidered to be an omen of the birth of great and holy men, especially of Emperors, the holiest men on earth. In the third line the dragon is not mentioned, but in the fourth we read that he is "perhaps leaping in the pool" (but not yet rising above the surface). "There will be no evil (^)"a. The word evil seems to be more logical in a divinatory sentence than "mistake". The fifth line is described as "A flying dragon in the sky; advantage; a great man toill be seen" 3. It is, of course, of the utmost benefit to mankind, if the rain-bringing dragon is soaring in the sky. At the same time it is an omen of the appearance of a great man. Finally, the topmost line is explained as "The dragon exceeding the proper limits (i. e. flying too high). There will be regret" 4. The simplest explanation of these words is that, if a dragon flies too high, he is too far from the earth to return and the rain does not reach it, a reason of regret to himself and to mankind. At the same time the great man, symbolized by the dragon, repents all exaggeration on his part. 37 The Yih king goes on as follows: * The number nine is used (in this diagram). If a herd of dragons is seen divesting themselves of their heads, this means good fortune'''' '). The lowest line of the second diagram, which represents Earth (jr^, Kiifwi), is explained as "Dragons fighting in the open field; their blood if dark (not purple, as LF.GGE translated) and yellow"2. Apparently a thunderstorm, with dark and yellow clouds flying through the sky, is described in this way. For in a passage of Appendix V of the Yih king 3, ascribed to Confucius, we read: "Kcu'ii (Heaven) is a horse, Kufun (Earth) is a cow, Chen (Thunder) it a dragon'1'14. And, again, in the same Appendix5: " Chen is thunder, is a dragon, is dark and yellow" °. The same diagram represents also Spring and the Eastern quarter, which are identi fied with the Azure Dragon \ In Ch. 11 (p. 2) of the Yih king the words "A dragon lying in the deep is mr/ftw" are illustrated by " Yang w below" s, which means: "The Sun is under the horizon, i.e. the dragon lying in the deep is as useless as the sun under the horizon. In the same chapter (same page) we read: "A dragon it seen in the rice fields; blessing power (%ji) it spread everywhere'""*). This is a clear explanation of the word advantage in the above passage on the fifth line of the first diagram. As to the "Dragons fighting in the open field", in this chapter these words are followed by: '•'•Their way (tao) is exhausted"™, i. e. their blessing actions are completed to the last. As rain is the blessing conferred upon mankind by the dragons, this sen tence may easily be explained by the fact that in a thunderstorm, when the dragons fight in the sky, the rain comes down in torrents. 3 Shwuh-hwa chufe.n, jj Chapter VIII, 12. (Gh. 17), p. 12. LEGGE, Appendix V, p. 429, 5 Ch. 17; LEGGE, p. 430, Ch. XI, 17. . 7 Cf. DE GROOT, ltd. Sysl., Vol. 1, p. 317; III, p. 904, 987. 8 vi B! 4Q ffl . H 9 Jlft^Sffl. fi* 10 38 An Appendix of the Yih king ' says : " The hibernating of dragons and snakes 'is done in order to preserve their bodies" 2. Here we see dragons and snakes being closely connected and regarded as belonging to the same kind of animals. Also in later times the same fact is to be observed. On considering the above passages of the Yih king we arrive at the conclusion that the ideas on the dragon prevailing in China at the present day are just the same as those of the remotest times. It is a water animal, akin to the snake, Avhich uses to sleep in pools during winter and arises in spring. It is the god of thunder, who brings good crops when he appears in the rice fields (as rain) or in the sky (as dark aud yellow clouds), in other words, when he makes the rain fertilize the ground. But when he flies too high and cannot retiirn, the thirsty earth must wait in vain for his blessings, and sorrow prevails. As this beneficient being is full of Yang, it symbolizes those among men who are fullest of Light, namely great men, and its appearance is considered to be an omen of their coming, i. e. of their birth. In the firet place the greatest and fullest of Yang among them all, the Emperor, is, of course, symbolized by the dragon. He is, indeed , the representative of Imperial power, as we shall see later on. When black and_ yellow clouds covered the sky, and thunder and lightning raged, the ancient Chinese said, like those of to-day : "The dragons are fighting; look at their blood spreading over the sk~y". And at 'the same time the heavenly dragons caused the rain to pour down upon the grateful earth. Even when the dragons were only leaping in their pools, no calamity was to be feared, and when a herd of them, even head less, wa3 seen in the sky, this was a felicitous sign. Winter, when they hibernate and sleep in pools, is the dry season in China. But in spring, in the third of the twenty four seasons into which the year was divided even in olden times, the "Resurrection of the hibernating animals" 3 takes place, and it begins to rain a little. In the "beginning of summer" 4, however, i. e. in the first of the six summer seasons, "the winds arrive (Gh. XV), P. 11. 