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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e25f5bf --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67344 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67344) diff --git a/old/67344-0.txt b/old/67344-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f5ab79f..0000000 --- a/old/67344-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13896 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Myths of China and Japan, by Donald -Alexander Mackenzie - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Myths of China and Japan - with illustrations in colour & monochrome after paintings and - photographs - -Author: Donald Alexander Mackenzie - -Release Date: February 6, 2022 [eBook #67344] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This - file was produced from images generously made available by - The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS OF CHINA AND -JAPAN *** - - - - - - MYTHS OF - CHINA AND JAPAN - - By - DONALD A. MACKENZIE - - - With Illustrations in Colour & Monochrome - after Paintings and Photographs - - - THE GRESHAM PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD. - 66 CHANDOS ST. COVENT GARDEN LONDON - - - - - - - - -PREFACE - - -This volume deals with the myths of China and Japan, and it is shown -that these throw light on the origin and growth of civilization and the -widespread dissemination of complex ideas associated with certain modes -of life. The Far East does not appear to have remained immune to -outside cultural influences in ancient times. Modern research has -established that the old school of opinions which insisted on the -complete isolation of China can no longer obtain. As Laufer says: “It -cannot be strongly enough emphasized on every occasion that Chinese -civilization, as it appears now, is not a unit and not the exclusive -production of the Chinese, but the final result of the cultural efforts -of a vast conglomeration of the most varied tribes, an amalgamation of -ideas accumulated from manifold quarters and widely differentiated in -space and time.... No graver error can hence be committed than to -attribute any culture idea at the outset to the Chinese, for no other -reason than because it appears within the precincts of their empire.” - -Even the Chinese records have to be regarded with caution. It is -impossible nowadays to accept as serious contributions to history the -inflated chronology and the obvious fables compiled and invented by -Chinese scholars for political and other purposes during the Han and -later dynasties. These scholars had really little knowledge of the -early history of their country and people. They were puzzled even by -certain existing customs and religious practices, and provided -ingenious “secondary explanations” which, like their accounts of the -early dynasties, do not accord with the data accumulated by -archæologists and other workers in the scientific field. The complex -religious ideas of the Chinese were obviously not of spontaneous -generation. Many of these resemble too closely the complexes found -elsewhere, and their history cannot be traced within the limits of the -Chinese empire. Indeed, as is shown, some of them are undoubtedly -products of human experiences obtained elsewhere, and they reveal -traces of the influences to which they were subjected during the -process of gradual transmission from areas of origin. Nor, would it -appear, was Chinese civilization nearly as ancient as the native -scholars would have us believe. - -When the early Chinese entered China, they found non-Chinese peoples in -different parts of that vast area which they ultimately welded into an -empire. They were an inland people and did not invent boats; they did -not originate the agricultural mode of life but adopted it, using the -seeds and implements they had acquired; nor did they invent the -potter’s wheel with which they were familiar from the earliest times in -China, having evidently become possessed of it, along with the complex -culture associated with it, before they migrated into the province of -Shensi. Nor could an agrarian people like the Chinese have been the -originators of the belief in the existence of “Isles of the Blest” in -the Eastern Ocean; they were not alone in Asia in believing in a -Western Paradise situated among the mountains. - -The Chinese, as Laufer demonstrates in his Jade, did not pass through -in China that culture stage called the “Neolithic”. When they first -settled in Shensi, they searched for and found jade, as did the -carriers of bronze who first entered Europe. There was obviously an -acquired psychological motive for the search for jade, and the evidence -of Chinese jade symbolism demonstrates to the full that it had been -acquired from those who had transferred to jade the earlier symbolism -of shells, pearls, and precious metals. In the chapter devoted to jade -it is shown that this view is confirmed by the evidence afforded by -Chinese customs connected with jade, shells, pearls, &c. - -In no country in the world are the processes of culture drifting and -culture mixing made more manifest than in China. The Chinese dragon is, -as Professor Elliot Smith puts it, a “composite wonder beast”. -Throughout this volume it is shown to yield, when dissected, remarkable -evidence regarding the varied influences under which it acquired its -highly complex character. The fact that a Chinese dragon charm closely -resembles a Scottish serpent charm is of special interest in this -connection. When, however, it is found that China obtained certain -myths and practices from the area called by its writers “Fu-lin” (the -Byzantine Empire), and that not only Byzantine but Ægean influences are -traceable in the Celtic field, the charm-link between Gaelic Scotland -and China may not, after all, be regarded as “far-fetched”. The same -may be said regarding the curious similarity between the myths and -practices connected with shells, and especially cockle-shells, in Japan -and the Scottish Hebrides. Although the West Highlanders and the -inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun were never brought into -contact, it may be that similar cultural influences drifted east and -west from their area of origin, and that the carriers were the ancient -mariners who introduced the same type of vessel into far-separated -oceans. - -As in China, we do not in Japan find a culture of purely native origin, -but rather one which has grown up from a mass of imported elements as -varied as the racial types that compose the present-day population. -Both in China and Japan these imported elements have been subjected to -the influences of time and locality and infused with national ideas and -ideals. The processes of growth and change have not, however, concealed -the sources from which certain of the early ideas emanated in varying -degrees of development. - -The early native history of Japan is, like that of China, no more -worthy of acceptance than are the long-discarded English and Scottish -fables regarding Brute and Scota. - -The data accumulated in this volume tend to show, although we have no -direct evidence of systematic missionary enterprise earlier than that -of the Buddhists, that the influential religious cults of ancient times -that flourished in Mesopotamia and in the Egyptian Empire (which -included part of Western Asia) appear to have left their impress on the -intellectual life of even far-distant peoples. Apparently modes of -thought were transmitted along direct and indirect avenues of -intercourse by groups of traders. Even before trade routes were opened, -religious beliefs and practices appear to have been introduced into -distant lands by prospectors and by settlers who founded colonies from -which later colonies “budded”. When the same set of complexes are found -in widely separated areas, it is difficult to accept the view that they -originated from the same particular experiences and the same set of -circumstances, especially when it is made manifest that the complexes -in the older centre of culture reflect strictly local physical -conditions, and even the local political conditions that resulted in a -fusion of peoples and of their myths, symbols, and religious beliefs -and practices. - - -DONALD A. MACKENZIE. - - - - - - - - -CONTENTS - - - Chap. Page - - I. The Dawn of Civilization 1 - II. A Far-travelled Invention 13 - III. Ancient Mariners and Explorers 24 - IV. The World-wide Search for Wealth 36 - V. Chinese Dragon Lore 46 - VI. Bird and Serpent Myths 66 - VII. Dragon Folk-stories 76 - VIII. The Kingdom under the Sea 95 - IX. The Islands of the Blest 106 - X. The Mother-goddess of China and Japan 131 - XI. Tree-, Herb-, and Stone-lore 158 - XII. How Copper-culture reached China 189 - XIII. The Symbolism of Jade 211 - XIV. Creation Myths and the God and Goddess Cults 256 - XV. Mythical and Legendary Kings 274 - XVI. Myths and Doctrines of Taoism 297 - XVII. Culture Mixing in Japan 324 - XVIII. Japanese Gods and Dragons 345 - XIX. Rival Deities of Life and Death, Sunshine and Storm 357 - XX. The Dragon-slayer and His Rival 371 - XXI. Ancient Mikados and Heroes 378 - - - - - - - - -LIST OF PLATES - - - Facing Page - -THE GOD OF THUNDER (in colour) Frontispiece - - From a Chinese picture in the John Rylands Library, Manchester - -POTTER’S WHEEL, SIMLA, INDIA 16 - - From a sketch by J. Lockwood Kipling in the Victoria and Albert - Museum - -A MODERN CHINESE JUNK ON THE CANTON RIVER 24 - -CHINESE DRAGON-BOAT FESTIVAL 40 - - From a picture woven in coloured silks and gold thread in the - Victoria and Albert Museum - -CHINESE DRAGONS AMONG THE CLOUDS 48 - - From a painting in the British Museum - -CHINESE DRAGON VASE WITH CARVED WOOD STAND 56 - - (Victoria and Albert Museum) - -CARP LEAPING FROM WAVES 81 - - From a Japanese painting in the British Museum - -CHINESE PORCELAIN VASE DECORATED WITH FIVE-CLAWED DRAGONS RISING -FROM WAVES 88 - - (Victoria and Albert Museum) - -RESONANT STONE OF JADE SHOWING DRAGON WITH CLOUD ORNAMENTS, -SUSPENDED FROM CARVED BLACKWOOD FRAME 96 - - By courtesy of B. Laufer, Field Museum of Natural History, - Chicago - -TORTOISE AND SNAKE 104 - - From a rubbing in the British Museum of a Chinese original - -GATHERING FRUITS OF LONGEVITY 112 - - From a Chinese painting in the British Museum - -SHOU SHAN (i.e. “HILLS OF LONGEVITY”), THE TAOIST PARADISE 124 - - From a woven silk picture in the Victoria and Albert Museum - -THE CHINESE SI WANG MU (JAPANESE SEIOBO) AND MAO NU 136 - - From a Japanese painting (by Hidenobu) in the British Museum - -MOUNTAIN VIEW WITH SCHOLAR’S RETREAT 140 - - From a Chinese painting in the British Museum - -GENII AT THE COURT OF SI WANG MU 152 - - From a Chinese painting in the British Museum - -SQUARE BRICK OF THE HAN DYNASTY, WITH MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES AND -INSCRIPTIONS 160 - -CHINESE BOWL WITH SYMBOL OF LONGEVITY 168 - - (Victoria and Albert Museum) - -GOATS CROPPING PLANT OF LIFE 172 - - From the jade sculpture in the Scottish National Museum, - Edinburgh - -THE GODDESS OF THE DEW 184 - - From a Chinese painting in the British Museum - -AN OFFERING TO THE GODS, PEKING 200 - - From a photograph by H. G. Ponting, F.R.G.S. - -ANCIENT BRONZE ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS ON THE CITY WALL, PEKING 208 - -MORTUARY FISH IN JADE, OF HAN PERIOD 212 - -FIGURE OF BUTTERFLY IN WHITE AND BROWNISH-YELLOW JADE, TSʼIN OR -HAN PERIOD 212 - -AMULETS FOR THE DEAD, AND OTHER OBJECTS IN JADE 220 - - The subjects on pages 212 and 220 are reproduced by courtesy - of B. Laufer, author of “Jade”, Field Museum, Chicago - -THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN, PEKING 228 - - From a photograph by H. G. Ponting, F.R.G.S. - -THREE SAGES STUDYING SYMBOL OF YIN AND YANG 230 - - From a Chinese painting in the British Museum - -KWAN-YIN, THE CHINESE “GODDESS OF MERCY” 271 - - From a porcelain figure decorated in soft enamels in the Victoria - and Albert Museum - -LAO TZE AND DISCIPLES 300 - - From a Chinese painting in the British Museum - -THE MOST FAMOUS PAI-LO (GODDESS SYMBOL) IN CHINA: AT THE MENG -TOMBS, NEAR PEKING 328 - - From a photograph by H. G. Ponting, F.R.G.S. - -THE FAMOUS OLD TORI-WI (GODDESS SYMBOL), MIYAJIMA, JAPAN 338 - - From a photograph by H. G. Ponting, F.R.G.S. - -THE JAPANESE TREASURE SHIP 352 - - From a woodcut in the British Museum - -SUSA-NO-WO MAKING A COMPACT WITH DISEASE SPIRITS 360 - - From a Japanese painting (by Hoga) in the British Museum - -AMATERÂSU, THE SUN GODDESS, EMERGING FROM HER CAVE 368 - - From a Japanese painting in the British Museum - -SEIOBO (= THE CHINESE SI WANG MU) WITH ATTENDANT AND THREE RISHI 380 - - From a Japanese painting (by Sanraku) in the British Museum - - - - - - - - -MYTHS OF CHINA AND JAPAN - - -CHAPTER I - -THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION - - Chinese Culture—Had it Independent Origin?—Evolution in Human - Affairs—Stratification Theory—The Mystery of Mind—Man’s First - Philosophy of Life—Influences exercised by Ancient - Civilizations—Culture Mixing—The Idea of Progress—Art in the - Pleistocene Age—Introduction of Agriculture—Birth of Osirian - Civilization—The “Water of Greenness” as “Water of Life”—How - Commerce Began—Introduction of Copper-working—The Oldest Calendar - in the World—The “Kings of Mankind”—Ancient Man and Modern Man. - - -The destinies of a people are shaped by their modes of thought, and -their real history is therefore the history of their culture. The -Chinese frame of mind has made the Chinese the people they are and -China the country it is. Every section of society has been swayed by -this far-reaching and enduring influence, the sources of which lie in -remote antiquity. It is the force that has even been shaping public -opinion and directing political movements. Emperors and leaders of -thought have been uplifted by it or cast down by it. - -To understand China, it is necessary that we should inquire into its -inner history—the history of its culture—so as to get at the Chinese -point of view and look at things through Chinese eyes. That inner -history is in part a record of its early experiences among the nations -of the earth. There was a time when China was “in the making”, when the -little leaven that leavened the whole lump began to move, when that -culture which spread over a vast area was confined to a small centre -and to a comparatively small group of people. Who were this people, -where were they situated, what influences were at work to stir them and -shape their ambitions, and what secret did they learn which gave them -power over the minds and bodies of about a third of the inhabitants of -the globe? In short, how and where did Chinese culture originate, and -how did it spread and become firmly established? Was it a thing of -purely local growth? Did it begin to be quite independently of all -other cultures? Does it owe its virility and distinctiveness among the -cultures of ancient and modern times to the influence of the locality -in which it had “independent origin”? Had it an independent origin? - -These queries open up the larger problem as to the origin of -civilization in the world. At this point, therefore, we must decide -whether or not we are to accept the idea of evolution in human affairs. -Can the principles of biological evolution be applied to the problems -of ethnology (using the term in its widest sense to include the -physical and cultural history of mankind)? Can we accept the theory -that in isolated quarters of the globe separated communities were -stirred by natural laws to make progress in adapting themselves to -their environments, and that, once a beginning was made, separated -communities developed on similar lines? Did each ancient civilization -have its natural periods of growth and decay? Were separated -communities uninfluenced during these periods by human minds and wills? -Were their destinies shaped by natural laws, or by the cumulative force -of public opinion? Was it a natural law that made men abandon the -hunting and adopt the agricultural mode of life? Did certain -communities of men, influenced by natural laws in ancient times, begin -to shape their religious systems by first worshipping groups of spirits -and ultimately, having passed through a sequence of well-defined -stages, find themselves elevated by these natural laws to the stage of -monotheism? Is it because certain races have, for some mysterious -reason, been prompted to pass through these stages more quickly than -others, that they are deserving of the term “progressive” while others -must be characterized as “backward”? - -If these questions are answered in the affirmative, we must assume that -we have solved the riddle of Mind. Those who apply the principles of -biological evolution to human affairs are in the habit of referring to -laws that control the workings of the human mind. But what do we really -know about the workings of the human mind? This question has only to be -asked so that the hazardous character of the fashion of thinking -adopted by extreme exponents of the Evolution School may be emphasized. -It cannot but be admitted that we know little or nothing regarding the -human mind. What happens when we think? How are memories stored in the -brain? How are emotions caused? What is Consciousness? How does the -Will operate? Grave psychological problems have to be solved before we -can undertake the responsibility of discussing with any degree of -confidence the laws that are supposed to govern human thought and -action. - -The researches into the early history of man, of about a generation -ago, were believed by some to “have revealed the essential similarity -with which, under many superficial differences, the human mind has -elaborated its first crude philosophy of life”. It was found that -similar beliefs and practices obtained among widely separated -communities, and it was not suspected that the influence exercised by -direct and indirect cultural contact between “progressive” and -“backward” communities extended to such great distances as has since -been found to be the case. Prospecting routes by land and sea were the -avenues along which cultural influences “drifted”. Early man was much -more enterprising as a trader and explorer than was believed in Tylor’s -day. The evidence accumulated of late years tends to show that almost -no part of the globe remained immune to the influences exercised by the -great ancient civilizations, and that these civilizations were never in -a state of “splendid isolation” at any period in their histories. In -the light of this knowledge it is becoming more and more clear that -Victorian ethnologists were inclined to make too much of resemblances, -and failed to take into account the differences that a more intensive -study of local cultures have revealed. There were, of course, -resemblances, which suggest the influence of cultural contact and the -settlement among backward peoples of colonists from progressive -communities, but there were also differences of beliefs and customs -which were of local origin and can hardly be characterized as -“superficial”. One of the results of contact was the process of -“culture mixing”. Customs and fashions of thinking were introduced into -a country and blended with local customs and local modes of thought. In -early China, as will be shown, there was “culture mixing”. The Chinese -frame of mind is the result of compromises effected in remote times. - -How, then, did the idea of progress originate? Is there in the human -mind an instinct which stirs mankind to achieve progress? If so, how -does it come about that some peoples have failed to move until brought -into contact with progressive races? Why did the Melanesians, for -instance, remain in the Stone Age until reached by the missionary and -the sandal-wood trader? The missionaries and the traders caused them to -advance in a brief period from the Stone Age to the Age of Steel and -Machinery. Can it be maintained that in ancient days no sudden changes -took place? Did the people, for instance, who introduced bronze-working -into a country introduce nothing else? Did they leave behind their -beliefs, their myths, their customs, and their stories? - -When it is asked how progress originated, we can only turn to such -evidence as is available regarding the early history of “Modern Man”. -At a remote period, dating back in Europe to the Pleistocene Age, men -lived in organized communities and pursued the hunting mode of life. -Their culture is revealed by their pictorial art in the prehistoric -cave-dwellings of France and Spain, and their decorative art by their -finely engraved implements and weapons. [1] This art reached a high -state of perfection. In some aspects it compares favourably with modern -art. [2] Evidently it had a long history, and was practised by those -who were endowed with the artistic faculty and had received a training. -These early men, who belonged to the Cro-Magnon races, were traders as -well as hunters. In some of their “inland stations” have been found -shells that had been imported from the Mediterranean coast. - -The hunting mode of life prevailed also among the proto-Egyptians in -the Nile valley, an area which was less capable in remote times of -maintaining a large population than were the wide and fertile plains of -Europe. Egypt was thinly peopled until the agricultural mode of life -was introduced. Someone discovered how to make use of the barley that -grew wild in the Nile valley and western Asia. In time the seeds were -cultivated, and some little community thus provided itself with an -abundant food-supply. Men’s minds were afterwards engaged in solving -the problem how to extend the area available for cultivation in the -narrow Nile valley. Nature was at hand to make suggestions to them. -Each year the River Nile came down in flood and fertilized the parched -and sun-burnt wastes. The waters caused the desert to “blossom like the -rose”. Intelligent observers perceived that if the process of -water-fertilization were maintained, as in the Delta region, they could -extend their little farms and form new ones. The art of irrigation was -discovered and gradually adopted, with the result that the narrow river -valley, which had been thinly peopled during the Hunting Period, became -capable of maintaining a large population. - -In what particular area the agricultural mode of life was first -introduced, it is impossible to say. Some favour southern Palestine and -some southern Mesopotamia. Those who favour Egypt [3] can refer to -interesting and important evidence in support of their view. It is the -only ancient country, for instance, in which there are traditions -regarding the man [4] who introduced the agricultural mode of life. -This was Osiris, a priest-king [5] who was deified, or a god to whom -was credited the discovery, made by a man or group of men, of how to -grow corn. Plutarch’s version of the Egyptian legend states: “Osiris, -being now become King of Egypt, applied himself towards civilizing his -countrymen, by turning them from their former indigent and barbarous -course of life; he moreover taught them how to cultivate and improve -the fruits of the earth”. Evidence has been forthcoming that the -pre-Dynastic Egyptians were agriculturists. The bodies of many of them -have been found preserved in their graves in the hot dry sands of Upper -Egypt. “From the stomachs and intestines of these prehistoric people”, -writes Professor G. Elliot Smith, “I was able to recover large -quantities of food materials, in fact, the last meals eaten before -death.” Careful examination was made of the contents of the stomachs. -“Almost every sample contained husks of barley, and in about 10 per -cent of the specimens husks of millet could be identified with -certainty.” The millet found in these bodies is nearly related to the -variety “which is now cultivated in the East Indies”. [6] - -Here we have proof that the agricultural mode of life obtained in the -Nile valley over sixty centuries ago, and that the seeds of the -cultivated variety of millet, which grows wild in North Africa and -southern Asia, were carried to far-distant areas by ancient traders and -colonists. These facts have, as will be found, an important bearing on -the early history of Chinese civilization. - -Our immediate concern, however, is with the history of early -civilization. In the Nile valley man made progress when he was able to -provide something which he required, by the intelligent utilization of -means at his disposal. No natural law prompted him to cultivate corn -and irrigate the sun-parched soil. He did not become an agriculturist -by instinct. He conducted observations, exercised his reasoning -faculty, made experiments, and a great discovery was forthcoming. The -man whose memory is enshrined in that of Osiris was one of the great -benefactors of the human race. When he solved the problem of how to -provide an abundant supply of food, he made it possible for a large -population to live in a small area. It is told of Osiris that “he gave -them (the Egyptians) a body of laws to regulate their conduct by”. No -doubt the early hunters observed laws which regulated conduct in the -cave-home as well as on the hunting-field. The fact that a great -pictorial art was cultivated by Aurignacian man in western Europe, -about 20,000 years ago, indicates that the social organization had been -sufficiently well developed to permit of certain individuals of a -class—possibly the priestly class—devoting themselves to the study of -art, while others attended to the food-supply. Aurignacian art could -never have reached the degree of excellence it did had there not been a -school of art—apparently religious art—and a system of laws that -promoted its welfare. - -When, in Egypt, the agricultural mode of life was introduced, and an -abundant supply of food was assured, new laws became a necessity, so -that the growing communities might be kept under control. These laws -were given a religious significance. Osiris “instructed them (the -Egyptians) in that reverence and worship which they were to pay to the -gods”. Society was united by the bonds of a religious organization, -and, as is found, Nilotic religion had a close association with the -agricultural mode of life. It reflected the experiences of the early -farmers; it reflected, too, the natural phenomena of the Nile valley. -Water—the Nile water—was the fertilizing agency. It was the “water of -life”. The god Osiris was closely associated with the Nile; he was the -“fresh” or the “new” water that flowed in due season after the trying -period of “the low Nile”, during which the land was parched by the -burning sun and every green thing was coated by the sand-storms. “Ho, -Osiris! the inundation comes,” cried the priest when the Nile began to -rise. “Horus comes; he recognizes his father in thee, youthful in thy -name of Fresh Water.” [7] The literal rendering is: “Horus comes; he -beholds his father in thee, greenness in thy name of Water of -Greenness”. The reference is to the “new water” which flows quite green -for the first few days of the annual inundation. The “new water” -entered the soil and vegetation sprang up. Osiris was the principle of -life; he was also the ghost-god who controlled the river. As the Nile, -Osiris was regarded as the source of all life—the creator and sustainer -and ruler in one. - -When the discovery of how to grow corn was passed from people to people -and from land to land, not only the seeds and agricultural implements -were passed along, but the ceremonies and religious beliefs connected -with the agricultural mode of life in the area of origin. The -ceremonies were regarded as of as much importance as the implements. - -It need not surprise us, therefore, to find, as we do find, not only -North African millet in the East Indies, but North African religious -beliefs connected with agriculture in widely separated countries. -Osirian religious ideas and myths were, it would appear, distributed -over wide areas and among various races. There is therefore a germ of -historical truth in the account given by Plutarch of the missionary -efforts of Osiris. “With the same disposition”, we read, “he (Osiris) -afterwards travelled over the rest of the world, inducing the people -everywhere to submit to his discipline.... The Greeks conclude him to -have been the same person with their Dionysos or Bacchus.” [8] - -In the process of time the Egyptians found that they were able to -produce a larger food-supply than they required for their own needs. -They were consequently able to devote their surplus to stimulating -trade, so as to obtain from other countries things which were not to be -had in Egypt. They were thus brought into touch with other communities, -and these communities, such as the wood-cutters of Lebanon, were -influenced by Egyptian civilization and stimulated to adopt new modes -of life. Their food-supply was assured by the Egyptian demand for -timber. They received corn from the Nile valley in payment for their -labour. There are references in the Egyptian texts to the exports of -wheat to North Syria and Asia Minor. - -When the great discovery was made of how to work copper, the early -agriculturists achieved rapid progress. Boats were built more easily -and in larger numbers, new weapons were produced, and the Upper -Egyptians conquered the Lower Egyptians, with the result that Egypt was -united under a single king. With this union, which was followed by a -period of remarkable activity, begins the history of Ancient Egypt. - -The man, remembered as Osiris, who first sowed his little corn patch, -sowed also the seeds from which grew a mighty empire and a great -civilization. His discovery spread from people to people, and from land -to land, and a new era was inaugurated in the history of the world. -Progress was made possible when mankind were led from the wide -hunting-fields to the little fields of the Stone Age [9] farmer, and -shown how they could live pleasant and well-ordered lives in large -communities. - -The early Egyptian farmers found it necessary to measure time and take -account of the seasons. A Calendar was introduced and adopted during -the prehistoric (Palæolithic) period, [10] and was used by the -Egyptians for thousands of years. Julius Cæsar adapted this Calendar -for use in Rome. It was subsequently adjusted by Pope Gregory and -others, and is now in use all over the civilized world. Each time we -hang up a new calendar, therefore, we are reminded of the man who -stimulated progress over vast areas by sowing corn, so as to provide -food for his family in a distant land at a far-distant period of time. - -When we consider the problem of the origin of progress, let us not -forget him and others like him—those early thinkers and discoverers to -whom all humanity owe a debt of gratitude. The few invent, the many -adopt; the few think and lead, and the many follow. - -“No abstract doctrine”, writes Sir James F. Frazer in this connection, -“is more false and mischievous than that of the natural equality of -men.... The experience of common life sufficiently contradicts such a -vain imagination.... The men of keenest intelligence and strongest -characters lead the rest and shape the moulds into which, outwardly at -least, society is cast.... The true rulers of men are the thinkers who -advance knowledge.... It is knowledge which, in the long run, directs -and controls the forces of society. Thus the discoverers of new truths -are the real though uncrowned and unsceptred kings of mankind.” [11] - -Progress has its origin in Mind. It has been manifested in the past in -those districts in which the mind of man was applied to overcome -natural obstacles and to develop natural resources. The histories of -the great ancient civilizations do not support the idea of an -evolutionary process which had its origin in human instinct. “There -has”, Professor G. Elliot Smith writes, “been no general or widespread -tendency on the part of human societies to strive after what by -Europeans is regarded as intellectual or material progress. Progressive -societies are rare because it requires a very complex series of factors -to compel men to embark upon the hazardous process of striving after -such artificial advancement.” - -Professor Elliot Smith will have none of what Dr. W. H. R. Rivers -refers to as “crude evolutionary ideas”. “The history of man”, he -writes, “will be truly interpreted, not by means of hazardous and -mistaken analogies with biological evolution, but by the application of -the true historical method. The causes of the modern actions of mankind -are deeply rooted in the past. But the spirit of man has ever been the -same: and the course of ancient history can only be properly -appreciated when it is realized that the same human motives whose -nature can be studied in our fellow-men to-day actuated the men of old -also.” [12] - -In the chapters that immediately follow it will be shown that separated -communities were brought into close touch by traders. The term -“trading”, however, refers, especially in early times, chiefly to -prospecting and the exploiting of locally unappreciated forms of -wealth. It was not until after civilization had spread far and wide -that permanent trade routes were established. Some overland routes -became less important when sea routes were ultimately opened. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER II - -A FAR-TRAVELLED INVENTION - - The Potter’s Wheel—An Egyptian Invention—The Wheel in Theology—Clay - Pots and Stone Vessels—Skilled Artisans produce Poor Pottery—The - Yakut Evidence—Female Potters—Pot Symbol of Mother-goddess—Potter’s - Wheel worked by Men—Egyptian “Wheel” adopted in Crete, Babylonia, - Iran, India, and China—No “Wheel” in America—Secular and Religious - Pottery in China, Japan, India, and Rome—Coarse - Grave-Pottery—Potter’s Wheel as Symbol of Creator—Chinese Emperors - as Potters—Culture Heroes—Association of Agriculture with - Pottery—Egyptian Ideas in Far East. - - -What bearing, it may be asked, have the discoveries made in Egypt on -the early history of China? Is there evidence to show that these -widely-separated countries were brought into contact in remote times? -Did the primitive Chinese receive and adopt Egyptian inventions, and if -so, how were such inventions conveyed across the wide and difficult -country lying between the Mediterranean coast and the Yellow Sea? Is -there any proof that trade routes extended in ancient times right -across Asia? Did prospecting and trading ancient mariners cross the -Indian Ocean and coast round to Chinese waters? - -Interesting evidence regarding cultural contact is afforded by the -potter’s wheel. This wonderful machine was invented in Egypt some time -before the Fourth Dynasty (about 3000 B.C.), and in its area of origin -it exercised an influence not only on ceramic craftsmanship but on -religious ideas. It was regarded as a gift of the gods, as in ancient -Scotland bronze weapons, implements, musical instruments, &c., were -regarded as gifts from the fairies. Apparently the invention was first -introduced in Memphis, the ancient capital, the chief god of which was -Ptah, the supreme deity “of all handicraftsmen and of all workers in -metal and stone”. Ptah was already regarded as the creator of the -primeval egg from which the universe was hatched, and of the “sun egg” -and the “moon egg”. He was evidently a deity whose life-history goes -back to primitive times when the mother-goddess was symbolized as the -goose that laid the primeval egg. The problem of whether the egg or the -bird came first was solved by the priests of the Ptah cult of Memphis, -who regarded their deity as the creator of the “egg”. After the -potter’s wheel came into use, they depicted Ptah turning the “egg” upon -it. The manufacture of wheel-made pottery thus came to have religious -associations. It was closely connected with the culture of Egypt which -had its basis in the agricultural mode of life. The arts and crafts -were all stimulated by religious ideas; they were cultivated by the -priestly class in temple workshops, and were essentially an expression -of Egyptian beliefs and conceptions. - -Before the potter’s wheel came into use, the potter’s art had -degenerated. Vases, bowls, jars, platters, and other vessels were made -of such costly stones as diorite, alabaster, and porphyry; these were -drilled out with copper implements. Copper vessels were also made. The -discovery of how to work copper had caused the craftsmen to neglect the -potter’s art, and to work with enthusiasm in the hardest stone until -they achieved a high degree of skill. The coarse pottery of the -pre-wheel period is therefore no indication that the civilization had -reached a stage of decadence. This fact should be a warning to those -archæologists who are prone to conclude that if the pottery taken from -a stratum in some particular area is “coarse”, the people who produced -it at the period it represents were necessarily in a backward -condition. The evidence afforded by Yakut products is of special -interest in this connection. The Yakuts are usually referred to as “the -most intelligent and progressive people in Siberia”. They are, however, -poor potters. They never glaze their vessels or use the potter’s wheel. -At the great Russian market of Yakutsk they refuse to purchase -wheel-made crockery, and purchase instead the raw clay with which to -make their own hand-made vessels, which are almost as coarse as those -of the Stone Age. But although the technique displayed in their pottery -is crude, they are famous for their excellent wood-carving and iron -forged-work. [13] A people cannot, therefore, be judged by their -pottery alone. It may be that those ancient peoples who are found to -have been poor potters were skilled and progressive in other spheres of -activity. The Hebrews were poor artisans and never invented anything, -but they have given the world a great religious literature. - -After the potter’s wheel was introduced in Memphis, a new era in the -history of pottery was inaugurated. The enclosed baking-furnace came -into use at the same time, and the potter’s art and technique speedily -attained a wonderfully high degree of excellence. But the old crude, -hand-made pottery was still being produced. It was consistently -produced until Egypt ceased to be a great and independent kingdom. -Indeed, it is being manufactured even in our own day. - -The reason why good and bad pottery are produced in a single -country—and Egypt is no exception to this rule—is that the manufacture -of hand-made vessels was in ancient times essentially a woman’s -avocation. The potter’s wheel was invented by man, and credited to a -god, and has from the beginning been worked by men only. There was -apparently a religious significance in the connection of the sexes with -the different processes. The clay pot was, in ancient Egypt, a symbol -of the mother-goddess. [14] Pots used in connection with the worship of -the Great Mother were apparently produced by her priestesses. As women -played their part in agricultural ceremonies, so did they play their -part—evidently a prominent one—in producing the goddess’s pot symbols. -The coarse jars in which were stored wines and oils and food-stuffs -were gifts of the Great Mother, the giver of all; she was the -inexhaustible sacred Pot—the womb of Nature. Domestic pottery used by -women was, very properly, the ancient folks appear to have argued, -produced by women. - -“It will be noted”, writes O. T. Mason in this connection, “that the -feminine gender is used throughout in speaking of aboriginal potters. -This is because every piece of such ware is the work of woman’s hands. -She quarried the clay, and, like the patient beast of burden, bore it -home on her back. She washed it and kneaded it and rolled it into -fillets. These she wound carefully and symmetrically until the vessel -was built up. She further decorated and burned it, and wore it out in -household drudgery. The art at first was woman’s.” [15] - -In many countries the connection of women with hand-made and of men -with wheel-made pottery obtains even in our day. The following -statement by two American scholars, who have produced a short but -authoritative paper on the potter’s art, is the result of a close -investigation of evidence collected over a wide area, and carefully -digested and summarized: [16] - -“The potter’s wheel is the creation of man, and therefore is an -independent act of invention which was not evolved from any contrivance -utilized during the period of hand-made ceramic ware. The two processes -have grown out of two radically distinct spheres of human activity. The -wheel, so speak, came from another world. It had no point of contact -with any tool that existed in the old industry, but was brought in from -an outside quarter as a novel affair when man appropriated to himself -the work hitherto cultivated by woman. The development was one from -outside, not from within. All efforts, accordingly, which view the -subject solely from the technological angle, and try to derive the -wheel from previous devices of the female potter, are futile and -misleading. It is as erroneous as tracing the plough back to the hoe or -digging-stick, whereas, in fact, the two are in no historical -interrelation and belong to fundamentally different culture strata and -periods—the hoe to the gardening activity of woman, the plough to the -agricultural activity of man. Both in India and China the division of -ceramic labour sets apart the thrower or wheel-potter, and distinctly -separates him from the moulder. The potters in India, who work on the -wheel, do not intermarry with those who use a mould or make images. -They form a caste by themselves.” [17] - -The oldest wheel-made pottery is found in Egypt. There can be no doubt -that the potter’s wheel was invented in that country. It was imported -into Crete, which had trading relations with the merchants of the -ancient Pharaohs, as far back as about 3000 B.C. Before the wheel was -adopted the Cretans made stone vessels, following Egyptian patterns, -but using soft stone instead of hard. Their hand-made pottery -degenerated, as did the Egyptian. “Pottery came again to its own in -both countries”, writes Mr. H. R. Hall, “with the invention of the -potter’s wheel and the baking-furnace.” [18] - -The potter’s wheel must have found a ready market in the old days. It -was adopted, in time, in western Europe; it was quickly “taken up” in -Babylonia and in Iran, and was ultimately introduced into India and -China. But only the high Asiatic civilizations were capable of -constructing it, and consequently wheel-made pottery is not found -everywhere. Among the “aboriginal Americans” the wheel was never -employed. It is an interesting fact that the mind of man, which is -alleged to “work” on the same lines everywhere, never “evolved” a -potter’s wheel in Mexico or Peru. [19] Major Gordon tells that in Assam -[20] “the women fashion the pots by hand; they do not use the potter’s -wheel”. Similar evidence is obtainable in various other countries. In -China there are wheel-potters and moulders, and a distinction is drawn -between them by ancient writers. “This clear distinction is accentuated -by Chu Yen in his treatise on pottery. [21] He justly observes also -that the articles made by the wheel-potters were all intended for -cooking, with the exception of the vessel yu, which was designed for -measuring; while the output of the moulders, who made the ceremonial -vessels kuei and tou by availing themselves of the plumb-line, was -intended for sacrificial use. Also here, in like manner as in ancient -Rome, India, and Japan, the idea may have prevailed that a wheel-made -jar is of a less sacred character than one made by hand.” [22] Here -then we touch on another point which must be borne in mind by those who -draw conclusions regarding ancient cultures by means of pottery. In -Britain, for instance, a rather coarse pottery is found in graves. It -is possible that a better pottery was made for everyday use. The -conservatism of burial customs may have caused coarser pottery to be -put into graves than the early folks were capable of producing during -the period at which the burial took place. - -The wheel-pottery was as sacred to some cults as the hand-made was to -others. Even the potter’s wheel was sacred. In Egypt the Ptah cult -adopted it, as has been stated; in India it was a symbol of the -Creator; in China (as in ancient Egypt) the idea originally prevailed -that the Creator was a potter who turned on his wheel the sun and the -moon, man and woman, although in time this myth became a philosophical -abstraction. The symbolism of Jeremiah has similarly a history: - - - “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the - Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in - mine hand, O house of Israel.”—Chapter XVIII, 6. - - -St. Paul, too, refers to the potter: - - - “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the - thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? - Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make - one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Romans, ix, - 20–21.) - - -Chinese emperors were compared to potters. They were credited with the -power to control a nation as the potter controlled his wheel. The -ancient peoples who adopted the Egyptian potter’s wheel evidently -learned that it was of divine origin. They adopted the Egyptian beliefs -and myths associated with it. Withal, the wheel was associated with the -agricultural mode of life, having originated in a country of -agriculturists. Ptah, the divine potter, was, like all the other -prominent gods of Egypt, fused with Osiris—the god who was, among other -things, the “culture hero”. The Chinese “culture hero”, Shun, who -became emperor, is said to have “practised husbandry, fishing, and -making pottery jars”. He manufactured clay vessels without flaw on the -river bank. [23] - -The Chinese culture hero, Shen-ming (“Divine Husbandman”) “was regarded -as the father of agriculture and the discoverer of the healing property -of plants”. In ancient Chinese lore “we meet a close association of -agriculture with pottery, and an illustration of the fact that -husbandman and potter were one and the same person during the primeval -period”. [24] - -Memories of Ptah-Osiris clung to the potter’s wheel. The trade routes -must have hummed with stories about the god who had gifted this -wonderful contrivance to mankind. These stories were localized in -various countries, and they took on the colour of the period during -which the wheel was imported. In Japan, the Ptah legend has been given -a Buddhistic significance. The potter’s wheel is reputed there to be -the invention of the famous Korean monk, Gyõgi (A.D. 670–749). No doubt -the first potter’s wheel reached Japan from Korea, whence came the -conquerors of the Ainus. But there is evidence that it was in use long -before Buddhism “drifted” along the sea route from the mainland in the -sixth century, to become curiously mixed up with Shintoism two -centuries later. The priests of Buddhism, who transformed the Shinto -gods into “avatars” of Buddha, no doubt also identified the far-carried -Ptah-Osiris with their monk—the Japanese “culture hero”. - -The earliest pottery in Japan was manufactured by the Ainus and was -“hand-shaped” by the women. A similar pottery was produced in Korea. -The wheel-made variety made its appearance when Chinese culture spread -through Korea during the Silla kingdom period, which began about the -time (A.D. 59) when the earliest Japanese, according to their own -traditions, migrated to the islands that bear their name. No doubt the -traders were active on sea and land long before the Japanese conquered -the islands of the Ainus and the Chinese overran Korea. Great -migrations and conquests in ancient times were indirectly stimulated by -trade. A new culture was introduced into backward communities by the -early prospectors and trading colonists, and these communities in time -acquired weapons, reared the domesticated horse, and took to the sea -after having learned how to build and navigate ships similar to those -introduced by the traders. - -When the potter’s wheel was introduced into Korea, the clay vessels -were shaped in imitation of Chinese pottery. There can remain no doubt, -therefore, as to whence the wheel came. China was the chief centre of -early civilization in the Far East, and its influence spread far and -wide. There are some who think that Burma was during its early period -in closer touch with China than with India; but more evidence than is -yet available is required to establish this theory. The earliest -civilization in southern China of which we have knowledge was of Indian -origin. The sea traders who had crossed the Indian Ocean reached the -Burmese coast several centuries before the Christian era, as the -archaic character of Burmese river boats suggests. It may be, however, -that the potter’s wheel was carried along the mid-Asian trade routes -long before the shippers coasted round to Chinese waters. There can be -no doubt that the potter’s wheel was introduced into China at a very -remote period. Investigators are unable to discover any native legends -regarding its origin. Nor are there any traditions regarding female -potters. The culture heroes of China who made the first pots appear to -have used the wheel, and the Chinese potter’s wheel is identical with -the Egyptian. - -When the wheel was introduced into Japan, hand-made pottery was in use -for religious purposes, and for long afterwards the vessels used at -Shinto shrines were not turned on the wheel. In India, hand-made -pottery was similarly reserved for religious worship after the -wheel-made variety came into use. [25] The wheel did not reach southern -India until its Iron Age. [26] When the southern India Iron Age began -is uncertain. It was not, of course, an “Age” in the real sense, but a -cultural “stage”. Iron was known and apparently in use during the -Aryo-Indian Vedic period in the north. [27] - -The potter’s wheel was introduced into Babylonia at a very remote -period. From Babylonia it was carried into Persia. The Avestan word for -kiln is tanura, which is believed, according to Laufer, to be a loan -word from Semitic tanur. - -There are, of course, no records regarding the introduction of the -potter’s wheel into Babylonia, India, or China. All that we know -definitely is that it first came into use in Egypt, and that it was -afterwards adopted in the various ancient centres of civilization from -which cultural influences “flowed” to various areas. With the wheel -went certain religious ideas and customs. These are not found in the -areas unreached by the potter’s wheel. - -China appears to have been influenced at the dawn of its history by the -culture represented by the Egyptian wheel. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER III - -ANCIENT MARINERS AND EXPLORERS - - The Chinese Junk—Kufas—The Ancient “Reed Float” and Skin-buoyed - Raft—“Two floats of the Sky”—Dug-out Canoes—Where Shipping was - developed—Burmese and Chinese Junks resemble Ancient Egyptian - Ships—Cretan and Phœnician Mariners—Africa circumnavigated—Was - Sumeria colonized by Sea-farers?—Egyptian Boats on Sea of - Okhotsk—Japanese and Polynesian Boats—Egyptian Types in - Mediterranean and Northern Europe—Stories of Long Voyages in Small - Craft—Visit of Chinese Junk to the Thames—Solomon’s Ships. - - -Further important evidence regarding cultural contact in early times is -afforded by shipping. How came it about that an inland people like the -primitive Chinese took to seafaring? - -The question that first arises in this connection is: Were ships -invented and developed by a single ancient people, or were they -invented independently by various ancient peoples at different periods? -Were the Chinese junks of independent origin? Or were these junks -developed from early models of vessels—such foreign vessels as first -cruised in Chinese waters? - -Chinese junks are flat-bottomed ships, and the largest of them reach -about 1000 tons. The poops and fore-castles are high, and the masts -carry lug-sails, generally of bamboo splits. They are fitted with -rudders. Often on the bows appear painted or inlaid eyes. These eyes -are found on models of ancient Egyptian ships. - -During the first Han dynasty (about 206 B.C.) junks of “one thousand -kin” (about 15 tons) were regarded as very large vessels. In these -boats the early Chinese navigators appear to have reached Korea and -Japan. But long before they took to the sea there were other mariners -in the China sea. - -The Chinese were, as stated, originally an inland people. They were -acquainted with river kufas (coracles) before they reached the -seashore. These resembled the kufas of the Babylonians referred to by -Herodotus, who wrote: - -“The boats which come down the river to Babylon are circular, and made -of skins. The frames, which are of willow, are cut in the country of -the Armenians above Assyria, and on these, which serve for hulls, a -covering of skins is stretched outside, and thus the boats are made, -without either stem or stern, quite round like a shield.” [28] - -These kufas are still in use in Mesopotamia. They do not seem to have -altered much since the days of Hammurabi, or even of Sargon of Akkad. -The Assyrians crossed rivers on skin floats, and some of the primitive -peoples of mid-Asia are still using the inflated skins of cows as river -“ferry-boats”. But such contrivances hardly enter into the history of -shipping. The modern liner did not “evolve” from either kufa or skin -float. Logs of wood were, no doubt, used to cross rivers at an early -period. The idea of utilizing these may have been suggested to ancient -hunters who saw animals being carried down on trees during a river -flood. But attempts to utilize a tree for crossing a river would have -been disastrous when first made, if the hunters were unable to swim. -Trees are so apt to roll round in water. Besides, they would be useless -if not guided with a punting-pole, expertly manipulated. Early man must -have learned how to navigate a river by using, to begin with, at least -two trees lashed together. In Egypt and Babylonia we find traces of his -first attempts in this connection. The reed float, consisting of two -bundles of reeds, and the raft to which the inflated skins of animals -were attached to give it buoyancy, were in use at an early period on -the Rivers Nile and Euphrates. A raft of this kind had evidently its -origin among a people accustomed, as were the later Assyrians, to use -skin floats when swimming across rivers. There are sculptured -representations of the Assyrian soldiers swimming with inflated skins -under their chests. - -The reed float was in use at a very early period on the Nile. Professor -Breasted says that the two prehistoric floats were “bound firmly -together, side by side, like two huge cigars”, and adds the following -interesting note: “The writer was once without a boat in Nubia, and a -native from a neighbouring village at once hurried away and returned -with a pair of such floats made of dried reeds from the Nile shores. On -this somewhat precarious craft he ferried the writer over a wide -channel to an island in the river. It was the first time that the -author had ever seen this contrivance, and it was not a little -interesting to find a craft which he knew only in the Pyramid texts of -5000 years ago still surviving and in daily use on the ancient river in -far-off Nubia.” - -In the Pyramid texts there are references to the reed floats used by -the souls of kings when being ferried across the river to death. The -gods “bind together the two floats for this King Pepi”, runs a Pyramid -text. “The knots are tied, the ferry-boats are brought together”, says -another, and there are allusions to the ferryman (the prehistoric -Charon) standing in the stern and poling the float. Before the Egyptian -sun-god was placed in a boat, he had “two floats of the sky” to carry -him along the celestial Nile to the horizon. [29] - -The “dug-out” canoe was probably developed from the raft. Men who -drifted timber down a river may have had the idea of a “dug-out” -suggested to them by first shaping a seat on a log, or a “hold” to -secure the food-supply for the river voyage. Pitt Rivers suggests that -after the discovery was made that a hollowed log could be utilized in -water, “the next stage in the development of the canoe would consist in -pointing the ends”. [30] - -In what locality the dug-out canoe was invented it is impossible to say -with absolute certainty. All reliable writers on naval architecture -agree, however, that Egypt was the “cradle” of naval architecture. [31] - -“For the development of the art of shipbuilding,” says Chatterton, “few -countries could be found as suitable as Egypt.... The peacefulness of -the waters of the Nile, the absence of storms, and the rarity of calms, -combined with the fact that, at any rate, during the winter and early -spring months, the gentle north wind blew up the river with the -regularity of a Trade Wind, so enabling the ships to sail against the -stream without the aid of oars—these were just the conditions that many -another nation might have longed for. Very different, indeed, were the -circumstances which had to be wrestled with in the case of the first -shipbuilders and sailormen of Northern Europe.” [32] - -The early Egyptians were continually crossing the river. When they -began to convey stones from their quarries, they required substantial -rafts. Egyptian needs promoted the development of the art of navigation -on a river specially suited for experiments that led to great -discoveries. The demand for wood was always great, and it was -intensified after metal-working had been introduced, because of the -increased quantities of fuel required to feed the furnaces. It became -absolutely necessary for the Egyptians to go far afield in search of -timber. The fact that they received supplies of timber at an early -period from Lebanon is therefore of special interest. Their experiences -in drifting rafts of timber across the Mediterranean from the Syrian -coast apparently not only stimulated naval architecture and increased -the experiences of early navigators, but inaugurated the habit of -organizing seafaring expeditions on a growing scale. “Men”, says -Professor Elliot Smith, “did not take to maritime trafficking either -for aimless pleasure or for idle adventure. They went to sea only under -the pressure of the strongest incentives.” [33] - -The Mediterranean must have been crossed at a very early period. -Settlements of seafarers took place in Crete before 3000 B.C. [34] On -the island have been found flakes of obsidian that were imported at the -dawn of its history from the Island of Melos. No doubt obsidian -artifacts were used in connection with the construction of vessels -before copper implements became common. - -The earliest evidence of shipbuilding as an organized and important -national industry is found in the Egyptian tomb pictures of the Old -Kingdom period (c. 2400 B.C.). Gangs of men, under overseers, are seen -constructing many kinds of boats, large and small. There are records of -organized expeditions dating back 500 years earlier. Pharaoh Snefru -built vessels “nearly one hundred and seventy feet long”. He sent “a -fleet of forty vessels to the Phœnician coast to procure cedar logs -from the slopes of Lebanon”. [35] Expeditions were also sent across the -Red Sea. Vessels with numerous oars, and even vessels with sails, are -depicted on Egyptian prehistoric pottery dating back to anything like -6000 B.C. In no other country in the world was seafaring and -shipbuilding practised at such a remote period. - -The earliest representations of deep-sea boats are found in Egypt. One -is seen in the tomb of Sahure, of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2600 B.C.). A -great expedition sailed to Punt (Somaliland) during the reign of Queen -Halshepsut (c. 1500 B.C.). Five of the highly-developed vessels are -depicted in her temple at Deir-el-Bahari. It is of interest to compare -one of these vessels with a Chinese junk. “Between the Chinese and -Burmese junks of to-day and the Egyptian ships of about six thousand -years ago there are”, writes E. Kebel Chatterton, “many points of -similarity.... Until quite recently, China remained in the same state -of development for four thousand years. If that was so with her arts -and life generally, it has been especially so in the case of her -sailing craft.” Both the Chinese junk and the ancient Egyptian ship -“show a common influence and a remarkable persistence in type”. [36] - -“Are we to believe”, a reader asks, “that the ancient Egyptian -navigators went as far as China? Is there any proof that they made long -voyages? Were the ancient Egyptians not a people who lived in isolation -for a prolonged period?” [37] - -It is not known definitely how far the ancient Egyptian mariners went -after they had begun to venture to sea. But one thing is certain. They -made much longer voyages than were credited to them a generation ago. -The Phœnicians, who became the sea-traders of the Egyptians, learned -the art of navigation from those Nilotic adventurers who began to visit -their coast at a very early period in quest of timber; they adopted the -Egyptian style of craft, as did the Cretans, their predecessors in -Mediterranean sea trafficking. By the time of King Solomon the -Phœnicians had established colonies in Spain, and were trading not only -from Carthage in the Mediterranean, but apparently with the British -Isles, while they were also active in the Indian Ocean. They were -evidently accustomed to make long voyages of exploration. At the time -of the Jewish captivity, Pharaoh Necho (609–593 B.C.) sent an -expedition of Phœnicians from the Red Sea to circumnavigate Africa. -They returned three years later by way of Gibraltar. But their voyage -excited no surprise in Egypt. [38] It had long been believed by the -priests that the world was surrounded by water. Besides, these priests -preserved many traditions of long voyages that had been made to distant -lands. - -There are those who believe that the early Egyptian mariners, who were -accustomed to visit British East Africa and sail round the Arabian -coast, founded the earliest colony in Sumeria (ancient Babylonia) at -the head of the Persian Gulf. The cradle of Sumerian culture was Eridu, -“the sea port”. The god of Eridu was Ea, who had a ship with pilot and -crew. According to Babylonian traditions, he instructed the people, as -did Osiris in Egypt, how to irrigate the land, grow corn, build houses -and temples, make laws, engage in trade, and so on. He was remembered -as a monster—a goat-fish god, or half fish, half man. Apparently he was -identical with the Oannes of Berosus. It may be that Ea-Oannes -symbolized the seafarers who visited the coast and founded a colony at -Eridu, introducing the agricultural mode of life and the working of -copper. Early inland peoples must have regarded the mariners with whom -they first came into contact as semi-divine beings, just as the Cubans -regarded Columbus and his followers as visitors from the sky. The -Mongols of Tartary entertained quaint ideas about the British “foreign -devils” after they had fought in one of the early wars against China. -M. Huc, the French missionary priest of the congregation of St. -Lazarus, who travelled through Tartary, Tibet, and China during 1844–6, -had once an interesting conversation with a Mongol, who “had been told -by the Chinese what kind of people, or monsters rather, these English -were”. The story ran that the Englishmen “lived in the water like fish, -and when you least expected it, they would rise to the surface and cast -at you fiery gourds. Then as soon as you bend your bow to send an arrow -at them, they plunge again into the water like frogs.” [39] - -Those who suppose that the Sumerians coasted round from the Persian -Gulf to the Red Sea, landed on the barren African coast, and, setting -out to cross a terrible desert, penetrated to the Nile valley along a -hitherto unexplored route of about 200 miles, have to explain what was -the particular attraction offered to them by prehistoric Egypt if, -according to their theory, it was still uncultivated and in the -“Hunting Age”. How came it about that they knew of a river which ran -through desert country? - -It is more probable that the Nilotic people penetrated to the Red Sea -coast, and afterwards ventured to sea in their river boats, and that, -in time, having obtained skill in navigation, they coasted round to the -Persian Gulf. In pre-Dynastic times the Egyptians obtained shells from -the Red Sea coast. - -At what period India was first reached is uncertain. When Solomon -imported peacocks from that country (the land of the peacock), the sea -route was already well known. It is significant to find that all round -the coast, from the Red Sea to India, Ceylon, and Burma, the Egyptian -types of vessels have been in use from the earliest seafaring periods. -The Burmese junks on the Irawadi resemble closely, as has been -indicated, the Nile boats of the ancient Egyptians. [40] The Chinese -junks were developed from Egyptian models. More antique Egyptian boats -than are found on the Chinese coast are still being used by the Koryak -tribe who dwell around the sea of Okhotsk. Mr. Chatterton says that the -Koryak craft have “important similarities to the Egyptian ships of the -Fourth and Fifth Dynasties (c. 3000–2500 B.C.). Thus, besides copying -the ancients in steering with an oar, the fore-end of the prow of their -sailing boats terminates in a fork through which the harpoon-line is -passed, the fork being sometimes carved with a human face which they -believe will serve as a protector of the boat. Instead of rowlocks they -have, like the early Egyptians, thong-loops through which the oar or -paddle is inserted. Their sail, too, is a rectangular shape of dressed -reindeer skins sewed together. But it is their mast that is especially -like the Egyptians and Burmese.” This mast is made of three poles “set -up in the manner of a tripod”. The double mast was common in ancient -Egypt, but Mr. Chatterton notes that Mr. Villiers Stuart “found on the -walls of a tomb belonging to the Sixth Dynasty (c. 2400 B.C.) at Gebel -Abu Faida, the painting of a boat with a treble mast made of three -spars arranged like the edges of a triangular pyramid”. [41] Thus we -find that vessels of Egyptian type (adopted by various peoples) not -only reached China but went a considerable distance beyond it. Japanese -vessels still display Egyptian characteristics. In the Moluccas and -Malays the ancient three-limbed mast has not yet gone out of fashion. -Polynesian craft were likewise developed from Egyptian models. William -Ellis, the missionary, [42] noted “the peculiar and almost classical -shape of the large Tahitian canoes”, with “elevated prow and stern”, -and tells that a fleet of them reminded him of representations of “the -ships in which the Argonauts sailed, or the vessels that conveyed the -heroes of Homer to the siege of Troy”. - -Various writers have called attention to the persistence of Egyptian -types in the Mediterranean and in northern Europe. “In every age and -every district of the ancient world”, wrote Mr. Cecil Torr, the great -authority on classic shipping, “the method of rigging ships was -substantially the same; and this method is first depicted by the -Egyptians.” [43] - -The Far Eastern craft went long distances in ancient days. Ellis tells -of regular voyages made by Polynesian chiefs which extended to 300 and -even 600 miles. A chief from Rurutu once visited the Society Islands in -a native boat built “somewhat in the shape of a crescent, the stem and -stern high and pointed and the sides deep”. [44] Sometimes -exceptionally long voyages were forced by the weather conditions of -Oceania. “In 1696”, Ellis writes, “two canoes were driven from Ancarso -to one of the Philippine Islands, a distance of 800 miles.” He gives -other instances of voyages of like character. A Christian missionary, -travelling in a native boat, was carried “nearly 800 miles in a -south-westerly direction”. [45] Reference has already been made to the -long and daring voyage made by the Phœnicians who circumnavigated -Africa. Another extraordinary enterprise is referred to by Pliny the -elder, [46] who quotes from the lost work of Cornelius Nepos. This was -a voyage performed by Indians who had, before 60 B.C., embarked on a -commercial voyage and reached the coast of Germany. It is uncertain -whether they sailed round the Cape of Good Hope and up the Atlantic -Ocean, or went northward past Japan and discovered the north-east -passage, skirting the coast of Siberia, and sailing round Lapland and -Norway to the Baltic. They were made prisoners by the Suevians and -handed over to Quintus Metellus Celer, pro-consular governor of Gaul. - -In 1770 Japanese navigators reached the northern coast of Siberia and -landed at Kamchatka. They were taken to St. Petersburg, where they were -received by the Empress of Russia, who treated them with marked -kindness. In 1847–8 the Chinese junk Keying sailed from Canton to the -Thames and caused no small sensation on its arrival. This vessel -rounded the Horn and took 477 days to complete the voyage. - -Solomon’s ships made long voyages: “Once every three years came the -navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and -peacocks”. [47] - -As in the case of the potter’s wheel, cultural elements were -distributed far and wide by the vessels of the most ancient of -mariners. Before tracing these elements in China, it would be well to -deal with the motives that impelled early seafarers to undertake long -and adventurous voyages of exploration and to found colonies in distant -lands. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE WORLD-WIDE SEARCH FOR WEALTH - - Religious Incentive of Quest of Wealth—Sacredness of Precious - Metals and Stones—Gold and the Sky Deities—Iron as the Devil’s - Metal—Chinese Dragons and Metals—Gold good and Silver bad in - India—Dragons and Copper—Sulphuret of Mercury as “Dragon’s Blood” - and Elixir of Life—Dragons and Pearls—The “Jewel that grants all - Desires”—Story of Buddhist Abbot and the Sea-God—“Jewels of Flood - and Ebb”—Japan and Korea—Sea-god as “Abundant Pearl Prince”—Pearl - Fishers—Early History of Sea-trafficking—Traders and Colonists—Cow, - Moon, Shells, and Pearls connected with Mother-goddess—The Sow - Goddess—Shell Beliefs—Culture Drifts and Culture Complexes. - - -There can be no doubt as to the reasons why Solomon sought to emulate -the maritime activities of the Phœnicians who had been bringing -peacocks from India, silver from Spain, and gold from West Africa and -elsewhere long before his day. - - - “And King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is - beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And - Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of - the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir, and - fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and - brought it to King Solomon.” [48] - - -When the Queen of Sheba visited Jerusalem she was accompanied by -“camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones”. -[49] About seven centuries before Solomon’s day, Queen Hatshepsut of -Egypt, to whom reference was made in the last chapter, had emulated the -feats of her ancestors by sending a fleet to Punt (Somaliland or -British East Africa) to bring back, among other things, myrrh trees for -her new temple. The myrrh was required “for the incense in the temple -service”. [50] Ancient mariners set out on long voyages, not only on -the quest of wealth, but also of various articles required for -religious purposes. Indeed, the quest of wealth had originally -religious associations. Gold, silver, copper, pearls, and precious -stones were all sacred, and it was because of their connection with the -ancient deities that they were first sought for. The so-called -“ornaments” worn by our remote ancestors were charms against evil and -ill luck. Metals were similarly supposed to have protective qualities. -Iron is still regarded in the Scottish Highlands as a charm against -fairy attack. In China it is a protection against dragons. The souls of -the Egyptian dead were “charmed” in the other world by the amulets -placed in their tombs. When the Pharaoh’s soul entered the boat of the -sun-god he was protected by metals. “Brought to thee”, a Pyramid text -states, “are blocks of silver and masses of malachite.” [51] Gold was -the metal of the sun-god and silver of the deity of the moon. Horus had -associations with copper, and Ptah, the god of craftsmen, with various -metals. Iron was “the bones of Set”, the Egyptian devil. In Greece and -India the mythical ages were associated with metals, and iron was the -metal of the dark age of evil (the Indian “Kali Yuga”). - -In China the metals have similarly religious associations. The -dragon-gods of water, rain, and thunder are connected with gold of -various hues—the “golds” coloured by the alchemists by fusion with -other metals. Thus we have Chinese references to red, yellow, white, -blue, and black gold, as in the following extract: - - - “When the yellow dragon, born from yellow gold a thousand years - old, enters a deep place, a yellow spring dashes forth; and if from - this spring some particles (fine dust) arise, these become a yellow - cloud. - - “In the same way blue springs and blue clouds originate from blue - dragons, born from blue gold eight hundred years old; red, white, - and black springs and clouds from red, white, and black dragons - born from gold of same colours a thousand years old.” [52] - - -In Indian Vedic lore gold is a good metal and silver a bad metal. One -of the Creation Myths states in this connection: - - - “He (Prajapati) created Asuras (demons). That was displeasing to - him. That became the precious metal with the bad colour (silver). - This was the origin of silver. He created gods. That was pleasing - to him. That became the precious metal with the good colour (gold). - That was the origin of gold.” [53] - - -The dragon of the Far East is associated with copper as well as gold. -In the Japanese Historical Records the story is told how the Emperor -Hwang brought down a dragon so that he might ride on its back through -the air. He first gathered copper on a mountain. Then he cast a tripod. -Immediately a dragon, dropping its whiskers, came down to him. After -the monarch had used the god as an “airship”, no fewer than seventy of -his subjects followed his example. Hwang was the monarch who prepared -the “liquor of immortality” (the Japanese “soma”) by melting cinnabar -(sulphuret of mercury, known as “dragon’s blood”). Chinese dragons, -according to Wang Fu in ’Rh ya yih, dread iron and like precious -stones. In Japan the belief prevailed that if iron and filth were flung -into ponds the dragons raised hurricanes that devastated the land. The -Chinese roused dragons, when they wanted rain, by making a great noise -and by throwing iron into dragon pools. Iron has “a pungent nature” and -injures the eyes of dragons, and they rise to protect their eyes. -Copper has, in China, associations with darkness and death. The “Stone -of Darkness” is hollow and contains water or “the vital spirit of -copper”. [54] Dragons are fond of these stones and of beautiful gems. -[55] - -The dragon-shaped sea-gods of India and the dragon-gods of China and -Japan have close associations with pearls. In a sixth-century Chinese -work, [56] it is stated that pearls are spit out by dragons. Dragons -have pearls “worth a hundred pieces of gold” in their mouths, under -their throats, or in their pools. When dragons fight in the sky, pearls -fall to the ground. De Groot [57] makes reference to “thunder pearls” -that dragons have dropped from their mouths. These illuminate a house -by night. In Wang Fu’s description of the dragon it is stated that a -dragon has “a bright pearl under its chin”. - -A mountain in Japan is called Ryushuho, which means “Dragon-Pearl -Peak”. It is situated in Fuwa district of Mino province, and is -associated in a legend with the Buddhist temple called “Cloud-Dragon -Shrine”. When this temple was being erected, a dragon, carrying a pearl -in its mouth, appeared before one of the priests. Mountain and -sanctuary were consequently given dragon names. - -The “jewel that grants all desires” is known in India, China, and -Japan. A Japanese story relates that once upon a time an Indian -Buddhist abbot, named Bussei (Buddha’s vow), set out on a voyage with -purpose to obtain this jewel (a pearl) which was possessed by “the -dragon king of the ocean”. In the midst of the sea the boat hove to -while Bussei performed a ceremony and repeated a charm, causing the -dragon-king to appear. The abbot, making a mystic sign, then demanded -the pearl; but the dragon deceived him and nullified the mystic sign. -Rising in the air, “the King of the Ocean” caused a great storm to -rage. The boat was destroyed and all on board it, except Bussei, were -drowned. Bussei afterwards migrated from southern India to Japan, -accompanied by Baramon (“Wall-gazing Brahman”). - -The “Jewels of Flood and Ebb” were jewels that granted desires. In -Japanese legend these were possessed by the dragon king (Sagara), whose -kingdom, like that of the Indian Naga monarch and that of the Gaelic -ruler of “Land Under-Waves”, is situated at the bottom of the sea. The -white jewel is called “Pearl of Ebb”, and the blue jewel “Pearl of -Flood”. - -A Japanese story relates that the Empress Jingo obtained from a sea-god -a “jewel that grants all desires”. During her reign a great fleet went -to Korea to obtain tribute. The Korean fleet went out to meet it, but -when it was drawn up for battle, a Japanese god cast into the sea the -“Pearl of Ebb”, and immediately the waters withdrew, leaving both -fleets stranded. The resolute King of Korea, not to be daunted, leapt -on to the dried sea-bed, and, marshalling his troops there, advanced at -the head of them to attack and destroy the Japanese fleet. Then the -Japanese god flung the “Pearl of Flood” into the sea. No sooner was -this done than the waters returned and drowned large numbers of -Koreans. Then a tidal wave swept over the Korean shore, while the -troops prayed for their lives in vain. Not until the “Pearl of Ebb” was -thrown once again into the sea did the waters retreat from the land. - -After these miraculous and disastrous manifestations, the King of Korea -was glad to make peace, and sent out three vessels laden with tribute -to the empress, who had conquered the enemy without the loss of a -single Japanese soldier or sailor, or even a single drop of Japanese -blood. - -Other names of the Japanese sea-god Sagara [58] are Oho-watatsumi (“sea -lord, or sea snake”), and Toyo-tama hiko no Mikoto (“Abundant Pearl -Prince”), and he has a daughter named Toyo-tama-bime (“Abundant Pearl -Princess”). [59] During storms, sailors threw jewels into the sea to -pacify the dragon king. - -Chinese emperors, like the Egyptian Pharaohs, had dragon boats which -were used in connection with religious rain-getting ceremonies. They -had also the bird boats called “yih”. Mr. Wells Williams refers to the -yih as “a kind of sea-bird that flies high, whose figure is gaily -painted on the sterns of junks, to denote their swift sailing”. He adds -that “the descriptions are contradictory, but its picture rudely -resembles a heron”. [60] - -It will be gathered from the evidence summarized above that the -seafaring activities of the Chinese and Japanese had close associations -with the search for precious metals and stones and pearls on the part -of those who introduced the Egyptian type of vessels into their waters. -With these ships went many customs and beliefs that became mixed with -local customs and beliefs. New modes of life were introduced, and, with -these, new modes of thought. Nothing persists like immemorial customs, -myths, and religious beliefs associated with a particular mode of life. - -Before the culture-complexes of China and Japan are investigated, so -that local elements may be sifted out from the overlying mass of -imported elements, it would be well to deal with the history of the -search for wealth across the oceans of the world. - -It is necessary, therefore, to turn back again to the cradle of -shipbuilding and maritime enterprise—to ancient Egypt with its -wonderful civilization of over 3000 years that sent its influences far -and wide. Whether or not the Egyptians ever reached China or Japan, we -have no means of knowing. Pauthier’s view in this connection has come -in for a good deal of destructive criticism. He referred to a Chinese -tradition that about 1113 B.C. the Court was visited by seafarers from -the kingdom of “Nili”, and suggested that they came from the Nile -valley. [61] The “Nili”, “Nēlē”, or “Nērē” folk, according to others, -came from the direction of Japan or from beyond Korea. References to -them are somewhat obscure. It does not follow that because Egyptian -ships reached China, they were manned by Egyptians. Ships were, like -potter’s wheels, adopted by folks who may never have heard of Egypt. A -culture flows far beyond the areas reached by those who have given it a -definite character, just as the Bantu dialects have penetrated to areas -in Africa far beyond Bantu control. - -What motives, then, stimulated maritime enterprise at the dawn of the -history of sea-trafficking? What attracted the ancient mariners? If it -was wealth, what was “wealth” to them? - -The answer to the last query is that wealth was something with a -religious significance. Gold was searched for, but not, to begin with, -for the purpose of making coins. There was no coinage. Gold was a -precious metal in the sense that it brought luck, and to the ancient -people “luck” meant everything they yearned for in this world and the -next. - -As far back as the so-called “Palæolithic period” in western Europe, -there was, as has been noted, a systematic search for wealth in the -form of sea-shells. The hunters in central Europe imported shells from -the Mediterranean coast and used them as amulets. These imported shells -are found in their graves. In Ancient Egypt, shells were carried from -the Red Sea coast, as well as from the Mediterranean coast, long before -the historical period begins. The evidence of the grave-finds shows -that Red Sea pearl-shell and Red Sea cowries were in use for religious -purposes. “Millions of them”, as Maspero has noted, have been found in -Ancient Egyptian graves. In time, pearls came into use, not only pearls -from Nile mussels, but from oysters found in the southern part of the -Gulf of Aden. As shipping developed, the pearl-fishers went farther and -farther in search of pearls. The famous ancient pearl area in the -Persian Gulf was discovered and drawn upon at some remote period. No -doubt the pearls worn by Assyrian and Persian monarchs came, in part, -from the Persian Gulf. At what period Ceylon pearls were first fished -for it is impossible to say. Of one thing we can be certain, however. -They were fished for by men who used the Egyptian type of vessel. - -The migrating and trading pearl-fishers carried their beliefs with them -from land to land. Almost everywhere are found the same beliefs and -practices connected with shells and pearls. These beliefs and practices -are of a highly complex character—so complex, indeed, that they must -have had an area of origin in which they reflected the beliefs and -customs of a people with a history of their own. The pearl, for -instance, was connected with the moon, with the goddess who was the -Great Mother, and with the sun and the sun-god. Venus (Aphrodite) was -sea-born. She was lifted from the sea, by Tritons, seated on a shell. -She was the pearl—the vital essence of the magic shell, and she was the -moon, the “Pearl of Heaven”. The pearl, like the moon, was supposed to -exercise an influence over human beings. In Egypt, the Mother Goddess -was symbolized by a cow, and cow, moon, pearl, and shell were connected -in an arbitrary way. - -In those areas in which the Mother Goddess was symbolized by the sow, -the shell was likewise connected with her. The Greeks applied to the -cowry a word that means “little pig”; this word had a special reference -to the female sex. The Romans called the shell “porci”, and porcelain -has a like derivation. [62] As has been shown, women were connected -with hand-made pottery, and the pot was a symbol of the Great Mother. -In Scotland, certain shells are still referred to as “cows” and “pigs”. -They were anciently believed to promote fertility and bring luck. The -custom of placing shells on window-sills, at doors, in fire-places, and -round garden plots still obtains in parts of England, Scotland, and -Ireland. Some low-reliefs of mother goddesses with baskets of fruit, -corn, &c., surviving from the Romano-British period, which have been -found in various parts of Britain, have shell-canopies. The Romans -“took over” the goddesses of the peoples of western Europe on whom they -imposed their rule, as they took over the Greek pantheon. - -Following the clues afforded by the evidence of ships, it is found that -the early pearl-fishers coasted round from the Red Sea to the Persian -Gulf, round India to the Bay of Bengal, round the Malay Peninsula to -the China Sea, northwards to the Sea of Okhotsk, and on to the western -coast of North America. Oceania was peopled by the ancient mariners, -who appear to have reached by this route the coast of South America. As -we have seen, Africa was circumnavigated. Western and north-western -Europe and the British Isles were reached at a very early period. - -The ancient seafarers searched not only for pearls and pearl-shell, but -also for gold, silver, copper, tin, and other metals and for precious -stones. They appear to have founded trading colonies that became -centres from which cultural influences radiated far and wide. From -these colonies expeditions set out to discover new pearling grounds and -new mineral fields. The search for wealth, having a religious -incentive, caused, as has been said, the spread of religious ideas. In -different countries, imported beliefs and customs became mingled with -local beliefs and customs, with the result that in many countries are -found “culture complexes” which have a historical -significance—reflecting as they do the varied experiences of the -peoples and the influences introduced into their homelands at various -periods. - -In the next chapter it will be shown how the dragon of China has a -history that throws much light on the early movements of explorers and -traders who carried the elements of complex cultures into far distant -lands. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER V - -CHINESE DRAGON LORE - - Dragon Rain-god and Tiger-god of Mountains and Woods—Thunder-gods - of East and West—Shark-gods as Guardians of Treasure—Dragon and - Whale—Fish Vertebræ as Charms—Dragon and Dugong, Crocodile, Eel, - &c.—Polynesian Dragon as “Pearl-mother”—Chinese Dragon and “Stag of - the Sky”—Babylonian Sea-god and the Antelope, Gazelle, Stag, and - Goat—Babylonian Dragon-slayers—Egyptian Gazelle- and - Antelope-gods—Osiris as a Sea-god—African Antelope and Asiatic - Dragon—The Serpent as “Water Confiner” in Egypt and India—Chinese - Dragon has “Nature of Serpent”—Ancient Attributes of Far-Eastern - Dragon—Dragon Battles—Dragons in East and West—Stones as “Dragon - Eggs”—Dragon Mother and World Dragon—Dragons and Emperors. - - -The Chinese dragon is a strange mixture of several animals. Ancient -native writers like Wang Fu inform us that it has the head of a camel, -the horns of a stag, the eyes of a demon, the ears of a cow, the neck -of a snake, the belly of a clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of an -eagle, and the soles of a tiger. On its head is the chiʼih muh lump -that (like a “gas-bag”) enables it to soar through the air. The body -has three jointed parts, the first being “head to shoulders”, the -second, “shoulders to breast”, and the third, “breast to tail”. The -scales number 117, of which 81 are imbued with good influence (yang) -and 36 with bad influence (yin), for the dragon is partly a Preserver -and partly a Destroyer. Under the neck the scales are reversed. There -are five “fingers” or claws on each foot. The male dragon has whiskers, -and under the chin, or in the throat, is a luminous pearl. There is no -denying the importance and significance of that pearl. - -A male dragon can be distinguished from a female one by its undulating -horn, which is thickest in the upper part. A female dragon’s nose is -straight. A horned dragon is called kʼiu-lung and a hornless one -chʼi-lung. Some dragons have wings. In addition there are -horse-dragons, snake-dragons, cow-dragons, toad-dragons, dog-dragons, -fish-dragons, &c., in China and Japan. Indeed, all hairy, feathered, -and scaled animals are more or less associated with what may be called -the “Orthodox Dragon”. The tiger is an enemy of the dragon, but there -are references to tiger-headed dragons. The dragon is a divinity of -water and rain, and the tiger a divinity of mountains and woods. [63] -The white tiger is a god of the west. - -Like the deities of other countries, the Chinese dragon-god (and the -Japanese dragon) may appear in different shapes—as a youth or aged man, -as a lovely girl or an old hag, as a rat, a snake, a fish, a tree, a -weapon, or an implement. But no matter what its shape may be, the -dragon is intimately connected with water. It is a “rain lord” and -therefore the thunder-god who causes rain to fall. The Chinese dragon -thus links with the Aryo-Indian god Indra and other rain- and -thunder-gods connected with agriculture, including Zeus of Greece, -Tarku of Asia Minor, Thor of northern Europe, the Babylonian Marduk -(Merodach), &c. There are sea-dragons that send storms like the -wind-gods, and may be appeased with offerings. These are guardians of -treasure and especially of pearling-grounds. Apparently the early -pearl-fishers regarded the shark as the guardian of pearls. It seized -and carried away the “robbers” who dived for oysters. The chief sea-god -of China sometimes appeared in shark form—an enormous lion-headed -shark. - -Procopius, a sixth-century writer, says in this connection: “Sea-dogs -are wonderful admirers of the pearl-fish, and follow them out to -sea.... A certain fisherman, having watched for the moment when the -shell-fish was deprived of the attention of its attendant sea-dog ... -seized the shell-fish and made for the shore. The sea-dog, however, was -soon aware of the theft, and, making straight for the fisherman, seized -him. Finding himself thus caught, he made a last effort, and threw the -pearl-fish on shore, immediately on which he was torn to pieces by its -protector.” [64] - -In Polynesia the natives have superstitious ideas about the shark. -“Although”, says Ellis, “they would not only kill but eat certain kinds -of shark, the large blue sharks, Squalus glaucus, were deified by them, -and, rather than attempt to destroy them, they would endeavour to -propitiate their favour by prayers and offerings. Temples were erected, -in which priests officiated, and offerings were presented to the -deified sharks, while fishermen, and others who were much at sea, -sought their favour.” [65] Polynesian gods, like Chinese dragons, -appeared in various shapes. “One, for instance,” writes Turner, “saw -his god in the eel, another in the shark, another in the turtle, -another in the dog, another in the owl, another in the lizard; and so -on throughout all the fish of the sea, and birds, and four-footed -beasts and creeping things. In some of the shell-fish, even, gods were -supposed to be present.” [66] Here we meet again with the shell -beliefs. The avatars of dragons had pearls. In an old Chinese work the -story is told of a dragon that appeared in the shape of a little girl -sitting at the entrance of a cave and playing with three pearls. When a -man appeared, the child fled into the cave, and, reassuming dragon -form, put the pearls in its left ear. [67] As the guardian of pearls, -the Chinese dragon links with the shark-god of the early pearl-fishers. -There were varieties of these sea-gods. In Polynesia “they had”, Ellis -has recorded, “gods who were supposed to preside over the fisheries, -and to direct to their coasts the various shoals by which they were -periodically visited.” The Polynesians invoked their aid “either before -launching their canoes, or while engaged at sea”. It is of interest to -find in this connection that the dragon had associations with the -whale. Ancient mariners reverenced the whale. The Ligurians and Cretans -carried home portions of the backbones of whales. [68] The habit of -placing spines of fish in graves is of great antiquity in Europe. The -early seafarers who reached California during its prehistoric age -perpetuated this very ancient custom. Beuchat gives an illustration of -a kitchen-midden grave in California in which a whale’s vertebra is -shown near the human skeleton. [69] The swashtika appears among the -pottery designs of early American pottery. [70] The ancient Peruvians -worshipped the whale, and the Maori dragon was compared to one. [71] In -Scottish folk-lore witches sometimes assume the forms of whales. - -The dolphin, the bluish dugong [72] (probably the “semi-human whale” -referred to by Ælian), and other denizens of the sea were regarded as -deities by ancient seafarers. De Groot, in his The Religious System of -China, quoting from the Shan hai King, relates that in the Eastern Sea -is a “Land of Rolling Waves”. In this region dwell sea-monsters that -are shaped like cows and have blue bodies. They are hornless and -one-legged. Each time they leave or enter the waters, winds arise and -rain comes down. Their voice is that of thunder and their glare that of -sun and moon. - -The reference to the single leg may have been suggested by the fact -that when the dugong dives the tail comes into view. This interesting -sea-animal has been “recklessly and indiscriminately slaughtered” in -historic times. - -Classical writers referred to some of the strange monsters seen by -their mariners as “sea-cows”. In like manner the Chinese have connected -denizens of the deep with different land animals. - -The religious beliefs associated with various sea and land animals -cling to that composite god the dragon. In dealing with it, therefore, -we cannot ignore its history, not only in China but in those countries -that influenced Chinese civilization, while attention must also be paid -to countries that, like China, were influenced by the early sea and -land traders and colonists. - -In Polynesia the dragon is called mo-o and mo-ko. “Their (the -Polynesian) use of this word in traditions”, says W. D. Westervelt, -[73] “showed that they often had in mind animals like crocodiles and -alligators, and sometimes they referred the name to any monster of -great mythical powers belonging to the man-destroying class. Mighty -eels, immense sea-turtles, large fish of the ocean, fierce sharks, were -all called mo-o. The most ancient dragons of the Hawaiians are spoken -of as living in pools or lakes.” Mr. Westervelt notes that “one dragon -lived in the Ewa lagoon, now known as ‘Pearl Harbour’. This was -Kane-kua-ana, who was said to have brought the pipi (oysters) to Ewa. -She [74] was worshipped by those who gather the shell-fish. When the -oysters began to disappear about 1850, the natives said the dragon had -become angry and was sending the oysters to Kahiki, or some far-away -foreign land.” It is evident that such a belief is of great antiquity. -The pearl under the chin of the Chinese dragon has, as will be seen, an -interesting history. - -But, it may be asked here, what connection has a mountain stag with the -ancient pearl-fishers? As Wang Fu reminds us, the pearl-guarding -Chinese dragon has “the horns of a stag”. It was sometimes called, De -Groot states, [75] “the celestial stag”—the “stag of the sky”. This was -not merely a poetic image. The sea-god Ea of ancient Babylonia was in -one of his forms “the goat fish”, as some put it. Professor Sayce says, -in this connection, “Ea was called ‘the antelope of the deep’, ‘the -antelope the creator’, ‘the lusty antelope’. He was sometimes referred -to as ‘a gazelle’. Lubin, ‘a stag’, was a reduplicated form of elim, ‘a -gazelle’. Both words were equivalent to sarru, ‘king’.” [76] Whatever -the Ea land animal was—whether goat, gazelle, antelope, or stag—it was -associated with a sea-god who, according to Babylonian belief, brought -the elements of culture to the ancient Sumerians, who were developing -their civilization at the seaport of Eridu, then situated at the head -of the Persian Gulf, in which pearls were found. Ea was depicted as -half a land animal and half a fish, or as a man wrapped in the skin of -a gigantic fish as Egyptian deities were wrapped in the skins of wild -beasts. One of Ea’s names was Dagan, which was possibly the Dagon -worshipped also by the Philistines and by the inhabitants of Canaan -before the Philistines arrived from Kaphtor (the land of Keftiu, i.e. -Crete). - -Ea was associated with the dragon Tiamat, which his son Marduk -(Merodach) slew. It is stated in Babylonian script that Ea “conferred -his name” on Marduk. In other words, Marduk supplanted Ea and took over -certain of his attributes, and part of his history. He was the god of -Babylon, which supplanted other cities, formerly capitals; he therefore -supplanted the chief gods of these cities. - -Ea was originally the slayer of the dragon Tiamat and the conqueror of -the watery abyss over which he reigned, supplanting the dragon. [77] He -became the dragon himself—the “goat fish” or “antelope of the deep”—the -composite deity connected with animals deified by ancient hunters and -fishers whose beliefs were ultimately fused with those of others with -whom they were brought into close association in centres of culture. -Ea, who had a dragon form, was connected with the serpent, or “worm”, -as well as with the fish. - -In Egypt Horus, Osiris, and Set were associated with the gazelle. -Osiris was, in one of his forms, the River Nile. He was not only the -Nile itself, but the controller of it; he was the serpent and soul of -the Nile, and he was the ocean into which the Nile flowed, and the -leviathan of the deep. In the Pyramid texts Osiris is addressed: “Thou -art great, thou art green, in thy name of Great-green (sea); lo, thou -art round as the Great Circle (Okeanos); lo, thou art turned about, -thou art round as the circle that encircles the Hauneba (Ægeans)”. [78] -Osiris was thus the serpent (dragon) that, lying in the ocean, -encircled the world. His son Horus is at one point in the Pyramid texts -(Nos. 1505–8) narrative “represented as crossing the sea”. [79] Horus -was sometimes depicted riding on the back of a gazelle or antelope. The -Egyptian antelope-god was in time fused with the serpent or dragon of -the sea. Referring to the evidence of Frobenius [80] in this -connection, Professor Elliot Smith says that “in some parts of Africa, -especially in the west, the antelope plays the part of the dragon in -Asiatic stories”. [81] When we reach India, it is found that the -wind-god, Vayu, rides on the back of the antelope. Vayu was fused with -Indra, the slayer of the dragon that controlled the water-supply, and, -indeed, retained it by enclosing it as the Osiris serpent of Egypt, or -the serpent-mother of Osiris, enclosed the water in its cavern during -the period of “the low Nile”, before the inundation took place. [82] -After Osiris, as the water-confining serpent (dragon) was slain, the -river ran red with his blood and rose in flood. Osiris, originally “a -dangerous god”, [83] was the “new” or “fresh” water of the inundation. -“The tradition of his unfavourable character”, Breasted comments, -“survived in vague reminiscences long centuries after he had gained -wide popularity.” Osiris ultimately became “the kindly dispenser of -plenty”, and his slayer, Set, originally a beneficent deity, was made -the villain of the story and fused with the dragon Apep, the symbol of -darkness and evil. This change appears to have been effected after the -introduction of the agricultural mode of life. The Nile, formerly the -destroyer, then became the preserver, sustainer, and generous giver of -“soul substance” and daily bread. - -When the agricultural mode of life was introduced into China the -horned-dragon, or horned-serpent (for the dragon, Chinese writers -remind us, has “the nature of a serpent”), became the Osiris -water-serpent. - -How a snake becomes a dragon is explained in the Shu i ki, which says: -“A water-snake after 500 years changes into a kiao, a kiao after 1000 -years changes into a lung; [84] a lung after 500 years changes into a -kioh-lung, [85] and after 1000 years into a ying-lung. [86]” In Japan -is found, in addition, the pʼan-lung (“coiled dragon”), which has not -yet ascended to heaven. [87] The “coiled dragon” is evidently the -water-retaining monster. - -The Chinese dragon is as closely connected with water as was the -serpent form of Osiris with the Nile in ancient Egypt, and as was Indra -with the “drought dragon” in India. The dragon dwells in pools, it -rises to the clouds, it thunders and brings rain, it floods rivers, it -is in the ocean, and controls the tides and causes the waters to ebb -and flow as do its magic pearls (the “Jewels of Flood and Ebb”), and it -is a symbol of the emperor. The Egyptian Pharaoh was an “avatar” of -Osiris, or Horus, [88] and the Chinese emperor was an “avatar” or -incarnation of the dragon. As water destroys, the dragon is a -destroyer; as water preserves and sustains, the dragon is a preserver -and sustainer. - -The dragon, as has been indicated, is essentially the Chinese -water-god. “The ancient texts ... are short,” says de Visser, “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, thunder, clouds, and rain, the harbinger of blessings, and the -symbol of holy men. As the emperors are the holy beings of earth, the -idea of the dragon being the symbol of imperial power is based upon -this ancient conception.” [89] - -The Chinese “dragon well” is usually situated inside a deep mountain -cave. It was believed that the well owed its origin to the dragon. De -Visser quotes, in this connection, from an ancient sage, who wrote: -“When the yellow dragon, born from yellow gold a thousand years old, -enters a deep place, a yellow spring dashes forth, and if from this -spring some particles (fine dust) arise, these become a yellow cloud”. -A famous dragon well is situated at the top of Mount Pien, in Hu-cheu. -It flows from a cave, and is called “Golden Well Spring”. The cave is -known as the “Golden Well Cave”, and is supposed to be so deep that no -one can reach the end of it. There was a dragon well near Jerusalem. -[90] Other dragon wells are found as far west as Ireland and Scotland. -A cave with wells, called the “Dropping Cave”, at Cromarty, has a demon -in its inner recesses. The Corycian cave of the Anatolian Typhoon is -one of similar character. According to Greek legend, this -hundred-headed monster, from whose eyes lightning flashes, will one day -send hail, floods, and rivers of fire to lay waste Sicilian farms. [91] -The floods of the River Rhone were supposed to be caused by the “drac”. -In Egypt Set became the “roaring serpent”, who crept into a hole in the -ground, “wherein he hid himself and lived”. He had previously taken the -shapes of the crocodile and the hippopotamus to escape Horus, the -Egyptian “dragon slayer”. - -In China the season of drought is winter. The dragons are supposed to -sleep in their pools during the dry spell, and that is why, in the old -Chinese work, Yih Lin, it is stated that “a dragon hidden in water is -useless”. The dragons are supposed to sleep so that they may “preserve -their bodies”. They begin to stir and rise in spring. Soon they fight -with one another, so that there is no need for a Horus, a Merodach, or -an Indra to compel them, by waging battle, to bring benefits to -mankind. The Chinese welcome what they called a “dragon battle” after -the dry season. Thunder-storms break out, and rain pours down in -torrents. If a number of dragons engage in battle, and the war in the -air continues longer than is desired, the rivers rise in flood and -cause much destruction and loss of life. As the emperor was closely -connected with the chief dragon-god, social upheavals and war might -result, it was anciently believed, in consequence of the failure of the -priests and the emperor (the holiest of priests) to control the -dragons. The dynasty might be overthrown by the indignant and ruined -peasantry. - -Among the curious superstitions entertained in China regarding dragon -battles, is one that no mortal should watch them. It was not only -unlucky but perilous for human beings to peer into the mysteries. De -Visser quotes a Chinese metrical verse in this connection: - - - When they fight, the dragons do not look at us; - Why should we look at them when they are fighting? - If we do not seek the dragons, - They also will not seek us. [92] - - -In Gaelic Scotland the serpent, which is associated with the goddess -Bride, sleeps all winter and comes forth on 1st February (old style), -known as “Bride’s day”. A Gaelic verse tells in this connection: - - - The serpent will come from the home - On the brown day of Bride, - Though there should be three feet of snow - On the flat surface of the ground. [93] - - -As in China, a compact was made with the Bride serpent or dragon: - - - To-day is the Day of Bride, - The serpent shall come from his hole, - I will not molest the serpent, - And the serpent will not molest me. - - -It is evident that some very ancient belief, connected with the -agricultural mode of life, lies behind these curious verses in such -far-separated countries as Scotland and China. Bride and her serpent -come forth to inaugurate the season of fruitfulness as do the battling -dragons in the Far East. - -When Chinese dragons fight, fire-balls and pearls fall to the ground. -Pearls give promise of abundant supplies of water in the future. It is -necessary, if all is to go well with the agriculturist, that the blue -and yellow dragons should prevail over the others. The blue dragon is -the chief spirit of water and rain, and this is the deity that presides -during the spring season. - -A glimpse is afforded of the mental habits of the early searchers for -precious or sacred metals and jewels by the beliefs entertained in -China regarding the origin of the dragon-gods. These were supposed to -have been hatched from stones, especially beautiful stones. The colours -of stones were supposed to reveal the characters of the spirits that -inhabited them. In Egypt, for instance, the blue turquoise was -connected with the mother-goddess Hathor, who was, among other things, -a deity of the sky and therefore the controller of the waters above the -firmament as well as of the Nile. She was the mother of sun and moon. -She was appealed to for water by the agriculturists and for favourable -winds by the seafarers. The symbol used on such occasions was a blue -stone. It was a “luck stone” that exercised an influence on the -elements controlled by the goddess. In the Hebrides a blue stone used -to be reverenced by the descendants of ancient sea-rovers. Martin in -his Western Isles tells of such a stone, said to be always wet, which -was preserved in a chapel dedicated to St. Columba on the Island of -Fladda. “It is an ordinary custom,” he has written, “when any of the -fishermen are detained in the isle by contrary winds, to wash the blue -stone with water all round, expecting thereby to procure a favourable -wind, which, the credulous tenant living in the isle says, never fails, -especially if a stranger wash the stone.” Why a “stranger”? Was this -curious custom introduced of old by strangers who had crossed the deep? -Had the washing ceremony its origin in the custom of pouring out -libations practised by those who came from an area in which a complex -religious culture had grown up, and where men had connected a deity, -originally associated with the water-supply and therefore with the -food-supply, with tempests and ocean-tides and the sky? - -The Chinese, who called certain beautiful stones “dragon’s eggs”, -believed that when they split, lightning flashed and thunder bellowed -and darkness came on. The new-born dragons ascended to the sky. Before -the dragons came forth, much water poured from the stone. As in the -Hebrides, the dragon stone had, it would appear, originally an -association with the fertilizing water-deity. - -The new-born Chinese dragon is no bigger than a worm, or a baby serpent -or lizard, but it grows rapidly. Evidently beliefs associated with the -water-snake deities were fused with those regarding coloured stones. -The snake was the soul of the river. Osiris as the Nile was a snake. -His mother had, therefore, a snake form. - -The haunting memory of the goddess-mother of water-spirits clings to -the “dragon mother” of a Chinese legend related by ancient writers, a -version of which is summarized by de Visser. [94] Once, it runs, an old -woman found five “dragon eggs” lying in the grass. When they split (as -in Egypt “the mountain of dawn” splits to give birth to the sun), this -woman carried the little serpents to a river and let them go. For this -service she was given the power to foretell future events. She became a -sibyl—a priestess. The people called her “The Dragon Mother.” When she -washed clothes at the river-side, the fishes, who were subjects of -dragons, “used to dance before her”. - -In various countries certain fish were regarded as forms of the -shape-changing dragon. The Gaelic dragon sometimes appeared as the -salmon, and a migratory fish was in Egypt associated with Osiris and -his “mother”. - -When the Chinese “Dragon Mother” died, she was buried on the eastern -side of the river. Why, it may be asked, on the eastern side? Was it -because, being originally a goddess, she was regarded as the “mother” -of the sun-god of the east—the mother who was “the mountain of dawn” -and whose influence was concentrated in the blue stone? The Chinese -dragon of the east is blue, and the blue dragon is associated with -spring—the first-born season of the year. But apparently the dragons -objected to the burial of the “Dragon Mother” on the eastern bank. The -legend tells that they raised a violent storm, and transferred her -grave to the western bank. Until the present age the belief obtains -that there is always wind and rain near the “Dragon Mother’s Grave”. -The people explain that the dragons love to “wash the grave”. - -Here we find the dragons pouring out libations, as did the worshippers -of the Great Mother who came from a distant land. - -The god of the western quarter is white, and presides over the autumn -season of fruitfulness. Just before the “birth” of autumn the Chinese -address their prayers to the mountains and hills. - -In ancient Egypt the conflict between the Solar and Osirian cults was a -conflict between the “cult of the east” and the “cult of the west”. -Professor Breasted notes that although Osiris is “First of the -Westerners” (the west being his quarter) “he goes to the east (after -death) in the Pyramid texts (of the solar cult) and the pair, Isis and -Nepthys (the goddess), carry the dead into the east”. The east was the -place where the ascent to the sky was made. In Egyptian solar theology -it combined with the south. The rivalry between the two cults is -reflected in one particular Pyramid text in which “the dead is adjured -to go to the west in preference to the east, in order to join the -sun-god!” But to the solar cult the east was “the most sacred of all -regions”. In the Pyramid texts it is found that “the old doctrine of -the ‘west’ as the permanent realm of the dead, a doctrine which is -later so prominent, has been quite submerged by the pre-eminence of the -east”. [95] - -This east-and-west theological war, then, had its origin in Egypt. How -did it reach China, there to be enshrined in the legend of the Dragon -Mother? Can it be held that it was “natural” the Chinese should have -invented a legend which had so significant and ancient a history in the -homeland of the earliest seafarers? - -The dragon-gods that presided over the seasons and the divisions of the -world were five in number. At the east was the blue (or green) god -associated with spring, at the west the white god associated with -autumn, at the north the black god associated with winter (the Chinese -season of drought), and at the south were two gods, the red and the -yellow; the red god presided during the greater part of summer, the -rule of the yellow god being confined to the last month. - -The dragons were life-givers not only as the gods who presided over the -seasons and ensured the food-supply, but as those who gave cures for -diseases. The “Red Cloud herb” and other curative herbs were found -after a thunderstorm beside the dragon-haunted pools. De Groot [96] -tells that fossil bones were called “dragon bones”, and were used for -medicinal purposes. The dragons were supposed to cast off their bones -as well as their skins. Bones of five colours (the colours of the five -dragons) were regarded as the most effective. White and yellow bones -came next in favour. Black bones were “of inferior quality”. The Shu -King, a famous Chinese historical classic, [97] tells that the dragons’ -bones come from Tsin land. It is noted that the five-coloured ones are -the best. The blue, yellow, red, white, and black ones, according to -their colours, correspond with the viscera, as do the five chih -(felicitous plants), the five crystals (shih ying), and the five kinds -of mineral bole (shih chi). De Groot [98] gives the colours connected -with the internal organs as follows: - - - 1. Blue—liver and gall. - 2. White—lungs and small intestines. - 3. Red—heart and large intestines. - 4. Black—kidneys and bladder. - 5. Yellow—spleen and stomach. - - -Apparently the special curative quality of a dragon’s bone was revealed -by its colour. The gods of the various “mansions” influenced different -organs of the human body. - -In ancient Egypt the internal organs were placed in jars and protected -by the Horuses of the cardinal points. The god of the north had charge -of the small viscera, the god of the south of the stomach and large -intestines, the god of the west of liver and gall, and the god of the -east of heart and lungs. The Egyptian north was red and symbolized by -the Red Crown, and the south was white and symbolized by the White -Crown. - -In Mexico the colours white, red, and yellow were connected with -different internal organs, and black with a disembowelled condition. - -It is evident that the sea and land traders carried their strange -stocks of medical knowledge over vast areas. It is not without -significance to find in this connection that, according to Chinese -belief, there was an island on which dragons’ bones were found. - -The dragons are not only rain-gods and gods of the four quarters and -the seasons, but also “light-gods”, connected with sun and moon, day -and night. In the Yih lin there is a reference to a black dragon which -vomits light and causes darkness to turn into light. The mountain -dragon of Mount Chung is called the “Enlightener of Darkness”. “When it -opens its eyes it is day, when it shuts its eyes it is night. Blowing -he makes winter, exhaling he makes summer. The wind is its breath.” -[99] - -In like manner the Egyptian Ra and Ptah are universal gods, the sun and -moon being their “eyes”. Even Osiris, as far back as the Pyramid -period, was the source of all life and a world-god. He was addressed: -“The soil is on thy arm, its corners are upon thee as far as the four -pillars of the sky. When thou movest the earth trembles.... As for -thee, the Nile comes forth from the sweat of thy hands. Thou spewest -out the wind....” [100] Osiris sent water to bring fertility as do the -dragons, air for the life-breath of man and beast, and also light, -which was, of course, fire (the heat which is life). - -The idea of the life-principle being in fire and water lies behind Wang -Fu’s statement: “Dragon fire and human fire are opposite. If dragon -fire comes into contact with wetness, it flames; and if it meets water, -it burns. If one drives it (the dragon) away by means of fire, it stops -burning and its flames are extinguished.” [101] Celestial fire is -something different from ordinary fire. The “vital spark” is of -celestial origin—purer and holier than ordinary fire. Dragon skins, -even when cast off, shine by night. So do pearls, coral, and precious -stones “shine in darkness” in the Chinese myths. - -One traces the influence of the solar cult in the idea that the -dragon’s vital spirit is in its eyes. It is because iron blinds a -dragon that it fears that metal. In Egypt the eye of Horus is blinded -by Set, whose metal is iron. - -There is a quaint mixture of religious ideas in the Chinese custom of -carrying in procession through the streets, on the 15th of the first -month, a dragon made of bamboo, linen, and paper. In front of it is -borne a red ball. De Groot says that this is the azure dragon, the head -of which rose as a star to usher in spring at the beginning. [102] In -like manner the Egyptian “spring” is ushered in by the star Sirius, the -mother of the sun, from which falls a tear that causes the inundation. -But although the red ball may have been a solar symbol, it is also -connected with the moon. The Chinese themselves call the ball “The -Pearl of Heaven”—that is, “the moon”. An inscription on porcelain -brings this out clearly. Mr. Blacker has translated the text below two -dragons rushing towards a ball as “A couple of dragons facing the -moon”. [103] The dragons were not only moon- and sun-“devourers” who -caused eclipses, but guardians of these orbs in their capacities as -gods of the four quarters. - -The all-absorbing dragon appears even as a vampire. A tiger-headed -dragon with the body of a snake seizes human beings, covers them with -saliva, and sucks blood from under their armpits. “No blood is left -when they stop sucking.” [104] In Japanese legends dragons as white -eels draw blood from the legs of horses that enter a river. [105] Evil -or sick dragons send bad rain. - -The gods ride on dragons, and therefore emperors and holy men can also -use them as vehicles. Yu, the founder of the Hea Dynasty, had a -carriage drawn by two dragons. Ghosts sometimes appear riding on -dragons and wearing blue hats. The souls of the dead are conveyed to -the Celestial regions by the winged gods. Dragons appear when great men -are born. [106] Emperors had dragon ancestors. The Emperor Yaou was the -son of a red dragon; one Japanese emperor had a dragon’s tail, being a -descendant of the sea-god. [107] - -In the next chapter it will be shown that in Chinese dragon-lore it is -possible to detect with certainty the sources of certain “layers” that -were superimposed on primitive conceptions regarding these deities. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -BIRD AND SERPENT MYTHS - - Culture Complexes in Dragon-lore—Polynesian Dragon Beliefs—Oceanic - and African Fish-gods—Reptile Deities where no Reptiles are - found—Chinese Dragons and Indian Nagas—Dragon-links between India, - Tibet, China, and Japan—Birds and Snakes—Distribution of Egyptian - “Winged Disk”—Horus and the “Secretary Bird”—Indian Mungoose - supplants “Secretary Bird”—Mungoose form of God of Riches and - Death—Bird and Serpent combined in Dragon—Babylonian Dragon was a - combination of Eagle, Serpent, and Lion—Tree Forms of the Chinese - Dragon, the Polynesian Mo-o, and the Indian Nagas—The Dragon, the - Salmon, the Tree, and the “Thunder-bird”. - - -The intensive study of a country’s beliefs and ideas, as revealed in -its myths and legends, is greatly facilitated by the adoption of the -comparative method. It may not always be found possible to identify -areas in which certain beliefs had origin, but when we detect, as we do -in China, myths similar to those found in other lands, and especially -highly complex myths, that had origin in one particular country and -received additions in another, the imported elements may be sifted out -from a local religious system without much difficulty. - -The Chinese dragon has distinct and outstanding Chinese -characteristics, but it is obviously not entirely a Chinese creation. -Attached to the “composite wonder beast” are complex ideas that have a -history outside China, as well as those ideas that reflect Chinese -natural phenomena and Chinese experiences and habits of life and -thought. The fused beliefs, as symbolized by the dragon, have passed -through a prolonged process of local development, but those that were -imported have not, it is found, been entirely divested of their -distinctive characteristics, and remain preserved as flies are in -amber. - -Interesting and important evidence that throws light on the history of -the Chinese dragon is found in Polynesia, India, and Babylonia, and -even in Egypt and Europe. The cultural influence of Babylonia, which -radiated over a wide area for a score of centuries or longer, is -traceable in India, and, as is well known, Buddhist India exercised a -strong cultural influence on China. But, as will be shown, Babylonian -influence reached the Shensi province of China long before the Aryans -entered India. Buddhist ideas regarding the pearl-protecting dragon-god -of water and fire were evidently superimposed in China upon earlier -Babylonian ideas regarding the water-dragon, which had no particular -connection with pearls. At any rate, there is no mention of pearls in -the Babylonian myth. - -When it is found that many of the ideas connected with the Chinese -dragon were prevalent in Polynesia, what conclusion is to be drawn? -There is no evidence that Chinese culture was an active force in New -Zealand or Hawaii, for instance. It cannot have been from China that -the Polynesians derived their dragon, or their beliefs connected with -the serpent, a reptile unknown to the islanders at first hand. The only -reasonable conclusion that can be drawn is that the Chinese and the -Polynesians were influenced at an early period by intruders from other -lands. The Polynesian intruders must necessarily have been sea-traders. -Of course, the Polynesians may themselves have imported their dragon -beliefs from their homeland. That homeland, however, was certainly not -China. - -The Polynesian Mo-o or Mo-ko (dragon) had, as was shown in the last -chapter, a connection with pearls. “On Maui”, writes W. D. Westervelt, -[108] “the greatest dragon of the island was Kiha-wahine. The natives -had the saying, ‘Kiha has mana, or miraculous power, like Mo-o-inanea’. -She lived in a large, deep pool on the edge of the village Lahaina, and -was worshipped by the royal family of Maui as their special guardian.” -Royal families were invariably the descendants of intruding conquerors. -It is of special interest, therefore, to find the Polynesian dragon-god -connected with a military aristocracy. - -The Rev. George Brown, missionary and explorer, refers to similar -dragon beliefs among the people of New Britain. He tells of a spring -connected with the woman (goddess) who caused the deluge. The natives -“say that an immense fish lives in it, which will come out when they -call it”. The belief obtains among the Melanesians “that the creator of -all things was a woman”. She “made all lands” and “the natives prayed” -to her “when an eclipse of the sun or the moon took place”. [109] The -king of Samoan gods was a dragon. “This god”, Brown tells, “had the -body of a man to the breast only, and the body of an eel (muræna) -below. This eel’s body lies down in the ocean, and from the chest to -the head lies down in the house. This is the god to whom all things are -reported. The inferior gods are his attendants.” [110] - -Gods half human and half reptile, or half human and half fish, are -found in various countries. In the British Museum are bronze reliefs of -the King of Benin (as the representative of his chief deity) half shark -and half man. The kings of Dahomey were depicted as sharks with bodies -covered with scales; their statues are in the Trocadero, Paris. [111] - -That the Polynesian reptile deities were imported there can be no -doubt. As early as 1825 Mr. Bloxam, the English naval chaplain, drew -this necessary conclusion. In his The Voyage of the Blonde he says: “At -the bottom of the Parre (pali) there are two large stones, on which -even now offerings of fruit and flowers are laid to propitiate the -Aku-wahines, or goddesses, who are supposed to have the power of -granting a safe passage”. Referring to the female mo-o, or reptile -deities, Mr. Bloxam says it was difficult for him to get an explanation -of their name, the Hawaiians having “nothing of the shape of serpents -or large reptiles in their islands”. [112] - -But the closest analogy to the Chinese dragon is found in India. The -Nagas (serpent-gods), which were taken over by the Buddhists, and the -Chinese dragons have much in common. “Cobras in their ordinary shape,” -writes Dr. Rhys Davids of the Nagas, “they lived beneath the waters -like mermen and mermaids, in great luxury and wealth, more especially -of gems.” Sometimes the tree-spirits (dryads) are called Nagas. “They -could at will, and often did, adopt the human form; and though terrible -if angered, were kindly and mild by nature.” [113] Kerns says “that the -Nagas are water-spirits represented, as a rule, in human shapes, with a -crown of serpents on their heads”, and also as “snake-like beings -resembling clouds”. [114] They are “demi-gods”. Like the Chinese -dragons, the Nagas are guardians of the four quarters of the universe. -There are withal Nagas in the sea who control winds and tides, and one -of the Naga kings is Sagara, who is a Neptune in Japan. The Nagas are -also “Lords of the Earth”, and send drought and disease when offended -or neglected. Ea, the sea-god of the early Babylonians, was known also -as Enki, “The Lord of the Earth”. - -In Buddhist art the Naga is shown in three forms: (1) as a human being -with a snake on or poised over the head, reminding one of the Egyptian -kings or queens who wear the uræus symbol on their foreheads; (2) as -half human and half snake (the “mermaid form”); and (3) as ordinary -snakes. The first form is found not only in India, but in Tibet, China, -and Japan. Human-shaped Nagas are depicted worshipping Buddha, as they -stand in water. - -In Tibet, the Naga is shown with the upper part of the body in human -shape and the lower in snake shape; there are horns on the head and -wings spreading out from the shoulders. The same form is found in -Japan. - -This Tibetan link between the Indian Naga and the Chinese Dragon is -important. The bird-god has been blended with the snake-god. In India -the bird-gods (Garudas) are enemies of the Nagas (snakes), and Garudas -in “eagle shape” are found depicted in low relief, carrying off Nagas -in snake shape. This eternal conflict between eagle-like birds and -serpents is one of the features of Babylonian mythology. - -The story of Zu, the Babylonian Eagle-god, is found on tablets that -were stored in the library of the great Assyrian King, Ashur-bani-pal. -Zu, it is related, stole from the gods the “tablets of destiny”, and -was pursued and caught by Shamash, the sun-god. In one version of the -myth Zu, the eagle, is punished by the serpent, which conceals itself -in the body of an ox. When the eagle comes to feast on the flesh it is -seized by the serpent and slain. - -In Polynesia the eternal conflict between bird-god and serpent-god is -illustrated in wood-carvings. The Egyptian winged disk, as adopted by -the islanders, shows the bird in the centre with a struggling snake in -its beak. The Central American peoples had likewise this -bird-and-serpent myth. Indeed, it figures prominently in their -mythologies. In Mexico the winged disk was placed, as in Egypt, above -the entrances to the temples. - -The bird-and-serpent myth is to be found even in the Iliad. When Hector -set forth with his heroes to break through the wall of the Achæan camp, -an eagle appeared in the air, bearing in its talons “a blood-red -monstrous snake, alive and struggling still”. The writhing snake -manages to sting the eagle, which immediately drops it. [115] - -In ancient Egyptian myths the bird was the Horus hawk and the serpent -was Set. Horus assumed, in his great battle against the snake, -crocodile, and other enemies of Ra, the winged disk form—the winged -sun, protected by the two snake-goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt. - -This strange combination of deities in the “winged disk” symbol was as -distinctively an Egyptian cultural and political complex as the Union -Jack is distinctively a British complex. As the Union Jack has been -carried to many a distant land, so was the Egyptian winged disk, “the -flag” of Egyptian culture. In those areas in which the winged disk is -found, are found also traces of Egyptian ideas which, of course, were -not necessarily introduced by the Egyptians themselves. - -How did this myth of the struggle between bird and serpent have origin? -The only country in the world in which a great bird hunts serpents is -Africa. The bird in question is the famous secretary bird (Serpentarius -secretarius), which is nowadays domesticated by South African farmers -so as to keep down snakes. It is found in East and West Africa. “In -general appearance it looks like a modified eagle mounted on stilts.” -[116] The bird attacks a snake with wings outspread, and flaps them in -front of its body to prevent itself from being bitten during the -conflict. Early Egyptian seafarers were no doubt greatly impressed -when, “in the land of Punt”, they saw these strange birds, with heads -like eagles or hawks, standing over snakes they had clutched in their -talons, and then flying away with them dangling from their beaks. The -mariners’ stories about the snake-devouring bird appear to have crept -into the mythology of Egypt, with the result that the Horus hawk became -the hunter of Set in his “hissing serpent” form. Above the hole in the -ground into which the Set serpent fled for concealment and safety was -set a pole surmounted by the head of the Horus hawk. As Dr. Budge puts -it: “Horus, the son of Isis, stood upon him (Set) in the form of a pole -or staff, on the top of which was the head of a hawk”. [117] But, one -may urge, it could not have been until after Egyptian vessels visited -the coasts haunted by the secretary bird that the bird and serpent -variation of the Horus-Set myth was formulated in the land of Egypt, -whence, apparently, it was distributed far and wide. Horus was not -necessarily an enemy of serpents, seeing that there are two in his -disk. - -In Tibet, as has been stated, the bird and serpent were combined, and -the “composite beast” was given a human head with horns. The horned and -winged dragon of China is thus, in part, a combination of the original -secretary bird and the snake. - -The later blending process was, no doubt, due to Buddhistic influence. -Both Nagas (snakes) and Garudas (eagles or secretary birds) were -included in northern India among the gods and demons who worshipped -Buddha. The Nagas understood the language of birds. They gave charms to -human beings so that they might share this knowledge. In European and -Arabian stories folk-heroes acquire the language of birds, or of all -animals, after eating the hearts of dragons. A Naga king causes an -Indian king to understand what animals say. [118] - -“The jewel that grants all desires” is possessed by the Indian Nagas, -as it is by Chinese and Japanese dragons. In the Mahábhárata, the -Pandava hero Arjuna is, after being slain in combat, restored to life -by his Naga wife, who had obtained this magic jewel from the Naga king. -[119] - -The Nagas are guardians of pearls, and the females have many pearl -necklaces. - -Note may here be taken of interesting Indian evidence that throws light -on the process of transferring to a local animal complex ideas -associated with another animal figuring in an imported myth. The great -enemy of African snakes is, as has been said, the secretary bird; the -Indian enemy is the mungoose. In early Buddhist art the mungoose, -spitting jewels, is placed in the right hand of Kubera, god of wealth, -who stands on the back of a Yaksha (a bird demon). By devouring snakes -(Nagas) the mungoose (according to the myth) “appropriates their -jewels, and has hence developed into the attribute of Kubera”. [120] -Here the pearl-guarding shark, having become a jewel-guarding -dragon-snake, is substituted by the jewel-spitting mungoose which has -“devoured” its attributes. - -The god Kubera has a heaven of its own, and is a form of Yama, god of -death. In his form as Dharma, god of justice, Yama figures in the -Mahábhárata [121] as a “blue-eyed mungoose with one side of his body -changed into gold”, his voice being “loud and deep as thunder”. Here -Yama links with Indra, god of thunder, who, having a heaven of his own, -is also a god of death. Egypt had its “blue-eyed Horus”. [122] The god -Horus was the living form of Osiris. The living Pharaoh was a Horus, -and the dead Pharaoh an Osiris, as Dr. Gardiner reminds us. - -The combination of bird and serpent is found in Persia as well as in -Tibet. On an archaic cylinder seal from the ancient Elamite capital of -Susa, the dragon is a lion with an eagle’s head and wings; the forelegs -are those of the eagle, and the hind legs those of a lion. - -A form of the god Tammuz, namely the god Nin-Girsu (“Lord of Girsu”) of -the Sumerian city of Lagash (Girsu appears to have been a suburb), was -a lion-headed eagle. [123] The god Ea had a dragon form. [124] The -dragon of the Ishtar gate of Babylon is a combination of eagle, -serpent, and lion, and is horned. - -There can remain little doubt that the Chinese dragon has an -interesting history, not only in China but outside that country. It -cannot be held to have independent origin. At a remote period dragon -beliefs reached China, India, and Polynesia, and even America. [125] - -In each separated area the dragon took on a local colouring, but the -fundamental beliefs connected with it remained the same. It was closely -connected with water (the “water of life”), and also with trees (the -“trees of life”). Thus we find that in China a dragon might assume “the -shape of a tree growing under water”; [126] a boat once collided with -drift-wood which was found to be a dragon. Crocodiles are sometimes -mistaken for logs of wood. - -In Hawaii two noted dragons (mo-o) lived in a river. “They were called -‘the moving boards’ which made a bridge across the river.” [127] - -The Indian Nagas were not only water deities but tree spirits, as Dr. -Rhys Davids has emphasized. [128] - -Behind dragon worship is a complex of beliefs connected with what is -usually called “tree and well worship”. In Gaelic stories, the sacred -tree is guarded by the “beast” in the sacred well, and a form of the -“beast” (dragon) is the salmon; in the tree is the “thunder bird”. -Dragon, tree, and bird are connected with the god of thunder who sends -rain. - -When Buddhism reached China, imported Naga beliefs were superimposed on -earlier Chinese beliefs connected with the dragon-god who controlled -the rain-supply, as Osiris in Egypt controlled the Nile, and the -Babylonian Ea the Euphrates. - -In the next chapter various beliefs connected with the dragon are -brought out in representative legends. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -DRAGON FOLK-STORIES - - How Fish became Chinese Dragons—Fish forms of Teutonic and Celtic - Gods—Dragon-slayers eat Dragons’ Hearts—The “Language of - Birds”—Heart as Seat of Intelligence—Babylonian - Dragon-Kupu—Polynesian Dragon-Kupua—Dragons and Medicinal - Herbs—Story of Chinese Herbalist and “Red Cloud Herb”—“Boy Blue” - and Red Carp as Forms of Black Dragon—Ignis Fatuus as “Dragon - Lanterns”—“Heart Fire”—Story of Priest and Dragon-woman—The “Fire - Nail” in Japan and Polynesia—The “Faith Cure” in Japan—The Magic - Rush-mat—Grave Reed-mats, Skins, and Linen Wrappings—The - Ephod—Melusina in Far East—Story of Wu and the Thunder Dragon. - - -In Chinese and Japanese folk-stories the dragons have fish forms or -avatars. They may be eels, carps, or migratory fish like the salmon. It -is believed that those fish that ascend a river’s “dragon gate” become -dragons, while those that remain behind continue to be fish. Dragons -are closely associated with waterfalls. They haunt in one or other of -their forms the deep pools below them. - -In western European stories, dragons and gods of fire and water assume -the forms of fish, and hide themselves in pools. Loki of Icelandic -legend has a salmon form. When the gods pursue him, he hides in -Franang’s stream, or “under the waters of a cascade called -Franangurfors”. [129] After he is caught and bound, Loki is tortured by -a serpent. When he twists his body violently, earthquakes are caused. -He is closely associated with the “dragon-woman”, and is the father of -monsters, including the moon-swallowing wolf-dragon. - -Andvari, the guardian of Nibelung treasure, has a pike form. [130] - -In Gaelic legend the salmon is the source of wisdom and of the power to -foretell events. Finn (Fionn) tastes of the “Salmon of Knowledge” when -it is being cooked, and immediately becomes a seer. Michael Scott, in -like manner, derives wisdom from the “juices” of the white snake. The -salmon is, in Gaelic, a form of the dragon. The dragon of Lough Bel -Séad [131] (Lake of the Jewel Mouth), in Ireland, was caught “in the -shape of a salmon”. - -Sigurd, the dragon-slayer of Norse Icelandic stories, eats the dragon’s -heart, and at once understands the language of birds. So does Siegfried -of Germanic romance. The birds know the secrets of the gods. They are -themselves forms of the gods. Apollonius of Tyana acquired wisdom by -eating the hearts of dragons in Arabia. - -In ancient Egypt the heart was not only the seat of life, but the mind, -and therefore the source of “words of power”. The Hebrews and many -other peoples used “heart” when they wrote of “mind”. [132] Ptah, god -of Memphis, was the “heart” (mind) of the gods. The “heart” fashioned -the gods. Everything that is came into existence by the thought of the -“heart” (mind). - -The Egyptian belief about the power of the “heart” (the source of magic -knowledge, and healing, and creative power) lies behind the stories -regarding heroes eating dragons’ hearts. In an Egyptian folk-tale the -dragon-slayer does not eat the heart of the reptile god, but gets -possession of a book of spells, and, on reading these, acquires -knowledge of the languages of all animals, including fish and birds. -[133] - -When, however, we investigate the dragon beliefs of ancient Babylonia, -we meet with a reference to the Ku-pu as the source of divine power and -wisdom. After Merodach (Marduk) the dragon-slayer kills Tiamat, the -“mother dragon”, a form of the mother-goddess, he “divides the flesh of -the Ku-pu, and devises a cunning plan”. As the late Mr. Leonard W. King -pointed out, [134] Ku-pu is a word of uncertain meaning. It did not -signify the heart, because it had been previously stated in the text -that Merodach severed her inward parts, he pierced her heart. - -Jensen has suggested that Ku-pu signifies “trunk, body”. It is more -probable that the Ku-pu was the seat of the soul, mind, and magical -power; the power that enabled the slain reptile to come to life again -in another form. [135] - -It may be that a clue is afforded in this connection by the Polynesian -idea of Kupua. Mr. Westervelt, who has carefully recorded what he has -found, writes regarding the Mo-o (dragons) of the Hawaiians: - - - “Mighty eels, immense sea turtles, large fish of the ocean, fierce - sharks, were all called mo-o. The most ancient dragons of the - Hawaiians are spoken of as living in pools or lakes. These dragons - were known also as Kupuas, or mysterious characters, who could - appear as animals, or human beings, according to their wish. The - saying was, ‘Kupuas have a strange double body!’” - - -The Polynesian beliefs connected with the Kupuas are highly suggestive. -Mr. Westervelt continues: - - - “It was sometimes thought that at birth another natural form was - added, such as an egg of a fowl or a bird, or the seed of a plant, - or the embryo of some animal which, when fully developed, made a - form which could be used as readily as the human body. These Kupuas - were always given some great magic power. They were wonderfully - strong, and wise, and skilful. - - “Usually the birth of a Kupua, like the birth of a high chief, was - attended with strange disturbances in the heavens, such as - reverberating thunder, flashing lightning, and severe storms which - sent the abundant red soil of the islands down the mountain-sides - in blood-red torrents, known as ka-ua-koko (the blood rain). The - name was also given to misty, fine rain when shot through by the - red waves of the sun.” - - -All the dragons of Hawaii were descended from Mo-o-inanea (the -self-reliant dragon), a mother-goddess. She had a dual nature, -“sometimes appearing as a dragon, sometimes as a woman”. Hawaiian -dragons also assumed the forms of large stones, some of which were -associated with groves of hau trees; on these stones ferns and flowers -were laid and referred to as “kupuas”. [136] - -In China the dragon’s kupua (to use the Polynesian term) figures in -various stories. We meet with the “Red Cloud herb”, or the “Dragon -Cloud herb”, which cures diseases. It is the gift of the dragon, and -apparently a dragon kupua. Other curative herbs are the -“dragon-whisker’s herb” and the “dragon’s liver”, a species of gentian, -which is in Japan a badge of the Minamoto family. The “dragon’s -spittle” had curative qualities, the essence of life being in the body -moisture of a deity. The pearl, which the dragon spits out, has, or is, -“soul substance”. The plum tree was in China connected with the dragon. -A story tells that once a dragon was punished by having its ears cut -off. Its blood fell on the ground, and a plum tree sprang up; it bore -fleshy fruit without kernels. [137] When in an ancient Egyptian story -the blood of the Bata bull falls to the ground two trees containing his -soul-forms grow in a night. [138] - -A Chinese “Boy Blue” story deals with the search made by Wang Shuh, a -herbalist, for the Red Cloud herb. He followed the course of a mountain -stream on a hot summer day, and at noon sat down to rest and eat rice -below shady trees beside the deep pool of a waterfall. As he lay on the -bank, gazing into the water, he was astonished to see in its depths a -blue boy, about a foot in height, with a blue rush in his hand, riding -on the back of a red carp, without disturbing the fish, which darted -hither and thither. In time the pair came to the surface, and, rising -into the air, turned towards the east. Then they went swiftly in the -direction of a bank of cloud that was creeping across the blue sky, and -vanished from sight. - -The herbalist continued to ascend the mountain, searching for the herb, -and when he reached the summit was surprised to find that the sky had -become completely overcast. Great masses of black and yellow clouds had -risen over the Eastern Sea, and a thunder-storm was threatening. Wang -Shuh then realized that the blue boy he had seen riding on the back of -the red carp was no other than the thunder-dragon. He peered at the -clouds, and perceived that the boy and the carp [139] had been -transformed into a black kiao (scaled dragon). He was greatly alarmed, -and concealed himself in a hollow tree. - -Soon the storm burst forth in all its fury. The herbalist trembled to -hear the voice of the black thunder-dragon and to catch glimpses of his -fiery tongue as he spat out flashes of lightning. Rain fell in -torrents, and the mountain stream was heavily swollen, and roared down -the steep valley. Wang Shuh feared that each moment would be his last. - -In time, however, the storm ceased and the sky cleared. Wang Shuh then -crept forth from his hiding-place, thankful to be still alive, although -he had seen the dragon. He at once set out to return by the way he had -come. When he drew near to the waterfall he was greatly astonished to -hear the sound of sweet humming music. Peering through the branches of -the trees, he beheld the little blue boy riding on the back of the red -carp, returning from the east and settling down on the surface of the -pool. Soon the boy was carried into the depths and past the playful -fish again. - -Struck with fear, the herbalist was for a time unable to move. When at -length he had summoned sufficient strength and courage to go forward, -he found that the boy and the carp had vanished completely. Then he -perceived that the Red Cloud herb, for which he had been searching, had -sprung up on the very edge of the swirling water. Stooping, he plucked -it greedily. As soon as he had done so, he went scampering down the -side of the mountain. On reaching the village, Wang told his friends -the wonderful story of his adventure and discovery. - -Now it happened that the Emperor’s daughter—a very beautiful girl—was -lying ill in the royal palace. The Court physicians had endeavoured in -vain to restore her to health. Hearing of Wang Shuh’s discovery of the -Red Cloud herb, the Emperor sent out for him. On reaching the palace, -the herbalist was addressed by the Emperor himself, who said: “Is it -true, as men tell, that you have seen the black kiao in the form of a -little blue boy riding on a red carp?” - -“It is indeed true,” Wang Shuh made answer. - -“And is it true that you have found the dragon herb that sprang up -during the thunder-storm?” - -“I have brought the herb with me, Your Majesty.” - -“Mayhap,” the Emperor said, “it will give healing to my daughter.” - -Wang Shuh at once made offer of the herb, and the Emperor led him to -the room in which the sick princess lay. The herb had a sweet odour, -[140] and Wang Shuh plucked a leaf and gave it to the lady to smell. -She at once showed signs of reviving, and this was regarded as a good -omen. Wang Shuh then made a medicine from the herb, and when the -princess had partaken of it, she grew well and strong again. - -The Emperor rewarded Wang Shuh by appointing him his chief physician. -Thus the herbalist became a great and influential man. - -To few mortals comes the privilege of setting eyes on a dragon, and to -fewer is the vision followed by good fortune. - -In this quaint story the Red Cloud herb is evidently a kupua of the -thunder-dragon. It had “soul substance” (the vital essence). Another -kupua or avatar was the carp. - -In China and Japan there are references in dragon stories to pine trees -being forms assumed by dragons. The connection between the tree and -dragon is emphasized by the explanation that when a pine becomes very -old it is covered with scales of bark, and ultimately changes into a -dragon. By night “dragon lanterns” (ignis fatuus) are seen on pine -trees in marshy places, and on the masts of ships at sea. - -The pine trees at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines are said to be -regularly illuminated by these “supernatural” lights. The “lanterns” -are supposed to come from the sea. Japanese stories tell that when a -lantern appears on a pine, a little boy, known as the “Heavenly Boy”, -is to be seen sitting on the topmost branch. Some lights were supposed -to be the souls of holy men. In Gaelic stories are told about little -men being seen in these wandering lights. - -There is an evil form of the fire which is supposed to rise from the -blood of a suicide or of a murderer’s victim. The “heart fire” (the -“vital spark”) in the blood is supposed to rise as a flame from the -ground. A similar superstition prevailed in England. If lights made -their appearance above a prison on the night before the arrival of the -judges of assize, the omen was regarded as a fatal one for the -prisoners. The belief is widespread in the British Isles that lights -(usually greenish lights) appear before a sudden death takes place. - -Wandering lights seen on mountains were supposed by the Chinese and -Japanese to be caused by dragons. A Japanese legend associates them -with a dragon woman, named Zennyo, who appears to have the attributes -of a fire-goddess. It is told regarding a Buddhist priest who lived -beside a dragon hole on Mount Murōbu. One day, as he was about to cross -a river, a lady wearing rich and dazzling attire came up to him and -made request for a magic charm he possessed. She spoke with averted -face, telling who she was. The priest repeated the charm to her and -then said: “Permit me to look upon your face”. - -Said the dragon woman: “It is very terrible to behold. No man dare gaze -on my face. But I cannot refuse your request.” - -The priest had his curiosity satisfied, but apparently without coming -to harm. Priestly prestige was maintained by stories of this kind. - -As soon as the priest looked in her face the dragon woman rose in the -air, and stretched out the small finger of her right hand. It was not, -however, of human shape, but a claw that suddenly extended a great -length and flashed lights of five colours. The “five colours” indicate -that the woman was a deity. Kwan Chung, in his work Kwantsze, says: “A -dragon in the water covers himself with five colours. Therefore, he is -a god (shin).” [141] - -The “fire nail” figures prominently in Polynesian mythology. In the -legend of Maui, that hero-god goes to the old woman (the goddess), his -grandmother, to obtain fire for mankind. “Then the aged woman pulled -out her nail; and as she pulled it out fire flowed from it, and she -gave it to him. And when Maui saw she had drawn out her nail to produce -fire for him, he thought it a most wonderful thing.” [142] - -The reference in the Japanese story to the averted face of the dragon -woman may be connected with the ancient belief that the mortal who -looked in the face of a deity was either shrivelled up or transformed -into stone, as happened in the case of those who fixed their eyes upon -the face of Medusa. Goddesses like the Egyptian Neith were “veiled”. A -Japanese legend tells of a dragon woman who appeared as a woman with a -malicious white face. She laughed loudly, displaying black teeth. She -was often seen on a bridge, binding up her hair. [143] Apparently she -was a variety of the mermaid family, and this may explain the reference -to her being “one legged”. The people scared her away by forming a -torch-light procession and advancing towards her. Dragons were -sometimes expelled by means of fire. In Europe, bonfires were lit when -certain “ceremonies of riddance” were performed. - -British mermaids are credited, in the folk-tales, with providing cures -for various diseases, and especially herbs, [144] and in this -connection they link with the dragon wives of China and Japan. Some -dragon women lived for a time among human beings as do swan-maidens, -nereids, mermaids, and fairies in the stories of various lands. - -A Japanese legend tells of an elderly and mysterious woman who had the -power to cure any ill that flesh is heir to. When a patient called, she -listened attentively to what was told her. Then she retired to a secret -chamber, sat down and placed a rush mat [145] on her head. After -sitting alone for a time (apparently engaged in working a magic spell) -she left the chamber and returned to the patient. She recommended the -“faith cure”. Making the pretence that she was handing over a medicine, -she said: “Believe that I have given you medicine. Now, go away. Each -day you must sit down and imagine that you are taking my medicine. Come -back to me in seven days’ time.” Those who faithfully carried out her -instructions are said to have been cured. Large numbers visited her -daily. - -It was suspected that this woman was possessed by the spirit of a -water-demon. A watch was set upon her, and one night she was seen going -from her house to a well in which, during the day, she often washed her -head while being consulted by patients. Those who watched her told that -she remained in human shape for a little time. Then she transformed -herself into a white mist and entered the well. Protective charms were -recited, and she never returned. For many years afterwards, however, -her house was haunted. - -De Groot relates a story about one of the wives of an Emperor of China -who practised magic by means of reptiles and insects. Her object was to -have her son selected as crown prince. She was detected, and she and -her son were imprisoned. Both became dragons before they died. - -Dragons sometimes appear in the stories in the rôle of demon lovers. A -Japanese legend tells of two boys who were the children of a man and a -dragon woman. In time they changed into dragons and flew away. The -woman herself came to her lover in the shape of a snake, and then -transformed herself into a beautiful maiden. - -This is a version of a very widespread story, found in the Old and New -World, which was possibly distributed by ancient mariners and traders. -Its most familiar form is the French legend of Melusina, the serpent -woman, who became the wife of Raymond of Poitou, and the mother of his -disfigured children. [146] - -A Chinese legend of the Melusina order deals with the fall of the Hea -Dynasty. A case of dragon foam which had been kept in the royal palace -during three dynasties was one day opened, and there issued forth a -dragon in the form of a black lizard. It touched a young virgin, who -became the mother of a girl whom she bore in secret and abandoned in a -wood. It chanced that a poor man and his wife, who were childless, -hearing the cries of the babe, took her to their house, where they -cared for her tenderly. But the magicians came to know of the dragon’s -daughter, of whom it had been prophesied that she would destroy the -dynasty. Search was made for the child, and the foster-parents fled -with her to the land of Pao. They presented her to the king of the -land, and she grew up to be a beautiful maid who was called Pao Sze. -The king loved her dearly, and when she gave birth to a son, he made -her his queen, degrading Queen Chen and her son, the crown prince. Poh -Fuh, the son of the dragon woman, then became crown prince instead. - -Now Pao Sze, although very beautiful, was always sad of countenance. -She never smiled. The king did everything in his power to make her -smile and laugh. But his efforts were in vain. - -“Fain would I hear you laugh,” said he. - -But she only sighed and said: “Ask me not to laugh.” - -One day the king, in his endeavours to break the spell of sadness that -bound his beautiful queen, arranged that his lords should enter the -palace and declare that an enemy army was at hand, and that the life of -the king was in peril. - -This they did. The king was at the time making merry when his lords -entered suddenly and said: “Your Majesty, the enemy have come, while -you sit making merry, and they are resolved to slay you.” - -The king’s sudden change of countenance made the dragon woman laugh. -His Majesty was well pleased. - -Then, as it chanced, the enemy came indeed. But when the alarm was -raised, the lords thought it was a false one. The army took possession -of the city, entered the palace, and slew the king. Pao Sze was taken -prisoner, because of her fatal beauty; but she brought no joy to her -captor and transformed herself into a dragon, departing suddenly and -causing a thunder-storm to rage. - -To those who win their favour, the dragons are preservers even when -they come forth as destroyers. The story is told of how Wu, the son of -a farmer named Yin, won the favour of a dragon and rose to be a great -man in China. When he was a boy of thirteen, he was sitting one day at -the garden gate, looking across the plain which is watered by a winding -river that flows from the mountains. He was a silent, dreamy boy, who -had been brought up by his grandmother, his mother having died when he -was very young, and it was his habit thus to sit in silence, thinking -and observing things. Along the highway came a handsome youth riding a -white horse. He was clad in yellow garments and seemed to be of high -birth. Four man-servants accompanied him, and one held an umbrella to -shield him from the sun’s bright rays. The youth drew up his horse at -the gate and, addressing Wu, said: “Son of Yin, I am weary. May I enter -your father’s house and rest a little time?” - -The boy bowed and said: “Enter.” - -Yin then came forward and opened the gate. The noble youth dismounted -and sat on a seat in the court, while his servants tethered the horse. -The farmer chatted with his visitor, and Wu gazed at them in silence. -Food was brought, and when the meal was finished, the youth thanked him -for his hospitality and walked across the courtyard. Wu noticed that -before one of the servants passed through the gate, he turned the -umbrella upside down. When the youth had mounted his horse, he turned -to the silent, observant boy and said: “I shall come again to-morrow.” - -Wu bowed and answered: “Come!” - -The strangers rode away, and Wu sat watching them until they had -vanished from sight. - -When evening came on, the farmer spoke to his son regarding the -visitors, and said: “The noble youth knew my name and yet I have never -set eyes on him before.” - -Wu was silent for a time. Then he said: “I cannot say who the youth is -or who his attendants are.” - -“You watched them very closely, my son. Did you note anything peculiar -about them?” - -Said Wu: “There were no seams in their clothing; the white horse had -spots of five colours and scaly armour instead of hair. The hoofs of -the horse and the feet of the strangers did not touch the ground.” -[147] - -Yin rose up with agitation and exclaimed: “Then they are not human -beings, but spirits.” - -Said Wu: “I watched them as they went westward. Rain-clouds were -gathering on the horizon, and when they were a great distance off they -all rose in the air and vanished in the clouds.” [148] - -Yin was greatly alarmed to hear this, and said: “I must ask your -grandmother what she thinks of this strange happening.” - -The old woman was fast asleep, and as she had grown very deaf it was -difficult to awaken her. When at length she was thoroughly roused, and -sat up with head and hands trembling with palsy, [149] Yin repeated to -her in a loud voice all that Wu had told him. - -Said the woman: “The horse, spotted with five colours, and with scaly -armour instead of hair, is a dragon-horse. When spirits appear before -human beings they wear magic garments. That is why the clothing of your -visitors had no seams. Spirits tread on air. As these spirits went -westward, they rose higher and higher in the air, going towards the -rain-clouds. The youth was the Yellow Dragon. He is to raise a storm, -and as he had four followers, the storm will be a great one. May no -evil befall us.” - -Then Yin told the old woman that one of the strangers had turned the -umbrella upside down before passing through the garden gate. “That is a -good omen,” she said. Then she lay down and closed her eyes. “I have -need of sleep,” she murmured; “I am very old.” [150] - -Heavy masses of clouds were by this time gathering in the sky, and Yin -decided to sit up all night. Wu asked to be permitted to do the same, -and his father consented. Then the boy lit a yellow lantern, put on a -yellow robe that his grandmother had made for him, burned incense, and -sat down reading charms from an old yellow book. [151] - -The storm burst forth in fury just when dawn was breaking dimly. Wu -then closed his yellow book and went to a window. The thunder bellowed, -the lightning flamed, and the rain fell in torrents, and swollen -streams poured down from the mountains. Soon the river rose in flood -and swept across the fields. Cattle gathered in groups on shrinking -mounds that had become islands surrounded by raging water. - -Yin feared greatly that the house would be swept away, and wished he -had fled to the mountains. - -At night the cottage was entirely surrounded by the flood. Trees were -cast down and swept away. “We cannot escape now,” groaned Yin. - -Wu sat in silence, displaying no signs of emotion. “What do you think -of it all?” his father asked. - -Wu reminded him that one of the strangers had turned the umbrella -upside down, and added: “Before the dragon youth went away he spoke and -said: ‘I shall come again to-morrow’.” - -“He has come indeed,” Yin groaned, and covered his face with his hands. - -Said Wu: “I have just seen the dragon. As I looked towards the sky he -spread out his great hood above our home. He is protecting us now.” - -“Alas! my son, you are dreaming.” - -“Listen, father, no rain falls on the roof.” - -Yin listened intently. Then he said: “You speak truly, my son. This is -indeed a great marvel.” - -“It was well,” said Wu, “that you welcomed the dragon yesterday.” - -“He spoke to you first, my son; and you answered, ‘Enter’. Ah, you have -much wisdom. You will become a great man.” - -The storm began to subside, and Wu prevailed upon his father to lie -down and sleep. [152] - -Much damage had been done by storm and flood, and large numbers of -human beings and domesticated animals had perished. In the village, -which was situated at the mouth of the valley, only a few houses were -left standing. - -The rain ceased to fall at midday. Then the sun came out and shone -brightly, while the waters began to retreat. - -Wu went outside and sat at the garden gate, as was his custom. In time -he saw the yellow youth returning from the west, accompanied by his -four attendants. When he came nigh, Wu bowed and the youth drew up his -horse and spoke, saying: “I said I should return to-day.” - -Wu bowed. - -“But this time I shall not enter the courtyard,” the youth added. - -“As you will,” Wu said reverently. - -The dragon youth then handed the boy a single scale which he had taken -from the horse’s neck, and said: “Keep this and I shall remember you.” - -Then he rode away and vanished from sight. - -The boy re-entered the house. He awoke his father and said: “The storm -is over and the dragon has returned to his pool.” [153] - -Yin embraced his son, and together they went to inform the old woman. -She awoke, sat up, and listened to all that was said to her. When she -learned that the dragon youth had again appeared and had spoken to Wu, -she asked: “Did he give you ought before he departed?” - -Wu opened a small wooden box and showed her the scale that had been -taken from the neck of the dragon horse. - -The woman was well pleased, and said: “When the Emperor sends for you, -all will be well.” - -Yin was astonished to hear these words, and exclaimed: “Why should the -Emperor send for my boy?” - -“You shall see,” the old woman made answer as she lay down again. - -Before long the Emperor heard of the great marvel that had been worked -in the flooded valley. Men who had taken refuge on the mountains had -observed that no rain fell on Yin’s house during the storm. So His -Majesty sent couriers to the valley, and these bade Yin to accompany -them to the palace, taking Wu with him. - -On being brought before the Emperor, Yin related everything that had -taken place. Then His Majesty asked to see the scale of the dragon -horse. - -It was growing dusk when Wu opened the box, and the scale shone so -brightly that it illumined the throne-room so that it became as bright -as at high noon. - -Said the Emperor: “Wu shall remain here and become one of my magicians. -The yellow dragon has imparted to him much power and wisdom.” - -Thus it came about that Wu attained high rank in the kingdom. He found -that great miracles could be worked with the scale of the dragon horse. -It cured disease, and it caused the Emperor’s army to win victories. -Withal, Wu was able to foretell events, and he became a renowned -prophet and magician. - -The farmer’s son grew to be very rich and powerful. A great house was -erected for him close to the royal palace, and he took his grandmother -and father to it, and there they lived happily until the end of their -days. - -Thus did Wu, son of Yin, become a great man, because of the favour -shown to him by the thunder-dragon, who had wrought great destruction -in the river valley and taken toll of many lives. - -It will be gathered from this story that the Chinese dragon is not -always a “beneficent deity”, as some writers put it. Like certain other -gods, he is a destroyer and preserver in one. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE KINGDOM UNDER THE SEA - - The Vanishing Island of Far-Eastern Dragon-god—Story of Priest who - visited Underworld—Far-Eastern Dragon as “Pearl Princess”—Her Human - Lover—An Indian Parallel—Dragon Island in Ancient Egyptian - Story—The Osirian Underworld—Vanishing Island in Scotland and - Fiji—Babylonian Gem-tree Garden—Far-Eastern Quest of the Magic - Sword—Parallels of Teutonic and Celtic Legend—“Kusanagi Sword”, the - Japanese “Excalibur”—City of the Far-Eastern Sea-god—Japanese - Vision of Gem-tree Garden—Weapon Demons—Star Spirits of Magic - Swords—Swords that become Dragons—Dragon Jewels—Dragon - Transformations. - - -The palace of the dragon king is situated in the Underworld, which can -be entered through a deep mountain cave or a dragon-guarded well. In -some of the Chinese stories the dragon palace is located right below a -remote island in the Eastern Sea. This island is not easily approached, -for on the calmest of days great billows dash against its shelving -crags. When the tide is high, it is entirely covered by water and -hidden from sight. Junks may then pass it or even sail over it, without -their crews being aware that they are nigh to the palace of the -sea-god. - -Sometimes a red light burns above the island at night. It is seen many -miles distant, and its vivid rays may be reflected in the heavens. - -In a Japanese story the island is referred to as “a glowing red mass -resembling the rising sun”. No mariner dares to approach it. - -There was once a Chinese priest who, on a memorable night, reached the -dragon king’s palace by entering a deep cave on a mountain-side. It was -his pious desire to worship the dragon, and he went onward in the -darkness, reciting religious texts that gave him protection. The way -was long and dark and difficult, but at length, after travelling far, -he saw a light in front of him. He walked towards this light and -emerged from the cavern to find that he was in the Underworld. Above -him was a clear blue firmament lit by the night sun. He beheld a -beautiful palace in the midst of a garden that glittered with gems and -flowers, and directed his steps towards it. He reached a window the -curtain of which rustled in the wind. He perceived that it was a mass -of gleaming pearls. Peering behind it, as it moved, he beheld a table -formed of jewels. On this table lay a book of Buddhist prayers -(sutras). - -As he gazed with wonder and reverence, the priest heard a voice that -spake and said: “Who hath come nigh and why hath he come?” - -The priest answered in a low voice, giving his name, and expressing his -desire to behold the dragon king, whom he desired to worship. - -Then the voice made answer: “Here no human eye can look upon me. Return -by the way thou hast come, and I shall appear before thee at a distance -from the cavern mouth.” - -The priest made obeisance, and returned to the world of men by the way -he had come. He went to the spot that the voice had indicated, and -there he waited, reading sacred texts. Soon the earth yawned and the -dragon king arose in human shape, wearing a red hat and garment. The -priest worshipped him, and then the dragon vanished from sight. On that -sacred spot a temple was afterwards erected. - -Once upon a time the daughter of the dragon king, who was named -“Abundant Pearl Princess”, fell in love with a comely youth of Japan. -He was sitting, on a calm summer day, beneath a holy tree, and his -image was reflected in a dragon well. The princess appeared before him -and cast a love spell over his heart. The youth was enchanted by her -beauty, and she led him towards the palace of the dragon king, the -“Abundant Pearl Prince”. There she married him, and they lived together -for three years. Then the youth was possessed by a desire to return to -the world of men. In vain the princess pleaded with him to remain in -the palace. When, however, she found that his heart was set on leaving -the kingdom of the Underworld, she resolved to accompany him. He was -conveyed across the sea on the back of a wani (a dragon in crocodile -shape). The princess accompanied him, and he built a house for her on -the seashore. - -The “Abundant Pearl Princess” was about to become a mother, and she -made the youth promise not to look upon her until after her child was -born. But he broke his vow. Overcome with curiosity, he peered into her -chamber and saw that his wife had assumed the shape of a dragon. As -soon as the child was born, the princess departed in anger and was -never again beheld by her husband. - -This story, it will be noted, is another Far-Eastern version of the -Melusina legend. - -An Indian version of the tale relates that the hero was a sailor, the -sole survivor from a wreck, who swam to a small island in the midst of -the sea. When he reached the shore, he set out to look for food, but -found that the trees and shrubs, which dazzled him with their beauty, -bore beautiful gems instead of fruit. At length, however, he found a -fruit-bearing tree. He ate and was well content. Then he sat down -beside a well. As he stooped to drink of its waters, he had a vision of -the Underworld in all its beauty. At the bottom of the well sat a fair -sea-maid, who looked upwards with eyes of love and beckoned him towards -her. He plunged into the well and found himself in the radiant Kingdom -of Ocean. The maid was the queen, and she took him as her consort. She -promised him great wealth, but forbade him to touch the statue of an -Apsara [154], which was of gold and adorned with gems. But one day he -placed his hand on the right foot of the image. The foot darted forth -and struck him with such force that he was driven through the sea and -washed ashore on his native coast. [155] - -The oldest version of this type of story comes from Egypt. It has been -preserved in a papyrus in the Hermitage collection at Petrograd, and is -usually referred to as of Twelfth Dynasty origin (c. 2000 B.C.). A -sailor relates that he was the sole survivor from a wreck. He had -seized a piece of wood and swam to an island. After he recovered from -exhaustion, he set out to search for food. “I found there figs and -grapes, all manner of good herbs, berries and grain, melons of all -kinds, fishes and birds.” In time, he heard a noise “as of thunder”, -while “the trees shook and the earth was moved”. The ruler of the -island drew nigh. He was a human-headed serpent “thirty cubits long, -and his beard greater than two cubits; his body was as overlaid with -gold, and his colour as that of true lapis-lazuli”. - -The story proceeds to tell that the sailor becomes the guest of the -serpent, who makes speeches to him and introduces him to his family. It -is stated that the island “has risen from the waves and will sink -again”. After a time the sailor is rescued by a passing vessel. [156] -This ancient Egyptian tale links with the Indian and Chinese versions -given above. The blue serpent resembles closely the Chinese dragon; the -vanishing island is common to Egypt and China. Like much else that came -from Egypt, the island has a history. Long before the ancient mariners -transferred it to the ocean, it figured in the fused mythology of the -Solar and Osirian cults. Horus hid from Set on a green floating island -on the Nile. He was protected by a serpent deity. His father, Osiris, -is Judge and Ruler of the Underworld, and has a serpent shape as the -Nile god and the dragon of the abyss. The red light associated with the -Chinese dragon island of ocean recalls the Red Horus, a form of the -sun-god, rising from the Nile of the Underworld, on which floated the -green nocturnal sun, “the green bed of Horus” and a form of his father -Osiris as the solar deity of night. - -The Osirian underworld idea appears to have given origin to the -widespread stories found as far apart as Japan and the British Isles -regarding “Land-under-Waves” and “the Kingdom of the Sea”. The green -floating island of Paradise is referred to in Scottish Gaelic -folk-tales. In Fiji the natives tell of a floating island that vanishes -when men approach it. [157] - -In some Chinese legends Egyptian conceptions blend with those of -Babylonia. The Chinese priest who, in the dragon-king story, reached -the Underworld through a deep cave, followed in the footsteps of -Gilgamesh, who went in search of the “Plant of Life”—the herb that -causes man “to renew his youth like the eagle”. [158] Gilgamesh entered -the cave of the Mountain of Mashi (Sunset Hill), and after passing -through its night-black depths, reached the seaside garden in which, as -on the island in the Indian story, the trees bore, instead of fruit and -flowers, clusters of precious stones. He beheld in the midst of this -garden of dazzling splendour the palace of Sabitu, the goddess, who -instructed him how to reach the island on which lived his ancestor -Pir-naphishtum (Ut-napishtim). Gilgamesh was originally a god, the -earlier Gishbilgames of Sumerian texts. [159] - -The Indian Hanuman (the monkey-god) similarly enters a deep cave when -he goes forth as a spy to Lanka, the dwelling-place of Ravana, the -demon who carried away Sita, wife of Rama, the hero of the Rámáyana. A -similar story is told in the mythical history of Alexander the Great. -There are also western European legends of like character. Hercules -searches for the golden apples that grow in the Hesperian gardens. -[160] In some Far Eastern stories the hero searches for a sword instead -of an herb. “Every weapon,” declares an old Gaelic saying, “has its -demon.” The same belief prevailed in China, where dragons sometimes -appeared in the form of weapons, and in India, where the spirits of -celestial weapons appeared before heroes like Arjuna and Rama. [161] In -the Teutonic Balder story, as related by Saxo Grammaticus, [162] the -hero is slain by a sword taken from the Underworld, where it was kept -by Miming (Mimer), the god, in an Underworld cave. Hother, who gains -possession of it, goes by a road “hard for mortal man to travel”. - -In the Norse version the sword becomes an herb—the mistletoe, a -“cure-all”, like the Chinese dragon herb and the Babylonian “Plant of -Life”. Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur, was obtained from the -lake-goddess (a British “Naga”), and was flung back into the lake -before he died: - - - So flashed and fell the brand Excalibur: - But ere he dipped the surface, rose an arm - Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, - And caught him by the hilt, and brandished him - Three times, and drew him under in the mere. [163] - - -The Japanese story of the famous Kusanagi sword is a Far-Eastern link -between the Celestial herb- and weapon-legends of Asia and Europe. It -tells that this magic sword was one of the three treasures possessed by -the imperial family of Japan, and that the warrior who wielded it could -put to flight an entire army. At a naval battle the sword was worn by -the boy-Emperor, Antoku Tennō. He was unable to make use of it, and -when the enemy were seen to be victorious, the boy’s grandmother, -Nu-no-ama, clutched him in her arms and leapt into the sea. - -Many long years afterwards, when the Emperor Go Shirakawa sat on the -imperial throne, his barbarian enemies declared war against him. The -Emperor arose in his wrath and called for the Kusanagi sword. Search -was made for it in the temple of Kamo, where it was supposed to be in -safe-keeping. The Emperor was told, however, that it had been lost, and -he gave orders that ceremonies should be performed with purpose to -discover where the sword was, and how it might be restored. One night, -soon afterwards, the Emperor dreamed a dream, in which a royal lady, -who had been dead for centuries, appeared before him and told that the -Kusanagi sword was in the keeping of the dragon king in his palace at -the bottom of the sea. - -Next morning the Emperor related his dream to his chief minister, and -bade him hasten to the two female divers, Oimatsu and her daughter -Wakamatsu, who resided at Dan-no-ura, so that they might dive to the -bottom of the sea and obtain the sword. - -The divers undertook the task, and were conveyed in a boat to that part -of the ocean where the boy-Emperor, Antoku Tennō, had been drowned. A -religious ceremony was performed, and the mother and daughter then -dived into the sea. A whole day passed before they appeared again. They -told, as soon as they were taken into the boat, that they had visited a -wonderful city at the bottom of the sea. Its gates were guarded by -silent sentinels who drew flashing swords when they (the divers) -attempted to enter. They were consequently compelled to wait for -several hours, until a holy man appeared and asked them what they -sought. When they had informed him that they were searching for the -Kusanagi sword, he said that the city could not be entered without the -aid of Buddha. - -Said the Emperor’s chief minister: “The city is that of the god of the -sea.” - -“It is very beautiful,” Oimatsu told him; “the walls are of gold, and -the gates of pearl. Above the city walls are seen many-coloured towers -that gleam like to precious stones. When one of the gates was opened, -we perceived that the streets were of silver and the houses of -mother-of-pearl.” - -Said the Emperor’s chief minister: “Fain would I visit that city.” - -He looked over the side of the boat and sighed, “I see naught but -darkness.” - -“When we dived and reached the sea-bottom,” Oimatsu continued, “we -beheld a cave and entered it. Thick darkness prevailed, but we walked -on and on, groping as we went, until we reached a beautiful plain over -which bends the sky, blue as sapphire. Trees growing on the plain bear -clusters of dazzling gems that sparkle among their leaves.” - -“Were you not tempted to pluck them?” asked the minister. - -“Each tree is guarded by a poisonous snake,” Oimatsu told him, “and we -dared not touch the gems.” - -On the following day the divers were provided with sutra-charms by the -chief priest of the temple of Kamo. - -They entered the sea again, and told, on their return next morning, -that they had visited the city, and reached the palace of the dragon -king, which was guarded by invisible sentries. Two women came out of -the palace and bade them stand below an old pine tree, the bark of -which glittered like the scales of a dragon. In front of them was a -window. The blind was made of beautiful pearls, and was raised high -enough to permit them to see right into the room. - -One of the palace ladies said, “Look through the window.” - -The women looked. In the room they saw a mighty serpent with a sword in -his mouth. He had eyes bright as the sun, and a blood-red tongue. In -his coils lay a little boy fast asleep. [164] The serpent looked round -and, addressing the women, spoke and said: “You have come hither to -obtain the Kusanagi sword, but I shall keep it for ever. It does not -belong to the Emperor of Japan. Many years ago it was taken from this -palace by a dragon prince who went to dwell in the river Hi. He was -slain by a hero of Japan. [165] This hero carried off the sword and -presented it to the Emperor. After many years had gone past a -sea-dragon took the form of a princess. She became the bride of a -prince of Japan, and was the grandmother of the boy-Emperor with whom -she leapt into the sea during the battle of Dan-no-ura. This boy now -lies asleep in my coils.” - -The Emperor of Japan sorrowed greatly when he was informed regarding -the dragon king’s message. “Alas!” he said, “if the Kusanagi sword -cannot be obtained, the barbarians will defeat my army in battle.” - -Then a magician told the Emperor that he knew of a powerful spell that -would compel the dragon to give up the sword. “If it is successful,” -the Emperor said, “I shall elevate you to the rank of a prince.” - -The spell was worked, and when next the female divers went to the -Kingdom under the Sea, they obtained the sword, with which they -returned to the Emperor. He used it in battle and won a great victory. - -The sword was afterwards placed in a box and deposited in the temple of -Atsuta, and there it remained for many years, until a Korean priest -carried it away. When, however, the Korean was crossing the ocean to -his own land, a great storm arose. The captain of the vessel knew it -was no ordinary storm, but one that had been raised by a god, and he -spoke and said, “Who on board this ship has offended the dragon king of -Ocean?” - -Then said the Korean priest, “I shall throw my sword into the sea as a -peace-offering.” - -He did as he said he would, and immediately the storm passed away. - -The dragon king caused the sword to be replaced in the temple from -which the Korean had stolen it. There it lay for a century. Then it was -carried back to the palace of the dragon-god in his Kingdom under the -Sea. - -Magic or supernatural swords were possessed by the spirits of -dragon-gods. - -According to a Chinese story in the Books of the Tsin Dynasty, an -astrologer once discovered that among the stars there shone the spirits -of two magic swords, and that they were situated right above the spot -where the swords had, in time past, been concealed. Search was made for -these, and deep down in the earth was found a luminous stone chest. -Inside the chest lay two swords that bore inscriptions indicating that -they were dragon swords. As soon as they were taken out of the box, -their star-spirits faded from the sky. - -These dragon swords could not be retained by human beings for any -prolonged period. Stories are told of swords being taken away by -spirit-beings and even of swords leaping of their own accord from their -sheaths into rivers or the ocean, and assuming dragon shape as soon as -they touched water. [166] - -Similarly dragon jewels might be carried away by dragons who appeared -in human shape—either as beautiful girls or as crafty old men. - -It was fortunate for mortals when dragons appeared as human beings, as -animals, or as fish that spoke with human voices. Dragons were unable -to change their shapes when angry, or when they intended to avenge a -wrong. A transformed dragon was therefore quite harmless. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE ISLANDS OF THE BLEST - - Souls on Islands—Wells of Life and Trees or Plants of Life in - China, Ancient Egypt, Babylonia, &c.—How Islands were Anchored—The - Ocean Tortoise—A Giant’s Fishing—The Mystery of Fu-sang—Island of - Women—Search for Fabled Isles—Chinese and Japanese Stories—How - Navigation was Stimulated—Columbus and Eden—Water of Life in - Ceylon, Polynesia, America, and Scotland—Delos, a Floating - Island—Atlantis and the Fortunate Isles—Celtic Island - Paradise—Apples and Nuts as Food of Life—America as Paradise—The - Indian Lotus of Life—Buddhist Paradise with Gem-trees—Diamond - Valley Legend in China and Greece—Luck Gems and Immortality. - - -The Chinese and Japanese, like the Egyptians, Indians, Fijians, and -others, believed, as has been shown, in the existence of a floating and -vanishing island associated with the serpent-god or dragon-god of -ocean. They believed, too, that somewhere in the Eastern Sea lay a -group of islands that were difficult to locate or reach; which -resembled closely, in essential particulars, the “Islands of the -Blest”, or “Fortunate Isles”, of ancient Greek writers. Vague beliefs -regarding fabulous countries far across the ocean were likewise -prevalent. - -In some native accounts these Chinese Islands of the Blest are said to -be five in number, and named Tai Yü, Yüan Chiao, Fang Hu, Ying Chou, -and P’ēng-lai; in others the number is nine, or ten, or only three. A -single island is sometimes referred to; it may be located in the ocean, -or in the Yellow River, or in the river of the Milky Way, the Celestial -Ho. - -The islands are, in Chinese legend, reputed to be inhabited by those -who have won immortality, or by those who have been transported to -their Paradise to dwell there in bliss for a prolonged period so that -they may be reborn on earth, or pass to a higher state of existence. - -It is of special interest to note in connection with these islands that -they have Wells of Life and Trees or Herbs of Life. The souls drink the -water and eat the herb or fruit of the tree to prolong their existence. -One Chinese “plant of life” is li chih, “the fungus of immortality”. It -appears on Chinese jade ornaments as a symbol of longevity. “This -fungus”, writes Laufer, “is a species of Agaric and considered a -felicitous plant, because it absorbs the vapours of the earth. In the -Li Ki (ed. Couvreur, Vol. I, p. 643) it is mentioned as an edible -plant. As a marvellous plant foreboding good luck, it first appeared -under the Han Dynasty, in 109 B.C., when it sprouted in the imperial -palace Kan-tsʼüan. The emperor issued an edict announcing this -phenomenon, and proclaimed an amnesty in the empire except for -relapsing criminals. A hymn in honour of this divine plant was composed -in the same year.” [167] - -Like the Red Cloud herb the li chih had evidently a close connection -with the dragon-god. - -The question arises whether the idea of an island of paradise was of -“spontaneous origin” in China, or whether the ancient Chinese borrowed -the belief from intruders, or from peoples with whom they had constant -trading relations. There is evidence that as far back as the fourth -century B.C., a Chinese explorer set out on an expedition to search for -the island or islands of Paradise in the Eastern Sea. But it is not -known at what precise period belief in the island arose and became -prevalent. - -The evidence afforded by the ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts is of -special interest and importance in connection with the problem of -origin. As far back as c. 2500 B.C. “the departed Pharaoh hoped to draw -his sustenance in the realm of Re (Paradise)” from “the tree of life in -the mysterious isle in the midst of the Field of Offerings”. The soul -of the Pharaoh, according to the Pyramid Texts, set out, soon after -death, in search of this island “in company with the Morning Star. The -Morning Star is a gorgeous green falcon, a solar divinity, identified -with Horus of Dewat.” The Egyptian story of the soul’s quest goes on to -tell that “this King Pepi ... went to the great isle in the midst of -the Field of Offerings over which the gods make the swallows fly. The -swallows are the Imperishable Stars. They give to this King Pepi the -tree of life, whereof they live, that ye (Pepi and the Morning Star) -may at the same time live thereof.” (Pyramid Texts, 1209–16). Sinister -enemies “may contrive to deprive the king of the sustenance provided -for him....” Charms were provided to protect the fruit of immortality. -“The enemy against which these are most often directed in the Pyramid -Texts is serpents.” In the Japanese story of the Kusanagi sword, the -gem-trees of the Otherworld are protected by dragons. - -The Pyramid Texts devoted to the ancient Egyptian King Unis tell that a -divine voice cries to the gods Re and Thoth (sun and moon), saying, -“Take ye this King Unis with you that he may eat of that which ye eat, -and that he may drink of that which ye drink.” The magic well is -referred to as “the pool of King Unis”. [168] The soul of the Pharaoh -also sails with the unwearied stars in the barque of the sun-god, not -only by day but by night, and as the Egyptian night sun was green, “the -green bed of Horus”, the idea of the floating solar island on the -Underworld Nile became fused with that of the island with the Well of -Life and the Tree of Life. In the Pyramid Texts the Celestial -Otherworld “is”, as Breasted says, “not only the east, but explicitly -the east of the sky”. [169] Similarly the fabulous continents of the -Chinese were situated to the east of the mythical sea. - -The Sumerians and early Babylonians had, like the Egyptians, their -Islands of the Blest. Gilgamesh, who reaches these islands by crossing -the mythical sea, finds dwelling on one of them Ut-napishtim (the -Babylonian Noah) and his wife. Ut-napishtim directs the hero to another -island on which there is a fountain of healing waters and a magic plant -that renews youth. Gilgamesh finds the Plant of Immortality, but as he -stoops to drink water from a stream, a serpent darts forth and snatches -the plant from him. This serpent was a form of “the Earth Lion” (the -dragon). [170] - -The Gilgamesh legend dates back beyond 2500 B.C. Like the Egyptian one -enshrined in the Pyramid Texts, it has two main features, the Well of -Life and the Tree or Plant of Life, which are situated on an island. -The island in time crept into the folk-tales. It was no doubt the -prototype of the vanishing island of the Egyptian mariner’s story -already referred to. - -In the Shih Chi (Historical Record) of Ssŭ-ma Chʼien, “the Herodotus of -China”, a considerable part of which has been translated by Professor -Ed. Chavannes, [171] the three Chinese Islands of the Blest (San, Shen, -Shan) are named P’ēng-lai, Fang Chang, and Ying Chou. They are located -in the Gulf of Chihli, but are difficult to reach because contrary -winds spring up and drive vessels away in the same manner as the vessel -of Odysseus was driven away from Ithaca. It is told, however, that in -days of old certain fortunate heroes contrived to reach and visit the -fabled isles. They told that they saw there palaces of gold and silver, -that the white men and women, the white beasts and the white birds ate -the Herb of Life and drank the waters of the Fountain of Life. On the -island of Ying Chou are great precipices of jade. A brook, the waters -of which are as stimulating as wine, flows out of a jade rock. Those -who can reach the island and drink of this water will increase the -length of their lives. When the jade water is mixed with pounded -“fungus of immortality” a food is provided which ensures a thousand -years of existence in the body. - -Chinese legends tell that the lucky mariners who come within view of -the Isles of the Blest, behold them but dimly, as they seem to be -enveloped in luminous clouds. When vessels approach too closely, the -islands vanish by sinking below the waves, as do the fabled islands of -Gaelic stories. - -Lieh Tze, alleged to be an early Taoist writer, [172] but whose -writings, or those writings attributed to him, were forged in the first -or second century A.D., has located the islands to the east of the gulf -of Chihli in that fathomless abyss into which flow all the streams of -the earth and the river of the Milky Way. Apparently this abyss is the -Mythical Sea which was located beyond the eastern horizon—a part of the -sea that surrounds the world. Into this sea or lake, according to the -ancient Egyptian texts, pours the celestial river, along which sails -the barque of the sun-god. The Nile was supposed by the Ancient -Egyptians to be fed by the waters above the firmament and the waters -below the earth. The Pyramid Texts, when referring to the birth of -Osiris as “new water” (the inundation), say: - - - The waters of life that are in the sky come; - The waters of life that are in the earth come. - The sky burns for thee, - The earth trembles for thee. [173] - - -In India the Ganges was likewise fed by the celestial Ganges that -poured down from the sky. - -Lieh Tze’s Islands of the Blest are five in number, and are inhabited -by the white souls of saintly sages who have won immortality by having -their bodies rendered transparent, or after casting off their bodies as -snakes cast off their skins. All the animals on these islands are -likewise white and therefore pure and holy. The spirit-dwellings are of -gold and jade, and in the groves and gardens the trees and plants bear -pearls and precious stones. Those who eat of the fungus, or of perfumed -fruit, renew their youth and acquire the power of floating like down -through the air from island to island. - -At one time the islands drifted about on the tides of ocean, but the -Lord of All who controls the Universe, having been appealed to by the -Taoist sages who dwelt on the isles, caused three great Atlas-turtles -to support each island with their heads so that they might remain -steadfast. These turtles are relieved by others at the end of sixty -thousand years. In like manner, in Indian mythology, the tortoise -Kurma, an avatar of the god Vishnu, supports Mount Meru when it is -placed in the Sea of Milk. The Japanese Creator has a tortoise form -that supports the world-tree, on the summit of which sits a four-armed -god. In China the tortoise had divine attributes. Tortoise shell is a -symbol of unchangeability, and a symbol of rank when used for court -girdles. The tortoise was also used for purposes of divination. [174] - -A gigantic mythical tortoise is supposed, in the Far East, to live in -the depths of ocean. It has one eye situated in the middle of its body. -Once every three thousand years it rises to the surface and turns over -on its back so that it may see the sun. - -Once upon a time, a legend tells, the Atlas-turtles that support the -Islands of the Blest suffered from a raid by a wandering giant. As the -Indian god Vishnu and the Greek Poseidon could cross the Universe at -three strides, so could this giant pass quickly from country to country -and ocean to ocean. One or two strides were sufficient for him to reach -the mythical ocean from the Lung-po mountains. He sat on the mountain -summit of one of the Islands of the Blest, and cast his fishing-line -into the deep waters. [175] The Atlas-turtles were unable to resist the -lure of his bait and, having hooked and captured six of them, he threw -them over his back and returned home in triumph. These turtles had been -supporting the two islands, Tai Yü and Yüan Chiao, which, having been -set free, were carried by powerful tides towards the north, where they -stranded among the ice-fields. The white beings that inhabited these -islands were thus separated from their fellow saints on the other three -islands, Fang Hu, Ying Chou, and Pʼēng-lai. We are left to imagine how -lonely they felt in isolation. No doubt, they suffered from the evils -associated with the north—the “airt” of drought and darkness. The giant -and his tribesmen were punished by the Lord of the Universe for this -act by having their stature and their kingdom greatly reduced. - -On the fabled islands, the white saints cultivate and gather the -“fungus of immortality”, as the souls in the Paradise of Osiris -cultivate and harvest crops of barley and wheat and dates. Like the -Osirian corn, the island fungus sprouts in great profusion. This fungus -has not only the power to renew youth but even to restore the dead to -life. The “Herodotus of China” has recorded that once upon a time -leaves of the fungus were carried by ravens to the mainland from one of -the islands, and dropped on the faces of warriors slain in battle. The -warriors immediately came to life, although they had lain dead for -three days. The “water of life” had similarly reanimating properties. - -The famous magician, Tung-fang Shuo, who lived in second century B.C., -tells that the sacred islands are ten in number, there being two -distinct groups of five. One of the distant islands is named Fu-sang, -and it has been identified by different western writers with -California, Mexico, Japan, and Formosa. Its name signifies “the Land of -the Leaning Mulberry”. The mulberries are said to grow in pairs and to -be of great height. Once every nine thousand years they bear fruit -which the saints partake of. This fruit adds to their saintly -qualities, and gives them power to soar skyward like celestial birds. - -Beyond Fu-sang is a country of white women who have hairy bodies. In -the spring season they enter the river to bathe and become pregnant, -and their children are born in the autumn. The hair of their heads is -so long that it trails on the ground behind them. Instead of breasts, -they have white locks or hairy organs at the back of their necks from -which comes a liquor that nourishes their children. These women, -according to some accounts, have no husbands, and take flight when they -see a man. A historian who, by the way, gives them husbands, has -recorded that a Chinese vessel was once driven by a tempest to this -wonderful island. The crew landed and found that the women resembled -those of China, but that the men had heads like dogs and voices that -sounded like the barking of dogs. Evidently the legends about the -fabled islands became mixed up with accounts of the distant islands of -a bearded race reached by seafarers. - -There are records of several attempts that were made by pious Chinese -Emperors to discover the Islands of the Blest, with purpose to obtain -the “fungus of immortality”. One mariner named Hsu Fü, who was sent to -explore the Eastern Sea so that the fungus might be brought to the -royal palace, returned with a wonderful story. He said that a god had -risen out of the sea and inquired if he was the Emperor’s -representative. “I am,” the mariner made answer. - -“What seek ye?” asked the sea-god. - -“I am searching for the plant that has the power to prolong human -life,” Hsu Fü answered. - -The god then informed the Emperor’s messenger that the offerings he -brought were not sufficient to be regarded as payment for this magic -plant. He was willing, however, that Hsu Fü should see the fungus for -himself so that, apparently, the Emperor might be convinced it really -existed. - -The vessel was then piloted in a south-easterly direction until the -Islands of the Blest were reached. Hsu Fü was permitted to land on -P’ēng-lai, the chief island, on which was situated the golden palace of -the dragon king of ocean. There he saw newly-harvested crops of the -“fungus of immortality” guarded by a great brazen dragon of ferocious -aspect. Not a leaf could he obtain, however, to bring back to China. - -The pious mariner knelt before the sea-god and asked him what offering -he required from the Emperor in return for the fungus. He was informed -that many youths and girls would have to be sent to P’ēng-lai. - -On ascertaining the price demanded by the god for the magic fungus, the -Emperor dispatched a fleet of vessels with three thousand young men and -virgins. Hsu Fü was placed in command of the expedition. But he never -returned again to China. According to some, he and his followers still -reside on P’ēng-lai; others assert that he reached a distant land, -supposed to be Japan, where he founded a state over which he reigned as -king. - -Other Chinese Emperors were similarly anxious to discover the fabled -islands, and many expeditions were sent to sea. One exasperated monarch -is said to have had nearly five hundred magicians and scholars put to -death because their efforts to assist him in discovering the islands -had proved to be futile. - -Another Emperor fitted out a naval expedition which he himself -commanded. Each vessel was packed with soldiers who in mid-ocean raised -a great clamour, blowing horns, beating drums, and shouting in chorus, -with purpose to terrify the gods of ocean and compel them to reveal the -location of the Isle of Immortality. In time the dragon-god appeared in -his fiercest shape, with the head of a lion and a shark-like body 500 -feet in length. The Emperor ordered his fleet to surround the god, who -had apparently come with the intention of preventing the ships going -any farther. A fierce battle ensued. Thousands of poisoned arrows were -discharged against the god, who was so grievously wounded that his -blood tinged the sea over an area of 10,000 miles. But despite this -victory achieved by mortals, the famous island on which grew the herb -of immortality was never reached. On the same night the Emperor had to -engage in single combat with the dragon-god, who came against him in a -dream. This was a combat of souls, for in sleep, as was believed, the -soul leaves the body. The soul of the Emperor fared badly. On the day -that followed his majesty was unable to rise from his couch, and he -died within the space of seven days. - -In Japanese stories the island of P’ēng-lai is referred to as Horaizan. -It has three high mountains, on the chief of which, called Horai, grows -the Tree of Life. This tree has a trunk and branches of gold, roots of -silver, and gem-leaves and fruit. In some stories there are three -trees, the peach, the plum, and the pine. The “fungus of immortality” -is also referred to. It grows in the shade of one or another of the -holy trees, usually the pine. There is evidence, too, of the belief -that a “grass of immortality” grew on the sacred island as well as the -famous fungus. The life-giving fountain was as well known to the -Japanese as it was to the Chinese and others. - -A story is told of a Japanese Gilgamesh, named Sentaro, who, being -afraid of death, summoned to his aid an immortal saint so that he might -be enabled to obtain the “grass of immortality”. The saint handed him a -crane made of paper which, when mounted, came to life and carried -Sentaro across the ocean to Mount Horai. There he found and ate the -life-giving grass. When, however, he had lived for a time on the island -he became discontented. The other inhabitants had already grown weary -of immortality and wished they could die. Sentaro himself began to pine -for Japan and, in the end, resolved to mount his paper crane and fly -over the sea. But after he left the island he doubted the wisdom of his -impulsive resolution. The result was that the crane, which moved -according to his will, began to crumple up and drop through the air. -Sentaro was greatly scared, and once again yearned so deeply for his -native land that the crane, straightened and strengthened by his -yearning, rose into the air and continued its flight until Japan was -reached. - -Another Japanese hero, named Wasobioye, the story of whose wanderings -is retold by Professor Chamberlain, [176] once set out in a boat to -escape troublesome visitors. The day was the eighth of the eighth month -and the moon was full. Suddenly a storm came on, which tore the sail to -shreds and brought down the mast. Wasobioye was unable to return home, -and his boat was driven about on the wide ocean for the space of three -months. Then he reached the Sea of Mud, on which he could not catch any -fish. He was soon reduced to sore straits and feared he would die of -hunger, but, in time, he caught sight of land and was greatly cheered. -His boat drifted slowly towards a beautiful island on which there were -three great mountains. As he drew near to the shore, he found, to his -great joy, that the air was laden with most exquisite perfumes that -came from the flowers and tree-blossoms of that wonderful isle. He -landed and found a sparkling well. When he had drunk of the water his -strength was revived, and a feeling of intense pleasure tingled in his -veins. He rose up refreshed and happy and, walking inland, soon met -with Jofuku the sage, known in China as Hsu Fü, who had been sent to -the Island of the Blest (P’ēng-lai) by the Emperor She Wang Ti to -obtain the “fungus of immortality”, with the youths and virgins, but -had never returned. - -Wasobioye was taken by the friendly sage to the city of the immortals, -who spent their lives in the pursuit of pleasure. He found, however, -that these people had grown to dislike their monotonous existence, and -were constantly striving to discover some means whereby their days -would be shortened. They refused to partake of mermaid flesh because -this was a food that prolonged life; they favoured instead goldfish and -soot, a mixture which was supposed to be poisonous. The manners of the -people were curious. Instead of wishing one another good health and -long life, they wished for sickness and a speedy death. Congratulations -were showered on any individual who seemed to be indisposed, and he was -sympathized with when he showed signs of recovering. - -Wasobioye lived on the island for nearly a quarter of a century. Then, -having grown weary of the monotonous life, he endeavoured to commit -suicide by partaking of poisonous fruit, fish, and flesh. But all his -attempts were in vain. It was impossible for anyone to die on that -island. In time he came to know that he could die if he left it, but he -had heard of other wonderful lands and wished to visit them before his -days came to an end. Then, instead of eating poisonous food, he began -to feast on mermaid flesh so that his life might be prolonged for many -years beyond the allotted span. Thereafter he visited the Land of -Shams, the Land of Plenty, &c. His last visit was paid to the Land of -Giants. Wasobioye is usually referred to as the “Japanese Gulliver”. - -The search for the mythical islands with their “wells of life” and -“trees” or “plants of life” is referred to in the stories of many lands -and even in history, especially the history of exploration, for the -world-wide search for the Earthly Paradise appears to have exercised -decided influence in stimulating maritime enterprise in mediæval as -well as prehistoric times. Columbus searched for the island paradise in -which the “well” and “tree” were to be found. He sailed westward so as -to approach the paradise “eastward in Eden”, [177] through “the back -door” as it were, and wrote: “The saintly theologians and philosophers -were right when they fixed the site of the terrestrial paradise in the -extreme Orient, because it is a most temperate clime; and the lands -which I have just discovered are the limits of the Orient.” In another -letter he says: “I am convinced that there lies the terrestrial -paradise”. [178] - -As Ellis reminds us, “the expedition which led to the discovery of -Florida was undertaken not so much from a desire to explore unknown -countries”, as to find a “celebrated fountain, described in a tradition -prevailing among the inhabitants of Puerto Rico, as existing in Binini, -one of the Lucayo Islands. It was said to possess such restorative -powers as to renew youth and the vigour of every person who bathed in -its waters. It was in search of this fountain, which was the chief -object of their expedition, that Ponce de Leon ranged through the -Lucayo Islands and ultimately reached the shores of Florida.” - -Ellis refers to this voyage because he found that the mythical island -and well were believed in by the Polynesians. He refers, in this -connection, to the “Hawaiian account of the voyage of Kamapiikai to the -land where the inhabitants enjoyed perpetual health and youthful -beauty, where the wai ora (life-giving fountain) removed every internal -malady, and every external deformity or paralysed decrepitude, from all -those who were plunged beneath its salutary waters”. Ellis anticipates -the views of modern ethnologists when dealing with the existence of the -same beliefs among widely-separated peoples. He says: “A tabular view -of a number of words in the Malayan, Asiatic, or the Madagasse, the -American, and the Polynesian languages, would probably show that, at -some remote period, either the inhabitants of these distant parts of -the world maintained frequent intercourse with each other, or that -colonies from some one of them originally peopled, in part or -altogether, the others”. He adds, “Either part of the present -inhabitants of the South Sea Islands came originally from America, or -tribes of the Polynesians have, at some remote period, found their way -to the (American) continent”. [179] - -W. D. Westervelt, in his Legends of Old Honolulu, heads his old -Hawaiian story “The Water of Life of Ka-ne”, which he himself has -collected, with the following extract from the Maori legend of New -Zealand: - - - When the moon dies, she goes to the living water of Ka-ne, to the - water which can restore all life, even the moon to the path in the - sky. - - -In the Hawaiian form of the legend the hero, who found the water so -that his sick father, the king, might be cured, met with a dwarf who -instructed him where to go and what to do. - -A russet dwarf similarly figures in the Gaelic story of Diarmaid’s -search for the cup and the water of life so that the daughter of the -King of Land-under-Waves might be cured of her sickness. This dwarf -takes the Gaelic hero across a ferry and instructs him how to find the -cup and the water. [180] - -The Polynesians’ ghosts went westward. In their Paradise was a -bread-fruit tree. “This tree had two branches, one towards the east and -one towards the west, both of which were used by the ghosts. One was -for leaping into eternal darkness into Po-pau-ole, the other was a -meeting-place with the helpful gods.” [181] Turner tells that “some of -the South Sea Islanders have a tradition of a river in their imaginary -world of spirits, called the ‘water of life’. It was supposed that if -the aged, when they died, went and bathed there, they became young and -returned to earth to live another life over again.” [182] Yudhishthira, -one of the heroes of the Aryo-Indian epic the Mahábhárata, becomes -immortal after bathing in the celestial Ganges. [183] In the Æneid, the -hero sees souls in Paradise drinking of the water of Lethe so that they -may forget the past and be reborn among men. - -Sir John de Mandeville, the fourteenth-century traveller and compiler -of traveller’s stories, located the fountain of life at the base of a -great mountain in Ceylon. This “fayr well ... hathe odour and savour of -all spices; and at every hour of the day, he chaungethe his odour and -his savour dyversely. And whoso drinkethe 3 times fasting of that watre -of that welle, he is hool (whole) of alle maner (of) sykenesse that he -hathe. And they that duellen (dwell) there and drynken often of that -welle, thei nevere hau (have) sykenesse, and thei semen (seem) alle -weys yonge.” Sir John says that he drank of the water on three or four -occasions and fared the better for it. Some men called it the “Welle of -Youthe”. They had often drunk from it and seemed “alle weys yongly -(youthful)” and lived without sickness. “And men seyn that that welle -comethe out of Paradys, and therefore it is so vertuous.” The “tree of -life” is always situated near the “well of life” in mediæval -literature. At Heliopolis in Egypt a well and tree are connected by -Coptic Christians and Mohammedans with Christ. When Joseph and Mary -fled to Egypt they rested under this tree, according to Egyptian -belief, and the clothes of the holy child were washed in the well. -Heliopolis, the Biblical On, is “the city of the sun”, and the Arabs -still call the well the “spring of the sun”. According to ancient -Egyptian belief the sun-god Ra washed his face in it every morning. The -tree, a sycamore, was the mother-goddess. - -That European ideas regarding a floating island or islands were of -Egyptian origin and closely connected with the solar cult, is suggested -by the classical legend regarding Delos, one of the Cyclades. It was -fabled to have been raised to the surface of the sea at the command of -Poseidon, so that the persecuted goddess Latona, who was pursued from -land to land by a python, as the Egyptian Isis was pursued by Set, -might give birth there to Apollo. On Delos the image of Apollo was in -the shape of a dragon, and delivered oracles. It was unlawful for any -person to die on Delos, and those of its inhabitants who fell sick were -transported to another island. - -Delos was a floating island like the floating island of the Nile, “the -green bed of Horus” on which that son of Osiris and Isis hid from Set. -The most ancient Apollo was the son of cripple Hephaistos. Cripple -Horus was, in one of his forms, a Hephaistos and a metal-worker. Homer -knew of the fabled island of Apollo. The swineherd, addressing -Odysseus, says, [184] “There is a certain isle called Syria ... over -above Ortygia, and there are the turning places of the sun. It is not -very great in compass, though a goodly isle, rich in herds, rich in -flocks, with plenty of corn and wine. Dearth never enters the land, and -no hateful sickness falls on wretched mortals.” - -The later Greeks located the island Paradise in the Atlantic, and it is -referred to as “Atlantis”, the Islands of the Blest and the Fortunate -Isles (fortunatae insulae). Hercules set out to search for the golden -apples, the fruit of immortality that grow in - - - those Hesperian gardens famed of old, - Fortunate fields and groves and flowery vales. - - -The garden of Paradise, cared for by those celebrated nymphs, the -daughters of Hesperus, brother of Atlas—Hesperus is the planet Venus as -an evening star—was also located among the Atlas mountains in Africa. -There the tree of life, which bore the golden apples, was guarded by -the nymphs and by a sleepless dragon, like the gem-trees in the -Paradises of China and Japan. - -According to Diodorus, the Phœnicians discovered the island Paradise. -Plutarch placed it at a distance of five days’ voyage to the west of -Brittia (England and Scotland), apparently confusing it with Ireland -(the “sacred isle” of the ancients), or with an island in the Hebrides. - -The island of immortals in the western ocean is found in Gaelic folk- -and manuscript-literature. - -Among the Gaelic names of Paradise is that of “Emain Ablach” (Emain -rich in apples). In one description a youth named Conla and his bride -Veniusa are referred to. “Now the youth was so that in his hand he held -a fragrant apple having the hue of gold; a third part of it he would -eat, and still, for all he consumed, never a whit would it be -diminished. The fruit it was that supported the pair of them and when -once they had partaken of it, nor age nor dimness could affect them.” A -part of this Paradise was reserved for “monarchs, kings, and tribal -chiefs”. Teigue, a Celtic Gilgamesh who visited the island, saw there -“a thickly furnished wide-spreading apple tree that bore blossom and -ripe fruit” at the same time. He asked regarding the great tree and was -informed that its fruit was “meat” intended to “serve the congregation” -which was to inhabit the mansion. [185] The rowan berry and hazel nut -were also to the Gaels fruits of immortality. There once came to St. -Patrick “from the south” a youth wearing a crimson mantle fixed by a -fibula of gold over a yellow shirt. He brought “a double armful of -round yellow-headed nuts and of beautiful golden-yellow apples”. [186] -The Gaelic Islands of the Blest are pictured in glowing colours: - - - Splendours of every colour glisten - Throughout the gentle-voiced plains. - Joy is known, ranked around music - In the southern Silver-cloud Plain. - Unknown is wailing or treachery ... - There is nothing rough or hoarse ... - Without grief, without sorrow, without death, - Without sickness, without debility ... - A lovely land - On which the many blossoms drop. [187] - - -The hero Bran sets out to search for the islands, and, like one of the -Chinese mariners, meets with the sea-god, who addresses him and tells -of the wonders of the island Paradise with its trees of life. - - - A wood laden with beautiful fruit ... - A wood without decay, without defect, - On which is a foliage of a golden hue. [188] - - -The green floating and vanishing island and the well of life are common -in Scottish Gaelic folk-lore. It was believed that the life-giving -water had greatest potency if drunk at dawn of the day which was of -equal length with the night preceding it, and that it should be drunk -before a bird sipped at the well and before a dog barked. The -Scandinavians heard of the Gaelic Island of the West during their -prolonged sojourn in the British Isles and Ireland, and referred to it -as “Ireland hit Mikla” (“The Mickle Ireland”), and the mythical island -was afterwards identified with Vinland, believed to be America, which -was apparently reached by the hardy sea-rovers. - -The Earthly Paradise was also located in Asia. In the mythical -histories of Alexander a hero sets forth like Gilgamesh on the quest of -the Water of Life. He similarly enters a cavern of a great mountain in -the west which is guarded by a monster serpent. In one version of the -tale this hero carries a jewel that shines in darkness—a jewel that -figures prominently in Chinese lore (Chap. XIII)—and passes through the -dark tunnel. He reaches the Well of Life and plunges into it. When he -came out he found that his body had turned a bluish-green colour, and -ever afterwards he was called “El Khidr”, which means “Green”. [189] - -The Well of Life is referred to in the Koran. Commentators explain a -reference to a vanishing fish by telling that Moses or Joshua carried a -fried fish when they reached the Well of Life. Some drops of the water -fell on the fish, which at once leapt out of the basket into the sea -and swam away. - -In the Aryo-Indian epic, the Mahábhárata, the hero Bhima sets out in -search of the Lake of Life and the Lotus of Life. He overcomes the -Yaksha-guardians of the lake, and when he bathes in the lake his wounds -are healed. [190] - -There are glowing descriptions in Buddhist literature of the Paradise -reached by those who are to qualify for Buddhahood. A proportion of the -Chinese Taoist inhabitants of the Islands of the Blest similarly wait -for the time when they will pass into another state of existence. A -similar belief prevailed in the West. Certain Celtic heroes, like -Arthur, Ossian, Fionn (Finn), Brian Boroimhe, and Thomas the Rhymer, -live in Paradise for long periods awaiting the time when they are to -return to the world of men, as do Charlemagne, Frederick of Barbarossa, -William Tell, and others on the Continent. - -In the Buddhist Paradise the pure beings have faces “bright and -yellowish”, yellow being the sacred colour of the Buddhist as it is the -colour of the chief dragon of China. In this Paradise is the Celestial -Ganges and the great Bodhi-tree, “a hundred yojanas in height”, which -prolongs life and increases “their stock of merit”. Their “merit” may -“grow in the following shapes, viz. either in gold, in silver, in -jewels, in beryls, in shells, in stones, in corals, in amber, in red -pearls, in diamonds, &c., or in any one of the other jewels; or in all -kinds of perfumes, in flowers, in garlands, in ointment, in -incense-powder, in cloaks, in umbrellas, in flags, in banners, or in -lamps; or in all kinds of dancing, singing, and music”. [191] - -The gem-trees abound in this Paradise. “Of some trees”, one account -runs, “the trunks are of coral, the branches of red pearls, the small -branches of diamonds, the leaves of gold, the flowers of silver, and -the fruits of beryl.” [192] In the “eastern quarter” there are “Buddha -countries equal to the sand of the River Ganga (Ganges)”. The purified -beings in the lands “surpass the light of the sun and moon, by the -light of wisdom, and by the whiteness, brilliancy, purity, and beauty -of their knowledge”. [193] There are references to “the king of jewels -that fulfils every wish”. It has “golden-coloured rays excessively -beautiful, the radiance of which transforms itself into birds -possessing the colours of a hundred jewels, which sing out harmonious -notes”. [194] The purified may become like Buddha “with bodies bright -as gold and blue eyes”, for “the eyes of Buddha are like the water of -the four great oceans; the blue and the white are quite distinct”. -[195] The imaginations of the Buddhists run riot in their descriptions -of the Land of Bliss, and the stream of glowing narrative carries with -it many pre-Buddhist beliefs about metals and precious stones, “red -pearls, blue pearls”, and so on, and “nets of gold adorned with the -emblems of the dolphin, the svastika (swashtika), the nandyāvarta, and -the moon”. [196] In their Paradise even the river mud is of gold. The -religious ideas of the early searchers for “soul substance” in the form -of metals and gems are thus found to be quaintly blended with Buddhist -conceptions of the Earthly Paradise. - -In some Chinese and Japanese stories the souls of the dead are carried -to Paradise by birds, and especially by the crane or stork, which takes -the place of the Indian man-eagle Garuda (Japanese Gario, the -woman-bird with crane’s legs), and of the Babylonian eagle that carried -the hero Etana to heaven. The saints who reach the Indian Paradise of -Uttara Kuru, situated at the sources of the River Indus, among the -Himalayan mountains, and originally the homeland of the Kuru tribe of -Aryans, are supposed to have their lives prolonged for centuries. When -they die their bodies are carried away by gigantic birds and dropped -into mountain recesses. The belief enshrined in stories of this kind -may be traced to the wide-spread legend of the Diamond Valley. Laufer -notes that a version of it occurs in the Liang se kung ki, “one of the -most curious books of Chinese literature”. A prince is informed by -scholars regarding the wonders of distant lands. “In the west, arriving -at the Mediterranean,” one Chinese story runs, “there is in the sea an -island of two hundred square miles. On this island is a large forest, -abundant in trees with precious stones, and inhabited by over ten -thousand families. These men show great ability in cleverly working -gems, which are named for the country Fu-lin (Syria). In a -north-westerly direction from the island is a ravine, hollowed out like -a bowl, more than a thousand feet deep. They throw flesh into this -valley. Birds take it up in their beaks, whereupon they drop the -precious stones.” Here Fu-lin, in the Mediterranean area, is referred -to as early as the beginning of the sixth century. - -The Chinese Diamond Valley story is “an abridged form of a well-known -Western legend”. In a version of it in the writings of Epiphanius, -Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus (c. 315–403), the valley is situated in -“a desert of great Scythia”, and the precious stones are gathered on -the mountains, whence the eagles carry them. The eagle-stone is “useful -to women in aiding parturition”. Laufer notes that Pliny knew about the -parturition stone, and that the beliefs associated with it are found in -Egypt and India. In the latter country it occurs in legends about the -combats between the eagle and serpent. [197] - -A Scottish Gaelic folk-story tells of a man who had a combat with an -eagle which carried him away to the floating island of the blest. He -was killed, but came to life again after drops of the water from the -well of life were thrown on his body. Stones found in eagles’ or -ravens’ nests, according to Scottish belief, imparted to their -possessors the power of prophecy or healing. - -The gems from the trees of Paradise in Babylonian, Indian, Chinese, and -Japanese literature were supposed to confer special powers on those who -became possessed of them. To this class belongs the “Jewel that grants -all Desires”, the “gem that shines in darkness”, the prophet’s or -priest’s jewel or jewels, &c. Gems were searched for in ancient times -because they were supposed to possess what has been called “soul -substance”. They protected those who wore them from all evil, they -assisted birth, they prolonged life. Precious metals were similarly -believed to be “luck-bringers”, and to early man luck meant everything -he wished for, including good health, longevity, plentiful supplies of -food, a knowledge of the future, offspring, and so on. - -In the stories of the Islands of the Blest the happy souls are, in the -ancient sense of the term, “lucky souls”. Paradise was a land in which -life-giving water and fruit, and innumerable gems were to be found, and -those who reached it became wise as magicians and prophets, and lived -for thousands of years free from sickness and pain. It was the land of -eternal youth and unlimited happiness. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE MOTHER-GODDESS OF CHINA AND JAPAN - - Food for the Dead—Milk, Bread, and Beer in Paradise—The Western - Tree of Life in Egypt—Tree of Life in Greece, Britain, and - Polynesia—The Underworld Paradise—The “Wonderful Rose - Garden”—Chinese Cult of the West—Biblical Tree Parable—Chinese - Peach Tree of Longevity—The “Royal Mother of the West”—Visit of the - Chinese Emperor—A Far-Eastern El-Khidr—The Sacred Chrysanthemum—The - Cassia Tree Cult—Celestial Yellow River—Moon Myths—Lunar Elixir in - China, India, and Scandinavia—Chinese Star Maiden—The Sun - Barque—“Island of Blest” in Celestial River—Moon-girl Story—The - “Makara” in China and Japan—The Chinese Ishtar—Deluge Legend—Tree - Spirits—Story of Little Peachling—“Soul Substance” in Dragon Bones, - Trees, and Pearls. - - -The quest of the “elixir of life”, the “water of life”, or “the food of -life” is as prominent a feature of ancient religious literature as is -the quest of the Holy Grail in the Arthurian romances. As has been -shown in the last chapter, the belief that prompted the quest was -widely prevalent, and of great antiquity. The Babylonian hero, -Gilgamesh, whose story is told in the oldest epic in the world, -undertook his long and perilous journey to the Otherworld, in quest of -the Plant of Life, because the thought of death was sorrowful to him. -When his friend, Ea-bani, had expired, - - - Gilgamesh wept bitterly, and he lay stretched out upon the ground. - He cried, “Let me not die like Ea-bani.... - I fear death.” [198] - - -In the Babylonian myth of Adapa reference is made to the “water of -life” and the “food of life”, which give wisdom and immortality to the -gods and to the souls of those mortals who win their favour. The sacred -tree in Babylonian art is evidently the Tree of Life. [199] - -We seem to meet with the history of the immemorial quest in the Pyramid -Texts of Ancient Egypt. The ancient priests appear to have concerned -themselves greatly regarding the problem how the dead were to be -nourished in the celestial Paradise. “The chief dread felt by the -Egyptian for the hereafter,” says Breasted, “was fear of hunger.” [200] -In Egypt, as in other lands offerings of food were made at the tombs, -and these were supposed to be conveyed to the souls by certain of the -gods. But those who hoped to live for ever knew well that the time -would come when grave-offerings would cease to be made, and their own -names would be forgotten on earth. Some Pharaohs endowed their -chapel-tombs for all time, but revolutions ultimately caused endowments -to be appropriated. - -The Babylonians believed that if the dead were not fed, their ghosts -would prowl through the streets and enter houses, searching for food -and water. [201] In Polynesia the homeless and desolate ghosts were -those of poor people, “who during their residence in the body had no -friends and no property”. [202] The custom of including food-vessels -and drinking-cups in the funerary furniture of prehistoric graves in -different countries was no doubt connected with the fear of hunger in -the hereafter. The custom was widespread of giving the dead food -offerings at regular intervals. Once a year the living held feasts in -the burial-grounds, and invited the dead to partake of their share. -Among the Hallowe’en beliefs in the British Isles is one that ghosts -return home during the year-end festival to attend “the feast of all -souls”. The Hebridean custom, which lingered even in the nineteenth -century, of placing food and water, or milk, beside a corpse while it -lay in a house, and outside the door or at the grave after the burial -took place, was no doubt a relic of an ancient custom, based on the -haunting belief that the dead were in need of nourishment, if not for -all time, at any rate until the journey to the Otherworld was -completed. - -As has been said, it was the provision of food in the celestial -Paradise, far removed from the earth and its produce, that chiefly -concerned the Egyptians. In the Underworld Kingdom, presided over by -Osiris, the souls grew corn and gathered fruit. But the Paradise of the -solar cult was above or beyond the sky. Some of the sun-worshippers are -found in the Pyramid Texts to have placed their faith in the -food-supplying Great Mother, the goddess Hathor, who gave them corn and -milk during their earthly lives. As son of Re, born of the sky-goddess, -he (the Pharaoh) is frequently represented as suckled by one of the -sky-goddesses, or some other divinity connected with Re, especially the -ancient goddesses of the prehistoric kingdoms of South and North. These -appear as “the two vultures with long hair and hanging breasts; ... -they draw their breasts over the mouth of King Pepi, but they do not -wean him forever....” Another text invokes the mother-goddess: “Give -thy breast to this King Pepi, ... suckle this King Pepi therewith”. As -a result, perhaps, of the prevalence of Osirian beliefs, the solar cult -adopted the idea that food, such as is found in Egypt, might be -provided in the regions above or beyond the sky. The sun-god was -appealed to: “Give thou bread to this King Pepi, from this thy eternal -bread, thy everlasting beer”. [203] - -But the chief source of nourishment in the celestial Paradise was the -Tree of Life (a form of the mother-goddess) on the great isle in the -mythical lake or sea beyond the Eastern horizon. [204] Egyptian artists -depicted this tree as a palm, or sycamore, with a goddess rising from -inside it, pouring water from a vessel on the hands of the Pharaoh’s -soul, which might appear in human form, or in the man-bird form called -the ba. In the funeral ritual the ceremony of pouring out a libation -was performed with the object of restoring the body moisture (the water -of life) to the mummy. [205] A Biblical reference to the ceremony is -found in 2 Kings, iii, 11, in which it is said of Elisha that he -“poured water on the hands of Elijah”. No doubt the Egyptian soul -received water as nourishment, as well as to ensure its immortality, -from the tree-goddess. - -In the Book of the Dead (Chapter LIX), the Tree of Life is referred to -as “the sycamore of Nut” (the sky-goddess). Other texts call the tree -“the Western Tree” of Nut or Hathor. It may be that the solar cult of -the East took over the tree from the Osirian cult of the West. - -This mythical tree figures in many ancient mythologies. The goddess -Europa was worshipped at Gortyna, in Crete, during the Hellenic period, -as a sacred tree. [206] The tree may be traced from the British Isles -to India, and there are numerous legends of spirits entering or leaving -it. The Polynesians have stories of this kind. Their Tree of Life was -the local bread-fruit tree which “became a god”, or, as some had it, a -goddess. “Out of this magic bread-fruit tree,” a legend says, “a great -goddess was made.” [207] - -It may be that the island Paradise with its Tree of Life was specially -favoured after maritime enterprise made strong appeal to the -imagination of the Egyptians. No doubt the old sailors who searched for -“soul-substance” in the shape of pearls, precious stones, and metals -had much to do with disseminating the idea of the Isles of the Blest. -At any rate, it became, as we have seen, a tradition among seafarers to -search for the distant land in which was situated the “water of life”. -The home-dwelling Osirians clung to their idea of an Underworld -Paradise, and belief in it became fused with that of the floating -island, or Islands of the Blest. Those who dwelt in inland plains and -valleys, and those accustomed to cross the great mysterious deserts on -which the oasis-mirage frequently appeared and vanished like the -mythical floating island, conceived of a Paradise on earth. There are -references in more than one land to a Paradise among the mountains. It -figures in the fairy stories of Central Europe, for instance, as “the -wonderful Rose Garden” with its linden Tree of Immortality, the -hiding-place of a fairy lady, its dancing nymphs and its dwarfs; the -king of dwarfs has a cloak of invisibility which he wraps round those -mortals he carries away. [208] - -At first only the souls of kings entered Paradise. But, in time, the -belief became firmly established that the souls of others could reach -it too, and be fed there. The quest of the “food of life” then became a -popular theme of the story-tellers, and so familiar grew the idea of -the existence of this fruit that people believed it could be obtained -during life, and that those who partook of it might have their days -prolonged indefinitely. For, as W. Schooling has written, “a few simple -thoughts on a few simple subjects produce a few simple opinions common -to a whole tribe” (and even a great part of mankind), “and are taught -with but little modification to successive generations; hence arises a -rigidity that imposes ready-made opinions, which are seldom questioned, -while such questioning as does occur is usually met with excessive -severity, as Galileo and others have found out”. [209] - -The apple, as we have seen, was to the Celts the fruit of immortality: -the Chinese favoured the peach—that is, it was favoured by the Chinese -cult of the West. As all animals were supposed to be represented in the -Otherworld by gigantic prototypes—the fathers or mothers of their -kind—so were trees represented by a gigantic tree. [210] This tree was -the World Tree that supported the Universe. In Egypt the World Tree was -the sycamore of the sky-goddess, who was the Great Mother of deities -and mankind. The sun dropped into the sycamore at eventide; when -darkness fell the swallows (star-gods) perched in its branches. In -Norse mythology the tree is the ash, called Ygdrasil, and from the well -at its roots souls receive the Hades-drink of immortality, drinking -from a horn embellished with serpent symbols. The Tree figures -prominently in Iranian mythology: the Aryo-Indian Indra constructs the -World-house round it. This Tree is, no doubt, identical with the sacred -tree in Assyrian art, which is sometimes the date, the vine, the -pomegranate, the fir, the cedar, and perhaps the oak. It may be that -the Biblical parable about the talking trees is a memory of the -rivalries of the various Assyrian tree cults: - - - The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they - said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree - said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they - honour god and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the - trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the - fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good - fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees - unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto - them, Should I leave my vine, which cheereth God and man, and go to - be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the - bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto - the trees, If in truth ye anoint me King over you, then come and - put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the - bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. - - -As in Assyria, there was in China quite a selection of life-giving -trees. - -The Chinese gigantic Peach Tree, whose fruit was partaken of by gods -and men, grew in the Paradise among the Kwun-lun mountains in Tibet, -and, like the Indian Mount Meru (“world spine”), supported the -Universe. Its fruit took three thousand years to ripen. The tree was -surrounded by a beautiful garden, and was under the care of the -fairy-like lady Si Wang Mu, the queen of immortals, the “Mother of the -Western King”, and the “Royal Mother of the West”. She appears to have -originally been the mother-goddess—the Far-Eastern form of Hathor. In -Japan she is called Seiobo. Her Paradise, which is called “the palace -of exalted purity”, and “the metropolis of the pearl mountain”, or of -“the jade mountain”, and is entered through “the golden door”, [211] -was originally that of the cult of the West. Sometimes Si Wang Mu is -depicted as quite as weird a deity as the Phigalian Demeter, with -disordered hair, tiger’s teeth, and a panther’s tail. Her voice is -harsh, and she sends and cures diseases. Three blue birds bring food to -her. - -Chinese emperors and magicians were as anxious to obtain a peach from -the Royal Mother’s tree in the Western Paradise, as they were to import -the “fungus of immortality” from the Islands of the Blest in the -Eastern Sea. - -There once lived in China a magician named Tung Fang So, who figures in -Japanese legend as Tobosaku, and is represented in Japanese art as a -jolly old man, clasping a peach to his breast and performing a dance, -or as a dreamy sage, carrying two or three peaches, and accompanied by -a deer—an animal which symbolized longevity. Various legends have -gathered round his name. One is that he had several successive rebirths -in various reigns, and that originally he was an avatar of the planet -Venus. He may therefore represent the Far-Eastern Tammuz, the son of -the mother-goddess. Another legend tells that he filched three peaches -from the Tree of Life, which had been plucked by the “Royal Mother of -the West”. - -Tung Fang So was a councillor in the court of Wu Ti, the fourth emperor -of the Han Dynasty, who reigned for over half a century, and died after -fasting for seven days in 87 B.C. In Japanese stories Wu Ti is called -Kan no Buti. He was greatly concerned about finding the “water of life” -or the “fruit of life”, so that his days might be prolonged. In his -palace garden he caused to be erected a tower over 100 feet high, which -appears to have been an imitation of a Babylonian temple. On its summit -was the bronze image of a god, holding a golden vase in its hands. In -this vase was collected the pure dew that was supposed to drip from the -stars. The emperor drank the dew, believing that it would renew his -youth. - -One day there appeared before Wu Ti in the palace garden a beautiful -green sparrow. In China and Japan the sparrow is a symbol of -gentleness, and a sparrow of uncommon colour is supposed to indicate -that something unusual is to happen. The emperor was puzzled regarding -the bird-omen, and consulted Tung Fang So, who informed him that the -Queen of Immortals was about to visit the royal palace. - -Before long Si Wang Mu made her appearance. She had come all the way -from her garden among the Kwun-lun mountains, riding on the back of a -white dragon, with seven of the peaches of immortality, which were -carried on a tray by a dwarf servant. Her fairy majesty was gorgeously -attired in white and gold, and spoke with a voice of bird-like -sweetness. - -When she reached Wu Ti there were only four peaches on the tray, and -she lifted one up and began to eat it. The peach was her symbol, as the -apple was that of Aphrodite. Tung Fang So peered at her through a -window, and when she caught sight of his smiling face, she informed the -emperor that he had stolen three of her peaches. Wu Ti received a peach -from her, and, having eaten it, became an immortal. A similar story is -told regarding the Chinese Emperor, Muh Wang. - -In her “Jade Mountain” Paradise of the West (the highest peak of the -Kwun-lun mountains) this goddess is accompanied by her sister, as the -Egyptian Isis is by Nephthys, and the pair are supposed to flit about -in Cloud-land, followed by the white souls of good women of the Taoist -cult. Her attendants include the Blue Stork, the White Tiger, the Stag, -and the gigantic Tortoise, which are all gods and symbols of longevity -in China. - -Among the many stories told about Tung Fang So is one regarding a visit -he once paid to the mythical Purple Sea. He returned after the absence -of a year, and on being remonstrated with by his brother for deserting -his home for so long a period, he contended that he had been away for -only a single day. His garments had been discoloured by the waters of -the Purple Sea, and he had gone to another sea to cleanse them. In like -manner heroes who visit Fairyland find that time slips past very -quickly. - -The Purple Sea idea may have been derived from the ancient Well of Life -story about El Khidr, [212] whose body and clothing turned green after -he had bathed in it. Purple supplanted green and blue as the colour of -immortality and royalty after murex dye became the great commercial -asset of sea-traders. Tung Fang So may have had attached to his memory -a late and imported version of the El Khidr story. - -The reference to Wu Ti’s dew-drinking habit recalls the story of the -youthful Keu Tze Tung, a court favourite, who unwittingly offended the -emperor, Muh Wang, and was banished. As the Egyptian Bata, who -similarly fell into disgrace in consequence of a false charge being -made against him, fled to the “Valley of the Acacia”, Keu Tze Tung fled -to the “Valley of the Chrysanthemum”. There he drank the dew that -dropped from the petals of chrysanthemums, and became an immortal. The -Buddhists took over this story, and told that the youth had been given -a sacred text, which he painted on the petals. This text imparted to -the dew its special qualities. In the Far East the chrysanthemum is a -symbol of purity. The chrysanthemum with sixteen petals is the emblem -of the Mikado of Japan. - -A Chinese sage, who, like the Indian Rishis, practised yoga until he -became immortal, engaged his spare moments in painting fish. He lived -on the bank of a stream for over two hundred years. In the end he was -carried away to the Underworld Paradise of the Lord of Fish, who was, -of course, the dragon-god. He paid one return visit to his disciples, -riding like the Chinese “Boy Blue” in the dragon story, on the back of -a red carp. - -Another Chinese “tree-cult” favoured, instead of the peach tree, a -cassia tree. This cassia-cult must have been late. The peach tree is -indigenous. “Of fruits,” says Laufer, “the West is chiefly indebted to -China for the peach (Amygdalus persica) and the apricot (Prunus -armeniaca). It is not impossible that these two gifts were transmitted -by the silk-dealers, first to Iran (in the second or first century -B.C.) and thence to Armenia, Greece, and Rome (in the first century -A.D.).” In India the peach is called cinani (“Chinese fruit”). “There -is no Sanskrit name for the tree (peach); nor does it play any rôle in -the folk-lore of India, as it does in China.” ... Persia “has only -descriptive names for these fruits, the peach being termed saft alu -(‘large plum’), the apricot, zard alu (‘yellow plum’).” [213] - -It is difficult to identify the cassia tree of Chinese religious -literature. “The Chinese word Kwei occurs at an early date, but it is a -generic term for Lauraceæ; and there are about thirteen species of -Cassia, and about sixteen species of Cinnamomum in China. The essential -point is that the ancient texts maintain silence as to cinnamon; that -is, the product from the bark of the tree. Cinnamomum cassia is a -native of Kwan-si, Kwan-tun, and Indo-China; and the Chinese made its -first acquaintance under the Han, when they began to colonize and to -absorb southern China.” The first description of this tree goes no -farther back than the third century. “It was not the Chinese, but -non-Chinese peoples of Indo-China who first brought the tree into -civilization, which, like all other southern cultivations, was simply -adopted by the conquering Chinese.” [214] It has been suggested that -the cinnamon bark was imported into Egypt from China as far back as the -Empire period (c. 1500 B.C.) by Phœnician sea-traders. [215] Laufer -rejects this theory. [216] Apparently the ancient Egyptians imported a -fragrant bark from their Punt (Somaliland, or British East Africa). At -a very much later period cinnamon bark was carried across the Indian -Ocean from Ceylon. - -The Egyptians imported incense-bearing trees from Punt to restore the -“odours of the body” of the dead, and poured out libations to restore -its lost moisture. [217] “When”, writes Professor Elliot Smith, “the -belief became well established that the burning of incense was potent -as an animating force, and especially a giver of life to the dead, it -naturally came to be regarded as a divine substance in the sense that -it had the power of resurrection. As the grains of incense consisted of -the exudation of trees, or, as the ancient texts express it, ‘their -sweat’, the divine power of animation in course of time became -transferred to trees. They were no longer merely the source of the -life-giving incense, but were themselves animated by the deity, whose -drops of sweat were the means of conveying life to the mummy.... The -sap of trees was brought into relationship with life-giving water.... -The sap was also regarded as the blood of trees and the incense that -exuded as sweat.” As De Groot reminds us, “tales of trees that shed -blood, and that cry out when hurt are common in Chinese literature (as -also in Southern Arabia, notes Elliot Smith); also of trees that lodge, -or can change into maidens of transcendent beauty.” [218] - -Apparently the ancient seafarers who searched for incense-bearing trees -carried their beliefs to distant countries. The goddess-tree of the -peach cult was evidently the earliest in China. It bore the fruit of -life. The influence that led to the foundation of this cult probably -came by an overland route. The cassia-tree cult was later, and beliefs -connected with it came from Southern China; these, too, bear the -imprint of ideas that were well developed before they reached China. - -There are references in Chinese lore to a gigantic cassia tree which -was 10,000 feet high. Those who ate of its fruit became immortal. The -earlier belief connected with the peach tree was that the soul who ate -one of its peaches lived for 3000 years. - -This cassia world-tree appears first to have taken the place of the -peach tree of the “Royal Mother of the West”. It was reached by sailing -up the holiest river in China, the Hoang-Ho (Yellow River), the sources -of which are in the Koko-Nor territory to the north of Tibet. It -wriggles like a serpent between mountain barriers before it flows -northward; then it flows southward for 200 miles on the eastern border -of Shensi province (the Chinese homeland), and then eastward for 200 -miles, afterwards diverging in a north-easterly direction towards the -Gulf of Chihli, in which the Islands of the Blest were supposed to be -situated. - -It was believed that the Hoang-Ho had, like the Ganges of India and the -Nile of Egypt, a celestial origin. Those sages who desired to obtain a -glimpse of Paradise sailed up the river to its fountain head. Some -reached the tree and the garden of Paradise. Others found themselves -sailing across the heavens. The Western Paradise was evidently supposed -by some to be situated in the middle of the world, and by others to -have been situated beyond the horizon. - -Chang Kiʼen, one of the famous men attached to the court of Wu Ti, the -reviver of many ancient beliefs and myths, was credited with having -followed the course of the sacred river until he reached the spot where -the cassia tree grew. Beside the tree were the immortal animals that -haunt the garden of the “Royal Mother of the West”. In addition, Chang -Kiʼen saw the moon-rabbit or moon-hare, which is adored as a -rice-giver. In the Far East, as in the Near East and in the West, the -moon is supposed to ripen crops. The lunar rabbit or hare is associated -with water; in the moon grow plants and a tree of immortality. There is -also, according to Chinese belief, a frog in the moon. It was -originally a woman, the wife of a renowned archer, who rescued the moon -from imprisonment in masses of black rain-clouds. The “Royal Mother of -the West” was so grateful to the archer for the service he had rendered -that she gave him a jade cup filled with the dew of immortality. His -wife stole the cup and drank the dew. For this offence the “Royal -Mother of the West” transformed her into a frog, and imprisoned her in -the moon. In Egypt the frog was a symbol of resurrection or rebirth, -and the old frog-goddess Hekt is usually regarded as a form of Hathor, -the Great Mother. - -The lunar tree is sometimes identified with the cassia tree of -immortality. Its leaves are red as blood, and the bodies of those who -eat of its fruit become as transparent as still water. - -The moon-water which nourishes plants and trees (eight lunar trees of -immortality are referred to in some legends), and the dew of -immortality in the jade cup, appear to be identical with the Indian -soma and the nectar of the classical gods. In Norse mythology the lunar -water-pot (a symbol of the mother-goddess) was filled at a well by two -children, the boy Hyuki and the girl Bil, [219] who were carried away -by the moon-god Mani. Odin was also credited with having recovered the -moon-mead from the hall of Suttung, “the mead wolf”, after it had been -stolen from the moon. The god flew heavenward, carrying the mead, in -the form of an eagle. [220] Zeus’s eagle is similarly a nectar-bringer. - -In Indian mythology the soma was contained in a bowl fashioned by -Twashtri, the divine artisan, and was drunk by the gods, and especially -by Indra, the rain-bringer. A Vedic frog-hymn was chanted by -Aryo-Indian priests as a rain-charm when Indra’s services were -requisitioned. In one of the Indian legends an eagle or falcon carries -the soma to Indra. The souls who reach Paradise are made immortal after -they drink of the soma. In India the soma was personified, and the -lunar god, Soma, became a god of love, immortality, and fertility. The -soma juice was obtained by the Vedic priests from some unknown plant. -There are also references in Indian mythology to the “Amrita”, which -was partaken of by the gods. It was the sap of sacred trees that grew -in Paradise. Trees and plants derived their life and sustenance from -water. The Far-Eastern beliefs in “the dew of immortality”, “the fungus -of immortality”, and “the fruit of immortality” have an intimate -connection with the belief that the mother-goddess was connected with -the moon, which exercised an influence over water. The mother-goddess -was also the love-goddess, the Ishtar of Babylonia, the Hathor of -Egypt, the Aphrodite of Greece. Her son, or husband, was, in one of his -phases, the love-god. - -The sage of the Chinese Emperor Wu Ti, who followed the course of the -Yellow River so as to reach the celestial Paradise, saw, in addition to -the moon-rabbit, or hare, the “Old Man of the Moon”, the Chinese Wu -Kang and Japanese Gekkawo, the god of love and marriage. He is supposed -to unite lovers by binding their feet with invisible red silk cords. -The “Old Man in the Moon” is, in Chinese legend, engaged in chopping -branches from the cassia tree of immortality. New branches immediately -sprout forth to replace those thus removed, but the “Old Man” has to go -on cutting till the end of time, having committed a sin for which his -increasing labour is the appropriate punishment. - -A Buddhist legend makes Indra the old man. He asked for food from the -hare, the ape, and the fox. The hare lit a fire and leapt into it so -that the god might be fed. Indra was so much impressed by this supreme -act of friendship and charity that he placed the exemplary hare in the -moon. A version of this story is given in the Mahábhárata. - -In European folk-lore the “Old Man” is either a thief who stole a -bundle of faggots, or a man who “broke the Sabbath” by cutting sticks -on that holy day. - - - See the rustic in the Moon, - How his bundle weighs him down; - Thus his sticks the truth reveal - It never profits man to steal. - - -Various versions of the Man in the Moon myth are given by S. -Baring-Gould, [221] who draws attention to a curious seal “appended to -a deed preserved in the Record office, dated the 9th year of Edward the -Third (1335)”. It shows the “Man in the Moon” carrying his sticks and -accompanied by his dog. Two stars are added. The inscription on the -seal is, “Te Waltere docebo cur spinas phebo gero (I will teach thee, -Walter, why I carry thorns in the moon)”. The deed is one of conveyance -of property from a man whose Christian name was Walter. - -Wu Ti’s sage travelled through the celestial regions until he reached -the Milky Way, the source of the Yellow River. He saw the Spinning -Maiden, whose radiant garment is adorned with silver stars. She had a -lover, from whom she was separated, but once a year she was allowed to -visit him, and passed across the heavens as a meteor. This Spinning -Maiden, who weaves the net of the constellations, is reminiscent of the -Egyptian sky-goddess, Hathor (or Nut), whose body is covered with -stars, and whose legs and arms, as she bends over the earth, “represent -the four pillars on which the sky was supposed to rest and mark the -four cardinal points”. Her lover, from whom she was separated, was Seb. -[222] In China certain groups of stars are referred to as the -“Celestial Door”, the “Hall of Heaven”, &c. Taoist saints dwell in -stellar abodes, as well as on the “Islands of the Blest”; some were, -during their life on earth, incarnations of star-gods. The lower ranks -of the western-cult immortals remain in the garden of the “Royal -Mother”; those of the highest rank ascend to the stars. - -Wu Ti’s sage, according to one form of the legend, never returned to -earth. His boat, which sailed up the Yellow River and then along the -“Milky Way”, was believed to have reached the Celestial River that -flows round the Universe, and along which sails the sun-barque of the -Egyptian god Ra (or Re). One day the Chinese sage’s oar—apparently his -steering oar—was deposited in the Royal Palace grounds by a celestial -spirit, who descended from the sky. Here we have, perhaps, a faint -memory of the visits paid to earth from the celestial barque by the -Egyptian god Thoth, in his captivity as envoy of the sun-god Ra. - -There is evidence in Far-Eastern folk-tales that at a very remote -period the beliefs of the cult of the sky-goddess, which placed the -tree of immortality in the “moon island”, and the beliefs of the peach -cult of “the Westerners” were fused, as were those of the Osirian and -solar cults in Egypt. - -A curious story tells that once upon a time a man went to fish on the -Yellow River. A storm arose, and his boat was driven into a tributary, -the banks of which were fringed with innumerable peach trees in full -blossom. He reached an island, on which he landed. There he was kindly -treated by the inhabitants, who told that they had fled from China -because of the oppression of the emperor. This surprised the fisherman -greatly. He asked for particulars, and was given the name of an emperor -who had died about 500 years before he himself was born. - -“What is the name of this island?” he asked. The inhabitants were -unable to tell him. “We came hither,” they said, “just as you have -come. We are strangers in a strange land.” - -Next day the wanderer launched his boat and set out to return by the -way he had come. He sailed on all day and all night, and when morning -came he found himself amidst familiar landmarks. He was able to return -home. - -When the fisherman told the story to a priest, he was informed that he -had reached the land of the Celestials, and that the river fringed by -peach trees in blossom was the Milky Way. - -In this story the Chinese Island of the Blest is, like the Nilotic -“green bed of Horus”, a river island. - -Another memory of the Celestial River and the Barque of the Sun is -enshrined in the story of Lo Tze Fang, a holy woman of China who -ascended to heaven by climbing a high tree—apparently the “world-tree”. -After reaching the celestial regions she was carried along the -Celestial River in a boat. According to the story, she still sails each -day across the heavens. - -Other saintly people have been carried to the celestial regions by -dragons. According to Chinese belief the “Yellow Dragon” is connected -with the moon. The reflection of the moon on rippling water is usually -referred to as the “Golden Dragon”, or “Yellow Dragon”, the chief of -Chinese dragons, and usually associated with the sun. - -One of the classes of Chinese holy men of the Spirit-world, the Sien -Nung, who bear a close resemblance to Indian Rishis, is connected with -the moon cult. They are believed to prolong their lives by eating the -leaves of the lunar plants. - -In an Egyptian legend it is told that Osiris was the son of the Mother -Cow, who had conceived him when a fertilizing ray of light fell from -the moon. In like manner a moon-girl came into being in Japan. She was -discovered by a wood-cutter. One day, when collecting bamboo, he found -inside a cane a little baby, whose body shone as does a gem in -darkness. He took her home to his wife, and she grew up to be a very -beautiful girl. She was called “Moon Ray”, and after living for a time -on the earth returned to the moon. She had maintained her youthful -appearance by drinking, from a small vessel she possessed, the fluid of -immortality. - -As the dragon was connected with the moon, and the moon with the -bamboo, it might be expected that the dragon and bamboo would be -closely linked. One of the holy men is credited with having reached the -lunar heaven by cutting down a bamboo, which he afterwards transformed -into a dragon. He rode heavenwards on the dragon’s back. - -Saintly women, as a rule, rise to heaven in the form of birds, or in -their own form, without wings, on account of the soul-like lightness of -their bodies, which have become purified by performing religious rites -and engaging in prayer and meditation. Their husbands have either to -climb trees or great mountains. Some holy women, after reaching heaven, -ride along the clouds on the back of the Kʼilin, the bisexual monster -that the soul of Confucius is supposed to ride. It is a form of the -dragon, but more like the makara of the Indian god Varuna than the -typical “wonder beast” of China and Japan. Some of these monsters -resemble lions, dogs, deer, walruses, or unicorns. They are all, -however, varieties of the makara. - -Sometimes we find that the attributes of the Great Mother, who, like -Aphrodite, was a “Postponer of Old Age” (Ambologera), being the -provider of the fruit of immortality and a personification of the World -Tree, have been attached to the memory of some famous lady, and -especially an empress. As the Egyptian Pharaoh, according to the -beliefs of the solar cult, became Ra (the sun-god) after death, so did -the Chinese empress become the “Royal Lady of the West”. Nu Kwa, a -mythical empress of China, was reputed to have become a goddess after -she had passed to the celestial regions. She figures in the Chinese -Deluge Myth. Like the Babylonian Ishtar, she was opposed to the policy -of destroying mankind. She did not, however, like Ishtar, content -herself by expressing regret. When the demons of water and fire, aided -by rebel generals of her empire, set out to destroy the world, Nu Kwa -waged war against them. Her campaign was successful, but not until a -gigantic warrior had partly destroyed the heavens by upsetting one of -its pillars and the flood had covered a great portion of the earth. The -empress stemmed the rising waters by means of charred reeds (a -Babylonian touch), and afterwards rebuilt the broken pillar, under -which was placed an Atlas-tortoise. Like Marduk (Merodach), she then -set the Universe in order, and formed the channel for the Celestial -River. Thereafter she created the guardians of the four quarters, -placing the Black Tortoise in the north, and giving it control over -winter; the Blue Dragon in the east, who was given control over spring; -the White Tiger in the west, who was given control over autumn; and the -Red Bird in the south, who was given control over summer, with the -Golden Dragon, whose special duty was to guard the sun, the moon being -protected by the White Deity of the west. The broken pillar of heaven -was built up with stones coloured like the five gods. - -Among the gifts conferred on mankind by this Empress-Goddess was jade, -which she created so that they might be protected against evil -influence and decay. - -In this Deluge Myth, which is evidently of Babylonian origin, the gods -figure as rebels and demons. The Mother Goddess is the protector of the -Universe, and the friend of man. Evidently the cult of the Mother -Goddess was at one time very powerful in China. In Japan the Empress Nu -Kwa is remembered as Jokwa. - -The Tree of Immortality, as has been seen, is closely associated with -the Far Eastern Mother Goddess, who may appear before favoured mortals -either as a beautiful woman, as a dragon, or as a woman riding on a -dragon, or as half woman and half fish, or half woman and half serpent. -It is from the goddess that the tree receives its “soul substance”; in -a sense, she is the tree, as she is the moon and the pot of life-water, -or the mead in the moon. The fruits of the tree are symbols of her as -the mother, and the sap of the tree is her blood. - -Reference has been made to Far Eastern stories about dragons -transforming themselves into trees and trees becoming dragons. The tree -was a “kupua” of the dragon. The mother of Adonis was a tree—Myrrha—the -daughter of King Cinyras of Cyprus, who was transformed into a myrrh -tree. A Japanese legend relates that a hero, named Manko, once saw a -beautiful woman sitting on a tree-trunk that floated on the sea. She -vanished suddenly. Manko had the tree taken into his boat, and found -that the woman was hidden inside the trunk. She was a daughter of the -Dragon King of Ocean. - -A better-known Japanese tree hero is Momotaro (momo, peach, taro, -eldest son), whose name is usually rendered in English as “Little -Peachling”. He is known in folk-stories as a slayer of demons—a -veritable Jack the Giant-Killer. - -The legend runs that one day an old wood-cutter went out to gather -firewood, while his wife washed dirty clothes in a river. After the -woman had finished her work, she saw a gigantic peach drifting past. -Seizing a pole, she brought it into shallow water, and thus secured it. -The size of the peach astonished her greatly, and she carried it home, -and, having washed it, placed it before her husband when he returned -home for his evening meal. No sooner did the wood-cutter begin to cut -open the peach than a baby boy emerged from the kernel. The couple, -being childless, were greatly delighted, and looked upon the child as a -gift from the Celestials, and they believed he had been sent so as to -become their comfort and helper when they grew too old to work. - -Momotaro, “the elder son of the peach”, as they called him, grew up to -be a strong and valiant young man, who performed feats of strength that -caused everyone to wonder at him. - -There came a day when, to the sorrow of his foster-parents, he -announced that he had resolved to leave home and go to the Isle of -Demons, with purpose to secure a portion of their treasure. This seemed -to be a perilous undertaking, and the old couple attempted to make him -change his mind. Momotaro, however, laughed at their fears, and said: -“Please make some millet dumplings for me. I shall need food for my -journey.” - -His foster-mother prepared the dumplings and muttered good wishes over -them. Then Momotaro bade the old couple an affectionate farewell, and -went on his way. - -The young hero had not travelled far when he met a dog, which barked -out: “Bow-wow! where are you going, Peach-son?” - -“I am going to the Isle of Demons to obtain treasure,” the lad -answered. - -“Bow-wow! what are you carrying?” - -“I am carrying millet dumplings that my mother made for me. No one in -Japan can make better dumplings than these.” - -“Bow-wow! give me one and I shall go with you to the Isle of Demons.” - -The lad gave the dog a dumpling, and it followed at his heels. - -Momotaro had not gone much farther when a monkey, perched on a tree, -called out to him, saying: “Kia! Kia! where are you going, Son of a -Peach?” - -Momotaro answered the monkey as he had answered the dog. The monkey -asked for a dumpling, promising to join the party, and when he received -one he set off with the lad and the dog. - -The next animal that hailed the lad was a pheasant, who called out: -“Ken! Ken! where are you going, Son of a Peach?” - -Momotaro told him, and the bird, having received the dumpling he asked -for, accompanied the lad, the dog, and the monkey on the quest of -treasure. - -When the Island of Demons was reached they all went together towards -the fortress in which the demon king resided. The pheasant flew inside -to act as a spy. Then the monkey climbed over the wall and opened the -gate, so that Momotaro and the dog were able to enter the fortress -without difficulty. The demons, however, soon caught sight of the -intruders, and attempted to kill them. Momotaro fought fiercely, -assisted by the friendly animals, and slew or scattered in flight the -demon warriors. Then they found their way into the royal palace and -made Akandoji, the king of demons, their prisoner. This great demon was -prepared to wield his terrible club of iron, but Momotaro, who was an -expert in the jiu-jitsu system of wrestling, seized the demon king and -threw him down, and, with the help of the monkey, bound him with a -rope. - -Momotaro threatened to put Akandoji to death if he would not reveal -where his treasure was hidden. - -The king bade his servants do homage to the Son of the Peach and to -bring forth the treasure, which included the cap and coat of -invisibility, magic jewels that controlled the ebb and flow of ocean, -gems that shone in darkness and gave protection against all evil to -those who wore them, tortoise-shell and jade charms, and a great -quantity of gold and silver. - -Momotaro took possession of as much of the treasure as he could carry, -and returned home a very rich man. He built a great house, and lived in -it with his foster-parents, who were given everything they desired as -long as they lived. - -In this story may be detected a mosaic of myths. The Egyptian Horus, -whose island floated down the Nile, had white sandals which enabled him -to go swiftly up and down the land of Egypt. There are references in -the Pyramid Texts to his youthful exploits, but the full story of them -has not yet been discovered. The Babylonian Tammuz, when a child, -drifted in a “sunken boat” down the River Euphrates. No doubt this myth -is the one attached to the memory of Sargon of Akkad, [223] the son of -a vestal virgin, who was placed in an ark and set adrift on the river. -He was found by a gardener, and was afterwards raised to the kingship -by the goddess Ishtar. Karna, the Aryo-Indian Hector, the son of Surya, -the sun-god, and the virgin-princess Pritha, was similarly set adrift -in an ark, and was rescued from the Ganges by a childless woman whose -husband was a charioteer. The poor couple reared the future hero as -their own son. [224] - -Adonis, the son of the myrrh tree, was a Syrian form of Tammuz. Horus -was the son of Osiris, whose body was enclosed by a tree after Set -caused his death by setting him adrift in a chest. When Isis found the -tree, which had been cut down for a pillar, the posthumous conception -of the son of Osiris took place. [225] The Momotaro legend has thus a -long history. - -The friendly animals figure in the folk-tales of many lands. Momotaro’s -fight for the treasure, including the cloak of invisibility, bears a -close resemblance to Siegfried’s fight for the treasure of the -Nibelungs. [226] In western European, as in Far Eastern lore, the -treasure is guarded by dragons as well as by dwarfs and giants and -other demons. When the dragon-slayer is not accompanied by friendly -animals, he receives help and advice from birds whose language he -acquires by eating a part of the dragon, or, as in the Egyptian tale, -after getting possession of the book of spells, guarded by the -“Deathless Snake”. When the Egyptian hero reads the spells he -understands the language of birds, beasts, and fishes. The -treasure-guarding dragon appears, as has been suggested, to have had -origin in the belief that sharks were the guardians of pearl-beds and -preyed upon the divers who stole their treasure. - -The beliefs connected with the life-giving virtues of the tree of the -Mother Goddess were attached to shells, pearls, gold, and jade. The -goddess was the source of all life, and one of her forms was the -dragon. As the dragon-mother she created or gave birth to the -dragon-gods. Dragon-bones were ground down for medicinal purposes; -dragon-herbs cured diseases; the sap of dragon-trees, like the fruit, -promoted longevity, as did the jade which the goddess had created for -mankind. - -The beliefs connected with jade were similar to those connected with -pearls, which were at a remote period emblems of the moon in Egypt. In -China the moon was “the pearl of heaven”. One curious and widespread -belief was that pearls were formed by rain-drops, or by drops of dew -from the moon, the source of moisture, and especially of nectar or -soma. Pearls and pearl-shells were used for medicinal purposes. They -were, like the sap of trees, the very essence of life—the -soul-substance of the Great Mother. [227] - -That the complex ideas regarding shells, pearls, dew, trees, the moon, -the sun, the stars, and the Great Mother were of “spontaneous -generation” in many separated countries is difficult to believe. It is -more probable that the culture-complexes enshrined in folk-tales and -religious texts had a definite area of origin in which their history -can be traced. The searchers for precious stones and metals and -incense-bearing trees must have scattered their beliefs far and wide -when they exploited locally-unappreciated forms of wealth. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -TREE-, HERB-, AND STONE-LORE - - “Soul Substance” in Medicinal Plants—Life-fire in Water and - Plants—“The Blood which is Life”—Colour Symbolism in East and - West—Charm Symbolism—Gems as Fruit—Jade and Vegetation—Far Eastern - Elixirs of Life—Links between Pine, Cypress, Mandrake, and - Mugwort—Story of Treasure-finding Dog—The Far Eastern Artemis—Her - Mugwort, Lotus, and Fruit Basket—Herbs and Pearl-shell—Goats and - Women’s Herb—Chinese and Tartar’s Fight for Mandrake—Tea as an - Elixir—Far Eastern Rip Van Winkles—Problem of the Date Tree—“Tree - Tears” and “Stone Tears”—Weeping Deities—Goats and - Thunder-gods—Goats and Sheep become Stones—Gems and Herbs connected - with Moon—Graded Herbs, Deities, and Stones—Foreign Ideas in China. - - -In the ancient medical lore of China, as in the medical lores of other -lands, there are laudatory references to “All-heal” plants and plants -reputed to be specific remedies for various diseases. Not a few of -these medicinal plants have been found to be either quite useless or -positively harmful, but some are included in modern pharmacopœias, -after having been submitted to the closest investigations of -physiological science. - -The old herbalists, witch-doctors, and hereditary “curers”, who made -some genuine discoveries that have since been elaborated, were -certainly not scientists in the modern sense of the term. Their “cures” -were a quaint mixture of magic and religion. They searched for those -plants and substances that appeared, either by their shape or colour, -to contain in more concentrated form than others the “essence of life”, -the “soul substance” that restored health and promoted longevity. - -This “soul substance” was concentrated in body-odours and -body-moistures. It was a something mixed in water which had colour, -odour, and heat—a something derived from the Great Mother, who had -herself sprung from water, as did the Egyptian Hathor and the Greek -Aphrodite, or, if not directly from the Great Mother, from one or other -of her offspring. The “soul substance” of the goddess was in -vegetation; the sap of trees was identified with her blood—the “blood -which is life”. Blood was one kind of body-moisture; other kinds were -sweat, tears, saliva, &c. All these moistures had fertilizing -properties. The Mother, as the sky-goddess, provided the world’s supply -of fertilizing water. In China the supply was controlled by the -dragon-gods, who caused the thunder and lightning that released the -rain and flooded the rivers. - -Winter is the Chinese dry season. It was believed that during this -period the dragons were concealed and asleep. No growth was possible -during winter because of the scarcity of water—the life-giving water -that caused Nature to “renew her youth” in the spring season. When the -dragons awoke and rose fighting and thundering, parched wastes were -soaked and fertilized by rain. Then the old, decaying world renewed her -youth and fresh vegetation appeared, because “soul substance” in the -form of rain had entered the soil and furnished plants with -“blood-sap”, and at the same time with vital energy, vital odours, and -vital colours. Thus life, which had its origin in water, was sustained -by the products of water and by the properties in water. - -The plants that were supposed to store up most “soul substance” were -those that grew in water, like the lotus, those that constantly -absorbed moisture, like the “fungus of immortality”, or those that -sprang up suddenly during a thunder-storm, like the “Red Cloud herb”. -The latter required a heavy deluge to bring it into existence. It was a -special gift of the dragon-god—or an “avatar” of that deity—and had -concentrated in it the essence of much rain, and, in addition, the -essence of lightning—the “fire of heaven”, ejected by the rain-dragon. -The lightning was the “dragon’s tongue”, and had therefore substance, -moisture, and heat, as well as brilliance. To the early thinkers the -life fluid was not only blood, but warm blood—blood pulsating with the -“vital spark”, the “fire of life”. These men would have accepted in the -literal sense the imagery of the modern Irish poet, who wrote: - - - O, there was lightning in my blood, - Red lightning lighten’d through my blood, - My Dark Rosaleen. - - -The “fire of life” might be locked up in vegetation, in stone, or in -red earth, and be made manifest by its colour alone. - -The genesis of this idea can be traced at a very early period in the -history of modern man (Homo sapiens). In Aurignacian times in western -Europe (that is, from ten till twenty thousand years ago) blood was -identified with life and consciousness. The red substance in “the blood -which is life” was apparently regarded as the vitalizing agency, and -was supposed to be the same as red earth (red ochre). It is found, from -the evidence afforded by burial customs, that the Aurignacian race -originated or perpetuated the habit of smearing the bodies of their -dead with red ochre. After the flesh had decayed, the red ochre fell on -and coloured the bones and the pebbles around the bones. Whether or not -the red ochre was supposed to be impregnated with the essence of fire, -or of the sun, the source of fire, it is impossible to say. Behind the -corpse-painting custom there was, no doubt, a body of definite beliefs. -As much is suggested by the fact that shell-amulets and spine-amulets -were laid on or about the dead. The belief that the first man had been -formed of red clay mixed with water may well have been in existence in -Aurignacian times. The amulets associated with Aurignacian ceremonial -burials suggest, too, that ideas had been formulated regarding the -after-life. Was it believed that the painted, and therefore reanimated, -body would rise again, or that the soul could be assisted to travel to -the Otherworld? These questions cannot yet be answered. We can do no -more than note here that Colour Symbolism, and especially Red Symbolism -and all it entails, had origin in remote antiquity. - -In China red flowers and red berries were supposed, because of their -colour, to be strongly impregnated with “soul substance” or “vital -essence”, or, to use the Chinese term, with shen. These flowers and -berries had curative qualities. In western Europe the red holly berry -was in like manner regarded as an “All-heal”. The tree on which the red -berry appears is so full of divine life that it is an evergreen. In -Gaelic folk-lore holly is associated with the Mother Goddess and with -the water-beast (dragon) and its “avatar”, the red-spotted salmon, -which is supposed to swallow the holly berries that drop into its pool. - -The red substance which is in the blood was not necessarily confined, -however, to vegetation. As it was of the earth, earthy, or a product of -some mysterious agency at work in the earth, it might be found in -coagulated form as a ruby, or any other red stone, or as a stone -streaked or spotted with red; it might be found in water as a shell, -wholly or partly red, or as a red or yellow pearl inside a shell. It -might likewise be found concentrated in the red feathers of a bird. A -bird with red feathers was usually recognized as a “thunder bird”—Robin -Red-breast is a European “thunder bird” [228]—and the red berry as a -“thunder berry”—a berry containing the “soul substance” of the god of -lightning and fire. Fire was obtained by friction from trees associated -with the divine Thunderer; his spirit dwelt in the tree. One of the -“fire sticks” was invariably taken from a red-berried tree. - -The red vital substance might likewise be displayed by a sacred -fish—the “thunder fish”. In the Chinese “Boy Blue” story the -thunder-dragon in human form rides on the back of a red carp. - -Yellow is, like red, reputed to be a vital colour. Lightning is yellow; -the flames of wood fires are yellow, while the embers are red. Early -man appears to have recognized the close association of yellow and red -in fire. Gold is yellow, and it was connected, as a substitute for red -and yellow shells, with the sun, which at morning and evening sends -forth red and yellow rays. The fire which is in the sun “warms the -blood” and promotes the growth of plants, as does the moisture in the -moon—the moon which controls the flow of sap and blood. The combination -of sun-fire, lunar-fire, and moisture, or of fire-red earth and rain, -constituted, according to early man’s way of thinking, the mystery -called life. Yellow berries and yellow flowers were as sacred to him, -and had as great life-prolonging and curative qualities, as red -berries, red flowers, red feathers, and the skins and scales of red -fish. Yellow gems and yellow metals were consequently valued as highly -as were red gems and red metals. In China yellow is the earth colour. -In Ceylon, Burmah, Tibet, and China it is the sacred colour of the -Buddhists. - -Blue, the sky colour, and therefore the colour of the sky-deity, was -likewise holy. Torquoise and lapis-lazuli were connected with the Great -Mother. The sacredness of green has a more complex history. It was not -reverenced simply because of the greenness of vegetation. The -mysterious substance that makes plants green was derived from the -supreme source of life—the green form of the water-goddess or god—and -was to be found in concentrated form in green gems and stones, -including green jade. White was the colour of day, the stars, and the -moon, and black the colour of night and of death, and therefore the -colour of deities associated with darkness and the Otherworld. In China -black is the colour of the north, of winter, and of drought. The -combination of the five colours (black, white, red, yellow, and blue or -green) was displayed by all deities. This conception is enshrined in -the religious text which De Visser gives without comment: - - - “A dragon in the water covers himself with five colours; - Therefore he is a god.” [229] - - -In China, as in several other countries, the colour of an animal, -plant, or stone was believed to reveal its character and attributes. A -red berry was regarded with favour, because it displayed the life -colour. A red stone was favoured for the same reason. When it is -nowadays found that some particular berry or herb, favoured of old as -an “All-heal”, is really an efficacious medicine, an enthusiast may -incline to regard it as a wonderful thing that modern medical science -has not achieved, in some lines, greater triumphs than were achieved by -the “simple observers” of ancient times. But it may be that the real -cures were of accidental discovery, and that the effective berry or -herb would, on account of its colour alone, have continued in use -whether it had cured or not. - -In China not only the berry with a “good colour” was used by “curers”, -but even the stone with a “good colour”. The physicians, for instance, -sometimes prescribed ground jade, and we read of men who died, because, -as it was thought, the quantities of jade-medicine taken were much too -large. Some ancient writers assert, in this connection, that although a -dose of ground jade may bring this life to a speedy end, it will ensure -prolonged life in the next world. - -The berries and stones which were reputed to be “All-heals” were not -always devoured. They could be used simply as charms. The vital essence -or “soul substance” in berry or stone was supposed to be so powerful -that it warded off the attacks of the demons of disease, or expelled -the demons after they had taken possession of a patient. Medicines -might be prepared by simply dipping the charms into pure well water. -These charms were often worn as body-ornaments. All the ancient -personal ornaments were magic charms that gave protection or regulated -the functions of body organs. When symbols were carved on jade, the -ornaments were believed to acquire increased effectiveness. Gold -ornaments were invariably given symbolic shape. Like the horse-shoe, -which in western Europe is nailed on a door for “luck”—that is, to ward -off evil—these symbolic ornaments were credited with luck-bringing -virtues. The most ancient gold ornaments in the world are found in -Egypt, and these are models of shells, which had been worn as -“luck-bringers” long before gold was worked. [230] These shells had an -intimate association with the Mother Goddess, who, in one of her -aspects, personified the birth-aiding and fertilizing shell. - -The idea that the coloured fruits and the coloured stones were -life-giving “avatars” of the Mother Goddess is well illustrated in the -glowing accounts of the Chinese Paradise. The Tree of Life might bear -fruit or gems. The souls swallowed gems as readily as fruit. In the -Japanese Paradise the immortals devour powdered mother-of-pearl shells -as well as peaches, dried cassia pods, cinnabar, pine needles, or pine -cones. - -Jade was connected with vegetation on this earth as well as in -Paradise. As we have seen, the Great Mother goddess created this famous -mineral for the benefit of mankind. It contained her “soul substance”, -as did the trees, their blossoms, and their fruit, and even their -leaves and bark. This quaint belief is enshrined in the following -quotation from the Illustrated Mirror of Jades, translated by Laufer -and given without comment: - - - “In the second month, the plants in the mountains receive a bright - lustre. When their leaves fall, they change into jade. The spirit - of jade is like a beautiful woman.” [231] - - -It is obvious that the “beautiful woman” is the Goddess of the West. -Reference to coral trees in Paradise are numerous. It was believed not -only in China but in western Europe, until comparatively recent times, -that coral was a marine tree—the tree of the water-goddess. The Great -Mother was connected with the water above and beyond the firmament, as -well as the rivers and the sea. - -“Good health” in the Otherworld was immortality or great longevity. A -soul which ate of a peach from the World Tree was assured of 3000 years -of good health. He renewed his youth, and never grew old, so long as -the supply of peaches was assured. [232] - -In China men lengthened their days by partaking of “soul substance” in -various forms. The pine-tree cult made decoctions of pine needles and -cones, or of the fungus found at the roots of pines. “The juice of the -pine”, says one Chinese sage, “when consumed for a long time, renders -the body light, prevents man from growing old, and lengthens his life. -Its leaves preserve the interior of the body; they cause a man never to -feel hunger, and increase the years of his life.” The cypress was also -favoured. “Cypress seeds,” the same writer asserts, “if consumed for a -long period, render a man hale and healthy. They endow him with a good -colour, sharpen his ears and eyes, cause him never to experience the -feeling of hunger, nor to grow old.” The camphor tree comes next to the -pine and cypress as “a dispenser and depository of vital power”. [233] - -Apparently the fact that pines and cypresses are evergreens recommended -them to the Chinese, although it was not for that reason only the -belief arose about their richness of “soul substance”. An ancient -Chinese sage has declared: “Pines and cypresses alone on this earth are -endowed with life, in the midst of winter as well as in summer they are -evergreen. Pines 1000 years old resemble a blue ox, a blue dog, or a -blue human being. Cypresses 1000 years old have deep roots shaped like -men in a sitting posture.... When they are cut they lose blood.... -Branches of pines which are 3000 years old have underneath the bark -accumulations of resin in the shape of dragons, which, if pounded and -consumed in a quantity of full ten pounds, will enable a man to live -500 years.” [234] - -Here we have the tree connected with the blue dragon. As has been -stated, ancient pines were transformed into dragons. The assertion that -the pines and cypresses were the only trees possessed of “vital power” -does not accord with the evidence regarding the peach-tree cult. The -peach, although not an evergreen, was credited with being possessed of -much “soul substance”. - -No doubt the ideas connected with evergreens had a close association -with the doctrines of colour symbolism. The Chinese “Tree of Heaven” -(Ailanthus glandulosa) appears to have attracted special attention, -because in spring its leaves are coloured reddish-violet or -reddish-brown before they turn green. The walnut, cherry, and peony -similarly show reddish young leaves, and these trees have much lore -connected with them. - -One seems to detect traces of the beliefs connected with the mandrake -in the reference to the human-shaped roots of the 1000-year-old cypress -tree. The mandrake was the plant of Aphrodite, and its root, which -resembles the human form, was used medicinally; it has narcotic -properties, and was believed also to be a medicine which promoted -fertility, assisted birth, and caused youths and girls to fall in love -with one another. According to mandrake-lore, the plant shrieks when -taken from the earth, and causes the death of the one who plucks it. -[235] Dogs were consequently employed to drag it out of the ground, and -they expired immediately. The “mandrake apple” is believed by Dr. -Rendel Harris to have been the original “love apple”. [236] - -In like manner the mugwort, the plant of Artemis, was connected in -China and Japan with the pine which had virtues similar to those of the -herb. Although the mandrake-dog is not associated with the cypress, it -is found connected in a Japanese folk-story with the pine. The hero of -the tale, an old man called Hana Saka Jijii, acquired the secret how to -make withered trees blossom. He possessed a wonderful dog, named Shiro, -which one day attracted his attention by sniffing, barking, and wagging -his tail at a certain spot in the cottage garden. The old man was -puzzled to know what curious thing in the ground attracted the dog, and -began to dig. After turning up a few spadefuls of earth he found a -hoard of gold and silver pieces. - -A jealous neighbour, having observed what had happened, borrowed Shiro -and set the animal to search for treasure in his own garden. The dog -began to sniff and bark at a certain spot, but when the man turned over -the soil, he found only dirt and offal that emitted an offensive smell. -Angry at being deceived by the dog, he killed it and buried the body -below the roots of a pine tree. Hana Saka Jijii was much distressed on -account of the loss of Shiro. He burned incense below the pine tree, -laid flowers on the dog’s grave, and shed tears. That night he dreamed -a wonderful dream. The ghost of Shiro appeared before him, and, -addressing him, said: “Cut down the pine tree above my grave and make a -rice mortar of it. When you use the mortar think of me.” - -The old man did as the dog advised, and discovered to his great joy -that when he used the pine-tree mortar each grain of rice was -transformed into pure gold. He soon became rich. - -The envious neighbour discovered what was going on and borrowed the -mortar. In his hands, however, it turned rice into dirt. This enraged -him so greatly that he broke the mortar and burned it. - -That night the ghost of Shiro appeared once again in a dream, and -advised Hana Saka Jijii to collect the ashes of the burnt mortar and -scatter them on withered trees. Next morning he did as the dog advised -him. To his astonishment he found that the ashes caused withered trees -to come to life and send forth fresh and beautiful blossoms. He then -went about the country and employed himself reviving dead plum and -cherry trees, and soon became so renowned that a prince sent for him, -asking that he should bring back to life the withered trees in his -garden. The old man received a rich reward when he accomplished the -feat. - -The jealous neighbour came to know how Hana Saka Jijii revived dead -trees, so he collected what remained of the ashes of the pine-tree -mortar. Then he set forth to proclaim to the inhabitants of a royal -town that he could work the same miracle as Hana Saka Jijii. The prince -sent for him, and the man climbed into the branches of a withered tree. -But when he scattered the ashes no bud or blossom appeared, and the -wind blew the dust into the eyes of the prince and nearly blinded him. -The impostor was seized and soundly beaten; and the dog Shiro was, in -this manner, well avenged. - -In this story the dog is a searcher for and giver of treasure. It is of -special interest, therefore, to find that Artemis, the mugwort-goddess -of the West, “was not only the opener of treasure-houses, but she also -possessed the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone; she could transmute -base substances into gold”. She could therefore grant riches to those -whom she favoured. Dr. Rendel Harris, quoting from an old English -writer, records the belief “that upon St. John’s eve there are coals -(which turn to gold) to be found at midday under the roots of mugwort, -which after or before that time are very small, or none at all”. The -gold cures sickness. [237] - -A similar belief was attached to the mandrake. A French story tells of -a peasant who regularly “fed” a mandrake that grew below a -mistletoe-bearing oak. The mandrake, when fed, would, it was believed, -“make you rich by returning twice as much as you spent upon it.... The -plant had become an animal.” [238] - -If Shiro’s prototype was the mandrake-dog which sacrificed itself for -the sake of lovers, and was itself an “avatar” of the deity, we should -expect to find the pine tree connected with the love-goddess. [239] -Joly, in his Legend in Japanese Art (p. 147), tells that “at Takasago -there is a very old pine tree, the trunk of which is bifurcated; in it -dwells the spirit of the Maiden of Takasago, who was seen once by the -son of Izanagi, who fell in love and wedded her. Both lived to a very -great age, dying at the same hour on the same day, and since then their -spirits abide in the tree, but on moonlight nights they return to human -shape and revisit the scene of their earthly life and pursue their work -of gathering pine needles.” The needles were promoters of longevity, as -we have seen. - -Another Japanese pair associated with the pine trees are Jo and Uba, a -couple of old and wrinkled spirits. They gathered pine needles, Jo -using a rake and Uba a besom and fan. - -The goddess of the pine was evidently a Far Eastern Aphrodite, as well -as a Far Eastern Artemis—an Artemis who provided medicine for women in -the form of the mugwort, was a goddess of birth, a guardian of -treasure, and a goddess of travellers and hunters. The Romans -associated with Diana (Artemis) her loved one, Dianus or Janus, [240] -as the tree-goddess in Japan was associated with a deified human lover. - -The pine may have been “a kind of mugwort” (and apparently, like the -cypress, a “kind of mandrake”), but it did not displace the mugwort as -a medicinal plant. Dr. Rendel Harris quotes a letter from Professor -Giles, the distinguished Chinese scholar, who says: “There is quite a -literature about Artemisia vulgaris, L. (the mugwort), which has been -used in China from time immemorial for cauterizing as a -counter-irritant, especially in cases of gout. Other species of -Artemisia are also found in China.” [241] - -The Far Eastern Artemis appears to be represented by the immortal lady -known in China as Ho Sien Ku, and in Japan as Kasenko. She is shown “as -a young woman clothed in mugwort, holding a lotus stem and flower” -(like a western Asiatic or Egyptian goddess), “and talking to a -phœnix”, or “depicted carrying a basket of loquat fruits which she -gathered for her sick mother. She was a woman who, having been promised -immortality in a dream, fed on mother-of-pearl, and thereafter moved as -swiftly as a bird.” [242] The Mexican god Tlaloc’s wife was similarly a -mugwort goddess. - -In the pine-tree story the Japanese representative of the tree- and -lunar-goddess of love appears with her spouse on moonlight nights. The -moon was the “Pearl of Heaven”. It will be noted that the mugwort is -connected with pearl-shell—the lady Ho Sien Ku having acquired the -right to wear mugwort, in her character as an immortal, by eating -mother-of-pearl. This connection of pearl-shell with a medicinal plant -is a more arbitrary one than that of the mugwort with the pine, or the -mandrake with the cypress. - -The lotus was a form of the ancient love-goddess, as was also the -cowry. In Egypt the solar-god Horus emerges at birth from the -lotus-form of Hathor as it floats on the breast of the Nile. Ho Sien -Ku’s basket of fruit is also symbolic. “A basket of sycamore figs” was -in Ancient Egypt “originally the hieroglyphic sign for a woman, a -goddess, or a mother”. It had thus the same significance as the Pot, -the lotus, the mandrake-apple, and the pomegranate. The latter symbol -supplanted the Egyptian lotus in the Ægean area. [243] - -Mugwort, as already stated, was a medicine, and chiefly a woman’s -medicine. “The plant (mugwort)”, says Dr. Rendel Harris, “is Artemis, -and Artemis is the plant. Artemis is a woman’s goddess and a maid’s -goddess, because she was a woman’s medicine and a maid’s medicine.” -[244] The mugwort promoted child-birth, and controlled women like the -moon, and was used for women’s ailments in general. It was a healing -plant, and was “good for gout” among other troubles. - -The women’s herb in China is called the “san tsi”. An -eighteenth-century writer [245] says it is “efficacious in women’s -disorders and hæmorrhages of all sorts”. It is found “only on the tops -of high, steep mountains”, as is the scented Edelraut (Artemisia -mutellina) an alpine plant like the famous and beautiful Edelweiss. - -Continuing his account of the “san tsi” herb, the eighteenth-century -writer and compiler says: “A kind of goat of a greyish colour is very -fond of feeding upon this plant, insomuch that they (the Chinese) -imagine the blood of this animal is endowed with the same medicinal -properties. It is certain that the blood of these goats has surprising -success against the injuries received by falls from horses, and other -accidents of the same kind. This the missionaries have had experience -of several times. One of their servants that was thrown by a vicious -horse, and who lay some time without speech or motion, was so soon -recovered by this remedy that the next day he was able to pursue his -journey.” It is also “a specific against the smallpox”. The author of -The Chinese Traveller, touching again on the blood substitute for this -plant, which is “not easy to be had”, says: “In the experiments above -mentioned, the blood of a goat was made use of that had been taken by -hunters”. - -The goat appears to be the link between Artemis “the curer” and Artemis -as “Diana the huntress”. As the virtues of rare curative herbs passed -into the blood of animals who ate them, the goddess, like her -worshippers, hunted the animals in question, or became their protector. -Pliny, in his twenty-eighth book, having, as Dr. Rendel Harris notes, -“exhausted the herbals”, shows that “a larger medicine is to be found -in animals and in man”. [246] - -In China the stag or deer, the stork, and the tortoise are associated -with the Tree of Life as “emblems of longevity”. One is reminded in -this connection of the Western, Eastern, and Far Eastern legends about -birds that pluck and carry to human beings leaves of “the plant of -life” or “fungus of immortality”, and of Mykenæan and Ancient Egyptian -representations of bulls, goats, deer, &c., browsing on vines and other -trees or bushes that were supposed to contain the elixir of life, being -sacred to the goddess and shown as symbols of her or of the god with -whom she was associated as mother or spouse. - -Another famous Far Eastern curative “wort” is the ginseng. Like the -fungus of immortality, it grew on one of the Islands of the Blest. -Taken with mermaid’s flesh, it was supposed to lengthen the life of man -for several centuries. - -“As described by Father Jartoux”, says the eighteenth-century English -writer, already quoted, [247] “it has a white root, somewhat knotty, -about half as thick as one’s little finger; and as it frequently parts -into two branches, not unlike the forked parts of a man, it is said -from thence to have obtained the name of ginseng, which implies a -resemblance of the human form, though indeed it has no more of such a -likeness than is usual among other roots. From the root arises a -perfectly smooth and roundish stem, of a pretty deep-red colour, except -towards the surface of the ground, where it is somewhat whiter. At the -top of the stem is a sort of joint or knot, formed by the shooting out -of four branches, sometimes more, sometimes less, which spread as from -a centre. The colour of the branches underneath is green, with a -whitish mixture, and the upper part is of a deep red like the stem.... -Each branch has five leaves,” and the leaves “make a circular figure -nearly parallel to the surface of the earth”. The berries are of “a -beautiful red colour”. - -Here we have hints of the mandrake without a doubt. As a matter of -fact, the ginseng has been identified with the mandrake. The plant -evidently attracted attention because of its colours and form. As it -has a red stem and red berries, it is not surprising to learn that “it -strengthens the vital spirits, is good against dizziness in the head -and dimness of sight, and prolongs life to extreme old age”, and that -“those who are in health often use it to render themselves more strong -and vigorous”. The four-leaved ginseng, like the four-leaved clover, -was apparently a symbol of the four cardinal points. Its “five leaves” -and the “circular figure formed by them” must have attracted those who -selected five colours for their gods and adored the sun. - -The ginseng is found “on the declivities of mountains covered with -thick forests, upon the banks of torrents or about the roots of trees, -and amidst a thousand other different forms of vegetables”. - -Conflicts took place between Tartars and Chinese for possession of the -ginseng, and one Tartar king had “the whole province where the ginseng -grows encompassed by wooden palisades”. Guards patrolled about “to -hinder the Chinese from searching for it (ginseng)”. - -Tea first came into use in China as a life-prolonger. The shrub is an -evergreen, and appears to have attracted the attention of the Chinese -herbalists on that account. Our eighteenth-century writer says: “As to -the properties of tea, they are very much controverted by our -physicians; but the Chinese reckon it an excellent diluter and purifier -of the blood, a great strengthener of the brain and stomach, a promoter -of digestion, perspiration, and cleanser of the veins and urethra”. -Large quantities of tea were in China given “in fevers and some sorts -of colics”. Our author adds: “That the gout and stone are unknown in -China is ascribed to the use of this plant”. [248] - -Apparently we owe not only some valuable medicines, but even the -familiar cup of tea, to the ancient searchers for the elixir of life -and curative herbs. Intoxicating liquors (aqua vitæ, i.e. “water of -life”) have a similar history. They were supposed to impart vigour to -the body and prolong life. Withal, like the intoxicating “soma”, drunk -by Aryo-Indian priests, they had a religious value as they produced -“prophetic states”. Even the opium habit had a religious origin. Aqua -vitæ was impregnated with “soul substance”, as was the juice of grapes, -or, as the Hebrews put it, “the blood of grapes”. [249] - -As Far Eastern beliefs associated with curative plants and curative -stones (like jade) have filtered westward, so did Western beliefs -filter eastward. Dr. Rendel Harris has shown that myths and beliefs -connected with the ivy and mugwort, which were so prevalent in Ancient -Greece, can be traced across Siberia to Kamschatka. The Ainus of Japan -regard the mistletoe as an “All-heal”, as did the ancient Europeans. -“The discovery of the primitive sanctity of ivy, mugwort, and -mistletoe”, says Dr. Harris, “makes a strong link between the early -Greeks and other early peoples both East and West, and it is probable -that we shall find many more contacts between peoples that, as far as -geography and culture go, are altogether remote.” [250] - -There are many Far Eastern stories about men and women who have escaped -threatened death by eating herbs, or pine resin, or some magic fruit. - -One herb, called huchu, was first discovered to have special virtues by -a man who, when crossing a mountain, fell into a deep declivity and was -unable to get out of it, not only on account of the injuries he had -sustained, but because the rocks were as smooth as glass. He looked -about for something to eat, and saw only the huchu herb. Plucking it -out of the thin soil in which it grew, he chewed the root and found -that it kept his body at a temperature which prevented him feeling -cold, while it also satisfied his desire for food and water. Time -passed quickly and pleasantly. He felt happy, slept well, and did not -weary. - -One day the earth was shaken by a great earthquake that opened a way of -escape for him. The man at once left his mountain prison and set off -for home. - -On reaching his house he found, to his surprise, that it was inhabited -by strangers. He spoke to them, asking why they were there, and -inquiring regarding his wife and children. The strangers only scoffed -at him. Then he wandered through the village, searching for old -friends, but could not find one. He, however, interested a wise old man -in his case. An examination was made of the family annals, and it was -discovered that the name given by the man had been recorded three -centuries earlier as that of a member of the family who had -mysteriously disappeared. - -The Chinese Rip Van Winkle then told the story of his life in the -mountain cavity, and how he had been sustained by the huchu herb. In -this manner, according to Chinese tradition, the discovery was made -that the herb “prolongs life, cures baldness, turns grey hair black -again, and tends to renew one’s youth”. Great quantities of huchu tea -must be drunk for a considerable time, and no other food taken, if the -desired results are to be fully achieved. - -Other Rip Van Winkle stories tell of men who have lived for centuries -while conversing with immortals met by chance, or while taking part in -their amusements like the men in Western European stories, who enter -fairy knolls and dance with fairy women, and think they have danced for -a single hour, but find, when they come out, that a whole year has gone -past. - -One day a Taoist priest, named Wang Chih, entered a mountain forest to -gather firewood. He came to a cave in which sat two aged men playing -chess, while others looked on. The game fascinated Wang Chih, so he -entered the cave, laid aside his chopper, and looked on. When he began -to feel hungry and thirsty he moved as if to rise up and go away, -although the game had not come to an end. One of the spectators, -however, divining his intention, handed him a kernel, which looked like -a date stone, saying, “Suck that”. - -Wang Chih put the kernel in his mouth and found that it refreshed him -so that he experienced no further desire for food or drink. - -The chess-playing continued in silence, and several hours, as it -seemed, flew past. Then one of the old men spoke to Wang Chih, saying: -“It is now a long time since you came to join our company. I think you -should return home.” - -Wang Chih rose to his feet. When he grasped his chopper he was -astonished to find that the handle crumbled to dust. On reaching home, -he discovered, like the man who fed on the huchu herb, that he had been -missing for one or two centuries. The old men with whom he had mingled -in the cave were the immortals, known to the Chinese as Sten Nung, to -the Japanese as Sennin, and to the Indians as Rishis—a class of -demi-gods who once lived on earth and achieved great merit, in the -spiritual sense, by practising austerities in solitude and for long -periods. - -The reference to the date stone is of special interest. In Babylonia -and Assyria the date palm was one of the holy trees. It was cultivated -in southern Persia, and may have been introduced into China from that -quarter. Another possibility is that the seeds were got from dates -carried by Arab traders to China, or obtained from Arabs by Chinese -traders. One of the Chinese names for the date resembles the Ancient -Egyptian designation, bunnu. Laufer, who discusses this problem, [251] -refers to early Chinese texts that make mention of Mo-lin, a distant -country in which dark-complexioned natives subsist on dates. Mo-lin, -earlier Mwa-lin, is, Laufer thinks, “intended for the Malindi of Edrīsī -or Mulanda of Yãqūt, now Malindi, south of the Equator, in Seyidieh -Province of British East Africa”. The lore connected with other Trees -of Life in China appears to have been transferred to the imported date -palm. One of its names is “jujube of a thousand years”, or “jujube of -ten thousand years”. Laufer quotes a Chinese description of the date -palm which emphasizes the fact that it “remains ever green”, and tells -that “when the kernel ripens, the seeds are black. In their appearance -they resemble dried jujubes. They are good to eat, and as sweet as -candy.” [252] - -Another Chinese Rip Van Winkle story relates that two men who wandered -among the mountains met two pretty girls. They were entertained by -them, and fed on a concoction prepared from hemp. Seven generations -went past while they enjoyed the company of the girls. - -The hemp (old Persian and Sanskrit bangha) was cultivated at a remote -period in China and Iran. A drug prepared from the seed is supposed to -prolong life and to inspire those who partake of it to prophesy, after -seeing visions and dreaming dreams. The “bang” habit is as bad as the -opium habit. - -In the tree-lore of China there are interesting links between trees and -stones. It has been shown that jade was an “avatar” of the -mother-goddess, who created it for the benefit of mankind; that tree -foliage was identified with jade; that dragons were born from stones; -certain coloured stones were “dragon eggs”, the eggs of the “Dragon -Mother”, the mother-goddess herself, who had “many forms and many -colours”. Sacred stones were supposed to have dropped from the sky, or -to have grown in the earth. Pliny refers to a stone that fell from the -sun. - -In Ancient Egypt it was believed that the creative or fertilizing tears -of the beneficent deities, like those of Osiris and Isis, caused good -shrubs to spring up, and that the tears of a deity like Set, who became -the personification of evil, produced poisonous plants. The weeping -Prajapati of the Aryo-Indians resembles the weeping sun-god Ra of -Egypt. At the beginning, Prajapati’s tears fell into the water and -“became the air”, and the tears he “wiped away, upwards, became the -sky”. [253] - -It is evident that the idea of the weeping deity reached China, for -there are references to “tree tears” and to “stone tears”. Both the -tree and stone “avatars” of the Great Mother or Great Father shed -creative tears. - -The Chinese appear to have discovered their wonderful “weeping tree” in -Turkestan in the second century B.C., but the beliefs connected with it -were evidently of greater antiquity. They already knew about the -weeping deities who created good and baneful vegetation, and the -discovery of the tree, it would appear, simply afforded proof to them -of the truth of their beliefs. - -The tree in question (the hu tʼun tree) has been identified by Laufer -as the balsam poplar. “This tree”, he quotes from a Chinese -commentator, “is punctured by insects, whereupon flows down a juice, -that is commonly termed hu tʼun lei (‘hu tʼun tears’), because it is -said to resemble human tears. When this substance penetrates earth or -stone it coagulates into a solid mass, somewhat on the order of rock -salt.” Laufer notes that Pliny “speaks of a thorny shrub in Ariana, on -the borders of India, valuable for its tears, resembling the myrrh, but -difficult of access on account of the adhering thorns. It is not known -what plant is to be understood by the Plinian text; but the analogy of -the tears,” comments Laufer, “with the above Chinese term is -noteworthy.” - -An ancient Chinese scholar, dealing with the references to the weeping -trees, says that “its sap sinks into the earth, and is similar to earth -and stone. It is used as a dye, like the ginger stone” (a variety of -stalactite). Ta Min, who lived in the tenth century of our era, wrote -regarding the tree, “There are two kinds—a tree sap, which is not -employed in the Pharmacopœia, and a stone sap collected on the surface -of stones; this one only is utilized as medicine. It resembles in -appearance small pieces of stone, and those coloured like loess take -the first place. The latter was employed as a remedy for toothache.” -[254] - -In Babylonia toothache was supposed to be caused by the marsh-worm -demon which devours “the blood of the teeth” and “destroys the strength -of the gums”. The god Ea smites the worm, which is a form of the dragon -Tiamat. [255] - -The antique conception enshrined in the “weeping tree” is that the -mother-goddess of the sky sheds tears, which cause the tree to grow, -and that, as the tree, she sheds tears that become stones, while the -stones shed tears that provide soul substance to cure disease by -removing pain and promoting health. In Egypt the stone specially sacred -to the sky-goddess Hathor was the turquoise, in which was, apparently, -concentrated the vital essence or “soul substance” of the sky. The -goddess sprang from water, and her tears were drops of the primeval -water from which all things that are issued forth. Those stones that -contained water were in China “dragon stones” or “dragon eggs”. In -various countries there are legends about deities, and men and women -have sprung from moisture-shedding stones. The mother-goddess of -Scotland, who presides over the winter season, transforms herself at -the beginning of summer into a stone that is often seen to be covered -with moisture. In Norse mythology the earliest gods spring from stones -that have been licked by the primeval mother-cow. Mithra of Persia -sprang from a rock. Indonesian beliefs regarding moist stones, from -which issue water and human beings, are fairly common. [256] - -The Kayan of Sumatra are familiar with the beliefs that connect stones -and vegetables with the sky and water. They say that “in the beginning -there was a rock. On this rain fell and gave rise to moss, and the -worms, aided by the dung beetles, made soil by their castings. Then a -sword handle came down from the sun and became a large tree. From the -moon came a creeper which, hanging from the tree, mated through the -action of the wind.” From this union of tree and creeper, i.e. sun and -moon, “the first men were produced”. [257] - -The connection between sky, plant, and animals is found in the lore -regarding the Chinese sant si mountain herb which is eaten by goats. -This herb, like other herbs, is produced from the body-moisture of the -goddess; it is the goddess herself—the goddess who sprang from water. -The plant is guarded by the mountain goat as the pearls are guarded by -the shark, and the goat, which browses on the plant, is, like the -shark, an avatar of the goddess. Goat’s blood is therefore as -efficacious as the sap of the herb. - -The goat or ram is the vehicle of the Indian fire and lightning god -Agni; the Norse god Thor has a car drawn by goats. Dionysos, as Bromios -(the Thunderer), has a goat “avatar”, too, and he is the god of wine -(Bacchus)—the wine, the “blood of grapes”, being the elixir of life. -Osiris, who had a ram form, was to the Ancient Egyptians “Lord of the -Overflowing Wine”. European witches ride naked on goats or on brooms; -the devil had a goat form. - -In China, as has been shown, the dragon-herb, peach, vine, pine, fungus -of immortality, ginseng, &c., received their sap, or blood, or “soul -substance” from rain released by dragon gods, who thundered like -Bromios-Dionysos. The inexhaustible pot from which life-giving water -came was in the moon. This Pot was the mother-goddess, who had a star -form. A fertilizing tear from the goddess-star, which falls on the -“Night of the Drop”, is still supposed in Egypt to cause the Nile to -rise in flood. - -We should expect to find the Chinese mythological cycle completed by an -arbitrary connection between the goat or ram and sacred stones. - -There are, to begin with, celestial goats. Some of the Far Eastern -demi-gods, already referred to, ride through “Cloud-land” on the backs -of goats or sheep. One of the eight demi-gods, who personify the eight -points of the compass, is called by the Chinese Hwang Chʼu-Pʼing, and -by the Japanese Koshohei. He is said to be an incarnation of the -“rain-priest”, Chʼih Sung Tze, who has for his wife a daughter of the -Royal Mother of the West, the mother-goddess of the Peach Tree of Life. - -The Japanese version of the legend of the famous Koshohei is given by -Joly as follows: “Koshohei, when fifteen years old, led his herd of -goats to the Kin Hwa mountains, and, having found a grotto, stayed -there for forty years in meditation. His brother, Shoki, was a priest, -and he vowed to find the missing shepherd. Once he walked near the -mountain and he was told of the recluse by a sage named Zenju, and set -out to find him. He recognized his brother, but expressed his -astonishment at the absence of sheep or goats. Koshohei thereupon -touched with his staff the white stones with which the ground was -strewn, and as he touched them they became alive in the shape of -goats.” [258] - -Goats might become stones. The Great Mother was a stone, rock, or -mountain, having the power to assume many forms, because she was the -life of all things and the substance of all things. The goddess was the -Mountain of Dawn in labour that brought forth the mouse-form of the sun -(Smintheus Apollo), or the antelope form of the sun, or the hawk or -eagle form, or the human form, or the egg containing the sun-god. She -was also the sun-boat—the dragon-ship of the sun. The five holy -mountains of China appear to have been originally connected with the -goddess and her sons—the gods of the four quarters. - -In China deities might on occasion take the form of stones or reptiles. -During the Chou Dynasty (756 B.C.) “one of the feudal dukes”, says -Giles, “saw a vision of a yellow serpent which descended from heaven, -and laid its head on the slope of a mountain. The duke spoke of this to -his astrologer, who said, ‘It is a manifestation of God; sacrifice to -it’. In 747 B.C. another duke found on a mountain a being in the -semblance of a stone. Sacrifices were at once offered, and the stone -was deified and received regular worship from that time forward.” [259] - -Giles states further in connection with Chinese god-stones: “Under 532 -B.C. we have the record of a stone speaking.” The Marquis Lu inquired -of his chief musician if this was a fact, and received the following -answer: “Stones cannot speak. Perhaps this one was possessed by a -spirit. If not, the people must have heard wrong. And yet it is said -that when things are done out of season and discontents and complaints -are stirring among the people, then speechless things do speak.” [260] - -Precious stones were, like boulders or mountains, linked with the Great -Mother. In Egypt the red jaspar amulet, called “the girdle of Isis”, -was supposed to be a precious drop of the life-blood of that goddess. -Herbs were connected with precious stones, and were credited with the -attributes and characteristics of these stones. There are many -references in Chinese, Indian, and other texts and folk-lores to gems -that gleam in darkness. No gems do. The mandrake was similarly believed -to shine at night. Both gem and herb were associated with the moon, a -form of the mother-goddess, and were supposed to give forth light like -the moon, [261] just as stones associated with the rain-mother were -supposed to become moist, or to send forth a stream of water, or to -shed tears like the “weeping trees”, and like the sky from which drop -rain and dew. The attributes of the goddess were shared by her -“avatars”. - -The amount or strength of the “soul-substance” in trees, herbs, -well-water, stones, and animals varied greatly. Some elixirs derived -from one or other of these “avatars” might prolong life by a few years; -other elixirs might ensure many years of health. - -The difference between a medicinal herb and the herb of immortality was -one of degree in potency. The former was imbued with sufficient -“soul-substance” to cure a patient suffering from a disease, or to give -good health for months, or even years; the latter gave extremely good -health, and those who partook of it lived for long periods in the -Otherworld. - -Even the “spiritual beings” (ling) of China were graded. The four ling, -as De Visser states, are “the unicorn, the phœnix, the tortoise, and -the dragon”. The dragon is credited with being possessed of “most ling -of all creatures”. [262] - -Stones were likewise graded. Precious stones had more ling than -ordinary stones. Precious stones are sometimes referred to as pi-si. -One Chinese writer says that “the best pi-si are deep-red in colour; -that those in which purple, yellow, and green are combined, and the -white ones take the second place; while those half white and half black -are of the third grade”. [263] - -Stones that displayed five colours combined apparently all the virtues -of the five deities—the gods of the four quarters, and the sun, their -chief. These were all children of the sixth deity, the Great Mother, -who was the water on earth and the water above the firmament and the -moon. The moon contained, as has been said, the “Pot” of fertilizing -water which created all the water that flows into the Earth “Pot”. In -China, as in Egypt and Western Europe, the Great Mother was the -reproductive principle in Nature, the source of the moisture of life, -the blood which is life, the sap of trees, the soul-substance in herbs, -in fruit, in pearls, and in precious stones and precious -metals—precious because of their close association with her. - -It was the human dread of death and pain, the human desire for health -and long life, and for the renewal of youth that instigated early man -to search for the well of life, the plant of life, the curative herb, -the pearl, and precious stones and precious metals. But before the -search began, the complex ideas about the origin of life and the means -by which it might be prolonged, which are reviewed in this chapter, -passed through a long process of development in the most ancient -centres of civilization. In China we meet not only with primitive ideas -regarding life-giving food and water, but with ideas that had gradually -developed for centuries outside China after the earliest attempts had -been made to reanimate the corpse, not merely by painting it, but by -preventing the body from decaying. In the history of mummification in -Egypt may be found the history of complex beliefs that travelled far -and wide. [264] Even those peoples who did not adopt, or, at any rate, -perpetuate the custom of mummification, adopted the belief that it was -necessary to preserve the corpse. This belief is still prevalent in -China, as will be shown, but magic takes the place of surgery. - -In the next chapter evidence will be provided to indicate how the -overland “drift” of culture towards China was impelled by the forces at -work in Babylonia and Egypt. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -HOW COPPER-CULTURE REACHED CHINA - - Metals connected with Deities—Introduction of Copper—Struggles for - the First “Mine-Land”—Early Metal-working in Caucasus, Armenia, and - Persia—Civilizations of Trans-Caspian Oases—Babylonian Influence in - Mid Asia—Bronze and Jade carried into Europe—Ancient “Gold Rushes” - to Siberia—Discoveries in Chinese Turkestan—Jade carried to - Babylonia—Links between China, Iran, and Siberia—Bronze-links - between China and Europe—Evidence of Ornaments and Myths—Early - Metal-working—Far Eastern and European Furnaces Identical—Chinese - Civilization dates from 1700 B.C.