3 •%& ||fi, "Resurrection of hibernating animals", is the name of this season; cf. E GROOT, I.I., Vol. Ill, p. 908. 39 and the dragons ascend to the sky" 1, for this is the time when the abundant rains come down, a blessing to mankind. § 2. Srm king. In the Shu king 2 we read the following words of the Emperor Shun to Yu: "I wish to see the emblematic figures of the an cients: the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountain, the dragon, and the variegated animals (pheasants) Avhich are depicted (on the upper sacrificial garment of the Emperor)". So we see that- even in the early times of Shim's predecessors, i. e. in the days of Hwaug Ti (who is said to have reigned in the 27th century B. C.) and Yao, the dragon belonged to the six symbolic figures painted on the upper garment of the Emperor. This was, no doubt, clue to its blessing power as rain-giving god of thunder and clouds. § 3. LI ki. The Li_ki? says: "What is called the four ling (f|)? TJie_ unicorn, the_phoenix, the tortoise and the dragon, they are called "the four Una. As the dragon is considered to be a domestic animal, fishes and sturgeons do not flee away" 4. COUVREDR trans lates ling by : "animaux qui donnent des presages", but it has a stronger meaning, as we may learn from DE GROOT'S Religious System •'. Therefore I should prefer to translate it by "spiritual leitigs". The effective operation of the tsing (^j|) or vital spirit of these four creatures is, indeed, enormously strong, and there fore they may be justly called "the four spiritual animals par excellence". It is no wonder that their appearance was considered to 1 Yih wei, Mj $«! ^ j|| ^|< ^ , quoted in the famous encyclopaedia entitled Kcin liny ku kin fu shu tsih ch'ing, M, MM, UK H Tsih ' LEGGE> Sacred Books of tlle Easti If W-Sect- StlS' II, Book IV, § 1, p. 58. 3 Ch. VII, Li un, jjj® ||F , art. 3, nr 10: COUVREUB, Li ki, Vol. I, p. 524. j Part l. iv, P. 12. be an omen, but this was only the consequence of their "spirituality". In art. 4 of the same Chapter of the Li ki', where the halcyon days of the holy emperors of antiquity are described, we read: "The male and female phoenixes, and the male and female unicorns were all in the marshes beyond the city walls; the tortoise and the dragon were in the ponds of the Imperial Palace"2, i. e. the four lincj were all in the neighbourhood, spreading their blessings over the Palace and the country. Vurther, in another passage of the Li ki, also devoted to the ancient sovereigns 3, the following words are to be found: "They (the monarchs of old) chose (litt. followed, accommodated them selves to) felicitous places in order to make sacrifices to the Emperor of Heaven in the suburbs. The sacrifices ascended and reached Heaven. Then phoenixes descended, and tortoises and dragons arrived" 4. Finally, in the first, second and third months of spring"', "the Emperor ascends his carriage adorned with bells, drawn by azure dragons6 and carrying a blue banner (ffi, lei, adorned with -dragons joined 7)". The azure_dragon is, as we stated above, the symbol of Spring, the season when "thunder resounds, lightning begins to flash, and the hibernating animals all move, open their doors (i. e. come out of their chrysalides) and begin to come out"8. § 4, Cheu li. We have seen the dragon mentioned in the Sliu kiny among the twelve symbolic ornaments of the ancient sacrificial robe of 1 COUVREUR, p. 530, nr 1C. 2 3 Ch. VIII, Li k'i, VB. . m HI IE IT vs o , art. 2, nr 12; COUVREUR, Vol. I, p. 503. 5 Liki, Ch.XXI, Yueh ling, ^ -^ , "Monthly Precepts"; COUVREUR, I, Ch. IV, pp. 332 (first month), 340 (second month), 347 (third month): ^ JZ.-p__. fj| ffi & Iloises higher than eight drill,' i.e. l.GO meter, were called diagons (CouviiEUR, I, p. 333). 7 Cheu li, , Section CVun kwan, ; "Spring officials", s. v. S:S shang; Ch. XX.V1I, p. 24, gives the names of the nine banners rilled by the SzS shany, "Banner rulers". "Dragons joined form the tfi, "fife, (the second banner)", 8 Li ki, Monthly Precepts, Ch. XXI, p. 10; COUVREUR, Ch. IV, p. 332, nr 8. the Emperor. Further, the Cheu li has taught us (above p. 40, note "i) that the banner called tfi, ffi, was adorned with dniyons joined (i. e. twisted about each other). The same work ' states the following: ''In general as taieh 2 (official tablets) of the envoys of the Empire, in mountainous countries tiyer tablets are used, in plain countries tablets painted with human figures, and in watery countries drayon tablets. The tablets are all made of metal" 3. It is clear why the ornaments of these official tablets were divided in this way. For, as the commentator CHINU KCANG-CHCING remarks on this passage, "in the mountains are many tigers, in the plains many men, and in the waters many dragons"4. Thus the dragon symbolized the water. A third passage of the Cheu li*, which treats of the Winter officials, says that, in painting and embroidering, " Water is repre sented by means of dragons" (>. CIIA.O Pcon's7 commentary explains these words as follows: "The dragon is a divine being in the water. If one represents water without representing dragons, there is nothing to show the divinity of its phenomena"s. As to CITING KCANG-CIICING, he simply states: "The dragon is a. water creature; it is (depicted or embroidered) on clothes" a. § 5- I li- - A dragon banner is mentioned in the / ft "', where Imperial hunting parties are described. We read there: "In the frontier 1 Section Ti hwan, 2 n- , s. v. chanfj tsicli, jp ||[| , Ch. XIV, p. 39. 5 Section Tuny kwan, Jg. & , Ch. XLI1, ^ 1C §E % ft $Jt (l'ailltinS and embroidering) £ ^. , %fc £ ^ , P- 56. ° ^C 0 f I • 7 :jkji yjjt, a commentator of the Sung dynasty. Although only his family name is mentioned, and there was another commentator of the same family name, namely CHAO KWCANG, jH? [3? , of the Tang dynasty, probably- we have here to do -with the former. 3 10 . IB - regions: when a tiger is hit: dragon banner". This is, at least, probably the meaning of the very short text. GHING KCANG-CHCING explains it as follows: "'In the frontier regions' (^ is used here for ^) means shooting with the rulers of neighbouring countries. They paint a dragou on the banner'; moreover it is a variegated pattern. 'Full silk' forms the banner" \ In hunting parties with foreign rulers probably a signal was given with this dragon banner when a tiger (the dragon's deadly enemy) was shot. The ancient texts referred to in this chapter are short, but sufficient to give us the main conceptions of old China with regard to the dragon. He was in those early days, just like now, the_ god of water,_ thunoer^ iojjds and rain, the harbinger of blessings,_ji:nd_the_symbol_of_holy_men. As the Emperors are the holyHbeingrf on earth, the idea of the dragon being the symbol of Imperial power is based upon this ancient conception. For the sake of clearness the further texts will be treated in separate chapters according to the kind of information they give. In each chapter, however, chronological order will be observed. 1 I*®", chen, according to WELLS WILLIAMS, Diet. s. v. p. 44: "a silken banner of a reddish color, plain and triangular". 2 Kn.m&wm&%&.&ffiKm.$tx&&. jjH t|J -f5 jfjfif ( jj|i f& , fung poh, was, according to CHING K.CANG-CHCJNG, in the same work, Oh. XXVII, p. 246, "deep red, in accordance with the main colour of the Cheu dynasty"). CHAPTER II. DIVINATION. § 1. Lucky omens- of great sages ajid_E_mperors_was preceded_by _the appearance of dragons and phoenixes. In_the night of Confucius' "Birth (B. C.~551)~two azure dragons descended from the sky and ~bame" to "his mother' (P house. She saw7 them in her dream and gave birth to_the g:reat_sage '. The biography "of the "Emperor Wu2, the famous man of the Hau dynasty (B.C. 140 — 87), con tains the following passage in regard to his birth: "The Emperor Hiao Wu of the Han dynasty was the son of the Emperor King. Before he was born the Emperor King dreamt that a red hog descended from the clouds and straightly entered the Chcing fang koh (Exalted Fragance Corridor). The Emperor King awoke and sat down under the corridor. Actually there Avas a red dragon. It was like fog and in coming darkened the doors and windows. When the Imperial harem went to look (what was happening), there was above the corridor a cinnabar coloured vapour which increased enormously and rose. After the vapour had dispersed they saw a red dragon coiling and revolving between the rafters. The Emperor King called a diviner, the Old Yao by name, and asked him about the matter. The old man said: 'This is a lucky omen. This corridor certainly will produce a man who shall rule the world. He shall expel the barbarians and thus bring with him lucky omens. Therefore he shall be the most glorious ruler of the Liu family. But it (may mean) also a great prodigy'. The Emperor King ordered the Imperial Consort Wang to move to the Exalted Fragrance Corridor, wishing thereby to act in accordance with Old Yao's words. Thereupon he changed the , probably in the 4th 1 Shih i ki, 1?