—Culture-mixing in Ancient Times. - - -The persistent and enterprising search for wealth in ancient times, -which, as will be shown in this chapter, had so much to do with the -spread of civilization, may seem quite a natural thing to modern man. -But it is really as remarkable, when we consider the circumstances, to -find the early peoples possessed of the greed of gold as it would be to -find hungry men who have been ship-wrecked on a lonely island more -concerned about its mineral resources than the food and water they were -absolutely in need of. What was the good of gold in an ancient -civilization that had no coinage? What attraction could it possibly -hold for desert nomads? - -The value attached to gold, which is a comparatively useless metal, has -always been a fictitious value. As we have seen, it became precious in -ancient times, not because of its purchasing power, but for the reason -that it had religious associations. The early peoples regarded the -precious metal as an “avatar” of the life-giving and life-sustaining -Great Mother goddess—the “Golden Hathor”, the “Golden Aphrodite”. - -In Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, India, and China the cow- and sky-goddess, -the source of fertilizing water, was, in the literal sense, a goddess -of gold. In India one of the five Sanskrit names for gold is Chandra -[265] (“the moon”), and the Indus was called “Golden Stream”, not -merely because gold was found in its sand, but because of its -connection with the celestials. “Gold is the object of the wishes of -the Vedic singer, and golden treasures are mentioned as given by -patrons, along with cows and horses. Gold was used for ornaments for -neck and breast, for ear-rings, and even for cups. Gold is always -associated with the gods. All that is connected with them is of gold; -the horses of the sun are ‘gold skinned’, and so on.” This summary by -two distinguished Sanskrit scholars emphasizes the close connection -that existed in India between gold and gold ornaments and religious -beliefs. [266] - -“Gold”, a reader may contend, “is, of course, a beautiful metal, and -the ancients may well have been attracted by its beauty when they began -to utilize it for ornaments.” But is there any proof that ornaments -were adopted, because, in the first place, they made appeal to the -æsthetic sense, which, after all, is a cultivated sense, and not to be -entirely divorced from certain mental leanings produced by the -experiences and customs of many generations? Do ornaments really -beautify those who wear them? Was it the æsthetic sense that prompted -the early peoples to pierce their noses and ears; and to extend the -lobes of their ears so as to “adorn” themselves with shells, stones, -and pieces of metal? Can we divorce the practice of mutilation from its -association with crude religious beliefs? Inherited ideas of beauty may -be wrong ideas, and it can be said of the modern lady who wears -collections of brilliant and costly jewels that she is not necessarily -made more beautiful by perpetuating a custom rooted in the grossest -superstitions of antiquity, for these jewels were originally charms to -preserve health, to regulate the flow of blood, to promote fertility -and birth, and, generally speaking, to secure “luck” by bringing the -wearer into close touch with the “deities”, whose “soul-substance” was -contained in them. - -When the æsthetic sense of mankind reached that high stage of -development represented by Greek sculpture, the so-called ornaments -were discarded and the human form depicted in all its natural beauty -and charm. - -Whatever was holy seemed beautiful to the early people, and that is why -in a country like India, with its wealth of exquisitely coloured -flowers, the Sanskrit names for gold include Jāta-rūpa (native beauty), -and Su-varna (good, or beautiful colour). The gold colour was really a -luck-bringing colour, and therefore beautiful to Aryan eyes. - -Having attached in their homelands a fictitious religious value to -gold, the early prospectors and miners carried their beliefs and -customs with them wherever they went, and these were in time adopted by -the peoples with whom they came into contact. - -When Columbus crossed the Atlantic he and his followers greatly -astonished the unsophisticated natives of the New World by their -anxiety to obtain precious metals. They found, to their joy, that “the -sands of the mountain streams glittered with particles of gold; these”, -as Washington Irving says, [267] “the natives would skilfully separate -and give to the Spaniards, without expecting a recompense”. - -No doubt the early searchers for gold in Africa and Asia met with many -peoples who were as much amused and interested, and as helpful, as were -the natives of the New World, who welcomed the Spaniards as visitors -from the sky. - -Gold was the earliest metal worked by man. It was first used in Egypt -to fashion imitation sea-shells, and the magical and religious value -attached to the shells was transferred to the gold which, in -consequence, became “precious” or “holy”. - -Copper was the next metal to be worked. It was similarly used for the -manufacture of personal ornaments and other sacred objects, being -regarded apparently, to begin with, as a variety of gold. But in -time—some centuries, it would appear, after copper was first extracted -from malachite—some pioneer of a new era began to utilize it as a -substitute for flint, and copper knives and other implements were -introduced. This discovery of the usefulness of copper had far-reaching -effects, and greatly increased the demand for the magical metal. -Increasing numbers of miners were employed, and search was made for new -copper-mines by enterprising prospectors who, in Egypt, were employed, -or, at any rate, protected, by the State. This search had much to do -with promoting race movements, and introducing not only new modes of -life but new modes of thought into lands situated at great distances -from the areas in which these modes of life and thought had origin. The -metal-workers were the missionaries of a New Age. In this chapter it -will be shown how they reached China. - -Archæologists are not agreed as to where copper was first used for the -manufacture of weapons and implements. Some favour Egypt, and others -Mesopotamia. In the former country the useful metal was worked in -pre-Dynastic times, that is, before 3500 B.C. or 4500 B.C. “Copper -ornaments and objects, found in graves earlier than the middle -pre-Dynastic period”, wrote the late Mr. Leonard W. King, “are small -and of little practical utility as compared with the beautifully flaked -flint knives, daggers, and lances.... At a rather later stage in the -pre-Dynastic period, copper dagger-blades and adzes were produced in -imitation of flint and stone forms, and these mark the transition to -the heavy weapons and tools of copper which, in the early Dynastic -period, largely ousted flint and stone implements for practical use. -The gradual attainment of skill in the working of copper ore on the -part of the early Egyptians had a marked effect on the whole status of -their culture. Their improved weapons enabled them by conquest to draw -their raw materials from a far more extended area.” [268] - -Copper was found in the wadis of Upper Egypt and on the Red Sea -coast—in those very areas in which gold was worked for generations -before copper was extracted from malachite. At a later period the -Pharaohs sent gangs of miners to work the copper-mines in the Sinaitic -peninsula. King Semerket, of the early Dynastic age, had men extracting -copper in the Wadi Maghara. “His expedition was exposed to the -depredations of the wild tribes of Beduin ... and he recorded his -punishment of them in a relief on the rocks of the Wadi.” There is -evidence that at this remote period the Pharaohs “maintained foreign -relations with far remote peoples”. [269] A record of a later age (c. -2000 B.C.) affords us a vivid glimpse of life in the “Mine-Land”. An -official recorded in an inscription that he had been sent there in what -he calls the “Evil summer season”. He complained, “It is not the season -for going to this Mine-Land.... The highlands are hot in summer, and -the mountains brand the skin.” Yet he could boast that “he extracted -more copper than he had been ordered to obtain”. [270] - -The transition from stone to copper cannot be traced in ancient -Babylonia. Sumerian history begins at the seaport Eridu, when that -centre of civilization was situated at the head of the Persian Gulf—a -fact that suggests the settlement there of seafaring colonists. At the -dawn of Sumerian culture, copper tools and weapons had come into use. -No metals could be found in the alluvial “plain of Shinar”. - -The early Babylonians (Sumerians) had to obtain their supplies of -copper from Sinai, Armenia, the Caucasus area, and Persia. It may be -that their earliest supplies came from Sinai, and that the battles in -that “Mine-Land”, recorded in early Egyptian inscriptions, were fought -between rival claimants of the ore from the Nile valley and the valley -of the Tigris and Euphrates. One ancient Pharaoh refers in an -inscription to his “first occurrence of smiting the Easterners” in -Sinai. “This designation”, comments Breasted, “of the event as the -‘first occurrence’ would indicate that it was a customary thing for the -kings of the time (First Dynasty, c. 3500 B.C.) to chastise the -barbarians.” [271] But were they really “barbarians”? Is it likely that -barbarians would be found in such a region, especially in summer? It is -more probable that the “Easterners” came from an area in which the -demand for copper was as great as it was in Egypt. - -The regular battles between the ancient “peggers-out” of “claims” in -Mine-Land no doubt forced the “Easterners” to search for copper -elsewhere. By following the course of the Tigris the Sumerian -prospectors were led to the rich mineral area of the Armenian -Highlands, and it is of special significance in this connection to find -that the earliest Assyrian colonies were founded by Sumerians. -Apparently Nineveh (Mosul) had origin as a trading centre at which -metal ores were collected and sent southward some time before the -Semitic Akkadians obtained control of the northern part of the -Babylonian plain. - -The copper obtained from Armenia and other western Asiatic areas was -less suitable than Sinaitic copper, being much softer. Sinaitic and -Egyptian copper is naturally hard on account of the proportion of -sulphur it contains. But after tin was found, and it was discovered -that, when mixed with copper, it produced the hard amalgam known as -bronze, the Sumerians appear to have entirely deserted the Sinaitic -Mine-Land, and left it to the Egyptians. - -The Egyptians continued in their Copper Age until their civilization -ceased to be controlled by native kings. - -Babylonia had likewise a Copper Age to begin with, but copper was at an -early period entirely supplanted by bronze, except for religious -purposes—a fact which is of great importance, especially when it is -found that the religious beliefs associated with copper and gold were -disseminated far and wide by the early miners—the troglodytes of Sinai -in the early Egyptian texts—who formed colonies that became industrial -and trading centres. Votive images found in Babylonia are of copper. A -good example of early Sumerian religious objects is the interesting -bull’s head in copper from Tello, which is dated c. 3000 B.C. The eyes -of this image of the bull-god—the “Bull of Heaven”, the sky-god, whose -mother or spouse was the “Cow of Heaven”—“are inlaid with -mother-of-pearl and lapis-lazuli”. A “very similar method is met with -in the copper head of a goat which was found at Fara”. [272] Here we -find fused in early Sumerian religious objects complex religious -beliefs connected with domesticated animals, sea-shells, and metals. - -The opinion, suggested here by the writer, that the battles between -rival miners in Sinai compelled the Sumerians to search for copper -elsewhere and to discover means whereby the softer copper could be -hardened, appears to accord with the view that bronze was first -manufactured in Babylonia, or in some area colonized by Babylonia. In -his able summary of the archæological evidence regarding the -introduction of bronze, Sir Hercules Read shows that “the attribution -of the discovery to Babylonia is preferred as offering fewest -difficulties”. [273] - -Recent archæological finds make out a good case for Russian Turkestan -as the “cradle of the bronze industry”. - -In Troy and Crete bronze supplanted flint and obsidian. There was no -Copper Age in either of these culture centres. The copper artifacts -found in Crete are simply small and useless votive axes and other -religious objects. - -Whence did the Babylonians receive, after the discovery was made how to -manufacture bronze, the necessary supplies of tin? Armenia and the -Caucasus “appear”, as Read says, “to be devoid of stanniferous ores”. -Apparently the early metal-searchers had gone as far as Khorassan in -Persia before their fellows had ceased to wage battles with Egyptians -in the Sinaitic “Mine-Land”. Tin has been located at Khorassan and “in -other parts of Persia, near Asterabad and Tabriz. [274]... From such -areas as these”, Reid says, “the tin used in casting the earliest -bronze may have been derived.” We are now fairly on our way along the -highway leading to China. “In Eastern Asia, beyond the radius of the -ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia”, Read continues, “there would -seem to be no region likely to have witnessed the discovery (of how to -work bronze) nearer than Southern China; for India, which has copper -implements of a very primitive type, is poor in tin ... while the Malay -peninsula, an extremely rich stanniferous region, does not appear to -have been mined in very ancient times”. [275] It is unlikely that -bronze was first manufactured in China, considering the period of its -introduction into Babylonia, which antedates by several centuries the -earliest traces of civilization in the Far East. - -The history of the development of the industries and commerce of early -Babylonia is the history of the growth and dissemination of -civilization, not only in western Asia, but in the “Mid East” and the -“Far East”. - -Babylonia, the Asiatic granary of the ancient world, lay across the -trade routes. Both its situation and its agricultural resources gave it -great commercial importance. It had abundant supplies of surplus food -to stimulate trade, and its industrial activity created a demand for -materials that could not be obtained in the rich alluvial plain. “Over -the Persian Gulf”, says Professor Goodspeed, [276] “teak-wood, found in -Eridu (the seaside “cradle” of Sumerian culture), was brought from -India. Cotton also made its way from the same source to the southern -cities. Over Arabia, by way of Ur, which stood at the foot of a natural -opening from the desert ... were led the caravans laden with stone, -spices, copper, and gold [277] from Sinai, Yemen, and Egypt. -Door-sockets of Sinaitic stone found at Nippur attest this traffic.” -Cedar wood was imported from the Syrian mountains “for the adornment of -palaces and temples. From the east, down the pass of Holwan, came the -marble and precious metal of the mountains. Much of this raw material -was worked over by Babylonian artisans and shipped back to -less-favoured lands, along with the grain, dates, and fish, the rugs -and cloths of native production. All this traffic was in the hands of -Babylonian traders, who fearlessly ventured into the borders of distant -countries, and must have carried with them thither the knowledge of the -civilization and wealth of their own home, for only thus can the -widespread influence of Babylonian culture in the earliest periods be -explained.” - -It was evidently due to the influence of the searchers for metals and -the traders that the culture of early Sumeria spread across the Iranian -plateau. As Laufer has shown, [278] “the Iranians were the great -mediators between the West and the East”. The Chinese “were positive -utilitarians, and always interested in matters of reality; they have -bequeathed to us a great amount of useful information on Iranian -plants, products, animals, minerals, customs, and institutions”. Not -only plants but also Western ideas were conveyed to China by the -Iranians. [279] - -The discoveries of archæological relics made by the De Morgan -Expedition in Elam (western Persia), and by the Pumpelly Expedition in -Russian Turkestan, have provided further evidence that -Sumero-Babylonian civilization exercised great influence over wide -areas in ancient times. Unfortunately no such records as those made by -the Egyptians who visited Mine-Land have been discovered either in -Babylonia or beside the mineral workings exploited by the Sumerians or -Akkadians. The Egyptian Pharaohs, as we have seen, had to send military -forces to protect their miners, and on one occasion found it necessary -to conduct mining operations in the hot season instead of in the cool -season, a fact which suggests that the opposition shown by rivals was -at times very formidable. It does not follow that the Babylonians had -to contend with similar opposition in Armenia and Persia. They appear -to have won the co-operation of the native peoples in the mid-Asian -mining districts, and to have made it worth their while to keep up the -supply of gold, and copper, and tin. Babylonia had corn and -manufactured articles to sell, and they made it possible for native -chiefs to organize their countries and to acquire wealth and a degree -of luxury. Nomadic pastoral peoples became traders, and communities of -them adopted Babylonian modes of life. Mr. W. J. Perry has shown that -in districts where minerals were anciently worked, the system of -irrigation, which brought wealth and comfort in Babylonia and the Nile -valley, was adopted, and that megalithic monuments were erected. [280] - -The early searchers for metals and pearls and precious stones were -apparently the pioneers of civilization in many a district occupied by -backward peoples. - -The mineral area to the south-east of the Caspian Sea appears to have -been exploited as early as the third millennium B.C., as was also the -mineral area stretching from the Caspian to the eastern coast of the -Black Sea. New trade routes were opened up and connections established, -not only with Elam and Babylonia in the south, but with Egypt, through -Palestine, and with Crete and with the whole Ægean area. Troy became -the “clearing-house” of this early trade flowing from western Asia into -Europe. The enterprising sea-kings of Crete appear to have penetrated -the Dardanelles and reached the eastern shores of the Black Sea, where -they tapped the overland trade routes. [281] Dr. Hubert Schmidt, who -accompanied the Pumpelly expedition to Russian Turkestan in 1903–4, -found Cretan Vasiliki pottery in one of the excavated mounds, and, in -another, “three-sided seal-stones of Middle Minoan type (c. 2000 B.C.), -engraved with Minoan designs”. [282] There is evidence which suggests -that this trade in metals between western Asia and the Ægean area was -in existence long before 2500 B.C., and not long after 3000 B.C. - -One of the great centres of Mesopotamian culture in the south-eastern -Caspian area was Anau, near Askabad, on the Merve-Caspian railway -route. Another was Meshed, which lies to the south-east of Anau in a -rich metalliferous mountain region. One of the “Kurgans” (mounds) -excavated at Anau yielded archæological relics that indicated an early -connection between Turkestan and Elam in south-western Persia. In -another “Kurgan” were found traces of a copper-culture. The early -searchers for metals were evidently the originators or introducers of -this culture, and as the stratum contained baked clay figurines of the -Sumerian mother-goddess, the prototype of Ishtar, little doubt can -remain whence came the earliest miners. This region of desolate -sand-dunes was in ancient times irrigated by the Mesopotamian colonists -who sowed not only the seeds of barley, wheat, and millet, but also the -seeds of civilization, and stimulated progress among the native tribes. -The settlers built houses of bricks which had been sun-dried in -accordance with the prevailing Babylonian fashion. The Egyptian -potter’s wheel was introduced—another indication that regular trading -relations between Babylonia and Egypt were maintained at a very early -period. - -Mr. Pumpelly, in the first flush of enthusiasm aroused by the mid-Asia -revelations, urged the claim that the agricultural mode of life -originated in the Transcaspian Oases, and that it passed thence to -Babylonia and Egypt. But the discovery of husks of barley in the -stomachs of naturally mummified bodies found in the hot dry sands of -Upper Egypt affords proof that cannot be overlooked in this connection. -[283] Agriculture was practised in the Nile valley long centuries -before the Transcaspian Copper Age was inaugurated. Besides, barley and -millet grow wild in the Delta area. - -The early Mesopotamian searchers for metals, and their pupils from the -Transcaspian region, continued the explorations towards the east. They -appear to have wandered to the north-west of the Oxus and the -south-east of the Lake Balkash and apparently to the very borders of -China. This eastward drift must have been in progress long before the -introduction of bronze into central Europe, which had a Stone Age -culture for three or four centuries after bronze implements had become -common in Troy and Crete. The traders who carried bronze into Hungary -carried jade too, and the beliefs which had been connected with jade in -Asia. The earliest supplies of European jade objects must have come, as -will be shown, from Chinese Turkestan. - -There was good reason for the early gold rush towards the east. Gold -can still be easily found “everywhere and in every form” in Siberia. -The Altai means “gold mountains”, and these yield silver and copper as -well as gold. Indeed, eastern Siberia is a much richer metalliferous -area than western Siberia, and this fact appears to have been -ascertained at a very remote period. The searchers for metals not only -collected gold, copper, and silver on the Altai Mountains and the area -of the upper reaches of the Yenesei River, but also penetrated into -Chinese Turkestan, where, as in Russian Turkestan, trading colonies -were founded, the metals were worked, and the agricultural mode of -life, including the system of irrigation, adopted with undoubted -success. [284] Important archæological excavations, conducted by Dr. -Stein in Chinese Turkestan, “on behalf of the Indian Government”, have -revealed traces of the far-reaching influences exercised by -Mesopotamian culture in a region now covered by the vast and confusing -sand-dunes of the Taklamakan Desert. At Khotan the discoveries made -were of similar character to those at Anau. - -Khotan is the ancient trading centre which connected central Asia and -India, and India and China. One of the most important products of -Khotan is jade—that is, important from the historical point of view. It -is uncertain at what period the importation of jade into China from the -Khotan area was inaugurated. But there can be no doubt about the -antiquity of the jade trade between Chinese Turkestan and Babylonia. -Some of the Babylonian cylinder-seals were of jade, others being of -“marble, jasper, rock-crystal, emerald, amethyst, topaz, chalcedony, -onyx, agate, lapis-lazuli, hæmatite, and steatite” [285]—all relics of -ancient trade and mining activity. Turquoise was imported into -Babylonia from Khotan and Kashgar. The archæological finds made on the -site of the ancient Sumerian city at Nippur include cobalt, “presumably -from China”. [286] At Nippur was found, too, Persian marble, -lapis-lazuli from Bactria, and cedar and cypress from Zagros. - -When it is borne in mind that the chief incentive behind the search for -precious metals and precious stones was a religious one, we should not -express surprise to find that not only the products of centres of -ancient civilization were carried across Asia to outlying parts, but -also myths, legends, and religious beliefs of complex character. These -were given a local colouring in different areas. In northern Siberia, -for instance, the local fauna displaced the fauna of the southern -religious cults, the reindeer or the goat taking the place of the -gazelle or the antelope. Mythological monsters received new parts, just -as the dolphin-god of Cretan and other seafaring peoples received an -elephant’s head in northern India and became the makara; and the -seafarers’ shark-god received in China the head of a lion, although the -lion is not found in China. No doubt the lion was introduced into China -as a religious art motif by some intruding cult. Touching on this phase -of the problem of early cultural contact, Ellis H. Minns [287] suggests -a number of possibilities to account for the similarities between -Siberian and Chinese art. One is that “the resemblance may be due to -both (Siberians and Chinese) having borrowed from Iranian or some other -Central Asian art.... In each case,” he adds, “we seem to have an -intrusion of monsters ultimately derived from Mesopotamia, the great -breeding-ground of monsters.” The data summarized in a previous chapter -[288] dealing with the Chinese dragon affords confirmation of this -view. - -Dr. Joseph Edkins, writing in the seventies of last century as a -Christian missionary who made an intensive study of Chinese religious -beliefs at first hand, had much to say about the “grafting process” or -culture-mixing. “Every impartial investigator”, he wrote, “will -probably admit that the ceremonies and ideas of the Chinese sacrifices -link them with Western antiquity. The inference to be drawn is this, -that the Chinese primeval religion was of common origin with the -religions of the West. But if the religion was one, then the political -ideas, the mental habits, the sociology, the early arts and knowledge -of nature, should have been of common origin also with those of the -West.” [289] - -No doubt the stories brought from Siberia by the early explorers tended -to stimulate the imaginations of the myth-makers of Mesopotamia, India, -and China. The mineral and hot springs in the cold regions may have -been regarded as proof that “the wells of life” had real existence. -Some of these wells are so greatly saturated with carbonic acid gas -that they burst skin and stone bottles. “Here is living water indeed!” -the early explorer may have exclaimed when he attempted to carry away a -sample. “The feathers in the air”, as Herodotus puts it when referring -to the snow, and the aurora borealis must have greatly impressed the -early miners in the mysterious Altai region—a region possessing so much -mineral wealth that it must have been regarded as a veritable -wonderland of the gods by the early prospectors. Who knows but that the -story of Gilgamesh’s pilgrimage through the dark mountain to the land -in which trees bore gems instead of fruit owes something to the -narratives of the early explorers who reached mysterious regions rich -in metals and gems, where the strange murmurings that fill the air on -still winter nights are still referred to as “the whisperings of the -stars”, and the aurora borealis, which scatters the darkness and -illumines snow-clad mountain ranges and valleys, displays wonderful and -vivid colours in great variety. - -That the early culture which was disseminated eastward across Siberia -to China and westward into Europe was of common origin, is clearly -indicated by the archæological remains. - -Dealing with the bronzes of Russia and Siberia, Sir Hercules Read -writes: “At both extremities of the vast area stretching from Lake -Baikal through the Southern Siberian Steppes across the Ural Mountains -to the basin of the Volga, and even beyond to the valleys of the Don -and Dnieper, there have been found, generally in tombs, but -occasionally on the surface of the ground, implements and weapons -marked by the same peculiarities of form, and by a single style of -decoration. These objects exhibit an undoubted affinity with those -discovered in China; but some of the distinctive features have been -traced in the bronze industry of Hungary and the Caucasus; for example, -pierced axes and sickles have a close resemblance to Hungarian and -Caucasian forms. The Siberian bronzes have this relationship both in -the East and West, but their kinship with Chinese antiquities being the -more obvious, it is natural to assume that the culture which they -represent is of East Asiatic origin.” Read notes, however, that “most -of the Chinese bronze implements are of developed, and therefore not of -primitive forms.... Such forms can only have been reached after a long -period of evolution, but their prototypes are found neither in the -Ural-Altaic region itself, where some objects may indeed be simpler in -design than others, but cannot be described as quite primitive; nor as -yet within the limits of China.” [290] - -The evidence afforded by ancient religious beliefs and customs tends to -show that the cultural centre in Asia, which stimulated the growth of -civilization, was Babylonia, while Egyptian influence flowed northward -through Palestine and into Syria. In time the influence of Cretan -civilization made itself felt on the eastern shores of the Black Sea. -The ebb and flow of cultural influences along the trade routes at -various periods renders the problem of highly complex character. But -one leading fact appears to emerge. The demand for metals and precious -stones in the earliest seats of civilization—that is, in Babylonia and -Egypt—stimulated exploration and the spread of a culture based on the -agricultural mode of life. Not only was the system of irrigation, first -introduced in the Nilotic and Tigro-Euphratean valleys, adopted by -colonies of miners and traders who settled in mid-Asia and founded -sub-cultural centres that radiated westward and eastward; the religious -ideas and customs that had grown up with the agricultural mode of life -in the cradles of ancient civilization were adopted too. New -experiences and new inventions imparted “local colour” to colonial -culture, but the leading religious principles that veined that culture -underwent little change. The immemorial quest for the elixir of life -was never forgotten. It was not to purchase their daily bread alone -that men lived laborious days washing gold dust from river sands, -crushing quartz among the Altai Mountains, or quarrying and fishing -jade in Chinese Turkestan; they were chiefly concerned about -“purchasing” the “food of life” so as to secure immortality. The fear -of death, which sent Gilgamesh on his long journey, caused many a man -in ancient times to wander far and wide in search of life-giving -metals, precious stones, pearls, and plants. And so we find in China as -in Egypt, in Babylonia as in western Europe, that the quest of -immortality was the chief incentive that stimulated research, -discovery, and the spread of civilization. The demand for the wood of -sacred trees, incense-bearing trees and plants, precious metals and -precious stones in the temples of Egypt and Babylonia, had much to do -with the development of early trade. The Pharaohs of Egypt and the -Patesies of Sumeria fitted out expeditions to obtain treasure for their -holy places, and to keep open the trade routes along which the treasure -was carried. - -That the system of metal-working had anciently an area of origin is -emphasized by the investigations conducted by Professor Gowland. [291] -He deals first with the Japanese evidence. “The method which was -practised, and the furnace employed by the early workers, still”, he -writes, “survive in use at several mines in Japan at the present time.” -A hole in the ground forms the furnace, and a bellows is used to -introduce the blast from the top. After the copper is smelted it is -allowed to cool off, and when it is nearly solidified it is taken out -and broken up. “The copper thus produced in Japan is never cast direct -from the smelting furnaces into useful forms, but is always resmelted -in crucibles, a mode of procedure which undoubtedly prevailed in Europe -during the early Metal and the Bronze Ages.” The Japanese clay -crucibles “are analogous to those found in the pile-dwellings of the -Swiss and Upper Austrian lakes”. - -Dealing with iron-furnaces, the Professor shows that the Ancient -Egyptian furnace resembled “the Japanese furnace for copper, tin, and -lead”. The Etruscan furnace also resembled the Egyptian one. “From -metallurgical considerations only”, Gowland adds, “we would certainly -be led to the inference that the Etruscans had obtained their knowledge -of the method of extracting metal from that (the Egyptian) source.” -British evidence suggests that the methods obtaining in ancient times -were introduced from “the Mediterranean region of Europe.... The actual -process for the extraction of iron from its ores in Europe, in fact in -all countries in early times, was practically the same.” - -Elsewhere, Professor Gowland has written: “It is important to note ... -that the type of furnace which survives in India among the hill tribes -of the Ghats is closely analogous to the prehistoric furnace of the -Danube, and of the Jura district in Europe”. [292] - -“Culture-drifts” can thus be followed in their results. Backward -communities that adopted inventions in early times continue to use them -in precisely the same manner as did those ancient peoples by whom they -were first introduced. In like manner are early beliefs and customs -still perpetuated in isolated areas. But it does not follow that all -these beliefs had origin among the peoples who still cling to them. -Some so-called “primitive” beliefs are really of highly complex -character, with as long a history of development as has the primitive -type of furnace utilized by the hill tribes of India. - -In the next chapter it will be shown that in the jade beliefs of China -traces survive of ideas not necessarily of Chinese origin—ideas that, -in fact, grew up and passed through processes of development in -countries in which jade was never found. For, as the Chinese bronze -implements are “not of primitive forms”, and therefore not indigenous, -neither are all Chinese beliefs and customs “primitive” in the same -sense, or, in the real sense, indigenous either. As the stimulus to -work metals in China came from an outside source, so, apparently, did -the stimulus to search for such a “life-giving” and “luck-conferring” -material as jade come from other countries, and from races unrelated to -those that occupied China in early times. - -The beliefs associated with jade were developed in China, although they -did not originate there; and these beliefs were similar to those -attached to the pearls, the precious stones, and the precious metals -searched for by the ancient prospectors who discovered and first worked -jade in Chinese Turkestan and on the borders of China. - -To sum up, it would appear that the elements of a religious culture, -closely associated with the agricultural mode of life, and common to -Sumeria and Egypt, passed across Asia towards China, reaching the -Shensi province about 1700 B.C. At a much later period the complex -culture of the Egyptian Empire period gradually drifted along the sea -route and left its impress on the Chinese coast. Iranian culture, which -was impregnated with Babylonian and Egyptian ideas, likewise exercised -a persisting influence, and was renewed again and again. - -One of the ultimate results of the rise of Persia as a world-power, and -of the invasion of Asia by Alexander, was to bring China into direct -touch with the Hellenistic world. - -Indian influence is represented chiefly by Buddhism. In northern India -Buddhism had been blended with Naga (serpent) worship, and when it -reached China, the local beliefs regarding dragons were given a -Buddhistic colouring. The Chinese Buddhists mixed the newly-imported -religious culture with their own. The “Islands of the Blest” were -retained by the cult of the East, and the Western Paradise by the cult -of the West. The latter paradise is unknown to the Buddhists in Burmah -and Ceylon, but has never been forgotten by the Buddhists of northern -China. A Buddha called “Boundless Age” was placed in the garden of the -Royal Lady of the West, but that goddess still lingered beside the -Peach Tree of Immortality, while the sky-goddess continued to weave the -web of the constellations, and the pious men and women of the Taoist -faith were supposed to reach her stellar Paradise by sailing along the -Celestial River in dragon-boats or riding on the back of dragons. The -Chinese Buddhists found ideas regarding Nirvana less satisfying than -those associated with the Paradise of the “Peaceful Land of the West” -and the higher Paradise of the “Palaces of the Stars”, in which dwelt -the gods and the demi-gods of the older faiths. - -Writing in this connection, Dr. Joseph Edkins says: “A mighty branch of -foreign origin has been grafted in the old stock. The metaphysical -religion of Shakyamuni was added to the moral doctrines of Confucius. -Another process may then be witnessed. A native twig was grafted in the -Indian branch. Modern Taoism has grown up on the model supplied by -Buddhism. That it is possible to observe the modus operandi of this -repeated grafting, and to estimate the amount of gain and loss to the -people of China, resulting from the varied religious teaching which -they have thus received, is a circumstance of the greatest interest to -the investigator of the world’s religions.” [293] - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE SYMBOLISM OF JADE - - Jade in Early Times—Used to Reanimate and Preserve the Dead—Jade as - a Night-shining Jewel—Connection with the Pearl, Coral, Mandrake, - Moon, Dragon, Fish, &c.—Jade Beliefs in Japan—Jade Amulets—The - Chinese Cicada Amulet and Egyptian Search—Butterfly, Frog, and Bird - Amulets—Jade and the Mother-goddess—The Chinese Universe—Great Bear - and “World Mill”—Babylonian Astronomy in China—Star Deities—The - Fung-shui Doctrine—Jade Symbols of Deities—Tigress as a - Mother-goddess—Links with the West—The Two Souls in China and - Egypt—Jade as an Elixir—Jade and Herbs—Jade and Babylonian - Nig-gil-ma—Jade and Rhinoceros Horn—Jade Beliefs in Prehistoric - Europe—Jade and Colour Symbolism—Jade contains Heat and - Moisture—Jade as “The Jewel that Grants all Desires”. - - -One’s thoughts at once turn to China when mention is made of jade, for -in no other country in the world has it been utilized for such a -variety of purposes or connected more closely with the social -organization and with religious beliefs and ceremonies. - -This tough mineral, which is also called nephrite and “axe-stone”, and -is of different chemical composition to jadeite, was known to the -Chinese at the very dawn of their history. It was used by them at first -like flint or obsidian for the manufacture of axes, arrow-heads, -knives, and chisels, as well as for votive objects and personal -ornaments of magical or religious character, and then, as time went on, -for mortuary amulets, for images or symbols of deities, for mirrors, -[294] for seals and symbols of rank, and even for musical instruments, -possessing, as it does, wonderful resonant qualities. The latter -include jade flutes and jade “luck gongs”, which have religious -associations. - -Native artisans acquired great skill in working this tenacious mineral, -and the finest art products in China are those exquisite jade -ornaments, symbols, and vessels that survive from various periods of -its history. Not only did the accomplished and patient workers, -especially of the Han period (200 B.C.–200 A.D.), achieve a high degree -of excellence in carving and engraving jade, and in producing beautiful -forms; they also dealt with their hard mineral so as to utilize its -various colours and shades, and thus increase the æsthetic qualities of -their art products. The artistic genius, as well as the religious -beliefs, of the Chinese has been enshrined in nephrite. - -When the prehistoric Chinese settled in Shensi, they found jade in that -area. “All the Chinese questioned by me, experts in antiquarian -matters, agree”, Laufer writes, “in stating that the jades of the Chou -and Han Dynasties are made of indigenous material once dug on the very -soil of Shensi Province, that these quarries have been long ago -exhausted, no jade whatever being found there nowadays. My informant -pointed to Lan-tʼien and Fêng-siang-fu as the chief ancient mines.” -[295] - -But although the early Chinese made use of indigenous jade, it does not -follow, as has been noted, that the early beliefs connected with this -famous mineral were of indigenous origin. It cannot be overlooked that -the symbolism of jade is similar in character to the older symbolism of -pearls, precious stones, and precious metals, and that the associated -beliefs can be traced not in China alone, but in such widely-separated -countries as India, Babylonia, and Egypt. There was evidently a -psychological motive for the importance attached by the early Chinese -to jade, which they called yu. [296] It had been regarded elsewhere as -a precious mineral before they began to search for it and make use of -it, especially for religious purposes. - -It is not necessary to go back to the “Age of Stone” to theorize -regarding Chinese jade beliefs. It has yet to be established that China -had a Neolithic Age. “As far as the present state of our archæological -knowledge and the literary records point out”, says Laufer, “the -Chinese have never passed through an epoch which, for other culture -regions, has been designated as a Stone Age.” [297] - -Stone implements have been found, but, as in ancient Egypt, these were -still being manufactured long after metals came into general use. - -The fact that the same beliefs were connected with jade as with pearls, -shells, gold, &c., is brought out very clearly in Chinese records -regarding ancient burial customs. It was considered to be as necessary -in ancient China as in ancient Egypt that the bodies of the dead should -be preserved from decay. The Egyptians mummified their dead, and laid -on and beside them a variety of charms that were supposed to afford -protection and assist in the process of reanimation; withal, food -offerings were provided. The Chinese, who have long been noted for -their tendency to find substitutes for religious offerings, including -paper money, believed that the bodies of the dead could be preserved by -magic. At any rate, they did not consider it necessary to practise the -science of mummification. In the Li Ki (chapter 56) the orthodox -treatment of the bodies of the Emperor and others is set forth as -follows: - -“The mouth of the Son of Heaven is stuffed with nine cowries, that of a -feudal lord with seven, that of a great officer with five, and that of -an ordinary official with three”. [298] - -Gold and jade were used in like manner. Laufer quotes from Ko Hung the -significant statement: “If there is gold and jade in the nine apertures -of the corpse, it will preserve the body from putrefaction”. A -fifth-century Chinese writer says: “When on opening an ancient grave -the corpse looks like alive, then there is inside and outside of the -body a large quantity of gold and jade. According to the regulations of -the Han Dynasty, princes and lords were buried in clothes adorned with -pearls and with boxes of jade for the purpose of preserving the body -from decay.” [299] - -According to De Groot, pearls were introduced into the mouth of the -dead during the Han Dynasty. “At least”, he says, “it is stated that -their mouths were filled with rice, and pearls and jade stone were put -therein, in accordance with the established ceremonial usages.” And Poh -hu thung i, a well-known work, professedly written in the first -century, says: “On stuffing the mouth of the Son of Heaven with rice, -they put jade therein; in the case of a feudal lord they introduce -pearls; in that of a great officer and so downwards, as also in that of -ordinary officials, cowries are used to this end”. - -De Groot, commenting on the evidence, writes: “The same reasons why -gold and jade were used for stuffing the mouth of the dead hold good -for the use of pearls in this connection”. He notes that in Chinese -literature pearls were regarded as “depositories of Yang matter”, that -medical works declare “they can further and facilitate the procreation -of children”, and “can be useful for recalling to life those who have -expired, or are at the point of dying”. [300] - -In India, as a Bengali friend, Mr. Jimut Bahan Sen, M.A., informs me, a -native medicine administered to those who are believed to be at the -point of death is a mixture of pounded gold and mercury. It is named -Makara-dhwaja. The makara [301] is in India depicted in a variety of -forms. As a composite lion-legged and fish-tailed “wonder beast” -resembling the Chinese dragon, it is the vehicle of the god Varuna, as -the Babylonian “sea goat” or “antelope fish” is the vehicle of the god -Ea or of the god Marduk (Merodach). The makara of the northern -Buddhists is likewise a combination of land and sea animals or -reptiles, including the dolphin with the head of an elephant, goat, -ram, lion, dog, or alligator. [302] - -In China the lion-headed shark, a form of the sea-god, is likewise a -makara or sea-dragon. Gold and night-shining pearls are connected with -the makara as with the dragon. The Chinese dragon, as we have seen, is -born from gold, while curative herbs like the “Red Cloud herb” and the -“dragon’s whiskers herb” are emanations of the dragon. Gold, like the -herb, contains “soul substance” in concentrated form. Pounded gold, the -chief ingredient in the makara-dhwaja medicine, is believed in India to -renew youth and promote longevity like pounded jade and gold in China. - -“In Yung-cheu, which is situated in the Eastern Ocean, rocks exist,” -wrote a Chinese sage in the early part of the Christian era. “From -these rocks there issues a brook like sweet wine; it is called the -Brook of Jade Must. If, after drinking some pints out of it, one -suddenly feels intoxicated, it will prolong life.... Grease of jade,” -we are further told, “is formed inside the mountains which contain -jade. It is always to be found in steep and dangerous spots. [303] The -jade juice, after issuing from those mountains, coagulates into such -grease after more than ten thousand years. This grease is fresh and -limpid, like crystal. If you find it, pulverize it and mix it with the -juice of herbs that have no pith; it immediately liquefies; drink one -pint of it then and you will live a thousand years.... He who swallows -gold will exist as long as gold; he who swallows jade will exist as -long as jade. Those who swallow the real essence of the dark sphere -(heavens) will enjoy an everlasting existence; the real essence of the -dark sphere is another name for jade. Bits of jade, when swallowed or -taken with water, can in both these cases render man immortal.” [304] - -As we have seen, the belief prevailed in China that pearls shone by -night. The mandrake root was believed elsewhere to shine in like -manner. The view is consequently urged by the writer that the myths -regarding precious stones, jade, pearls, and herbs of nocturnal -luminosity owe their origin to the arbitrary connection of these -objects with the moon, and the lunar-goddess or sky-goddess. In China -Ye Kuang (“light of the night”) “is”, Laufer notes, “an ancient term to -designate the moon”. [305] - -The intimate connection between the Mother deity and precious metals -and stones is brought out by Lucian in his De Dea Syria. He refers to -the goddess Hera of Hierapolis, who has “something of the attributes of -Athene, and of Aphrodite, and of Selene, and of Rhea, and of Artemis, -and of Nemesis, and of the Fates”, and describes her as follows: - - - “In one of her hands she holds a sceptre, and in the other a - distaff; [306] on her head she bears rays and a tower, and she has - a girdle wherewith they adorn none but Aphrodite of the sky. And - without she is gilt with gold, and gems of great price adorn her, - some white, some sea-green, others wine-dark, others flashing like - fire. Besides these there are many onyxes from Sardinia, and the - jacinth and emeralds, the offerings of the Egyptians and of the - Indians, Ethiopians, Medes, Armenians, and Babylonians. But the - greatest wonder of all I will proceed to tell: she bears a gem on - her head, called a Lychnis; it takes its name from its attribute. - From this stone flashes a great light in the night-time, so that - the whole temple gleams brightly as by the light of myriads of - candles, but in the day-time the brightness grows faint; the gem - has the likeness of a bright fire.” [307] - - -Laufer notes in his The Diamond [308] that “the name lychnis is -connected with the Greek lychnos” (“a portable lamp”), and that, -“according to Pliny, the stone is so called from its lustre being -heightened by the light of a lamp”. He thinks the stone in question is -the tourmaline. Laufer reviews a mass of evidence regarding precious -stones that were reported to shine by night, and comes to the -conclusion that there is no evidence on record “to show that the -Chinese ever understood how to render precious stones phosphorescent”. -He adds: “Since this experiment is difficult, there is hardly reason to -believe that they should ever have attempted it. Altogether,” he -concludes, “we have to regard the traditions about gems luminous at -night, not as a result of scientific effort, but as folk-lore -connecting the Orient with the Occident, Chinese society with the -Hellenistic world.” As Laufer shows, the Chinese imported legends -regarding magical gems from Fu-lin (“the forest of Fu”), an island in -the Mediterranean Sea, which was known to them as “the Western Sea” (Si -hai). [309] At a very much earlier period they imported other legends -and beliefs regarding metals and minerals. - -Pearls and gold having been connected with the makara or dragon, it is -not surprising to find that their lunar attributes were imparted to -jade. Laufer quotes Chinese references to the “moonlight pearl” and the -“moon-reflecting gem”, [310] while De Groot deals with Chinese legends -about “effulgent pearls”, about “pearls shining during the night”, -“flaming or fiery pearls”, and “pearls lighting like the moon”. De -Groot adds, “Similar legends have always been current in the empire (of -China) about jade stone”, and he notes in this regard that “at the time -of the Emperor Shen-nung (twenty-fifth century B.C.) there existed”, -according to Chinese records, “jade which was obtained from agate -rocks, under the name of ‘Light shining at night’. If cast into the -waters in the dark it floated on the surface, without its light being -extinguished.” [311] - -The wishing jewel (“Jewel that grants all desires”) of India, Japan, -and China is said to be “the pupil of a fish eye”. In India it was -known in Sanskrit as the cintimani, and was believed to have originated -from the makara. [312] The Chinese records have references to -“moonlight pearls” from the eyes of female whales, and from the eyes of -dolphins. [313] It does not follow that this belief about the origin of -shining pearls had a connection with observations made of the -phosphorescing of parts of marine animals, because the Chinese writers -refer too, for instance, to the nocturnal luminosity of rhinoceros -horn. [314] Even coral, which, like jade, was connected with the lunar- -or sky-goddess, was supposed to shine by night. Laufer quotes from the -work, Si King tsa (Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital, i.e. -Si-ngan-fu), in this connection: - - - “In the pond Tsi-tsʼui there are coral trees twelve feet high. Each - trunk produces three stems, which send forth 426 branches. These - have been presented by Chao Tʼo, King of Nan Yūe (Annam), and were - styled ‘beacon-fire trees’. At night they emitted a brilliant light - as though they would go up in flames.” [315] - - -The “coral tree” here links with the pine, peach, and cassia trees, and -the shining mandrake, as well as with jade, gold, precious stones, and -pearls. In Persia the pearl and coral are called margan, which -signifies “life-giver” or “life-owner”. Lapis-lazuli was called Kin -tsin (“essence of gold”) during the Tiang period in China. [316] - -As the metal associated with the moon was usually silver, gold being -chiefly, although not always, the sun metal, we should expect to find -silver connected with jade and pearls. - -De Groot, who is frankly puzzled over Chinese beliefs regarding pearls, -and has to “plead incompetency” to solve the problem why they were -“considered as depositories and distributors of vital force”, [317] -provides the translation of a passage in the Ta Tsʼing thung li that -connects silver with pearls. It states in reference to burial customs -that “in the case of an official of the first, second, or third degree, -five small pearls and pieces of jade shall be used for stuffing the -mouth; in that of one of the fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh rank, -five small pieces of gold and of jade. The gentry shall use three bits -of broken gold or silver; among ordinary people the mouth shall be -stuffed with three pieces of silver.” - -De Groot insists that the principal object of the practice of stuffing -the mouths of the dead was “to save the body from a speedy decay”. -[318] - -It is significant therefore to find references in Chinese literature to -“Pearls of Jade”, to “Fire Jade” that sheds light or even “boils a -pot”, and to find silver being regarded as a substitute for jade. -Shells, pearls, gold, silver, and jade contained “soul substance” -derived from the Great Mother. As we have seen, Nu Kwa, the mythical -Chinese Empress (the sister of Fu Hi, the “Chinese Adam”), who stopped -the Deluge, took the place of the ancient goddess in popular legend. -She was credited, as has been indicated, with planning the course of -the Celestial River, with creating dragons, with re-erecting one of the -four pillars that supported the firmament, and with creating jade for -the benefit of mankind. In Japan Nu Kwa is remembered as Jokwa. - -The Japanese beliefs connected with jade are clearly traceable to -China. A Tama may be a piece of jade, a crystal, a tapering pearl, or -the pearl carried on the head of a Japanese dragon. “The Tama”, says -Joly, “is associated not only with the Bosatsu and other Buddhist -deities or saints, but also with the gods of luck.” [319] There are a -number of heroic legends in which the Tama figures. In a story, -relegated to the eighth century B.C., a famous jade stone is called -“the Tama”. It tells that Pien Ho (the Japanese Benwa) saw an eagle -standing on a large block of jade which he took possession of and -carried to his king. The royal magicians thought it valueless, and -Benwa’s right foot was cut off. He made his way to the mountains and -replaced the jade, and soon afterwards observed that the same eagle -returned and perched upon it again. When a new king came to the throne -Benwa carried the jade to the court, but only to have his left foot cut -off. A third king came to the throne, and on seeing Benwa weeping by -the gate of the palace he inquired into the cause of his grief, and had -the stone tested, when it was found to be a perfect gem. This Tama was -afterwards regarded so valuable that it was demanded as “a ransom for -fifteen cities”. [320] - -Here the eagle is associated with the gems containing “soul substance”. -Joly notes that “foxes are also shown holding the Tama”, and he wonders -if the globe “held under their talons by the heraldic lions has a -similar meaning”. [321] Foxes and wolves were, like dragons, capable of -assuming human form and figure among the were-animals of the Far East. -As these were-animals include the tiger, which is a god in China, it is -possible that they were ancient deities. The lion is associated with -the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, with the Cretan mother-goddess, while -the Egyptian Tefnut has a lioness form. Tammuz of Babylon is, as -Nin-girsu of Lagash, a lion-headed eagle. The Indian Vishnu has a -lion-headed avatar. - -The connection of the precious jewel and of gold with the supreme deity -is traceable to the ancient beliefs regarding the shark-guardian of -pearls. As the beliefs associated with pearls were transferred to jade, -it need not surprise us to find the sacred fish—a form of the Great -Mother—connected with jade. A significant text is quoted by Laufer, -without comment, which brings out this connection. He says that “Lü -Pu-wei, who died in B.C. 235, reports in his book Lu-shih Chʼun Tsʼiu: -‘Pearls are placed in the mouth of the dead, and fish-scales are added; -these are now utilized for interment with the dead.’ The Commentary to -this passage explains: ‘To place pearls in the mouth of the dead (han -chu) means to fill the mouth with them; the addition of fish-scales -means, to enclose these in a jade casket which is placed on the body of -the deceased, as if it should be covered with fish-scales.’” [322] Jade -fish-symbols figure among the Chinese mortuary amulets. - -Light is thrown on Chinese beliefs regarding resurrection by the cicada -mortuary amulet which was made of jade. It was placed on the tongue of -the dead and seems therefore to have been like the Egyptian scarab -amulet, a guarantee of immortality. - -One of the important ceremonies in connection with the process of -reanimating an Egyptian corpse was “the opening of the mouth”. It was -necessary that the reanimated corpse should speak with “the true voice” -and justify itself in the court of Osiris, judge of the dead, when the -heart was weighed in the balance. - -Tongue and heart were closely connected. According to the beliefs -associated with the cult of Ptah, which was fused with the cult of -Osiris, the heart was “the mind”, and the source of all power and all -life. The tongue expressed the thoughts of the mind. - - - Ptah, the great, is the mind and tongue of the gods. - Ptah, from whom proceeded the power - Of the mind, - And of the tongue.... - It (the mind) is the one that bringeth forth every - successful issue. - It is the tongue that repeats the thoughts of the mind. [323] - - -The mind was the essence of life: the tongue, which formed the word, -was the active agent of the mind (heart). - -As “the stuffing of the corpse with jade took the place of embalming” -[324] in China, the custom of placing a jade amulet on the tongue is of -marked significance. It is quite evidently an imported custom. The -cicada takes the place of the Egyptian scarabæus, the beetle-god of -Egypt, named Khepera and called in the texts “father of the gods”. In -ancient Egypt scarabs were placed on the bodies and in the tombs of the -dead to protect heart (mind) and tongue and ensure resurrection. A text -sets forth in this connection: “And behold, thou shalt make a scarab of -green stone, with a rim of gold, and this shall be placed in the heart -of a man, and it shall perform for him the ‘Opening of the Mouth’”. The -scarab is to be anointed with “ānti unguent” and then “words of power” -are to be recited over it. In “words of power” the deceased addresses -the scarab as “my heart, my mother: my heart whereby I came into -being”. - -The beetle-god, in whose form the scarab was made, “becomes”, as Budge -says, “in a manner a type of the dead body, that is to say, he -represents matter containing a living germ which is about to pass from -a state of inertness into one of active life. As he was a living germ -in the abyss of Nu (the primeval deep) and made himself emerge -therefrom in the form of the rising sun, so the germ of the living -soul, which existed in the dead body of man, and was to burst into new -life in a new world by means of the prayers recited during the -performance of appropriate ceremonies, emerged from its old body in a -new form either in the realm of Osiris or in the boat of Ra (the -sun-god).” [325] - -This Egyptian doctrine was symbolized by the beetle which rolls a bit -of dung in the dust into the form of a ball, and then, having dug a -hole in the ground, pushes it in and buries it. Thereafter the beetle -enters the subterranean chamber to devour the ball. This beetle also -collects dung to feed the larvæ which ultimately emerge from the ground -in beetle form. - -As the Chinese substituted jade for pearls, so did they substitute the -cicada for the dung-beetle. - -The cicada belongs to that class of insect which feeds on the juices of -plants. It is large and broad with brightly-coloured wings. The male -has on each side of the body a sort of drum which enables it to make -that chirping noise called “the song of the cicada”, referred to by the -ancient classical poets. When the female lays her eggs she bores a hole -in a tree and deposits them in it. Wingless larvæ are hatched, and they -bore their way into the ground to feed on the juices of roots. After a -time—in some cases after the lapse of several years—the cicada emerges -from the ground, the skin breaks open, and the winged insect rises in -the air. The most remarkable species of the cicada is found in the -United States, where it passes through a life-history of seventeen -years, the greater part of that time being spent underground—the larval -stage. In China the newly-hatched larva sometimes bores down into the -earth to a depth of about twenty feet. - -“The observation of this wonderful process of nature,” says Laufer, -“seems to be the basic idea of this (cicada) amulet. The dead will -awaken to a new life from his grave as the chirping cicada rises from -the pupa buried in the ground. This amulet, accordingly, was an emblem -of resurrection.” Laufer quotes in this connection from the Chinese -philosopher Wang Chʼung, who wrote: “Prior to casting off the exuviæ, a -cicada is a chrysalis. When it casts them off, it leaves the pupa -state, and is transformed into a cicada. The vital spirit of a dead man -leaving the body may be compared to the cicada emerging from the -chrysalis.” [326] - -The fact that the cicada feeds on the juices of plants apparently -connected it with the idea of the Tree of Life, the source of “soul -substance”. - -Another insect symbol of resurrection was the butterfly, which was -connected with the Plum Tree of Life. Laufer notes that some -butterflies carved from jade, which were used as mortuary amulets, have -a plum-blossom pattern between the antennæ and plum-blossoms “carved à -jour in the wings”. [327] - -He notes that “in modern times the combination of butterfly and -plum-blossom is used to express a rebus with the meaning ‘Always great -age’”. This amulet is of great antiquity. - -The butterfly symbol of resurrection is found in Mexico. The Codex -Remensis shows an anthropomorphic butterfly from whose mouth a human -face emerges. Freyja, the Scandinavian goddess, is connected with the -butterfly, and in Greece and Italy the same insect was associated with -the idea of resurrection. Psyche (a name signifying “soul”) has -butterfly wings. Apparently the butterfly, like the cicada, was -supposed to derive its vitality from the mother-goddess’s Tree of Life. - -Another important Chinese mortuary jade object was the frog or toad -amulet. As we have seen, the frog was connected with the moon and the -lunar goddess, and in China, as in ancient Egypt, was a symbol of -resurrection. - -Among the interesting jade amulets shown by Laufer are two that roughly -resemble in shape the Egyptian scarabs. “The two pieces”, he writes, -“show traces of gilding, and resemble helmets in their shape, and are -moulded into the figures of a curious monster which it is difficult to -name. It seems to me that it is possibly some fabulous giant bird, for -on the sides, two wings, each marked by five pinions, are brought out, -a long, curved neck rises from below, though the two triangular ears do -not fit the conception of a bird.” [328] The figure apparently -represents a “composite wonder beast”. Fishes and composite quadrapeds -were also depicted in jade and placed in graves. Human figures are -rare. - -Stone coffins were used in ancient times. The books of the later Han -Dynasty (at the beginning of our era) tell about a pious governor, Wang -Khiao, who receives a jade coffin from heaven. It was placed by unseen -hands in his hall. His servants endeavoured to take it away, but found -it could not be moved. - -De Groot, [329] who translates the story, continues: “Khiao said, ‘Can -this mean that the Emperor of Heaven calls me towards him?’ He bathed -himself, put on his official attire with its ornaments, and lay down in -the coffin, the lid being immediately closed over him. When the night -had passed, they buried him on the east side of the city, and the earth -heaped itself over him in the shape a tumulus. All the cows in the -district on that evening were wet with perspiration and got out of -breath, and nobody knew whence this came. The people thereupon erected -a temple for him.” - -De Groot quotes from another work written in the fifth century, which -relates that “at Lin-siang there is in the water a couch of stone, upon -which stand two coffins of solid stone, green like copper mirrors. -There is nobody who can give information regarding them.” [330] - -Here we have jade used for the preservation of the dead, associated -with the sky, with cows, water, and stone, and, in addition, a -reference to green copper. Jade has taken the place of pearls, and -pearls were, as has been shown, connected with the mother-goddess, the -sky and cow deity who was the source of fertilizing and creative -moisture and “soul substance”. The standing stones of the -mother-goddess were supposed to perspire, and to split and give birth -to dragons or gods. This idea appears to lie behind the story regarding -the perspiring cows. An influence was at work on the night when the -sage was buried in the jade coffin, and that influence came from the -sky, and was concentrated in jade. It is necessary, therefore, at this -point, to get at Chinese ideas regarding the connection between jade -and the mysterious influence or influences in what we call “Nature”. - -Behind all mythologies lie basic ideas regarding the universe. To -understand a local or localized mythology, it is necessary that we -should know something regarding the world in which lived those who -invented or perpetuated the myths. - -The Chinese world was flat, and over it was the dome of the firmament -supported by four pillars. These pillars were situated at the four -cardinal points, and were each guarded by a sentinel deity. The deities -exercised an influence on the world and on all living beings in it, and -their influence was particularly strong during their seasons. - -Like the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians the Chinese believed that -their world was surrounded by water. There are references in the texts -to the “Four Seas”, and to what the Egyptians called the “Great Circle” -(Okeanos). - -The Babylonians believed the world was a mountain, and their temples -were models of their world. Thus the temple of Enlil, as the world-god, -was called E-Kur, which signifies “mountain house”. His consort Ninlil -was also called Nin-Kharsag, “the lady of the mountain”. [331] The -Babylonian and Egyptian temples were not only places of worship, but -seats of learning, and they had workshops in which the dyers, -metal-workers, &c., plied their sacred trades. - -Chinese palaces and universities were in ancient times models of the -world. One of the odes says of King Wu: - - - “In the capital of Hao he built his hall with its circlet of water. - From the west to the east, from the south to the north, there was - not a thought but did him homage.” [332] - - -This hall was a royal college, “built”, says Legge, “in the middle of a -circle of water”. Colleges might also have semicircular pools in front -of them, “as may now be seen in front of the temples of Confucius in -the metropolitan cities of the provinces”. [333] Ceremonies were -studied in these institutions. There were also grave-pools. In -Singapore these grave-pools have had to be abolished because they were -utilized for hatching purposes by mosquitoes. - -Much attention was paid by the Chinese to the shape and situation of a -temple, college, palace, or grave. Each was subjected to good and bad -influences, and as seafarers set their sails to take full advantage of -a favourable breeze, so did the Chinese construct edifices and graves -to take full advantage of favourable influences emanating from what may -be called the “magic tanks” of the universe—the cardinal points and the -sky. - -The beliefs involved in this custom are not peculiar to China. In -Scottish Gaelic, for instance, there is the old saying: - - - Shut the north window, - And quickly close the window to the south; - And shut the window facing west; - Evil never came from the east. - - -Another saying is: “Shut the windows to the north, open the windows to -the south, and do not let the fire go out”. Both in Scottish and Irish -Gaelic the north is the “airt” (cardinal point) of evil influence, and -is coloured black, as is the north in China, and the south in India. -The black Indian south is “Yama’s gate”, that is the “gate” of the god -of death. One cannot say anything worse to a Hindu than “Go to Yama’s -gate”. The north is the good and white “airt” of Indian mythology; the -good go northward to Paradise, as in Scotland they go southward. A -Japanese poet has written: “The Paradise is in the south; only fools -pray towards the west”. [334] - -In the Pyramid Texts of ancient Egypt the east is held by the solar -cult “to be the most sacred of all regions”, while the west is the -sacred “airt” of the Osirian cult. [335] In the east the sun-god, to -whom the soul of the dead Pharaoh went, was supposed to be reborn every -morning. The Chinese regarded the east “as the quarter”, says De Groot, -“in which is rooted the life of everything, the great genitor of life -(the sun) being born there every day”. [336] As we have seen, there was -in China, as in Egypt, a rival cult of the west. - -The gods of the four quarters of China, from whom influences flowed, -were: The Blue (or Green) Dragon (east), the Red Bird (south), the -White Tiger (west), and the Black Tortoise (north). The east is the -left side, and the west is the right side; a worshipper therefore faces -the south. In Irish and Scottish Gaelic lore the south is the right -side, and the north is the left side; a worshipper therefore faces the -east. - -According to Kwang-tze, the Taoist, it was believed in China that “the -breath (or influence) of the east is wind, and wind creates wood”; that -“the breath of the south is Yang, which creates fire”; that “the centre -is earth”; that “the breath of the west is Yin, which gives birth to -metal”; and that the breath of the north “is cold, by which water is -produced”. Another native pre-Christian writer says that “the east -appertains to wood, the south to fire, the west to metal, and the north -to water”. [337] Thus taking in the seasons we have the following -combinations, showing the organs of the body influenced by the gods of -the “airts”: - - - East—the Blue Dragon, Spring, Wood; Planet, Jupiter; liver and - gall. - South—the Red Bird, Summer, Fire, the Sun; Planet, Mars; heart and - large intestines. - West—the White Tiger, Autumn, Wind, Metal; Planet, Venus; lungs and - small intestine. - North—the Black Tortoise, Winter, Cold, Water; Planet, Mercury; - kidneys and bladder. - - -The good influence (or breath) was summed up in the term Yang, and bad -influence in the term Yin. Yang refers to what is bright, warm, active, -and life-giving; and Yin to what is inactive, cold, and of the earth -earthy. “When”, says a Chinese writer, “we speak of the Yin and the -Yang, we mean the air (or ether) collected in the Great Void. When we -speak of the Hard and Soft, we mean that ether collected and formed -into substance.” [338] Says De Groot in this connection: “In China -vital power is specially assimilated with the Yang, the chief part of -the Cosmos, identified with light, warmth, and life”. Yin is “the -principle of darkness, cold, and death, standing in the universe -diametrically opposite to Yang”. [339] The chief source of Yang is the -sun, which gives forth “shen” or “soul substance”; the chief source of -Yin is the moon. Yang strengthens the vital energy, and is the active -principle in various elixirs of life, including, as De Groot notes, -“the cock, jade, gold, pearls, and the products of pine and cypress -trees”. [340] - -Yin and Yang are controlled by the constellation, the Great Bear, -called in China “the Bushel”. In the Shi Ki there is a reference to -“the seven stars of the Bushel”, styled “the Revolving Pearls or the -Balance of Jasper”, and arrayed “to form the body of seven rulers”. -This constellation is “the chariot of the Emperor (of Heaven). -Revolving around the pole, it descends to rule the four quarters of the -sphere and to separate the Yin and the Yang; by so doing it fixes the -four seasons, upholds the equilibrium between the five elements, moves -forward the subdivisions of the sphere, and establishes all order in -the Universe.” [341] - -An ancient Chinese writer says in this connection that when the handle -(tail) of the Bushel (Great Bear) points to the east (at nightfall), it -is spring to all the world. When the handle points to the south it is -summer, when it points to the west it is autumn, and when it points to -the north it is winter. In the Shu King (Part II, Book I) the Great -Bear is referred to as “the pearl-adorned turning sphere with its -transverse tube of jade”. [342] The Polar Star is the “Pivot of the -Sky”, which revolves in its place, “carrying round with it all the -other heavenly bodies”. In like manner the Taoists taught that “the -body of man is carried round his spirit and by it”. The spirit is thus -the “Pivot of Jade”. That is why the Pivot of Jade is used in the -ritual services of Taoism. [343] - -In Norse-Icelandic mythology the World Mill controls the seasons and -the movements of the heavenly bodies. The heavens revolve round the -Polar Star, Veraldar Nagli (“the world spike”). Nine giant maids turn -the world mill. [344] - -The Babylonians, who were the pioneer astronomers and astrologers of -Asia, identified the stable and controlling spirit of the night sky -with the Polar Star, which was called “Ilu Sar” (“the god Shar”) or -“Anshar” (“Star of the Height” or “Star of the Most High”). [345] - -Isaiah (xiv, 4–14) refers to the supreme star-god when he makes Lucifer -declare: “I will ascend unto heaven, I will exalt my throne above the -stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in -the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; -I will be the most High”. - -Chinese astronomy and the Chinese calendar are undoubtedly of -Babylonian origin. The Babylonian god of the Pole Star has not been -forgotten. Dr. Edkins once asked a Chinese schoolmaster: “Who is the -Lord of heaven and earth?” He replied “that he knew none but the Pole -Star,” called in the Chinese language Teen-hwang-ta-te, the great -imperial ruler of heaven. [346] - -There is a god and a goddess in the Great Bear. “Among the liturgical -works used by the priests of Tao”, says Edkins, “one of the commonest -consists of prayers to Towmoo, a female divinity supposed to reside in -the Great Bear. A part of the same constellation is worshipped under -the name Kwei-sing. A small temple is erected to this deity on the east -side of the entrance to Confucian temples, and he is regarded as being -favourable to literature.” But the chief god of literature is -“Wen-chang”, who is identified with a constellation near the Great Bear -which bears his name. He is prayed to by scholars to assist them in -their examinations. Temples were erected to him on elevated earthen -terraces. “Wen-chang”, says Edkins, “is said to have come down to our -world during many generations at irregular intervals. Virtuous and -highly-gifted men were chosen from history as likely to have been -incarnations of this divinity.” [347] - -The five elements controlled by the Great Bear as it swings round the -Polar Star are in China (1) water, (2) fire, (3) wood, (4) metal, and -(5) earth. These elements compose what we call Nature. As we have seen, -they were placed under the guardianship of animal gods. The White Tiger -of the West, for instance, is associated with metal. When, therefore, -metal is placed in a grave, a ceremonial connection with the tiger-god -is effected. “According to the Annals of Wu and Yueh, three days after -the burial of the king, the essence of the element metal assumed the -shape of a white tiger and crouched down on the top of the grave.” -[348] Here the tiger is a protector—a preserver. - -Jade being strongly imbued with Yang or “soul substance” was intimately -associated with all the gods, and the various colours of jade were -connected with the colours of the “airts” and of the heavens and earth. -Laufer quotes from the eighteenth chapter of Chou li, which deals with -the functions of the Master of Religious Ceremonies: - - - “He makes of jade the six objects to do homage to Heaven, to Earth, - and to the Four Points of the compass. With the round tablet pi of - bluish (or greenish) colour, he does homage to Heaven. With the - yellow jade tube tsʼung, he does homage to Earth. With the green - [349] tablet Kuei, he renders homage to the region of the East. - With the red tablet chang, he renders homage to the region of the - South. With the white tablet in the shape of a tiger (hu), he - renders homage to the region of the West. With the black jade piece - of semicircular shape (huang) he renders homage to the region of - the North. The colour of the victims and of the pieces of silk for - these various spirits correspond to that of the jade tablet.” [350] - - -The shape, as well as the colours, of the jade symbols was of -ritualistic importance. - -What would appear to be the most ancient Chinese doctrine regarding the -influences or “breaths” that emanated from Nature, and affected the -living and the dead, is summed up in the term Fung-shui. “Fung” means -wind, and “shui” means “the water from the clouds which the wind -distributes over the world”. Certain winds are good, and certain winds -are bad. - -The importance attached to wind and water appears to be connected with -the ancient belief, found in Babylonia and Egypt, that wind is the -“breath of life”, the soul, and that water is the source of all -life—“the water of life”. - -“Fung-shui”, says De Groot, “denotes the atmospherical influences which -bear absolute sway over the fate of man, as none of the principal -elements of life can be produced without favourable weather and rains.” -It also means, he adds, “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”. [351] - -The controllers of wind and water are the White Tiger god of the West, -and the Blue (or green) Dragon god of the East. “These animals”, says -De Groot, “represent all that is expressed by the word Fung-shui, viz., -both æolian and aquatic influences, Confucius being reputed to have -said that ‘the winds follow the tiger’, and the dragon having, since -time immemorial, in Chinese cosmological mythology played the part of -chief spirit of water and rain.” [352] - -When the dead were buried it was considered necessary, according to -Fung-shui principles, to have graves facing the south, and the Dragon -symbol on the left (east) side of the coffin, and the Tiger symbol on -the right (west) side, while the Red Bird of the south was on the -front, and the Black Tortoise of the north on the back. - -These symbols were, so to speak, set amidst natural surroundings that -allowed the “free flow” of auspicious influences or “breaths”. A site -for a burial-ground was carefully selected, due account being taken of -the configurations of the surrounding country and the courses followed -by streams. [353] - -Not only graves, but houses and towns, were so placed as to secure the -requisite balance between the forces of Nature. De Groot notes that -Amoy is reputed by Chinese believers of the Fung-shui system to owe its -prosperity to two knolls flanking the inner harbour, called “Tiger-head -Hill” and “Dragon-head Hill”. Canton is influenced by the “White -clouds”, a chain of hills representing the Dragon on one side of its -river, and by undulating ground opposite representing the Tiger. -“Similarly”, he says, “Peking is protected on the north-west by the -Kin-shan or Golden Hills, which represent the Tiger and ensure its -prosperity, together with that of the whole empire and the reigning -dynasty. These hills contain the sources of a felicitous watercourse, -called Yu-ho or ‘Jade River’, which enters Peking on the north-west, -and flows through the grounds at the back of the Imperial Palace, then -accumulates its beneficial influences in three large reservoirs or -lakes dug on the west side, and finally flows past the entire front of -the inner palace, where it bears the name of the Golden Water.” [354] - -Here we find jade and gold closely associated in the Fung-shui system. - -As we have seen, white jade was used when the Tiger god of the West was -worshipped; it is known as “tiger jade”; a tiger was depicted on the -jade symbol. To the Chinese the tiger was the king of all animals and -“lord of the mountains”, and the tiger-jade ornament was specially -reserved for commanders of armies. The male tiger was, among other -things, the god of war, and in this capacity it not only assisted the -armies of the emperors, but fought the demons that threatened the dead -in their graves. - -There are traces in China of a tigress shape of the goddess of the -West. Laufer refers to an ancient legend of the country of Chu, which -tells of a prince who in the eighth century B.C. married a princess of -Yün. A son was born to them and named Tou Po-pi. The father died and -the widow returned to Yün, where Tou Po-pi, in his youth, had an -intrigue with a princess who bore him a son. “The grandmother ordered -the infant to be carried away and deserted on a marsh, but a tigress -came to suckle the child. One day when the prince of Yün was out -hunting, he discovered this circumstance, and when he returned home -terror-stricken, his wife unveiled to him the affair. Touched by this -marvellous incident, they sent messengers after the child, and had it -cared for. The people of Chʼu, who spoke a language differing from -Chinese, called suckling nou, and a tiger they called yü-tʼu; hence the -boy was named Nou Yü-tʼu (‘Suckled by a Tigress’). He subsequently -became minister of Chʼu.” [355] - -This Far Eastern legend recalls that of Romulus and Remus, who were -thrown into the Tiber but were preserved and rescued; they were -afterwards suckled by a she-wolf. The Cretan Zeus was suckled, -according to one legend, by a sow, and to another by a goat. A Knossian -seal depicts a child suckled by a horned sheep. Sir Arthur Evans -refers, in this connection, to the legends of the grandson of Minos who -was suckled by a bitch; of Miletos, “the mythical founder of the city -of that name”, being nursed by wolves. [356] Vultures guarded the -Indian heroine Shakuntala, the Assyrian Semiramis was protected by -doves, while the Babylonian Gilgamesh and the Persian patriarch -Akhamanish were protected and rescued at birth by eagles. Horus of -Egypt was nourished and concealed by the serpent goddess Uazit, and in -his boyhood made friends of wild animals, as did also Bharata, the son -of the Indian vulture-guarded Shakuntala. Horus figures in the -constellation of Argo as a child floating in a chest or boat like the -abandoned Moses, the abandoned Indian Karna, the abandoned Sargon of -Akkad, and, as it would appear, Tammuz who in childhood lay in a -“sunken boat”. Horus of the older Egyptian legends was concealed on a -green floating island on the Nile—the “green bed of Horus”. [357] - -The oldest known form of the suckling legend is found in the Pyramid -Texts of Ancient Egypt. When the soul of the Pharaoh went to the -Otherworld he was suckled by a goddess or by the goddesses of the north -and south. The latter are referred to in the Texts as “the two vultures -with long hair and hanging breasts”. [358] Here the vultures take the -place of the cow-goddess Hathor. In Troy the cow-mother, covered with -stars, becomes the star-adorned sow-mother. [359] Demeter had a sow -form and Athene a goat form, and other goddesses had dove, eagle, wolf, -bitch, &c., forms. The Chinese tigress-goddess is evidently a Far -Eastern animal form of the Great Mother who suckles the souls of the -dead and the abandoned children who are destined to become notables. -Thus behind the wind-god, in the Chinese Fung-shui system, we meet with -complex ideas regarding the source of the “air of life”, and the source -of the food-supply. The Blue Dragon of the East is the Naga form of the -Aryo-Indian Indra, [360] the rain-controller, the fertilizer, who is -closely associated with Vayu, the wind-god; the dragon is the -thunderer, too, like Indra. The close association of the tiger- and -dragon-gods in the Fung-shui system may account for the custom of -decorating jade symbols of the tiger with the thunder pattern. [361] - -In jade-lore, as will be seen, we touch on complex religious beliefs -and conceptions not entirely of Chinese origin. Indeed, it is necessary -to leave China and investigate the religious systems of more ancient -countries to understand rightly Chinese ideas regarding jade as a -substitute for gold, pearls, precious stones, &c., and its connection -with vegetation and the Great Mother, the source of all life. - -It remains with us to deal with Chinese ideas regarding the soul which -was protected by jade, the concentrated form of “soul substance”. - -The Chinese believed that a human being had two souls. One was the -Kwei, that is the soul which partook of the nature of the element Yin -and returned to the earth from which it originally came; [362] the -other soul was the shen which partook of the element Yang. When the -shen is in the living body, it is called Khi or “breath”; after death -“it lives forth as a refulgent spirit, styled ming”. The other soul, -called Kwei, is known as the pʼoh during life; after death it lives on -in the grave beside the body, which is supposed to be protected against -decay by the jade, gold, pearls, shells, &c., and the good influences -“flowing” from east and west. - -The shen, like the cicada, may also dwell for a time in the grave or in -the gravestone before it rises on wings to the Sky Paradise, or passes -to the Western Paradise or the Eastern “Islands of the Blest”. Ancient -local and tribal beliefs and beliefs imported at different periods from -different culture centres were evidently fused in China, and we -consequently meet with a variety of ideas regarding the destiny of the -shen. “Departed souls”, says De Groot, “are sometimes popularly -represented as repairing to the regions of bliss on the back of a -crane.” [363] The soul may sail to the Western Paradise in a boat. -“Thou hast departed to the West, from whence there is no returning in -the barge of mercy”, runs an address to the corpse.[363] Here we have -the Ra-boat of Egypt conveying the soul to the Osirian Paradise. As has -been shown, souls sometimes departed on the backs of dragons, or rose -in the air towards cloudland, there to sail in boats or ride on the -backs of birds or kirins, or reached the moon or star-land by climbing -a gigantic tree. Belief in transmigration of souls can also be traced -in China, the result apparently of the importation of pre-Buddhist as -well as Buddhist beliefs from India. - -The living performed ceremonies to assist the soul of the dead on its -last journey. Priests chanted: - - - I salute Ye, Celestial Judges of the three spheres constituting the - higher, middle, and lower divisions of the Universe, and Ye, host - of Kings and nobles of the departments of land and water and of the - world of men! Remember the soul of the dead, and help it forward in - going to the Paradise of the West. [364] - - -Egyptian, Babylonian, and Indian ideas regarding the Western Paradise -are here significantly mingled. - -During life the soul might leave the body for a period, either during -sleep or when one fainted suddenly. - -This belief is widespread. The soul, in folk-stories, is sometimes -seen, as in Scotland, as a bee, or bird, or serpent, as in Norway as an -insect or mouse, as in Indonesia and elsewhere as a worm, snake, -butterfly, or mouse, and even, as in different countries, as deer, -cats, pigs, crocodiles, &c. Chinese beliefs regarding souls as -butterflies, cicadas, &c., have already been referred to. - -The wandering soul could be “called back” by repeating the individual’s -name. In China, even the dead were called back, and the ceremony of -recalling the soul is prominent in funeral rites, as De Groot shows. -[365] Peoples as far separated as the Mongolian Buriats and the -inhabitants of England, Scotland, and Ireland believed that ghosts -could be enticed to return to the body. [366] The “death-howl” in China -and Egypt, and elsewhere, is evidently connected with this ancient -belief. - -Of special interest is the evidence regarding Korean customs and -beliefs. Mrs. Bishop writes: “Man is supposed to have three souls. -After death one occupies the tablet, one the grave, and one the -unknown. During the passing of the spirit there is complete silence. -The under-garments of the dead are taken out by a servant, who waves -them in the air, and calls him by name, the relations and friends -meantime wailing loudly. After a time the clothes are thrown upon the -roof.” When a man dies, one of his souls is supposed to be seized and -carried to the unknown and placed on trial before the Ten Judges, who -sentence it “either to ‘a good place’ or to one of the manifold hells”. -[367] - -Professor Elliot Smith, reviewing the Chinese ideas regarding the two -souls, comes to the conclusion that “the early Chinese conceptions of -the soul and its functions are essentially identical with the Egyptian, -and must have been derived from the same source”. [368] As the Chinese -have the shen and the Kwei, so had the Egyptians the Ka and the ba. The -Ka was the spirit of the placenta, “which was accredited with the -attributes of the life-giving and birth-promoting Great Mother and -intimately related to the moon and the earliest totem”. [369] In China -the beliefs and customs connected with the placenta and the moon are -quite Egyptian in character. [370] - -Even in the worship of ancestors in China one can trace the influence -of Ancient Egyptian ideas. When the Pharaoh died, he was identified -with the god. King Unis, in the Pyramid Texts, becomes Osiris, who -controls the Nile. “It is Unis”, we read, “who inundates the land.” -Pepi I, in like manner, supplanted the god, and he is addressed as -Osiris, as is also King Mernere—“Ho this Osiris, King Mernere!” runs a -Pyramid Text. [371] The sun-god Ra was similarly supplanted by his son, -the dead Pharaoh. - -The souls of Chinese ancestors, who passed to the Otherworld, became -identified with the deities who protected households. Emperors became, -after death, emperors in heaven and their souls were the deified -preservers of their dynasties. Clan and tribal ancestors were -protectors of their clans and tribes, and families were ever under the -care of the souls of their founders. The belief became deeply rooted in -China that the ancestral soul exercised from generation to generation a -beneficent influence over a home. It is not surprising to find, -therefore, that gods are exceedingly numerous in China, and that it is -sometimes difficult to distinguish an ancestor from a god and a god -from an ancestor. The State religion was something apart from domestic -religion. Emperors worshipped the deities that controlled the nation’s -destinies, and families worshipped the deities of the household. - -Local and imported beliefs were fused and developed on Chinese soil, -and when, in time, Buddhism was introduced it was mixed with -pre-existing religious systems. Chinese Buddhism is consequently found -to have local features that distinguish it from the Buddhism of Tibet, -Burmah, and Japan, in which countries there was, in like manner, -culture-mixing. - -Beliefs connected with jade, which date back to the time when the jade -fished from the rivers of Chinese Turkestan was identified with pearls -and gold, were similarly developed in China. At first the jade was used -to assist birth and to cure diseases. It likewise brought luck, being -an object that radiated the influence of the All-Mother. As the living -had their days prolonged and their youth revived by jade, so were the -dead preserved from decay by the influence of the famous mineral. The -custom ultimately obtained of eating jade, as has already been noted in -these pages. Ground jade or “pure extract of jade” was not only -supposed to promote longevity, but to effect a ceremonial connection -between the worshipper and the spirits or deities. In the Chou li it is -stated that “when the Emperor purifies himself by abstinence, the chief -in charge of the jade works prepares for him the jade which he is -obliged to eat”. [372] It is explained by commentators that “the -emperor fasts and purifies himself before communicating with the -spirits; he must take the pure extract of jade; it is dissolved that he -may eat it”. Jade was also pounded with rice as food for the corpse. “A -marvellous kind of jade”, says Laufer, “was called Yü ying, ‘the -perfection of jade’,” which ensured eternal life. “In 163 B.C. a jade -cup of this kind was discovered on which the words were engraved ‘May -the sovereign of men have his longevity prolonged’.” Immortality was -secured by eating from jade bowls, or, as we have seen, by drinking dew -from a jade bowl. [373] - -As has been shown, the Great Mother created jade for the benefit of -mankind, and “the spirit of jade is like a beautiful woman”. [374] Jade -was also “the essence of the purity of the male principle”. [375] - -Apparently the god who was husband and son of the Great Mother was -connected with jade. The Mother was the life-giver, and the son, as -Osiris, was “the imperishable principle of life wherever found”. [376] -If men died, the seed of life in the body was preserved by jade -amulets; the plants might shed their leaves, but the life of the plants -was perpetuated by the spirit of jade. “In the second month”, says The -Illustrated Mirror of Jade, “the plants in the mountains receive a -brighter lustre. When their leaves fall, they change into jade.” [377] -The mountain plants in question appear to be the curative herbs that -contained, like jade, the elixir of life, and the chief of these plants -was the ginseng (mandrake), an avatar of the Great Mother. The plant, -or ground jade, or food or moisture from the jade vessel renewed youth -and prolonged life. All the elixirs were concentrated in jade; the -vital principle in human beings and plants was derived from and -preserved by jade. - -It is of special interest to find that the Chinese Nu Kwa who caused -the flood to retreat was the creator of the jade which protected -mankind and ensured longevity by preserving the seed or shen of life, -being impregnated with Yang, the male principle. In Babylonia, the seed -of mankind was preserved during the flood by the nig-gil-ma. - -In the Sumerian version of the Creation legend, the three great gods -Anu, Enlil, and Enki, assisted by the Great Mother goddess -Ninkharasagga, first created mankind, then the nig-gil-ma, and lastly -the four-legged animals of the field. The mysterious nig-gil-ma is -referred to in the story of the Deluge as “Preserver of the seed of -mankind”, while the ship or ark is “Preserver of Life”, literally “She -that preserves life”. A later magical text refers to the creation after -that of mankind and animals of “two small creatures, one white and one -black”. Man and animals were saved from the flood and the nig-gil-ma -played its or their part “in ensuring their survival”. - -Leonard W. King, who has gathered together the surviving evidence -regarding the mysterious nig-gil-ma [378] points out that the name is -sometimes preceded by “the determinative for ‘pot’, ‘jar’, or ‘bowl’”, -and is identical with the Semitic word mashkhalu. In the Tell-el-Amarna -letters there are references to a mashkhalu of silver and a mashkhalu -of stone (a silver vessel and a stone vessel). The nig-gil-ma may be -simply a “jar” or “bowl”. “But”, says Mr. L. King, “the accompanying -references to the ground, to its production from the ground, and to its -springing up ... suggest rather some kind of plant; and this, from its -employment in magical rites, may also have given its name to a bowl or -vessel which held it. A very similar plant was that found and lost by -Gilgamesh, after his sojourn with Ut-napishtim [379]; it too had potent -magical power, and bore a title descriptive of its peculiar virtue of -transforming old age to youth.” The nig-gil-ma may therefore be a -plant, a ship, a stone bowl or jar, or a vessel of silver (the moon -metal). If we regard it as a symbol or avatar of the mother-goddess it -was any of these things and all of these things—the Mother Pot, the -inexhaustible womb of Nature, the Plant of Life containing “soul -substance”, the red clay, the moon-silver, or, as in China, the jade of -which the sacred vessel was made. The Great Mother’s herb-avatar was -the ginseng (mandrake), as in the Egyptian Deluge story it was the red -earth didi from Elephantine placed in the beer prepared for the -slaughtering goddess Hathor-Sekhet as a surrogate of blood and a -soporific drink; the mixture was “the giver of life”, the red aqua -vitae, like the red wine and the juice of red berries in different -areas. [380] The mandrake was the didi of southern Europe and of China. -Dr. Rendel Harris shows that the early Greek magicians and doctors -referred to the male mandrake, which was white, and the female -mandrake, which was black. The black mandrake was personified as the -Black Aphrodite. [381] - -The Babylonian reference in a magical text to the nig-gil-ma as “two -small creatures, one white and one black” is therefore highly -significant. Apparently, like jade, the nig-gil-ma symbolized “the male -principle”, and “the spirit” of “a beautiful woman”. Thus mandrake -(ginseng), the Plant of Life, red earth, jade, the pearl and the pot or -jar or bowl, and the Deluge ship, and the ship of the sun-god, were -forms, avatars, or manifestations of the Great Mother who preserved the -seed of mankind and the elixir of life—in the Pot it grew the Plant of -Life, and from it could be drunk the dew of life, the water of life, -plant and water being impregnated with the “spirit” of jade. Jade-lore -is of highly complex character because, as has been indicated, the -early instructors of the Chinese attached to the mineral the -Egypto-Babylonian doctrines regarding the Great Mother and her shells, -pearls, precious stones, gold, silver and copper, herbs, trees, -cereals, red earth, &c. The Babylonian evidence regarding the -nig-gil-ma as a herb, and as a silver or stone jar, pot, or cup, in -which was preserved the seed of mankind (“soul substance”) may explain -why in the Chinese Deluge myth there is no ark or ship. The goddess -provided jade instead of a boat and she created dragons to control the -rain-supply, so that the world might not again suffer from the effects -of a flood. - -The virtues of jade were shared to a certain degree by rhinoceros horn, -which, as we have seen, was reputed to shine by night. - -Laufer has gathered together sufficient evidence to prove that the -rhinoceros was one of the wild animals known in ancient China. [382] A -hero of the Chou Dynasty, who subdued rebels and established peace -throughout the Empire, “drove away also the tigers, leopards, -rhinoceroses and elephants—and all the people were greatly delighted”. -[383] A native writer says: “To travel by water and not avoid -sea-serpents and dragons—this is the courage of a fisherman. To travel -by land and not avoid the rhinoceros and the tiger—this is the courage -of hunters.” In ancient times certain of the lords attending on the -emperor had a tiger symbol on each chariot wheel, while other lords had -on their wheels crouching rhinoceroses. [384] Laufer expresses the view -that “the strong desire prevailing in the epoch of the Chou for the -horn of the animal (rhinoceros) which was carved into ornamental cups, -and for its valuable skin, which was worked up into armour, had ... -contributed to its final destruction.” [385] The rhinoceros-horn cups -were used, like jade cups, chiefly for religious purposes. Rice-wine -was drunk from them when vows were made, and from them were poured -libations to ancestors. The animal’s skin was used not only for armour, -because of its toughness and durability, but because the rhinoceros was -a longevity animal, and a form of the god of longevity (shou-sing). It -was used, too, for the coffin of the “Son of Heaven” (the Emperor). -“The innermost coffin was formed by hide of water buffalo and -rhinoceros.” This case was enclosed in white poplar timber and the two -outer cases were of catalpa wood. [386] The jade coffin was similarly a -protecting life-giver. - -As there were black and white nig-gil-ma, and black and white deities, -so were there black and white rhinoceroses and black and white -elephants. Gautama Buddha entered his mother’s right side “in the form -of a superb white elephant”. [387] - -The water-rhinoceros had “pearl-like armour” (a significant comparison -when it is remembered that pearl-lore and jade-lore are so similar), -but not the mountain rhinoceros. It was the horn of the male animal -that had special virtues. The markings on it included a red line, which -was a result of his habit of gazing at the moon; the spots were stars. -As the animal was connected with the “material sky”, the horn was -impregnated with the Yang principle. A horn that “communicated with the -sky” was of the “first quality”. Laufer quotes the statement: “If the -horn of the rhinoceros ‘communicating with the sky’ emits light, so -that it can be seen by night, it is called ‘horn shining at night’ (ye -ming si): hence it can communicate with the spirits and open a way -through the water”. A man who carried in his mouth a piece of -rhinoceros horn found, it was alleged, on diving into the sea, that the -water gave way so as to allow a space for breathing. [388] The -pearl-fishers may therefore have used the magic horn, believing that it -protected and assisted them. - -It is recorded of a horn presented to an emperor of the Tʼang Dynasty -that “at night it emitted light so that a space of a hundred paces was -illuminated. Manifold silk wrappers laid around it could not hide its -luminous power. The emperor ordered it to be cut into slices and worked -up into a girdle; and whenever he went out on a hunting expedition, he -saved candle light at night.” With the aid of the horn it was possible -“to see supernatural monsters in water”. [389] - -There was warm rhinoceros horn and cold rhinoceros horn, as there was -warm jade and cold jade. A Chinese work of the eighth century mentions -“cold-dispelling rhinoceros horn (pi han si), whose colour is golden. -[390]... During the winter months it spreads warmth which imparts a -genial feeling to man.” Another work speaks of “heat-dispelling -rhinoceros horn (pi shu si).... During the summer months it can cool -off the hot temperature.” Girdles of “wrath-dispelling” horn caused men -“to abandon their anger”; hair-pins, combs, &c., were made from “dust -dispelling” horn. Rhinoceros horn had, like jade, healing properties. A -fourth-century Chinese writer tells that “the horn can neutralize -poison because the animal devours all sorts of vegetable poisons with -its food”. Chinese drug stores still stock shavings of the horn to cure -fever, smallpox, ophthalmia, &c. [391] According to S. W. Williams -[392] “a decoction of the horn shavings is given to women just before -parturition and also to frighten children”. A medicine is prepared from -rhinoceros skin, too. Laufer states that “the skin, as well as the -horn, the blood, and the teeth, were medicinally employed in Cambodja, -notably against heart diseases.... In Japan rhinoceros horn is powdered -and used as a specific in fever cases of all kind.” Dragon bones were -used in like manner in China. It is of importance to note that the -rhinoceros horn derived its healing qualities because the animal fed on -plants and trees provided with thorns. [393] Like the dragon, the -rhinoceros had an intimate connection with certain plants; like the -ginseng-devouring goat, it carried in its blood the virtue of the -plants and herbs it devoured. In Tibet and China the rhinoceros became -confused with the stag, antelope, and goat with one horn. It was the -prototype of the unicorn. In India and Iran it was confused with the -horse. There is in Chinese lore a “spiritual rhinoceros (ling si)” with -the body of an ox, the hump of a zebu, cloven feet, the snout of a pig, -and a horn in front. [394] It may be that in ancient times the lore -connected with the hippopotamus was transferred by the searchers for -pearls, precious stones, and metals to the Chinese “water-rhinoceros”. -Like the composite wonder-beast in the Osirian hall of judgment, which -tore the unworthy soul to pieces, the rhinoceros had its place in -judicial proceedings in China. In its goat form it solved a difficult -case when Kas Yas administered justice by butting the guilty party and -sparing the innocent. [395] - -The importance attached to jade in prehistoric Europe raises an -interesting problem. Jade artifacts have been found associated with the -Swiss lake-dwellings, and at “Neolithic sites” in Brittany and Ireland, -as well as in Malta and Sicily, and other parts of Europe. Schliemann -found votive axes of green and white jade (nephrite) in the stratum of -the first city of Troy. It was believed at the time that the European -jade artifacts had been imported from the borders of China, and -Professor Fischer expressed the wish “that before the end of his life -the fortune might be allotted to him of finding out what people brought -them to Europe”. [396] Professor Max Muller believed that the Aryans -were the carriers of jade. “If”, he wrote, “the Aryan settlers could -carry with them into Europe so ponderous a tool as their language, -without chipping a single facet, there is nothing so very surprising in -their having carried along and carefully preserved from generation to -generation so handy and so valuable an instrument as a scraper or a -knife, made of a substance which is Aere perennuis”. [397] - -After a prolonged search, European scientists have located nephrite -(jade proper) or jadeite in situ in Silesia, Austria, North Germany, -Italy, and among the Alps. “A sort of nephrite workshop was discovered -in the vicinity of Maurach (Switzerland), where hatchets chiselled from -the mineral and one hundred and fifty-four pieces of cuttings were -found.” [398] - -Laufer writes in this connection: “If we consider how many years, and -what strenuous efforts it required for European scientists to discover -the actual sites of jade in Central Europe, which is geographically so -well explored, we may realize that it could not have been quite such an -easy task for primitive man to hunt up these hidden places”. Laufer -thinks that in undertaking to overcome the difficulties experienced in -discovering jade in Europe, early man “must have been prompted by a -motive pre-existing and acting in his mind; the impetus of searching -for jade he must have received somehow from somewhere.... Nothing”, he -says, “could induce me to believe that primitive man of Central Europe -incidentally and spontaneously embarked on the laborious task of -quarrying and working jade. The psychological motive for this act must -be supplied.... From the standpoint of the general development of -culture in the Old World there is absolutely no vestige of originality -in the prehistoric cultures of Europe which appear as an appendix to -Asia.” [399] - -Apparently the “psychological motive” for searching for jade in China -and Europe came from the Khotan area in Chinese Turkestan, whence jade -was carried to Babylonia during the Sumerian period. It is probable -that bronze was first manufactured in the jade-bearing area of Asia, -and that the people who carried “the knowledge of bronze-making into -Europe”, as Professor Elliot Smith suggests, “also introduced the -appreciation of jade”. Laufer comments in this connection: “Originality -is certainly the rarest thing in the world, and in the history of -mankind the original thoughts are appallingly sparse. There is, in the -light of historical facts and experience, no reason to credit the -prehistoric and early populations of Europe with any spontaneous ideas -relative to jade.” After receiving jade and adopting the beliefs -attached to it, they set out to search for it, and found it in Europe. - -The polished axe pendants of jade found in Malta were evidently charms. -Among the Greeks jade was “the kidney stone”; it cured diseases of the -kidneys. The Spaniards brought jade or jadeite from Mexico, and called -it “the loin stone” (piedra de hijada). Sir Walter Raleigh introduced -it into England, and used the Spanish name from which “jade” is -derived. - -Red, green, blue, white, grey, and black jade were used, by reason of -their colours, for various deities in China, and to indicate the rank -of officials. “White jade, considered the most precious, was the -privileged ornament of the emperor; jade green like the mountains was -reserved for the princes of the first and second ranks; water-blue jade -was for the great prefects; the heir apparent had a special kind of -jade.” [400] Mottled jades—some resembling granite—were likewise -favoured for a variety of purposes. - -Jade played an important part in Chinese rain-getting ceremonies. -Dragon jade symbols, decorated with fish-scales, were placed on the -altar as offerings and for the purpose of invoking the rain-controlling -“composite wonder beast” and god. Sometimes bronze and silver dragon -symbols were used. According to Laufer, “the jade image of the dragon -remained restricted to the Han period, and was substituted at later -ages by prayers inscribed on jade or metal tablets. A survival of the -ancient custom”, he adds, “may be seen in the large paper or papier -mâché figures of dragons carried around in the streets by festival -processions in times of drought to ensure the benefit of rain.” [401] -In front of these dragons are carried the red ball, which symbolizes -the moon, the source of fertilizing moisture—of dew, of rain, and -therefore of the streams and rivers that flow to the sea. - -Jade links with pearls in the ocean surrounding the world, in which -lies a gigantic oyster that gapes after rain falls, and sends forth the -gleaming rainbow. The Greek historian, Isidorus of Charace (c. 300 -B.C.), referring to the pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf, relates a -story about the breeding of pearls being influenced by thunder-storms. -[402] The jade ceremonial object, which roused the dragon, had thus -indirectly a share in pearl production. Pearls were, as we have seen, -likewise produced by dragons, who spat them out during storms. As -certain pearls were supposed to be formed by dew that dropped from the -moon, it may be that the Chinese gigantic oyster was, when it gaped to -send forth the rainbow, receiving the substance of a gigantic pearl -from the celestial regions. The life-prolonging and youth-renewing “Red -Cloud herb” came into existence during a thunder- and rain-storm. - -As we have seen, jade contains, according to Far Eastern belief, the -essence of heat as well as of moisture. It contains, too, the essence -of cold—not the cold of winter but the coolness desired in hot weather. -[403] In the Tu yang tsa pien, a Chinese work of the ninth century, it -is recorded that the Emperor of China received from Japan “an engraved -gobang board of warm jade, on which the game could be played in winter -without getting cold, and that it was most highly prized”. It is told -in this connection that “thirty thousand li (leagues) east of Japan is -the island of Tsi-mo, and upon this island the Ninghia Terrace, on -which terrace is the Gobang Player’s Lake. This lake produces the -chess-men which need no carving, and are naturally divided into black -and white. They are warm in winter, cool in summer, and known as cool -and warm jade. It also produces the catalpa-jade, in structure like the -wood of the catalpa tree, which is carved into chess-boards, shining -and brilliant as mirrors.” [404] - -Jade is, in short, a “luck stone”: the giver of children, health, -immortality, wisdom, power, victory, growth, food, clothing, &c. It is -“the jewel that grants all desires” in this world and the next, and is -therefore connected with all religious beliefs, while it also plays its -part as a symbol in the social organization, being the medium through -which the mysterious forces of nature exercise their influence in every -sphere of human thought and activity. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -CREATION MYTHS AND THE GOD AND GODDESS CULTS - - Are Animistic Beliefs Primitive?—Evidence of a Mummy-imported - Culture in Primitive Communities—Chinese Creation Myth—Chaos - Transformed into Kosmos—Pʼan Ku as the World-artisan—Chinese - World-giant Myth—Tibetan Version—Pʼan Ku and the Egyptian - Ptah—Hammer Gods—Pʼan Ku and the Scandinavian Ymir—Osiris as a - World-giant—Fusion of Egyptian and Babylonian Myths—The Chinese - Ishtars—The Goddess of the Deluge—The Chinese Virgin Mother—Dragon - Boat Ceremonies—The Mountain Goddess in China—Kiang Yuan as the - Divine Mother—Ancient Myths in Chinese Buddhism—The “Poosa” as - Goddess of Mercy—As Controller of Tides—Vision of - Sky-goddess—Island Seat of Goddess Worship—The Chinese Indra. - - -Although some exponents of the stratification theory incline to regard -Chinese religion as a stunted outcrop of animistic ideas, and chiefly -because of the remarkable persistence through the ages of the worship -of ancestors—the worship of ghost-gods and ghosts identified with -gods—there is really little trace of what is usually referred to as -“the primitive state of mind”. Under the term “animism” have been -included ideas that are less primitive than was supposed to be the case -about a generation ago. The belief, for instance, that there are -spirits in stones, or that the soul of the dead enters a megalithic -monument, or a statue placed in the tomb, may not, after all, belong to -a primitive stage of thought; nor does it follow that because it is -found to be prevalent among savage tribes isolated on lonely islands it -is a product merely of the early “workings of the human mind” when man, -as if by instinct, framed his “first crude philosophy of human -thought”. The fact that savages reached isolated islands, such as, for -instance, Eastern Island, where stone idols were erected, indicates -clearly that they had acquired a knowledge of shipbuilding and -navigation directly or indirectly from a centre of ancient -civilization. It may be, therefore, that they likewise acquired from -the same source ideas regarding the soul and the origin of things, and -that these, instead of being “simple” and “primitive”, are really of -complex character, and have remained in a state of arrested -development, simply because they have been detached from the parent -stem, to be preserved like flower petals pressed in a book, that still -retain a degree of their original brightness and characteristic odour. - -In outlying areas, like Australia and Oceania, are found not only -“primitive beliefs”, but definite burial customs that have a long -history elsewhere, including cremation and even mummification. “You get -the whole bag of tricks in Australia”, the late Andrew Lang once -declared to the writer when contending that certain beliefs and customs -found in Egypt, Babylonia, India, and Europe were “natural products of -the primitive mind”. But is it likely that such a custom as -mummification should have “arisen independently” in Australasia? Let us -take, for instance, the case of the mummy from the Torres Straits, -which is preserved in the Mackay Museum in the University of Sydney. It -was examined by Professor G. Elliot Smith, who, during his ten years’ -occupancy of the Chair of Anatomy in the Government School of Medicine -in Cairo, had unique opportunities of studying Ancient Egyptian surgery -as revealed by the mummies preserved in Gizeh museum. When he examined -the Papuan mummy at Sydney he found that undeniable Egyptian methods of -a definite period in Egyptian history had been employed. He -communicated his discovery to the Anthropological Section of the -British Association in Melbourne in 1914, and, as an anatomist, was -astonished to hear Professor Myres contending that it seemed to him -natural that people should want to preserve their dead! “If”, Professor -Elliot Smith has written, “Professor Myers had known anything of the -history of anatomy he would have realized that the problem of -preserving the body was one of extreme difficulty which for long ages -had exercised the most civilized peoples, not only of antiquity, but -also of modern times. In Egypt, where the natural conditions favouring -the successful issue of attempts to preserve the body were largely -responsible for the possibility of such embalming, it took more than -seventeen centuries of constant practice and experimentation to reach -the stage and to acquire the methods exemplified in the Torres Straits -mummies.” [405] Arm-chair theories vanish like mist when the light of -scientific evidence is released. - -In like manner may be found in the folk-lore and religious literature -of China “mummies” of imported myths, as well as early myths of local -invention that, ancient as they may be, cannot be regarded as -“primitive” in the real sense of the term. The following myth, found in -the literature of Taoism, may be more archaic than the writings of -Kwang-tze, who gives it. - -At the beginning of time there were two oceans—one in the south and one -in the north, and there was land in the centre. The Ruler of the -southern ocean was Shu (Heedless), and the Ruler of the northern ocean -was Hu (Hasty), while the Ruler of the Centre was Hwun-tun (Chaos). - -“Heedless” and “Hasty” were in the habit of paying regular visits to -the land, and there they met and became acquainted. “Chaos” treated -them kindly, and it was their desire to confer upon him some favour so -as to give practical expression to their feelings of gratitude. They -discussed the matter together, and decided what they should do. - -Now Chaos was blind, his eyes being closed, and he was deaf, his ears -being closed, and he could not breathe, having no nostrils, nor eat, -because he was mouthless. - -“Hasty” and “Heedless” met daily in the Central land, and each day they -opened an orifice. On the seventh day their work was finished. But when -he had eyes and ears opened, and could see and hear, and could breathe -through his nostrils, and had a mouth with which to eat, old Chaos -died. - -The meaning of this Chinese parable seems to be that the Universe had, -in the space of seven days, been “set in order”, Chaos having been -transformed into Kosmos. - -Although Taoism has been referred to by some writers of the “Evolution -School” as “an elaboration of animistic lore”, this myth is really a -product of the years that bring the philosophic mind. The three -“Rulers” may have originally been giants, and the story may owe -something to the Babylonian myth of Ea-Oannes, the sea-god, who came -daily from the Persian Gulf to instruct the early Sumerians how to live -civilized lives; but it was evidently some Far Eastern Socrates who -first named the sea-gods “Heedless” and “Hasty”, and tinged the fable -with Taoistic cynicism. - -Creation myths are not as “primitive” as some writers would have us -suppose. Considerable progress was achieved before mankind began to -theorize regarding the origin of things. Even the widespread and -so-called “primitive myth” about the egg from which the Universe, or -the first god, was hatched by the “Primeval Goose” may belong to a much -later stage of human development than is supposed by some of those -writers who speculate with so much confidence regarding “the workings -of the human mind”. Even the metaphysicians of Brahmanic India were -prone to speak in parables and fables. - -“At the beginning there was nothing”, the Chinese philosophers taught -their pupils. “Long ages passed by. Then nothing became something.” The -something had unity. Long ages passed by, and the something divided -itself into two parts—a male part and a female part. These two -somethings produced two lesser somethings, and the two pairs, working -together, produced the first being, who was named Pʼan Ku. Another -version of the myth is that Pʼan Ku emerged from the cosmic egg. - -It is not difficult to recognize in Pʼan Ku a giant god or world-god. -He was furnished with an adze, or, as is found in some Chinese prints, -with a hammer and a chisel. With his implement or implements Pʼan Ku -moves through the universe as the Divine Artisan, who shapes the -mountains and hammers or chisels out the sky, accompanied by the -primeval Tortoise, and the Phœnix, and a dragon-like being who may -represent the primeval “somethings”—the symbols of water, earth, and -air. The sun, moon, and stars have already appeared. - -Another version of the Pʼan Ku myth represents him as the Primeval -World-giant, who is destroyed so that the material universe may be -formed. From his flesh comes the soil, from his bones the rocks; his -blood is the waters of rivers and the ocean; his hair is vegetation; -while the wind is his breath, the thunder his voice, the rain his -sweat, the dew his tears, the firmament his skull, his right eye the -moon, and his left eye the sun. Pʼan Ku’s body was covered with vermin, -and the vermin became the races of mankind. - -A somewhat similar myth is found in Tibet. When M. Huc sojourned in -that country, he had a conversation with an aged nomad, who said: - -“There are on the earth three great families, and we are all of the -great Tibetan family. This is what I have heard the Lamas say, who have -studied the things of antiquity. At the beginning there was on the -earth only a single man; he had neither house nor tent, for at that -time the winter was not cold, and the summer was not hot; the wind did -not blow so violently, and there fell neither snow nor rain; the tea -grew of itself on the mountains, and the flocks had nothing to fear -from beasts of prey. This man had three children, who lived a long time -with him, nourishing themselves on milk and fruits. After having -attained to a great age, this man died. The three children deliberated -what they should do with the body of their father, and they could not -agree about it; one wished to put him in a coffin, the other wanted to -burn him, the third thought it would be best to expose the body on the -summit of a mountain. They resolved then to divide it into three parts. -The eldest had the body and arms; he was the ancestor of the great -Chinese family, and that is why his descendants have become celebrated -in arts and industry, and are remarkable for their tricks and -stratagems. The second son had the breast; he was the father of the -Tibetan family, and they are full of heart and courage, and do not fear -death. From the third, who had inferior parts of the body, are -descended the Tartars, who are simple and timid, without head or heart, -and who know nothing but how to keep themselves firm in their saddles.” -[406] - -Pʼan Ku, with his implements, links with the Egyptian artificer god -Ptah of Memphis, who used his hammer to beat out the metal firmament. -Ptah’s name means “to open” in the sense of “to engrave, to carve, to -chisel”; the sun and moon were his eyes; he was “the great artificer in -metals, and he was at once smelter, and caster, and sculptor, as well -as the master architect and designer of everything that exists in the -world”. In the Book of the Dead he (or Shu) is said to have performed -“the ceremony of opening the mouth of the gods with an iron knife”, -[407] as “Hasty” and “Heedless” opened the mouth, eyes, ears, and -nostrils of Chaos in the Chinese myth. The high priest of Memphis was -called Ur Kherp hem, “the great chief of the hammer”. As we have seen, -he was closely associated with the Egyptian potter’s wheel, which -reached China at an early period. Like Ptah, Pʼan Ku is sometimes -depicted as a dwarf, and sometimes as a giant. - -Other hammer-gods include the Aryo-Indian Indra, who builds the world -house; the Anatolian Tarku, the Mesopotamian Rammon or Adad, the -northern European Thor. The hammer is apparently identical with adze -and axe, and in Egypt the axe is an exceedingly ancient symbol of a -deity; in Crete the double axe has a similar significance. In Scotland -the hammer is carried by the Cailleach (Old Wife) in her character as -Queen of Winter; she shapes the mountains with it, and causes the -ground to freeze hard when she beats it. The hammer-god is in many -countries a thunderer; to the modern Greeks lightning flashes are -caused by blows of the “sky-axe” (astro-peléki); in Scottish Gaelic -mention is made of the “thunder-ball” (peleir-tarnainach). A -thunder-ball is carried by the Japanese thunder-god, but it is often -replaced by the thunder-drum. - -Pʼan Ku plays no conspicuous part in Chinese mythology; he is evidently -an importation. In his character as a world-god he resembles the -primeval giant Ymir of Norse-Icelandic myth, who was similarly cut up -or ground in the “World Mill”, so that the universe might be set in -order. - - - From the flesh of Ymir the world was formed, - From his blood the billows of the sea, - The hills from his bones, the trees from his hair, - The sphere of heaven from his skull. - - Out of his brows the blithe powers made - Midgarth for sons of men, - And out of his brains were the angry clouds - All shaped above in the sky. [408] - - -Ymir was, like Pʼan Ku, born from inanimate matter. He was nourished by -Audhumbla (Darkness and Vacuity), the cow mother, the Scandinavian -Hathor. - - - From stormy billow sprang poison drops, - Which waxed into Jotum (giant) form, - And from him are come the whole of our Kin; - All fierce and dread is that race. [409] - - -Another version of the Ymir myth makes the giant come into existence -like the self-created Ptah: - - - ’Twas the earliest of times when Ymir lived; - Then was sand, nor sea, nor cooling wave, - Nor was Earth found even, nor Heavens on high; - There was Yawning of Deeps, and nowhere grass. [410] - - -The black dwarfs were parasites on Ymir’s body, as human beings were -parasites on the body of Pʼan Ku. - -It may be that the idea of a primeval giant like Pʼan Ku, or Ymir, was -derived from the conception of Osiris as a world-god, which obtained in -Egypt as far back as the Empire period. Erman translates a hymn in -which it is said of the god: “The soil is on thy arm, its corners are -upon thee as far as the four pillars of the sky. When thou movest, the -earth trembles.... [411] The Nile comes from the sweat of thy hands. -Thou spewest out the wind that is in thy throat into the nostrils of -men, and that whereon men live is divine. It is [412] [alike in] in thy -nostrils, the tree and its verdure, reeds, plants, barley, wheat, and -the tree of life.” Everything constructed on earth lies on the “back” -of Osiris. “Thou art the father and mother of men, they live on thy -breath, they eat of the flesh of thy body. The ‘Primæval’ is thy name.” -[413] - -The body of Osiris was cut into pieces by Set. As the bones of Pʼan Ku -and Ymir are the rocks, so are the bones of Set the iron found in the -earth, but no myth survives of the cutting up of Set’s body. The black -soil on the Nile banks is the body of Osiris, and vegetation springs -from it. - -It may be, however, that it was in consequence of the fusion in some -cultural centre of the Babylonian myth regarding the cutting up of the -dragon Tiamat and the cutting up of the body of Osiris that the -northern Europeans came to hear of an Ymir and the Chinese of a Pʼan Ku -from the early traders in amber, jade, and metals. - -When Tiamat was slain, Marduk “smashed her skull”. - - - He cut the channels of her blood, - He made the North Wind bear it away into secret places.... - - He split her up like a flat fish into two halves, - One half of her he set in place as a covering for the heavens. - - -With the other part of Tiamat’s body Marduk made the earth. Then he -fashioned the abode of the god Ea in the deep, the abode of the god Anu -in high heaven, and the abode of Enlil in the air. [414] - -In India is found another myth that appears to have contributed to the -Chinese mosaic. At the beginning the Universal Soul assumed “the shape -of a man”. This was Purusha. - - - “He did not feel delight. Therefore nobody, when alone, feels - delight. He was desirous of a second. He was in the same state as - husband (Pati) and wife (Patni).... He divided this self two fold. - Hence were husband and wife produced. Therefore was this only a - half of himself, as a split pea is of the whole.... The void was - completed by woman.” [415] - - -It may be that India and China derived the god-splitting idea from a -common source in Central Asia, where such “culture-mixing” appears to -have taken place. - -In China itself there are many traces of blended ideas. In the Texts of -Confucianism, for instance, the symbol of the Khien stands for heaven, -and that of the Khwan for earth. - -In one of the native treatises it is stated: - - - “Khien suggests the idea of heaven; of a circle; of a ruler; of a - father; of jade; of metal; of cold; of ice; of deep red; of a good - horse; of an old horse; of a thin horse; of a piebald horse; and of - the fruit of trees. - - “Khwan suggests the idea of the earth; of a mother; of cloth; of a - caldron; of parsimony; of a turning lathe; of a young heifer; of a - large waggon; of what is variegated; of a multitude; and of a - handle and support. Among soils it denotes what is black.” [416] - - -Here we have the Great Father, the god of heaven, who is red and is a -circle (the sun); and the Great Mother, the goddess of Earth, who is -black. - -The sky-god is connected with jade and metal. As we have seen, the cult -of the west attributed the creation of jade to the Chinese Ishtar. -Precious metals were in several countries associated with sun, moon, -and stars. The horse is one of the animals associated with sky-gods; it -was, of course, later than the bull, stag, antelope, goat, ram, &c. -Cold as well as warmth was sent by the sky-god, who controls the -seasons. - -The mother-goddess is the Caldron—the “Pot”, which, as has already been -noted, was in Ancient Egypt the symbol of the inexhaustible womb of -nature personified by deities like Hathor, Rhea, Aphrodite, Hera, -Ishtar, &c. The “young heifer” has a similar connection, while the -“waggon” seems to be another form of the “Pot”. Cloth was woven by men -and women, but the production of thread was always the work of women in -Ancient Egypt and elsewhere. Apparently the turning lathe was female, -because the chisel was male; it may be that it was because the potter’s -wheel was female that it had to be operated by a man. “A multitude” may -refer to the reproductivity of the Great Mother of all mankind. The -goddess was, perhaps, parsimonious because during a period of the year -the earth gives forth naught, and stores all it receives. - -The egg from which Pʼan Ku emerged appears to have been a symbol of the -Mother Goddess of the sacred West, remembered in Chinese legends as Si -Wang Mu, “the mother of the Western King”, and in Japanese as Seiobo, -who was guardian of the World Tree, the giant peach, or the lunar, -cassia tree (Chapter X). Other references to her, under various names, -are scattered through ancient Chinese writings. In the “Annals of the -Bamboo Books” mention is made of “the Heavenly lady Pa”. She favoured -the Chinese monarch, Hwang Ti, who is supposed to have reigned during -2688 B.C. by stopping “the extraordinary rains caused by the enemy”. -[417] - -Here we seem to meet with a vague reference to the Deluge legend. The -Babylonian Ishtar was angered at the gods for causing the flood and -destroying mankind, as is gathered from the Gilgamesh epic: - - - Then the Lady of the gods drew nigh, - And she lifted up the great jewels [418] which Anu had made - according to her wish (and said): - “What gods these are! By the jewels of lapis lazuli which are upon - my neck, I will not forget! - These days I have set in my memory, never will I forget them! - Let the gods come to the offering, - But Bel shall not come to the offering, - Since he refused to ask counsel and sent the deluge, - And handed over my people unto destruction.” [419] - - -A goddess who protests against the destruction of her human descendants -by means of a flood, caused by the gods, was likely to protect them -against “extraordinary rains”, caused by their human or demoniac -enemies. - -As we have seen in previous chapters, the Chinese Deluge legend, in one -of its forms, was attached to the memory of the mythical Empress Nu -Kwa, the sister of the mythical Emperor Fuh-hi, sometimes referred to -as “the Chinese Adam”. Three rebels had conspired with the demons or -gods of water and fire to destroy the world, and a great flood came on. -Nu Kwa caused the waters to retreat by making use of charred reeds -(quite a Babylonian touch!). Then she re-erected one of the four -pillars of the sky against which one of the rebels, a huge giant, had -bumped his head, causing it to topple over. - -According to Chinese chronology, this world-flood occurred early in the -“Patriarchal Period” between 2943 B.C. and 2868 B.C. - -Another reference to the mother-goddess crops up in a poem by “the -statesman poet, Chu Yuan, 332–295 B.C., who drowned himself”, Professor -Giles writes, [420] “in despair at his country’s outlook, and whose -body is still searched for annually at the Dragon-boat Festival”. The -poem in question is entitled “God Questions”, and one question is: - - - “As Nu-Chi had no husband, how could she bear nine sons?” - - -Professor Giles adds: “The Commentary tells us that Nu Chi was a -‘divine maiden’, but nothing more seems to be known about her”. It is -evident that she was a virgin goddess, who, like the Egyptian Nut, was -the spirit of the cosmic waters. [421] It is of interest to find the -memory of the poet associated with the Dragon-boat Festival, which, -according to Chinese belief, had origin because he drowned himself in -the Ni-ro River. There is evidence, however, that the festival had -quite another origin. Dragon-boats were used in China on the fifth day -of the fifth month at water festivals. They were “big ships adorned -with carved dragon ornaments”, the yih bird being painted on the prow. -[422] De Visser says that these boats were used by emperors for -pleasure trips, and music was played on board them. “The bird was -painted, not to denote their swift sailing, but to suppress the -water-gods.” [423] According to De Groot, dragon-boat races were -“intended to represent fighting dragons in order to cause a real dragon -fight, which is always accompanied by heavy rains. The dragon-boats -carried through the streets may also serve to cause rain, although they -are at the same time considered to be substitutes.” [424] - -Having drowned himself, the poet became associated with the river -dragon. “Offerings of rice in bamboo”, says Giles, “were cast into the -river as a sacrifice to the spirit of their great hero.” [425] In like -manner, offerings were made to dragons in connection with rain-getting -ceremonies long before the poet was born. It is evident that he took -the place of the dragon-god as the mythical Empress Nu Kwa of the -Patriarchial Period took the place of the Chinese Ishtar, and as Ishtar -took the place of the earlier Sumerian goddess Ninkharasagga, who, with -“Anu, Enlil, and Enki”, “created the black-headed (i.e. mankind)”. -[426] - -The same Chinese poet sings of the mother-goddess in his poem, “The -Genius of the Mountain”, which Professor Giles has translated: - - - “Methinks there is a Genius of the Hills clad in wistaria, girdled - with ivy, with smiling lips, of witching mien, riding on the red - pard, wild cats galloping in the rear, reclining in a chariot, with - banners of cassia, cloaked with the orchid, girt with azalea, - culling the perfume of sweet flowers to leave behind a memory in - the heart.” - - -Like Ishtar, who laments for her lost Tammuz, this goddess laments for -her “Prince”. - - - “Dark is the grove wherein I dwell. No light of day reached it - ever. The path thither is dangerous and difficult to climb. Alone I - stand on hill-top, [427] while the clouds float beneath my feet, - and all around is wrapped in gloom.” - - -This goddess is not only associated with ivy, the cassia tree, &c., but -with the pine. “I shade myself”, she sings, “beneath the spreading -pine.” The poem concludes: - - - “Now booms the thunder through the drizzling rain. The gibbons howl - around me all the long night. The gale rushes fitfully through the - whispering trees. And I am thinking of my Prince, but in vain; for - I cannot lay my grief.” [428] - - -The goddess laments for her prince, as does Ishtar for Tammuz. - -The mother-goddess is found also in the “Book of Odes” (The Shih King). -She figures as the mother of the Hau-Ki and “the people of Kau” in the -ode which begins as follows: - - - “The first birth of (our) people was from Kian Yuan. How did she - give birth to our people? She had presented a pure offering and - sacrificed, that her childlessness might be taken away. She then - trod on a toe-print made by God, and was moved in the large place - where she rested. She became pregnant; she dwelt retired; she gave - birth to and nourished (a son), who was Hau-Ki.” [429] - - -Professor Giles refers to this birth-story “as an instance in Chinese -literature, which, in the absence of any known husband, comes near -suggesting the much-vexed question of parthenogenesis”. [430] - -Other Chinese references to miraculous conceptions, given below, -emphasize how persistent in Chinese legend are the lingering memories -of the ancient mother-goddess. - -As was the case in Babylonia and Egypt, the rival biological theories -of the god cult and the goddess cult were fused or existed side by side -in ancient China. - -The goddess cult influenced Buddhism even when it was adopted in China, -and fused with local religious systems. To the lower classes the -“Poosa”, who brings luck—that is, success and protection—may be either -a Buddha or a goddess. The name is “a shortened form of the Sanskrit -term Bodhisattwa”, and was originally “a designation of a class of -Buddha’s disciples.... The ‘Poosa’ feels more sympathy with the lower -wants of men than the Buddha (Fuh) does.” - -One of the holy beings referred to in China as a “Poosa” is Kwan-yin, -the so-called “goddess of mercy”. Dr. Joseph Edkins [431] says that -“this divinity is represented sometimes as male, at others as -female.... She is often represented with a child in her arms, and is -then designated the giver of children. Elsewhere she is styled the -‘Kwan-yin who saves from the eight forms of suffering’ or ‘of the -southern sea’, or ‘of the thousand arms’, &c. She passes through -various metamorphoses, which give rise to a variety in names.” - -The “Poosa” of Buddhism or the ancient Chinese faith is a powerful -protector. Dr. Edkins tells that “Chinese worshippers will sometimes -say, for example, that they must spend a little money occasionally to -obtain a favour of Poosa, in order to prevent calamities from assailing -them. I saw”, he relates, “an instance of this at a town on the -sea-coast near Hangchow. The tide here is extremely destructive in the -autumn. [432] It often overflows the embankment made to restrain it, -and produces devastation in the adjoining cottages and fields. A temple -was erected to the Poosa Kwan-yin, and offerings are regularly made to -her, and prayers presented for protection against the tide.” - -A vision of this Chinese Aphrodite was beheld about two years before -the British forces captured Canton. “The governor of the province to -which that city belongs”, says Dr. Edkins, “was engaged in -exterminating large bands of roving plunderers that disturbed the -region under his jurisdiction. He wrote to the Emperor on one occasion -a dispatch in which he said that, at a critical juncture in a recent -contest, a large figure in white had been seen beckoning to the army -from the sky. It was Kwan-yin. The soldiers were inspired with courage, -and won an easy victory over the enemy.” - -Edkins notes that “the principal seat of the worship of Kwan-yin is at -the island of Poots”. Here the deity “takes the place of Buddha, and -occupies the chief position in the temples”. There are many small caves -on the island dedicated to the use of hermits. “In several of them, -high up on a hill-side”, Dr. Edkins “noticed a small figure of Buddha”. -Here we have an excellent instance of “culture-mixing” in China in our -own day. - -Shang-ti, the personal god who rules in the sky, is to the Chinese -Buddhists identical with Indra, the Hindu god of thunder and rain. In -India Indra was in Vedic times the king of the gods, but in the -Brahmanic Age became a lesser being than Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. -When Buddha was elevated to the godhead these great deities shrank into -minor positions. In China they stand among the auditors of the supreme -Buddha, as he sits on the lotus flower, and “occupy”, as Edkins found, -“a lower position than the personages called Poosa, Lohan, &c.” [433] - -In the next chapter it will be found that floating myths were attached -to the memories of mythical and legendary monarchs in China, and that -not a few of these myths resemble others found elsewhere. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -MYTHICAL AND LEGENDARY KINGS - - Pʼan Ku as the Divine Ancestor—The Mythical Age—Gods as Kings—The - Prometheus of China—Fu Hi as Adam—Doctrine of World’s Ages in - China—Links with Babylonia and India—Legendary Kings—The Chinese - Osiris—Reign of the “Yellow God”—Empress and Silk-worm - Culture—Royal Sons of Star-gods—Yaou, Son of the Red Dragon—Shun, - Son of the Rainbow—The Hea Dynasty—The Emperor Yu—Star Myths—Yu and - the River God—Yu as Pʼan Ku—The Flood Myth in Legends of Yu—The - Dynasty of Shang—Moon and Egg Myths—The Wicked Wu—A Hated Queen—The - Dynasty of Chou—A Chinese Gilgamesh—The Pious King Wen—Divination - by Tortoise and Grass—The Chous as Invaders—Historical - Dynasties—Ancient Iranian Traders—Trade and Civilization promoted - by the Dread of Death. - - -Pʼan Ku, the first “man” or “god”, was the ancestor of three -families—the rulers of Heaven, Earth, and Mankind. In Tibet, as we have -seen, the first man had three sons, who divided his body between them, -and they were the ancestors of the three human races. Like the -Babylonians, the Chinese had dynastic lists of antediluvian kings. Pʼan -Ku’s descendants ruled the nine divisions of the prehistoric empire or -world. There were ten dynastic periods, the first being that of the -“Nine Heads” (kings), the second that of the “Five Dragons”, and so on. -The five dragon kings were connected with the five planets: Venus, -Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn, and therefore with the five -elements, for Venus was the Star of Metal, Jupiter that of Wood, -Mercury that of Water, Mars the Star of Fire, and Saturn the Star of -Earth. Thus every part of the terrestrial surface, when identified with -one or more elements on account of its shape, is under the influence of -the corresponding metals, and also under that of the constellations -through which these planets move. [434] As we have seen, the spirits of -dragon swords appeared in the sky as stars. The star-gods, like the -dragons, were fathers of some of the famous kings of China. - -Towards the end came the period “Having Nests”, which indicates that -houses were built. Then came the period of Sui-zan, “the -Fire-producer”, who has been referred to as the “Prometheus of China”. - -A new age was ushered in by Fu Hsia or Fu Hi, the so-called “Adam of -China”. He is the first monarch of China’s legendary history, and was -supposed to reign from 2953 till 2838 B.C. Some regard him as the -leader of a colony which settled in Shensi. But he is more like a -mythical culture hero. He was the offspring of a miraculous conception, -and had dealings with dragons. Like the Babylonian Ea he instructed the -people how to live civilized lives. Before Fu-hi came, they lived like -animals; they knew their mothers but not their fathers, and they ate -raw flesh. They kept records by means of knotted cords, and he -instructed them in the mysteries of lineal figures, which had a mystic -significance. These were eight in number—the eight kwâ or trigrams, -which represented: (1) the sky; (2) water of lakes and marshes; (3) -fire, lightning, and the sun; (4) thunder; (5) wind and wood; (6) water -as in rain, springs, streams, clouds, and the moon; (7) a hill; (8) the -earth. - -Fu-hi also instructed the people to worship spirits, and he instituted -sacrifices. He kept in a park six kinds of animals, and sacrificed -twice a year at the two solstices, causing the days to be regarded as -sacred, so that the people might show gratitude to heaven. - -According to the Taoists, Fu-hi disturbed the primal unity, and caused -the people to begin to deteriorate. - -Here we touch on the doctrine of the World’s Ages. Like the Indians of -the Brahmanic period, the Chinese Taoists believed that the first age -was a perfect one, and that mankind gradually deteriorated. In the -Indian Krita Age “all men were saintly, and therefore they were not -required to perform religious ceremonies.... There were no gods in the -Krita Age, and there were no demons.” [435] - -Lao Tze, who will be dealt with more fully in the next chapter, -exclaims: “I would make people return to the use of knotted cords”. His -disciple, Kwang Tze, lamented that the paradisaical state of the early -ages had been disturbed by law-makers. Decadence set in with the -“Prometheus” and the “Adam”, and continued until the people became -“perplexed and disordered, and had no way by which they might return to -their true nature, and bring back their original condition”. [436] - -“It is remarkable”, says Legge, “that at the commencement of Chinese -history, Chinese tradition placed a period of innocence, a season when -order and virtue ruled in men’s affairs.” This comment is made in -connection with the following passage in the Shu King (Book XXVII, “The -Marquis of Lu on Punishments”): “The King said, ‘According to the -teachings of ancient times, Khih Yu was the first to produce disorder, -which spread among the quiet, orderly people, till all became robbers -and murderers, owl-like and yet self-complacent in their conduct, -traitors and villains, snatching and filching, dissemblers and -oppressors’”. [437] - -In some accounts of the early period, Fu Hi is succeeded by his sister, -the Empress Nu Kwa, the heroine of the Deluge. - -Fu Hi’s usual successor, however, is Shen-nung (2838–2698 B.C.), the -Chinese Osiris, who introduced the agricultural mode of life and -instructed the people how to make use of curative herbs. He was -worshipped as the god of agriculture. Thus an Ode sets forth: - - - That my fields are in such good condition, - Is matter of joy to my husbandmen. - With lutes, and with drums beating, - We will invoke the Father of Husbandry, - And pray for sweet rain, - To increase the produce of our millet fields, - And to bless my men and their wives. [438] - - -Shen-nung was not content with two annual sacrifices, and fixed two -others at the equinoxes, “that in spring to implore a blessing on the -fruit of the earth, and that in autumn, after the harvest was over, to -offer the first fruits to the ruler of heaven”. - -After Shen-nung died the emperor Hwang-Ti (“The Yellow God”) ascended -the throne. He was in the literal sense the “Son of Heaven”, for his -real father was the thunder-god, and he had therefore “a dragon-like -countenance”. As in the case of Osiris, who was reputed to have reigned -over Egypt, it is difficult to conclude whether he was a deified -monarch or a humanized deity. He belongs, of course, to the mythical -period of the “five Tis” in Chinese legendary history. - -The account of his origin sets forth that one night his mother -witnessed a brilliant flash of lightning which darted from the vicinity -of the star chʼoo in the Great Bushel (the “Great Bear”) and lit up the -whole country. Her Majesty became pregnant, but did not give birth to -her son until twenty-five months later. Hwang Ti was able to speak as -soon as he was born. When he ascended the throne, he possessed the -power of summoning spirits to attend at the royal palace, and his -allies in battle included tigers, panthers, and bears, as those of -Rama, the hero of the Indian epic, the Rámáyana, included bears and -gigantic monkeys. Hwang Ti was a lover of peace, and because he caused -peaceful conditions to prevail, phœnixes nested in his garden, or, like -swallows, perched on the palace roof and terraces and sang in the -courtyard. Other spirit-birds haunted the residence of the “Yellow -God”. - -He built a large temple so that he might not be prevented by bad -weather from offering up sacrifices and performing other religious -ceremonies at any season of the year, and he instructed the people in -their duties towards the spirits, their ancestors, and himself. He -fixed the holy days and introduced music in temple worship. His wife -undertook the duty of nourishing silk-worms and producing silk. An -enclosure on the north side of the temple was planted with mulberry -trees, and in this grove the Empress and the ladies of her court -attended to the silk-worms specially kept for the silk required for -religious ceremonies. Her Majesty was the goddess as her husband was -the god, and had therefore to promote reproduction and growth. She -therefore visited also the enclosure on the southern side of the temple -in which grew the cereals and fruits offered to the deities. - -Hwang Ti was specially favoured by the goddess known as “the heavenly -lady Pao”, who on one occasion stopped the heavy and destructive rains -that had been caused by the enemy. - -When the Emperor was in his seventy-seventh year, he retired from the -world, like an Indian ascetic, to practise austerities beside the Jo -water. He died in his one hundredth year. Some tell that when he was -ascending to heaven an earthquake occurred; others hold that he never -died but was transformed into a dragon. After he passed away, either as -a soul or dragon, to associate with the immortals, a wooden image of -him was made and worshipped by princes. - -His successor is said to have been the Emperor Che, whose dynastic -title was Shao-Hao. This monarch was the son of a star god. One night -his mother beheld a star, which resembled a rainbow, floating on a -stream in the direction of a small island. After retiring to rest she -dreamed that she received the star, and, in due course, she gave birth -to her son. Phœnixes visited the royal palace on the day that he -ascended the throne. This monarch had some mysterious association with -the west—probably with the goddess of the west—and is said to have -commanded an army of birds. - -He was followed by the Emperor Chuen-Heugh (Kao-Yang). He, too, was the -son of a star-god. It chanced that his mother witnessed the Yao-Kwang -star passing through the moon like a rainbow. She gave birth to her son -in the vicinity of the Jo water. There was a shield and spear on his -head at birth, a tradition which recalls that when the Indian princess -Pritha gave birth to Karna, son of Surya, the sun-god, he was fully -armed. - -Chuen-Heugh was a great sage. “He invented calendaric calculations and -delineations of the heavenly bodies,” and composed a piece of music -called “The Answer to the Clouds”. - -Next came the Emperor Kuh (Kao-sin) who, like Richard III, had teeth -when he was born. He similarly rose from the rank of a State prince to -the Imperial throne. The State of Yew-Kae was conquered by him. His -son, named Che, proved to be unworthy, and his younger son, Yao, was -selected as his successor. - -The Emperor Yao was the son of a red dragon, as well as of the Emperor, -and was not born until fourteen months after conception. He is said to -have been ten cubits in height when full grown. There were two pupils -in each of his eyes. He was a great sage and wonderful happenings -occurred during his reign. - -A mysterious grass grew on the palace stairs. It bore a pod on each day -of the month. He selected as his colleague and successor the sage Shun, -who had held an undistinguished position. It is told that this -selection was approved by five star-gods whose spirits appeared as five -old men and walked about among the islands of the River Ho. On another -occasion a bright light came from the river; then beautifully-coloured -vapours arose and a dragon-horse appeared, carrying in its mouth a -scaly cuirass for Shun, whose appointment was thus definitely approved -by Heaven. Thirty years later a tortoise rose from the water and rested -on the altar. On its back was an inscribed order instructing Yao to -resign in favour of Shun. This divine command was duly obeyed. - -Shun’s mother had conceived after seeing a rainbow. As has been stated, -a rainbow was believed to emanate from the gigantic oyster that lay in -mid ocean. When the child was born his mother and father detested him, -because his body was black and his eyes had double pupils, and because -he had a dragon face and a large mouth. When he became a youth he -reached the height of six cubits, and was thus like the Egyptian Horus -and the Norse hero Sigurd, a veritable giant. His parents endeavoured -on more than one occasion to cause his death by giving him difficult -tasks to perform, and acting treacherously towards him. On one occasion -they ordered him to plaster a granary, and when he was engaged at the -work they set fire to the building. But Shun was clad in “bird’s work -clothing”, which seems to indicate that he had power to assume bird -form, and he flew away. He was next ordered to deepen a well. He went -to work obediently, and while engaged in his task the well was suddenly -filled up with stones. But Shun had “dragon’s work clothing”, or was -able to assume a dragon form, and contrived to escape through the side -of the well. Like Hercules, he performed all his difficult tasks and -escaped without injury. - -Although Shun is usually said to have been selected by Yaou as his -successor, a vague tradition states that he dethroned Yaou by force and -kept him a prisoner. Before long, however, he degraded the young ruler -and took his place. - -On ascending the throne, Shun publicly worshipped the spirit of Shang -Ti (Ruler of Heaven, the personal god). He enacted new laws, so that -the government of the Empire might be regulated and strengthened, and -he was the first monarch to create Mandarins. Shun is credited with -selecting his successor Yu. - -The Emperor Yu was the first monarch of the Dynasty of Hea. According -to tradition he was the son of a star-god. It is told that one night -his mother saw a falling star and became pregnant. She afterwards -swallowed a pearl that had been dropped by a spirit. In due course she -gave birth to Yu. - -A similar myth is attached to the memory of the Irish Christian saint -Ciaran of Saigir, which was probably taken over from some ancient -Celtic hero, the son or grandson of Sirona (the aged one or -star-goddess). A Gaelic poem, believed to have been composed in the -ninth century, sets forth: - - - Liadaine (his mother) was asleep - On her bed (a saying not wrong). - When she turned her face to heaven - A star fell into her mouth. - Thence was born the marvellous child, - Ciaran of Saigir who is proclaimed to thee - And thence (a saying without pride) - Luaigne (Liadaine’s husband) said he (Ciaran) was not his son. - [439] - - -Osiris, as the son of the cow-goddess, was a son of the moon, from -which fell a fertilizing ray of light. The Egyptian deities had star -forms. As stars, they rose from malachite pools and perched in -swallow-shape on the branches of the world-tree of the Great Mother. -Hathor and Isis were personified as the star Sirius, from which fell -the tear, or drop of dew, that caused the low Nile to have increase and -rise in flood. As the morning star, the goddess was the mother of the -rising sun. Much star-lore surviving from ancient times remains to be -gleaned. - -When the star-deity’s son, the Chinese Emperor Yu, was born, he had the -mouth of a tiger. “His ears had three orifices; his head bore the -resemblance of the star Kow and Kʼeen. On his breast seemed a figure in -gem of the Great Bear.” When he grew up he reached the height of 9 -cubits, 6 inches. [440] - -The Irish hero, Cuchullin, was likewise a marvellous youngster. He had -“seven toes to each foot, and to either hand as many fingers; his eyes -were bright, with seven pupils apiece”, and so on. - -Yu was probably a historical character, to whose memory many floating -myths and legends were attached. He figures as the hero of a deluge. -One night, during his youth, he dreamt that while bathing in the Ho -(the Yellow River) he drank up the water. He also beheld a white fox -with nine tails—a particularly good omen. This was during the reign of -Yau. Shun came to know about him and showed him special favour, causing -him to be promoted until he became an influential man in the Empire. - -The gods were well pleased because he was loved by them. One day, as Yu -stood on the banks of the River Ho, gazing at the water, a god appeared -as a tall, white-faced man, with the body of a fish, like the -Babylonian Ea. He addressed Yu and said: “I am the spirit of the Ho. -Wan-ming shall regulate the waters.” - -The god then gave Yu a plan of the Ho, which gave full details -regarding the regulating of the waters, and sank into the river. - -A good deal of controversy has been engaged in as to what Yu was -supposed to have done. In the Shu King (“The Tribute of Yu” chapter) it -is stated: “Yu divided the land, following the course of the hills, he -cut down the trees. He determined the highest hills and largest rivers -(in the several regions).... The (waters of the) Hang and Wei were -brought to their proper channels.” Other rivers were similarly -controlled. [441] - -In another section Yu says: “When the floods were lifted to the -heavens, spreading far and wide, surrounding the hills and submerging -the mounds, so that the common people were bewildered and dismayed, I -availed myself of four vehicles, [442] and going up the hills I felled -the trees.... After that I drained off the nine channels, directing -them into the four seas; I dug out ditches and canals and brought them -into rivers.” [443] - -In the fourth book of the Shu King, “The Great Plan”, it is said: “I -have heard that in old time Khwan dammed up the inundating waters, and -thereby threw into disorder the arrangement of the five elements. God -was consequently roused to anger, and did not give him the Great Plan -with its nine divisions, and thus the unvarying principles (of Heaven’s -method) were allowed to go to ruin.” [444] - -In one of the Odes it is stated that “when the waters of the Deluge -spread vast abroad, Yu arranged and divided the regions of the land”. -[445] - -It has been suggested by some that Yu constructed a great embankment to -prevent the Yellow River changing its course—a task even greater than -constructing the Great Wall, and that he formed dams and opened -irrigating channels. It may be that he did much work in reclaiming land -and regulating the government of the Empire. But there can be little -doubt that the traditions surviving from his age were mixed with the -older traditions regarding the Babylonian flood. Yu is no mere canal -cutter. He hews the rocks and forms chasms between the mountains, like -Pʼan Ku, the Chinese Ptah or Indra, he constructs the embankments of -lakes, and makes channels for the great rivers, and he drains the -marshes. The grounds are made habitable and fit for cultivation. There -are even faint echoes of the Osirian legend in the stories regarding -his achievements. - -After Yu had finished his work, Heaven presented him with a -dark-coloured mace. [446] He was destined to become Emperor of the nine -provinces, we are told, but it is doubtful if the Empire was really so -large during his reign. After Shun resigned, Yu ascended the throne. -The vegetation then became luxuriant, and green dragons lay on the -borders of the Empire. Yellow dragons rose from the rivers when Yu -crossed them. His reign lasted for forty-five years. - -The sixth Emperor of the Hea Dynasty was another famous man. This was -Shao-Kʼang. His father had been murdered, and his mother took flight -and concealed herself. She gave birth to her son during her reign in -Shan-tung, when he became a herdsman. Like Horus, he was searched for -by the monarch who had usurped the throne, and he had to take to flight -and become a cook. In time he was able to collect an army and win a -great victory, which enabled him to regain the throne of his father. - -The last few Emperors of the Dynasty of Hea were weak and licentious -men. It is told of Kʼung-Kea, the fourteenth of his line, that he was -the cause of much misfortune, and caused the government to decay. Among -the terrible things he did was to eat a female dragon which had been -slain and pickled for him. Kwei, the seventeenth Emperor, was the first -to introduce men-drawn carriages, but the omens of his reign foretold -the approaching doom of the dynasty; the five planets wandered from -their courses, and stars fell like rain in his tenth year. He was -overthrown by Tʼang, the founder of the Dynasty of Shang. - -Tʼang had seven names, one of which was Li. He was descended from the -Empress Keen-tieh, who, having prayed for a son, entered a river to -bathe. A dark swallow came nigh and dropped a variegated egg from her -mouth, which the Empress swallowed. She became pregnant, and gave birth -to a son named See, who, when he grew up, was appointed by Yao, -Minister of Instruction, and was given the principality of Shang. - -Thirteen generations later the wife of one of See’s descendants gave -birth to Tʼang, the future Emperor. She had become pregnant after -seeing a white vapour passing through the moon. The child had whiskers -at birth, and his arms had four joints. He grew to the height of nine -cubits. - -Wonderful things happened to prove that Tʼang was the chosen by Heaven -to reign over the Empire. When he visited the altar of Yao, he dropped -a jewel into the water. “Lo! yellow fishes leapt up in pairs; a -blackbird followed him, and stood on the altar, where it changed into a -black gem.” There also appeared a black tortoise, which had on its back -characters intimating that Tʼang was to become the Emperor. A spirit -appeared on Mount Pei at the same time. “Another spirit, dragging a -white wolf, with a hook in his mouth, entered the court of Shang. The -virtue of metal waxed powerful; silver overflowed from the hills.” -Tʼang himself dreamed that “he went to the sky and licked it. After -this he became possessor of the Empire.” [447] - -When the Dynasty of Shang began to decline, the rulers became weak and -profligate. It is told of Wu-Yih, who reigned for only four years -(1198–1194 B.C.), he was “without any right principle. He made an image -of a man, and called it ‘the Spirit of Heaven’. Then he ‘gamed with it’ -(played dice, or at chess), causing someone to play for the image. ‘The -Spirit of Heaven’ was unsuccessful, on which he disgraced it, and made -a leather bag, which he filled with blood, and then placed aloft and -shot at (the image was probably in the bag as well), calling this -‘shooting at Heaven’.... In the fourth year of his reign, while hunting -between the Ho and the Wei, Wu-Yih suddenly died. Tsʼeen says that he -was struck dead by lightning; and people recognize in that event the -just and appropriate vengeance of Heaven which he had insulted.” [448] - -The Kafirs of Africa “play at a game of chance before their idols, and, -should chance be against them, kick and box their idols; but if, after -this correction, on pursuing their experiments they should continue -unsuccessful, they burn the hands and feet off them in the fire; should -ill fortune still attend them, they cast the idols on the ground, tread -them under foot, dash them about with such force as to break them to -pieces. Some, indeed, who show greater veneration for the images, -content themselves with fettering and binding them until they have -obtained their end; but should this not take place as early as their -impatience looks for, they fasten them to a cord and gradually let them -down into the water, even to the bottom, thus trusting to force them to -be propitious”. [449] It may be that Wu-Yih (Wuh-I) was engaged in some -such ceremony when he disgraced and tortured his god. - -A successor is remembered as the first man who used ivory chop-sticks. -The Viscount of Ke admonished him, saying: “Ivory chop-sticks will be -followed by cups of gem; and then you will be wanting to eat bears’ -paws and leopards’ wombs, and proceed to other extravagances. Your -indulgence of your desires may cost you the Empire.” This was Chou-sin, -an intemperate and extravagant tyrant. He came under the influence of a -beautiful but wicked woman, called Ta-ke, whom he married. “The most -licentious songs were composed for her amusement and the vilest dances -exhibited.” A park was laid out for her amusement. “There was a pond of -wine; the trees were hung with flesh; men and women chased each other -about quite naked.” Drinking bouts were common in the palace, and when -the princes began to rebel, new and terrible tortures were introduced. -The queen had constructed a copper pillar, which was greased all over. -It was laid above a charcoal fire, and culprits were ordered to walk on -it. When they slipped and fell into the fire, Ta-ke was “greatly -delighted”. - -The Dynasty of Shang was overthrown by King Wu, the founder of the -Dynasty of Chou. Wu was descended from the famous lady Kian Yuan, -already referred to (see Index). After treading in the toe-print (or -foot-print) made by God, she gave birth to her son, Hau Ki, suffering -no pain. Like Gilgamesh, Sargon, Romulus and Remus, Karna, and other -famous heroes, the child was exposed after birth, the lady’s husband, -according to one Chinese commentator, having been displeased with what -had taken place. In the Shih King the ode, which relates the legend of -Hau Ki, says: - - - He was placed in a narrow lane, - But the sheep and oxen protected him with loving care. - He was placed in a wide forest, - Where he was met by the wood-cutters. - He was placed on the cold ice, - And a bird screened and supported him with its wings. - When the bird went away, - Hau Ki began to wail. - His cry was long and loud, - So that his voice filled the whole way. [450] - - -The ode goes on to tell that when Hau Ki grew up he promoted husbandry -and founded the sacrifices of his house. Some of the Osirian-Tammuz -traditions were attached to his memory, but, as Legge says, “he has not -displaced the older Shan-nung, with whom, on his father’s side, he had -a connection as ‘the Father of Husbandry’”. [451] - -Before Wu became Emperor, a red man came out of the river to secure the -support of allies, and phœnixes brought messages to the effect that the -reigning dynasty was doomed. The empire could not be enjoyed by the -Shang King; “the powerful spirits of the earth have left it; all the -spirits are whisked away; the conjunction of the five planets in Fang -brightens all within the four seas”. [452] King Wen, the father of Wu, -to whom this revelation had been made, was a ruler in the west, and -knew that his son’s mission in life was the regeneration of the empire. - - - The dynasties of Hsia (Hea) and Shang - Had not satisfied God with their government; - So throughout the various States - He sought and considered - For a State on which he might confer the rule. - - God said to King Wen: - I am pleased with your conspicuous virtue, - Without noise and without display, - Without heat and without change, - Without consciousness of effort, - Following the pattern of God. - - God said to King Wen: - Take measures against hostile States, - Along with your brethren, - Get ready your engines of assault, - To attack the walls of Tsʼung. [453] - - -After Wu became the Emperor the worship of ancestors was promoted, and -dragons, tortoises, and phœnixes made regular appearances, while -vegetation flourished, and the mugwort grew so plentifully that a -palace could be erected from it. - -After Wu died spirit-birds appeared, and a mysterious bean, which was -an elixir, grew up. The Crown Prince was still a minor, and for seven -years the Duke of Chou acted as regent. Accompanied by the young king -the duke visited the Ho and the Lo. The king dropped a gem into the -water, and after day declined “rays of glory came out and shrouded all -the Ho (Yellow River), and green clouds came floating in the sky. A -green dragon came to the altar, and went away. They did the same at the -Lo, and the same thing happened.” A tortoise appeared, and on its shell -were writings that told of the fortunes of the empire till the -dynasties of Tsʼin and Han. [454] - -The tortoise-shell and stalks of a variety of grass were long used in -China for purposes of divination. What the tortoise and the grass -revealed was supposed to be the will of the spirits. Nowadays lots are -drawn, spirit-writing is believed in, and revelations are supposed to -be made when a bean symbol is tossed in the air, as is a coin in the -West; when the flat side is uppermost the tosser is supposed to receive -a refusal to his prayer. - -The Chou Dynasty was founded, according to Chinese dating, in 1122 -B.C., and lasted until 249 B.C. It has been suggested that although the -Chous claimed to be descended from one of Shun’s ministers, they were -really foreigners partly or wholly of Tartar origin. King Wu introduced -the sacrifice of human beings to the spirits of ancestors, and favoured -the magicians, whom he appointed to high positions in his court. His -empire consisted of a confederacy of feudal states, and its strength -endured so long as the central state remained sufficiently powerful to -exact tribute. - -After holding sway for about eight hundred years, the Chou Dynasty, and -with it the Feudal Age, came to an end. The State of Chin or Tsʼin, -which had been absorbing rival states, became so powerful that, in 221 -B.C., its king, Shih-huang-ti, became the first Emperor of China. He -resolved that the future history of China should begin with himself, -and issued a decree commanding that all existing literature should be -burned, except medical and agricultural books, and those dealing with -divination. Those who disobeyed his order and attempted to conceal the -forbidden books were put to death. Fortunately, however, some devoted -scholars succeeded in preserving for posterity a number of the classics -which would otherwise have perished. This extraordinary decree has cast -a shadow over the fame of the first emperor, who was undoubtedly a -great man. - -During the early years of the Chin or Tsʼin Dynasty the Great Wall to -the west and north of China was constructed, so as to protect the -empire against the barbarians who were wont to raid and pillage the -rich pastoral and agricultural lands, and impose their sway on the -industrious Chinese. “The building of the Great Wall”, says Kropotkin, -“was an event fraught with the greatest consequences, and one may say -without exaggeration that it contributed powerfully to the premature -downfall of the Roman Empire.” The Mongolian and Turki peoples who had -been attempting to subdue China were forced westward, and tribal and -racial movements were set in motion that ultimately led to the -invasions of Europe by nomadic fighting pastoralists from Asia. [455] - -The Great Wall is said to have been built in ten years in a straight -line of about 1200 miles, the average width at the base being 25 feet, -and the average height 30 feet. Strong “block-house” towers were -constructed in the wall for the accommodation of bodies of troops. - -It was during this Dynasty that China and related forms of that name, -based on “Tsʼin” or “Chin”, came into use in the west. The dynasties -that followed the Chin or Tsʼin (221–200 B.C.) are as follows: - - - The Han Dynasty 200 B.C. – 200 A.D. - The Minor Dynasties 200 A.D. – 600 ,, - The Tʼang Dynasty 600 ,, – 900 ,, - The Sung Dynasty 900 ,, – 1200 ,, - The Mongol Dynasty 1200 ,, – 1368 ,, - The Ming Dynasty 1368 ,, – 1644 ,, - The Manchu Dynasty 1644 ,, – 1900 ,, - - -The evidence afforded by Chinese archæology, and Chinese religious -beliefs, symbols, and customs tends to emphasize that the early -inhabitants of Shensi province were strongly influenced by -culture-drifts from the mid-Asian colonies of the ancient -civilizations. Hunting and pastoral peoples adopted the agricultural -mode of life, and with it the elements of a complex civilization which -had its origin in those areas where grew wild the cereals first -cultivated by man. - -The Chinese are a mixed race. In the north the oblique-eyed, -yellow-skinned element predominates. Like the Semites, who overran -Sumeria and adopted Sumerian modes of thought and life, so did the -Mongoloid tribes overrun northern China and became a sedentary people. -Petty kingdoms grew up, and in time found it necessary to unite against -the hordes who invaded and plundered their lands. The invaders included -Siberian nomads, Manchus, Mongolo-Turki peoples, the Sacæ (western -Scythians), and the blue-eyed Usuns or Wusuns who are believed to have -been congeners of the kurgan-builders of southern Siberia and southern -Russia. It was against Manchus and Mongols that the Great Wall was -erected, after northern China had been united as a result of those -conquests which made petty kings over-lords of ever-widening areas. -During the Han Dynasty southern China was subdued. There the -brownish-skinned Man-tze stock is most in prominence. Ancient -Indonesian intrusions have left their impress on the racial blend. - -Along the sea-coasts of China the sea-traders exercised their -influence, and in time their mode of life was adopted by the conquerors -from the inland parts of the growing empire. The types of vessels used -by the ancient Egyptians, the Phœnicians, the peoples of the Persian -Gulf, the Indians, Burmese, Indonesians, and Polynesians became common -on the Chinese coast and rivers. Maritime enterprise was stimulated, as -we have seen, by the Far Eastern Columbuses who searched for the elixir -of life and the fabled “Islands of the Blest”. “The Chinese,” writes -Mr. Kebel Chatterton, “in their own independent way went on developing -from the early Egyptian models (of ships), and have been not inaptly -called the Dutchmen of the east in their nautical tendencies.” [456] It -is believed that they were the inventors of the rudder, which took the -place of the ancient steering-oar. - -Along their coastal sea-routes the Chinese were brought into touch with -southern peoples, with whom they traded. Chinese records throw light on -the articles that were in demand at markets. “In Nan-čao”, [457] an -ancient text reveals, “there are people from Pʼo-lo-men (Burma), Pose -(Malay), Še-po (Java), Pʼo-ni (Borneo), Kʼun-lun (a Malayan country), -and of many other heretic tribes, meeting at one trading-mart, where -pearls and precious stones in great number are exchanged for gold and -musk.” [458] The early traders by sea and land attached great -importance to medicines and elixirs, and precious stones and metals, -and pearls. - -The overland trade-routes through Iran brought the Chinese into direct -touch with Lesser Fu-lin (Syria), and ultimately with Greater Fu-lin -(the Byzantine Empire). The vine and other plants with ancient -religious associations were imported into China, and the Chinese peach -tree reached Europe. With the peach went silk. “It is not impossible,” -says Laufer, “that these two gifts were transmitted by the -silk-dealers, first to Iran (in the second or first century B.C.), and -thence to Armenia, Greece, and Rome (in the first century A.D.).” [459] - -As the cuckoos hatched in the nests of hedge-sparrows, meadow-pipits, -and wagtails overcome and eject the offspring of their foster-parents, -so did the vigorous nomadic peoples who absorbed the elements of -ancient civilizations overcome and eject the offspring of their -“foster-parents”. The Babylonian Empire perished, and Irania, which had -been stimulated by it to adopt civilized conditions of life, became, in -turn, the nursery of vigorous states. Recent discoveries have brought -to light evidence which shows that the Iranian peoples “once covered an -immense territory, extending all over Chinese Turkestan, migrating into -China, coming into contact with the Chinese, and exerting a profound -influence on nations of other stock, notably Turks and Chinese. The -Iranians were the great mediators between the West and the East, -conveying the heritage of Hellenistic ideas to central and eastern -Asia, and transmitting valuable plants and goods of China to the -Mediterranean area.” [460] - -The laws of supply and demand operated then as now on the trade-routes, -which brought communities of regular traders into touch after they had -cultivated plants or manufactured articles to offer in exchange for -what they received. Before these routes could, however, have hummed -with commerce, a considerable advance in civilization had to be -achieved. States had to be organized and laws enforced for the -protection of property and property owners. - -The Iranians, who obtained silk from China, were not the originators of -the culture represented by this commodity; they simply stimulated the -demand for silk. Chinese civilization dates back to the time when the -early prospectors and explorers came into touch with backward peoples, -and introduced new modes and conditions of life. These pioneers did not -necessarily move along the routes that were ultimately favoured by -merchants, nor even those followed by migrating tribes in quest of -green pastures. They wandered hither and thither searching for gold and -gems and herbs, sowing as they went the seeds of civilization, which -did not, however, always fall on good ground. But in those places where -the seed took root and the prospects of development were favourable, -organized communities gradually grew up with an assured food-supply. -This was the case in Shensi province, in which was settled the “little -leaven” that ultimately “leavened the whole lump” of northern China. It -was after the empire became united under the Tsʼin Dynasty that -organized trade with the west assumed great dimensions, and was -regularly maintained under assured protection. - -Myths as well as herbs and gems and garments were exchanged by traders. -With the glittering jewel was carried the religious lore associated -with it; with the curative herb went many a fable of antiquity. Laufer -has shown in his The Diamond how Hellenistic lore connected with that -gem crept into Chinese writings. It is consequently possible to trace -in the mosaic of Chinese beliefs and mythology certain of the cultural -elements that met and blended and were developed on the banks of the -Yellow River. - -Elixirs and charms were in great demand in all centres of ancient -civilizations. It can be held, therefore, that behind the commerce of -early times, as behind the early religious systems, lay the haunting -dread of death. Gems warded off evil, and imparted vitality to those -who possessed them, and curative herbs renewed youth by restoring -health. Even the dead were benefited by them. Progress was thus, in a -sense, increasing efficiency in the quest of longevity in this world -and the next. - -In China, as elsewhere, the dread of death, as expressed in the -religious system, promoted the arts and crafts; artists, engravers, -architects, builders, jewellers, and scribes, as well as priests and -traders, were engaged in the unceasing conflict against the all-dreaded -enemy of mankind, the God of Death. The incentive that caused men to -undertake perilous journeys by land and sea in quest of elixirs, to -live laborious lives in workshops and temples, and to grasp at the -mythical straws of hope drifted along trade-routes from other lands, -was the same as that which sent the Babylonian Gilgamesh to explore the -dark tunnel of the Mountain of Mashu and cross the Sea of Death, and it -is found on the ninth tablet of the most ancient epic in the world: - - - Gilgamesh wept bitterly, and he lay stretched out upon the ground. - He cried: “Let me not die like Ea-bani! - Grief hath entered into my body, and - I fear death....” [461] - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -MYTHS AND DOCTRINES OF TAOISM - - Taoism and Buddhism—The Tao—Taoism and Confucianism—Lao Tze and - Osiris—The “Old Boy” Myth—Lao Tze goes West—Kwang Tze—Prince who - found the Water of Life—The “Great Mother” in Taoism—Taoism and - Egyptian Ptahism—Doctrine of the Logos—Indian Doctrines in - China—Taoism and Brahmanism—Metal Searchers as Carriers of Egyptian - and Babylonian Cultures—The Tao and Water—The Tao as “Mother of All - Things”—Fertilizing Dew and Creative Tears—The Tao and Artemis—The - Gate Symbol—Tao and Good Order—The World’s Ages in Taoism—Taoists - rendered Invulnerable like Achilles, &c.—The Tao as the Elixir of - Life—Breathing Exercises—The Impersonal God—Lao Tze and Disciples - deified and worshipped. - - -There are three religions in China, or, as native scholars put it, -“three Teachings”, namely Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Pure -Taoism, as taught by Lao Tze, is, like the Buddhism of its founder, -Siddhartha Gautama, metaphysical and mystical. It is similarly based on -a vague and somewhat bewildering conception of the origin of life and -the universe; it recognizes a creative and directing force which, at -the beginning, caused Everything to come out of Nothing. This force, -when in action, is called the Tao. It is so called from the time when -it began to move, to create, to cause Unity to be. The Tao existed -before then, but it was nameless, and utterly incomprehensible. It -existed, some writers say, even when there was nothing. Others go the -length of asserting that it existed before there was nothing. We can -understand what is meant by “nothing”, but we cannot understand what -the Nameless was before it was manifested as the Tao. - -The Tao is not God; it is impersonal. Taoists must make unquestioning -submission to the Tao, which must be allowed to have absolute sway in -the individual, in society, in the world at large. Taoism does not, -like Buddhism, yearn for extinction, dissolution, or ultimate loss of -identity and consciousness in the nebulous Nirvana. Nor does it, like -Buddhism, teach that life is not worth living—that it is sorrowful to -be doomed to be reborn. Rather, it conceives of a perfect state of -existence in this world, and of prolonged longevity in the next. All -human beings can live happily if they become like little children, -obeying the law (Tao) as a matter of course, following in “the way” -(Tao) without endeavouring to understand, or having any desire to -understand, what the Tao is. The obedient, unquestioning state of mind -is reached by means of Inaction—mental Inaction. The Tao drifts the -meritorious individual towards perfection, out of darkness into light. -Those who submit to the Tao know nothing of ethical ideals; they are in -no need of definite beliefs. It is unnecessary to teach virtue when all -are virtuous; it is unnecessary to have rites and ceremonies when all -are perfect; it is unnecessary to be concerned about evil when evil -ceases to exist. The same idea prevailed among the Brahmanic sages of -India, whose Krita or Perfect Age was without gods or devils. Being -perfect, the people required no religion. - -Confucianism is not concerned with metaphysical abstractions, or with -that sense of the Unity of all things and all beings in the One, which -is summed up in the term “Mysticism”. It maintains a somewhat agnostic, -but not irreligious frame of mind, confessing inability to deal with -the spirit world, or to understand, or theorize about, its mysteries. -It recognizes the existence of God and of spirits. “Respect the -spirits,” said Confucius, “but keep them at a distance....” He also -said: “Wisdom has been imparted to me. If God were to destroy this -wisdom (his system of ethics) the generations to come could not inherit -it.” - -Whether or not Confucius ever heard of the system of Lao Tze is -uncertain. If he did, it certainly made no appeal to him. His own -system of instruction was intensely practical. It was concerned mainly -with ethical and political ideals—with political morality. He was no -believer in Inaction. The salvation of mankind, according to his -system, could be achieved by strict adherence to the ideals of right -living and right thinking, and a robust and vigorous application of -them in the everyday life of individuals and the State. - -The reputed founder or earliest teacher of Taoism was Lao Tze, about -whom little or nothing is known. He is believed to have been born in -604 B.C., and to have died soon after 532 B.C. Confucius was born in -551 B.C., and died in 479 B.C. There are Chinese traditions that the -two sages met on at least one occasion, but these are not credited by -Western or modern native Chinese scholars. Confucius makes no direct -reference to Lao Tze in his writings. - -Lao Tze [462] means “Old Boy”, as Osiris, in his Libyan form, is said -to mean the “Old Man”. [463] He was given this name by his followers, -because “his mother carried him in her womb for seventy-two years, so -that when he was at length cut out of it his hair was already white”. -Julius Cæsar was reputed to have been born in like manner; so was the -Gaelic hero, Goll MacMorna, who, as we gather from Dunbar, was known in -the Lowlands as well as the Highlands; the poet makes one of his -characters exclaim, - - - My fader, meikle Gow mas Mac Morn, - Out of his moderis (mother’s) wame was shorn. - - -The same legend clings to the memory of Thomas the Rhymer, who is -referred to in Gaelic as “the son of the dead woman” (mac na mna -marbh), because his mother died before the operation was performed. -Shakespeare’s Macduff “was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped”. -[464] - -It may be that this widespread birth-story had its origin in Egypt. -Plutarch, in his treatise on the Mystery of Osiris and Isis, tells that -Set (the ancient god who became a devil) was “born neither at the -proper time, nor by the right place”, but that he “forced his way -through a wound which he had made in his mother’s side”. - -Different forms of the legend are found in China. According to the -traditions preserved in the “Bamboo Books”, which are of uncertain -antiquity, the Emperor Yao was born fourteen months after he was -conceived, the Emperor Yu emerged from his mother’s back, and the -Emperor Yin from his mother’s chest. The Aryo-Indian hero, Karna, a -prominent figure in the Mahábhárata, emerged from one of his mother’s -ears; he was a son of Surya, the sun-god. - -According to Taoist lore (after Buddhism and Taoism were partly fused -in China), Lao Tze appeared from time to time in China during the early -dynasties in different forms, and with different names. He had the -personal knowledge of the decline of the influence of the Tao from the -Perfect Age. After Fu-hi and other sovereigns disturbed the harmonies -of heaven and earth, “the manners of the people, from being good and -simple, became bad and mean”. He came to cleanse the stream of -spiritual life at its source, and was ultimately reborn as Lao Tze, -under the Plum Tree of Longevity, having been conceived under the -influence of a star in the constellation of the Great Bear. Li (plum -tree) was his surname. - -Lao Tze is said to have held a position in the Royal Library of Kau. -When he perceived that the State showed signs of decadence, he resolved -to leave the world, like the Indian heroes, Yudhishthira and his -brothers. He went westwards, apparently believing, as did Confucius, -“that the Most Holy was to be found in the West”. On entering the pass -of Hsien-Ku (in modern Ling-pao, Ho-nan province) the Warden, Yin Hsi, -a Taoist, welcomed the sage and set before him a dish of tea. Lao Tze -sat down to drink tea with his friend. This was the beginning of the -tea-drinking custom between host and guest in China. [465] - -Said the Warden, “And so you are going into retirement. I pray you to -write me a book before you leave.” - -Lao Tze consented, and composed the Tao Teh King, [466] which is -divided into two parts, and contains over 5000 words. - -When he had finished writing, he gave the manuscript to the Warden, -bade him farewell, and went on his way. It is not known where he died. - -The most prominent of Lao Tze’s disciples was Kwang Tze, who lived in -the fourth century B.C. Sze-ma Khien, the earliest Chinese historian of -note, who died about 85 B.C., says that Kwang Tze wrote “with purpose -to calumniate the system of Confucius and exalt the mysteries of Lao -Tze”. But although he wrote much, “no one could give practical -application to his teaching”. Other famous Taoist writers were Han Fei -Tze, who committed suicide in 233 B.C., and Liu An, prince of Hwai-nan, -and grandson of the founder of the Han Dynasty, who took his own life -in 122 B.C., having become involved in a treasonable plot. - -Another form of the legend is that this prince discovered the Water of -Life. As soon as he drank of it, his body became so light that he -ascended to the Celestial Regions in broad daylight and was seen by -many. As he rose he let fall the cup from which he had drunk. His dogs -lapped up the water and followed him. Then his poultry drank from the -cup and likewise rose in the air and vanished from sight. Apparently it -was not only the poor Indians “with untutored minds” who thought their -dogs (not to speak of their hens) would be admitted to the “equal sky”, -there to bear them company. - -It is generally believed by Oriental scholars that both Taoism and -Confucianism are of greater antiquity than their reputed founders. -Confucius insisted that he was “a transmitter, not a maker”, and Lao -Tze is found to refer to “an ancient”, “a sage”, and “a writer on war”, -as if he had been acquainted with writings that have not come down to -us. - -There is internal evidence in the Taoistic texts of Lao Tze and Kwang -Tze that the idea of the Tao had an intimate association in early times -with the ancient Cult of the West—the cult of the mother-goddess who -had her origin in water. The priestly theorists instructed the -worshippers of the Great Mother that at the beginning she came into -existence as an egg, or a lotus bloom from which rose the Creator, the -sun-god, or that she was a Pot containing water from which all things -have come—the pot being the inexhaustible womb of Nature, and the -symbol of the Great Mother-goddess. - -But they themselves were not satisfied with this myth. They recognized -that there was at work at the beginning a force—a law which “opened the -way”, a phrase which may have had a physical significance but -ultimately became a mystical one. In Chinese Taoism, this force is the -Tao which is manifested in order, stability, and rightness; it is -Truth. - -The Ancient Egyptian philosophers believed, at as remote a time as the -Pyramid Texts period (c. 2500 B.C.), that everything had origin in -Mind. The Universe was the idea of Ptah, the “opener”; he conceived it -in his “Heart” (Mind); when he expressed the idea, the Universe came -into existence. - - - Ptah, the great, is the mind and tongue of the gods.... - It (the mind) is the one that bringeth forth every successful - issue. - It is the tongue which repeats the thought of the mind: - It (the mind) was the fashioner of all gods... - At a time when every divine word - Came into existence by the thought of the mind, - And the command of the tongue. [467] - - -Although Breasted first thought that this fragment was a survival from -the Empire period (c. 1500 B.C.), he has since become convinced, like -Erman, that it must, on the basis of orthography, be relegated to the -Pyramid Age. - -“Is there not here,” Breasted asks, “the primeval germ of the later -Alexandrian doctrine of the ‘Logos’?” [468] - -In India Brahma (neuter) was the World Soul, “that subtle essence” -which, according to the composers of the Upanishads, exists in -everything that is, but cannot be seen. The personal Brahma, as -Prajapati, arose, at the beginning, from this impersonal World Soul. -“Mind (or Soul, manas),” an Indian sage has declared, “was created from -the non-existent. Mind created Prajapati. Prajapati created offspring. -All this, whatever exists, rests absolutely on mind.” - -Another Indian sage writes: - - - “At first the Universe was not anything. There was neither sky, nor - earth, nor air. Being non-existent, it resolved, ‘Let me be.’ It - became fervent. From that fervour smoke was produced. It again - became fervent. From the fervour fire was produced. Afterwards the - fire became ‘rays’ [469] and the ‘rays’ condensed into a cloud, - producing the sea. A magical formula (Dasahotri) was created. - Prajapati is the Dasahotri.” - - -When the Rev. Dr. Chalmers of Canton translated the Taoist Texts into -English in 1868 [470], he wrote: “I have thought it better to leave the -word ‘Tao’ untranslated, both because it has given the name to the -sect—the Taoists—and because no English word is its exact equivalent. -Three terms suggest themselves—‘the Way’, ‘Reason’, and ‘the Word’; but -they are all liable to objection. Were we guided by etymology, ‘the -Way’ would come nearest to the original, and in one or two passages the -idea of a Way seems to be in the term; but this is too materialistic to -serve the purpose of a translation. ‘Reason’ again seems to be more -like a quality or attribute of some conscious Being than Tao is. I -would translate it by ‘the Word’ in the sense of the Logos, but this -would be like settling the question which I wish to leave open, viz. -what amount of resemblance there is between the Logos of the New -Testament and this Tao, which is its nearest representative in -Chinese.” - -The New Testament doctrine of the Logos may here be reproduced by way -of comparison, the quotation being from Dr. Weymouth’s idiomatic -translation, which may be compared with the authorized versions: [471] - - - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the - Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came - into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing that exists came - into being. In Him was Life, and that Life was the Light of men. - The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not - overpowered it. - - There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a - witness, in order that he might give testimony concerning the - Light—so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, - but he existed that he might give testimony concerning the Light. - The true Light was that which illumines every man by its coming - into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into - existence through Him, and the world did not recognize Him. - - -The meaning of the word “Tao”, says Max Von Brandt, “has never been -explained or understood,” and he adds, “Like the Hellenistic ‘Logos’, -it is at once the efficient and the material cause.” [472] Professor G. -Foot Moore says, “Tao is literally ‘way’; like corresponding words in -many languages, ‘course’, ‘method’, ‘order’, ‘norm’.” [473] Archdeacon -Hardwick [474] was “disposed to argue” that the system of Taoism was -founded on the idea of “some power resembling the ‘Nature’ of modern -speculators. The indefinite expression ‘Tao’ was adopted to denominate -an abstract cause, or the initial principle of life and order, to which -worshippers were able to assign the attributes of immateriality, -eternity, immensity, invisibility.” - -Canon Farrar has written in this connection: “We have long personified -under the name of Nature the sum total of God’s law as observed in the -physical world; and now the notion of Nature as a distinct, living, -independent entity seems to be ineradicable alike from our literature -and our systems of philosophy.” [475] - -Dr. Legge comments on this passage: “But it seems to me that this -metaphorical use of the word ‘nature’ for the Cause and Ruler of it -implies the previous notion of Him, that is, of God, in the mind.” -[476] - -Dr. Legge notes that in Lao Tze’s treatise “Tao appears as the -spontaneously operating cause of all movement in the phenomena of the -universe.... Tao is a phenomenon, not a positive being, but a mode of -being.” [477] - -Others have rendered Tao as “God”. But “the old Taoists had no idea of -a personal God,” says Dr. Legge. - -De Groot [478] refers to Tao as “the ‘Path’, the unalterable course of -Nature,” and adds that the “reverential awe of the mysterious -influences of Nature is the fundamental principle of an ancient -religious system usually styled by foreigners Tao-ism.” - -The idea of the Chinese Tao resembles somewhat that of the Indian -Brahma (neuter). Lao Tze says: “It (Tao) was undetermined and -perfected, existing before the heaven and the earth. Peaceful was it -and incomprehensible, alone and unchangeable, filling everything, the -inexhaustible mother of all things. I know not its name, and therefore -I call it Tao. I seek after its name and I call it the Great. In -greatness it flows on for ever, it retires and returns. Therefore is -the Tao great.” - -In his chapter “The Manifestation of the Mystery”, Lao Tze says: - - - “We look at it (Tao), and we do not see it, and we name it ‘the - Equable’. - - “We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it ‘the - Inaudible’. - - “We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name it ‘the - Subtle’. - - “With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of - description; and hence we blend them together and obtain ‘The - One’.” - - -Some scholars, like Joseph Edkins and Victor von Strauss, have -contended that Lao Tze was attempting to express the ideas of Jehovah -in Hebrew theology. Others incline to the belief that the influence of -Indian Brahmanic speculations had reached China at an early period and -inaugurated the intuitional teaching found in Lao Tze’s treatise. - -The idea of the first cause had arisen in India before the close of the -Vedic Age. At the beginning: - - - There was neither existence nor non-existence, - The Kingdom of air, nor the sky beyond. - - What was there to contain, to cover, in— - Was it but vast, unfathomed depths of water? - - There was no death there, nor Immortality: - No sun was there, dividing day from night. - - Then was there only THAT, resting within itself. - Apart from it, there was not anything. - - At first within the darkness veiled in darkness, - Chaos unknowable, the All lay hid. - - Till straitway from the formless void made manifest - By the great power of heat was born the germ. [479] - - -The Great Unknown was by the later Vedic poets referred to by the -interrogative pronoun “What?” (Ka). - -In the Indian Khandogya Upanishad, the sage tells a pupil to break open -a fruit. He then asks, “What do you see?” and receiving the reply, -“Nothing”, says, “that subtle essence which you do not perceive there, -of that very essence this great Nyagrodha tree exists. Believe me, my -son, that which is the subtle essence, in it all that exists has -itself. It is the True. It is self; and thou, my son, art it.” [480] - -The idea of the oneness and unity of all things is the basic principle -of mysticism. - - - There is true knowledge. Learn thou it is this: - To see one changeless Life in all the lives, - And in the Separate, One Inseparable. [481] - - -Dr. Legge in his commentary on The Texts of Taoism, asks his readers to -mark well the following predicates of the Tao: - - - “Before there were heaven and earth, from of old, there It was - securely existing. From It came the mysterious existence of - spirits; from It the mysterious existence of Ti (God). It produced - heaven. It produced earth.” [482] - - -Lao Tze had probably never been in India, but that passage from his -writings might well have been composed by one of the Brahmanic sages -who composed the Upanishads. - -The explanation may be that in Brahmanism and Taoism we have traces of -the influence of Babylonian and Egyptian schools of thought. No direct -proof is available in this connection. It is possible, however, that -the ancient sages who gave oral instruction to their pupils were the -earliest missionaries on the trade-routes. The search for wealth had, -as has been shown, a religious incentive. It is unlikely, therefore, -that only miners and traders visited distant lands in which precious -metals and jewels were discovered. Expeditions, such as those of the -Egyptian rulers that went to Punt for articles required in the temples, -were essentially religious expeditions. It was in the temples that the -demand for gold and jewels was stimulated, and each temple had its -workshops with their trade secrets. The priests of Egypt were the -dyers, and they were the earliest alchemists [483] of whom we have -knowledge. Such recipes as are found recorded in the Leyden papyrus -were no doubt kept from the common people. - -Associated with the search for metals was the immemorial quest of the -elixir of life, which was undoubtedly a priestly business—one that -required the performance of religious ceremonies of an elaborate -character. Metals and jewels, as we have seen, as well as plants, -contained the “soul substance” that was required to promote health and -to ensure longevity in this world and in the next. It was, no doubt, -the priestly prospectors, and not the traders and working miners, who -first imparted to jade its religious value as a substitute for gold and -jewels. - -When the searchers for wealth introduced into India and China the god -Ptah’s potter’s wheel they may well have introduced too the doctrine of -the Logos, found in the pyramid-age Ptah hymn quoted above, in which -the World Soul is the “mind” of the god, and the active principle “the -tongue” that utters “the Word”. - -If they did so—the hypothesis does not seem to be improbable—it may be -that as Buddhism was in India mixed with Naga worship, and was imported -into Tibet and China as a fusion of metaphysical speculations and crude -idolatrous beliefs and practices, the priestly philosophies of Egypt -and Babylonia were similarly associated with the debris of primitive -ideas and ceremonies when they reached distant lands. As a matter of -fact, it is found that in both these culture centres this fusion was -maintained all through their histories. Ptah might be the “Word” to the -priests, but to the common people he remained the artisan-god for -thousands of years—the god who hammered out the heavens and set the -world in order—a form of Shu who separated the heavens from the earth, -as did Pʼan Ku in China. - -In India and China, as in ancient Egypt, the doctrine of the Logos, in -its earliest and vaguest form, was associated with the older doctrine -that life and the universe emerged at the beginning from the womb of -the mother-goddess, who was the active principle in water, or the -personification of that principle. - -In one of the several Indian creation myths, Prajapati emerges, like -the Egyptian Sun-god Horus, from the lotus-bloom floating on the -primordial waters. The lotus is the flower form of the Great Mother, -who in Egypt is Hathor. - -Another myth tells that after the heat caused the rays to arise, and -the rays caused a cloud to form, and the cloud became water, the -Self-Existent Being (here the Great Father) created a seed. He flung -the seed into the waters, and it became a golden egg. From the egg came -forth the personal Brahma (Prajapati). [484] Because Brahma came from -the waters (Narah), and they were his first home or path (ayana), he is -called Narayana. [485] - -Here we have the “path” or “way”, the Chinese Tao in one of its phases. - -When the Tao (neuter) became “active”, it did not manifest itself as a -Great Father, however, but as a Great Mother. The passive Tao is -nameless; the active Tao has a name. Lao Tze’s great treatise, The Tao -Teh King, opens: - - - “The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. - The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name, - (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven - and earth; - (Conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things.” - [486] - - -The creation myths embedded in the writings of Lao Tze are exceedingly -vague. - - - “The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three - produced All things. All things leave behind them the Obscurity - (out of which they have come), and go forward to embrace the - Brightness (into which they have emerged), while they are - harmonized by the Breath of Vacancy.” [487] - - -Another passage seems to indicate that the One, first produced, was the -Mother, and that the two produced by her were Heaven and Earth—the god -of the sky and the goddess of the earth: - - - “Heaven and Earth (under the guidance of Tao) unite together and - send down the sweet dew, which, without the direction of men, - reaches equally everywhere as of its own accord.” [488] - - -The fertilizing dew, like the creative tears of Egyptian and Indian -deities, gave origin to earth and its plants, and to all living things. -But no such details are given by Lao Tze. He is content to suggest that -the Tao as “the Honoured Ancestor” appears to have been before God. - -In his chapter, “The Completion of Material Forms”, he refers to the -female valley spirit. “The valley,” says Legge, “is used metaphorically -as a symbol of ‘emptiness’ or ‘vacancy’, and the ‘spirit of the valley’ -is ‘the female mystery’—the Tao which is ‘the mother of all things’.” - -Chalmers renders Chapter VI as follows: - - - “The Spirit (like perennial spring) of the Valley never dies. This - (Spirit) I call the abyss-mother. The passage of the abyss-mother I - call the root of heaven and earth. Ceaselessly it seems to endure, - and it is employed without effort.” - - -Dr. Legge’s rendering is in verse: - - - The valley spirit dies not, aye the same; - The female mystery thus do we name. - Its gate, from which at first they issued forth, - Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth. - Long and unbroken does its power remain, - Used gently, and without the touch of pain. [489] - - -The symbolism of this short chapter is of special interest, and seems -to throw light on the origin of the myths that were transformed by Lao -Tze into philosophical abstractions. We find the “female mystery” or -“abyss mother” is at once a gate (or passage) and a “root”. The Greek -goddess Artemis was both. She was the guardian of the portals, and was -herself the portals; she was the giver of the mugwort (the Chinese knew -it), and was herself the mugwort (Artemisia), as Dr. Rendel Harris has -shown. [490] She opened the gate of birth as the goddess of birth, her -“key” being the mugwort, and she opened the portal of death as the -goddess of death. As the goddess of riches she guarded the door of the -treasure-house, and she possessed the “philosopher’s stone”, which -transmuted base metals into gold. Artemis was a form of the Egyptian -Hathor, Aphrodite being another specialized form. Hathor was associated -with the lotus and other water plants, and was Nub, the lady of gold, -who gave her name to Nubia; she was the goddess of miners, and -therefore of the Sinaitic peninsula; she was the “gate” of birth and -death. The monumental gateways of Egypt, India, China, and Japan appear -to have been originally goddess portals. [491] - -The goddess of the early prospectors and miners was, as has been said, -a water-goddess. In the writings of Lao Tze, his female and active Tao, -“the Mother of all Things”, is closely associated with water. The -chapter entitled “The Placid and Contented Nature” refers to water, and -water as “an illustration of the way of the Tao, is”, Dr. Legge -comments, “repeatedly employed by Lao Tze”. - - - “The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of - water appears in its benefiting all things.” [492] - - -Lao Tze, dealing with “The Attribute of Humility”, connects “water” -with “women”: - - - “What makes a great state is its being (like a low-lying - down-flowing stream); it becomes the centre to which tend (all the - small states) under heaven. - - “(To illustrate from) the case of all females:—the female always - overcomes the male by her stillness.” [493] - - -Water is soft, but it wears down the rocks. - - - “The softest thing in the world dashes against and overcomes the - hardest; that which has no (substantial) existence enters where - there is no crevice.” [494] - - -The Tao acts like water, and (The Tao) “which originated all under the -sky is”, Lao Tze says, “to be considered as the mother of all of them. -When the mother is found, we know what her children should be.” [495] - -A passage which has puzzled commentators is, - - - “Great, it (the Tao) passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it - becomes remote. Having become remote, it returns. Therefore the Tao - is great.” [496] - - -The reference may be to the circle of water which surrounds the world. -It is possible Lao Tze had it in mind, seeing that he so often compares -the action of the Tao to that of water—the Tao that produces and -nourishes “by its outflowing operation”. - -Like “soul substance”, the Tao is found in all things that live, and in -all things that exercise an influence on life. The Tao is the absolute, -or, as the Brahmanic sages declared, the “It” which cannot be seen—the -“It” in the fruit of the tree, the “It” in man. Lao Tze refers to the -“It” as the “One”. - -In his chapter, “The Origin of the Law”, he writes: - - - The things which from of old have got the One (the Tao) are: - - Heaven, which by it is bright and pure; - Earth endowed thereby firm and sure; - Spirits with powers by it supplied; - Valleys kept full throughout their void; - All creatures which through it do live; - Princes and Kings who from it get - The model which to all they give. [497] - - -The Tao may produce and nourish all things and bring them to maturity, -but it “exercises no control over them”. [498] - -Man must begin by taking control of himself: he must make use of the -light that is within him. The wise man “does not dare to act” of his -accord. When he has acted so that he reaches a state of inaction, the -Tao will then drift him into a state of perfection. He must guard the -mother (Tao) in himself by attending to the breath. “The management of -the breath,” says Dr. Legge, “is the mystery of the esoteric Buddhism -and Taoism.” [499] “When one knows,” Tao Tze has written, “that he is -his mother’s child, and proceeds to guard (the qualities of) the mother -that belongs to him, to the end of his life he will be free from peril. -Let him keep his mouth closed, and shut up the portals (of his -nostrils), and all his life he will be exempt from laborious exertion.” -[500] - -By giving “undivided attention to the breath” (the vital breath), and -bringing it “to the utmost degree of pliancy”, he “can become as a -(tender) babe. When he has cleansed away the most mysterious sights (of -his imagination), he can become without a flaw.” [501] - -The doctrine of Inaction pervades the teaching of Lao Tze, which is -quite fatalistic. Salvation depends on the individual and the state -allowing the Tao to “flow” freely. - - - “If the Empire is governed according to Tao, evil spirits will not - be worshipped as good ones. - - “If evil spirits are not worshipped as good ones, good ones will do - no injury. Neither will the Sages injure the people. Each one will - not injure the other. And if neither injures the other, there will - be mutual profit.” - - -A native commentator writes in this connection: - - - “Spirits do not hurt the natural. If people are natural, spirits - have no means of manifesting themselves, and if spirits do not - manifest themselves, we are not conscious of their existence as - such. Likewise, if we are not conscious of the existence of spirits - as such, we must be equally unconscious of the existence of - inspired teachers as such; and to be unconscious of the existence - of spirits and of inspired teachers is the very essence of Tao.” - [502] - - -The scholarly sage thus reached the conclusion that it is a blessed -thing to know nothing, to be ignorant. Good order is necessary for the -workings of the Tao, and good order is secured by abstinence from -action, and by keeping the people in a state of simplicity and -ignorance, so that they may be restful and child-like in their -unquestioning and complete submission to the Tao. “The state of -vacancy,” says Lao Tze, “should be brought to the utmost degree.... -When things (in the vegetable world) have displayed their luxuriant -growth, we see each of them return to its root. This returning to their -root is what we call the state of stillness.” [503] - -There would be no virtues if there were no vices, no robberies if there -were no wealth. - -“If,” the Taoists argued, “we would renounce our sageness and discard -our wisdom, it would be better for the people a hundredfold. If we -could renounce our benevolence and discard our rightness, the people -would again become filial and kindly. If we could renounce our artful -contrivances and discard our scheming for gain, there would be no -thieves and robberies.” [504] - -Here we meet with the doctrine of the World’s Ages, already referred -to. Men were perfect to begin with, because, as Lao Tze says, “they did -not know they were ruled”. “In the age of perfect virtue,” Kwang Tze -writes, “they attached no value to wisdom.... They were upright and -correct, without knowing that to be so was righteousness; they loved -one another, without knowing that to do so was benevolence; they were -honest and leal-hearted without knowing that it was loyalty; they -fulfilled their engagements, without knowing that to do so was good -faith; in their simple movements they employed the services of one -another, without thinking that they were conferring or receiving any -gift. Therefore their actions left no trace, and there was no record of -their affairs.” - -To this state of perfection, Lao Tze wished his fellow-countrymen to -return. - -That the idea of the Tao originated among those who went far and wide, -searching for the elixir of life, is suggested by Lao Tze’s chapter, -“The Value Set on Life”. He refers to those “whose movements tend to -the land (or place) of death”, and asks, “For what reason?” The answer -is, “Because of their excessive endeavours to perpetuate life”. - -He continues: - - - “But I have heard that he who is skilful in managing the life - entrusted to him for a time travels on the land without having to - shun rhinoceros or tiger, and enters a host without having to avoid - buff coat or sharp weapon. The rhinoceros finds no place in him - into which to thrust its horn, nor the tiger a place in which to - fix its claws, nor the weapon a place to admit its point. And for - what reason? Because there is in him no place of death.” [505] - - -It would appear that Lao Tze was acquainted not only with more ancient -writers regarding the Tao, but with traditions regarding heroes -resembling Achilles, Siegfried, and Diarmid, whose bodies had been -rendered invulnerable by dragon’s blood, or the water of a river in the -Otherworld; or, seeing that each of these heroes had a spot which was a -“place of death”, with traditions regarding heroes who, like El Kedir, -plunged in the “Well of Life” and became immortals, whose bodies could -not be injured by man or beast. The El Kedirs of western Asia and -Europe figure in legends as “Wandering Jews” or invulnerable heroes, -including those who, like Diarmid, found the “Well of Life”, and those -who had knowledge of charms that rendered them invisible or protected -them against wounds. The Far Eastern stories regarding the inhabitants -of the “Islands of the Blest”, related in a previous chapter, may be -recalled in this connection. Having drunk the waters of the “Well of -Life” and eaten of the “fungus of immortality”, they were rendered -immune to poisons, and found it impossible to injure themselves. When, -therefore, we find Lao Tze referring to men who had no reason to fear -armed warriors or beasts of prey, it seems reasonable to conclude that -these were men who had found and partaken of the elixir of life, or had -accumulated “stores of vitality” by practising breathing exercises and -drinking charmed water, or by acquiring “merit”, like the Indian -ascetics who concentrated their thoughts on Brahma (neuter). - -In the chapter, “Returning to the Root”, in his Tao Teh King, Lao Tze -appears to regard the Tao as a preservative against death. He who in -“the state of vacancy” returns to primeval simplicity and perfectness -achieves longevity through the workings of the Tao. - - - “Possessed of the Tao, he endures long; and to the end of his - bodily life is exempt from all danger of decay.” [506] - - -Here the Tao acts like the magic water that restores youth. It is “soul -substance”, and is required by the Chinese gods as Idun’s apples are -required by the Norse gods. Says Lao Tze: - - - “Spirits of the dead receiving It (Tao) become divine; the very - gods themselves owe their divinity to its influence; and by It both - heaven and earth were produced”. [507] - - -There were floating traditions in China in Lao Tze’s time regarding men -who had lived for hundreds of years. One was “the patriarch Phăng”, who -is referred to by Confucius [508] as “our old Phăng”. It was told that -“at the end of the Shang Dynasty (1123 B.C.) he was more than 767 years -old, and still in unabated vigour”. We read that during his lifetime he -lost forty-nine wives and fifty-four sons; and that, after living for -about 1500 years, he died and left two sons, Wu and I, who “gave their -names to the Wu-i or Bu-i Hills, from which we get our Bohea tea”. -[509] - -Kwang Tze refers to Phăng. But instead of telling that he had -discovered and partaken of the elixir of life, as he must have done in -the original story, he says that he “got It (the Tao), and lived on -from the time of the lord Yu to that of the five chiefs”. [510] - -Others who got It (the Tao) in like manner were, according to Kwang -Tze, the prehistoric Shih-wei who “adjusted heaven and earth”, Fu-hsi -who “by It penetrated to the mystery of the maternity of the primary -matter”, the sage Hwang-Ti who “by It ascended the cloudy sky”, Fu -Yueh, chief minister of Wu-ting (1324–1264 B.C.), who got It and after -death mounted to the Eastern portion of the Milky Way, where, riding on -Sagittarius and Scorpio, he took his place among the stars. Various -spirits “imbibed” It likewise and owed their power and attributes to It -(the Tao). [511] - -Kwang Tze tells that a man once addressed a Taoist sage, saying, “You -are old, sir, while your complexion is like that of a child; how is it -so?” - -The reply was, “I have become acquainted with the Tao”. [512] - -Here the Tao is undoubtedly regarded as the elixir of life—as “soul -substance” that renews youth and promotes longevity. It was not, -however, a thing to eat and drink—the “plant of life” or “the water of -life”—but an influence obtained like the spiritual power, the “merit”, -accumulated by the Brahmanic hermits of India who practised “yogi”. As -the mystery of creation was repeated at birth when a new soul came into -existence, so did the Tao create new life when the devotee reached the -desired state of complete and unquestioning submission to its workings. - -There were some Taoists who, like the Brahmanic hermits, sought refuge -in solitary places and endeavoured to promote longevity by management -of the breath, adopting what Mr. Balfour has called a “system of mystic -and recondite calisthenics”. As we have seen, Lao Tze makes reference -to “breathing exercises”, but apparently certain of his followers -regarded the performance of these exercises as the sum and substance of -his teachings, whereas they were but an aid towards attaining the state -of mind which prepared the Taoist for submission to the Tao. Kwang Tze -found it necessary to condemn the practices of those “scholars” who, -instead of pursuing “the path of self cultivation”, endeavoured to -accumulate “the breath of life” so that they might live as long as the -patriarch Phăng. In his chapter, “Ingrained Ideas”, he writes: - - - “Blowing and breathing with open mouth; inhaling and exhaling the - breath; expelling the old breath and taking in new; passing their - time like the (dormant) bear, and stretching and twisting (the - neck) like a bird; all this simply shows the desire for longevity”. - [513] - - -The genuine devotees “enjoy their ease without resorting to the rivers -and seas”, they “attain to longevity without the management (of the -breath)”, they “forget all things and yet possess all things by -cultivating the qualities of placidity, indifference, silence, -quietude, absolute vacancy and non-action”. These qualities “are the -substance of the Tao and its characteristics”. [514] - -It seems undoubted, however, that the system of Lao Tze, whereby -“spiritual fluid” flowed into the placid, receptive mind, originated in -the very practices here condemned—in the quest of “soul substance” -contained in water, herbs, metals, and gems. As Indian and Chinese -sages retired to solitudes and endured great privations, so that they -might accumulate “merit”, so did the searchers for herbs, metals, and -gems penetrate desert wastes and cross trackless mountains, so as to -accumulate the wealth which was “merit” to them. They were inspired in -like manner by genuine religious enthusiasm. - -The Taoists never forgot the “Elixir”. Taoism began with the quest of -that elusive and mystical “It” which renewed youth and ensured -immortality, or prolonged longevity after death, and the later Taoists -revived or, perhaps one should say, perpetuated the search for “the -Water of Life”, and the “Plant of Life”, the “Peach of 3000 years”, or -“10,000 years”, the gem trees, gold, pearls, jade, &c. The fear of -death obsessed their minds. They wished to live as long as the -Patriarch Phăng on this earth, or to be transferred bodily to the -Paradise of the West, the Paradise of Cloudland or Star-land, or that -of the “Islands of the Blest”. Besides, it was necessary that the -earthly life should be prolonged so that they might make complete -submission to the Tao. Their lives had to be passed in tranquillity; -they were not to reflect on the past or feel anxiety regarding the -future. The fear of death in the future tended to disturb their peace -of mind, and they were therefore in need of water which, like the water -of Lethe, would make them forget their cares, or some other elixir that -would inspire them with confidence and give them strength. Kwang Tze -might censure the ascetics for confusing “the means” with “the end”, -but ordinary men have always been prone to attach undue importance to -ceremonies and rites—to concentrate their thoughts on the performance -of rites rather than in accumulating “merit”, and to believe that -“merit” can be accumulated by the performance of the rites alone. - -The explanation of the state of affairs censured by Kwang Tze seems to -be that the transcendental teachings of Lao Tze and himself, in which -the vague idea of the Logos was fused with belief in a vague elixir of -life, were incomprehensible not only to the masses but even to -scholars, and that the practices and beliefs of the older faith on -which Lao Tze founded his system were perpetuated by custom and -tradition by other adherents to the cult of which he was a teacher. -Ordinary men, who were not by temperament or mental constitution or -training either mystics or metaphysicians, required something more -concrete than the elusive Tao of Lao and Kwang; they clung to their -beliefs in the efficacy of life-prolonging herbs, jewels, metals, -coloured stones, water, fresh air, &c. Withal, they required something -to worship, having always been accustomed to perform religious -ceremonies and offer up sacrifices. They could not worship or sacrifice -to an abstraction like the Tao. Nor could they grasp the idea of an -impersonal God as expressed in the writings of Kwang Tze, who taught: - - - “God is a principle which exists by virtue of its own - intrinsicality, and operates spontaneously without - self-manifestation”. - - -The people clung to their belief in a personal God, or personal gods -including dragon-gods, and when the old deities believed in by their -ancestors were discredited by their teachers, they deified Lao Tze and -his disciples as the Indians deified Buddha and the Rishis. Lao Tze was -sacrificed to in the second century B.C., and a superb temple was -erected to him. One of the Emperors who embraced the Taoist faith -caused the statue of Lao Tze to be carried into his palace, with pomp -and ceremony. The ordinary priests in the temples of China were called -Taoists. - -When Buddhism began to exercise an influence in China between the third -century B.C. and the first century A.D., the Taoists borrowed from the -Buddhists, while the Buddhists, in turn, borrowed from the Taoists. The -myth then arose that when Lao Tze “went west”, he was reborn in India -as the Buddha. But the Taoists clung also to the older myth that after -Lao Tze died, he ascended to Cloudland and became the personal god of -heaven, Shang Ti, the Supreme and Divine Emperor. It was as Shang Ti, a -term which includes the spirits of deceased Emperors of China, he was -worshipped not only in temples but at domestic shrines, along with the -various groups of demi-gods, some of whom were identified with the -disciples of Lao Tze. The Chinese Shang Ti, like the ancient Egyptian -sun-god Ra and the Babylonian Marduk (Merodach), was the divine father -of the living monarch. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -CULTURE MIXING IN JAPAN - - Races and Archæological Ages—The “Pit-dwellers”—Ainu Myths and - Legends—Mummification—Sacred Animals, Herbs, and Trees—Ainu - Cosmogony—Ainu Deluge Legend—Pearl-lore in Japan—Mandrake in Korea, - Japan, and China—The Japanese “Dragon-Pearl” as Soul—Links with - America—Medicinal Herbs and Jewels—The “God-Body”—Sanctity of - Beads—The Coral, Shells, Coins, Fruit, and Feathers of - Luck-gods—Jade in Japan—No Jade Necklaces in China—Japanese - Imperial Insignia the Mirror, Sword, and Jewel—Shinto Temples and - Artemis Gateways—Mikado as Osiris—The Shinto Faith—Yomi—Food of the - Dead—The Souls of Mikados and Pharaohs—The Kami as Gods, &c.