£» ;*|f sg, written by WANG KIA, t century; Ch. Ill, ^j |g :£ , p. 4&. 2 Wu Ti nei chufen, -'Inner traditions on the Emperor Wu", jj£ *jSj» ffa ascribed to the famous historiographer PAN Ku, , who died A.D. 92; p. la. name of the corridor into I lan tien, 'Hall of the Florishing Orchid' '. After more than ten days the Emperor King dreamt that a divine woman held up the sun in both her hands and gave it to the Consort Wang. She swallowed it, and after fourteen months gave birth to the Emperor Wu. The Emperor King said: 'I dreamt that a red vapour changed into a red dragon. The diviners considered this to be a lucky omen; (therefore) he (the new-born son) must be called Lucky (Jdh)"1". One of the ten lucky signs which were seen in the course of one day under the reign of Yao, one of the five holy Emperors of ancient times, was a dragon which appeared in the pond of his palace 3. The appearance of yellow or azure dragons, often mentioned in the annals 3, was nearly always considered to be a very good omen. Only if they came untimely or on wrong places they were harbingers of evil, as we shall see below. They were mostly seen in the night, spreading a brilliant light all over the neighbour hood. Such a nightly apparition illuminated the palace of Kuug Sim-shun * under the reign of the Emperor Kwang Wu (25—57 A. D.). The former considered it such a good omen, that in 25 A. D. he proclaimed himself Emperor of Sim (White Emperor) and changed the name of the era into Lung-Hiug5, "Dragon's rise" °. A black, horned dragon was seen one night by Lii Kwang 7, who lived in the fourth century A. D. Its glittering eyes illumi nated the whole vicinity, so that the huge monster was visible till it was enveloped by clouds which gathered from all sides. The next morning traces of its scales were to be seen over a distance of five miles, but soon were wiped out by the heavy 1 The orchid being the symbol of harmony, because the SM king compares the dwelling together in harmony of brothers with the smell of orchids, the new name of the corridor was still more felicitous than the former. 2 Shuh i ki, j^ J§L ||fJ , written by JEN FANG, -(:£ $}'» iu tlle earlier part of the 6th century: ^ftfcft. - 0 + J» , 3Cf.T.&, Ch. 128, g pp. 1 sq. •, p. 76, 8a, 9; Ch. 129, 5 fin- G Tung kwan han ki, W |ci 435 ${*, Ch. XXIII, written in 107 A. D. by Liu CIIFN, ^J j^, and continued in 172 A. D. by TSCAI YUNG, ^S ^ . 7 {z} ^ ; cf. GILES, Chin. Biogr. Diet. s. v., pp. 555 sq. In 396 he took the style of Heaven-appointed King of Liang. 43 rains. Then one of Lii Kwaug's attendants said to him: "A dragon is a divine animal and an omen of a man's rise to the position "of_a_ ruler~So~ you_will attain this rank". On hearing this, Lu Kvvang Avas very much rejoiced; and actually he became a ruler after some time '. The__dragons_being such important omens, it is no wonder that Imperial proclamations often were issued on "account of their "appearance \ ~"~~Finaly, we may quote a divinatory work 3 which says: "When the beginning rise of an Emperor or King is about to take place, a dragon appears in the Yellow lliver or in the Loli. All examine his head: if the head is black, men are correct; if white, the Earth is correct; if red, Heaven is correct" *. § 2. Bad omens. A. Fighting dragons. From olden times high floods, tempests and thunderstorms have been ascribed by the Chinese to dragons fighting in rivers or in the air. Although, according to the Yih kbuj °, "the tao of dragons, fighting in the open field, is exhausted", i. e. their blessing power makes the rain pour down in torrents, on the other hand such severe thunderstorms often cause much damage and calamities. Therefore, however welcome a dragon fight in the air might be in times of drought, in ordinary circumstances the threatening armies ill the sky were looked at with great fright. Moreover, the people believed the damage produced by dragon fights in rivers or in the air to be not limited to the actual calamities of the present, but to extend itself to the near future, in other words, they were considered to be very bad 1 Pan F'oh-ls-c, if^ jk\\ -7*, written by Ron HUNG, j^t yifc, in the fourth cen- 2 The Emperor Wen of the Han dynasty e.g. did so in B.C. 105, Books of lie Early Him Dynasty, ~^ «&"* ^fe ff[j i Ch. IV; comp. the Emperor Suen's proclama tion in the summer of B. C. 52 (ibidem, jf£ fftf ^ gj* , Ch. VIII, p. Ma. 3 The Yih k'ien tsoh lu, ;$ $fc jji $£ ' 1LIoted in the T- S-> Sect- ^ 3«fi i Ch. 130, ||!