—Gods - of the Cardinal Points. - - -There was not only “culture” mixing but also a mixing of races in -ancient times throughout the Japanese Archipelago. Distinct racial -types can be detected in the present-day population. “Of these,” says -the Japanese writer, Yei Ozaki, [515] “the two known as the patrician -and the plebeian are the most conspicuous. The delicate oval face of -the aristocrat or Mongoloid, with its aquiline nose, oblique eyes, -high-arched eyebrows, bud-like mouth, cream-coloured skin, and slender -frame, has been the favourite theme of artists for a thousand years, -and is still the ideal of beauty to-day. The Japanese plebeian has the -Malayan cast of countenance, high cheek-bones, large prognathic mouth, -full, straight eyes, a skin almost as dark as bronze, and a robust, -heavily-boned physique. The flat-faced, heavy-jawed, hirsute Ainu type, -with luxuriant hair and long beards, is also frequently met with among -the Japanese. Such are the diverse elements which go to comprise the -race of the present time.” - -The oblique-eyed aristocrats—the Normans of Japan—appear to have come -from Korea, and to have achieved political ascendancy as a result of -conquest in the archæological “Iron Age”, when megalithic tombs of the -corridor type, covered with mounds, were introduced. [516] They brought -with them, in addition to distinctive burial customs, a heritage of -Korean religious beliefs and myths regarding serpent- or dragon-gods of -rivers and ocean, air and mountains. After coming into contact with -other peoples in Japan, their mythology grew more complex, and assumed -a local aspect. Chinese and Buddhist elements were subsequently added. - -There was no distinct “Bronze Age” in Japan. “Ancient bronze objects -are,” says Laufer, “so scarce in Japan, that even granted they were -indigenous, the establishment of a Bronze Age would not be justified, -nor is there in the ancient records any positive evidence of the use of -bronze.” [517] Although stone implements have been found, it is -uncertain whether there ever was, in the strict Western European sense, -a “Neolithic Age”. The earliest inhabitants of the islands could not -have reached them until after ships came into use in the Far East, and -therefore after the culture of those who used metals had made its -influence felt over wide areas. - -As we have seen (Chapter III), the most archaic ships in the Kamschatka -area in the north, and in the Malayan area in the south, were of -Egyptian type, having apparently been introduced by the early -prospectors who searched for pearls and precious stones and metals. In -the oldest Japanese writings, the records of ancient oral traditions, -gold and silver are referred to as “yellow” and “white” metals existing -in Korea, while bronze, when first mentioned, is called the “Chinese -metal” and the “Korean metal”. [518] “The bronze and iron objects found -in the ancient graves have simply,” says Laufer, “been imported from -the mainland, and plainly are, in the majority of cases, of Chinese -manufacture. Many of these, like metal mirrors, certain helmets, and -others, have been recognized as such; but through comparison with -corresponding Chinese material, the same can be proved for the rest.” -[519] At the beginning of our era, the Japanese, as the annals of the -Later Han Dynasty of China record, purchased iron in Korea. The Chinese -and Koreans derived the knowledge of how to work iron from the interior -of Siberia, the Turkish Yakut there being the older and better -iron-workers. [520] - -The racial fusion in ancient Japan was not complete. Although the -Koreans, Chinese, and Malayans intermarried and became “Japanese”, -communities of the Ainu never suffered loss of identity, and lived -apart from the conquerors and those of their kinsmen who were absorbed -by them. - -An outstanding feature of Japanese archæology is that Culture A appears -to have been a higher one than Culture B, which is represented by Ainu -artifacts. Culture A is that of a pre-Ainu people whom the Ainu found -inhabiting parts of the archipelago, and called the Koro-pok-guru. The -name signifies “the people having depressions”, and is usually rendered -by Western writers as “Pit-dwellers”. In the Japanese writings the -Koro-pok-guru are referred to as “the small people” and “earth -spiders”. - -During the winter season the Koro-pok-guru lived in pit-houses, with -conical or beehive roofs. The depth of these earth houses was greater -on slopes and exposed heights than on low-lying ground. In summer they -occupied beehive houses erected on the level. Their “kitchen-midden” -deposits have yielded pottery, including well-shaped vases, and -arrowheads of flint, obsidian, reddish jasper or dark siliceous rock. -Like the “pit-dwellers” of Saghalin and Kamschatka, the Koro-pok-guru -were seafarers and fishers. Their houses were erected on river banks -and along the sea coast. - -Culture B deposits are devoid of pottery. The Ainu have never been -potters; their bowls and spoons were in ancient times made of wood. -They claim to have exterminated the Koro-pok-guru, who appear to have -had affinities with the present inhabitants of the northern Kuriles, a -people of short stature, with roundish heads, the men having short, -thick beards, and being quite different in general appearance from the -“hairy Ainu” with long, flowing beards. Some communities of Ainu -present physical characteristics that suggest the blending in ancient -times of the “long beards” and “short beards”. The pure Ainu are the -hairiest people in the world. They are broad-headed and have brown eyes -and black beards, and are of sturdy build. Their tibia and humerus -bones are somewhat flat. In old age some resemble the inhabitants of -Great Russia. - -The Ainu [521] are hunters and fishers. Their women cultivate millet -(their staple food) and vegetables, and gather herbs and roots among -the mountains. According to their own traditions, they came from Sara, -which means a “plain”. Their “culture hero”, Okikurumi, descended from -heaven to a mountain in Piratoru, [522] having been delegated by the -Creator to teach the Ainu religion and law. Before this hero returned -to heaven, he married Turesh Machi, [523] and he left his son, -Waruinekuru, to instruct the Ainu “how to make cloth, to hunt and fish, -how to make poison and set the spring-bow in the trail of animals”. - -When Okikurumi first arrived among the Ainu, the crust of the earth was -still thin and “all was burning beneath”. It was impossible for people -to go a-hunting without scorching their feet. The celestial hero -arranged that his wife should distribute food, but made it a condition -that no human being would dare to look in her face. She went daily from -house to house thrusting in the food with her great hands. - -An inquisitive Ainu, of the “Peeping Tom” order, resolved to satisfy -his curiosity regarding the mysterious food-distributor. One morning he -seized her and pulled her into his house, whereupon she was immediately -transformed into a wriggling serpent-dragon. A terrible thunderstorm -immediately broke out, and the house of “Peeping Tom” was destroyed by -lightning. - -This is an interesting Far Eastern version of the Godiva legend [524] -of Coventry. - -Greatly angered by the breaking of the taboo, Okikurumi returned to the -celestial regions. His dragon-wife is not only a Godiva, but another -Far Eastern Melusina. [525] - -Okikurumi is said to have worn ear-rings. He had therefore a solar -connection. The Aryo-Indian hero, Karna, son of Surya, the sun-god, who -emerged from an ear of his human mother, Princess Pritha, was similarly -adorned at birth with ear-rings. The Ainu have from the earliest times -considered it essential that they should all wear ear-rings, and the -ears of males and females are bored in childhood. It was similarly a -ceremonial practice in ancient Peru to bore the ears of Inca princes. -Jacob objected to his wives wearing ear-rings, and buried those -so-called “ornaments” with the gods of Laban under an oak at Shechem. -[526] Bracelets and “ear-ornaments” were similarly favoured as -religious charms and symbols by the Ainu. - -It is of special interest to note that mummification was practised by -some Ainu tribes or families. Whether or not they acquired this custom -from the Koro-pok-guru is uncertain. Women tattooed their arms, their -upper and lower lips, and sometimes their foreheads. Tattooing and -mummification similarly obtained among the Aleutian Islanders. The same -peculiar methods of preserving corpses obtained among the Ainu, the -Aleutians, and certain Red Indian tribes of North America. [527] -Another link between the Old and New Worlds is afforded by -American-Asiatic bone plate armour. [528] - -Like the Ostiaks and other Siberian tribes, the Ainu worship the bear. -Their bear feasts are occasions for heavy drinking and much dancing and -singing. Drunkenness is to them “supreme bliss”. - -The bear-goddess was the wife of the dragon-god. She had a human lover, -and that is why bears, her descendants, “are half like a human being”. - -The salmon is divine, and its symbol is worshipped. Folk-tales are told -regarding salmon taking human shape, as do the seals in Scottish Gaelic -stories. As in China and Japan, the fox is the most subtle of all -beasts. It supplanted the tiger as chief god, according to an Ainu -folk-tale. There is a great tortoise-god in the sea and an owl-god on -the land, and their children have intermarried. The cock is of -celestial origin. It was, at the beginning, sent down from heaven by -the Creator to ascertain what the world looked like, but tarried for so -long a time, being well pleased with things, that it was forbidden to -return. Hares are mountain deities. - -The oldest trees are the oak and pine, and they are therefore sacred, -and the oldest and most sacred herb is the mugwort. In Kamschatka the -pine is associated with the mugwort. The mugwort is connected with -goddesses of the Artemis order. [529] Sacred, too, was the willow, and -specially sacred the mistletoe that grew on a willow tree. An elixir -prepared from the mistletoe was supposed to renew youth, and therefore -to prolong life and cure diseases. Siberians venerate the herb willow. -[530] The drink prepared from it was a soporific for human beings, wild -animals, and deities. Far Eastern deities had apparently to be soothed -as well as invoked as, it may be recalled, was Hathor-Sekhet in the -Egyptian “flood myth”, when she was given beer poured out from jars, so -that she might cease from slaughtering mankind. [531] - -When the Ainu performed religious ceremonies, shavings and whittled -sticks of willow were used, and libations of intoxicating liquors -provided. Deities were made drunk, as in Babylonia, [532] and then -provided with a soothing anti-intoxicant. The Ainu set up their willow -sticks at wells and around their dwellings. They had no temples, and -when they worshipped the sun, a shaven willow stick was placed at the -east end of a house. - -The moon-god came next in order to the sun-god. The fire-god was -invoked to cure disease. There was a subtle connection between fire and -mistletoe, perhaps because fire was obtained by friction of soft and -hard wood, and an intoxicating elixir prepared from a tree or its -parasite was believed to be “fire water”—that is, “water of life”. -Offerings were made to gods of ocean, rivers, and mountains. - -The world was supposed to be floating on and surrounded by water, and -to be resting on the spine of a gigantic fish which caused earthquakes -when it moved. There were two heavens—one above the clouds and another -in the Underworld. A hell, from which the volcanoes vomit fire, was -reserved for the wicked. - -Like the Chinese, the Ainu tell stories of visits paid to Paradise. A -man, whose wife had been spirited away, appealed to the oak-god, who -provided him with a golden horse on which he rode to the sky. He -reached a beautiful city in which people went about singing constantly. -They smelled a stranger, and, the smell being offensive to them, they -appealed to the chief god to give him his wife. The god promised to do -so if the visitor would agree to go away at once. He consented readily, -and returned to the oak-god, who told him his wife was in hell, and -that the place was now in confusion because the chief god had ordered a -search to be made for her. Soon afterwards the lost woman was restored -to her husband. This man was given the golden horse to keep, and all -the horses in Ainu-land are descended from it. - -Another man once chased a bear on a mountain side. The animal entered a -cave, and he followed it, passing through a long, dark tunnel. He -reached the beautiful land of the Underworld. Feeling hungry, he ate -grapes and mulberries, and, to his horror, was immediately transformed -into a serpent. He crawled back to the entrance and fell asleep below a -pine tree. In his dream the goddess of the tree appeared. She told him -he had been transformed into a serpent because he had eaten of the food -of Hades, and that, if he wished to be restored to human shape, he must -climb to the top of the tree and fling himself down. When he awoke, the -man-serpent did as the goddess advised. After leaping from the tree -top, he found himself standing below it, while near him lay the body of -a great serpent which had been split open. He then went through the -tunnel and emerged from the cave. But later he had another dream, in -which the goddess appeared and told him he must return to the -Underworld because a goddess there had fallen in love with him. He did -as he was commanded to do, and was never again seen on earth. - -A story tells of another Ainu who reached this Paradise. He saw many -people he had known in the world, but they were unable to see him. Only -the dogs perceived him, and they growled and barked. Catching sight of -his father and mother he went forward to embrace them, but they -complained of being haunted by an evil spirit, and he had to leave -them. - -The Ainu have a Deluge Myth which tells that when the waters rose the -vast majority of human beings were destroyed. Only a remnant escaped by -ascending to the summit of a high mountain. [533] - -Although the Ainu claimed to have exterminated the Koro-pok-guru, it is -possible that they really intermixed with them and derived some of -their religious ideas and myths from them, and that, in turn, the -Japanese were influenced by both Ainu and Koro-pok-guru ideas and -myths. The aniconic pillars and the female goddess with fish -termination (the Dragon Mother) figure in Japanese as well as Ainu -religion. Both are found in Kamschatka, too. Dr. Rendel Harris, -commenting on the pillar and fish-goddess idols of the Kamschatdals, -[534] recalls “the various fish forms of Greek and Oriental religions, -the Dagon and Derceto of the Philistines, the Oannes of the Assyrians, -[535] Eurynome of the Greek legends, and the like”. The pillar, -sometimes shown to be clad with ivy, links with the symbols of Hermes -and Dionysos. He adds: “The Kamschatdals and other Siberian tribes -manufacture for themselves intoxicating and stupefying drinks which -have a religious value, and are employed by their Shamans in order to -produce prophetic states of inspiration”. The Japanese manufactured -sake from rice with precisely the same motive, and, like the Ainu, -offered their liquor to the gods. - -What attracted the Koro-pok-guru and the Ainu to Japan? As we have seen -(Chapter III), the primary incentive for sea-trafficking and -prospecting by sea and land was the desire to obtain wealth in the form -of pearls, precious stones, and metals. Now, pearls are found round the -Japanese coasts. Marco Polo has recorded that in his day the people of -Japan practised the mortuary custom (obtaining also in China) of -placing pearls in the mouths of the dead. “In the Island of Zipangu -[536] (Japan),” he says, “rose-coloured pearls were abundant, and quite -as valuable as white ones.” Kaempfer, writing in the eighteenth -century, stated that the Japanese pearls were found in small varieties -of oysters (akoja) resembling the Persian pearl oyster, and also in -“the yellow snail-shell”, the taira gai (Placuna), and the awabi or -abalone (Haliotis). A pearl fishery formerly existed in the -neighbourhood of Saghalin Island. As pearls have from the earliest -times been fished from southern Manchurian rivers, in Kamschatka, and -on the south coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, it may be that the earliest -settlers in Japan were prehistoric pearl-fishers. It is of special -interest to note here that, according to G. A. Cooke, pearls and -ginseng (mandrake) were formerly Manchurian articles of commerce. [537] -The herbs and pearls were, as we have seen, regarded as “avatars” of -the mother-goddess. - -In Korea ginseng is cultivated under Government supervision. “It is”, -Mrs. Bishop writes, [538] “one of the most valuable articles which -Korea exports, and one great source of its revenue.” A basket may -contain ginseng worth £4000. “But,” she adds, “valuable as the -cultivated root is, it is nothing to the value of the wild, which grows -in Northern Korea, a single specimen of which has been sold for £40! It -is chiefly found in the Kang-ge Mountains, but it is rare, and the -search so often ends in failure, that the common people credit it with -magical properties, and believe that only men of pure lives can find -it.” The dæmon who is “the tutelary spirit of ginseng ... is greatly -honoured” (p. 243). A ready market is found in China for Korean -ginseng. “It is a tonic, a febrifuge, a stomachic, the very elixir of -life, taken spasmodically or regularly in Chinese wine by most Chinese -who can afford it” (p. 95). - -In Japan, ginseng, mushroom, and fungus are, like pearls, promoters of -longevity, and sometimes, says Joly, “masquerade as phalli”: they are -“Plants of Life” and “Plants of Birth”, like the plants searched for by -the Babylonian heroes Gilgamesh and Etana, and like the dragon-herbs of -China. [539] - -In Shinto, the ancient religion of the Japanese, prominence is given to -pearls and other precious jewels, and even to ornaments like artificial -beads, which were not, of course, used merely for personal decoration -in the modern sense of the term; beads had a religious significance. A -sacred jewel is a tama, a name which has deep significance in Japan, -because mi-tama is a soul, or spirit, or double. Mi is usually referred -to as an “honorific prefix” or “honorific epithet”, but it appears to -have been originally something more than that. A Japanese commentator, -as De Visser notes, has pointed out in another connection [540] that mi -is “an old word for snake”, that is, for a snake-dragon. Mi-tama, -therefore, may as “soul” or “double” be all that is meant by -“snake-pearl” or “dragon-pearl”. [541] The pearl, as we have seen, -contained “soul substance”, the “vital principle”, the blood of the -Great Mother, like the “jasper of Isis” worn by women to promote birth, -and therefore to multiply and prolong life; in China and Japan the -pearl was placed in the mouth of the dead to preserve the corpse from -decay and ensure longevity or immortality. The connection between -jewels and medicine is found among the Maya of Central America. Cit -Bolon Tun (the “nine precious stones”) was a god of medicine. The -goddess Ix Tub Tun (“she who spits out precious stones”) was “the -goddess of the workers in jade and amethysts”. She links with Tlaloc’s -wife. - -According to Dr. W. G. Aston [542] tama contains the root of the verb -tabu, “to give”, more often met with in its lengthened form tamafu. -“Tama retains its original significance in tama-mono, a gift thing, and -toshi-dama, a new year’s present. Tama next means something valuable, -as a jewel. Then, as jewels are mostly globular in shape, [543] it has -come to mean anything round. At the same time, owing to its precious -quality, it is used symbolically for the sacred emanation from God -which dwells in his shrine, and also for that most precious thing, the -human life or soul.... The element tama enters into the names of -several deities. The food-goddess is called either Ukemochi no Kami or -Uka no mi-tama.” Phallic deities are also referred to as mi-tama. The -mi-tama is sometimes used in much the same sense as the Egyptian Ka: it -is the spirit or double of a deity which dwells in a shrine, where it -is provided with a shintai (“god body”)—a jewel, weapon, stone, mirror, -pillow, or some such object. - -The jewels (tama) worn by gods and human beings were not, as already -insisted upon, merely ornaments, but objects possessing “soul -substance”. These are referred to in the oldest Shinto books. In -ancient Japanese graves archæologists have found round beads (tama), -“oblong perforated cylinders” or “tube-shaped beads” (kuda-tama), and -“curved” or “comma-shaped [544] beads” (maga-tama). According to W. -Gowland, “the stones of which maga-tama are made are rock-crystal, -steatite, jasper, agate, and chalcedony, and more rarely chrysoprase -and nephrite (jade)”. He notes that “the last two minerals are not -found in Japan”. [545] - -Henri L. Joly, writing on the tama, says [546] it is also “represented -in the form of a pearl tapering to a pointed apex, and scored with -several rings. It receives amongst other names Nio-i-Hojiu, and more -rarely of Shinshi, the latter word being used for the spherical jewel, -one of the three relics left to Ninigi no Mikoto [547] by his -grandmother, Amaterâsu. [548] The necklace of Shinshi, mentioned in the -traditions, was lost, and in its place a large crystal ball, some three -or four inches in diameter, is kept and carried by an aide-de-camp of -the Emperor on State occasions.” - - -[**ERROR: Contains unhandled entity &c.;] -The pearl (tama) is “one of the treasures of the Takaramono, a -collection of objects associated with the Japanese gods of luck, which -includes the hat of invisibility (Kakuregasa), a lion playing with a -jewel, a jar containing coral, coins, &c.; coral branches (sangoju), -the cowrie shell (kai), an orange-like fruit, the five-coloured feather -robe of the Tennins, the winged maidens of the Buddhist paradise, -copper cash, &c.” [549] But although the tama may correspond to the -mani of the Indian Buddhists, it was not of Buddhist origin in Japan; -the Buddhists simply added to the stock of Japanese “luck jewels”. - -The tama of jade has raised an interesting problem. Nephrite is not -found in Japan. “It is difficult”, says Laufer, “to decide from what -source, how and when the nephrite or jadeite material was transmitted -to Japan.” Referring to jade objects found in the prehistoric Japanese -graves, he says: “The jewels may go back, after all, to an early period -when historical intercourse between Japan and China was not yet -established; they [550] represent two clearly distinct and -characteristic types, such as are not found in the jewelry of ancient -China. If the Japanese maga-tama and kuda-tama would correspond to any -known Chinese forms, it would be possible to give a plausible reason -for the presence of jade in the ancient Japanese tombs; but such a -coincidence of type cannot be brought forward. Nor is it likely that -similar pieces will be discovered in China, as necklaces were never -used there anciently or in modern times. We must therefore argue that -the two Japanese forms of ornamental stones were either indigenous -inventions or borrowed from some other non-Chinese culture sphere in -south-eastern Asia, the antiquities of which are unknown to us.” [551] - -The tama is of great importance in Shinto religion. At Ise, [552] “the -Japanese Mecca”, which has long been visited by pious pilgrims, a -virgin daughter of the Mikado used to keep watch over the three -imperial insignia—the mirror, the sword, and the jewel (tama)—which had -been handed down from Mikado to Mikado. There were no idols in the -temples. The Shintai was carefully wrapped up and kept in a box in the -“holy of holies”, a screened-off part of the simple and unadorned -wooden and thatched little temple. The temple was entered through a -gateway—the tori wi, a word which means “bird-perch”, in the sense of a -hen-roost. “As an honorary gateway”, says Dr. Aston, “the tori-wi is a -continental institution identical in purpose and resembling in form the -toran of India, the pailoo of China, and the hong-sal-mun of Korea.” -[553] When this symbol of Artemis [554] was introduced into Japan is -uncertain. “Rock gates” were of great sanctity in old Japan. There is -one at Ise—the “twin-rocks of Ise”. - -The mirror was the shintai (god-body) of the sun-goddess; the sword was -the shintai of the dragon; and the jewel (tama) was the shintai of the -Great Mother, who was the inexhaustible womb of nature. At sacred Ise, -the chief deities worshipped were Ama-terâsu, the goddess of the sun, -and Toyouke-hime, the goddess of food. [555] The high-priest was the -Mikado, who was a Kami (a god), and called “the Heavenly Grandchild”, -his heir being “august child of the sun”, and his residence “the august -house of the sun”. [556] After the Mikado had ascended the throne, the -Ohonihe (great food offering) ceremony was performed. It was “the most -solemn and important festival of the Shinto religion”, says Aston, who -quotes the following explanation of it by a modern Japanese writer: - - - “Anciently the Mikado received the auspicious grain from the Gods - of Heaven and therewithal nourished the people. In the Daijowe (or - Ohonihe) the Mikado, when the grain became ripe, joined unto him - the people in sincere veneration, and, as in duty bound, made - return to the Gods of Heaven. He thereafter partook of it along - with the nation. Thus the people learnt that the grain which they - eat is no other than the seed bestowed on them by the Gods of - Heaven.” - - -The Mikado was thus, in a sense, a Japanese Osiris. - -Shinto religion was in pre-Buddhist days a system of ceremonies and -laws on which the whole social structure rested. The name is a Chinese -word meaning “the way of the gods”, the Japanese equivalent being Kami -no michi. But although the gods were numerous, only a small proportion -of them played an important part in the ritual (norito), which was -handed down orally by generations of priests until after the fifth -century of our era, when a native script, based on Chinese characters, -came into use. - -Old Shinto was concerned chiefly with the food-supply, with -child-getting, with the preservation of health, and protection against -calamities caused by floods, droughts, fire, or earthquakes. It has -little or nothing to say regarding the doctrine of immortality. There -was no heaven and no hell. The spirits of some of these deities who -died like ordinary mortals went to the land of Yomi, as did also the -spirit of the Mikado, but little is told regarding the mysterious -Otherworld in which dwelt the spirits of disease and death. “In one -passage of the Nihon-gi,” says Aston, [557] “Yomi is clearly no more -than a metaphor for the grave.” It thus resembled the dark Otherworld -or Underworld of the Babylonians, from which Gilgamesh summoned the -spirit of his dead friend, Ea-bani. [558] No spirit of a god could -escape from Yomi after eating “the food of the dead”. When the -Babylonian god Adapa, son of Ea, was summoned to appear in the -Otherworld, his father warned him not to accept of the water and food -which would be offered him. [559] The goddess Ishtar was struck with -disease when she entered Hades in quest of her lover, the god Tammuz, -and it was not until she had been sprinkled with the “water of life” -that she was healed and liberated. [560] - -The Mikado, being a god, had a spirit, and might be transferred to Yomi -or might ascend to heaven to the celestial realm of his ancestress, the -sun-goddess. Some distinguished men had spirits likewise. But there is -no clear evidence in the Ko-ji-ki or the Nihon-gi that the spirits of -the common people went anywhere after death, or indeed, that they were -supposed to have spirits. Some might become birds, or badgers, or -foxes, and live for a period in these forms, and then die, as did some -of the gods. There are no ghosts in the early Shinto books. [561] - -The ancient Pharaohs of Egypt, like the ancient Mikados of Japan, were -assured of immortality. The mortuary Pyramid Texts “were all intended -for the king’s exclusive use, and as a whole contain beliefs which -apply only to the king”. There are vague references in these texts to -the dead “whose places are hidden”, and to those who remain in the -grave. [562] The fate of the masses did not greatly concern the solar -cult. - -Before dealing with the myths of Japan, it is necessary to consider -what the term kami, usually translated “gods”, signified to the -devotees of “Old Shinto”. The kami were not spiritual beings, but many -of them had spirits or doubles that resided in the shintai (god body). -Dr. Aston reminds us that although kami “corresponds in a general way -to ‘god’, it has some important limitations. The kami are high, swift, -good, rich, living but not infinite, omnipotent, or omniscient. Most of -them had a father and mother, and of some the death is recorded.” [563] -It behoves us to exercise caution in applying the term “animistic” to -the numerous kami of Japan, or in assuming that they were worshipped, -or reverenced rather, simply because they were feared. Some of the kami -were feared, but the fear of the gods is not a particular feature of -Shinto religion with its ceremonial hand-clappings and happy laughter. - -Dr. Aston quotes from Motöori, the great eighteenth century Shinto -theologian, the following illuminating statement regarding the kami: - - - “The term kami is applied in the first place to the various deities - of heaven and earth who are mentioned in the ancient records as - well as to their spirits (mi-tama) which reside in the shrines - where they were worshipped. Moreover, not only human beings, but - birds, beasts, plants, and trees, seas and mountains, and all other - things whatsoever which deserve to be dreaded and revered for the - extraordinary and pre-eminent powers which they possess are called - kami. They need not be eminent for surpassing nobleness, or - serviceableness alone. Malignant and uncanny beings are also called - kami if only they are objects of general dread. Among kami who are - human beings, I need hardly mention, first of all, the successive - Mikados—with reverence be it spoken.... Then there have been - numerous examples of divine human beings, both in ancient and - modern times, who, although not accepted by the nation generally, - are treated as gods, each of his several dignity, in a single - province, village, or family.” - - -In ancient Egypt the reigning monarch was similarly a god—a Horus while -he lived and an Osiris after he died, while a great scholar like -Imhotep (the Imuthes of the Greeks in Egypt who identified him with -Asklepois) might be deified and regarded as the son of Ptah, the god of -Memphis. Egypt, too, had its local gods like Japan; so had Babylonia. - -The Japanese theologian proceeds to say: - - - “Amongst kami who are not human beings, I need hardly mention - Thunder (in Japanese Nuru kami or the sounding-god). There are also - the Dragon and Echo (called in Japanese Ko-dama or the Tree - Spirit), and the Fox, who are kami by reason of their uncanny and - fearful natures. The term kami is applied in the Nihon-gi and - Manjoshiu to the tiger and the wolf. Isanagi (the creator-god) gave - to the fruit of the peach and to the jewels round his neck names - which implied that they were kami.” [564] - - -Here we touch on beliefs similar to those that obtained in China where -the dragon and tiger figure so prominently as the gods of the East and -the West. The idea that the peach was a kami appears to be connected -with the Chinese conception of a peach world-tree, a form of the Mother -Goddess, the fruit of which contains her “life substance” or shen as do -the jewels like the pearl and jade objects; the peach is a goddess -symbol as the phallus is a symbol of a god. - -Motöori adds: - - - “There are many cases of seas and mountains being called kami. It - is not their spirits which are meant. The word was applied directly - to the seas or mountains themselves as being very awful things.” - [565] - - -There were a beneficent class and an evil class of kami. Beneficent -deities provided what mankind required or sought for; they were -protectors and preservers. Four guardians of the world were called “Shi -Tenno”. They were posted at the cardinal points like the Chinese Black -Tortoise (north), the Red Bird (south), the White Tiger (west), and the -Blue or Green Dragon (east). The Japanese colour scheme, however, is -not the same as the Chinese. At the north is the blue god Bishamon or -Tamoten; at the south the white-faced warrior Zocho; at the west the -red-faced Komoku with book and brush or a spear; and at the east the -warrior with green face, named Jikoku, who is sometimes shown trampling -a demon under foot. - -In India the north is white and the south black, and in Ceylon the -Buddhist colours of the cardinal points are yellow (north), blue -(south), red (west), and white (east). - -Although it is customary to regard the coloured guardians of the -Japanese world as of Buddhist origin, it may well be that the original -Japanese guardians were substituted by the Hindu and Chinese divinities -imported by the Buddhists. The dragon-gods of China and Japan were -pre-Buddhistic, as De Visser has shown, [566] but were given, in -addition to their original attributes, those of the naga (serpent or -dragon) gods introduced by Buddhist priests. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -JAPANESE GODS AND DRAGONS - - Japanese Version of Egyptian Flood Myth—A Far Eastern - Merodach—Dragon-slaying Story—The River of Blood—Osiris as a Slain - Dragon—Ancient Shinto Books—Shinto Cosmogony—Separation of Heaven - and Earth—The Cosmic “Reed Shoot” and the Nig-gil-ma—The Celestial - Jewel Spear—Izanagi and Izanami—Births of Deities and Islands—The - Dragons of Japan—The Wani—Bear, Horse, and other - Dragons—Horse-sacrifice in Japan—Buddhist Elements in Japanese - Dragon Lore—Indian Nagas—Chinese Dragons and Japanese Water-Snakes. - - -There is no Shinto myth regarding the creation of man; the Mikados and -the chiefs of tribes were descendants of deities. Nor is there a Deluge -Myth like the Ainu one, involving the destruction of all but a remnant -of mankind. The Chinese story about Nu Kwa, known to the Japanese as -Jokwa, was apparently imported with the beliefs associated with the -jade which that mythical queen or goddess was supposed to have created -after she had caused the flood to retreat, but it does not find a place -in the ancient Shinto books. There is, however, an interesting version -of the Egyptian flood story which has been fused with the Babylonian -Tiamat dragon-slaying myth. Susa-no-wo, [567] a Far Eastern Marduk, -slays an eight-headed dragon and splits up its body, from which he -takes a spirit-sword—an avatar of the monster. - -Hathor-Sekhet, of the Egyptian myth, was made drunk, so that she might -cease from slaying mankind, and a flood of blood-red beer was poured -from jars for that purpose. Susa-no-wo provides sake (rice beer) to -intoxicate the dragon which has been coming regularly—apparently once a -year—for a daughter of an earth god. When he slays it, the River Hi is -“changed into a river of blood”. - -Another version of the Egyptian myth, as the Pyramid Texts bear -evidence, appears to refer to the “Red Nile” of the inundation season -as the blood of Osiris, who had been felled by Set at Nedyt, near -Abydos. [568] Lucian tells that the blood of Adonis was similarly -believed to redden each year the flooded River of Adonis, flowing from -Lebanon, and that “it dyed the sea to a large space red”. [569] Here -Adonis is the Osiris of the Byblians. Osiris, as we have seen, had a -dragon form; he was the dragon of the Nile flood, and the -world-surrounding dragon of ocean. [570] He was also the earth-giant; -tree and grain grew from his body. [571] The body of the eight-headed -Japanese dragon was covered with moss and trees. - -Susa-no-wo, as the rescuer of the doomed maiden, links with Perseus, -the rescuer of Andromeda from the water-dragon. [572] The custom of -sacrificing a maiden to the Nile each year obtained in Ancient Egypt. -In the Tiamat form of the Babylonian myth, Marduk cut the channels of -the dragon’s blood and “made the north wind bear it away into secret -places”. [573] The stories of Pʼan Ku of China and the Scandinavian -Ymir, each of whose blood is the sea, are interesting variants of the -legend. [574] - -The Japanese dragon-flood myth is merely an incident in the career of a -hero in Shinto mythology, which is a mosaic of local or localized and -imported stories, somewhat clumsily arranged in the form of a connected -narrative. - -Our chief sources of information regarding these ancient Japanese myths -are the Shinto works, the Ko-ji-ki and the Nihon-gi. [575] Of these -works, the Ko-ji-ki (“Records of Ancient Matters”) is the oldest; it -was completed in Japanese in A.D. 712; the Nihon-gi (“Chronicles of -Japan”) was completed in A.D. 720 in the Chinese language. - -Although the myths, formerly handed down orally by generations of -priests, were not collected and systematized until about 200 years -after Buddhism was introduced into Japan, they were not greatly -influenced by Indian ideas. Dragon-lore, however, became so complex -that it is difficult to sift the local from the imported elements. - -In the preface to the Ko-ji-ki, Yasumaro, the compiler, in his summary, -writes: - - - “Now when chaos had begun to condense, but force and form were not - yet manifest, and there was nought named, nought done, who could - know its shape? Nevertheless Heaven and Earth first parted, and the - Three Deities performed the commencement of Creation; the Passive - and Active Essences then developed, and the Two Spirits became the - Ancestors of all things.” - - -The myth of the separation of Heaven and Earth dates back to remote -antiquity in Egypt. Shu, the atmosphere-god, separated the sky-goddess -Nut from the earth-god Seb. In Polynesian mythology Rangi (Heaven), and -Papa (Earth), from whom “all things originated”, were “rent apart” by -Tane-mahuta, “the god and father of forests, of birds, of insects”. But -in this case the earth is the mother and the sky the father. [576] - -About the “Three Deities” referred to by Yasumaro, we do not learn -much. The idea of the trinity may have been of Indian origin. The -Passive and Active Essences recall the male Yang and its female Yin -principles of China. These are represented in the Ko-ji-ki by Izanagi -(“Male who Invites”) and Izanami (“Female who Invites”). - -Dr. Aston translates the opening passage of the Nihon-gi as follows: - - - “Of old, Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the In and - the Yo not yet divided. They formed a chaotic mass like an egg, - which was of obscurely defined limits, and contained germs. The - purer and clearer part was thinly diffused and formed Heaven, while - the heavier and grosser element settled down and became Earth. The - finer element easily became a united body, but the consolidation of - the heavy and gross element was accomplished with difficulty. - Heaven was therefore formed first, and Earth established - subsequently. Thereafter divine beings were produced between them.” - - -Here we meet with the cosmic egg, from which emerged the Chinese Pʼan -Ku, the Indian Brahma, the Egyptian Ra or Horus, and one of the -Polynesian creators. It might be held that China is the source of the -Japanese myth, because the In and the Yo are here, quite evidently the -Yang and the Yin, representing not Izanagi and Izanami as in the -Ko-ji-ki, but the deities of heaven and earth. But the Ko-ji-ki form of -the myth may be the oldest, and we may have in the Nihon-gi evidence of -Chinese ideas having been superimposed on those already obtaining in -Japan, into which they were imported from other areas. - -But to return to the Creation myth. An ancient native work, the -Kiu-ji-ki, which has not yet been translated into English, refers to -seven generations of gods, beginning with one of doubtful sex, in whose -untranslatable name the sun, moon, earth, and moisture are mentioned. -This First Parent of the deities was the offspring of Heaven and Earth. -The last couple is Izanagi and Izanami, brother and sister, like Osiris -and Isis, who became man and wife. - -According to the Ko-ji-ki the first three deities came into being in -Takama-no-hara, the “Plain of High Heaven”. They were alone, and -afterwards disappeared, i.e. died. The narrative continues: “The names -of the deities that were born next from a thing that sprouted up like -unto a reed-shoot when the earth, young and like unto floating oil, -drifted about medusa-like, [577] were the -Pleasant-Reed-Shoot-Prince-Elder-Deity, next the -Heavenly-Eternally-Standing-Deity. These two Deities were likewise born -alone, and hid their persons.” [578] Earth and mud deities followed, -and also the other deities who were before Izanagi and Izanami. - -It may be that the “reed-shoot” was the Japanese nig-gil-ma. (See -Chapter XIII.) As in one of the early Sumerian texts, the mysterious -plant, impregnated with preserving and perpetuating “life substance”, -was the second product of Creation. - -Izanagi and Izanami were told by the elder deities that they must -“make, consolidate, and give birth to this drifting land”. They were -then given the Ame no tama-boko, the “Celestial Jewel-spear”. It is -suggested that the spear is a phallic symbol. The jewel (tama) is “life -substance”. Izanagi and Izanami stood on “the floating bridge of -heaven”, which Aston identifies with the rainbow, or, as some Japanese -scholars put it, the “Heavenly Rock Boat”, or “Heavenly Stairs”, and -pushed down the tama-boko and groped with it until they found the -ocean. According to the Ko-ji-ki, they “stirred the brine until it went -curdle-curdle (koworo-koworo)”, that is, as Chamberlain suggests, -“thick and glutinous”. Others think the passage should be translated so -as to indicate that the brine gave forth “a curdling sound”. When the -primæval waters and the oily mud began to “curdle” or “cook”, the -deities drew up the spear. Some of the cosmic “porridge” dropped from -the point and formed an island, which was named Onogoro -(“self-curdling”, or “self-condensed”). The deities descended from -heaven and erected on the island an eight-fathom house [579] with a -central pillar. Here we meet with the aniconic pillar, the “herm” of -Kamschatkan religion, the pillar of the Vedic world-house erected by -the Aryo-Indian god Indra, the “branstock” of Scandinavian religion, -the pillar of the “Lion Gate” of Mycenæ; the “pillar” is the “world -spine”, like the Indian Mount Meru. [580] “The central pillar of a -house (corresponding to our king-post) is,” writes Dr. Aston, “at the -present day, an object of honour in Japan as in many other countries. -In the case of Shinto shrines, it is called Nakago no mibashira -(‘central august pillar’), and in ordinary houses the Daikoku-bashira.” -[581] - -Izanagi and Izanami become man and wife by performing the ceremony of -going round the pillar and meeting one another face to face. Their -first-born is Hiruko (leech-child). At the age of three he was still -unable to stand upright, and was in consequence placed in a reed boat -and set adrift on the ocean. - -Here we have what appears to be a version of the Moses story. The -Indian Karna, who is similarly set adrift, was a son of Surya, god of -the sun. The Egyptian Horus was concealed after birth on a floating -island, and he was originally a solar deity with a star form. [582] Ra, -the Egyptian sun-god, drifted across the heavens on reed floats before -he was given a boat. Osiris was, after death, set adrift in a chest. -When the Egyptians paid more attention to the constellations than they -did in the early period of their history, they placed in the -constellation of Argo the god Osiris in a chest or boat. In the Greek -period Canopus, the chief star of the constellation of Argo, is the -child Horus in his boat. Horus was a reincarnation of Osiris. The -Babylonian Ea originally came to Eridu in a boat, which became -transformed into a fish-man. As the sign for a god was a star, Ea was -apparently supposed to have come from one. Lockyer refers to Egyptian -and Babylonian temples, which were “oriented to Canopus”. [583] -Sun-gods were the offspring of the mother-star, or their own souls were -stars by night. “Hiruko,” says Aston, “is in reality simply a masculine -form of Hirume, the sun female.” [584] The sun and moon had not, -however, come into existence when he was set adrift, and it may be that -as the “leech-child” he was a star. He became identified in time with -Ebisu (or Yebisu), god of fishermen, and one of the gods of luck. - -Izanagi and Izanami had subsequently as children the eight islands of -Japan, and although other islands came into existence later, Japan was -called “Land-of-the-Eight-great-Islands” (Oho-ya-shima-kuni). “When,” -continues the Ko-ji-ki, “they (Izanagi and Izanami) had finished giving -birth to countries they began afresh, giving birth to deities (kami).” -These included “Heavenly-Blowing Male”, “Youth of the Wind”, the -sea-kami, “Great-Ocean-Possessor”, “Foam Calm”, “Foam Waves”, -“Heavenly-Water-Divider”, or “Water-Distributor” -(Ame-no-mi-kumari-no-kami), and the deities of mountains, passes, and -valleys. - -According to the Nihon-gi, the gods of the sea to whom Izanagi and -Izanami gave birth are called Watatsumi, which means “sea children”, -or, as Florenz translates it, “Lords of the Sea”. Wata, so like our -“water”, is “an old word for sea”. It is probable that, as De Visser -says, “the old Japanese sea-gods were snakes or dragons”. [585] - -In the Ko-ji-ki two groups of eight deities are followed by “the Deity -Bird’s-Rock-Camphor-Tree-Boat”, another name for this kami being -“Heavenly Bird-Boat”. Then came the food-goddess, “Deity -Princess-of-Great-Food”. She was followed by the fire-god, kagu-tsuchi. -This deity caused the death of his mother Izanami, having burned her at -birth so severely that she sickened and “lay down”. Before she died, an -interesting group of deities, making a total of eight from “Heavenly -Bird-Boat” to the last named, “Luxuriant Food Princess”, came into -being. From her vomit sprang “Metal-Mountain Prince” and -“Metal-Mountain Princess”; from her fæces came “Clay Prince” and “Clay -Princess” (earth deities); and from her urine crept forth Mitsu-ha -no-Me, which Japanese commentators explain as “Female-Water-snake”, or -“The Woman who produces the Water”. In the first rendering ha is -regarded as meaning “snake” (dragon), and in the second as “to -produce”. Neither Florenz nor De Visser can decide which explanation is -correct. [586] The dragon was, of course, a water-producer, or -water-controller, or a “water-confiner”, who was forced to release the -waters, like the “drought demon”, slain by the Aryo-Indian god Indra, -and the water-confiner of the Nile, whose blood reddened the river -during inundation. - -When Izanami died, the heart of Izanagi was filled with wrath and -grief. Drawing his big sabre, he, according to the Ko-ji-ki, cut off -the head of the fire-god; or, as the Nihon-gi tells, cut him into three -pieces, each of which became a god. Other gods sprang from the pieces, -from the blood drops that bespattered the rocks, the blood that clung -to the upper part of the sabre, and the blood that leaked out between -the fingers of Izanagi. - -According to the Nihon-gi, the blood dripping from the upper part of -the sword became the gods Kura-okami, Kura-yama-tsumi, and -Kura-mitsu-ha. The meaning of the character kura is “dark”, and -Professor Florenz explains it as “abyss, valley, cleft”, [587] and -notes that okami means “rain” and “dragon”. According to De Visser, -Kura-okami is a dragon- or snake-god who controls rain and snow, and -had Shinto temples “in all provinces”. Another reading in the Nihon-gi -states that one of the three gods who came into being from the pieces -of the fire-god’s body was Taka-okami, a name which, according to a -Japanese commentator, means “the dragon-god residing on the mountains”, -while Kura-okami means “the dragon-god of the valleys”. [588] The -second god born from the blood drops from the upper part of the sword, -Kura-yama-tsumi, is translated “Lord of the Dark Mountains”, and -“Mountain-snake”; and the third, Kura-mitsu-ha, is “Dark-water-snake” -or “Valley-water-snake”. According to the Ko-ji-ki, the deities -Kura-okami and Kura-mitsu-ha came from the blood that leaked out -between Izanagi’s fingers. - -It is of interest to note here that other dragon deities to which -Izanagi and Izanami gave origin, included the mizuchi or “water -fathers”, which are referred to as “horned deities”, “four-legged -dragons”, or “large water-snakes”. As Aston notes, [589] these “water -fathers” had no individual names; they were prayed to for rain in times -of drought. Another sea-dragon child of the great couple was the wani, -which appears to have been a combination of crocodile and shark. Aston -thinks that wani is a Korean word. De Visser, on the other hand, is of -opinion that the wani is the old Japanese dragon-god or sea-god, and -that the legend about the Abundant Pearl Princess (Toyo-tama-bime) -[590] who had a human lover and, like Melusina, transformed herself -from human shape into that of a wani (Ko-ji-ki) or a dragon (Nihon-gi), -was originally a Japanese serpent-dragon, which was “dressed in Indian -garb by later generations”. [591] Florenz, the German Orientalist, -thinks the legend is of Chinese origin, but a similar one is found in -Indonesia. “Wani,” De Visser says, “may be an Indonesian word,” and it -is possible, as he suggests, that “foreign invaders, who in prehistoric -times conquered Japan, came from Indonesia and brought the myth with -them.” [592] - -There is a reference in the Nihon-gi (Chapter I) to a “bear-wani, eight -fathoms long”, and it has been suggested that “bear” means here nothing -more than “strong”. [593] The Ainu, however, as we have seen (Chapter -XVII), associated bear and dragon deities; the bear-goddess was the -wife of the dragon-god, and that goddess had, like the Abundant Pearl -Princess, a human lover. “Bear-wani” may therefore have been a -bear-dragon. There was a dragon-horse “with a long neck and wings at -its sides”, which flew through the air, and did not sink when it trod -upon the water, [594] and there were withal Japanese crow-dragons, -toad-dragons, fish-dragons, and lizard-dragons. - -The horse played as prominent a part in Japanese rain-getting and -rain-stopping ceremonies as did the bear among the Ainu. White, black, -or red horses were offered to bring rain, but red horses alone were -sacrificed to stop rain. Like the Buriats of Siberia and the -Aryo-Indians of the Vedic period, the Japanese made use of the -domesticated horse at the dawn of their history. No doubt it was -imported from Korea. There is evidence that at an early period human -beings were sacrificed to the Japanese dragon-gods of rivers, lakes, -and pools. Human sacrifices at tombs are also referred to. In the -Nihon-gi, under the legendary date 2 B.C., it is related that when a -Mikado died his personal attendants were buried alive in an upright -position beside his tomb. [595] - -In his notable work on the dragon, M. W. de Visser [596] shows that the -Chinese ideas regarding their four-legged dragon and Indian Buddhist -ideas regarding nagas were introduced into Japan and fused with local -ideas regarding serpent-shaped water-gods. The foreign elements added -to ancient Japanese legends have, as has been indicated, made their -original form obscure. In the dragon place-names of Japan, however, it -is still possible to trace the locations of the ancient Shinto gods who -were mostly serpent-shaped. An ancient name for a Japanese dragon is -Tatsu. De Visser notes that Tatsu no Kuchi (“Dragon’s mouth”) is a -common place-name. It is given to a hot spring in the Nomi district, to -a waterfall in Kojimachi district, to a hill in Kamakura district, -where criminals were put to death, and to mountains, &c., elsewhere. -Tatsu ga hana (“Dragon’s nose”) is in Taga district; Tatsukushi -(“Dragon’s skewer”) is a rock in Tosa province; and so on. Chinese and -Indian dragons are in Japanese place-names “ryu” or “ryo”. These -include Ryo-ga-mine (“Dragon’s peak”) in Higo; Ryu-ga-take (“Dragon’s -peak”) in Ise; Ryu-kan-gawa (“Dragon’s rest river”) in Tokyo, &c. - -The worship of the Water Fathers or Dragons in Japan was necessary so -as to ensure the food-supply. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -RIVAL DEITIES OF LIFE AND DEATH, SUNSHINE AND STORM - - Izanagi visits Hades—Origin of Thunder Deities—The Flight from - Hades—Japanese Version of the “Far-travelled Tale”—The Sacred Peach - Tree—Izanami as Goddess of Death—Births of Sun and Moon from Eyes - of Izanagi—The Sun-goddess’s Necklace—Susa-no-wo as “Impetuous Male - Deity”—Connection with Typhoon and Rain—A Japanese Indra—Vitalizing - and Blighting Tears of Deities—Deities Born from Jewels and - Sword—The Harrying of Heaven—Flight of Sun-goddess—How Light was - Restored—The Sacred Mirror—Banishment of Susa-no-wo. - - -After Izanagi had slain his son, the fire-god, and brought into being -new gods, including dragons, he was seized with longing to see Izanami -once more. Accordingly he set out to find her in Yomi (“Yellow -stream”), the dark Hades of the Underworld. “The orthodox Japanese -derivation of Yomi,” says Chamberlain, “is from yoru, ‘night’, which -would give us for Yomo-tsu-kuni some such rendering as ‘Land of -Gloom’.” Another view is that “Yomi” is a mispronunciation of “Yama”, -the name of the Aryo-Indian god of death. [597] - -When Izanagi reached the gloomy dwelling of his sister, she raised the -door, and he spoke to her, saying: “Thine Augustness, my lovely young -sister! the lands that I and you made are not yet finished; so come -back”. She replied out of the darkness: “It is sorrowful that you did -not come hither sooner, for I have eaten of the food of Yomi. -Nevertheless, it is my desire to return. I will therefore speak with -the kami of Yomi.” [598] She added in warning, “Look not at me!” - -Izanami then went back to the place she had come from. She tarried -there for so long a time that Izanagi grew impatient. At length he felt -he could not wait any longer, so he broke off the end tooth of his -hair-comb, which is called the “male pillar”, and thus made a light, -and entered. [599] He found his sister. Her body was rotting, and -maggots swarmed over it. The Ko-ji-ki proceeds: - - - “In her head dwelt the Great Thunder, in her breast dwelt the Fire - Thunder, in her belly dwelt the Black Thunder, in her private parts - dwelt the Cleaving Thunder, in her left hand dwelt the Young - Thunder, in her right hand dwelt the Earth Thunder, in her left - foot dwelt the Rumbling Thunder, in her right foot dwelt the - Couchant Thunder; altogether eight thunder deities had been born - and dwelt there.” - - -Horrified at the spectacle, Izanagi drew back suddenly; whereupon his -sister exclaimed, “You have put me to shame!” and became angry. - -Here Izanagi has broken a taboo, as did the Japanese youth who married -the dragon-maid, Abundant Pearl Princess, and as did the husband of -Melusina in the French legend. It was an ancient custom in Japan to -erect “parturition houses”. These were one-roomed huts to which women -retired so as to give birth to children unseen. Ernest Satow tells that -on the island of Hachijo, until comparatively recent times, “women, -when about to become mothers, were ... driven out to the huts on the -mountain-side, and according to the accounts of native writers, left to -shift for themselves, the result not infrequently being the death of -the new-born infant”. [600] It was taboo for a man to enter a -“parturition house”. Apparently Izanami had retired to a “parturition -house” in Yomi. - -Enraged against Izanagi, because he had put her to shame, Izanami -commanded the Ugly Females of Yomi to pursue and slay him. - -At this point in the mythical narrative begins a version of the -widespread folk-story about the young man who makes escape from his -enemy or enemies, and in the course of his flight throws down articles -that are transformed into obstacles, or into things which tempt the -pursuers to tarry and eat. [601] - -The first article that Izanagi cast down behind him was his wreath or -head-dress, which was instantly turned into grapes. This is according -to the Ko-ji-ki; the Nihon-gi makes the head-dress the second obstacle. -His pursuer (Ko-ji-ki) or pursuers (Nihon-gi), having devoured the -grapes, resumed the chase. Then Izanagi, as he fled, broke his -hair-comb and threw it down; it instantly turned into bamboo sprouts. -While these were being pulled up and eaten, he continued his flight. - -The Ko-ji-ki (but not the Nihon-gi) here introduces another set of -pursuers. Izanami, finding that her brother had outwitted the Ugly -Female (or Females), “sent the eight Thunder-Deities with a thousand -and five hundred warriors of Hades to pursue him. Izanagi, drawing the -ten-grasp sabre that was augustly girded on him, fled forward, -brandishing it in his back hand (brandishing it behind him); and as the -demons still continued to pursue him, he took, on reaching the base of -the Even Pass of Hades, [602] three peaches that were growing at its -base, and waited and smote (his pursuers therewith) so that they all -fled back.” [603] - -Having thus rid himself of his pursuers, Izanagi addressed the peaches, -saying: “As you have helped me, so must ye help all living people in -the Central Land of Reed-Plains, when they are troubled and harassed”. - -Here we have not only a native name of China (“Land of Reed-Plains”) -applied to Japan, but also the sacred Chinese peach, a symbol of the -Great Mother, the Western Queen of Immortals (Si Wang Fu). The story of -a hero’s flight from the Underworld has not survived in China, if ever -it existed there. It is, however, found in the myths of Scandinavia. - -In the Nihon-gi (Aston) the comment is added to the peach incident: -“This was the origin of the custom of exorcising evil spirits by means -of peaches”. - -The peach, like the bean, was in Japan a symbol of the mother-goddess, -as was the shell in Egypt and the pig-shell in Greece. - -Izanami herself was the last to pursue Izanagi. When he saw her coming, -Izanagi blocked up the Pass of Yomi with a huge boulder of rock, which -it would take a thousand men to lift, and he stood on one side of it, -while she stood on the other to “exchange leave-takings” (Ko-ji-ki), or -to pronounce the formula of divorce (Nihon-gi). - -In the Ko-ji-ki Izanami threatens to slay a thousand inhabitants in the -land of the living, but Izanagi retorts that he will arrange for the -birth of one thousand and five hundred, so that the number born may -exceed the number who must die. - -Izanami became thereafter Yomo-tsu-oho-kami (Yomi’s Great Deity). [604] -The rock which blocks the Pass of Yomi became the -“Great-Deity-of-the-Road-Turning-back”. - -In the Nihon-gi (Aston’s translation) it is related that Izanagi flung -down various articles on leaving Hades, as the goddess Ishtar in -Babylonian mythology flung down her clothing and ornaments on entering -the dread abode of Erish-ki-gal (Persephone). Having pronounced the -divorce formula: - - - “He also said, ‘Come no farther’, and threw down his staff, which - was called Funando-no-kami (pass-not-place-deity), or - Kunado-no-kami (come-not-place-deity). Moreover, he threw down his - girdle, which was called Nagachiha-no-kami. Moreover, he threw down - his upper garment, which was called Wadzurahi-no-kami (god of - disease). Moreover, he threw down his trousers, which were called - Aki-guhi-no-kami. Moreover, he threw down his shoes, which were - called Chi-shiki-no-kami.” - - -On returning to the land of the living, Izanagi exclaimed: “I have come -from a hideous and polluted place. I will therefore perform the -purification of my august body.” - -He went to bathe at a river mouth on a plain covered with bush-clover, -beside a grove of orange trees confronting the sun. It is here, -according to the Ko-ji-ki, that he flings down his staff and the -various articles of clothing that are transformed into deities. Two -evil deities were born from the filth of Hades that fell from his -person when he entered the water. He dived, and three sea-gods came -into being. He washed his left eye, and thus gave origin to the goddess -of the sun, Ama-terâsu-oho-mi-kami (The -Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity). He washed his right eye, and there -came into being the god of the moon, Tsuki-yomi-no-kami -(Moon-Night-Possessor). He washed his nose, and from it was born -Take-haya-susa-no-wu-no-mikoto [605] -(His-Brave-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness). - -Izanagi took off his necklace of jewels or beads (tama), and, shaking -it so that the beads jingled, bestowed it on Ama-terâsu, the sun kami -or goddess, and set her to rule the “Plain of High Heaven”. He -commanded the moon-god to rule the night, and Susa-no-wo to rule the -“Sea Plain”. - -“At this point,” as Chamberlain says, “the story loses its unity. The -moon-goddess is no more heard of, and the traditions concerning the -sun-goddess diverge from those concerning the ‘Impetuous-Male-Deity’ in -a manner which is productive of inconsistencies in the rest of the -mythology.” [606] - -Chamberlain translates Susa-no-wo as “Impetuous-Male-Deity”, connecting -his name with susama, “to be impetuous”. But, as Aston points out, the -implied noun susa, “impetuosity”, does not exist. There is, however, a -town named Susa in Idzumo, [607] with which area the legends regarding -the god are specially associated. Susa-no-wo may therefore have been -simply “the god of Susa”. Aston, following Dr. Buckley, Chicago, -regards him as a personification of the rain-storm. Japanese writers, -on the other hand, have connected him with Godzu Tenno, an Indian Hades -deity, and with the moon-god, or regarded him as a war-god, while some -European scholars have referred to him as a “rotating-heavens god”. -Having been born from the nose of Izanagi, we should expect Susa-no-wo -to have a connection with wind and “the air of life”, as well as with -rain and the sea. It is of special interest to note in this connection -that, as Aston says, [608] “Japan is annually visited by destructive -typhoons, accompanied by great darkness and a terrific downpour of -rain”. Susa-no-wo is “continually weeping, wailing, and fuming with -rage”, and is “a lover of destruction”, and he is associated with Yomi, -the habitation of the deities that work evil against mankind. -Susa-no-wo may be the Japanese Indra, who brings rain. Japanese -wind-gods were givers of rain, as well as wind. [609] Like Indra, -Susa-no-wo is a dragon-slayer. A festival “celebrated in his honour at -Onomochi in Bingo” is described by a Japanese writer in these words: -[610] - - - “The procession is a tumultuous trial of speed and strength. Bands - of strong men seize the sacred cars, race with them to the sea, and - having plunged in breast-deep, their burden held aloft, dash back - at full speed to the shrine. There refreshments are served out, and - then the race is resumed, the goal being the central flag among a - number set up in a large plain. Their feet beat time to a wildly - shouted chorus, and they sweep along wholly regardless of obstacles - or collisions.” - - -Indra, with Agni, the fire-god, was the winner in a race of the gods; -he links with Vayu or Vata, the wind-god, and he wages war against the -Danavas, the demons of ocean. [611] - -In China dragon-boat races were held so as to cause rain. Imitation -boats were likewise carried through the streets to the seashore, and -there burned so as to take away evil influences. The boats represented -fighting dragons, and these were rain-bringers. The Japanese imitated -these Chinese customs, but not, however, until about the eleventh -century. [612] - -As a trickster among the gods, Susa-no-wo bears some resemblance to the -Scandinavian Loki; he is, like that deity, an ally of the powers of -darkness and destruction, and he similarly suffers banishment from the -celestial land. Susa-no-wo also recalls Nergal, the Babylonian -warrior-god, who conquered Hades, and was “the death spreader” -(Mushtabarrû-mûtanu). - -The deities of the sun and moon proceeded to rule the day and the night -as commanded by their parent Izanagi, but Susa-no-wo did not depart to -the ocean, which had been committed to his charge; instead, he cried -and wept until his eight-grasp beard reached the pit of his stomach. -Says the Ko-ji-ki: - - - “The fashion of his weeping was such as by his weeping to dry up - all the rivers and seas. For this reason the sound of bad deities - was like unto the flies of the fifth moon as they all swarmed, and - in all things every portent of woe arose.” - - -The reference to the god’s tears causing the green mountains to wither -and the waters to dry up has greatly perplexed Japanese commentators. -But there are statements in Asian and American mythologies regarding -“evil” or “poisonous rain” distributed, to the injury of vegetation, by -dragons that may be sick or badly disposed towards mankind. De Visser -refers to a Buddhist legend about a poisonous Naga that guarded a big -tree and killed all those who took a branch from it; when angry it sent -thunder and rain. [613] Central Asian legends tell that evil rains were -sent out of season by disturbed and enraged dragons. A Chinese story -tells of a sick dragon that, having been roused by prayers, gave “a -badly-smelling rain which would have spoiled the crops if a diviner had -not discovered it in time and cured the dragon at the latter’s -request”. Thereupon a fertilizing rain fell and a very clear spring -dashed forth from a rock. [614] - -In Ancient Egypt the deities wept vitalizing tears (see Index). Ra’s -tears gave life to gods and men, the tears of the god Shu and the -goddess Tefnut became incense-bearing trees. The tears of Osiris and -Isis caused life-giving herbs, &c., to grow, but the tears shed on the -world by the evil Set and his partisans produced poisonous plants. When -deities were enraged, their saliva, sweat, and blood on touching the -earth germinated and produced poisonous plants, scorpions, serpents, -&c. [615] - -The Chinese Buddhists believed in a Naga that, by means of a single -drop of water, could give rain to one or two kingdoms, and even prevent -the sea from drying up. [616] Similarly a single tear from Isis-Hathor, -as the star Sirius, that fell on the “Night of the Drop”, caused the -Nile to rise in flood. - -The blighting and ocean-drying tears of Susa-no-wo were evidently those -of an evil or angry deity, or of one who was sick with sorrow. - -Izanagi, beholding the ocean-ruler in tears, asked him why he wailed -and wept. - -Susa-no-wo made answer: “I wail because I wish to depart to the land of -my dead mother (Izanami) in the Nether-Distant Land (Yomi, i.e. -Hades)”. - -Izanagi was very angry, and said: “If that be so, you shall not dwell -in the ocean domain”. He then banished Susa-no-wo to Afumi. [617] - -Susa-no-wo made answer that he would first take leave of his sister, -Ama-terâsu, goddess of the sun. He rose in the air, as does a -thunder-bringing dragon. Says the Ko-ji-ki: - - - “(With these words) he forthwith went up to Heaven, whereupon all - the mountains shook, and every land and country quaked. So - Ama-terâsu, alarmed at the noise, said: ‘The reason of the ascent - hither of His Augustness my elder brother [618] is surely no good - intent. It is only that he wishes to wrest my land from me.’” [619] - - -The goddess unbound her hair, twisted it into bunches, put on her -string of five hundred curved jewels (maga-tama, i.e. claw-shaped), -[620] and armed herself with bow and arrows. She stood “valiantly like -unto a mighty man”, and asked her brother why he had ascended. -Susa-no-wo declared he had no evil intention, and she asked him to give -proof of his sincerity and goodwill. He proposed that they should -pledge their faith and produce children. To this she consented, and -they “swore to each other from the opposite banks of the Tranquil River -of Heaven”. [621] - -Ama-terâsu asked Susa-no-wo for his sword. He gave it to her and she -broke it into three pieces. She then made a jingling sound with her -jewels, brandished and washed them in the True-Pool-Well of Heaven -[622] and “crunchingly crunched them”. Then from the mist (of her -breath) were born the deities Torrent-Mist-Princess, -Lovely-Island-Princess, and Princess-of-the-Torrent. - -Susa-no-wo then asked for and obtained from Ama-terâsu the string of -five hundred curved jewels [623] which was twisted in the left bunch of -her hair. He made a jingling sound with the jewels, washed them in the -Pool, and, having crunched them, “blew them away”. From his breath were -born the god -“Truly-Conqueror-I-Conquer-Conquering-Swift-Heavenly-Great-Great-Ears”, -the god Ame-no-hohi, [624] the god “Prince-Lord of Heaven”, the god -“Prince-Lord of Life”, and the god of Kumano. In all eight -deities—three goddesses and five gods—were born. - -From these deities the Japanese noble families have claimed descent. -The Mikados were supposed to be descended from the Conquering God with -Great Ears (Masa-ya-a-katsu-kachi-haya-hi-ama-no-oshi-ho-mi-mi). -Another myth makes the Mikado a descendant of the sun-goddess and -Taka-mi-musubi (the High, August God of Birth and Growth), who, in a -sense, is a Japanese Osiris. He has been compared to the Hindu god -Shiva. Aston says that “musubi” is “the abstract process of growth -personified—that is, a power immanent in nature and not external to -it”. [625] Breasted similarly regards Osiris as “the imperishable -principle of life wherever found”. [626] Shiva, as “the fructifying -principle”, is represented by the phallus. It is believed that this -symbol was the “shintai” (god body) of Musubi. [627] - -After the three goddesses and five gods had come into being, Susa-no-wo -declared, “I have undoubtedly gained the victory”. He then proceeded to -harry the celestial regions. He broke down the divisions of the -rice-fields, filled up the ditches, and fouled with excrement and urine -the palace in which the goddess took food. He became even more violent. -Having broken open a hole in the sacred house in which sat Ama-terâsu -superintending the weaving of the garments of deities, he let fall into -it a heavenly piebald horse that had been flayed backwards (a criminal -offence). The celestial female weavers were terrified. - -Alarmed by Susa-no-wo’s doings, the sun-goddess entered her cave, the -Heavenly Rock Dwelling, [628] shut the door and made it fast. All the -land became dark. - -Then the eight hundred myriad deities took counsel, sitting in the bed -of the River of Heaven, so as to plan how they could entice the -sun-goddess from her hiding-place. They made the cocks (“the -long-singing birds of eternal night”) to crow loud, they caused the -Heavenly Smith to shape a mirror of iron (the “true metal”) from the -Heavenly Metal-Mountains (the mines), and charged the Jewel-Ancestor -(Tama-noya-no-mikoto) to make a complete string of five hundred curved -jewels. A tree was then taken from the celestial Mount Kagu [629] and -on it were hung the mirror, the jewel, cherry bark, and other -offerings. The ritual was recited, and thereafter Ama-no-Uzume (the -Dread Celestial Female), wearing metal head-gear (flowers of gold and -silver) and a sash of club-moss from the celestial mountain, and -holding in her hands a posy of bamboo grass, danced on a tub [630] -until the eight hundred myriad deities laughed. Wondering to hear -sounds of merriment, instead of sounds of woe, the sun-goddess opened -the door of her cave a little and asked why they all laughed. She was -told that the deities rejoiced because they had among them a more -august goddess than herself. - -One of the gods then held up the mirror, and the sun-goddess was -astonished to behold a bright deity, not knowing it was her reflected -image, and gradually came forth, fascinated by her own beauty and -brightness. A strong deity took her hand and drew her out while another -deity, Grand Jewel, drew a straw rope behind her so as to prevent her -retreating. [631] In this manner the sun-goddess was enticed to return -and light up the world. - -The second expulsion of Susa-no-wo followed. He was fined an immense -fine of table-offerings, his beard was shorn, and his finger and toe -nails were drawn out. - -According to the Ko-ji-ki, he begged for food from the food-goddess. -She took “dainty things” from various parts of her body which he -regarded as filth, so he slew her. Then from her head “were born -silk-worms, in her two eyes were born rice-seeds, in her two ears were -born millet, in her nose were born small beans, in her private parts -were born barley, in her fundament were born large beans”. These were -used as seeds. According to the Nihon-gi, they were sown “in the narrow -fields and in the long fields of Heaven”. - -The reason for keeping the mirror and jewels (tama) in the shrine of -Ise, and for worshipping the sun-goddess and the food-goddess there, -are thus explained in Shinto mythology. Virgin priestesses danced at -religious ceremonies as did the tub-thumping goddess, and offerings -were suspended from trees as in the celestial regions, while the straw -rope was utilized to keep back demons and to ensure the rising of the -sun by preventing the retreat of the sun-goddess. - -The finding of the dragon-sword is dealt with in the next mythical -story. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -THE DRAGON-SLAYER AND HIS RIVAL - - The Eight-headed Dragon—Sacrifices of Maidens—How the Dragon was - intoxicated and slain—Finding of the Dragon-sword—The Nuptial - House—Adventures of Ohonamochi—The Jealous Brothers—Flight of - Ohonamochi to Hades—Susa-no-wo as Giant-god of Hades—Princess - Forward—Far Eastern Version of Jack-and-the-Beanstalk Story—The - Life-sword, Life-bow and arrows, &c.—Ohonamochi’s Conquest of - Japan—A Japanese Odin—Another Creation Myth—The Elfin Deity in Bird - Skins—A Shining Sea-god. - - -After Susa-no-wo had been banished from heaven, he descended on -Tori-kami, beside the river Hi, in the province of Idzumo. A chopstick -came floating down the river, so he knew that people were dwelling -near, and he set out to search for them. He soon met an old man and an -old woman who were weeping bitterly; between them walked a lovely -maiden. - -“Who are you?” asked Susa-no-wo. - -The old man made answer: “I am a god of earth, son of a mountain god, -and my name is Ashi-na-dzu-chi (‘foot-stroker’); this woman is my wife, -and her name is Te-na-dzu-chi (‘hand stroker’); the maiden is my -daughter Kush-inada-hime (‘Miraculous-rice-field-sun-maiden’).” - -“Why do you weep?” asked Susa-no-wo. - -Said the old man: “I have had eight daughters, but each year the -eight-forked serpent (dragon) of Koshi has come and devoured one after -the other. I weep now because the time is at hand to give -Kush-inada-hime to the serpent.” - -“What is the serpent like?” - -“Its eyes are red as the winter cherry [632]; it has a body with eight -heads and eight tails, and on its body grow moss and trees. It is so -long that it stretches over eight valleys and eight hills. Its belly is -constantly bloody and inflamed.” [633] - -“If this maiden is your daughter,” said Susa-no-wo, “will you give her -to me?” - -“You honour me,” the old man made answer, “but I do not know your -name.” - -“I am the dear brother of the sun-goddess, and have just descended from -heaven.” - -“Most obediently do I offer my daughter to you,” the old man said with -reverence. - -Susa-no-wo then transformed the girl into a comb, which he placed in -his hair. Having done this, he bade the old couple to brew rice-beer -(sake). They obeyed him, and he asked them to construct a fence with -eight gates and eight benches, and to place on each bench a vat filled -with the beer. - -In time the eight-forked serpent came nigh. It dipped each of its heads -into each of the vats, drank the sake, became drunk, and then lay down -and slept. Susa-no-wo drew his two-handed sword, [634] and cut the -serpent in pieces. The Hi River turned red with blood. - -When Susa-no-wo cut the middle tail his sword broke. He marvelled at -this. Taking the point of the sword in his hand, he thrust and split, -and looked inside, and found a keen-cutting blade within this tail. He -took it out and sent it to his sister, Ama-terâsu, the sun-goddess. -This sword is the Kusa-nagi-no-tachi (the “herb-quelling” -dragon-sword). - -Susa-no-wo afterwards built a house in the land of Idzumo, at a place -called Suga. Clouds rose up from that place. He made an ode regarding -the eight clouds that formed an eight-fold fence for husband and wife -to retire within the house. Then he appointed the maiden’s father to be -keeper, or head-man of the house. - -In this nuptial house children were born to Susa-no-wo and the young -woman he had rescued from the dragon. These children included -Oho-toshi-no-kami (Great Harvest deity), Uka-no-mitama (the August -Spirit of Food), and Ohonamochi (“Great Name Possessor”), the god of -Idzumo, [635] who could assume snake form or human form at will. - -Ohonamochi and his eighty brothers desired to marry the Princess of -Yakami in Inaba. On their way thither the eighty brothers tricked a -hare, which came by a distressing injury, but Ohonamochi caused it to -be cured. The grateful hare of Inaba, now called “the Hare Deity”, -promised Ohonamochi, who carried the bag as a servant to his brothers, -that he would get the princess for wife. - -The princess afterwards refused to marry any of the eighty brothers, -saying she favoured Ohonamochi. Being enraged, the brothers took -counsel together and said to Ohonamochi: “There is a red boar on this -mountain, named Tema, in the land of Hataki. When we drive it down, you -must catch it. If you fail to catch it, we shall certainly slay you.” -[636] - -Having thus spoken, the eighty deities kindled a fire, in which they -heated a great boulder, shaped like to a boar. They rolled the stone -down the mountain-side, and when Ohonamochi seized it he was so -grievously burned that he died. - -Then his mother wept and lamented, and ascending to heaven, appealed to -Kami-musu-bi-no-kami (Divine-Producing Wondrous-Deity), one of the -elder gods, [637] who sent Kisa-gahi-hime (Princess Cockle-Shell) [638] -and Umugi-hime (Princess Clam) [639] to restore the dead deity to life. -Kisa-gahi-hime “triturated and scorched her shell”, and Umugi-hime -“carried water and smeared him as with mother’s milk”. [640] Thereupon -Ohonamochi came to life as a beautiful young man and walked again. - -The eighty deities again deceived Ohonamochi. They led him to the -mountains. There they cut down a tree, which they split, inserting a -wedge in it, and having made him stand in the middle, they took away -the wedge, and thus killed him. - -Ohonamochi’s mother again wailed and wept. She cut the tree, and, -taking him out, restored him to life once more. Then he fled to the -Land of Trees, escaping from his pursuers, who had fixed arrows in -their bows, by dipping under the fork of a tree and disappearing. [641] - -Ohonamochi was advised to seek refuge in the Nether-Distant-Land -(Hades), where dwelt Susa-no-wo. Princess Forward met him, and they -exchanged glances, and were married. She then informed her father, -Susa-no-wo, that a very beautiful god had arrived. But Susa-no-wo was -angry, and called the youthful deity “Ugly-Male-God-of-Reed-Plain”, and -commanded him to sleep in the snake-house. The Princess Forward gave -Ohonamochi a snake-scarf, instructing him to wave it thrice when the -snakes threatened to bite him. This he did, and was protected. On the -next night Susa-no-wo placed the young god in the house of centipedes -and wasps, but the princess gave him another scarf that protected him -against attack. - -Next day Susa-no-wo shot a “humming arrow” [642] into the middle of a -moor, and made Ohonamochi fetch it back. But when the young god went -out on the moor Susa-no-wo set fire to it all round. Ohonamochi could -perceive no way of escape. As he stood there, a mouse [643] came and -told him of a hollow place in which he could shelter himself. -Ohonamochi hastened to the hole and hid in it till the fire had gone -past. Then the mouse discovered and brought the humming arrow to -Ohonamochi. “The feathers of the arrows were brought in their mouths by -all the mouse’s children” (Ko-ji-ki, p. 73). [644] - -Princess Forward lamented for her husband, and Susa-no-wo believed he -was dead. But the princess found Ohonamochi, and took him to the house. -He returned the arrow to Susa-no-wo. This god had many centipedes in -his hair, and bade the youth take them out. Ohonamochi made pretence of -doing this, and Susa-no-wo fell asleep. - -Then Ohonamochi tied the hair of Susa-no-wo to the rafters, placed a -great boulder against the door, and fled away with Princess Forward on -his back. He carried away, too, Susa-no-wo’s life-sword and life-bow -and arrows, and the heavenly-speaking lute. [645] - -As Ohonamochi fled, the lute touched a tree, and the earth resounded -with its call. Susa-no-wo was awakened by the spirit-call. He pulled -down the great house so as to get out, but was so long delayed in -disentangling his hair from the rafters, that when he went in pursuit -he did not get within call of Ohonamochi until he reached the Even Pass -of Yomi (Hades). [646] - -Susa-no-wo shouted to Ohonamochi, advising him to pursue the eighty -half-brothers with the life-sword and life-bow and arrows until they -were swept into the river rapids. “Then, wretch,” said he, “become -Oho-kuni-nushi (Great Master god of the land), and make Princess -Forward thy consort. Set up the temple-pillars at the foot of Mount Uka -on foundations of rock and raise the cross-beams to the Plain of High -Heaven. Dwell there, you villain.” - -Ohonamochi pursued and destroyed the eighty deities. “Then,” the -narrative continues, “he began to make the land.” - -Here we meet with another Creation myth. - -Two children were born to Ohonamochi and Princess Forward; these were -Ki-no-mata-no-kami (Tree-fork-deity) and Mi-wi-no-kami (Deity of August -Wells). - -Like Odin, Ohonamochi woos in the course of his career more than one -goddess. One of these, the Princess of Nuna-kaha (Lagoon-river), sings -to him: - - - “Being a man probably (thou) hast on the various island headlands - that thou seest, and on every beach headland that thou lookest on, - a wife like the young herbs. But as for me, alas! being a woman, I - have no man except thee.” [647] - - -An elfin deity comes across the ocean to assist Ohonamochi to “make and -consolidate the land”. He is named Sukuna-bikona (the Little Prince -god). Attired in bird [648] skins, the little god sailed in a boat of -the heavenly Kagami. [649] - -After Little Prince had for a time assisted to consolidate the land, he -crossed over to Toko-yo-no-kuni (the Eternal Land). - -Then came a deity illuminating the sea to assist in consolidating the -land. He asked for a temple on Mount Mimoro and was afterwards -worshipped there. He himself passed to the Eternal Land -(Toko-yo-no-kuni), where grows the orange tree of life. [650] The deity -there who revealed Little Prince is called Crumbling Prince; his legs -do not walk, but he knows everything beneath the Heavens. [651] - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -ANCIENT MIKADOS AND HEROES - - End of Dynasty of Susa-no-wo—Dynasty of Sun-goddess—The First - Emperor of Japan—Mikado as Descendant of the Sea-god, the “Abundant - Pearl Prince”—A Japanese Gilgamesh—Quest of the Orange Tree of - Life—The “Eternal Land”—The Polynesian Paradise and Tree of - Life—Yamato-Take, National Hero of Japan—Conflicts with Gods and - Rebels—Enchantment and Death of Hero—The Bird-soul—Empress - Jingo—Mikado deified as God of War—Shinto Religion and - Nature-worship—The Goddess Cult in Japan—Adoration of the Principle - of Life in Jewels, Trees, Herbs, &c.—Buddhism—Revival of Pure - Shinto—Culture-mixing in China and Japan—China “not a nation”. - - -Many children were born to Ohonamochi, but the Celestials would not -give recognition to the Dynasty of Susa-no-wo, and resolved that -Ninigi, the august grandchild of the sun-goddess, should rule Japan. -Ohonamochi was deposed, and several deities were sent down from heaven -to pacify the land for the chosen one. - -Ninigi’s wife was Konohana-sakuyahime, and two of their children were -Hohodemi, the hunter, and Ho-no-Susori, the fisherman. - -It was Hohodemi who wooed and wed the “Abundant Pearl Princess” and -lived with her for a time in the land under the ocean. [652] After she -gave birth to her child, she departed to her own land, deeply offended -because her husband beheld her in dragon (wani) shape in the -parturition house he had built for her on the seashore. - -This child was the father of the first Emperor of Japan, Jimmu Tenno. -[653] The Mikados were therefore descended from the sun-goddess -Ama-terâsu and the Dragon-king of Ocean, the “Abundant Pearl Prince”. - -When engaged pacifying the land, Jimmu followed a gigantic crow [654] -that had been sent down from heaven to guide him. He possessed a magic -celestial cross-sword and a fire-striker. His two brothers, who -accompanied him on an expedition across the sea, leapt overboard when a -storm was raging so that the waves might be stilled. They were -subsequently worshipped as gods. - -Yamato now becomes the centre of the narrative, Idzumo having lost its -former importance. - -Jimmu Tenno reigned until he was 127 years of age, dying, according to -Japanese dating, in 585 B.C. His successor was Suisei Tenno. There -follows a blank of 500 years which is bridged by the names of rulers -most of whom had long lives, some reaching over 120 years. - -At the beginning of the Christian era, the Mikado was Sui-nin, who died -at the age of 141 years. This monarch sent the hero Tajima-mori to the -Eternal Land with purpose to bring back the fruit of the “Timeless (or -Everlasting) Fragrant Tree”. The Japanese Gilgamesh succeeded in his -enterprise. According to the Ko-ji-ki: - - - “Tajima-mori at last reached that country, plucked the fruit of the - tree, and brought of club-moss eight and of spears eight; but - meanwhile the Heavenly Sovereign had died. Then Tajima-mori set - apart of club-moss four and of spears four, which he presented to - the Great Empress, and set up of club-moss four and of spears four - as an offering at the door of the Heavenly Sovereign’s august - mausoleum, and, raising on high the fruit of the tree, wailed and - wept, saying: ‘Bringing the fruit of the Everlasting Fragrant Tree - from the Eternal Land, I have come to serve thee.’ At last he - wailed and wept himself to death. This fruit of the Everlasting - Fragrant Tree is what is now called the orange.” - - -Chamberlain explains [655] that “club-moss oranges” signifies oranges -as they grow on the branch surrounded by leaves, while spear-oranges -are the same divested of leaves and hanging to the bare twig. - -The location of the Eternal Land has greatly puzzled native scholars. -Some suppose it was a part of Korea and others that it was Southern -China or the Loocho Islands. According to the Nihon-gi, Tajima-mori -found the Eternal Land to be inhabited by gods and dwarfs. As it lay -somewhere to the west of Japan, it would appear to be identical with -the Western Paradise which, according to Chinese belief, is ruled over -by Si Wang Mu (the Japanese Seiobo), the “Royal Mother” and “Queen of -Immortals”. Instead of the Chinese Peach Tree of Life, the Japanese had -in their own Western Paradise the Orange Tree of Life. The orange was -not, however, introduced into Japan until the eighth century of our -era. [656] Whether or not it supplanted in the Japanese paradise an -earlier tree, as the cassia tree supplanted the peach tree in the -Chinese paradise, is at present uncertain. It may be that the idea of -the Western Paradise was introduced by the Buddhists. At the same time, -it will be recalled that the Peach Tree of Life grew on the borderland -of Yomi, which was visited by Izanagi. - -A similar garden paradise was known to the Polynesians, and especially -the Tahitians. It was called Rohutu noanoa (“Perfumed or Fragrant -Rohutu”). Thither the souls of the dead were conducted by the god -Urutaetae. This paradise “was supposed”, writes Ellis, [657] “to be -near a lofty and stupendous mountain in Raiatea, situated in the -vicinity of Hamaniino harbour and called Temehani unauna, ‘splendid or -glorious Temehani’. It was, however, said to be invisible to mortal -eyes, being in the reva, or aerial regions. The country was described -as most lovely and enchanting in appearance, adorned with flowers of -every form and hue, and perfumed with odours of every fragrance. The -air was free from every noxious vapour, pure, and most salubrious.... -Rich viands and delicious fruits were supposed to be furnished in -abundance for the frequent and sumptuous festivals celebrated there. -Handsome youths and women, purotu anae, all perfection, thronged the -place.” - -Another Polynesian paradise, called Pulotu, was reserved for chiefs, -who obtained “plenty of the best food and other indulgences”. Its -ruler, Saveasiuleo, had a human head. The upper part of his body -reclined in a great house “in company with the spirits of departed -chiefs”, while “the extremity of his body was said to stretch away into -the sea in the shape of an eel or serpent”. [658] - -The Japanese had thus, like the Polynesians, a garden paradise and a -sea-dragon-king’s paradise, as well as the gloomy Yomi. It may be that -the beliefs and stories regarding these Otherworlds were introduced by -the earliest seafarers, who formed pearl-fishing communities round -their shores. The Ainu believe that Heaven and Hell are beneath the -earth, “in Pokna moshiri, the lower world”, but they have no idea what -the rewards of the righteous are. [659] Nothing is definitely known -regarding the beliefs of the earlier and more highly civilized people -remembered as the Koro-pok-guru. - -The Mikado Sui-nin was succeeded by the Mikado Kei-ko, who died in A.D. -130, aged 143 years. One of his sons, Yamato-Take, is a famous -legendary hero of Japan. He performed many heroic deeds in battle -against brigands and rebels. At Ise he obtained from his aunt, -Yamato-hime, the priestess, the famous Kusanagi sword, and a bag which -he was not to open except when in peril of his life. He then set out to -subdue and pacify all savage deities and unsubmissive peoples. The -ruler of Sagami set fire to a moor which Yamato entered in quest of a -“Violent Deity”. Finding himself in peril, he opened the bag and -discovered in it a fire-striker (or fire-drill). He mowed the herbage -with the dragon-sword, and, using the fire-striker, kindled a -counter-fire, which drove back the other fire. The Kusanagi -(herb-quelling) sword takes its name from this incident. Yamato-Take -afterwards slew the wicked rulers of that land. He also slew a god in -the shape of a white deer which met him in Ashigara Pass. He lay in -ambush, and with a scrap of chive [660] hit the deer in the eye and -thus struck it dead. Then he shouted three times “Adzuma ha ya” (Oh, my -wife!). The land was thereupon called Adzuma. - -Then follows the mysterious story of the death of the hero. He went to -the land of Shinanu, in which Ohonamochi had taken refuge when Japan -was being subdued for the ruler chosen by the sun-goddess, and where, -being pursued and threatened with death, Ohonamochi consented to -abdicate and take up his abode in a temple. The country takes its name -from shina, a tree resembling the lime, [661] and nu or no, “moor”. -Yamato-Take entered this land through Shinanu Pass (Shinanu no saka), -between the provinces of Shinano and Mino. He overcame the deity of the -pass, and went to dwell in the house of Princess Miyazu, of fragrant -and slender arms. She welcomed him with love. In the house of the -princess he left the Kusanagi sword, and went forth against the deity -of evil breath (or influence) on Mount Ibuki. As he climbed the -mountain he met a white boar, big as a bull. Believing it was a -messenger of the deity, he vowed he would slay it when he returned, and -continued to climb the mountain. But the boar was not a messenger; it -was the very deity in person, and it sent a heavy ice-rain. [662] The -rain-smitten and perplexed hero was thus misled by the deity. - -On descending the mountain, Yamato-Take reached the fresh spring of -Tama-kura-be (the “Jewel-store-tribe”). He drank from it, and revived -somewhat. The spring was afterwards called Wi-same (the “well of -awakening” or “resting”). - -Then Yamato-Take departed, and reached the moor of Tagi, [663] -lamenting the loss of bodily strength. He passed on to Cape Wotsu in -Ise, and there found a sword he had left at a pine tree, and sang: - - - “O pine tree, my brother, - If thou wert a person, - My sword and my garments - To thee would I give”. - - -Having sung this song, he proceeded on his way, yearning for his native -land, delightful Yamato, situated behind Mount Awogaki. His next song -was one of love and regret. - - - “How sweet o’er the skies - From Yamato, my home, - Do its white clouds arise, - Do its white clouds all come.” - - -His sickness and weariness made him feel more and more faint, and he -sang in his distress: - - - “Oh! the sharp sabre-sword - I left by the bedside - Of Princess Miyazu— - The sabre-sword”. [664] - - -Yamato-Take sank and died as soon as he had finished his song. - -In time his wives came and built for him a mausoleum, weeping and -moaning the while, because he could not hear them or make answer. Then -Yamato-Take was transformed into a white bird, [665] which rose high in -the air and flew towards the shore. The wives pursued the bird with -lamentations and entered the sea. They saw the bird flying towards the -beach, and followed it. For a time it perched on a rock. Then it flew -from Ise to Shiki, in the land of Kafuchi, where a mausoleum was built -for it, so that it might rest. [666] But the white bird rose again to -heaven and flew away. It was never again seen. - -After Mikado Kei-ko, father of Yamato-Take, had passed away, Sei-mu -reigned until he was 108 years old. Then followed the Mikado Chiu-ai. -His capital was in the south-west on the island of Kyushu. A message -came from the goddess through the Empress Jingo, who was divinely -possessed, promising him Korea, “a land to the westward” with -“abundance of various treasures, dazzling to the eye, from gold and -silver downwards”. - -The Mikado refused to believe there was a land to the west, and -declared that the gods spoke falsely. Soon afterwards the heavenly -sovereign was struck dead. - -Now the Empress Jingo was with child. Having received the instructions -of the deities to conquer Korea for her son, she delayed his birth by -taking a stone and attaching it to her waist with cords. Korea was -subdued, the Empress having made use of the “Jewels of flood and ebb”, -as related in a previous chapter. Her child was born after she returned -to Japan. - -Empress Jingo is further credited with subduing and uniting the Empire -of Japan, and again establishing the central power at Yamato. She lived -until she was 100 years old. - -Her son Ojin Tenno, [667] who had a dragon’s tail, lived until he was -110 years old, and died in A.D. 310. He was worshipped after death as a -war-god, and the patron of the Minamoto clan. His successor, Nin-toku, -who died at the age of 110, was the last of the mythical monarchs, or -of the monarchs regarding whom miraculous deeds are related. Japanese -history begins and myth ends about the beginning of the fifth century -of the Christian era. - -The cult of Hachiman (Ojin Tenno) came into prominence in the ninth -century with the rise of the Minamoto family; its original seat was -Usa, in Buzen province. Hachiman’s shintai (“god body”) is a white -stone, or a fly-brush, or a pillow, or an arm-rest. - -Jimmu Tenno, the Empress Jingo, and Yamato-Take were similarly deified -and worshipped. A ninth century scholar, Sugahara Michizane, was -deified as Temmangû, god of scholars. Living as well as dead Mikados -were kami (deities). “The spirits of all the soldiers who died in -battle,” writes Yei Ozaki, [668] “are worshipped as deified heroes at -the Kudan shrine in Tokyo.” - -The worship of human ancestors in Japan is due to Chinese influence, -and had no place in old Shinto prior to the sixth century. In the -Ko-ji-ki and Nihon-gi the ancestors of the Mikados and the ruling -classes are the deities and their avatars. As we have seen, the Mikados -were reputed to be descended from the sun-goddess, and from the -daughter of the Dragon King of Ocean, called the “Abundant-Pearl -Princess”, a Japanese Melusina. - -It is far from correct, therefore, to refer, as has been done, to -Shinto religion as “the worship of nature-gods and ancestors”. Even the -term “nature-worship” is misleading. The adoration in sacred shrines of -the mi-tama (the “August jewel”, or “Dragon-pearl”, or “spirit”, or -“double”) of a deity is not “the worship of Nature”, but the worship of -“the imperishable principle of life wherever found”. At Ise, the -“Mecca” of Japan, the goddess cult is prominent. Both the sun-goddess -and the food-goddess are forms of the Far Eastern Hathor, the -personification of the pearl, the shell, the precious jewel containing -“life substance”, the sun mirror, the sword, the pillow, the -standing-stone, the holy tree, the medicinal herb, the fertilizing -rain, &c. The Mikado, as her descendant, was the living Horus, an -avatar of Osiris; after death the Mikado ascended, like Ra, to the -celestial regions, or departed, like Osiris, to the Underworld of the -Dead. The Mikado of Japan, like the Pharaoh of Egypt, was a Son of -Heaven. - -After Buddhism had been introduced into Japan in the sixth century, it -was fused with Shinto. The Shinto deities figured as avatars of Buddha -in the cult of Ryobu-Shinto. Even the Mikados came under the spell of -Buddhism. - -In the eighteenth century began the movement known as the “Revival of -Pure Shinto”. It was promoted chiefly by Motöori and his disciple -Hirata. In time it did much to bring about the revolution which -restored to supreme political power, as the hereditary high priest and -living representative of the sun-goddess, the Mikado of Japan. Shinto -is the official religion of modern Japan; but Buddhism, impregnated -with Shinto elements, is the religion of the masses. “Pure Shinto”, -however, was not “pure” in the sense that Motöori and Hirata professed -to believe. It was undoubtedly a product of culture mixing in early -times. “The Ko-ji-ki and Nihon-gi,” as Laufer says, “do not present a -pure source of genuine Japanese thought, but are retrospective records -largely written under Chinese and Korean influence, and echoing in a -bewildering medley continental-Asiatic and Malayo-Polynesian -traditions.” [669] In China, Korea, Polynesia, &c., a similar process -of culture mixing can be traced. Buddha and Mohammed were not the -earliest founders of cults which have left their impress on the -religious systems of the Far East. Vast areas were influenced by the -cultures of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia. - -The history of civilization does not support the hypothesis that the -same myths and religious practices were of spontaneous generation in -widely-separated countries. Culture complexes cannot be accounted for -or explained away by the application of the principles of biological -evolution. As has been shown in these pages, there are many culture -complexes in China and Japan, and many links with more ancient -civilizations. - -Touching on the problem of culture mixing in China, Laufer writes: - -“In opposition to the prevalent opinion of the day, it cannot be -emphasized strongly enough on every occasion that Chinese civilization, -as it appears now, is not a unit and not the exclusive production of -the Chinese, but the final result of the cultural efforts of a vast -conglomeration of the most varied tribes, an amalgamation of ideas -accumulated from manifold quarters and widely differentiated in space -and time; briefly stated, this means China is not a nation, but an -empire, a political, but not an ethnical unit. No graver error can -hence be committed than to attribute any culture idea at the outset to -the Chinese, for no other reason than because it appears within the -precincts of their empire.” [670] - - - - - - - - -NOTES - - -[1] Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe, pp. 26 et seq. - -[2] Ibid. See illustrations opposite p. 20. - -[3] Professor Cherry The Origin of Agriculture (Mem. and Proc. -Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc., 1920). - -[4] In Babylonian legends civilization is introduced by the “goat-fish” -god Ea, who came from the Persian Gulf. - -[5] Those who give Osiris a Libyan origin believe his name signifies -“The Old One”, or “The Old Man”. - -[6] The Ancient Egyptians, pp. 41–42. - -[7] Breasted’s Religion and Thought in Egypt, p. 18. - -[8] S. Squire, Plutarch’s Treatise of Isis and Osiris (Cambridge, -1744). - -[9] In Egypt this was the Solutrean stage of the so-called “Palæolithic -Age”. - -[10] There was no “Neolithic Age” in Egypt. - -[11] The Scope of Social Anthropology (London, 1908), pp. 12–13. - -[12] Primitive Man (Proceedings of the British Academy, Vol. VII), p. -50. - -[13] The Yakut (in Russian), Vol. I, p. 378. - -[14] The Evolution of the Dragon, G. Elliot Smith (London, 1919), pp. -178 et seq. - -[15] O. T. Mason, Origins of Invention, p. 166; and Woman’s Share in -Primitive Culture, p. 91. - -[16] The Beginnings of Porcelain in China, by Berthold Laufer and H. W. -Nichols (Field Museum of Natural History Publication, 192, -Anthropological Series, Vol. XII, No. 2. Chicago, 1917). - -[17] Ibid., pp. 153–154. - -[18] The Journal of Egyptian Archæology, April, 1914, p. 14. - -[19] Aboriginal Pottery of the Eastern United States, p. 50 (Twentieth -Annual Report, Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, 1903). - -[20] The Khasis, p. 61. - -[21] Tao Shuo, chap. ii, p. 2 (new edition, 1912). - -[22] The Beginnings of Porcelain in China, pp. 154–5. In “culture -mixing” old local religious beliefs were not obliterated. - -[23] Chavannes, Mémoires historiques de Se-ma Tsʼien, Vol. I, pp. 72–4. - -[24] The Beginnings of Porcelain in China, p. 160. - -[25] Antiquities of India, L. D. Barnett, p. 176. - -[26] Madras Government Museum Catalogue of Prehistoric Antiquities, p. -111. - -[27] Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, Macdonell and Keith, Vol. I, -pp. 31, 32. - -[28] Book I, chap. 194. - -[29] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Egypt, pp. 108, 158. - -[30] Early Modes of Navigation, Journal of the Anthropological -Institute, Vol. IV, p. 402. - -[31] Holmes’s Ancient and Modern Ships, E. K. Chatterton’s Sailing -Ships and their Story, Cecil Torr’s Ancient Ships, Warrington Smith’s -Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia, Elliot Smith’s Ships as Evidence of -the Migrations of Early Culture, and the works of Pâris and Assmann, -and Pitt Rivers (op. cit.). - -[32] Sailing Ships and their Story, pp. 25–6. - -[33] Ships as Evidence, &c., pp. 5, 6. - -[34] Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe, pp. 146 and 191, et seq. - -[35] Breasted’s A History of Egypt, pp. 114–5. - -[36] Sailing Ships and their Story, pp. 31, 32. - -[37] Maspero in his The Dawn of Civilization protests against this -view. - -[38] Egyptian Myth and Legend, p. 372. - -[39] English translation of M. Huc’s Recollections (London, 1852), p. -21. - -[40] E. Kebel Chatterton’s Sailing Ships and their Story, pp. 7 and 31, -and illustration opposite page 8. - -[41] Sailing Ships and their Story, pp. 32–3. - -[42] Polynesian Researches, First Edition, 1829, Vol. I, p. 169. - -[43] Ancient Ships, p. 78. - -[44] Polynesian Researches, First Edition, 1829, Vol. I, pp. 181, 2. -The crescent-shaped vessel is quite Egyptian in character. - -[45] Ibid., Vol. II, pp. 50, 51. - -[46] Book II, 67. - -[47] 1 Kings, x, 22. - -[48] 1 Kings, ix, 26–8. - -[49] 1 Kings, x, 2. - -[50] Breasted’s A History of Egypt, p. 274. - -[51] Breasted’s Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 279. - -[52] Quoted from a Chinese work by Dr. W. M. W. de Visser in The Dragon -in China and Japan (Amsterdam, 1913). - -[53] Muir’s Sanskrit Texts, Vol. I, p. 516 (1890). - -[54] Dr. W. M. W. de Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 69. - -[55] Ibid., p. 223. - -[56] Shi i ki, chap. ii. - -[57] Religious System of China, Vol. V, p. 867. - -[58] This is the name of the Indian Naga king. - -[59] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 139. - -[60] Chinese-English Dictionary, p. 1092. - -[61] Chine Ancienne, pp. 94 et seq. - -[62] Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, pp. 216 et seq. - -[63] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 109. - -[64] Quoted by Prof. G. Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, p. -160. - -[65] Ellis, Polynesian Researches, First Edition, Vol. I, p. 178. - -[66] Rev. George Turner’s Nineteen Years in Polynesia (1861), pp. -238–9. The god emerging from the shell-fish is found in Mexico. -Jackson’s Shells as Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture, p. 52. - -[67] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 88. - -[68] Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe, pp. 306–7. Pierced fish -vertebræ have been found in Malta, Italy, the south-east of Spain, and -Troy. See Malta and the Mediterranean Race, R. N. Bradley (London, -1912), p. 136. - -[69] Manuel d’Archéologie Américaine, Fig. 21, p. 114. - -[70] Ibid., p. 169. - -[71] Ibid., p. 169. - -[72] This mammal belongs to the order Sirenia, which includes manatees. -It is native to Indian seas. A variety has been found in the Red Sea. - -[73] Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology), 1915, pp. 255–6. - -[74] A form of the mother-goddess. - -[75] The Religious System of China, Vol. III, p. 1143. - -[76] Hibbert Lectures, pp. 280–84. - -[77] Legends of Babylonia and Egypt, Leonard W. King, pp. 116–7 (1918). - -[78] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 20. - -[79] Ibid., p. 26. - -[80] The Voice of Africa, Vol. II, p. 467. - -[81] The Evolution of the Dragon, p. 130. - -[82] See illustration of the serpent enclosing the waters in the shrine -of the Nile, from a bas-relief in the small temple of Philæ. Maspero’s -The Dawn of Civilization, p. 39. - -[83] Breasted, op. cit., p. 38. - -[84] A kiao-lung is a dragon with fish scales. - -[85] A horned dragon. - -[86] A dragon with wings. - -[87] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, pp. 72 et seq. - -[88] Horus while alive, and Osiris after he died, as Dr. Gardiner -insists. - -[89] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 42. - -[90] Nehemiah, ii, 13. - -[91] Æschylus, Prometheus Vinctus, 351–72. - -[92] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 46. - -[93] Dr. A. Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, Vol. I, p. 169. - -[94] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 89. - -[95] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, pp. 99 et seq. - -[96] The Religious System of China, Vol. VI, p. 1087. - -[97] See English translation by Walter Gorn Old (London, 1904). - -[98] The Religious System of China, Vol. IV, p. 26. - -[99] De Visser, The Dragon in Japan and China, p. 62. - -[100] Breasted’s Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 21. - -[101] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 67. - -[102] De Groot’s The Religious System of China, Vol. I, p. 369. - -[103] Chats on Oriental China (London, 1908). - -[104] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 79. - -[105] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 112. - -[106] A dragon appeared at the birth of Confucius. - -[107] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 145. - -[108] Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology, 1915), p. 258. - -[109] Melanesians and Polynesians (London, 1910), pp. 334–5. - -[110] Ibid., p. 364. - -[111] Indo-China and its Primitive People, London (trans.), p. 192. - -[112] Hawaiian Mythology, p. 257. - -[113] Buddhist India, pp. 222–3. - -[114] Manual of Indian Buddhism, pp. 593 et seq. - -[115] Iliad, Book XII (Lang’s, Leaf’s, and Dyer’s Trans.), p. 236. - -[116] The Natural History of Animals (Gresham, London), Vol. III, p. -176 and pp. 46 et seq. - -[117] Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians, Vol. I, p. 481. - -[118] Chavannes’ Contes et Apologues. - -[119] Indian Myth and Legend, pp. 314–5. - -[120] Laufer, The Diamond: a study in Chinese and Hellenistic -Folk-lore, p. 7 (Chicago, 1915). - -[121] Açwamedha Parva, Section XC, Sloka 5. - -[122] Budge, Gods of the Egyptians, Vol. II, p. 107. - -[123] Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 120. - -[124] Ibid., p. 62. - -[125] The Evolution of the Dragon, G. Elliot Smith, pp. 83 et seq. - -[126] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 130. - -[127] Westervelt’s Legends of Gods and Ghosts, p. 258. - -[128] Buddhist India, pp. 224–5. - -[129] Teutonic Myth and Legend, p. 174 et seq. - -[130] Teutonic Myth and Legend, p. 286. - -[131] The Irish term sed (pronounced “shade”), the old form of which is -set, signified a cow, a measure of value, property, and “a pearl, a -precious stone, or a gem of any kind”. Joyce, Irish Names of Places, p. -355 (Dublin, 1875). - -[132] Breasted, A History of Egypt, p. 357. - -[133] Egyptian Myth and Legend, pp. 341, 342. - -[134] Seven Tablets of Creation. - -[135] The belief that the cat has nine lives may be cited, and also the -belief that if an eel or a serpent is cut in two it will come to life -again. A Chinese dragon may revive after being cut up and buried. The -story is told in Japan of a man who killed a snake-dragon, cut it into -three pieces, and buried them, but thirteen years later, on the same -day of the year on which he slew the dragon, he cried out “I drink -water,” choked, and died. His death was caused by the dragon he had -endeavoured to kill (de Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 195). -The “Deathless Snake” in an ancient Egyptian story comes to life until -the severed parts are buried separately. - -[136] Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology), pp. 256–7. - -[137] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 127. See also the Egyptian Bata -story, Egyptian Myth and Legend, pp. 49–56. - -[138] Egyptian Myth and Legend, p. 55. - -[139] The Dragon’s Kupuas. - -[140] The odour of the herb was the body odour of the dragon. It helped -to restore vitality, as did incense, when burned before an Egyptian -mummy. Gods were similarly “fed” by offerings of incense. The -Babylonian Noah burned incense, and the gods smelt the sweet savour. -The gods gathered like flies about him that offered the -sacrifice.—King, Babylonian Religion, p. 136. - -[141] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 63. Kwan Chung died -in 645 B.C. - -[142] Polynesian Mythology, Sir George Grey, p. 33. - -[143] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 174. - -[144] A Galloway herbalist who was searching for herbs to cure a -consumptive girl, named May, saw a mermaid rising in the sea. According -to the folk-story, the mermaid recommended mugwort (southernwood) as a -cure by singing: - - Would you let bonnie May die in your hand, - And the mugwort flowering in the land? - -[145] Jade disks, decorated with the rush pattern, were in China images -of Heaven and badges of rank. The rain-dragon in human form carries in -his right hand a blue rush. The rush was connected with water—the water -below the firmament and the water above the firmament. Reeds were -likewise connected with the deities. In Babylonia, priests had visions -in reed huts and the dead lay on reed mats. The reed and river-mud were -used by Marduk when he created man. Apparently, the reed was an avatar -of the water deity: it contained “soul substance”. Linen made from flax -was sacred and inspiring. It was wrapped round the dead, instead of -animal skins, in pre-Dynastic Egypt. The linen ephod was inspiring; -like the “prophet’s mantle” it gave the wearer power to foretell -events. - -[146] S. Baring-Gould’s Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, pp. 471 et -seq. - -[147] A similar belief regarding supernatural beings prevailed in -India. See story of Nala in Indian Myth and Legend. - -[148] The appearance of four servants (the gods of the four quarters) -with the dragon-god, indicates that the coming storm is to be one of -exceptional violence. - -[149] The deep slumberer in a folk-tale is usually engaged “working a -spell”. As will be gathered from the story, the boy received his -knowledge and power from his grandmother. She resembles the Norse Vala -and the Witch of Endor. - -[150] The Norse Vala makes similar complaint when awakened by Odin. It -looks as if this Chinese story is based on one about consulting a -spirit of a “wise woman” who sleeps in her tomb. - -[151] An interesting glimpse of the connection between colour symbolism -and magic. Everything is yellow because a yellow dragon is being -invoked. - -[152] This sleep appears to be as necessary as that of the grandmother. - -[153] The latest spell had been worked, and it was not necessary that -the father should sleep any longer. - -[154] Indian fairy girl. There are apsaras in the Paradise of Indra. - -[155] Indian Fairy Stories (London, 1915), pp. 47 et seq. - -[156] Egyptian Tales (first series), W. H. Flinders Petrie (London, -1899), pp. 81 et seq. - -[157] Folk Lore Journal, Vol. V, p. 257. - -[158] Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 177 et seq. - -[159] L. W. King, Legends of Babylonia and Egypt (London, 1918), p. -146. - -[160] See references in Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 184 et seq. - -[161] Indian Myth and Legend, p. 256 and p. 381. - -[162] Book III. - -[163] Tennyson’s The Passing of Arthur. - -[164] Like the Indian god Vishnu, who lies asleep on the Naga. This -sleep, like that of magicians, is a spell-working or power-accumulating -sleep. - -[165] Like the Egyptian hero who slays the river serpent which guards -the box containing magic spells. Sigurd, Siegfried, and other -dragon-slaying heroes may be compared with this Far-Eastern hero. - -[166] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan. - -[167] Jade: A Study in Chinese Archæology and Religion, Berthold Laufer -(Chicago, 1912), pp. 209–10. - -[168] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Egypt, pp. 133–7. - -[169] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Egypt, p. 102. - -[170] Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 181–3. - -[171] Mémoires Historiques de Se-ma Tsʼien (1895–1905). - -[172] He figures as a character (not a real one) in the writings of -Kwang-tze, who was born in the fourth century B.C. - -[173] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 145. - -[174] Dr. J. Legge, Chinese Classics, Vol. III, Part I, p. 240, and -Part II, p. 554. - -[175] In Scottish giant-lore giants sit on mountains in like manner and -fish for whales, using trees as fishing-rods. - -[176] Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. - -[177] Genesis, ii, 8. - -[178] Navarrette, Coll. de Documents, I, p. 244, quoted in Curious -Myths of the Middle Ages, p. 525. - -[179] William Ellis, Polynesian Researches (1st edition, London, 1829), -Vol. II, pp. 47 et seq. - -[180] Campbell, Popular Tales of the West Highlands, Vol. III, Tale -LXXXVI. - -[181] Legends of Gods and Ghosts, p. 246. - -[182] Nineteen Years in Polynesia, p. 353. - -[183] Swarga-rohanika Parva, Section III (Roy’s translation), p. 9. The -chief of the gods says to Yudhishthira: “Here is the celestial -river.... Plunging into it, thou wilt go to thine own regions -(Paradise).” Having bathed, the hero “cast off his human body” and -“assumed a celestial form”. - -[184] Odyssey, XV (Butcher and Lang’s trans.), p. 253. - -[185] S. H. O’Grady, Silva Gadelica, Vol. II, pp. 393–4. - -[186] Ibid., Vol. II, p. 113. - -[187] The Voyage of Bran. - -[188] Ancient Irish Poetry, p. 8. - -[189] The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great, trans. by E. Walter -Budge, pp. 11 et seq., and 167 et seq. - -[190] “Vana Parva” of Mahábhárata, and Indian Myth and Legend, pp. -105–9. - -[191] Description of Sukhāvatī, the Land of Bliss, in Buddhist Mahayana -Texts (Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XLIX), pp. 16, 17. - -[192] Ibid., p. 35. - -[193] Ibid., p. 56. - -[194] Ibid., p. 174. - -[195] Ibid., p. 180. - -[196] Ibid., p. 50. - -[197] B. Laufer, The Diamond (A Study in Chinese and Hellenistic -Folk-lore) (Chicago, 1915). - -[198] L. W. King, Babylonian Religion (London, 1903), p. 171. - -[199] L. W. King, Legends of Babylon and Egypt (London, 1918), p. 136. - -[200] Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 130. - -[201] Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 71. - -[202] Westervelt, Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology), p. -245. - -[203] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, pp. 120 et seq. - -[204] Ibid., p. 134. - -[205] G. Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, pp. 23 et seq. - -[206] Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, Vol. III, pp. 14, 30; Cook, -Zeus, Vol. I, p. 537. - -[207] Westervelt, Legends of Old Honolulu, pp. 22 et seq., and p. 29. - -[208] Teutonic Myth and Legend, pp. 424–32. - -[209] Westminster Review, November, 1892, p. 523. - -[210] When, some years ago, an ass was acquired by a tenant on a -Hebridean island, a native, on seeing this animal for the first time, -exclaimed, “It is the father of all the hares”. - -[211] Dr. Joseph Edkins, Religion in China, p. 151. - -[212] Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 185 et seq. - -[213] Laufer, Sino Iranica (Chicago, 1919), pp. 539 et seq. - -[214] Laufer, Sino-Iranica, p. 543. - -[215] Transactions Am. Phil. Association, Vol. XXIII, 1892, p. 115. - -[216] Sino-Iranica, pp. 542–3. - -[217] G. Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, pp. 36 et seq. - -[218] Religious System of China, Vol. IV, pp. 272–6: and Elliot Smith, -The Evolution of the Dragon, pp. 38–9. - -[219] The Jack and Jill of the nursery rhyme. - -[220] Teutonic Myth and Legend, pp. 22 et seq. - -[221] Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, pp. 190 et seq. - -[222] Budge, Gods of the Egyptians, Vol. II, p. 104. - -[223] Babylonian Myth and Legend, p. 126–7. - -[224] Indian Myth and Legend, pp. 173 et seq., and 192–94. - -[225] Egyptian Myth and Legend, p. 19 et seq. - -[226] Teutonic Myth and Legend, pp. 352 (n.), 376, 383, 389, 391, 446. - -[227] For beliefs connected with pearls and shells, see Shells as -Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture, I. Wilfrid Jackson -(London, 1917). - -[228] Some thunder birds are dark as thunder-clouds. - -[229] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 63. - -[230] G. A. Reisner, Early Dynastic Cemeteries of Naga-ad-Dêr, Vol. I, -1908, Plates 6 and 7, and Shells as Evidence of the Migrations of Early -Culture, 1917, p. xxi. - -[231] Jade, p. 1. - -[232] The Norse gods grew old when the apples of immortality, kept by -the goddess Idun, were carried away. After the apples were restored, -they ate of them and grew young again.—Teutonic Myth and Legend, p. 57. - -[233] De Groot, The Religious System of China, Vol. I, p. 300. - -[234] De Groot, The Religious System of China, Vol. I, p. 295. - -[235] Shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth.—Romeo and Juliet, -iv, 3. - - Give me to drink mandragora ... - That I may sleep out the great gap of time - My Anthony is away.—Anthony and Cleopatra. - -[236] The Ascent of Olympus, pp. 107 et seq. - -[237] Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, p. 184; Rendel Harris, -The Ascent of Olympus, p. 73. - -[238] The Ascent of Olympus, p. 126. - -[239] Artemis, as goddess of birth, was a specialized form of the Great -Mother, who was herself the goddess of love and birth, of treasure, -&c.—the All-mother. - -[240] The Ascent of Olympus, p. 87. - -[241] Ibid., p. 86. - -[242] Joly, Legend in Japanese Art, p. 165. - -[243] Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, pp. 183, 199 et seq. - -[244] The Ascent of Olympus, 79–80. - -[245] The Chinese Traveller (London, 1772), Vol. I, p. 247. - -[246] The Ascent of Olympus, p. 82. - -[247] The Chinese Traveller, Vol. I, p. 239. - -[248] The Chinese Traveller, Vol. I, pp. 237 et seq. - -[249] Genesis, xlix, 11. - -[250] The Ascent of Olympus (note on Ivy and Mugwort in Siberia), pp. -96 et seq. - -[251] Sino-Iranica (Chicago, 1919), pp. 385 et seq. - -[252] Ibid., p. 386. - -[253] Indian Myth and Legend, p. 100. - -[254] Sino-Iranica, pp. 339–42. - -[255] Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 234–5. - -[256] Perry, Megalithic Culture of Indonesia, p. 68. - -[257] Megalithic Culture of Indonesia, p. 92. - -[258] Legend in Japanese Art, p. 195. - -[259] Religions of Ancient China, pp. 24–5. - -[260] Ibid., pp. 38–9. - -[261] See Chapter XIII re shining gems, jade, coral, &c. - -[262] The Dragon in China and Japan, pp. 39 and 64. - -[263] Laufer, Sino-Iranica, p. 568. - -[264] Elliot Smith, The Migration of Early Culture (London, 1915), and -The Evolution of the Dragon (London, 1919). - -[265] The other names are Jăta-rūpa, Su-varna, Harita, and Hiranya. - -[266] Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index of Names and Subjects (London, -1912), Vol. II, p. 504. See also for moon and gold, Vol. I, 254. - -[267] Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (London, 1703 Edition), -p. 243. - -[268] History of Sumer and Akkad, pp. 326–7. - -[269] Breasted, A History of Egypt, p. 48. - -[270] Breasted, A History of Egypt, p. 190. - -[271] Ibid., p. 48. - -[272] L. W. King, A History of Sumer and Akkad, pp. 74, 75. - -[273] British Museum Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age, p. 10. - -[274] British Museum Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age, p. 9. - -[275] Ibid., p. 9. - -[276] A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians, p. 74. - -[277] In the Tell-el-Amarna letters, Western-Asian monarchs are -eloquent in their requests for gold from Egypt. In one a Babylonian -king “asks for much gold” and complains that the last supply was base, -and that there was “much loss in melting”. - -[278] Sino-Iranica: Chinese Contributions to the History of -Civilization in Ancient Iran. Chicago, 1919. - -[279] Ibid., p. 185. - -[280] The Relationship between the Geographical Distribution of -Megalithic Monuments and Ancient Times. Manchester, 1915. - -[281] Mrs. Hawes, Gournia, p. 33. - -[282] The Dawn of Mediterranean Civilization, pp. 62–3. - -[283] Elliot Smith, The Ancient Egyptians, pp. 41 et seq. - -[284] It seems ridiculous to suggest that irrigation had origin in -mid-Asia and not in areas like the deltas of Egypt and Sumeria. - -[285] British Museum Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities, -p. 157. - -[286] Peter, Nippur II, p. 134. - -[287] Scythians and Greeks (1913), p. 280. - -[288] Chapter V. - -[289] Religion in China (London 1878, 2nd Ed.), p. 38. - -[290] British Museum Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age, p. -107. - -[291] Archæologia, p. 276. - -[292] Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. XLII, p. -279. - -[293] Religion in China, p. 6. - -[294] Jade and other stone mirrors are referred to in ancient texts. No -doubt these were religious symbols. None survives. Jade shoes are -mentioned too, but there are no surviving specimens. In Ireland bronze -shoes were worn in ancient times—perhaps in connection with religious -ceremonies. Obsidian mirrors were used in Mexico for purposes of -divination, and there were stone mirrors in Peru. - -[295] Jade: A Study in Chinese Archæology and Religion, Berthold Laufer -(Field Museum of Natural History, Publication 154, Anthropological -Series, Vol. X, Chicago, 1912, p. 23). - -[296] Laufer notes that yu included nephrite, jadeite, bowenite, and -sometimes “beautiful kinds of serpentine, agalmatolite, and -marble”.—Jade, p. 22. - -[297] Ibid., p. 29. - -[298] De Groot, The Religious System of China, Book I, pp. 275 et seq. - -[299] Jade, p. 299. - -[300] The Religious System of China, Book I, pp. 274 et seq. - -[301] Pronounced muk’ăra. - -[302] See illustrations in Professor Elliot Smith’s The Evolution of -the Dragon, pp. 88, 89. - -[303] Like the ginseng (mandrake) in the Kang-ge mountains in northern -Korea. (See Chapter XVII.) - -[304] De Groot, The Religious System of China, Book I, Vol. I, pp. -272–3. - -[305] The Diamond, pp. 55, 56, n. - -[306] She is thus the divine spinner as the god Ptah of Egypt is the -divine potter. - -[307] The Syrian Goddess, Strong and Garstang (London, 1913), pp. 71, -72. - -[308] Chicago, 1915, p. 58. - -[309] The Diamond, p. 7. Lesser Fu-lin was Syria, and Greater Fu-lin -the Byzantine Empire. - -[310] Ibid., pp. 55, n. 2, 56. - -[311] The Religious System of China, Book I, Vol. I, pp. 277–8. - -[312] Laufer, The Diamond, p. 22 and n. 3, and p. 69 and n. 7. - -[313] Ibid., pp. 68–9. - -[314] Laufer, Chinese Clay Figures, pp. 138, 151. - -[315] The Diamond, p. 71. - -[316] Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, p. 157, n. 1. Laufer, -Sino-Iranica, pp. 520 and 525. - -[317] The Religious System of China, Book II, Vol. IV, p. 331. - -[318] The Religious System of China, Book I, pp. 278–9. - -[319] Legend in Japanese Art, pp. 354, 355. - -[320] Legend in Japanese Art, pp. 355–6. - -[321] Ibid., p. 355. - -[322] Jade, p. 21, n. 4. - -[323] Breasted, A History of Egypt, p. 357. - -[324] Laufer, Jade, p. 299, n. 1. - -[325] Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians, Vol. I, pp. 357–8. - -[326] Jade, p. 301 and n. 1. - -[327] Ibid., p. 310. - -[328] Jade, pp. 306–7. - -[329] The Religious System of China, Book I, p. 284. - -[330] The Religious System of China, Book I, p. 284. - -[331] Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 332. - -[332] Legge, The Shih King, p. 395. - -[333] Ibid., p. 338. - -[334] Joly, Legend in Japanese Art, p. 297. - -[335] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 100. - -[336] The Religious System of China, Book I, Vol. III, p. 962. - -[337] De Groot, op. cit., Book I, Vol. III, p. 983. - -[338] Legge, The Yi King, pp. 43–44. - -[339] The Religious System of China, Book I, p. 327. - -[340] Op. cit., p. 327. - -[341] De Groot, op. cit., p. 317. - -[342] Legge, Texts of Taoism, Vol. II, p. 265. - -[343] Legge, The Shu King, pp. 38, 39. - -[344] Teutonic Myth and Legend, p. 5. - -[345] Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 330, 331. - -[346] Religion in China (London, 1878), p. 109. - -[347] Religion in China, p. 107. - -[348] Quoted by De Groot, The Religious System of China, Book I, Vol. -III, p. 983. - -[349] Green and blue are interchangeable in China. - -[350] Biot, Vol. I, pp. 434, 435, quoted by Laufer in Jade, p. 120. - -[351] The Religious System of China, Book I, Part III, p. 935. - -[352] Ibid., Book I, Vol. III, p. 949. - -[353] In Scotland south-flowing water is specially good and -influential. - -[354] The Religious System of China, Book I, Vol. III, pp. 949, 950. - -[355] Jade, pp. 182–3. - -[356] Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. XXI, pp. 128–9. - -[357] See Egyptian Myth and Legend, Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, -Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe, and Indian Myth and Legend. - -[358] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 130. - -[359] See terra-cotta image of pig marked with stars in Schliemann’s -Troy and its Remains (translation by Smith, London, 1875), p. 232. - -[360] Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, p. 96. - -[361] Laufer, Jade (for illustrations of tigers with thunder pattern), -pp. 180–4. - -[362] De Groot, Religious System of China, Vol. I, Book I, pp. 94 and -110; Book II, pp. 5 et seq. - -[363] The Religious System of China, Book I, Vol. I, p. 226, n. 2. - -[364] De Groot, op. cit., Book I, p. 72. - -[365] The Religious System of China, Book I, Vol. I, pp. 241 et seq. - -[366] See references in Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 69, 70, and -70 n. - -[367] Mrs. Bishop, Korea and Her Neighbours, Vol. II, pp. 84–5. - -[368] The Evolution of the Dragon, p. 50. - -[369] The Evolution of the Dragon, pp. 51–2. - -[370] De Groot, op. cit., p. 396, and Elliot Smith, op. cit., p. 48, -and n. 1. - -[371] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 19. - -[372] Biot, Vol. I, p. 125. - -[373] Laufer, Jade, pp. 296 et seq. - -[374] Ibid., p. 1. - -[375] Ibid., p. 296. - -[376] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 23. - -[377] Laufer, Jade, p. 1. - -[378] Legends of Babylonia and Egypt in relation to Hebrew Tradition -(The Schweich Lectures), London, 1918, pp. 56 et seq. and pp. 88 et -seq. - -[379] The Babylonian Noah, who became an immortal and lived on an -“Island of the Blest” and near the island on which were the Plant of -Life and the Well of Life. - -[380] Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon, p. 205. - -[381] The Ascent of Olympus, pp. 120–1. - -[382] History of the Rhinoceros in Chinese clay figures (Field Museum -of Natural History, Publication 177), Chicago, 1914, pp. 73 et seq. - -[383] Legge, The Chinese Classics, Vol. II, p. 281. - -[384] Laufer, op. cit., pp. 160–1. - -[385] Op. cit., p. 161. - -[386] Legge, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXVII, p. 158, and Laufer, -Chinese Clay Images, p. 172. - -[387] Rhys David, Buddhism (London, 1903), p. 183. - -[388] Laufer, op. cit., p. 138. - -[389] Chinese Clay Images, pp. 150 et seq. - -[390] Like the “golden sun”. - -[391] Chinese Clay Images, pp. 152–3 and p. 153 n. 2. - -[392] The Chinese Commercial Guide, p. 95 (Hong-Kong, 1863). - -[393] Chinese Clay Images, p. 139. - -[394] Ibid., p. 108. - -[395] Referred to by the philosopher Wang Chʼung in his work Lun heng -(A.D. 82 or 83), quoted by Laufer, op. cit., p. 171 n. 3. - -[396] Schliemann’s Ilios, p. 242. - -[397] Letter to the Times, 18th December, 1879. - -[398] Laufer’s Jade, p. 2. - -[399] Jade, pp. 4–5. - -[400] Laufer’s Jade, p. 196. - -[401] Ibid., pp. 186–9. - -[402] Athenæus Deipnos, Book III, chap. xlvi; and Jackson, Shells as -Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture, p. 77. - -[403] Like rhinoceros horn. - -[404] Heber R. Bishop, Investigations and Studies in Jade (New York, -1906), Vol. I, p. 47; and A. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature -(Shanghai, 1901), p. 194. - -[405] The Migration of Early Culture: A Study of the Significance of -the Geographical Distribution of the Practice of Mummification, &c., -pp. 20 et seq. - -[406] Recollections of a Journey through Tartary, Tibet, and China, by -M. Huc (English translation, London, 1852), pp. 219–20. - -[407] Budge, Gods of the Egyptians, Vol. I, p. 500 et seq. - -[408] The Elder Edda, translation by O. Bray, p. 19. - -[409] Ibid., p. 51. - -[410] Ibid., p. 277. - -[411] In Norse mythology the earth trembles when Loki moves. - -[412] The “breath” which is “soul substance”. - -[413] Quoted by Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, pp. -21–2. - -[414] Babylonian Myth and Legend, pp. 146–7. - -[415] Indian Myth and Legend, p. 95. - -[416] James Legge, The Texts of Confucianism, Part II, p. 430 (Sacred -Books of the East). - -[417] Legge, The Chinese Classics, Vol. III, Part I, p. 108. - -[418] This reference to the use of personal ornaments is highly -significant. - -[419] King, Babylonian Religion, p. 136. - -[420] Religions of Ancient China, pp. 43–44. - -[421] For a discussion on “Early Biological Theories” in this -connection see Professor G. Elliot Smith’s The Evolution of the Dragon, -pp. 26 et seq., and pp. 178 et seq. - -[422] Wells Williams, Chinese-English Dictionary, p. 1092. - -[423] The Dragon in China and Japan, pp. 83–4. - -[424] De Groot, The Religious System of China; and De Visser, The -Dragon in China and Japan, p. 85. - -[425] Chinese Literature, p. 52. - -[426] King, Legends of Babylonia and Egypt (1916), p. 56. - -[427] Like the mountain-goddess of Crete. - -[428] Chinese Literature, pp. 52, 53. - -[429] Legge, Shu King, Shih King, Hsiao King (Sacred Books of the -East), Vol. III, pp. 396, 397. - -[430] Religions of Ancient China, pp. 21–3. - -[431] Religion in China (London, 1878, second edition), pp. 99 et seq. - -[432] The season controlled by the White Tiger-god of the west. - -[433] Religion in China, p. 104. - -[434] The Religious System of China, Book I, p. 959. - -[435] Indian Myth and Legend, p. 107. - -[436] Legge, The Texts of Taoism, Vol. I, pp. 370–1. - -[437] Legge, The Shu King (Sacred Books of the East), Vol. III, p. 255 -and n. 1. - -[438] Giles, Religions of Ancient China, p. 22. - -[439] Three Irish Glossaries, Whitley Stokes (London, 1862), p. lxxiii. - -[440] Legge, The Chinese Classics, Vol. III, Part I, p. 117. - -[441] Legge, The Shu King (Sacred Books of the East), pp. 64 et seq. - -[442] Boats, carriages, sledges, and spiked boots. - -[443] W. G. Old, The Shu King (London, 1904), pp. 36–7. - -[444] Legge, The Shu King, p. 139. - -[445] Legge, Ibid., p. 309. - -[446] The sky is the “dark sphere”, and the mace is therefore a -sky-mace. - -[447] Legge, The Annals of the Bamboo Book, pp. 128, 129 (The Chinese -Classics, Vol. III, Part 1). - -[448] Legge, The Shu King, n. 5, p. 269 (The Chinese Classics, Vol. -III, p. 1). Herodotus tells (Book II, chapter 122) that Pharaoh -Rhampsinitus (? Rameses) of Egypt descended to Hades and played dice -with Ceres (Isis), “sometimes winning and sometimes suffering defeat”. -A curious festival celebrated the event. - -[449] Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting -Voyages and Travels (London, 1814), XVI, 696. - -[450] Legge, The Shih King, p. 397. - -[451] Legge, The Shih King, p. 398, n. - -[452] Legge, The Annals of the Bamboo Books, p. 143. - -[453] Giles, Religions of Ancient China, p. 20. - -[454] The Annals of the Bamboo Books, p. 147. - -[455] Geographical Journal, XXII, 1904, pp. 24, 176, 331, 772. - -[456] Sailing Ships and their Story, p. 310. - -[457] In Yūn-nan - -[458] Sino-Iranica, p. 469. - -[459] Pliny, XV, 11, 13, and Sino-Iranica, p. 539. - -[460] Sino-Iranica, p. 185. - -[461] King, Babylonian Religion, p. 165. - -[462] One of his names during his lifetime was Li Po-Yang: after his -death he was Li Tan. - -[463] Journal of Egyptian Archæology. - -[464] Macbeth, Act v, scene 7. - -[465] As has been stated, tea was an elixir. - -[466] “King” signifies “classic”. - -[467] Breasted, A History of Egypt, p. 357. - -[468] Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, pp. 46–7. - -[469] In Egypt the “rays” were the creative tears of the sun-god. - -[470] The Speculations in Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality of “The Old -Philosopher”. - -[471] The Modern Speech New Testament (London, 1903): John, Chap. i, -verse 1 et seq. - -[472] The Ancient Faiths of China, p. 49. - -[473] History of Religions (Edinburgh, 1914), p. 49. - -[474] Christ and Other Masters, Vol. II, p. 67. - -[475] Language and Languages, pp. 184–5. Jowett, in a letter to Mrs. -Asquith in 1893, wrote, “I think also that you might put religion in -another way, as absolute resignation to the Will of God and the order -of Nature” (Autobiography of Mrs. Asquith). - -[476] The Texts of Taoism p. 13 (Sacred Books of the East). - -[477] Ibid., p. 15. - -[478] The Religious System of China, Book I, p. 936. - -[479] Rigveda, X, 129. - -[480] Indian Myth and Legend, pp. 97–9. - -[481] The Bhagavad-Gita, Book 18. - -[482] The Texts of Taoism, p. 19. - -[483] The beginnings of Alchemy can be traced back to the early -dynastic period in ancient Egypt. - -[484] The Egyptian gods Ra and Ptah similarly emerged from cosmic eggs. - -[485] Indian Myth and Legend, pp. 100–2. - -[486] Dr. Legge, Taoist Texts, p. 47. - -[487] Ibid., p. 85. - -[488] Ibid., pp. 74, 75. - -[489] Dr. Legge, Taoist Texts, p. 51. - -[490] Ascent of Olympus, p. 73. - -[491] For discussions on these gates see Elliot Smith in Journal of the -Manchester and Oriental Society (1916), and The Evolution of the -Dragon, pp. 184, 185. - -[492] Dr. Legge, Taoist Texts, p. 52. - -[493] Ibid., p. 104. - -[494] Ibid., p. 87. - -[495] Dr. Legge, Taoist Texts, pp. 94, 95. - -[496] Ibid., pp. 67–9. - -[497] Ibid., p. 82. - -[498] Ibid., p. 94. - -[499] The Texts of Taoism, p. 96. - -[500] Ibid., p. 95. - -[501] Ibid., pp. 53, 54. - -[502] Herbert A. Giles, Religions of Ancient China, p. 47. - -[503] The Texts of Taoism, p. 59. - -[504] Giles, Chuang Tzu, Mystic, Moralist, and Social Reformer. - -[505] The Texts of Taoism, pp. 92, 93. - -[506] The Texts of Taoism, p. 60. - -[507] Kwang Tze, Book VI, par. 7 (Balfour’s translation). - -[508] Analects VII, 1. - -[509] The Texts of Taoism, p. 167 n. - -[510] The Texts of Taoism (The Writings of Kwang Tze), p. 245. - -[511] The Texts of Taoism, pp. 244 et seq. - -[512] Ibid., p. 245. - -[513] The Texts of Taoism, p. 364. - -[514] Ibid., pp. 364–5. - -[515] Customs of the World, p. 380. - -[516] The terraced mound tombs of the Emperors of Japan appear to be -survivals of the ancient tombs. Although true dolmens have been found -in Korea, they do not, so far as is known, occur in Japan (Journal -Anthrop. Inst., xxiv, p. 330, and 1907, pp. 10 et seq.). - -[517] Chinese Clay Figures, p. 265, n. 3. - -[518] Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. X -(supplement), p. xxxvi. - -[519] Chinese Clay Figures (Chicago, 1914), p. 265, n. 3. - -[520] Ibid., p. 271 and n. 3, p. 272 and n. 1. - -[521] In their own language Ainu-utara: “utara” is the plural suffix. -Their Japanese name is Yemishi; the Chinese came to know of them first -in A.D. 659, and called them Hia-i. A later Chinese name is Ku-hi. - -[522] Pira, “cliff”; toru, “to stay”. - -[523] Turesh, “younger sister”; machi, “wife”. - -[524] For other versions, see Hartland, The Science of Fairy Tales -(London, 1891), pp. 71 et seq. - -[525] See Index under “Melusina”. - -[526] Genesis, chapter xxxv, 4. - -[527] Elliot Smith, Distribution of Mummification: Manchester Memories, -Vol. LIX (1915), pp. 90 et seq. - -[528] Laufer, Chinese Clay Figures, p. 269. - -[529] Rendel Harris, The Ascent of Olympus, pp. 56 et seq., with its -Note on Ivy and Mugwort in Siberia, pp. 96 et seq. - -[530] Rendel Harris, op. cit., pp. 101–2. - -[531] Egyptian Myth and Legend, pp. 6 et seq. - -[532] Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 143–4. - -[533] Batchelor, The Ainu and their Folk-lore. Batchelor, Notes on the -Ainu (Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan), Vol. X, pp. 206 et -seq. Milne, Notes on the Koro-pok-guru (Transactions of the Asiatic -Society of Japan), Vol. X, pp. 187 et seq. Chamberlain, Ainu Folk-tales -(Folk-lore Society’s Publications, Vol. XXII, 1888). - -[534] Note on Ivy and Mugwort in Siberia in The Ascent of Olympus, pp. -99–100. - -[535] The god Ea of the Sumero-Babylonians. - -[536] Zipangu and Cipangu are renderings of the Chinese Jih-pên (“the -place the sun comes from”), with the word Kuo, “country”, added. The -Japanese Nihon or Nippon, and our Japan, are other renderings of the -Chinese name which was first used officially in Japan in the seventh -century A.D. Earlier Japanese names include Yamato and Ō-mi-kuni, “the -great dragon (mi) land”, &c. - -[537] Yule, The Book of Ser Marco Polo (Book III, chapter iii), Vol. -III, p. 200. Kunz, Folk-lore of Precious Stones (Memoirs Internat. -Congr. Anthrop., Chicago, 1894), pp. 147 et seq. G. A. Cooke, System of -Universal Geography, Vol. I (1801), p. 574. J. W. Jackson, Shells as -Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture (London, 1917), pp. 106 et -seq. - -[538] Korea and her Neighbours (London, 1898), Vol. II, pp. 95 et seq. - -[539] The Chinese dragon, K’üh-lung, originated from a sea-plant called -hai-lü. De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 72. - -[540] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 137. - -[541] The temple of the Mexican dragon- and rain-god, Tlaloc, was -called “Ep-coatl”, which signifies “pearl-serpent” or “serpent-pearl”. -Young children sacrificed to Tlaloc by being thrown into the whirlpool -(pan tit lan) of the lake of Mexico, were also called “Ep-coatl”. This -sacrifice took place at the water festival in the first month of the -Mexican year. The infants were sacrificed at several points, some being -butchered on holy hills, including the “place of mugwort”, sacred to -the mugwort and gem-goddess Chalchihuitlicue, wife of Tlaloc. But only -the children thrown into the lake were called “Ep-coatl”. - -[542] Shinto (London, 1905), pp. 27 et seq. - -[543] This does not seem to be the reason for the sanctity of a round -object. - -[544] Or shaped like the teeth of tigers or bears. - -[545] Archæologia, 1897 (The Dolmens and Burial Mounds in Japan), p. -478. - -[546] Legend in Japanese Art, pp. 354–6. - -[547] Ancestor of the Mikado. - -[548] Goddess of the Sun. - -[549] Legend in Japanese Art, pp. 350–1. - -[550] The Maga-tama and the Kuda-tama. - -[551] Jade, pp. 353–4. - -[552] Ise is the name of a province, and the nearest town to the -“Mecca” is Yamada. - -[553] Shinto (1905), pp. 231–2. - -[554] See Index under Artemis. - -[555] The temple of the sun-goddess is called Naiku, and that of the -food-goddess Geku. These temples are of wood, with thatched roofs. -Every twenty years the buildings are renewed. - -[556] Shinto, p. 38. - -[557] Shinto (1907), pp. 15–6. - -[558] King, Babylonian Religion and Mythology, pp. 35, and 174 et seq. - -[559] Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 72–3. - -[560] Ibid., p. 95. - -[561] Aston, Shinto (1907), p. 14. - -[562] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, pp. 99 et seq. - -[563] Shinto (1907), p. 6. - -[564] Here we have the sanctity of jewels and other so-called -“ornaments” brought out very clearly. - -[565] Aston, Shinto (1907), pp. 6–7. - -[566] The Dragon in China and Japan. - -[567] See Chapter XX. - -[568] Breasted, Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 26. The Texts -referred to are: “His brother Set felled him to the earth in Nedyt.... -Osiris was drowned in his new water (the inundation).” - -[569] De Dea Syria, Chapter VIII. - -[570] Breasted, op. cit., p. 20. Osiris was addressed: “Thou art great, -thou art green, in thy name of Great Green (Sea); lo, thou art round as -the Great Circle (Okeanos); lo, thou art turned about, thou art round -as the circle that encircles the Haunebu (Ægeans)”. - -[571] Ibid., 22–3. - -[572] For various versions of this legend see Hartland, Legend of -Perseus and River deities in Index. - -[573] King, Babylonian Religion, p. 77. - -[574] See Index under Ymir and Pʼan Ku. - -[575] A translation into English of the Ko-ji-ki, by Professor B. H. -Chamberlain, was printed as a supplement to Vol. X of the Transactions -of the Asiatic Society of Japan (1893). The Nihon-gi was translated -into English by Dr. Aston, and printed in the Transactions of the Japan -Society for 1896. - -[576] Grey, Polynesian Mythology, pp. 1 et seq. - -[577] Like the Floating Island or Islands of the Blest. - -[578] “Hid their persons” signifies, according to some commentators, -that they died. But certain Egyptian deities were “hidden”; their -influence remained: the Japanese hidden deity had a “mi-tama” (soul). - -[579] Eight is a sacred number in Japan. - -[580] See Myths of Crete and pre-Hellenic Europe, pp. 305–9. - -[581] Shinto (1905), p. 90. - -[582] He is the green falcon of the Morning Star in the Pyramid Texts. - -[583] The Dawn of Astronomy (London, 1894), pp. 383 et seq. - -[584] Shinto (1905), p. 132. - -[585] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 137. - -[586] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, pp. 136–7; and Florenz, -Japanische Mythologie, Chap. III, p. 33. - -[587] Japanische Mythologie, p. 46. - -[588] De Visser, op. cit., pp. 135–6. - -[589] Shinto (1905), p. 73. - -[590] See Index under wani. - -[591] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 140. - -[592] Ibid., pp. 141–2. - -[593] De Visser, op. cit., pp. 139–40. - -[594] De Visser, op. cit., pp. 147 et seq. - -[595] Aston, Shinto (1905), p. 56 and pp. 219–20. - -[596] The Dragon in China and Japan, pp. 231 et seq. - -[597] Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. X -(supplement), p. 34. - -[598] The spirits of disease, decay, destruction, and darkness. - -[599] This phallic symbol had, apparently, like jade, rhinoceros-horn, -&c., nocturnal luminosity. - -[600] Transactions of Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. VI, Part III, pp. -455–6. - -[601] For representative versions in various lands, see Andrew Lang’s -Custom and Myth (A Far-travelled Tale), pp. 87 et seq. - -[602] Or “Flat Hill of Hades”, the frontier line between the land of -the living and the land of the dead. - -[603] In the Ainu story about the man who visited the Underworld and -was transformed into a snake, a pine tree, inhabited by a goddess, -occupies the spot on which grows the peach tree in this Japanese myth. - -[604] The Japanese Persephone. - -[605] “Susa-no-wo” for short. - -[606] Things Japanese, p. 145. - -[607] Shinto (1905), p. 141. - -[608] Shinto (1905), p. 137. - -[609] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, pp. 153–4. - -[610] Shinto (1905), p. 140. - -[611] Indian Myth and Legend, pp. 14, 15, 24, 64, 65. - -[612] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, pp. 83 et seq. - -[613] Ibid., p. 15. - -[614] The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 121. - -[615] Maspero, Dawn of Civilization, pp. 156 et seq. - -[616] De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 13. - -[617] The modern Omi, Afumi (Aha-humi), “Fresh-water Lake”: -Chamberlain, Transactions of Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. X -(supplement), p. 45, n. 12. - -[618] That is, the elder brother of her family. He was really younger -than herself. - -[619] As the Babylonian Nergal wrested Hades from Eresh-ki-gal -(Persephone). - -[620] The so-called “comma-shaped” beads, which represented the claws -of tigers or bears, or a cut sea-shell. - -[621] The “Milky Way” by night, also called the “Heavenly River of -Eight currents (or ‘reaches’)”. - -[622] The ancient Egyptian Celestial Pool of the Gods. - -[623] Each jewel was eight feet long. - -[624] The “hohi of Heaven”. What “hohi” signifies is a puzzle. - -[625] Shinto (1905), p. 172. - -[626] Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, p. 23. - -[627] Shinto (1905), p. 174. Professor Benoy K. Sarkar compares Shiva -to Osiris. See The Folk-Element in Hindu Culture (London, 1917), p. 7. - -[628] In Ancient Egypt the mountain that splits when the sun emerges at -dawn. - -[629] The tree Sakaki (Cleyera japonica) planted beside Shinto shrines. - -[630] The dance was a gross and indelicate one. - -[631] This rope (shime-naha) is tied round trees at Shinto shrines. At -Ise it stretches across a ravine, through which the sun is seen and -adored at dawn. The straw is pulled up by the roots. - -[632] The modern hohodzuki (Physalis Alkekengi). - -[633] De Groot refers to a “venerable” Chinese dragon living in a pond; -it had nine heads and eighteen tails, and “ate nothing but fever -demons”. The Religious System of China, Vol. VI, p. 1053. Another -dragon is 1000 miles long; his breath causes wind; when he opens his -eyes it is day, and when he closes them it is night. De Visser, The -Dragon in China and Japan, p. 62. - -[634] In the Nihon-gi this sword is called Ama no-hawe-giri (the -heavenly fly-cutter). - -[635] Idzumo is the next holiest place to Ise. The god had other names -including Oho-kuni-nushi (“Great Land Master”). - -[636] An incident that recalls the Diarmid story in Scottish and Irish -Gaelic folk-tales. - -[637] One of the first three deities, the children of Heaven and Earth. - -[638] The Arca inflata. - -[639] The Cytherea meretrix. - -[640] Chamberlain, in his translation of the Ko-ji-ki (p. 70), says -“the meaning is that a paste like milk was made of the triturated and -calcined shell mixed with water”. Mother (omo) may be read as “nurse” -too. Mrs. Carmichael, widow of Dr. Alexander Carmichael, the Scottish -folk-lorist, informs me that in the Outer Hebrides women burn and grind -cockle-shells to make a “lime water” for delicate children. The clam is -likewise used. The ancient Japanese and ancient Hebrideans may have -received this folk-medicine from the ancient seafarers who searched for -shells and metals. - -[641] This was a magical act. He rendered himself invisible. - -[642] The “sounding arrow” with a whistling contrivance made of bone. -It was known in China during the Tʼang Dynasty, and was used by hunters -to make birds rise, and by soldiers to scare enemies. Laufer thinks the -Japanese sounding arrows were of Chinese origin.—Chinese Clay Figures, -p. 224, n. 4. - -[643] Or a rat. - -[644] Here one is tempted to see mouse-Apollo, or the mouse of the -Homeric Apollo who shoots the arrows of disease. The mice that strip -the arrows of their feathers may be the arresters of disease. Mouse -medicine is of great antiquity in Egypt. - -[645] “Divine messages,” says Chamberlain, “were conveyed through a -person playing on the lute.” The language of the “lute” was thus like -the “language of birds”. - -[646] This is a Far Eastern version of the Jack-and-the-Beanstalk -story. - -[647] Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. X -(supplement), p. 81. - -[648] Native commentators say “goose” or “wren”; some consider that -owing to a copyist’s error “insect” has been changed to bird, and that -the reading should be “moth” or “silk-worm moth” or “fire insect”. - -[649] Some think this plant is one that bears a berry three or four -inches long, and that the boat was a scooped-out berry. - -[650] This is not Yomi, but either the Chinese Paradise of the West or -the Paradise of the Buddhists. - -[651] A Chinese phrase signifying anciently the Chinese world or -empire. The “Crumbling Deity” may be the “leech-child”, or the -caterpillar worshipped by a Japanese cult. - -[652] See Index. - -[653] This is his posthumous name. During his life he was -Kamu-Yamato-Iware-Biko. - -[654] The golden crow of the sun had three legs. In the moon was the -jewelled hare. - -[655] Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. X -(supplement), p. 199, n. 5. - -[656] Chamberlain, Things Japanese, p. 57. - -[657] Polynesian Researches (First Edition, 1829), p. 327. - -[658] Turner, Nineteen Years in Polynesia (1861), p. 237. - -[659] Batchelor, Notes on the Ainu (Transactions of the Asiatic Society -of Japan, Vol. X), p. 218. - -[660] Nira, the Allium odorum. - -[661] Tilia cordata. See Chamberlain’s Ko-ji-ki, pp. 102 n. 26, and -215. - -[662] An evil rain which did harm like the evil rain sent by a sick or -an angry and destroying dragon. - -[663] The moor of the waterfall of the River Yoro in Mino. - -[664] Apparently the sword would have protected him against the fatal -enchantment wrought by the white boar-god of Mount Ibuki. - -[665] Chidori, a dotteril, plover, or sandpiper. - -[666] As a god’s mi-tama rests in a temple to be worshipped. - -[667] His posthumous title. During life he was called Hachiman. - -[668] Customs of the World (Japan), pp. 380 et seq. - -[669] Chinese Clay Figures, Part I, p. 272 (Field Museum of Natural -History, Publication 177; Anthropological Series, Vol. XIII, No. 2). -Chicago, 1914. - -[670] Jade, p. 57. - - - - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS OF CHINA AND JAPAN *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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-} -.p212-2width { -width:586px; -} -.p220width { -width:492px; -} -.p228width { -width:486px; -} -.xd31e4904 { -text-indent:2em; -} -.p230width { -width:364px; -} -.p271width { -width:456px; -} -.p300width { -width:523px; -} -.p328width { -width:720px; -} -.p338width { -width:464px; -} -.p352width { -width:720px; -} -.p360width { -width:720px; -} -.p368width { -width:720px; -} -.p380width { -width:351px; -} -@media handheld { -} -/* ]]> */ </style> -</head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Myths of China and Japan, by Donald Alexander Mackenzie</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Myths of China and Japan</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>with illustrations in colour & monochrome after paintings and photographs</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Donald Alexander Mackenzie</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 6, 2022 [eBook #67344]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS OF CHINA AND JAPAN ***</div> -<div class="front"> -<div class="div1 cover"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure cover-imagewidth"><img src="images/frontcover.jpg" alt="Original Front Cover." width="467" height="720"></div><p> -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 titlepage"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure titlepage-imagewidth"><img src="images/titlepage.png" alt="Original Title Page." width="447" height="720"></div><p> -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 frenchtitle"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first xd31e105">MYTHS OF CHINA AND JAPAN -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 advertisement ads"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"><i>MYTH AND LEGEND IN LITERATURE AND ART</i> -</p> -<p>CLASSIC MYTH AND LEGEND <i>By A. R. Hope Moncrieff</i> -</p> -<p>CELTIC MYTH AND LEGEND POETRY AND ROMANCE <i>By Charles Squire</i> -</p> -<p>TEUTONIC MYTH AND LEGEND <i>By Donald A. Mackenzie</i> -</p> -<p>ROMANCE AND LEGEND OF CHIVALRY <i>By A. R. Hope Moncrieff</i> -</p> -<p>EGYPTIAN MYTH AND LEGEND <i>By Donald A. Mackenzie</i> -</p> -<p><a class="pglink xd31e40" title="Link to Project Gutenberg ebook" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47228">INDIAN MYTH AND LEGEND</a> <i>By Donald A. Mackenzie</i> -</p> -<p><a class="pglink xd31e40" title="Link to Project Gutenberg ebook" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16653">MYTHS OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA</a> <i>By Donald A. Mackenzie</i> -</p> -<p>MYTHS OF CRETE AND PRE-HELLENIC EUROPE <i>By Donald A. Mackenzie</i> -</p> -<p>THE GRESHAM PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD. -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 frontispiece"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure frontispiecewidth" id="frontispiece"><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="THE GOD OF THUNDER" width="476" height="720"><p class="figureHead">THE GOD OF THUNDER</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Chinese picture in the John Rylands Library, Manchester</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="titlePage"> -<div class="docTitle"> -<div class="mainTitle">MYTHS OF<br> -CHINA AND JAPAN</div> -</div> -<div class="byline"><i>By</i><br> -<span class="docAuthor">DONALD A. MACKENZIE</span> -<br> -<i>With Illustrations in Colour & Monochrome after Paintings and Photographs</i></div> -<div class="docImprint">THE GRESHAM PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD.<br> -66 CHANDOS ST. COVENT GARDEN LONDON</div> -</div> -<p></p> -<div class="div1 imprint"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first xd31e181"><i>Printed in Great Britain</i> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb.v">[<a href="#pb.v">v</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 preface"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">PREFACE</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">This volume deals with the myths of China and Japan, and it is shown that these throw -light on the origin and growth of civilization and the widespread dissemination of -complex ideas associated with certain modes of life. The Far East does not appear -to have remained immune to outside cultural influences in ancient times. Modern research -has established that the old school of opinions which insisted on the complete isolation -of China can no longer obtain. As Laufer says: “It cannot be strongly enough emphasized -on every occasion that Chinese civilization, as it appears now, is not a unit and -not the exclusive production of the Chinese, but the final result of the cultural -efforts of a vast conglomeration of the most varied tribes, an amalgamation of ideas -accumulated from manifold quarters and widely differentiated in space and time.… No -graver error can hence be committed than to attribute any culture idea at the outset -to the Chinese, for no other reason than because it appears within the precincts of -their empire.” -</p> -<p>Even the Chinese records have to be regarded with caution. It is impossible nowadays -to accept as serious contributions to history the inflated chronology and the obvious -fables compiled and invented by Chinese scholars <span class="pageNum" id="pb.vi">[<a href="#pb.vi">vi</a>]</span>for political and other purposes during the Han and later dynasties. These scholars -had really little knowledge of the early history of their country and people. They -were puzzled even by certain existing customs and religious practices, and provided -ingenious “secondary explanations” which, like their accounts of the early dynasties, -do not accord with the data accumulated by archæologists and other workers in the -scientific field. The complex religious ideas of the Chinese were obviously not of -spontaneous generation. Many of these resemble too closely the complexes found elsewhere, -and their history cannot be traced within the limits of the Chinese empire. Indeed, -as is shown, some of them are undoubtedly products of human experiences obtained elsewhere, -and they reveal traces of the influences to which they were subjected during the process -of gradual transmission from areas of origin. Nor, would it appear, was Chinese civilization -nearly as ancient as the native scholars would have us believe. -</p> -<p>When the early Chinese entered China, they found non-Chinese peoples in different -parts of that vast area which they ultimately welded into an empire. They were an -inland people and did not invent boats; they did not originate the agricultural mode -of life but adopted it, using the seeds and implements they had acquired; nor did -they invent the potter’s wheel with which they were familiar from the earliest times -in China, having evidently become possessed of it, along with the complex culture -associated with it, before they migrated into the province of Shensi. Nor could an -agrarian people like the Chinese have been the originators of the belief in the existence -of <span class="pageNum" id="pb.vii">[<a href="#pb.vii">vii</a>]</span>“Isles of the Blest” in the Eastern Ocean; they were not alone in Asia in believing -in a Western Paradise situated among the mountains. -</p> -<p>The Chinese, as Laufer demonstrates in his <i>Jade</i>, did not pass through in China that culture stage called the “Neolithic”. When they -first settled in Shensi, they searched for and found jade, as did the carriers of -bronze who first entered Europe. There was obviously an acquired psychological motive -for the search for jade, and the evidence of Chinese jade symbolism demonstrates to -the full that it had been acquired from those who had transferred to jade the earlier -symbolism of shells, pearls, and precious metals. In the chapter devoted to jade it -is shown that this view is confirmed by the evidence afforded by Chinese customs connected -with jade, shells, pearls, &c. -</p> -<p>In no country in the world are the processes of culture drifting and culture mixing -made more manifest than in China. The Chinese dragon is, as Professor Elliot Smith -puts it, a “composite wonder beast”. Throughout this volume it is shown to yield, -when dissected, remarkable evidence regarding the varied influences under which it -acquired its highly complex character. The fact that a Chinese dragon charm closely -resembles a Scottish serpent charm is of special interest in this connection. When, -however, it is found that China obtained certain myths and practices from the area -called by its writers “Fu-lin” (the Byzantine Empire), and that not only Byzantine -but Ægean influences are traceable in the Celtic field, the charm-link between Gaelic -Scotland and China may not, after all, be regarded as “far-fetched”. The same may -be said <span class="pageNum" id="pb.viii">[<a href="#pb.viii">viii</a>]</span>regarding the curious similarity between the myths and practices connected with shells, -and especially cockle-shells, in Japan and the Scottish Hebrides. Although the West -Highlanders and the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun were never brought into -contact, it may be that similar cultural influences drifted east and west from their -area of origin, and that the carriers were the ancient mariners who introduced the -same type of vessel into far-separated oceans. -</p> -<p>As in China, we do not in Japan find a culture of purely native origin, but rather -one which has grown up from a mass of imported elements as varied as the racial types -that compose the present-day population. Both in China and Japan these imported elements -have been subjected to the influences of time and locality and infused with national -ideas and ideals. The processes of growth and change have not, however, concealed -the sources from which certain of the early ideas emanated in varying degrees of development. -</p> -<p>The early native history of Japan is, like that of China, no more worthy of acceptance -than are the long-discarded English and Scottish fables regarding Brute and Scota. -</p> -<p>The data accumulated in this volume tend to show, although we have no direct evidence -of systematic missionary enterprise earlier than that of the <span class="corr" id="xd31e208" title="Source: Bhuddists">Buddhists</span>, that the influential religious cults of ancient times that flourished in Mesopotamia -and in the Egyptian Empire (which included part of Western Asia) appear to have left -their impress on the intellectual life of even far-distant peoples. Apparently modes -of thought were transmitted along <span class="pageNum" id="pb.ix">[<a href="#pb.ix">ix</a>]</span>direct and indirect avenues of intercourse by groups of traders. Even before trade -routes were opened, religious beliefs and practices appear to have been introduced -into distant lands by prospectors and by settlers who founded colonies from which -later colonies “budded”. When the same set of complexes are found in widely separated -areas, it is difficult to accept the view that they originated from the same particular -experiences and the same set of circumstances, especially when it is made manifest -that the complexes in the older centre of culture reflect strictly local physical -conditions, and even the local political conditions that resulted in a fusion of peoples -and of their myths, symbols, and religious beliefs and practices. -</p> -<p class="signed">DONALD A. MACKENZIE. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb.xi">[<a href="#pb.xi">xi</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="toc" class="div1 contents"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">CONTENTS</h2> -<table class="tocList"> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"><span class="sc">Chap.</span></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">Page</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">I.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch1" id="xd31e231"><span class="sc">The Dawn of Civilization</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">II.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch2" id="xd31e241"><span class="sc">A Far-travelled Invention</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">13</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">III.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch3" id="xd31e251"><span class="sc">Ancient Mariners and Explorers</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">24</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">IV.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch4" id="xd31e261"><span class="sc">The World-wide Search for Wealth</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">36</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">V.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch5" id="xd31e271"><span class="sc">Chinese Dragon Lore</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">46</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">VI.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch6" id="xd31e281"><span class="sc">Bird and Serpent Myths</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">66</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">VII.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch7" id="xd31e291"><span class="sc">Dragon Folk-stories</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">76</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">VIII.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch8" id="xd31e301"><span class="sc">The Kingdom under the Sea</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">95</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">IX.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch9" id="xd31e311"><span class="sc">The Islands of the Blest</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">106</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">X.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch10" id="xd31e321"><span class="sc">The Mother-goddess of China and Japan</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">131</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XI.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch11" id="xd31e332"><span class="sc">Tree-, Herb-, and Stone-lore</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">158</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XII.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch12" id="xd31e342"><span class="sc">How Copper-culture reached China</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">189</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XIII.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch13" id="xd31e352"><span class="sc">The Symbolism of Jade</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">211</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XIV.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch14" id="xd31e362"><span class="sc">Creation Myths and the God and Goddess Cults</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">256</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XV.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch15" id="xd31e372"><span class="sc">Mythical and Legendary Kings</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">274</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XVI.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch16" id="xd31e382"><span class="sc">Myths and Doctrines of Taoism</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">297</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XVII.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch17" id="xd31e392"><span class="sc">Culture Mixing in Japan</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">324</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XVIII.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch18" id="xd31e402"><span class="sc">Japanese Gods and Dragons</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">345</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XIX.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch19" id="xd31e412"><span class="sc">Rival Deities of Life and Death, Sunshine and Storm</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">357</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XX.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch20" id="xd31e422"><span class="sc">The Dragon-slayer and His Rival</span></a> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">371</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum">XXI.</td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"> <a href="#ch21" id="xd31e432"><span class="sc">Ancient Mikados and Heroes</span></a> -</td> -<td class="tocPageNum">378</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tocDivNum"></td> -<td class="tocDivTitle" colspan="7"><span class="sc"><a href="#ix" id="xd31e442">Index</a></span> </td> -<td class="tocPageNum">389</td> -</tr> -</table> -<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb.xiii">[<a href="#pb.xiii">xiii</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 contents"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">LIST OF PLATES</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"> <span class="tocPageNum">Facing Page</span> -</p> -<p><a href="#frontispiece">THE GOD OF THUNDER</a> (in colour) <span class="tocPageNum"><i>Frontispiece</i></span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Chinese picture in the John Rylands Library, Manchester</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p016">POTTER’S WHEEL, SIMLA, INDIA</a> <span class="tocPageNum">16</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a sketch by J. Lockwood Kipling in the Victoria and Albert Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p024">A MODERN CHINESE JUNK ON THE CANTON RIVER</a> <span class="tocPageNum">24</span> -</p> -<p><a href="#p040">CHINESE DRAGON-BOAT FESTIVAL</a> <span class="tocPageNum">40</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a picture woven in coloured silks and gold thread in the Victoria and Albert -Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p048">CHINESE DRAGONS AMONG THE CLOUDS</a> <span class="tocPageNum">48</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a painting in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p056">CHINESE DRAGON VASE WITH CARVED WOOD STAND</a> <span class="tocPageNum">56</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462">(<i>Victoria and Albert Museum</i>) -</p> -<p><a href="#p081">CARP LEAPING FROM WAVES</a> <span class="tocPageNum">81</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Japanese painting in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p088">CHINESE PORCELAIN VASE DECORATED WITH FIVE-CLAWED DRAGONS RISING FROM WAVES</a> <span class="tocPageNum">88</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462">(<i>Victoria and Albert Museum</i>) -<span class="pageNum" id="pb.xiv">[<a href="#pb.xiv">xiv</a>]</span></p> -<p><a href="#p096">RESONANT STONE OF JADE SHOWING DRAGON WITH CLOUD ORNAMENTS, SUSPENDED FROM CARVED -BLACKWOOD FRAME</a> <span class="tocPageNum">96</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>By courtesy of B. Laufer, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p104">TORTOISE AND SNAKE</a> <span class="tocPageNum">104</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a rubbing in the British Museum of a Chinese original</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p112">GATHERING FRUITS OF LONGEVITY</a> <span class="tocPageNum">112</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p124">SHOU SHAN (i.e. “HILLS OF LONGEVITY”), THE TAOIST PARADISE</a> <span class="tocPageNum">124</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a woven silk picture in the Victoria and Albert Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p136">THE CHINESE SI WANG MU (JAPANESE SEIOBO) AND MAO NU</a> <span class="tocPageNum">136</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Japanese painting (by Hidenobu) in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p140">MOUNTAIN VIEW WITH SCHOLAR’S RETREAT</a> <span class="tocPageNum">140</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p152">GENII AT THE COURT OF SI WANG MU</a> <span class="tocPageNum">152</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p160">SQUARE BRICK OF THE HAN DYNASTY, WITH MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES AND INSCRIPTIONS</a> <span class="tocPageNum">160</span> -</p> -<p><a href="#p168">CHINESE BOWL WITH SYMBOL OF LONGEVITY</a> <span class="tocPageNum">168</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462">(<i>Victoria and Albert Museum</i>) -</p> -<p><a href="#p172">GOATS CROPPING PLANT OF LIFE</a> <span class="tocPageNum">172</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From the jade sculpture in the Scottish National Museum, Edinburgh</i> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb.xv">[<a href="#pb.xv">xv</a>]</span></p> -<p><a href="#p184">THE GODDESS OF THE DEW</a> <span class="tocPageNum">184</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p200">AN OFFERING TO THE GODS, PEKING</a> <span class="tocPageNum">200</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a photograph by H. G. Ponting, F.R.G.S.</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p208">ANCIENT BRONZE ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS ON THE CITY WALL, PEKING</a> <span class="tocPageNum">208</span> -</p> -<p><a href="#p212-1">MORTUARY FISH IN JADE, OF HAN PERIOD</a> <span class="tocPageNum">212</span> -</p> -<p><a href="#p212-2">FIGURE OF BUTTERFLY IN WHITE AND BROWNISH-YELLOW JADE, TSʼIN OR HAN PERIOD</a> <span class="tocPageNum">212</span> -</p> -<p><a href="#p220">AMULETS FOR THE DEAD, AND OTHER OBJECTS IN JADE</a> <span class="tocPageNum">220</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>The subjects on pages 212 and 220 are reproduced by courtesy of B. Laufer, author -of “Jade”, Field Museum, Chicago</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p228">THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN, PEKING</a> <span class="tocPageNum">228</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a photograph by H. G. Ponting, F.R.G.S.</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p230">THREE SAGES STUDYING SYMBOL OF YIN AND YANG</a> <span class="tocPageNum">230</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p271">KWAN-YIN, THE CHINESE “GODDESS OF MERCY”</a> <span class="tocPageNum">271</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a porcelain figure decorated in soft enamels in the Victoria and Albert Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p300">LAO TZE AND DISCIPLES</a> <span class="tocPageNum">300</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p328">THE MOST FAMOUS PAI-LO (GODDESS SYMBOL) IN CHINA: AT THE MENG TOMBS, NEAR PEKING</a> <span class="tocPageNum">328</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a photograph by H. G. Ponting, F.R.G.S.</i> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb.xvi">[<a href="#pb.xvi">xvi</a>]</span></p> -<p><a href="#p338">THE FAMOUS OLD TORI-WI (GODDESS SYMBOL), MIYAJIMA, JAPAN</a> <span class="tocPageNum">338</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a photograph by H. G. Ponting, F.R.G.S.</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p352">THE JAPANESE TREASURE SHIP</a> <span class="tocPageNum">352</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a woodcut in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p360">SUSA-NO-WO MAKING A COMPACT WITH DISEASE SPIRITS</a> <span class="tocPageNum">360</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Japanese painting (by Hoga) in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p368">AMATERÂSU, THE SUN GODDESS, EMERGING FROM HER CAVE</a> <span class="tocPageNum">368</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Japanese painting in the British Museum</i> -</p> -<p><a href="#p380">SEIOBO (= THE CHINESE SI WANG MU) WITH ATTENDANT AND THREE RISHI</a> <span class="tocPageNum">380</span> -</p> -<p class="xd31e462"><i>From a Japanese painting (by Sanraku) in the British Museum</i> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb1">[<a href="#pb1">1</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="body"> -<div id="ch1" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e231">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="super">MYTHS OF<br> -CHINA AND JAPAN</h2> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER I</h2> -<h2 class="main">The Dawn of Civilization</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Chinese Culture—Had it Independent Origin?—Evolution in Human Affairs—Stratification -Theory—The Mystery of Mind—Man’s First Philosophy of Life—Influences exercised by -Ancient Civilizations—Culture Mixing—The Idea of Progress—Art in the Pleistocene Age—Introduction -of Agriculture—Birth of Osirian Civilization—The “Water of Greenness” as “Water of -Life”—How Commerce Began—Introduction of Copper-working—The Oldest Calendar in the -World—The “Kings of Mankind”—Ancient Man and Modern Man.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The destinies of a people are shaped by their modes of thought, and their real history -is therefore the history of their culture. The Chinese frame of mind has made the -Chinese the people they are and China the country it is. Every section of society -has been swayed by this far-reaching and enduring influence, the sources of which -lie in remote antiquity. It is the force that has even been shaping public opinion -and directing political movements. Emperors and leaders of thought have been uplifted -by it or cast down by it. -</p> -<p>To understand China, it is necessary that we should inquire into its inner history—the -history of its culture—<span class="pageNum" id="pb2">[<a href="#pb2">2</a>]</span>so as to get at the Chinese point of view and look at things through Chinese eyes. -That inner history is in part a record of its early experiences among the nations -of the earth. There was a time when China was “in the making”, when the little leaven -that leavened the whole lump began to move, when that culture which spread over a -vast area was confined to a small centre and to a comparatively small group of people. -Who were this people, where were they situated, what influences were at work to stir -them and shape their ambitions, and what secret did they learn which gave them power -over the minds and bodies of about a third of the inhabitants of the globe? In short, -how and where did Chinese culture originate, and how did it spread and become firmly -established? Was it a thing of purely local growth? Did it begin to be quite independently -of all other cultures? Does it owe its virility and distinctiveness among the cultures -of ancient and modern times to the influence of the locality in which it had “independent -origin”? Had it an independent origin? -</p> -<p>These queries open up the larger problem as to the origin of civilization in the world. -At this point, therefore, we must decide whether or not we are to accept the idea -of evolution in human affairs. Can the principles of biological evolution be applied -to the problems of ethnology (using the term in its widest sense to include the physical -and cultural history of mankind)? Can we accept the theory that in isolated quarters -of the globe separated communities were stirred by natural laws to make progress in -adapting themselves to their environments, and that, once a beginning was made, separated -communities developed on similar lines? Did each ancient civilization have its natural -periods of growth and decay? Were separated communities uninfluenced during these -<span class="pageNum" id="pb3">[<a href="#pb3">3</a>]</span>periods by human minds and wills? Were their destinies shaped by natural laws, or -by the cumulative force of public opinion? Was it a natural law that made men abandon -the hunting and adopt the agricultural mode of life? Did certain communities of men, -influenced by natural laws in ancient times, begin to shape their religious systems -by first worshipping groups of spirits and ultimately, having passed through a sequence -of well-defined stages, find themselves elevated by these natural laws to the stage -of monotheism? Is it because certain races have, for some mysterious reason, been -prompted to pass through these stages more quickly than others, that they are deserving -of the term “progressive” while others must be characterized as “backward”? -</p> -<p>If these questions are answered in the affirmative, we must assume that we have solved -the riddle of Mind. Those who apply the principles of biological evolution to human -affairs are in the habit of referring to laws that control the workings of the human -mind. But what do we really know about the workings of the human mind? This question -has only to be asked so that the hazardous character of the fashion of thinking adopted -by extreme exponents of the Evolution School may be emphasized. It cannot but be admitted -that we know little or nothing regarding the human mind. What happens when we think? -How are memories stored in the brain? How are emotions caused? What is Consciousness? -How does the Will operate? Grave psychological problems have to be solved before we -can undertake the responsibility of discussing with any degree of confidence the laws -that are supposed to govern human thought and action. -</p> -<p>The researches into the early history of man, of about a generation ago, were believed -by some to “have revealed the essential similarity with which, under many superficial -<span class="pageNum" id="pb4">[<a href="#pb4">4</a>]</span>differences, the human mind has elaborated its first crude philosophy of life”. It -was found that similar beliefs and practices obtained among widely separated communities, -and it was not suspected that the influence exercised by direct and indirect cultural -contact between “progressive” and “backward” communities extended to such great distances -as has since been found to be the case. Prospecting routes by land and sea were the -avenues along which cultural influences “drifted”. Early man was much more enterprising -as a trader and explorer than was believed in Tylor’s day. The evidence accumulated -of late years tends to show that almost no part of the globe remained immune to the -influences exercised by the great ancient civilizations, and that these civilizations -were never in a state of “splendid isolation” at any period in their histories. In -the light of this knowledge it is becoming more and more clear that Victorian ethnologists -were inclined to make too much of resemblances, and failed to take into account the -differences that a more intensive study of local cultures have revealed. There were, -of course, resemblances, which suggest the influence of cultural contact and the settlement -among backward peoples of colonists from progressive communities, but there were also -differences of beliefs and customs which were of local origin and can hardly be characterized -as “superficial”. One of the results of contact was the process of “culture mixing”. -Customs and fashions of thinking were introduced into a country and blended with local -customs and local modes of thought. In early China, as will be shown, there was “culture -mixing”. The Chinese frame of mind is the result of compromises effected in remote -times. -</p> -<p>How, then, did the idea of progress originate? Is there in the human mind an instinct -which stirs mankind <span class="pageNum" id="pb5">[<a href="#pb5">5</a>]</span>to achieve progress? If so, how does it come about that some peoples have failed to -move until brought into contact with progressive races? Why did the Melanesians, for -instance, remain in the Stone Age until reached by the missionary and the sandal-wood -trader? The missionaries and the traders caused them to advance in a brief period -from the Stone Age to the Age of Steel and Machinery. Can it be maintained that in -ancient days no sudden changes took place? Did the people, for instance, who introduced -bronze-working into a country introduce nothing else? Did they leave behind their -beliefs, their myths, their customs, and their stories? -</p> -<p>When it is asked how progress originated, we can only turn to such evidence as is -available regarding the early history of “Modern Man”. At a remote period, dating -back in Europe to the Pleistocene Age, men lived in organized communities and pursued -the hunting mode of life. Their culture is revealed by their pictorial art in the -prehistoric cave-dwellings of France and Spain, and their decorative art by their -finely engraved implements and weapons.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e823src" href="#xd31e823">1</a> This art reached a high state of perfection. In some aspects it compares favourably -with modern art.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e828src" href="#xd31e828">2</a> Evidently it had a long history, and was practised by those who were endowed with -the artistic faculty and had received a training. These early men, who belonged to -the Cro-Magnon races, were traders as well as hunters. In some of their “inland stations” -have been found shells that had been imported from the Mediterranean coast. -</p> -<p>The hunting mode of life prevailed also among the proto-Egyptians in the Nile valley, -an area which was less capable in remote times of maintaining a large population <span class="pageNum" id="pb6">[<a href="#pb6">6</a>]</span>than were the wide and fertile plains of Europe. Egypt was thinly peopled until the -agricultural mode of life was introduced. Someone discovered how to make use of the -barley that grew wild in the Nile valley and western Asia. In time the seeds were -cultivated, and some little community thus provided itself with an abundant food-supply. -Men’s minds were afterwards engaged in solving the problem how to extend the area -available for cultivation in the narrow Nile valley. Nature was at hand to make suggestions -to them. Each year the River Nile came down in flood and fertilized the parched and -sun-burnt wastes. The waters caused the desert to “blossom like the rose”. Intelligent -observers perceived that if the process of water-fertilization were maintained, as -in the Delta region, they could extend their little farms and form new ones. The art -of irrigation was discovered and gradually adopted, with the result that the narrow -river valley, which had been thinly peopled during the Hunting Period, became capable -of maintaining a large population. -</p> -<p>In what particular area the agricultural mode of life was first introduced, it is -impossible to say. Some favour southern Palestine and some southern Mesopotamia. Those -who favour Egypt<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e839src" href="#xd31e839">3</a> can refer to interesting and important evidence in support of their view. It is the -only ancient country, for instance, in which there are traditions regarding the man<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e844src" href="#xd31e844">4</a> who introduced the agricultural mode of life. This was Osiris, a priest-king<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e847src" href="#xd31e847">5</a> who was deified, or a god to whom was credited the discovery, made by a <span class="pageNum" id="pb7">[<a href="#pb7">7</a>]</span>man or group of men, of how to grow corn. Plutarch’s version of the Egyptian legend -states: “Osiris, being now become King of Egypt, applied himself towards civilizing -his countrymen, by turning them from their former indigent and barbarous course of -life; he moreover taught them how to cultivate and improve the fruits of the earth”. -Evidence has been forthcoming that the pre-Dynastic Egyptians were agriculturists. -The bodies of many of them have been found preserved in their graves in the hot dry -sands of Upper Egypt. “From the stomachs and intestines of these prehistoric people”, -writes Professor G. Elliot Smith, “I was able to recover large quantities of food -materials, in fact, the last meals eaten before death.” Careful examination was made -of the contents of the stomachs. “Almost every sample contained husks of barley, and -in about 10 per cent of the specimens husks of millet could be identified with certainty.” -The millet found in these bodies is nearly related to the variety “which is now cultivated -in the East Indies”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e852src" href="#xd31e852">6</a> -</p> -<p>Here we have proof that the agricultural mode of life obtained in the Nile valley -over sixty centuries ago, and that the seeds of the cultivated variety of millet, -which grows wild in North Africa and southern Asia, were carried to far-distant areas -by ancient traders and colonists. These facts have, as will be found, an important -bearing on the early history of Chinese civilization. -</p> -<p>Our immediate concern, however, is with the history of early civilization. In the -Nile valley man made progress when he was able to provide something which he required, -by the intelligent utilization of means at his disposal. No natural law prompted him -to cultivate corn and irrigate the sun-parched soil. He did not <span class="pageNum" id="pb8">[<a href="#pb8">8</a>]</span>become an agriculturist by instinct. He conducted observations, exercised his reasoning -faculty, made experiments, and a great discovery was forthcoming. The man whose memory -is enshrined in that of Osiris was one of the great benefactors of the human race. -When he solved the problem of how to provide an abundant supply of food, he made it -possible for a large population to live in a small area. It is told of Osiris that -“he gave them (the Egyptians) a body of laws to regulate their conduct by”. No doubt -the early hunters observed laws which regulated conduct in the cave-home as well as -on the hunting-field. The fact that a great pictorial art was cultivated by Aurignacian -man in western Europe, about 20,000 years ago, indicates that the social organization -had been sufficiently well developed to permit of certain individuals of a class—possibly -the priestly class—devoting themselves to the study of art, while others attended -to the food-supply. Aurignacian art could never have reached the degree of excellence -it did had there not been a school of art—apparently religious art—and a system of -laws that promoted its welfare. -</p> -<p>When, in Egypt, the agricultural mode of life was introduced, and an abundant supply -of food was assured, new laws became a necessity, so that the growing communities -might be kept under control. These laws were given a religious significance. Osiris -“instructed them (the Egyptians) in that reverence and worship which they were to -pay to the gods”. Society was united by the bonds of a religious organization, and, -as is found, Nilotic religion had a close association with the agricultural mode of -life. It reflected the experiences of the early farmers; it reflected, too, the natural -phenomena of the Nile valley. Water—the Nile water—was the fertilizing agency. It -was the “water of life”. The god Osiris was closely <span class="pageNum" id="pb9">[<a href="#pb9">9</a>]</span>associated with the Nile; he was the “fresh” or the “new” water that flowed in due -season after the trying period of “the low Nile”, during which the land was parched -by the burning sun and every green thing was coated by the sand-storms. “Ho, Osiris! -the inundation comes,” cried the priest when the Nile began to rise. “Horus comes; -he recognizes his father in thee, youthful in thy name of Fresh Water.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e865src" href="#xd31e865">7</a> The literal rendering is: “Horus comes; he beholds his father in thee, <i>greenness</i> in thy name of <i>Water of Greenness</i>”. The reference is to the “new water” which flows quite green for the first few days -of the annual inundation. The “new water” entered the soil and vegetation sprang up. -Osiris was the principle of life; he was also the ghost-god who controlled the river. -As the Nile, Osiris was regarded as the source of all life—the creator and sustainer -and ruler in one. -</p> -<p>When the discovery of how to grow corn was passed from people to people and from land -to land, not only the seeds and agricultural implements were passed along, but the -ceremonies and religious beliefs connected with the agricultural mode of life in the -area of origin. The ceremonies were regarded as of as much importance as the implements. -</p> -<p>It need not surprise us, therefore, to find, as we do find, not only North African -millet in the East Indies, but North African religious beliefs connected with agriculture -in widely separated countries. Osirian religious ideas and myths were, it would appear, -distributed over wide areas and among various races. There is therefore a germ of -historical truth in the account given by Plutarch of the missionary efforts of Osiris. -“With the same disposition”, we read, “he (Osiris) afterwards <span class="pageNum" id="pb10">[<a href="#pb10">10</a>]</span>travelled over the rest of the world, inducing the people everywhere to submit to -his discipline.… The Greeks conclude him to have been the same person with their Dionysos -or Bacchus.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e879src" href="#xd31e879">8</a> -</p> -<p>In the process of time the Egyptians found that they were able to produce a larger -food-supply than they required for their own needs. They were consequently able to -devote their surplus to stimulating trade, so as to obtain from other countries things -which were not to be had in Egypt. They were thus brought into touch with other communities, -and these communities, such as the wood-cutters of Lebanon, were influenced by Egyptian -civilization and stimulated to adopt new modes of life. Their food-supply was assured -by the Egyptian demand for timber. They received corn from the Nile valley in payment -for their labour. There are references in the Egyptian texts to the exports of wheat -to North Syria and Asia Minor. -</p> -<p>When the great discovery was made of how to work copper, the early agriculturists -achieved rapid progress. Boats were built more easily and in larger numbers, new weapons -were produced, and the Upper Egyptians conquered the Lower Egyptians, with the result -that Egypt was united under a single king. With this union, which was followed by -a period of remarkable activity, begins the history of Ancient Egypt. -</p> -<p>The man, remembered as Osiris, who first sowed his little corn patch, sowed also the -seeds from which grew a mighty empire and a great civilization. His discovery spread -from people to people, and from land to land, and a new era was inaugurated in the -history of the world. Progress was made possible when mankind were led from the wide -hunting-fields to the little fields of the Stone <span class="pageNum" id="pb11">[<a href="#pb11">11</a>]</span>Age<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e890src" href="#xd31e890">9</a> farmer, and shown how they could live pleasant and well-ordered lives in large communities. -</p> -<p>The early Egyptian farmers found it necessary to measure time and take account of -the seasons. A Calendar was introduced and adopted during the prehistoric (Palæolithic) -period,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e895src" href="#xd31e895">10</a> and was used by the Egyptians for thousands of years. Julius Cæsar adapted this Calendar -for use in Rome. It was subsequently adjusted by Pope Gregory and others, and is now -in use all over the civilized world. Each time we hang up a new calendar, therefore, -we are reminded of the man who stimulated progress over vast areas by sowing corn, -so as to provide food for his family in a distant land at a far-distant period of -time. -</p> -<p>When we consider the problem of the origin of progress, let us not forget him and -others like him—those early thinkers and discoverers to whom all humanity owe a debt -of gratitude. The few invent, the many adopt; the few think and lead, and the many -follow. -</p> -<p>“No abstract doctrine”, writes Sir James F. Frazer in this connection, “is more false -and mischievous than that of the natural equality of men.… The experience of common -life sufficiently contradicts such a vain imagination.… The men of keenest intelligence -and strongest characters lead the rest and shape the moulds into which, outwardly -at least, society is cast.… The true rulers of men are the thinkers who advance knowledge.… -It is knowledge which, in the long run, directs and controls the forces of society. -Thus the discoverers of new truths are the real though uncrowned and unsceptred kings -of mankind.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e902src" href="#xd31e902">11</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb12">[<a href="#pb12">12</a>]</span></p> -<p>Progress has its origin in Mind. It has been manifested in the past in those districts -in which the mind of man was applied to overcome natural obstacles and to develop -natural resources. The histories of the great ancient civilizations do not support -the idea of an evolutionary process which had its origin in human instinct. “There -has”, Professor G. Elliot Smith writes, “been no general or widespread tendency on -the part of human societies to strive after what by Europeans is regarded as intellectual -or material progress. Progressive societies are rare because it requires a very complex -series of factors to compel men to embark upon the hazardous process of striving after -such artificial advancement.” -</p> -<p>Professor Elliot Smith will have none of what Dr. W. H. R. Rivers refers to as “crude -evolutionary ideas”. “The history of man”, he writes, “will be truly interpreted, -not by means of hazardous and mistaken analogies with biological evolution, but by -the application of the true historical method. The causes of the modern actions of -mankind are deeply rooted in the past. But the spirit of man has ever been the same: -and the course of ancient history can only be properly appreciated when it is realized -that the same human motives whose nature can be studied in our fellow-men to-day actuated -the men of old also.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e910src" href="#xd31e910">12</a> -</p> -<p>In the chapters that immediately follow it will be shown that separated communities -were brought into close touch by traders. The term “trading”, however, refers, especially -in early times, chiefly to prospecting and the exploiting of locally unappreciated -forms of wealth. It was not until after civilization had spread far and wide that -permanent trade routes were established. Some overland routes became less important -when sea routes were ultimately opened. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb13">[<a href="#pb13">13</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e823"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e823src">1</a></span> <i>Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe</i>, pp. 26 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e823src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e828"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e828src">2</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i> See illustrations opposite p. 20. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e828src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e839"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e839src">3</a></span> Professor Cherry <i>The Origin of Agriculture</i> (Mem. and Proc. Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc., 1920). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e839src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e844"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e844src">4</a></span> In Babylonian legends civilization is introduced by the “goat-fish” god Ea, who came -from the Persian Gulf. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e844src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e847"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e847src">5</a></span> Those who give Osiris a Libyan origin believe his name signifies “The Old One”, or -“The Old Man”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e847src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e852"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e852src">6</a></span> <i>The Ancient Egyptians</i>, pp. 41–42. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e852src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e865"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e865src">7</a></span> Breasted’s <i>Religion and Thought in Egypt</i>, p. 18. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e865src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e879"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e879src">8</a></span> S. Squire, <i>Plutarch’s Treatise of Isis and Osiris</i> (Cambridge, 1744). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e879src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e890"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e890src">9</a></span> In Egypt this was the Solutrean stage of the so-called “Palæolithic Age”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e890src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e895"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e895src">10</a></span> There was no “Neolithic Age” in Egypt. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e895src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e902"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e902src">11</a></span> <i>The Scope of Social Anthropology</i> (London, 1908), pp. 12–13. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e902src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e910"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e910src">12</a></span> <i>Primitive Man</i> (Proceedings of the British Academy, Vol. VII), p. 50. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e910src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch2" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e241">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER II</h2> -<h2 class="main">A Far-travelled Invention</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">The Potter’s Wheel—An Egyptian Invention—The Wheel in Theology—Clay Pots and Stone -Vessels—Skilled Artisans produce Poor Pottery—The Yakut Evidence—Female Potters—Pot -Symbol of Mother-goddess—Potter’s Wheel worked by Men—Egyptian “Wheel” adopted in -Crete, Babylonia, Iran, India, and China—No “Wheel” in America—Secular and Religious -Pottery in China, Japan, India, and Rome—Coarse Grave-Pottery—Potter’s Wheel as Symbol -of Creator—Chinese Emperors as Potters—Culture Heroes—Association of Agriculture with -Pottery—Egyptian Ideas in Far East.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">What bearing, it may be asked, have the discoveries made in Egypt on the early history -of China? Is there evidence to show that these widely-separated countries were brought -into contact in remote times? Did the primitive Chinese receive and adopt Egyptian -inventions, and if so, how were such inventions conveyed across the wide and difficult -country lying between the Mediterranean coast and the Yellow Sea? Is there any proof -that trade routes extended in ancient times right across Asia? Did prospecting and -trading ancient mariners cross the Indian Ocean and coast round to Chinese waters? -</p> -<p>Interesting evidence regarding cultural contact is afforded by the potter’s wheel. -This wonderful machine was invented in Egypt some time before the Fourth Dynasty (about -3000 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>), and in its area of origin it exercised an influence not only on ceramic craftsmanship -but on religious ideas. It was regarded as a gift of the gods, as in ancient Scotland -bronze weapons, implements, <span class="pageNum" id="pb14">[<a href="#pb14">14</a>]</span>musical instruments, &c., were regarded as gifts from the fairies. Apparently the -invention was first introduced in Memphis, the ancient capital, the chief god of which -was Ptah, the supreme deity “of all handicraftsmen and of all workers in metal and -stone”. Ptah was already regarded as the creator of the primeval egg from which the -universe was hatched, and of the “sun egg” and the “moon egg”. He was evidently a -deity whose life-history goes back to primitive times when the mother-goddess was -symbolized as the goose that laid the primeval egg. The problem of whether the egg -or the bird came first was solved by the priests of the Ptah cult of Memphis, who -regarded their deity as the creator of the “egg”. After the potter’s wheel came into -use, they depicted Ptah turning the “egg” upon it. The manufacture of wheel-made pottery -thus came to have religious associations. It was closely connected with the culture -of Egypt which had its basis in the agricultural mode of life. The arts and crafts -were all stimulated by religious ideas; they were cultivated by the priestly class -in temple workshops, and were essentially an expression of Egyptian beliefs and conceptions. -</p> -<p>Before the potter’s wheel came into use, the potter’s art had degenerated. Vases, -bowls, jars, platters, and other vessels were made of such costly stones as diorite, -alabaster, and porphyry; these were drilled out with copper implements. Copper vessels -were also made. The discovery of how to work copper had caused the craftsmen to neglect -the potter’s art, and to work with enthusiasm in the hardest stone until they achieved -a high degree of skill. The coarse pottery of the pre-wheel period is therefore no -indication that the civilization had reached a stage of decadence. This fact should -be a warning to those archæologists who are prone to conclude that if the pottery -taken from a stratum in some particular <span class="pageNum" id="pb15">[<a href="#pb15">15</a>]</span>area is “coarse”, the people who produced it at the period it represents were necessarily -in a backward condition. The evidence afforded by Yakut products is of special interest -in this connection. The Yakuts are usually referred to as “the most intelligent and -progressive people in Siberia”. They are, however, poor potters. They never glaze -their vessels or use the potter’s wheel. At the great Russian market of Yakutsk they -refuse to purchase wheel-made crockery, and purchase instead the raw clay with which -to make their own hand-made vessels, which are almost as coarse as those of the Stone -Age. But although the technique displayed in their pottery is crude, they are famous -for their excellent wood-carving and iron forged-work.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e935src" href="#xd31e935">1</a> A people cannot, therefore, be judged by their pottery alone. It may be that those -ancient peoples who are found to have been poor potters were skilled and progressive -in other spheres of activity. The Hebrews were poor artisans and never invented anything, -but they have given the world a great religious literature. -</p> -<p>After the potter’s wheel was introduced in Memphis, a new era in the history of pottery -was inaugurated. The enclosed baking-furnace came into use at the same time, and the -potter’s art and technique speedily attained a wonderfully high degree of excellence. -But the old crude, hand-made pottery was still being produced. It was consistently -produced until Egypt ceased to be a great and independent kingdom. Indeed, it is being -manufactured even in our own day. -</p> -<p>The reason why good and bad pottery are produced in a single country—and Egypt is -no exception to this rule—is that the manufacture of hand-made vessels was in ancient -times essentially a woman’s avocation. The <span class="pageNum" id="pb16">[<a href="#pb16">16</a>]</span>potter’s wheel was invented by man, and credited to a god, and has from the beginning -been worked by men only. There was apparently a religious significance in the connection -of the sexes with the different processes. The clay pot was, in ancient Egypt, a symbol -of the mother-goddess.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e944src" href="#xd31e944">2</a> Pots used in connection with the worship of the Great Mother were apparently produced -by her priestesses. As women played their part in agricultural ceremonies, so did -they play their part—evidently a prominent one—in producing the goddess’s pot symbols. -The coarse jars in which were stored wines and oils and food-stuffs were gifts of -the Great Mother, the giver of all; she was the inexhaustible sacred Pot—the womb -of Nature. Domestic pottery used by women was, very properly, the ancient folks appear -to have argued, produced by women. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p016width" id="p016"><img src="images/p016.jpg" alt="POTTER’S WHEEL, SIMLA, INDIA" width="720" height="503"><p class="figureHead">POTTER’S WHEEL, SIMLA, INDIA</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a sketch by J. Lockwood Kipling in the Victoria and Albert Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>“It will be noted”, writes O. T. Mason in this connection, “that the feminine gender -is used throughout in speaking of aboriginal potters. This is because every piece -of such ware is the work of woman’s hands. She quarried the clay, and, like the patient -beast of burden, bore it home on her back. She washed it and kneaded it and rolled -it into fillets. These she wound carefully and symmetrically until the vessel was -built up. She further decorated and burned it, and wore it out in household drudgery. -The art at first was woman’s.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e957src" href="#xd31e957">3</a> -</p> -<p>In many countries the connection of women with hand-made and of men with wheel-made -pottery obtains even in our day. The following statement by two American scholars, -who have produced a short but authoritative paper on the potter’s art, is the result -of a close investigation <span class="pageNum" id="pb17">[<a href="#pb17">17</a>]</span>of evidence collected over a wide area, and carefully digested and summarized:<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e968src" href="#xd31e968">4</a> -</p> -<p>“The potter’s wheel is the creation of man, and therefore is an independent act of -invention which was not evolved from any contrivance utilized during the period of -hand-made ceramic ware. The two processes have grown out of two radically distinct -spheres of human activity. The wheel, so speak, came from another world. It had no -point of contact with any tool that existed in the old industry, but was brought in -from an outside quarter as a novel affair when man appropriated to himself the work -hitherto cultivated by woman. The development was one from outside, not from within. -All efforts, accordingly, which view the subject solely from the technological angle, -and try to derive the wheel from previous devices of the female potter, are futile -and misleading. It is as erroneous as tracing the plough back to the hoe or digging-stick, -whereas, in fact, the two are in no historical interrelation and belong to fundamentally -different culture strata and periods—the hoe to the gardening activity of woman, the -plough to the agricultural activity of man. Both in India and China the division of -ceramic labour sets apart the thrower or wheel-potter, and distinctly separates him -from the moulder. The potters in India, who work on the wheel, do not intermarry with -those who use a mould or make images. They form a caste by themselves.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e975src" href="#xd31e975">5</a> -</p> -<p>The oldest wheel-made pottery is found in Egypt. There can be no doubt that the potter’s -wheel was invented in that country. It was imported into Crete, <span class="pageNum" id="pb18">[<a href="#pb18">18</a>]</span>which had trading relations with the merchants of the ancient Pharaohs, as far back -as about 3000 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> Before the wheel was adopted the Cretans made stone vessels, following Egyptian patterns, -but using soft stone instead of hard. Their hand-made pottery degenerated, as did -the Egyptian. “Pottery came again to its own in both countries”, writes Mr. H. R. -Hall, “with the invention of the potter’s wheel and the baking-furnace.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e988src" href="#xd31e988">6</a> -</p> -<p>The potter’s wheel must have found a ready market in the old days. It was adopted, -in time, in western Europe; it was quickly “taken up” in Babylonia and in Iran, and -was ultimately introduced into India and China. But only the high Asiatic civilizations -were capable of constructing it, and consequently wheel-made pottery is not found -everywhere. Among the “aboriginal Americans” the wheel was never employed. It is an -interesting fact that the mind of man, which is alleged to “work” on the same lines -everywhere, never “evolved” a potter’s wheel in Mexico or Peru.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e994src" href="#xd31e994">7</a> Major Gordon tells that in Assam<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e998src" href="#xd31e998">8</a> “the women fashion the pots by hand; they do not use the potter’s wheel”. Similar -evidence is obtainable in various other countries. In China there are wheel-potters -and moulders, and a distinction is drawn between them by ancient writers. “This clear -distinction is accentuated by Chu Yen in his treatise on pottery.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1002src" href="#xd31e1002">9</a> He justly observes also that the articles made by the wheel-potters were all intended -for cooking, with the exception of the vessel <i>yu</i>, which was designed for measuring; while the output of the moulders, who made the -ceremonial vessels <i>kuei</i> and <i>tou</i> by availing themselves of the plumb-line, was <span class="pageNum" id="pb19">[<a href="#pb19">19</a>]</span>intended for sacrificial use. Also here, in like manner as in ancient Rome, India, -and Japan, the idea may have prevailed that a wheel-made jar is of a less sacred character -than one made by hand.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1015src" href="#xd31e1015">10</a> Here then we touch on another point which must be borne in mind by those who draw -conclusions regarding ancient cultures by means of pottery. In Britain, for instance, -a rather coarse pottery is found in graves. It is possible that a better pottery was -made for everyday use. The conservatism of burial customs may have caused coarser -pottery to be put into graves than the early folks were capable of producing during -the period at which the burial took place. -</p> -<p>The wheel-pottery was as sacred to some cults as the hand-made was to others. Even -the potter’s wheel was sacred. In Egypt the Ptah cult adopted it, as has been stated; -in India it was a symbol of the Creator; in China (as in ancient Egypt) the idea originally -prevailed that the Creator was a potter who turned on his wheel the sun and the moon, -man and woman, although in time this myth became a philosophical abstraction. The -symbolism of Jeremiah has similarly a history: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as -the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”—<a class="biblink xd31e40" title="Reference to the Bible: Jeremiah 18:6" href="https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jer%2018:6&version=NRSV">Chapter XVIII, 6</a>.</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>St. Paul, too, refers to the potter: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say -to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over -the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” -(<a class="biblink xd31e40" title="Reference to the Bible: Romans 9:20-21" href="https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom%209:20-21&version=NRSV">Romans, ix, 20–21.</a>)</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Chinese emperors were compared to potters. They <span class="pageNum" id="pb20">[<a href="#pb20">20</a>]</span>were credited with the power to control a nation as the potter controlled his wheel. -The ancient peoples who adopted the Egyptian potter’s wheel evidently learned that -it was of divine origin. They adopted the Egyptian beliefs and myths associated with -it. Withal, the wheel was associated with the agricultural mode of life, having originated -in a country of agriculturists. Ptah, the divine potter, was, like all the other prominent -gods of Egypt, fused with Osiris—the god who was, among other things, the “culture -hero”. The Chinese “culture hero”, Shun, who became emperor, is said to have “practised -husbandry, fishing, and making pottery jars”. He manufactured clay vessels without -flaw on the river bank.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1041src" href="#xd31e1041">11</a> -</p> -<p>The Chinese culture hero, Shen-ming (“Divine Husbandman”) “was regarded as the father -of agriculture and the discoverer of the healing property of plants”. In ancient Chinese -lore “we meet a close association of agriculture with pottery, and an illustration -of the fact that husbandman and potter were one and the same person during the primeval -period”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1049src" href="#xd31e1049">12</a> -</p> -<p>Memories of Ptah-Osiris clung to the potter’s wheel. The trade routes must have hummed -with stories about the god who had gifted this wonderful contrivance to mankind. These -stories were localized in various countries, and they took on the colour of the period -during which the wheel was imported. In Japan, the Ptah legend has been given a Buddhistic -significance. The potter’s wheel is reputed there to be the invention of the famous -Korean monk, Gyõgi (<span class="asc">A.D.</span> 670–749). No doubt the first potter’s wheel reached Japan from Korea, whence came -the conquerors of the Ainus. But there is evidence <span class="pageNum" id="pb21">[<a href="#pb21">21</a>]</span>that it was in use long before Buddhism “drifted” along the sea route from the mainland -in the sixth century, to become curiously mixed up with Shintoism two centuries later. -The priests of Buddhism, who transformed the Shinto gods into “avatars” of Buddha, -no doubt also identified the far-carried Ptah-Osiris with their monk—the Japanese -“culture hero”. -</p> -<p>The earliest pottery in Japan was manufactured by the Ainus and was “hand-shaped” -by the women. A similar pottery was produced in Korea. The wheel-made variety made -its appearance when Chinese culture spread through Korea during the Silla kingdom -period, which began about the time (<span class="asc">A.D.</span> 59) when the earliest Japanese, according to their own traditions, migrated to the -islands that bear their name. No doubt the traders were active on sea and land long -before the Japanese conquered the islands of the Ainus and the Chinese overran Korea. -Great migrations and conquests in ancient times were indirectly stimulated by trade. -A new culture was introduced into backward communities by the early prospectors and -trading colonists, and these communities in time acquired weapons, reared the domesticated -horse, and took to the sea after having learned how to build and navigate ships similar -to those introduced by the traders. -</p> -<p>When the potter’s wheel was introduced into Korea, the clay vessels were shaped in -imitation of Chinese pottery. There can remain no doubt, therefore, as to whence the -wheel came. China was the chief centre of early civilization in the Far East, and -its influence spread far and wide. There are some who think that Burma was during -its early period in closer touch with China than with India; but more evidence than -is yet available is required to establish this theory. The earliest civilization in -southern China of which we have knowledge <span class="pageNum" id="pb22">[<a href="#pb22">22</a>]</span>was of Indian origin. The sea traders who had crossed the Indian Ocean reached the -Burmese coast several centuries before the Christian era, as the archaic character -of Burmese river boats suggests. It may be, however, that the potter’s wheel was carried -along the mid-Asian trade routes long before the shippers coasted round to Chinese -waters. There can be no doubt that the potter’s wheel was introduced into China at -a very remote period. Investigators are unable to discover any native legends regarding -its origin. Nor are there any traditions regarding female potters. The culture heroes -of China who made the first pots appear to have used the wheel, and the Chinese potter’s -wheel is identical with the Egyptian. -</p> -<p>When the wheel was introduced into Japan, hand-made pottery was in use for religious -purposes, and for long afterwards the vessels used at Shinto shrines were not turned -on the wheel. In India, hand-made pottery was similarly reserved for religious worship -after the wheel-made variety came into use.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1071src" href="#xd31e1071">13</a> The wheel did not reach southern India until its Iron Age.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1075src" href="#xd31e1075">14</a> When the southern India Iron Age began is uncertain. It was not, of course, an “Age” -in the real sense, but a cultural “stage”. Iron was known and apparently in use during -the Aryo-Indian Vedic period in the north.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1079src" href="#xd31e1079">15</a> -</p> -<p>The potter’s wheel was introduced into Babylonia at a very remote period. From Babylonia -it was carried into Persia. The Avestan word for kiln is <i>tanura</i>, which is believed, according to Laufer, to be a loan word from Semitic <i>tanur</i>. -</p> -<p>There are, of course, no records regarding the introduction <span class="pageNum" id="pb23">[<a href="#pb23">23</a>]</span>of the potter’s wheel into Babylonia, India, or China. All that we know definitely -is that it first came into use in Egypt, and that it was afterwards adopted in the -various ancient centres of civilization from which cultural influences “flowed” to -various areas. With the wheel went certain religious ideas and customs. These are -not found in the areas unreached by the potter’s wheel. -</p> -<p>China appears to have been influenced at the dawn of its history by the culture represented -by the Egyptian wheel. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb24">[<a href="#pb24">24</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e935"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e935src">1</a></span> <i>The Yakut</i> (in Russian), Vol. I, p. 378. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e935src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e944"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e944src">2</a></span> <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, G. Elliot Smith (London, 1919), pp. 178 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e944src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e957"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e957src">3</a></span> O. T. Mason, <i>Origins of Invention</i>, p. 166; and <i>Woman’s Share in Primitive Culture</i>, p. 91. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e957src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e968"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e968src">4</a></span> <i>The Beginnings of Porcelain in China</i>, by Berthold Laufer and H. W. Nichols (Field Museum of Natural History Publication, -192, Anthropological Series, Vol. XII, No. 2. Chicago, 1917). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e968src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e975"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e975src">5</a></span> <i>Ibid<span class="corr" id="xd31e978" title="Not in source">.</span></i>, pp. 153–154. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e975src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e988"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e988src">6</a></span> <i>The Journal of Egyptian Archæology</i>, April, 1914, p. 14. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e988src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e994"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e994src">7</a></span> <i>Aboriginal Pottery of the Eastern United States</i>, p. 50 (Twentieth Annual Report, Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, 1903). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e994src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e998"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e998src">8</a></span> <i>The Khasis</i>, p. 61. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e998src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1002"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1002src">9</a></span> <i>Tao Shuo</i>, chap. ii, p. 2 (new edition, 1912). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1002src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1015"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1015src">10</a></span> <i>The Beginnings of Porcelain in China</i>, pp. 154–5. In “culture mixing” old local religious beliefs were not obliterated. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1015src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1041"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1041src">11</a></span> Chavannes, <i lang="fr">Mémoires historiques de Se-ma Tsʼien</i>, Vol. I, pp. 72–4. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1041src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1049"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1049src">12</a></span> <i>The Beginnings of Porcelain in China</i>, p. 160. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1049src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1071"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1071src">13</a></span> <i>Antiquities of India</i>, L. D. Barnett, p. 176. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1071src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1075"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1075src">14</a></span> <i>Madras Government Museum Catalogue of Prehistoric Antiquities</i>, p. 111. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1075src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1079"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1079src">15</a></span> <i>Vedic Index of Names and Subjects</i>, Macdonell and Keith, Vol. I, pp. 31, 32. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1079src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch3" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e251">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER III</h2> -<h2 class="main">Ancient Mariners and Explorers</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">The Chinese Junk—Kufas—The Ancient “Reed Float” and Skin-buoyed Raft—“Two floats of -the Sky”—Dug-out Canoes—Where Shipping was developed—Burmese and Chinese Junks resemble -Ancient Egyptian Ships—Cretan and Phœnician Mariners—Africa circumnavigated—Was Sumeria -colonized by Sea-farers?—Egyptian Boats on Sea of Okhotsk—Japanese and Polynesian -Boats—Egyptian Types in Mediterranean and Northern Europe—Stories of Long Voyages -in Small Craft—Visit of Chinese Junk to the Thames—Solomon’s Ships.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Further important evidence regarding cultural contact in early times is afforded by -shipping. How came it about that an inland people like the primitive Chinese took -to seafaring? -</p> -<p>The question that first arises in this connection is: Were ships invented and developed -by a single ancient people, or were they invented independently by various ancient -peoples at different periods? Were the Chinese junks of independent origin? Or were -these junks developed from early models of vessels—such foreign vessels as first cruised -in Chinese waters? -</p> -<p>Chinese junks are flat-bottomed ships, and the largest of them reach about 1000 tons. -The poops and fore-castles are high, and the masts carry lug-sails, generally of bamboo -splits. They are fitted with rudders. Often on the bows appear painted or inlaid eyes. -These eyes are found on models of ancient Egyptian ships. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p024width" id="p024"><img src="images/p024.jpg" alt="A MODERN CHINESE JUNK ON THE CANTON RIVER" width="465" height="720"><div class="figAnnotation p024width"><span class="figTop"> </span><span class="figBottomRight">Photo. Underwood</span></div> -<p class="figureHead">A MODERN CHINESE JUNK ON THE CANTON RIVER</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>During the first Han dynasty (about 206 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) junks <span class="pageNum" id="pb25">[<a href="#pb25">25</a>]</span>of “one thousand <i>kin</i>” (about 15 tons) were regarded as very large vessels. In these boats the early Chinese -navigators appear to have reached Korea and Japan. But long before they took to the -sea there were other mariners in the China sea. -</p> -<p>The Chinese were, as stated, originally an inland people. They were acquainted with -river <i>kufas</i> (coracles) before they reached the seashore. These resembled the kufas of the Babylonians -referred to by Herodotus, who wrote: -</p> -<p>“The boats which come down the river to Babylon are circular, and made of skins. The -frames, which are of willow, are cut in the country of the Armenians above Assyria, -and on these, which serve for hulls, a covering of skins is stretched outside, and -thus the boats are made, without either stem or stern, quite round like a shield.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1127src" href="#xd31e1127">1</a> -</p> -<p>These kufas are still in use in Mesopotamia. They do not seem to have altered much -since the days of Hammurabi, or even of Sargon of Akkad. The Assyrians crossed rivers -on skin floats, and some of the primitive peoples of mid-Asia are still using the -inflated skins of cows as river “ferry-boats”. But such contrivances hardly enter -into the history of shipping. The modern liner did not “evolve” from either kufa or -skin float. Logs of wood were, no doubt, used to cross rivers at an early period. -The idea of utilizing these may have been suggested to ancient hunters who saw animals -being carried down on trees during a river flood. But attempts to utilize a tree for -crossing a river would have been disastrous when first made, if the hunters were unable -to swim. Trees are so apt to roll round in water. Besides, they would be useless if -not guided with a punting-pole, expertly manipulated. Early man must have learned -<span class="pageNum" id="pb26">[<a href="#pb26">26</a>]</span>how to navigate a river by using, to begin with, at least two trees lashed together. -In Egypt and Babylonia we find traces of his first attempts in this connection. The -reed float, consisting of two bundles of reeds, and the raft to which the inflated -skins of animals were attached to give it buoyancy, were in use at an early period -on the Rivers Nile and Euphrates. A raft of this kind had evidently its origin among -a people accustomed, as were the later Assyrians, to use skin floats when swimming -across rivers. There are sculptured representations of the Assyrian soldiers swimming -with inflated skins under their chests. -</p> -<p>The reed float was in use at a very early period on the Nile. Professor Breasted says -that the two prehistoric floats were “bound firmly together, side by side, like two -huge cigars”, and adds the following interesting note: “The writer was once without -a boat in Nubia, and a native from a neighbouring village at once hurried away and -returned with a pair of such floats made of dried reeds from the Nile shores. On this -somewhat precarious craft he ferried the writer over a wide channel to an island in -the river. It was the first time that the author had ever seen this contrivance, and -it was not a little interesting to find a craft which he knew only in the Pyramid -texts of 5000 years ago still surviving and in daily use on the ancient river in far-off -Nubia.” -</p> -<p>In the Pyramid texts there are references to the reed floats used by the souls of -kings when being ferried across the river to death. The gods “bind together the two -floats for this King Pepi”, runs a Pyramid text. “The knots are tied, the ferry-boats -are brought together”, says another, and there are allusions to the ferryman (the -prehistoric Charon) standing in the stern and poling the float. Before the Egyptian -sun-god was <span class="pageNum" id="pb27">[<a href="#pb27">27</a>]</span>placed in a boat, he had “two floats of the sky” to carry him along the celestial -Nile to the horizon.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1140src" href="#xd31e1140">2</a> -</p> -<p>The “dug-out” canoe was probably developed from the raft. Men who drifted timber down -a river may have had the idea of a “dug-out” suggested to them by first shaping a -seat on a log, or a “hold” to secure the food-supply for the river voyage. Pitt Rivers -suggests that after the discovery was made that a hollowed log could be utilized in -water, “the next stage in the development of the canoe would consist in pointing the -ends”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1147src" href="#xd31e1147">3</a> -</p> -<p>In what locality the dug-out canoe was invented it is impossible to say with absolute -certainty. All reliable writers on naval architecture agree, however, that Egypt was -the “cradle” of naval architecture.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1155src" href="#xd31e1155">4</a> -</p> -<p>“For the development of the art of shipbuilding,” says Chatterton, “few countries -could be found as suitable as Egypt.… The peacefulness of the waters of the Nile, -the absence of storms, and the rarity of calms, combined with the fact that, at any -rate, during the winter and early spring months, the gentle north wind blew up the -river with the regularity of a Trade Wind, so enabling the ships to sail against the -stream without the aid of oars—these were just the conditions that many another nation -might have longed for. Very different, indeed, were the circumstances which had to -be wrestled with in the case of the first shipbuilders and sailormen of Northern Europe.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1173src" href="#xd31e1173">5</a> -</p> -<p>The early Egyptians were continually crossing the <span class="pageNum" id="pb28">[<a href="#pb28">28</a>]</span>river. When they began to convey stones from their quarries, they required substantial -rafts. Egyptian needs promoted the development of the art of navigation on a river -specially suited for experiments that led to great discoveries. The demand for wood -was always great, and it was intensified after metal-working had been introduced, -because of the increased quantities of fuel required to feed the furnaces. It became -absolutely necessary for the Egyptians to go far afield in search of timber. The fact -that they received supplies of timber at an early period from Lebanon is therefore -of special interest. Their experiences in drifting rafts of timber across the Mediterranean -from the Syrian coast apparently not only stimulated naval architecture and increased -the experiences of early navigators, but inaugurated the habit of organizing seafaring -expeditions on a growing scale. “Men”, says Professor Elliot Smith, “did not take -to maritime trafficking either for aimless pleasure or for idle adventure. They went -to sea only under the pressure of the strongest incentives.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1181src" href="#xd31e1181">6</a> -</p> -<p>The Mediterranean must have been crossed at a very early period. Settlements of seafarers -took place in Crete before 3000 <span class="asc">B.C.</span><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1189src" href="#xd31e1189">7</a> On the island have been found flakes of obsidian that were imported at the dawn of -its history from the Island of Melos. No doubt obsidian artifacts were used in connection -with the construction of vessels before copper implements became common. -</p> -<p>The earliest evidence of shipbuilding as an organized and important national industry -is found in the Egyptian tomb pictures of the Old Kingdom period (<i>c.</i> 2400 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>). Gangs of men, under overseers, are seen constructing many kinds of boats, large -and small. There are records <span class="pageNum" id="pb29">[<a href="#pb29">29</a>]</span>of organized expeditions dating back 500 years earlier. Pharaoh Snefru built vessels -“nearly one hundred and seventy feet long”. He sent “a fleet of forty vessels to the -Phœnician coast to procure cedar logs from the slopes of Lebanon”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1203src" href="#xd31e1203">8</a> Expeditions were also sent across the Red Sea. Vessels with numerous oars, and even -vessels with sails, are depicted on Egyptian prehistoric pottery dating back to anything -like 6000 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> In no other country in the world was seafaring and shipbuilding practised at such -a remote period. -</p> -<p>The earliest representations of deep-sea boats are found in Egypt. One is seen in -the tomb of Sahure, of the Fifth Dynasty (<i>c.</i> 2600 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>). A great expedition sailed to Punt (Somaliland) during the reign of Queen Halshepsut -(<i>c.</i> 1500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>). Five of the highly-developed vessels are depicted in her temple at Deir-el-Bahari. -It is of interest to compare one of these vessels with a Chinese junk. “Between the -Chinese and Burmese junks of to-day and the Egyptian ships of about six thousand years -ago there are”, writes E. Kebel Chatterton, “many points of similarity.… Until quite -recently, China remained in the same state of development for four thousand years. -If that was so with her arts and life generally, it has been especially so in the -case of her sailing craft.” Both the Chinese junk and the ancient Egyptian ship “show -a common influence and a remarkable persistence in type”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1223src" href="#xd31e1223">9</a> -</p> -<p>“Are we to believe”, a reader asks, “that the ancient Egyptian navigators went as -far as China? Is there any proof that they made long voyages? Were the ancient Egyptians -not a people who lived in isolation for a prolonged period?”