^, |H £f,P. 26. 4 ifr£#Ht«F7fefcr*frBIJE,. f i^Hr. IS*A IE, a^*tfiIE> ^^IE.. 5 See above, p. 37. 46 47 omens, foreboding inundations, disorder, war, nay even the dynasty's fall. As gods of water, clouds and rain they caused high floods by their fights, and as representatives of the Imperial power their victory or defeat meant rebellion, war, and even the fall of the reigning House. According to the Tno chioeen ' a high flood was ascribed to dragons fighting in a pool in the nineteenth year of the reign of Ghao, Duke of Lu (523 B. G.). "There were great floods in Chcing; and [some] dragons fought in the pool of Wei, outside the She gate. The people asked leave to sacrifice to them; but Tsze-cb^an refused it, saying: "When we fight, the dragons do not look at us. Why should we look at them, when they are fighting? If we offer a deprecatory sacrifice to them, they will leave their abodes. If we do not seek the dragons, they also will not seek us". Then the matter was given up. The Yi/t lin 2 says: "If six dragons have angry fight with one another under an embankment, and the azure or yellow dragons do not conquer, the travellers will meet hardships and trouble"3. As we have seen above, the_azure and yellow dragons especially Avere harbingers of felicity; so their defeat was a sign of coming trouble, probably caused by inundations. In regard to impending war and ruin we may quote the follo wing passages from the Histories. n the Books of the Sui dynasty * we read: "In the Liang dynasty (A. D 502—557), in the second year of the Tcien kien era (503), there were dragons fighting in a pool in Northern Liang province. They squirted fog over a distance of some miles. As to the evils of dragons and snakes the Hung fan wu Idng cliufen5 says: 'These are trouble and damage of dragons and beasts. That which be longs to Heaven is symbol of the Ruler. If the Heavenly breath is injured, and the Tao of the Ruler is wounded, also the dragons are injured. Their fights are symbols of weapons and shields'. 1 LEGGE, Chinese Classics, Vol. V, Part II, pp. 674 sq. (Rook X, year XIX). 2 M, -fck , a work on divination, quoted by the T. S., Ch. 130, |j|? ^K ^ft ^^, p. 3a. !£, Ch. p. 17o. 4 rW u 5 »>it ^n ^f ifj 'fil? , cf. DE GROOT, Vol. V, p. 491, note 1: "A work based on a section of the Shu king entitled Hung fan or The Great Plan. It seems to have been held in great esteem in the sixth century as an expositor of prognostics. It was then composed of eleven chapters, with a commentary by Liu Hiang, so that it must have existed previous to our eia". KING PANG ' says in his Yih fn heua ("Plying observations on divination"): 'When the hearts of the multitude are not quiet, dragon fights are the bad omens thereof 3. At that time the Emperor for the first time ascended the throne, and there was a riot of Gh'en Poh-chi and Liu Li-lien. Danger and fear prevailed in the empire". The same annals4 contain the following passage: "In the sixth month of the fifth year of the Pcu tcung era (524 A. D.) dragons fought in the pond of the King of Kciih o (?). They went west ward as far as Kien ling chcing. In the places they passed all the trees were broken. The divination was the same as in the second year of the Tcien kien era (503 A. D.), namely that their passing Kien ling and the trees being broken indicated that there would be calamity of war for the dynasty, and that it was a sign that the Imperial tombs would be destroyed. At that time the Emperor considered the holding of discussions to be his only task, and did not think of ploughing. His fighting generals were careless, his soldiers idle, and the Tao of the Ruler was injured. Therefore there was the corresponding fact of the dragons' evil. The Emperor did not at all become conscious (of the danger). In the first year of the Tcai Tscing era (547 A. D.) there was again a dragon fight in the waters of Li cheu. The waves seethed and bubbled up, and clouds and fog assembled from all sides. White dragons were seen running to the South, followed by black dragons. That year Heu King came with troops to submit, and the Emperor accepted his submission without taking precautions. The people of the realm were all frightened, and suddenly rebellion arose. The Emperor in consequence thereof had a sad death". He died in 549, and eight years later the Liang dynasty came to an end. In A. D. 579 a black dragon was killed by a red one. Moreover, in the same year there was a fight of a -white dragon with a black one, the result of which was that the white one ascended 1 tl -fjjf, a famous diviner of the first century of our era, author of the YiA chufcn, Jj*j Vj| (cf. DE GROOT, Rel. Syst., Vol. IV, p. 204) and of the YiAt/oo, (cf. below, Bad omens, D.). 2 3 0, &tt*#. M 4 Same chapter, section and page. 48 to the sky and the black one fell on the earth and_died '. As black was the colour of the Later (i. e. Northern) Chen dynasty, these dragon fights were forebodings of its approaching fall, which actually took place two years later. As to inundations announced beforehand by dragon fights, we may refer to the History of the Suny dynasty2, where we read that in the fifth yeaT of the Kcien Tao era (A. D. 1169) such a battle in the air was seen amidst a heavy thunderstorm. "Two dragons fled and pearls like carriage wheels fell down on the ground, where they were found by herdsboys. In the following years inundations afflicted the country". Sometimes dragon fights are mentioned not as omens, but only as causing heavy storms which destroyed a large number of houses and government buildings and killed hundreds of people, carrying them into the air together with their domestic animals, trees and tiles, over a length of more than ten miles. Such a storm raged in the fourth month of the ninth year of the Hwang tciing era (1149) above the Yu lin river in Li cheu 3. Devastation caused by lightning was believed to be the result of sacred fire, sent by Heaven to stop dragon fights. "In the fifth month of the year yih-wei (probably 1295) on a place near the lake at I hiug, all of a sudden there were two dragons which twisting around each other and fighting both fell into the lake, Their length had no sharp limits. In a short space of time a heavy wind came riding on the water, which reached a height of more than a chang (ten chcih or feet). Then there fell from the sky more than ten fire balls, having the size of houses of ten divisions. The two dragons immediately ascended (to the sky), for Heaven, afraid that they might cause calamity, sent out sacred fire to drive them away. Siipposed that Heaven had been a little remiss. for a moment, then within a hundred miles everything would have turned into gigantic torrents. When I recently passed by boat the Peachgarden of Teh Tscing, those 1 Wnny Shao chufen, ]j£ ffl] ^ , "Biography of W;mg Sliao", Buuks of Ihe Sui dynasty, Ch. LXIX, ^|J fig , nr 34, p. 2a. 2 Sect, ft ft fe (Oh. 01-67): ^ ^ ft %L ^ ft £ ^ ft™ 3 Kin ski, -^ rfl, History of the Kin Dynasty (A. D. 1200—1308), Oh. XXIII, nr 4, Sect, frftfe, P- 3«. 49 paddy fields were all scorched and black, some tens of acres in all. Then we moored the boat to the bank and asked those villagers (for the reason). They said: 'Yesterday noon there wtis a big dragon which fell from the sky. Immediately he was burned by terrestial fire and flew away. For that what the dragons fear is fire^' '. B. Dead di'((pi>arin t'ia f«lmous diviner of the fiist century before our era, mentioned above, p. 47, note 1. 6 00 king will become a commoner'. Afterwards Hao submitted to Chin (the Chin dynasty) \ In the same section of this work2 we read the following. -Under the Emperor Ming of the Wei dynasty (4. D. 227—239), in the first year of the Tscing-lung era (233), on the day kiah- shen of the first month, a blue dragon appeared in a well at Mo-pco (a place) in the suburbs. If only a lucky omen rises at a wrong time, it becomes an evil. How much more is this the case, when it (the dragon) is in straits in a well! This is not a felicitous omen!3 It was wrong that Wei on account of it changed the name of the era. Yu Pao says: 'From the end of the reign of the Emperor Ming under the "VVei dynasty the appearances of blue and yellow dragons were signs corresponding with the fall and rise of its rulers. As to the fate of the land of Wei, blue is the colour of wood and yet it does not conquer metal; it was a sign of yellow getting the throne and blue losing it. The frequent appearance of blue dragons means that the virtue of the sovereign aud the fate of the dynasty are in inner conflict with each other4. Therefore Kao Kwei Hiang Kung5 (Ts'ao Mao, A. D. 241—260, who in 254 became the fourth Emperor of the Wei dynasty) was utterly defeated in war.'" "According to Liu HIANG'S ° explanation the dragon, the symbol of dignity, when being imprisoned in a well means calamity consisting in a feudal lord being about to be secretly seized. In the Wei dynasty there was no dragon which was not in a well. It was an omen of the oppressive measures of those men who occupied the highest ranks '. The poem on the 'Dragon lying in the deep', written by Kao Kwei Hiang Kung, has this meaning". The Jioofa- of th<> E the diagrams used in divination. The SIiu kintj ' mentions this map among the precious objects preserved at the Court in B.C. 1079. LEGGE2 treats of it in his Introduction to the Yi kimj with regard to the well-known passage of an Appendix of this Classic3, running as follows: "The Ho gave forth the scheme or map, and the Lo gave forth the writing, (both of) which the sages copied". According to one of the commentators on the YUi king ''the water of the Ho sent forth a dragon liorse; on its back there was curly hair, like a map of starry dots. The water of the Lo sent forth a "divine tortoise; on its back there were riven veins, like writing of character pictures" 4. This conception, apparently based upon the above passage of the Li kit became common in later times, and the San iscai fu hirui" gives a picture of this dragon horse. As to the appendix of the Yih kingf>, quoted by SZE-MA CHENG in the "Anna/ft of the three sovereigns \ there neither the river nor ihe horse are mentioned, but it is simply stated that Fuh-Hi was the first to trace the eight diagrams. In the Sftui ying fu9 the following description of a dragon horse is given: "It is a benevolent horse, the vital spirit of river water. Its height is eight chcih five ts'un; its neck is long, and its body is covered with scales. It has wings at its shanks, and its hair hangs down its sides. Its cry consists of nine tones, and it walks on the water without sinking. It appears at the time of famous sovereigns". This reminds us of the description given 1 LEGGE, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. Ill, Shu king. Part V, Book XXII, p. 239. 2 Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XVI, Introduction, pp. 14 sqq. 3 Appendix III, Sect. I, Ch. II, § 73; LEGGE, I.I., p. 374; Ch. V, |j| |^ J-^ ^ , 5 ~^ dynasty. 6 J5! *, written by WANG Kci, , at the time of the Ming ! |?fe, Ch. XV, p. 4, LEGGE'S translation, p. 382. 7 San-hwang pen-ki, = J| ^ |£ ( || _£ Sg), by ^J J| ^, p. 16; CH\VANNES' translation, Vol. I, p. 0. 8 3ffil i® IS! ' written before the Chcen dynasty (A. D. 557—589) by SUN JEU-CHI, -j^i Si ~%? i and quoted in the T'ien cfiung ki, ^ pb =|jl (written under the Ming dynasty by CHCEN YAO-WEN, (^ ^H ^), Ch. LV. 58 by KCQNG NGAN-KWOH ' in his commentary 011 the Sim king2, which runs as follows: "A dragon horse is the vital spirit of Heaven and Earth. As a being its shape consists of a horse's body, yet it has dragon scales. Therefore it is called 'dragon horse'. Its height is eight ch'ih five ts'un. A true dragon horse 1ms wings at its sides and walks upon the water without sinking. If a holy man is on the throne it comes out of the midst of the Ming river, carrying a map on its back" 3. The Tuny kien tsien pirn u-ai ki*, which refers to this passage, says: "At the time of Tcai Hao (i. e. Fuh-Hi) there was a lucky omen consisting of a diagon horse which carried a map on its buck and came out of the Ho river. Therefore in giving titles to the officials he began to arrange them by means of the dragon, and called them 'Dragon-officers'"5. As to these titles we read in the Annals of the Three sovereigns °: "He (Fuh-Hi) had the lucky omen of a dragon; by means of the dragon be arranged the officials and called them 'Dragon-officers'". The Tso-cliwen"' gives the same matter in an extensive passage regarding the titles of the officials of the first Emperors. The T^ti-^unj yii-lan a describes a dragon horse which appeared ij3 , a famous scholar in the reign of the Hnn emperor Wu (B. C. 140—85), who in B.C. 97 transcribed the ancient tablets discovered in the wall of the house of the Confucian family, and made a commentaiy on the whole. Cf. LEGGC'S Introduction to his translation of the SJiu king, Sacred books of the East, Vol. III. p. 8. 2 Sect. Jj! ^ ; quoted in the T. S , Sect, fa jjg, Ch. 128, f| "oft $£ if* ——', p. 16. 3 w m & "Extla writings" belonging to the "Preceding part" of the Ts-S-chi funrj kien kany-muh, ^ '/O sfi ^ ll^ § ' "A chronol°Sical survey of the Mirror of History, composed to assist Government", an imperial edition of 1707, based upon the Ts;a-chi Vunrj kien written by S'?-ma Ku-finy, f}| Jf| yfc, between 1065 and 1084. It consists of tluee parts,: ]^" |)^ , fiora Yao's time to B.C. 402; the main work (B.C. 402— A. D. 900); and the Supplement (A. D. 960—1307). 6 P. 2a; CinvANNES, Vol. I, p. 7 : jffi Q 7 Book X, year XVII (17th year of Duke Chao); LEGGE, Chinese Classics, Vol. V, Part II, pp. 660 sq. 8 -4^ 2p ^p Eg f uThe Wo,.k of imperial Autopsy of the Tai pcing period", composed by an Imperial committee of thirteen scholars under the presidency of the statesman Li FANG, ?& ftj , in A. D. 983. According to DE GROOT, Rel. Stjst. Vol. IV, 59 in A.D. 741 and was considered to be a good omen for the Emperor. It was spotted blue and red, and covered with scales. Its mane resembled that of a dragon, and its neighing was like the tone of a flute. It could cover three hundred miles. Its mother was a common horse which had become pregnant by drinking water from a river in which it, was bathed. This agrees with the statement of the S/mi yiny fu quoted above about the dragon horse being the vital spirit of river water. The same horse is described as follows in another work of much later date ': "A horse with dragon scales, the tail of a huge serpent, frizzy hair, round eyes and a fleshy crest". AVhen the Emperor fled from the capital to the West, this horse entered a river, changed into a dragon and swam away. Another dragon horse, which appeared in A. D. 622, had a scaly dragon's body, spotted with five colours,-and a horse's head with two white horns. In its mouth it carried an object about three or four chcih long. This horse was seen on a river, marching about a hundred steps on the surface of the water, looking abont and then disappearing''. Finally, we may refer to a passage of the Shilt i ki3, where we read that the Emperor Muh of the Cheu dynasty in the thirty second''year of his reign drove around the world in a carriage, drawn by eight winged dragon horses 4. § 4. Geomancy- The so-called funy-shui (JH,^{C, "wind and water") is a geomantical system, prevalent throughout China from olden times down to the present age. The tiger and the dragon, the gods of wind and water, are the keystones of this doctrine. I deem it superfluous to treat of it in extenso, because Professor Introd. p. X, this cyclopedia contains only what the Emperor (Tcai Tsimg) reserved for direct publication, whereas the T'al-ifiny Inuany ki, H^ 2E Pg =^, "Ample Writings of the Tcai-pcing period", republibhed about 1566, consists merely of such parts of it as -were ejected by the Emperor. Ch. 435, quoting the Siten shih chi, *pf ^ Jjt j written in the ninth century by CHANG Ton,' E)§ Hg. 1 The Yuen kien lei han, J?^| ^H ?j|f( JSJ i written in 1710 by CHANG YING, JJH ^L, and others; Ch. 433. 2 Tcai-pcing yii-lan, Ch. 435. 3 |^ ^ |S' written in A.D. 357 by W*NG KIA, Ip S|l; Ch. III. p. la. 4 60 DE Gaoor ' has given already a full account of its origin, elements, meaning and influence. "It is", saj-s he, "a quasi-scientific system, supposed to teach men where and how to build graves, temples and dwellings, in order that the dead, the gods and the living may be located therein exclusively, or as far as possible, under the auspicious influences of Nature" 2. The dragon plays a most important 'part in this system, being "the chief spirit of water and rain" 3, and at the same time representing one of the four (^quarters of heaven (i.e. the East, called the Azure Dragon4, and the first of the seasons, spring)5. "The word Dragon comprises the high grounds in general, and the water-streams which have their sources therein or wind their way through them. Hence it is that books on Fung-shni commonly commence Avith a bulky set of dissertations, comprised under the heading: 'Rules concerning the Dragon' (^| ££), in reality dealing with the doctrines about the situation and contours of mountains and hills and the direction of water-courses" °. Finally, we may quote the following passage from the same work7: "Amoy is unanimously declared by all the wise men of the town to be indebted for its prosperity to two knolls flanking the inner harbour, and vulgarly styled Ho-fnu soa'1 (J^ flpi [J_|), or 'Tiger-head Hill', and Liny-fad soan (fj|IP{lij). or 'Dragon- head Hill1. The latter, which is situated on the opposite shore, on the islet of Kulangsu, is crowned with huge boulders poised in a fantastic manner, upon which professors have had several blocks of granite arranged for the purpose of helping the imagination to discover the outlines of a dragon on the spot. The costs of these improvements were borne by some well-to-do citizens, anxious to promote their own prosperity and that of their fellow townsmen". A "Dragon's head Mountain" is mentioned in the Sin ski S