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1229src" href="#xd31e1229">10</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb30">[<a href="#pb30">30</a>]</span></p> -<p>It is not known definitely how far the ancient Egyptian mariners went after they had -begun to venture to sea. But one thing is certain. They made much longer voyages than -were credited to them a generation ago. The Phœnicians, who became the sea-traders -of the Egyptians, learned the art of navigation from those Nilotic adventurers who -began to visit their coast at a very early period in quest of timber; they adopted -the Egyptian style of craft, as did the Cretans, their predecessors in Mediterranean -sea trafficking. By the time of King Solomon the Phœnicians had established colonies -in Spain, and were trading not only from Carthage in the Mediterranean, but apparently -with the British Isles, while they were also active in the Indian Ocean. They were -evidently accustomed to make long voyages of exploration. At the time of the Jewish -captivity, Pharaoh Necho (609–593 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) sent an expedition of Phœnicians from the Red Sea to circumnavigate Africa. They -returned three years later by way of Gibraltar. But their voyage excited no surprise -in Egypt.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1240src" href="#xd31e1240">11</a> It had long been believed by the priests that the world was surrounded by water. -Besides, these priests preserved many traditions of long voyages that had been made -to distant lands. -</p> -<p>There are those who believe that the early Egyptian mariners, who were accustomed -to visit British East Africa and sail round the Arabian coast, founded the earliest -colony in Sumeria (ancient Babylonia) at the head of the Persian Gulf. The cradle -of Sumerian culture was Eridu, “the sea port”. The god of Eridu was Ea, who had a -ship with pilot and crew. According to Babylonian traditions, he instructed the people, -as did Osiris in Egypt, how to irrigate the land, grow corn, build houses and temples, -make laws, engage in trade, and so <span class="pageNum" id="pb31">[<a href="#pb31">31</a>]</span>on. He was remembered as a monster—a goat-fish god, or half fish, half man. Apparently -he was identical with the Oannes of Berosus. It may be that Ea-Oannes symbolized the -seafarers who visited the coast and founded a colony at Eridu, introducing the agricultural -mode of life and the working of copper. Early inland peoples must have regarded the -mariners with whom they first came into contact as semi-divine beings, just as the -Cubans regarded Columbus and his followers as visitors from the sky. The Mongols of -Tartary entertained quaint ideas about the British “foreign devils” after they had -fought in one of the early wars against China. M. Huc, the French missionary priest -of the congregation of St. Lazarus, who travelled through Tartary, Tibet, and China -during 1844–6, had once an interesting conversation with a Mongol, who “had been told -by the Chinese what kind of people, or monsters rather, these English were”. The story -ran that the Englishmen “lived in the water like fish, and when you least expected -it, they would rise to the surface and cast at you fiery gourds. Then as soon as you -bend your bow to send an arrow at them, they plunge again into the water like frogs.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1249src" href="#xd31e1249">12</a> -</p> -<p>Those who suppose that the Sumerians coasted round from the Persian Gulf to the Red -Sea, landed on the barren African coast, and, setting out to cross a terrible desert, -penetrated to the Nile valley along a hitherto unexplored route of about 200 miles, -have to explain what was the particular attraction offered to them by prehistoric -Egypt if, according to their theory, it was still uncultivated and in the “Hunting -Age”. How came it about that they knew of a river which ran through desert country? -<span class="pageNum" id="pb32">[<a href="#pb32">32</a>]</span></p> -<p>It is more probable that the Nilotic people penetrated to the Red Sea coast, and afterwards -ventured to sea in their river boats, and that, in time, having obtained skill in -navigation, they coasted round to the Persian Gulf. In pre-Dynastic times the Egyptians -obtained shells from the Red Sea coast. -</p> -<p>At what period India was first reached is uncertain. When Solomon imported peacocks -from that country (the land of the peacock), the sea route was already well known. -It is significant to find that all round the coast, from the Red Sea to India, Ceylon, -and Burma, the Egyptian types of vessels have been in use from the earliest seafaring -periods. The Burmese junks on the Irawadi resemble closely, as has been indicated, -the Nile boats of the ancient Egyptians.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1260src" href="#xd31e1260">13</a> The Chinese junks were developed from Egyptian models. More antique Egyptian boats -than are found on the Chinese coast are still being used by the Koryak tribe who dwell -around the sea of Okhotsk. Mr. Chatterton says that the Koryak craft have “important -similarities to the Egyptian ships of the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties (<i>c.</i> 3000–2500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>). Thus, besides copying the ancients in steering with an oar, the fore-end of the -prow of their sailing boats terminates in a fork through which the harpoon-line is -passed, the fork being sometimes carved with a human face which they believe will -serve as a protector of the boat. Instead of rowlocks they have, like the early Egyptians, -thong-loops through which the oar or paddle is inserted. Their sail, too, is a rectangular -shape of dressed reindeer skins sewed together. But it is their mast that is especially -like the Egyptians and Burmese.” This mast is made of three poles “set up in the manner -<span class="pageNum" id="pb33">[<a href="#pb33">33</a>]</span>of a tripod”. The double mast was common in ancient Egypt, but Mr. Chatterton notes -that Mr. Villiers Stuart “found on the walls of a tomb belonging to the Sixth Dynasty -(<i>c.</i> 2400 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) at Gebel Abu Faida, the painting of a boat with a treble mast made of three spars -arranged like the edges of a triangular pyramid”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1278src" href="#xd31e1278">14</a> Thus we find that vessels of Egyptian type (adopted by various peoples) not only -reached China but went a considerable distance beyond it. Japanese vessels still display -Egyptian characteristics. In the Moluccas and Malays the ancient three-limbed mast -has not yet gone out of fashion. Polynesian craft were likewise developed from Egyptian -models. William Ellis, the missionary,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1282src" href="#xd31e1282">15</a> noted “the peculiar and almost classical shape of the large Tahitian canoes”, with -“elevated prow and stern”, and tells that a fleet of them reminded him of representations -of “the ships in which the Argonauts sailed, or the vessels that conveyed the heroes -of Homer to the siege of Troy”. -</p> -<p>Various writers have called attention to the persistence of Egyptian types in the -Mediterranean and in northern Europe. “In every age and every district of the ancient -world”, wrote Mr. Cecil Torr, the great authority on classic shipping, “the method -of rigging ships was substantially the same; and this method is first depicted by -the Egyptians.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1288src" href="#xd31e1288">16</a> -</p> -<p>The Far Eastern craft went long distances in ancient days. Ellis tells of regular -voyages made by Polynesian chiefs which extended to 300 and even 600 miles. A chief -from Rurutu once visited the Society Islands in a native boat built “somewhat in the -shape of a crescent, the stem and stern high and pointed and the sides <span class="pageNum" id="pb34">[<a href="#pb34">34</a>]</span>deep”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1296src" href="#xd31e1296">17</a> Sometimes exceptionally long voyages were forced by the weather conditions of Oceania. -“In 1696”, Ellis writes, “two canoes were driven from Ancarso to one of the Philippine -Islands, a distance of 800 miles.” He gives other instances of voyages of like character. -A Christian missionary, travelling in a native boat, was carried “nearly 800 miles -in a south-westerly direction”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1300src" href="#xd31e1300">18</a> Reference has already been made to the long and daring voyage made by the Phœnicians -who circumnavigated Africa. Another extraordinary enterprise is referred to by Pliny -the elder,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1306src" href="#xd31e1306">19</a> who quotes from the lost work of Cornelius Nepos. This was a voyage performed by -Indians who had, before 60 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, embarked on a commercial voyage and reached the coast of Germany. It is uncertain -whether they sailed round the Cape of Good Hope and up the Atlantic Ocean, or went -northward past Japan and discovered the north-east passage, skirting the coast of -Siberia, and sailing round Lapland and Norway to the Baltic. They were made prisoners -by the Suevians and handed over to Quintus Metellus Celer, pro-consular governor of -Gaul. -</p> -<p>In 1770 Japanese navigators reached the northern coast of Siberia and landed at Kamchatka. -They were taken to St. Petersburg, where they were received by the Empress of Russia, -who treated them with marked kindness. In 1847–8 the Chinese junk <i>Keying</i> sailed from Canton to the Thames and caused no small sensation on its arrival. This -vessel rounded the Horn and took 477 days to complete the voyage. -</p> -<p>Solomon’s ships made long voyages: “Once every <span class="pageNum" id="pb35">[<a href="#pb35">35</a>]</span>three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, -and peacocks”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1320src" href="#xd31e1320">20</a> -</p> -<p>As in the case of the potter’s wheel, cultural elements were distributed far and wide -by the vessels of the most ancient of mariners. Before tracing these elements in China, -it would be well to deal with the motives that impelled early seafarers to undertake -long and adventurous voyages of exploration and to found colonies in distant lands. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb36">[<a href="#pb36">36</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1127"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1127src">1</a></span> Book I, chap. 194. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1127src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1140"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1140src">2</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Egypt</i>, pp. 108, 158. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1140src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1147"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1147src">3</a></span> <i>Early Modes of Navigation</i>, <i>Journal of the Anthropological Institute</i>, Vol. IV, p. 402. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1147src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1155"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1155src">4</a></span> Holmes’s <i>Ancient and Modern Ships</i>, E. K. Chatterton’s <i>Sailing Ships and their Story</i>, Cecil Torr’s <i>Ancient Ships</i>, Warrington Smith’s <i>Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia</i>, Elliot Smith’s <i>Ships as Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture</i>, and the works of Pâris and Assmann, and Pitt Rivers (<i>op. cit.</i>). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1155src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1173"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1173src">5</a></span> <i>Sailing Ships and their Story</i>, pp. 25–6. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1173src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1181"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1181src">6</a></span> <i>Ships as Evidence</i>, &c., pp. 5, 6. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1181src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1189"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1189src">7</a></span> <i>Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe</i>, pp. 146 and 191, <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1189src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1203"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1203src">8</a></span> Breasted’s <i>A History of Egypt</i>, pp. 114–5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1203src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1223"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1223src">9</a></span> <i>Sailing Ships and their Story</i>, pp. 31, 32. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1223src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1229"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1229src">10</a></span> Maspero in his <i>The Dawn of Civilization</i> protests against this view. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1229src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1240"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1240src">11</a></span> <i>Egyptian Myth and Legend</i>, p. 372. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1240src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1249"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1249src">12</a></span> English translation of M. Huc’s <i>Recollections</i> (London, 1852), p. 21. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1249src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1260"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1260src">13</a></span> E. Kebel Chatterton’s <i>Sailing Ships and their Story</i>, pp. 7 and 31, and illustration opposite page 8. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1260src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1278"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1278src">14</a></span> <i>Sailing Ships and their Story</i>, pp. 32–3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1278src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1282"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1282src">15</a></span> <i>Polynesian Researches</i>, First Edition, 1829, Vol. I, p. 169. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1282src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1288"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1288src">16</a></span> <i>Ancient Ships</i>, p. 78. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1288src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1296"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1296src">17</a></span> <i>Polynesian Researches</i>, First Edition, 1829, Vol. I, pp. 181, 2. The crescent-shaped vessel is quite Egyptian -in character. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1296src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1300"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1300src">18</a></span> <i>Ibid<span class="corr" id="xd31e1303" title="Not in source">.</span></i>, Vol. II, pp. 50, 51. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1300src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1306"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1306src">19</a></span> Book II, 67. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1306src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1320"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1320src">20</a></span> <a class="biblink xd31e40" title="Reference to the Bible: 1 Kings 10:22" href="https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20kgs%2010:22&version=NRSV">1 Kings, x, 22</a>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1320src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch4" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e261">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER IV</h2> -<h2 class="main">The World-wide Search for Wealth</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Religious Incentive of Quest of Wealth—Sacredness of Precious Metals and Stones—Gold -and the Sky Deities—Iron as the Devil’s Metal—Chinese Dragons and Metals—Gold good -and Silver bad in India—Dragons and Copper—Sulphuret of Mercury as “Dragon’s Blood” -and Elixir of Life—Dragons and Pearls—The “Jewel that grants all Desires”—Story of -Buddhist Abbot and the Sea-God—“Jewels of Flood and Ebb”—Japan and Korea—Sea-god as -“Abundant Pearl Prince”—Pearl Fishers—Early History of Sea-trafficking—Traders and -Colonists—Cow, Moon, Shells, and Pearls connected with Mother-goddess—The Sow Goddess—Shell -Beliefs—Culture Drifts and Culture Complexes.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">There can be no doubt as to the reasons why Solomon sought to emulate the maritime -activities of the Phœnicians who had been bringing peacocks from India, silver from -Spain, and gold from West Africa and elsewhere long before his day. -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“And King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the -shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, -shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came -to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought -it to King Solomon.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1339src" href="#xd31e1339">1</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>When the Queen of Sheba visited Jerusalem she was accompanied by “camels that bare -spices, and very much gold, and precious stones”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1346src" href="#xd31e1346">2</a> About seven centuries before Solomon’s day, Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt, to <span class="pageNum" id="pb37">[<a href="#pb37">37</a>]</span>whom reference was made in the last chapter, had emulated the feats of her ancestors -by sending a fleet to Punt (Somaliland or British East Africa) to bring back, among -other things, myrrh trees for her new temple. The myrrh was required “for the incense -in the temple service”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1353src" href="#xd31e1353">3</a> Ancient mariners set out on long voyages, not only on the quest of wealth, but also -of various articles required for religious purposes. Indeed, the quest of wealth had -originally religious associations. Gold, silver, copper, pearls, and precious stones -were all sacred, and it was because of their connection with the ancient deities that -they were first sought for. The so-called “ornaments” worn by our remote ancestors -were charms against evil and ill luck. Metals were similarly supposed to have protective -qualities. Iron is still regarded in the Scottish Highlands as a charm against fairy -attack. In China it is a protection against dragons. The souls of the Egyptian dead -were “charmed” in the other world by the amulets placed in their tombs. When the Pharaoh’s -soul entered the boat of the sun-god he was protected by metals. “Brought to thee”, -a Pyramid text states, “are blocks of silver and masses of malachite.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1358src" href="#xd31e1358">4</a> Gold was the metal of the sun-god and silver of the deity of the moon. Horus had -associations with copper, and Ptah, the god of craftsmen, with various metals. Iron -was “the bones of Set”, the Egyptian devil. In Greece and India the mythical ages -were associated with metals, and iron was the metal of the dark age of evil (the Indian -“Kali Yuga”). -</p> -<p>In China the metals have similarly religious associations. The dragon-gods of water, -rain, and thunder are connected with gold of various hues—the “golds” coloured by -the alchemists by fusion with other metals. Thus we <span class="pageNum" id="pb38">[<a href="#pb38">38</a>]</span>have Chinese references to red, yellow, white, blue, and black gold, as in the following -extract: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“When the yellow dragon, born from yellow gold a thousand years old, enters a deep -place, a yellow spring dashes forth; and if from this spring some particles (fine -dust) arise, these become a yellow cloud. -</p> -<p>“In the same way blue springs and blue clouds originate from blue dragons, born from -blue gold eight hundred years old; red, white, and black springs and clouds from red, -white, and black dragons born from gold of same colours a thousand years old.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1371src" href="#xd31e1371">5</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>In Indian Vedic lore gold is a good metal and silver a bad metal. One of the Creation -Myths states in this connection: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“He (Prajapati) created Asuras (demons). That was displeasing to him. That became -the precious metal with the bad colour (silver). This was the origin of silver. He -created gods. That was pleasing to him. That became the precious metal with the good -colour (gold). That was the origin of gold.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1381src" href="#xd31e1381">6</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The dragon of the Far East is associated with copper as well as gold. In the Japanese -<i>Historical Records</i> the story is told how the Emperor Hwang brought down a dragon so that he might ride -on its back through the air. He first gathered copper on a mountain. Then he cast -a tripod. Immediately a dragon, dropping its whiskers, came down to him. After the -monarch had used the god as an “airship”, no fewer than seventy of his subjects followed -his example. Hwang was the monarch who prepared the “liquor of immortality” (the Japanese -“soma”) by melting cinnabar (sulphuret of mercury, known as “dragon’s blood”). Chinese -dragons, according to Wang Fu in <i>’Rh ya yih</i>, dread iron and like precious <span class="pageNum" id="pb39">[<a href="#pb39">39</a>]</span>stones. In Japan the belief prevailed that if iron and filth were flung into ponds -the dragons raised hurricanes that devastated the land. The Chinese roused dragons, -when they wanted rain, by making a great noise and by throwing iron into dragon pools. -Iron has “a pungent nature” and injures the eyes of dragons, and they rise to protect -their eyes. Copper has, in China, associations with darkness and death. The “Stone -of Darkness” is hollow and contains water or “the vital spirit of copper”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1394src" href="#xd31e1394">7</a> Dragons are fond of these stones and of beautiful gems.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1399src" href="#xd31e1399">8</a> -</p> -<p>The dragon-shaped sea-gods of India and the dragon-gods of China and Japan have close -associations with pearls. In a sixth-century Chinese work,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1405src" href="#xd31e1405">9</a> it is stated that pearls are spit out by dragons. Dragons have pearls “worth a hundred -pieces of gold” in their mouths, under their throats, or in their pools. When dragons -fight in the sky, pearls fall to the ground. De Groot<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1409src" href="#xd31e1409">10</a> makes reference to “thunder pearls” that dragons have dropped from their mouths. -These illuminate a house by night. In Wang Fu’s description of the dragon it is stated -that a dragon has “a bright pearl under its chin”. -</p> -<p>A mountain in Japan is called Ryushuho, which means “Dragon-Pearl Peak”. It is situated -in Fuwa district of Mino province, and is associated in a legend with the Buddhist -temple called “Cloud-Dragon Shrine”. When this temple was being erected, a dragon, -carrying a pearl in its mouth, appeared before one of the priests. Mountain and sanctuary -were consequently given dragon names. -</p> -<p>The “jewel that grants all desires” is known in India, China, and Japan. A Japanese -story relates that once upon a time an Indian Buddhist abbot, named Bussei <span class="pageNum" id="pb40">[<a href="#pb40">40</a>]</span>(Buddha’s vow), set out on a voyage with purpose to obtain this jewel (a pearl) which -was possessed by “the dragon king of the ocean”. In the midst of the sea the boat -hove to while Bussei performed a ceremony and repeated a charm, causing the dragon-king -to appear. The abbot, making a mystic sign, then demanded the pearl; but the dragon -deceived him and nullified the mystic sign. Rising in the air, “the King of the Ocean” -caused a great storm to rage. The boat was destroyed and all on board it, except Bussei, -were drowned. Bussei afterwards migrated from southern India to Japan, accompanied -by Baramon (“Wall-gazing Brahman”). -</p> -<p>The “Jewels of Flood and Ebb” were jewels that granted desires. In Japanese legend -these were possessed by the dragon king (<i>Sagara</i>), whose kingdom, like that of the Indian Naga monarch and that of the Gaelic ruler -of “Land Under-Waves”, is situated at the bottom of the sea. The white jewel is called -“Pearl of Ebb”, and the blue jewel “Pearl of Flood”. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p040width" id="p040"><img src="images/p040.jpg" alt="CHINESE DRAGON-BOAT FESTIVAL" width="720" height="476"><p class="figureHead">CHINESE DRAGON-BOAT FESTIVAL</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a picture woven in coloured silks and gold thread in the Victoria and Albert -Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>A Japanese story relates that the Empress Jingo obtained from a sea-god a “jewel that -grants all desires”. During her reign a great fleet went to Korea to obtain tribute. -The Korean fleet went out to meet it, but when it was drawn up for battle, a Japanese -god cast into the sea the “Pearl of Ebb”, and immediately the waters withdrew, leaving -both fleets stranded. The resolute King of Korea, not to be daunted, leapt on to the -dried sea-bed, and, marshalling his troops there, advanced at the head of them to -attack and destroy the Japanese fleet. Then the Japanese god flung the “Pearl of Flood” -into the sea. No sooner was this done than the waters returned and drowned large numbers -of Koreans. Then a tidal wave swept over the Korean shore, while the troops prayed -for their lives in vain. Not until the “Pearl of Ebb” was <span class="pageNum" id="pb41">[<a href="#pb41">41</a>]</span>thrown once again into the sea did the waters retreat from the land. -</p> -<p>After these miraculous and disastrous manifestations, the King of Korea was glad to -make peace, and sent out three vessels laden with tribute to the empress, who had -conquered the enemy without the loss of a single Japanese soldier or sailor, or even -a single drop of Japanese blood. -</p> -<p>Other names of the Japanese sea-god <i>Sagara</i><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1437src" href="#xd31e1437">11</a> are <i>Oho-watatsumi</i> (“sea lord, or sea snake”), and <i>Toyo-tama hiko no Mikoto</i> (“Abundant Pearl Prince”), and he has a daughter named <i>Toyo-tama-bime</i> (“Abundant Pearl Princess”).<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1446src" href="#xd31e1446">12</a> During storms, sailors threw jewels into the sea to pacify the dragon king. -</p> -<p>Chinese emperors, like the Egyptian Pharaohs, had dragon boats which were used in -connection with religious rain-getting ceremonies. They had also the bird boats called -“yih”. Mr. Wells Williams refers to the yih as “a kind of sea-bird that flies high, -whose figure is gaily painted on the sterns of junks, to denote their swift sailing”. -He adds that “the descriptions are contradictory, but its picture rudely resembles -a heron”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1452src" href="#xd31e1452">13</a> -</p> -<p>It will be gathered from the evidence summarized above that the seafaring activities -of the Chinese and Japanese had close associations with the search for precious metals -and stones and pearls on the part of those who introduced the Egyptian type of vessels -into their waters. With these ships went many customs and beliefs that became mixed -with local customs and beliefs. New modes of life were introduced, and, with these, -new modes of thought. Nothing persists like immemorial customs, <span class="pageNum" id="pb42">[<a href="#pb42">42</a>]</span>myths, and religious beliefs associated with a particular mode of life. -</p> -<p>Before the culture-complexes of China and Japan are investigated, so that local elements -may be sifted out from the overlying mass of imported elements, it would be well to -deal with the history of the search for wealth across the oceans of the world. -</p> -<p>It is necessary, therefore, to turn back again to the cradle of shipbuilding and maritime -enterprise—to ancient Egypt with its wonderful civilization of over 3000 years that -sent its influences far and wide. Whether or not the Egyptians ever reached China -or Japan, we have no means of knowing. Pauthier’s view in this connection has come -in for a good deal of destructive criticism. He referred to a Chinese tradition that -about 1113 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> the Court was visited by seafarers from the kingdom of “Nili”, and suggested that -they came from the Nile valley.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1466src" href="#xd31e1466">14</a> The “Nili”, “Nēlē”, or “Nērē” folk, according to others, came from the direction -of Japan or from beyond Korea. References to them are somewhat obscure. It does not -follow that because Egyptian ships reached China, they were manned by Egyptians. Ships -were, like potter’s wheels, adopted by folks who may never have heard of Egypt. A -culture flows far beyond the areas reached by those who have given it a definite character, -just as the Bantu dialects have penetrated to areas in Africa far beyond Bantu control. -</p> -<p>What motives, then, stimulated maritime enterprise at the dawn of the history of sea-trafficking? -What attracted the ancient mariners? If it was wealth, what was “wealth” to them? -</p> -<p>The answer to the last query is that wealth was something with a religious significance. -Gold was searched <span class="pageNum" id="pb43">[<a href="#pb43">43</a>]</span>for, but not, to begin with, for the purpose of making coins. There was no coinage. -Gold was a precious metal in the sense that it brought luck, and to the ancient people -“luck” meant everything they yearned for in this world and the next. -</p> -<p>As far back as the so-called “Palæolithic period” in western Europe, there was, as -has been noted, a systematic search for wealth in the form of sea-shells. The hunters -in central Europe imported shells from the Mediterranean coast and used them as amulets. -These imported shells are found in their graves. In Ancient Egypt, shells were carried -from the Red Sea coast, as well as from the Mediterranean coast, long before the historical -period begins. The evidence of the grave-finds shows that Red Sea pearl-shell and -Red Sea cowries were in use for religious purposes. “Millions of them”, as Maspero -has noted, have been found in Ancient Egyptian graves. In time, pearls came into use, -not only pearls from Nile mussels, but from oysters found in the southern part of -the Gulf of Aden. As shipping developed, the pearl-fishers went farther and farther -in search of pearls. The famous ancient pearl area in the Persian Gulf was discovered -and drawn upon at some remote period. No doubt the pearls worn by Assyrian and Persian -monarchs came, in part, from the Persian Gulf. At what period Ceylon pearls were first -fished for it is impossible to say. Of one thing we can be certain, however. They -were fished for by men who used the Egyptian type of vessel. -</p> -<p>The migrating and trading pearl-fishers carried their beliefs with them from land -to land. Almost everywhere are found the same beliefs and practices connected with -shells and pearls. These beliefs and practices are of a highly complex character—so -complex, indeed, that they must have had an area of origin in which they reflected -<span class="pageNum" id="pb44">[<a href="#pb44">44</a>]</span>the beliefs and customs of a people with a history of their own. The pearl, for instance, -was connected with the moon, with the goddess who was the Great Mother, and with the -sun and the sun-god. Venus (Aphrodite) was sea-born. She was lifted from the sea, -by Tritons, seated on a shell. She was the pearl—the vital essence of the magic shell, -and she was the moon, the “Pearl of Heaven”. The pearl, like the moon, was supposed -to exercise an influence over human beings. In Egypt, the Mother Goddess was symbolized -by a cow, and cow, moon, pearl, and shell were connected in an arbitrary way. -</p> -<p>In those areas in which the Mother Goddess was symbolized by the sow, the shell was -likewise connected with her. The Greeks applied to the cowry a word that means “little -pig”; this word had a special reference to the female sex. The Romans called the shell -“porci”, and porcelain has a like derivation.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1485src" href="#xd31e1485">15</a> As has been shown, women were connected with hand-made pottery, and the pot was a -symbol of the Great Mother. In Scotland, certain shells are still referred to as “cows” -and “pigs”. They were anciently believed to promote fertility and bring luck. The -custom of placing shells on window-sills, at doors, in fire-places, and round garden -plots still obtains in parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Some low-reliefs of -mother goddesses with baskets of fruit, corn, &c., surviving from the Romano-British -period, which have been found in various parts of Britain, have shell-canopies. The -Romans “took over” the goddesses of the peoples of western Europe on whom they imposed -their rule, as they took over the Greek pantheon. -</p> -<p>Following the clues afforded by the evidence of ships, it is found that the early -pearl-fishers coasted round from <span class="pageNum" id="pb45">[<a href="#pb45">45</a>]</span>the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf, round India to the Bay of Bengal, round the Malay -Peninsula to the China Sea, northwards to the Sea of Okhotsk, and on to the western -coast of North America. Oceania was peopled by the ancient mariners, who appear to -have reached by this route the coast of South America. As we have seen, Africa was -circumnavigated. Western and north-western Europe and the British Isles were reached -at a very early period. -</p> -<p>The ancient seafarers searched not only for pearls and pearl-shell, but also for gold, -silver, copper, tin, and other metals and for precious stones. They appear to have -founded trading colonies that became centres from which cultural influences radiated -far and wide. From these colonies expeditions set out to discover new pearling grounds -and new mineral fields. The search for wealth, having a religious incentive, caused, -as has been said, the spread of religious ideas. In different countries, imported -beliefs and customs became mingled with local beliefs and customs, with the result -that in many countries are found “culture complexes” which have a historical significance—reflecting -as they do the varied experiences of the peoples and the influences introduced into -their homelands at various periods. -</p> -<p>In the next chapter it will be shown how the dragon of China has a history that throws -much light on the early movements of explorers and traders who carried the elements -of complex cultures into far distant lands. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb46">[<a href="#pb46">46</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1339"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1339src">1</a></span> <a class="biblink xd31e40" title="Reference to the Bible: 1 Kings 9:26-28" href="https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20kgs%209:26-28&version=NRSV">1 Kings, ix, 26–8</a>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1339src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1346"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1346src">2</a></span> <a class="biblink xd31e40" title="Reference to the Bible: 1 Kings 10:2" href="https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20kgs%2010:2&version=NRSV">1 Kings, x, 2</a>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1346src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1353"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1353src">3</a></span> Breasted’s <i>A History of Egypt</i>, p. 274. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1353src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1358"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1358src">4</a></span> Breasted’s <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 279. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1358src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1371"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1371src">5</a></span> Quoted from a Chinese work by Dr. W. M. W. de Visser in <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i> (Amsterdam, 1913). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1371src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1381"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1381src">6</a></span> Muir’s <i>Sanskrit Texts</i>, Vol. I, p. 516 (1890). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1381src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1394"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1394src">7</a></span> Dr. W. M. W. de Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 69. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1394src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1399"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1399src">8</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 223. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1399src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1405"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1405src">9</a></span> <i>Shi i ki</i>, chap. ii. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1405src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1409"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1409src">10</a></span> <i>Religious System of China</i>, Vol. V, p. 867. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1409src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1437"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1437src">11</a></span> This is the name of the Indian Naga king. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1437src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1446"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1446src">12</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 139. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1446src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1452"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1452src">13</a></span> <i>Chinese-English Dictionary</i>, p. 1092. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1452src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1466"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1466src">14</a></span> <i lang="fr">Chine Ancienne</i>, pp. 94 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1466src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1485"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1485src">15</a></span> Elliot Smith, <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, pp. 216 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1485src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch5" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e271">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER V</h2> -<h2 class="main">Chinese Dragon Lore</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Dragon Rain-god and Tiger-god of Mountains and Woods—Thunder-gods of East and West—Shark-gods -as Guardians of Treasure—Dragon and Whale—Fish Vertebræ as Charms—Dragon and Dugong, -Crocodile, Eel, &c.—Polynesian Dragon as “Pearl-mother”—Chinese Dragon and “Stag of -the Sky”—Babylonian Sea-god and the Antelope, Gazelle, Stag, and Goat—Babylonian Dragon-slayers—Egyptian -Gazelle- and Antelope-gods—Osiris as a Sea-god—African Antelope and Asiatic Dragon—The -Serpent as “Water Confiner” in Egypt and India—Chinese Dragon has “Nature of Serpent”—Ancient -Attributes of Far-Eastern Dragon—Dragon Battles—Dragons in East and West—Stones as -“Dragon Eggs”—Dragon Mother and World Dragon—Dragons and Emperors.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The Chinese dragon is a strange mixture of several animals. Ancient native writers -like Wang Fu inform us that it has the head of a camel, the horns of a stag, the eyes -of a demon, the ears of a cow, the neck of a snake, the belly of a clam, the scales -of a carp, the claws of an eagle, and the soles of a tiger. On its head is the <i>chiʼih muh</i> lump that (like a “gas-bag”) enables it to soar through the air. The body has three -jointed parts, the first being “head to shoulders”, the second, “shoulders to breast”, -and the third, “breast to tail”. The scales number 117, of which 81 are imbued with -good influence (<i>yang</i>) and 36 with bad influence (<i>yin</i>), for the dragon is partly a Preserver and partly a Destroyer. Under the neck the -scales are reversed. There are five “fingers” or claws on each foot. The male dragon -has whiskers, and under the chin, or in the throat, is a luminous pearl. <span class="pageNum" id="pb47">[<a href="#pb47">47</a>]</span>There is no denying the importance and significance of that pearl. -</p> -<p>A male dragon can be distinguished from a female one by its undulating horn, which -is thickest in the upper part. A female dragon’s nose is straight. A horned dragon -is called <i>kʼiu-lung</i> and a hornless one <i>chʼi-lung</i>. Some dragons have wings. In addition there are horse-dragons, snake-dragons, cow-dragons, -toad-dragons, dog-dragons, fish-dragons, &c., in China and Japan. Indeed, all hairy, -feathered, and scaled animals are more or less associated with what may be called -the “Orthodox Dragon”. The tiger is an enemy of the dragon, but there are references -to tiger-headed dragons. The dragon is a divinity of water and rain, and the tiger -a divinity of mountains and woods.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1521src" href="#xd31e1521">1</a> The white tiger is a god of the west. -</p> -<p>Like the deities of other countries, the Chinese dragon-god (and the Japanese dragon) -may appear in different shapes—as a youth or aged man, as a lovely girl or an old -hag, as a rat, a snake, a fish, a tree, a weapon, or an implement. But no matter what -its shape may be, the dragon is intimately connected with water. It is a “rain lord” -and therefore the thunder-god who causes rain to fall. The Chinese dragon thus links -with the Aryo-Indian god Indra and other rain- and thunder-gods connected with agriculture, -including Zeus of Greece, Tarku of Asia Minor, Thor of northern Europe, the Babylonian -Marduk (Merodach), &c. There are sea-dragons that send storms like the wind-gods, -and may be appeased with offerings. These are guardians of treasure and especially -of pearling-grounds. Apparently the early pearl-fishers regarded the shark as the -guardian of pearls. It seized and carried away the “robbers” who dived for <span class="pageNum" id="pb48">[<a href="#pb48">48</a>]</span>oysters. The chief sea-god of China sometimes appeared in shark form—an enormous lion-headed -shark. -</p> -<p>Procopius, a sixth-century writer, says in this connection: “Sea-dogs are wonderful -admirers of the pearl-fish, and follow them out to sea.… A certain fisherman, having -watched for the moment when the shell-fish was deprived of the attention of its attendant -sea-dog … seized the shell-fish and made for the shore. The sea-dog, however, was -soon aware of the theft, and, making straight for the fisherman, seized him. Finding -himself thus caught, he made a last effort, and threw the pearl-fish on shore, immediately -on which he was torn to pieces by its protector.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1532src" href="#xd31e1532">2</a> -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p048width" id="p048"><img src="images/p048.jpg" alt="CHINESE DRAGONS AMONG THE CLOUDS" width="450" height="720"><p class="figureHead">CHINESE DRAGONS AMONG THE CLOUDS</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>In Polynesia the natives have superstitious ideas about the shark. “Although”, says -Ellis, “they would not only kill but eat certain kinds of shark, the large blue sharks, -<i>Squalus glaucus</i>, were deified by them, and, rather than attempt to destroy them, they would endeavour -to propitiate their favour by prayers and offerings. Temples were erected, in which -priests officiated, and offerings were presented to the deified sharks, while fishermen, -and others who were much at sea, sought their favour.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1547src" href="#xd31e1547">3</a> Polynesian gods, like Chinese dragons, appeared in various shapes. “One, for instance,” -writes Turner, “saw his god in the eel, another in the shark, another in the turtle, -another in the dog, another in the owl, another in the lizard; and so on throughout -all the fish of the sea, and birds, and four-footed beasts and creeping things. In -some of the shell-fish, even, gods were supposed to be present.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1552src" href="#xd31e1552">4</a> Here we meet again <span class="pageNum" id="pb49">[<a href="#pb49">49</a>]</span>with the shell beliefs. The avatars of dragons had pearls. In an old Chinese work -the story is told of a dragon that appeared in the shape of a little girl sitting -at the entrance of a cave and playing with three pearls. When a man appeared, the -child fled into the cave, and, reassuming dragon form, put the pearls in its left -ear.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1561src" href="#xd31e1561">5</a> As the guardian of pearls, the Chinese dragon links with the shark-god of the early -pearl-fishers. There were varieties of these sea-gods. In Polynesia “they had”, Ellis -has recorded, “gods who were supposed to preside over the fisheries, and to direct -to their coasts the various shoals by which they were periodically visited.<span class="corr" id="xd31e1567" title="Not in source">”</span> The Polynesians invoked their aid “either before launching their canoes, or while -engaged at sea”. It is of interest to find in this connection that the dragon had -associations with the whale. Ancient mariners reverenced the whale. The Ligurians -and Cretans carried home portions of the backbones of whales.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1569src" href="#xd31e1569">6</a> The habit of placing spines of fish in graves is of great antiquity in Europe. The -early seafarers who reached California during its prehistoric age perpetuated this -very ancient custom. Beuchat gives an illustration of a kitchen-midden grave in California -in which a whale’s vertebra is shown near the human skeleton.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1575src" href="#xd31e1575">7</a> The swashtika appears among the pottery designs of early American pottery.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1580src" href="#xd31e1580">8</a> The ancient Peruvians worshipped the whale, and the Maori dragon was compared to -one.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1584src" href="#xd31e1584">9</a> In Scottish folk-lore witches sometimes assume the forms of whales. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb50">[<a href="#pb50">50</a>]</span></p> -<p>The dolphin, the bluish dugong<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1591src" href="#xd31e1591">10</a> (probably the “semi-human whale” referred to by Ælian), and other denizens of the -sea were regarded as deities by ancient seafarers. De Groot, in his <i>The Religious System of China</i>, quoting from the <i>Shan hai King</i>, relates that in the Eastern Sea is a “Land of Rolling Waves”. In this region dwell -sea-monsters that are shaped like cows and have blue bodies. They are hornless and -one-legged. Each time they leave or enter the waters, winds arise and rain comes down. -Their voice is that of thunder and their glare that of sun and moon. -</p> -<p>The reference to the single leg may have been suggested by the fact that when the -dugong dives the tail comes into view. This interesting sea-animal has been “recklessly -and indiscriminately slaughtered” in historic times. -</p> -<p>Classical writers referred to some of the strange monsters seen by their mariners -as “sea-cows”. In like manner the Chinese have connected denizens of the deep with -different land animals. -</p> -<p>The religious beliefs associated with various sea and land animals cling to that composite -god the dragon. In dealing with it, therefore, we cannot ignore its history, not only -in China but in those countries that influenced Chinese civilization, while attention -must also be paid to countries that, like China, were influenced by the early sea -and land traders and colonists. -</p> -<p>In Polynesia the dragon is called <i>mo-o</i> and <i>mo-ko</i>. “Their (the Polynesian) use of this word in traditions”, says W. D. Westervelt,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1610src" href="#xd31e1610">11</a> “showed that they often had in mind animals like crocodiles and alligators, and sometimes -<span class="pageNum" id="pb51">[<a href="#pb51">51</a>]</span>they referred the name to any monster of great mythical powers belonging to the man-destroying -class. Mighty eels, immense sea-turtles, large fish of the ocean, fierce sharks, were -all called <i>mo-o</i>. The most ancient dragons of the Hawaiians are spoken of as living in pools or lakes.” -Mr. Westervelt notes that “one dragon lived in the Ewa lagoon, now known as ‘Pearl -Harbour’. This was <i>Kane-kua-ana</i>, who was said to have brought the pipi (oysters) to Ewa. She<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1621src" href="#xd31e1621">12</a> was worshipped by those who gather the shell-fish. When the oysters began to disappear -about 1850, the natives said the dragon had become angry and was sending the oysters -to Kahiki, or some far-away foreign land.” It is evident that such a belief is of -great antiquity. The pearl under the chin of the Chinese dragon has, as will be seen, -an interesting history. -</p> -<p>But, it may be asked here, what connection has a mountain stag with the ancient pearl-fishers? -As Wang Fu reminds us, the pearl-guarding Chinese dragon has “the horns of a stag”. -It was sometimes called, De Groot states,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1626src" href="#xd31e1626">13</a> “the celestial stag”—the “stag of the sky”. This was not merely a poetic image. The -sea-god Ea of ancient Babylonia was in one of his forms “the goat fish”, as some put -it. Professor Sayce says, in this <span class="corr" id="xd31e1630" title="Source: conection">connection</span>, “Ea was called ‘the antelope of the deep’, ‘the antelope the creator’, ‘the lusty -antelope’. He was sometimes referred to as ‘a gazelle’. <i>Lubin</i>, ‘a stag’, was a reduplicated form of <i>elim</i>, ‘a gazelle’. Both words were equivalent to <i>sarru</i>, ‘king’.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1640src" href="#xd31e1640">14</a> Whatever the Ea land animal was—whether goat, gazelle, antelope, or stag—it was associated -with a sea-god who, according to Babylonian belief, brought the elements of culture -to the <span class="pageNum" id="pb52">[<a href="#pb52">52</a>]</span>ancient Sumerians, who were developing their civilization at the seaport of Eridu, -then situated at the head of the Persian Gulf, in which pearls were found. Ea was -depicted as half a land animal and half a fish, or as a man wrapped in the skin of -a gigantic fish as Egyptian deities were wrapped in the skins of wild beasts. One -of Ea’s names was Dagan, which was possibly the Dagon worshipped also by the Philistines -and by the inhabitants of Canaan before the Philistines arrived from Kaphtor (the -land of Keftiu, i.e. Crete). -</p> -<p>Ea was associated with the dragon Tiamat, which his son Marduk (Merodach) slew. It -is stated in Babylonian script that Ea “conferred his name” on Marduk. In other words, -Marduk supplanted Ea and took over certain of his attributes, and part of his history. -He was the god of Babylon, which supplanted other cities, formerly capitals; he therefore -supplanted the chief gods of these cities. -</p> -<p>Ea was originally the slayer of the dragon Tiamat and the conqueror of the watery -abyss over which he reigned, supplanting the dragon.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1649src" href="#xd31e1649">15</a> He became the dragon himself—the “goat fish” or “antelope of the deep”—the composite -deity connected with animals deified by ancient hunters and fishers whose beliefs -were ultimately fused with those of others with whom they were brought into close -association in centres of culture. Ea, who had a dragon form, was connected with the -serpent, or “worm”, as well as with the fish. -</p> -<p>In Egypt Horus, Osiris, and Set were associated with the gazelle. Osiris was, in one -of his forms, the River Nile. He was not only the Nile itself, but the controller -of it; he was the serpent and soul of the Nile, and he was the ocean into which the -Nile flowed, and the <span class="pageNum" id="pb53">[<a href="#pb53">53</a>]</span>leviathan of the deep. In the Pyramid texts Osiris is addressed: “Thou art great, -thou art green, in thy name of Great-green (sea); lo, thou art round as the Great -Circle (Okeanos); lo, thou art turned about, thou art round as the circle that encircles -the Hauneba (Ægeans)”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1657src" href="#xd31e1657">16</a> Osiris was thus the serpent (dragon) that, lying in the ocean, encircled the world. -His son Horus is at one point in the Pyramid texts (Nos. 1505–8) narrative “represented -as crossing the sea”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1662src" href="#xd31e1662">17</a> Horus was sometimes depicted riding on the back of a gazelle or antelope. The Egyptian -antelope-god was in time fused with the serpent or dragon of the sea. Referring to -the evidence of Frobenius<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1666src" href="#xd31e1666">18</a> in this connection, Professor Elliot Smith says that “in some parts of Africa, especially -in the west, the antelope plays the part of the dragon in Asiatic stories”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1670src" href="#xd31e1670">19</a> When we reach India, it is found that the wind-god, Vayu, rides on the back of the -antelope. Vayu was fused with Indra, the slayer of the dragon that controlled the -water-supply, and, indeed, retained it by enclosing it as the Osiris serpent of Egypt, -or the serpent-mother of Osiris, enclosed the water in its cavern during the period -of “the low Nile”, before the inundation took place.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1675src" href="#xd31e1675">20</a> After Osiris, as the water-confining serpent (dragon) was slain, the river ran red -with his blood and rose in flood. Osiris, originally “a dangerous god”,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1682src" href="#xd31e1682">21</a> was the “new” or “fresh” water of the inundation. “The tradition of his unfavourable -character”, Breasted comments, “survived in vague reminiscences long centuries after -he had gained wide popularity.” Osiris ultimately became “the kindly <span class="pageNum" id="pb54">[<a href="#pb54">54</a>]</span>dispenser of plenty”, and his slayer, Set, originally a beneficent deity, was made -the villain of the story and fused with the dragon Apep, the symbol of darkness and -evil. This change appears to have been effected after the introduction of the agricultural -mode of life. The Nile, formerly the destroyer, then became the preserver, sustainer, -and generous giver of “soul substance” and daily bread. -</p> -<p>When the agricultural mode of life was introduced into China the horned-dragon, or -horned-serpent (for the dragon, Chinese writers remind us, has “the nature of a serpent”), -became the Osiris water-serpent. -</p> -<p>How a snake becomes a dragon is explained in the <i>Shu i ki</i>, which says: “A water-snake after 500 years changes into a <i>kiao</i>, a <i>kiao</i> after 1000 years changes into a <i>lung</i>;<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1700src" href="#xd31e1700">22</a> a <i>lung</i> after 500 years changes into a <i>kioh-lung</i>,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1708src" href="#xd31e1708">23</a> and after 1000 years into a <i>ying-lung</i>.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1713src" href="#xd31e1713">24</a>” In Japan is found, in addition, the <i>pʼan-lung</i> (“coiled dragon”), which has not yet ascended to heaven.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1719src" href="#xd31e1719">25</a> The “coiled dragon” is evidently the water-retaining monster. -</p> -<p>The Chinese dragon is as closely connected with water as was the serpent form of Osiris -with the Nile in ancient Egypt, and as was Indra with the “drought dragon” in India. -The dragon dwells in pools, it rises to the clouds, it thunders and brings rain, it -floods rivers, it is in the ocean, and controls the tides and causes the waters to -ebb and flow as do its magic pearls (the “Jewels of Flood and Ebb”), and it is a symbol -of the emperor. The Egyptian Pharaoh was an “avatar” of Osiris, or Horus,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1727src" href="#xd31e1727">26</a> and the Chinese emperor was an “avatar” or incarnation <span class="pageNum" id="pb55">[<a href="#pb55">55</a>]</span>of the dragon. As water destroys, the dragon is a destroyer; as water preserves and -sustains, the dragon is a preserver and sustainer. -</p> -<p>The dragon, as has been indicated, is essentially the Chinese water-god. “The ancient -texts … are short,” says de Visser, “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, thunder, clouds, and rain, the harbinger of blessings, and the symbol -of holy men. As the emperors are the holy beings of earth, the idea of the dragon -being the symbol of imperial power is based upon this ancient conception.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1734src" href="#xd31e1734">27</a> -</p> -<p>The Chinese “dragon well” is usually situated inside a deep mountain cave. It was -believed that the well owed its origin to the dragon. De Visser quotes, in this connection, -from an ancient sage, who wrote: “When the yellow dragon, born from yellow gold a -thousand years old, enters a deep place, a yellow spring dashes forth, and if from -this spring some particles (fine dust) arise, these become a yellow cloud”. A famous -dragon well is situated at the top of Mount Pien, in Hu-cheu. It flows from a cave, -and is called “Golden Well Spring”. The cave is known as the “Golden Well Cave”, and -is supposed to be so deep that no one can reach the end of it. There was a dragon -well near Jerusalem.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1741src" href="#xd31e1741">28</a> Other dragon wells are found as far west as Ireland and Scotland. A cave with wells, -called the “Dropping Cave”, at Cromarty, has a demon in its inner recesses. The Corycian -cave of the Anatolian Typhoon is one of similar character. According to Greek legend, -this hundred-headed monster, from whose eyes lightning flashes, will one day send -hail, floods, and rivers of fire <span class="pageNum" id="pb56">[<a href="#pb56">56</a>]</span>to lay waste Sicilian farms.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1748src" href="#xd31e1748">29</a> The floods of the River Rhone were supposed to be caused by the “drac”. In Egypt -Set became the “roaring serpent”, who crept into a hole in the ground, “wherein he -hid himself and lived”. He had previously taken the shapes of the crocodile and the -hippopotamus to escape Horus, the Egyptian “dragon slayer”. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p056width" id="p056"><img src="images/p056.jpg" alt="CHINESE DRAGON VASE WITH CARVED WOOD STAND" width="385" height="720"><p class="figureHead">CHINESE DRAGON VASE WITH CARVED WOOD STAND</p> -<p class="first">(<i>Victoria and Albert Museum</i>)</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>In China the season of drought is winter. The dragons are supposed to sleep in their -pools during the dry spell, and that is why, in the old Chinese work, <i>Yih <span class="corr" id="xd31e1766" title="Source: Ling">Lin</span></i>, it is stated that “a dragon hidden in water is useless”. The dragons are supposed -to sleep so that they may “preserve their bodies”. They begin to stir and rise in -spring. Soon they fight with one another, so that there is no need for a Horus, a -Merodach, or an Indra to compel them, by waging battle, to bring benefits to mankind. -The Chinese welcome what they called a “dragon battle” after the dry season. Thunder-storms -break out, and rain pours down in torrents. If a number of dragons engage in battle, -and the war in the air continues longer than is desired, the rivers rise in flood -and cause much destruction and loss of life. As the emperor was closely connected -with the chief dragon-god, social upheavals and war might result, it was anciently -believed, in consequence of the failure of the priests and the emperor (the holiest -of priests) to control the dragons. The dynasty might be overthrown by the indignant -and ruined peasantry. -</p> -<p>Among the curious superstitions entertained in China regarding dragon battles, is -one that no mortal should watch them. It was not only unlucky but perilous for human -beings to peer into the mysteries. De Visser quotes a Chinese metrical verse in this -connection: -<span class="pageNum" id="pb57">[<a href="#pb57">57</a>]</span></p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">When they fight, the dragons do not look at us; -</p> -<p class="line">Why should we look at them when they are fighting? -</p> -<p class="line"><i>If we do not seek the dragons,</i> -</p> -<p class="line"><i>They also will not seek us.</i><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1780src" href="#xd31e1780">30</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">In Gaelic Scotland the serpent, which is associated with the goddess Bride, sleeps -all winter and comes forth on 1st February (old style), known as “Bride’s day”. A -Gaelic verse tells in this connection: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">The serpent will come from the home -</p> -<p class="line">On the brown day of Bride, -</p> -<p class="line">Though there should be three feet of snow -</p> -<p class="line">On the flat surface of the ground.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1791src" href="#xd31e1791">31</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">As in China, a compact was made with the Bride serpent or dragon: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">To-day is the Day of Bride, -</p> -<p class="line">The serpent shall come from his hole, -</p> -<p class="line"><i>I will not molest the serpent,</i> -</p> -<p class="line"><i>And the serpent will not molest me.</i></p> -</div> -<p class="first">It is evident that some very ancient belief, connected with the agricultural mode -of life, lies behind these curious verses in such far-separated countries as Scotland -and China. Bride and her serpent come forth to inaugurate the season of fruitfulness -as do the battling dragons in the Far East. -</p> -<p>When Chinese dragons fight, fire-balls and pearls fall to the ground. Pearls give -promise of abundant supplies of water in the future. It is necessary, if all is to -go well with the agriculturist, that the blue and yellow dragons should prevail over -the others. The blue dragon is the chief spirit of water and rain, and this is the -deity that presides during the spring season. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb58">[<a href="#pb58">58</a>]</span></p> -<p>A glimpse is afforded of the mental habits of the early searchers for precious or -sacred metals and jewels by the beliefs entertained in China regarding the origin -of the dragon-gods. These were supposed to have been hatched from stones, especially -beautiful stones. The colours of stones were supposed to reveal the characters of -the spirits that inhabited them. In Egypt, for instance, the blue turquoise was connected -with the mother-goddess Hathor, who was, among other things, a deity of the sky and -therefore the controller of the waters above the firmament as well as of the Nile. -She was the mother of sun and moon. She was appealed to for water by the agriculturists -and for favourable winds by the seafarers. The symbol used on such occasions was a -blue stone. It was a “luck stone” that exercised an influence on the elements controlled -by the goddess. In the Hebrides a blue stone used to be reverenced by the descendants -of ancient sea-rovers. Martin in his <i>Western Isles</i> tells of such a stone, said to be always wet, which was preserved in a chapel dedicated -to St. Columba on the Island of Fladda. “It is an ordinary custom,” he has written, -“when any of the fishermen are detained in the isle by contrary winds, to wash the -blue stone with water all round, expecting thereby to procure a favourable wind, which, -the credulous tenant living in the isle says, never fails, especially if a stranger -wash the stone.” Why a “stranger”? Was this curious custom introduced of old by strangers -who had crossed the deep? Had the washing ceremony its origin in the custom of pouring -out libations practised by those who came from an area in which a complex religious -culture had grown up, and where men had connected a deity, originally associated with -the water-supply and therefore with the food-supply, with tempests and ocean-tides -and the sky? -<span class="pageNum" id="pb59">[<a href="#pb59">59</a>]</span></p> -<p>The Chinese, who called certain beautiful stones “dragon’s eggs”, believed that when -they split, lightning flashed and thunder bellowed and darkness came on. The new-born -dragons ascended to the sky. Before the dragons came forth, much water poured from -the stone. As in the Hebrides, the dragon stone had, it would appear, originally an -association with the fertilizing water-deity. -</p> -<p>The new-born Chinese dragon is no bigger than a worm, or a baby serpent or lizard, -but it grows rapidly. Evidently beliefs associated with the water-snake deities were -fused with those regarding coloured stones. The snake was the soul of the river. Osiris -as the Nile was a snake. His mother had, therefore, a snake form. -</p> -<p>The haunting memory of the goddess-mother of water-spirits clings to the “dragon mother” -of a Chinese legend related by ancient writers, a version of which is summarized by -de Visser.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1822src" href="#xd31e1822">32</a> Once, it runs, an old woman found five “dragon eggs” lying in the grass. When they -split (as in Egypt “the mountain of dawn” splits to give birth to the sun), this woman -carried the little serpents to a river and let them go. For this service she was given -the power to foretell future events. She became a sibyl—a priestess. The people called -her “The Dragon Mother.” When she washed clothes at the river-side, the fishes, who -were subjects of dragons, “used to dance before her”. -</p> -<p>In various countries certain fish were regarded as forms of the shape-changing dragon. -The Gaelic dragon sometimes appeared as the salmon, and a migratory fish was in Egypt -associated with Osiris and his “mother”. -</p> -<p>When the Chinese “Dragon Mother” died, she was buried on the eastern side of the river. -Why, it may <span class="pageNum" id="pb60">[<a href="#pb60">60</a>]</span>be asked, on the eastern side? Was it because, being originally a goddess, she was -regarded as the “mother” of the sun-god of the east—the mother who was “the mountain -of dawn” and whose influence was concentrated in the blue stone? The Chinese dragon -of the east is blue, and the blue dragon is associated with spring—the first-born -season of the year. But apparently the dragons objected to the burial of the “Dragon -Mother” on the eastern bank. The legend tells that they raised a violent storm, and -transferred her grave to the western bank. Until the present age the belief obtains -that there is always wind and rain near the “Dragon Mother’s Grave”. The people explain -that the dragons love to “wash the grave”. -</p> -<p>Here we find the dragons pouring out libations, as did the worshippers of the Great -Mother who came from a distant land. -</p> -<p>The god of the western quarter is white, and presides over the autumn season of fruitfulness. -Just before the “birth” of autumn the Chinese address their prayers to the mountains -and hills. -</p> -<p>In ancient Egypt the conflict between the Solar and Osirian cults was a conflict between -the “cult of the east” and the “cult of the west”. Professor Breasted notes that although -Osiris is “First of the Westerners” (the west being his quarter) “he goes to the east -(after death) in the Pyramid texts (of the solar cult) and the pair, Isis and Nepthys -(the goddess), carry the dead into the east”. The east was the place where the ascent -to the sky was made. In Egyptian solar theology it combined with the south. The rivalry -between the two cults is reflected in one particular Pyramid text in which “the dead -is adjured to go to the west in preference to the east, in order to join the sun-god!” -But to the solar cult the <span class="pageNum" id="pb61">[<a href="#pb61">61</a>]</span>east was “the most sacred of all regions”. In the Pyramid texts it is found that “the -old doctrine of the ‘west’ as the permanent realm of the dead, a doctrine which is -later so prominent, has been quite submerged by the pre-eminence of the east”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1837src" href="#xd31e1837">33</a> -</p> -<p>This east-and-west theological war, then, had its origin in Egypt. How did it reach -China, there to be enshrined in the legend of the Dragon Mother? Can it be held that -it was “natural” the Chinese should have invented a legend which had so significant -and ancient a history in the homeland of the earliest seafarers? -</p> -<p>The dragon-gods that presided over the seasons and the divisions of the world were -five in number. At the east was the blue (or green) god associated with spring, at -the west the white god associated with autumn, at the north the black god associated -with winter (the Chinese season of drought), and at the south were two gods, the red -and the yellow; the red god presided during the greater part of summer, the rule of -the yellow god being confined to the last month. -</p> -<p>The dragons were life-givers not only as the gods who presided over the seasons and -ensured the food-supply, but as those who gave cures for diseases. The “Red Cloud -herb” and other curative herbs were found after a thunderstorm beside the dragon-haunted -pools. De Groot<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1848src" href="#xd31e1848">34</a> tells that fossil bones were called “dragon bones”, and were used for medicinal purposes. -The dragons were supposed to cast off their bones as well as their skins. Bones of -five colours (the colours of the five dragons) were regarded as the most effective. -White and yellow bones came next in favour. Black bones were “of inferior quality”. -The <i>Shu King</i>, a famous Chinese <span class="pageNum" id="pb62">[<a href="#pb62">62</a>]</span>historical classic,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1856src" href="#xd31e1856">35</a> tells that the dragons’ bones come from Tsin land. It is noted that the five-coloured -ones are the best. The blue, yellow, red, white, and black ones, according to their -colours, correspond with the viscera, as do the five <i>chih</i> (felicitous plants), the five crystals (<i>shih ying</i>), and the five kinds of mineral bole (<i>shih chi</i>). De Groot<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1866src" href="#xd31e1866">36</a> gives the colours connected with the internal organs as follows: -</p> -<ul> -<li class="numberedItem"><span class="itemNumber">1.</span> Blue—liver and gall. -</li> -<li class="numberedItem"><span class="itemNumber">2.</span> White—lungs and small intestines. -</li> -<li class="numberedItem"><span class="itemNumber">3.</span> Red—heart and large intestines. -</li> -<li class="numberedItem"><span class="itemNumber">4.</span> Black—kidneys and bladder. -</li> -<li class="numberedItem"><span class="itemNumber">5.</span> Yellow—spleen and stomach.</li> -</ul><p> -</p> -<p>Apparently the special curative quality of a dragon’s bone was revealed by its colour. -The gods of the various “mansions” influenced different organs of the human body. -</p> -<p>In ancient Egypt the internal organs were placed in jars and protected by the Horuses -of the cardinal points. The god of the north had charge of the small viscera, the -god of the south of the stomach and large intestines, the god of the west of liver -and gall, and the god of the east of heart and lungs. The Egyptian north was red and -symbolized by the Red Crown, and the south was white and symbolized by the White Crown. -</p> -<p>In Mexico the colours white, red, and yellow were connected with different internal -organs, and black with a disembowelled condition. -</p> -<p>It is evident that the sea and land traders carried their strange stocks of medical -knowledge over vast areas. It is not without significance to find in this connection -that, <span class="pageNum" id="pb63">[<a href="#pb63">63</a>]</span>according to Chinese belief, there was an island on which dragons’ bones were found. -</p> -<p>The dragons are not only rain-gods and gods of the four quarters and the seasons, -but also “light-gods”, connected with sun and moon, day and night. In the <i>Yih lin</i> there is a reference to a black dragon which vomits light and causes darkness to -turn into light. The mountain dragon of Mount Chung is called the “Enlightener of -Darkness”. “When it opens its eyes it is day, when it shuts its eyes it is night. -Blowing he makes winter, exhaling he makes summer. The wind is its breath.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1904src" href="#xd31e1904">37</a> -</p> -<p>In like manner the Egyptian Ra and Ptah are universal gods, the sun and moon being -their “eyes”. Even Osiris, as far back as the Pyramid period, was the source of all -life and a world-god. He was addressed: “The soil is on thy arm, its corners are upon -thee as far as the four pillars of the sky. When thou movest the earth trembles.… -As for thee, the Nile comes forth from the sweat of thy hands. Thou spewest out the -wind.…”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1911src" href="#xd31e1911">38</a> Osiris sent water to bring fertility as do the dragons, air for the life-breath of -man and beast, and also light, which was, of course, fire (the heat which is life). -</p> -<p>The idea of the life-principle being in fire and water lies behind Wang Fu’s statement: -“Dragon fire and human fire are opposite. If dragon fire comes into contact with wetness, -it flames; and if it meets water, it burns. If one drives it (the dragon) away by -means of fire, it stops burning and its flames are extinguished.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1918src" href="#xd31e1918">39</a> Celestial fire is something different from ordinary fire. <span class="pageNum" id="pb64">[<a href="#pb64">64</a>]</span>The “vital spark” is of celestial origin—purer and holier than ordinary fire. Dragon -skins, even when cast off, shine by night. So do pearls, coral, and precious stones -“shine in darkness” in the Chinese myths. -</p> -<p>One traces the influence of the solar cult in the idea that the dragon’s vital spirit -is in its eyes. It is because iron blinds a dragon that it fears that metal. In Egypt -the eye of Horus is blinded by Set, whose metal is iron. -</p> -<p>There is a quaint mixture of religious ideas in the Chinese custom of carrying in -procession through the streets, on the 15th of the first month, a dragon made of bamboo, -linen, and paper. In front of it is borne a red ball. De Groot says that this is the -azure dragon, the head of which rose as a star to usher in spring at the beginning.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1927src" href="#xd31e1927">40</a> In like manner the Egyptian “spring” is ushered in by the star Sirius, the mother -of the sun, from which falls a tear that causes the inundation. But although the red -ball may have been a solar symbol, it is also connected with the moon. The Chinese -themselves call the ball “The Pearl of Heaven”—that is, “the moon”. An inscription -on porcelain brings this out clearly. Mr. Blacker has translated the text below two -dragons rushing towards a ball as “A couple of dragons facing the moon”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1932src" href="#xd31e1932">41</a> The dragons were not only moon- and sun-“devourers” who caused eclipses, but guardians -of these orbs in their capacities as gods of the four quarters. -</p> -<p>The all-absorbing dragon appears even as a vampire. A tiger-headed dragon with the -body of a snake seizes human beings, covers them with saliva, and sucks blood from -under their armpits. “No blood is left when they stop sucking.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1938src" href="#xd31e1938">42</a> In Japanese legends dragons as white <span class="pageNum" id="pb65">[<a href="#pb65">65</a>]</span>eels draw blood from the legs of horses that enter a river.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1945src" href="#xd31e1945">43</a> Evil or sick dragons send bad rain. -</p> -<p>The gods ride on dragons, and therefore emperors and holy men can also use them as -vehicles. Yu, the founder of the Hea Dynasty, had a carriage drawn by two dragons. -Ghosts sometimes appear riding on dragons and wearing blue hats. The souls of the -dead are conveyed to the Celestial regions by the winged gods. Dragons appear when -great men are born.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1956src" href="#xd31e1956">44</a> Emperors had dragon ancestors. The Emperor Yaou was the son of a red dragon; one -Japanese emperor had a dragon’s tail, being a descendant of the sea-god.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1959src" href="#xd31e1959">45</a> -</p> -<p>In the next chapter it will be shown that in Chinese dragon-lore it is possible to -detect with certainty the sources of certain “layers” that were superimposed on primitive -conceptions regarding these deities. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb66">[<a href="#pb66">66</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1521"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1521src">1</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 109. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1521src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1532"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1532src">2</a></span> Quoted by Prof. G. Elliot Smith, <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, p. 160. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1532src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1547"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1547src">3</a></span> Ellis, <i>Polynesian Researches</i>, First Edition, Vol. I, p. 178. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1547src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1552"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1552src">4</a></span> Rev. George Turner’s <i>Nineteen Years in Polynesia</i> (1861), pp. 238–9. The god emerging from the shell-fish is found in Mexico. Jackson’s -<i>Shells as Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture</i>, p. 52. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1552src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1561"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1561src">5</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 88. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1561src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1569"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1569src">6</a></span> <i>Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe</i>, pp. 306–7. Pierced fish vertebræ have been found in Malta, Italy, the south-east -of Spain, and Troy. See <i>Malta and the Mediterranean Race</i>, R. N. Bradley (London, 1912), p. 136. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1569src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1575"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1575src">7</a></span> <i lang="fr">Manuel d’Archéologie Américaine</i>, Fig. 21, p. 114. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1575src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1580"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1580src">8</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 169. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1580src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1584"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1584src">9</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 169. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1584src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1591"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1591src">10</a></span> This mammal belongs to the order <i>Sirenia</i>, which includes manatees. It is native to Indian seas. A variety has been found in -the Red Sea. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1591src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1610"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1610src">11</a></span> <i>Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology)</i>, 1915, pp. 255–6. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1610src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1621"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1621src">12</a></span> A form of the mother-goddess. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1621src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1626"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1626src">13</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Vol. III, p. 1143. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1626src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1640"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1640src">14</a></span> <i>Hibbert Lectures</i>, pp. 280–84. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1640src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1649"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1649src">15</a></span> <i>Legends of Babylonia and Egypt</i>, Leonard W. King, pp. 116–7 (1918). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1649src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1657"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1657src">16</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 20. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1657src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1662"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1662src">17</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 26. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1662src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1666"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1666src">18</a></span> <i>The Voice of Africa</i>, Vol. II, p. 467. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1666src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1670"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1670src">19</a></span> <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, p. 130. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1670src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1675"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1675src">20</a></span> See illustration of the serpent enclosing the waters in the <i>shrine of the Nile</i>, from a bas-relief in the small temple of Philæ. Maspero’s <i>The Dawn of Civilization</i>, p. 39. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1675src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1682"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1682src">21</a></span> Breasted, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 38. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1682src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1700"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1700src">22</a></span> A kiao-lung is a dragon with fish scales. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1700src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1708"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1708src">23</a></span> A horned dragon. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1708src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1713"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1713src">24</a></span> A dragon with wings. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1713src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1719"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1719src">25</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, pp. 72 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1719src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1727"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1727src">26</a></span> Horus while alive, and Osiris after he died, as Dr. Gardiner insists. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1727src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1734"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1734src">27</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 42. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1734src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1741"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1741src">28</a></span> <a class="biblink xd31e40" title="Reference to the Bible: Nehemiah 2:13" href="https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Neh%202:13&version=NRSV">Nehemiah, ii, 13</a>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1741src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1748"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1748src">29</a></span> Æschylus, <i lang="la">Prometheus Vinctus</i>, 351–72. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1748src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1780"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1780src">30</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 46. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1780src" title="Return to note 30 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1791"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1791src">31</a></span> Dr. A. Carmichael, <i lang="la">Carmina <span class="corr" id="xd31e1795" title="Source: Gadlica">Gadelica</span></i>, Vol. I, p. 169. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1791src" title="Return to note 31 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1822"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1822src">32</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 89. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1822src" title="Return to note 32 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1837"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1837src">33</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, pp. 99 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1837src" title="Return to note 33 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1848"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1848src">34</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Vol. VI, p. 1087. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1848src" title="Return to note 34 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1856"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1856src">35</a></span> See English translation by Walter Gorn Old (London, 1904). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1856src" title="Return to note 35 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1866"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1866src">36</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Vol. IV, p. 26. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1866src" title="Return to note 36 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1904"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1904src">37</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in Japan and China</i>, p. 62. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1904src" title="Return to note 37 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1911"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1911src">38</a></span> Breasted’s <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 21. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1911src" title="Return to note 38 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1918"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1918src">39</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 67. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1918src" title="Return to note 39 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1927"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1927src">40</a></span> De Groot’s <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Vol. I, p. 369. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1927src" title="Return to note 40 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1932"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1932src">41</a></span> <i>Chats on Oriental China</i> (London, 1908). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1932src" title="Return to note 41 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1938"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1938src">42</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 79. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1938src" title="Return to note 42 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1945"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1945src">43</a></span> <i>The <span class="corr" id="xd31e1948" title="Source: Dragom">Dragon</span> in China and Japan</i>, p. 112. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1945src" title="Return to note 43 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1956"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1956src">44</a></span> A dragon appeared at the birth of Confucius. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1956src" title="Return to note 44 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1959"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1959src">45</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 145. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1959src" title="Return to note 45 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch6" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e281">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VI</h2> -<h2 class="main">Bird and Serpent Myths</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Culture Complexes in Dragon-lore—Polynesian Dragon Beliefs—Oceanic and African Fish-gods—Reptile -Deities where no Reptiles are found—Chinese Dragons and Indian Nagas—Dragon-links -between India, Tibet, China, and Japan—Birds and Snakes—Distribution of Egyptian “Winged -Disk”—Horus and the “Secretary Bird”—Indian Mungoose supplants “Secretary Bird”—Mungoose -form of God of Riches and Death—Bird and Serpent combined in Dragon—Babylonian Dragon -was a combination of Eagle, Serpent, and Lion—Tree Forms of the Chinese Dragon, the -Polynesian Mo-o, and the Indian Nagas—The Dragon, the Salmon, the Tree, and the “Thunder-bird”.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The intensive study of a country’s beliefs and ideas, as revealed in its myths and -legends, is greatly facilitated by the adoption of the comparative method. It may -not always be found possible to identify areas in which certain beliefs had origin, -but when we detect, as we do in China, myths similar to those found in other lands, -and especially highly complex myths, that had origin in one particular country and -received additions in another, the imported elements may be sifted out from a local -religious system without much difficulty. -</p> -<p>The Chinese dragon has distinct and outstanding Chinese characteristics, but it is -obviously not entirely a Chinese creation. Attached to the “composite wonder beast” -are complex ideas that have a history outside China, as well as those ideas that reflect -Chinese natural phenomena and Chinese experiences and habits of life and thought. -The fused beliefs, as symbolized by the dragon, <span class="pageNum" id="pb67">[<a href="#pb67">67</a>]</span>have passed through a prolonged process of local development, but those that were -imported have not, it is found, been entirely divested of their distinctive characteristics, -and remain preserved as flies are in amber. -</p> -<p>Interesting and important evidence that throws light on the history of the Chinese -dragon is found in Polynesia, India, and Babylonia, and even in Egypt and Europe. -The cultural influence of Babylonia, which radiated over a wide area for a score of -centuries or longer, is traceable in India, and, as is well known, Buddhist India -exercised a strong cultural influence on China. But, as will be shown, Babylonian -influence reached the Shensi province of China long before the Aryans entered India. -Buddhist ideas regarding the pearl-protecting dragon-god of water and fire were evidently -superimposed in China upon earlier Babylonian ideas regarding the water-dragon, which -had no particular connection with pearls. At any rate, there is no mention of pearls -in the Babylonian myth. -</p> -<p>When it is found that many of the ideas connected with the Chinese dragon were prevalent -in Polynesia, what conclusion is to be drawn? There is no evidence that Chinese culture -was an active force in New Zealand or Hawaii, for instance. It cannot have been from -China that the Polynesians derived their dragon, or their beliefs connected with the -serpent, a reptile unknown to the islanders at first hand. The only reasonable conclusion -that can be drawn is that the Chinese and the Polynesians were influenced at an early -period by intruders from other lands. The Polynesian intruders must necessarily have -been sea-traders. Of course, the Polynesians may themselves have imported their dragon -beliefs from their homeland. That homeland, however, was certainly not China. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb68">[<a href="#pb68">68</a>]</span></p> -<p>The Polynesian Mo-o or Mo-ko (dragon) had, as was shown in the last chapter, a connection -with pearls. “On Maui”, writes W. D. Westervelt,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1984src" href="#xd31e1984">1</a> “the greatest dragon of the island was Kiha-wahine. The natives had the saying, ‘Kiha -has <i>mana</i>, or miraculous power, like Mo-o-inanea’. She lived <i>in a large, deep pool</i> on the edge of the village Lahaina, and was worshipped by the royal family of Maui -as their special guardian.” Royal families were invariably the descendants of intruding -conquerors. It is of special interest, therefore, to find the Polynesian dragon-god -connected with a military aristocracy. -</p> -<p>The Rev. George Brown, missionary and explorer, refers to similar dragon beliefs among -the people of New Britain. He tells of a spring connected with the woman (goddess) -who caused the deluge. The natives “say that an immense fish lives in it, which will -come out when they call it”. The belief obtains among the Melanesians “that the creator -of all things was a woman”. She “made all lands” and “the natives prayed” to her “when -an eclipse of the sun or the moon took place”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e1994src" href="#xd31e1994">2</a> The king of Samoan gods was a dragon. “This god”, Brown tells, “had the body of a -man to the breast only, and the body of an eel (<i>muræna</i>) below. This eel’s body lies down in the ocean, and from the chest to the head lies -down in the house. This is the god to whom all things are reported. The inferior gods -are his attendants.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2000src" href="#xd31e2000">3</a> -</p> -<p>Gods half human and half reptile, or half human and half fish, are found in various -countries. In the British Museum are bronze reliefs of the King of Benin (as the representative -of his chief deity) half shark and half man. The kings of Dahomey were depicted as -sharks with bodies <span class="pageNum" id="pb69">[<a href="#pb69">69</a>]</span>covered with scales; their statues are in the Trocadero, Paris.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2008src" href="#xd31e2008">4</a> -</p> -<p>That the Polynesian reptile deities were imported there can be no doubt. As early -as 1825 Mr. Bloxam, the English naval chaplain, drew this necessary conclusion. In -his <i>The Voyage of the Blonde</i> he says: “At the bottom of the Parre (pali) there are two large stones, on which -even now offerings of fruit and flowers are laid to propitiate the Aku-wahines, or -goddesses, who are supposed to have the power of granting a safe passage”. Referring -to the female mo-o, or reptile deities, Mr. Bloxam says it was difficult for him to -get an explanation of their name, the Hawaiians having “nothing of the shape of serpents -or large reptiles in their islands”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2016src" href="#xd31e2016">5</a> -</p> -<p>But the closest analogy to the Chinese dragon is found in India. The Nagas (serpent-gods), -which were taken over by the Buddhists, and the Chinese dragons have much in common. -“Cobras in their ordinary shape,” writes Dr. Rhys Davids of the Nagas, “they lived -beneath the waters like mermen and mermaids, in great luxury and wealth, more especially -of gems.” Sometimes the tree-spirits (dryads) are called Nagas. “They could at will, -and often did, adopt the human form; and though terrible if angered, were kindly and -mild by nature.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2023src" href="#xd31e2023">6</a> Kerns says “that the Nagas are water-spirits represented, as a rule, in human shapes, -with a crown of serpents on their heads”, and also as “snake-like beings resembling -clouds”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2027src" href="#xd31e2027">7</a> They are “demi-gods”. Like the Chinese dragons, the Nagas are guardians of the four -quarters of the universe. There are withal Nagas in the sea who control winds and -tides, and one of the Naga kings is Sagara, who is a Neptune in <span class="pageNum" id="pb70">[<a href="#pb70">70</a>]</span>Japan. The Nagas are also “Lords of the Earth”, and send drought and disease when -offended or neglected. Ea, the sea-god of the early Babylonians, was known also as -Enki, “The Lord of the Earth”. -</p> -<p>In Buddhist art the Naga is shown in three forms: (1) as a human being with a snake -on or poised over the head, reminding one of the Egyptian kings or queens who wear -the uræus symbol on their foreheads; (2) as half human and half snake (the “mermaid -form”); and (3) as ordinary snakes. The first form is found not only in India, but -in Tibet, China, and Japan. Human-shaped Nagas are depicted worshipping Buddha, as -they stand in water. -</p> -<p>In Tibet, the Naga is shown with the upper part of the body in human shape and the -lower in snake shape; there are horns on the head and wings spreading out from the -shoulders. The same form is found in Japan. -</p> -<p>This Tibetan link between the Indian Naga and the Chinese Dragon is important. The -bird-god has been blended with the snake-god. In India the bird-gods (Garudas) are -enemies of the Nagas (snakes), and Garudas in “eagle shape” are found depicted in -low relief, carrying off Nagas in snake shape. This eternal conflict between eagle-like -birds and serpents is one of the features of Babylonian mythology. -</p> -<p>The story of Zu, the Babylonian Eagle-god, is found on tablets that were stored in -the library of the great Assyrian King, Ashur-bani-pal. Zu, it is related, stole from -the gods the “tablets of destiny”, and was pursued and caught by Shamash, the sun-god. -In one version of the myth Zu, the eagle, is punished by the serpent, which conceals -itself in the body of an ox. When the eagle comes to feast on the flesh it is seized -by the serpent and slain. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb71">[<a href="#pb71">71</a>]</span></p> -<p>In Polynesia the eternal conflict between bird-god and serpent-god is illustrated -in wood-carvings. The Egyptian winged disk, as adopted by the islanders, shows the -bird in the centre with a struggling snake in its beak. The Central American peoples -had likewise this bird-and-serpent myth. Indeed, it figures prominently in their mythologies. -In Mexico the winged disk was placed, as in Egypt, above the entrances to the temples. -</p> -<p>The bird-and-serpent myth is to be found even in the <i>Iliad</i>. When Hector set forth with his heroes to break through the wall of the Achæan camp, -an eagle appeared in the air, bearing in its talons “a blood-red monstrous snake, -alive and struggling still”. The writhing snake manages to sting the eagle, which -immediately drops it.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2045src" href="#xd31e2045">8</a> -</p> -<p>In ancient Egyptian myths the bird was the Horus hawk and the serpent was Set. Horus -assumed, in his great battle against the snake, crocodile, and other enemies of Ra, -the winged disk form—the winged sun, protected by the two snake-goddesses of Upper -and Lower Egypt. -</p> -<p>This strange combination of deities in the “winged disk” symbol was as distinctively -an Egyptian cultural and political complex as the Union Jack is distinctively a British -complex. As the Union Jack has been carried to many a distant land, so was the Egyptian -winged disk, “the flag” of Egyptian culture. In those areas in which the winged disk -is found, are found also traces of Egyptian ideas which, of course, were not necessarily -introduced by the Egyptians themselves. -</p> -<p>How did this myth of the struggle between bird and serpent have origin? The only country -in the world in which a great bird hunts serpents is Africa. The bird in question -is the famous secretary bird (<i>Serpentarius secretarius</i>), which is nowadays domesticated by South African <span class="pageNum" id="pb72">[<a href="#pb72">72</a>]</span>farmers so as to keep down snakes. It is found in East and West Africa. “In general -appearance it looks like a modified eagle mounted on stilts.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2057src" href="#xd31e2057">9</a> The bird attacks a snake with wings outspread, and flaps them in front of its body -to prevent itself from being bitten during the conflict. Early Egyptian seafarers -were no doubt greatly impressed when, “in the land of Punt”, they saw these strange -birds, with heads like eagles or hawks, standing over snakes they had clutched in -their talons, and then flying away with them dangling from their beaks. The mariners’ -stories about the snake-devouring bird appear to have crept into the mythology of -Egypt, with the result that the Horus hawk became the hunter of Set in his “hissing -serpent” form. Above the hole in the ground into which the Set serpent fled for concealment -and safety was set a pole surmounted by the head of the Horus hawk. As Dr. Budge puts -it: “Horus, the son of Isis, stood upon him (Set) in the form of a pole or staff, -on the top of which was the head of a hawk”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2062src" href="#xd31e2062">10</a> But, one may urge, it could not have been until after Egyptian vessels visited the -coasts haunted by the secretary bird that the bird and serpent variation of the Horus-Set -myth was formulated in the land of Egypt, whence, apparently, it was distributed far -and wide. Horus was not necessarily an enemy of serpents, seeing that there are two -in his disk. -</p> -<p>In Tibet, as has been stated, the bird and serpent were combined, and the “composite -beast” was given a human head with horns. The horned and winged dragon of China is -thus, in part, a combination of the original secretary bird and the snake. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb73">[<a href="#pb73">73</a>]</span></p> -<p>The later blending process was, no doubt, due to Buddhistic influence. Both Nagas -(snakes) and Garudas (eagles or secretary birds) were included in northern India among -the gods and demons who worshipped Buddha. The Nagas understood the language of birds. -They gave charms to human beings so that they might share this knowledge. In European -and Arabian stories folk-heroes acquire the language of birds, or of all animals, -after eating the hearts of dragons. A Naga king causes an Indian king to understand -what animals say.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2073src" href="#xd31e2073">11</a> -</p> -<p>“The jewel that grants all desires” is possessed by the Indian Nagas, as it is by -Chinese and Japanese dragons. In the <i>Mahábhárata</i>, the Pandava hero Arjuna is, after being slain in combat, restored to life by his -Naga wife, who had obtained this magic jewel from the Naga king.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2085src" href="#xd31e2085">12</a> -</p> -<p>The Nagas are guardians of pearls, and the females have many pearl necklaces. -</p> -<p>Note may here be taken of interesting Indian evidence that throws light on the process -of transferring to a local animal complex ideas associated with another animal figuring -in an imported myth. The great enemy of African snakes is, as has been said, the secretary -bird; the Indian enemy is the mungoose. In early Buddhist art the mungoose, spitting -jewels, is placed in the right hand of Kubera, god of wealth, who stands on the back -of a Yaksha (a bird demon). By devouring snakes (Nagas) the mungoose (according to -the myth) “appropriates their jewels, and has hence developed into the attribute of -Kubera”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2092src" href="#xd31e2092">13</a> Here the pearl-guarding shark, having become a jewel-guarding dragon-snake, is substituted -<span class="pageNum" id="pb74">[<a href="#pb74">74</a>]</span>by the jewel-spitting mungoose which has “devoured” its attributes. -</p> -<p>The god Kubera has a heaven of its own, and is a form of Yama, god of death. In his -form as Dharma, god of justice, Yama figures in the <i>Mahábhárata</i><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2104src" href="#xd31e2104">14</a> as a “blue-eyed mungoose with one side of his body changed into gold”, his voice -being “loud and deep as thunder”. Here Yama links with Indra, god of thunder, who, -having a heaven of his own, is also a god of death. Egypt had its “blue-eyed Horus”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2108src" href="#xd31e2108">15</a> The god Horus was the living form of Osiris. The living Pharaoh was a Horus, and -the dead Pharaoh an Osiris, as Dr. Gardiner reminds us. -</p> -<p>The combination of bird and serpent is found in Persia as well as in Tibet. On an -archaic cylinder seal from the ancient Elamite capital of Susa, the dragon is a lion -with an eagle’s head and wings; the forelegs are those of the eagle, and the hind -legs those of a lion. -</p> -<p>A form of the god Tammuz, namely the god Nin-Girsu (“Lord of Girsu”) of the Sumerian -city of Lagash (Girsu appears to have been a suburb), was a lion-headed eagle.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2116src" href="#xd31e2116">16</a> The god Ea had a dragon form.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2120src" href="#xd31e2120">17</a> The dragon of the Ishtar gate of Babylon is a combination of eagle, serpent, and -lion, and is horned. -</p> -<p>There can remain little doubt that the Chinese dragon has an interesting history, -not only in China but outside that country. It cannot be held to have independent -origin. At a remote period dragon beliefs reached China, India, and Polynesia, and -even America.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2126src" href="#xd31e2126">18</a> -</p> -<p>In each separated area the dragon took on a local <span class="pageNum" id="pb75">[<a href="#pb75">75</a>]</span>colouring, but the fundamental beliefs connected with it remained the same. It was -closely connected with water (the “water of life”), and also with trees (the “trees -of life”). Thus we find that in China a dragon might assume “the shape of a tree growing -under water”;<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2135src" href="#xd31e2135">19</a> a boat once collided with drift-wood which was found to be a dragon. Crocodiles are -sometimes mistaken for logs of wood. -</p> -<p>In Hawaii two noted dragons (mo-o) lived in a river. “They were called ‘the moving -boards’ which made a bridge across the river.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2142src" href="#xd31e2142">20</a> -</p> -<p>The Indian Nagas were not only water deities but tree spirits, as Dr. Rhys Davids -has emphasized.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2149src" href="#xd31e2149">21</a> -</p> -<p>Behind dragon worship is a complex of beliefs connected with what is usually called -“tree and well worship”. In Gaelic stories, the sacred tree is guarded by the “beast” -in the sacred well, and a form of the “beast” (dragon) is the salmon; in the tree -is the “thunder bird”. Dragon, tree, and bird are connected with the god of thunder -who sends rain. -</p> -<p>When Buddhism reached China, imported Naga beliefs were superimposed on earlier Chinese -beliefs connected with the dragon-god who controlled the rain-supply, as Osiris in -Egypt controlled the Nile, and the Babylonian Ea the Euphrates. -</p> -<p>In the next chapter various beliefs connected with the dragon are brought out in representative -legends. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb76">[<a href="#pb76">76</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1984"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1984src">1</a></span> <i>Legends of Gods and Ghosts</i> (Hawaiian Mythology, 1915), p. 258. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1984src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e1994"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e1994src">2</a></span> <i>Melanesians and Polynesians</i> (London, 1910), pp. 334–5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e1994src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2000"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2000src">3</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 364. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2000src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2008"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2008src">4</a></span> <i>Indo-China and its Primitive People</i>, London (trans.), p. 192. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2008src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2016"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2016src">5</a></span> <i>Hawaiian Mythology</i>, p. 257. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2016src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2023"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2023src">6</a></span> <i>Buddhist India</i>, pp. 222–3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2023src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2027"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2027src">7</a></span> <i>Manual of Indian Buddhism</i>, pp. 593 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2027src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2045"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2045src">8</a></span> <i>Iliad</i>, Book XII (Lang’s, Leaf’s, and Dyer’s Trans.), p. 236. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2045src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2057"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2057src">9</a></span> <i>The Natural History of Animals</i> (Gresham, London), Vol. III, p. 176 and pp. 46 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2057src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2062"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2062src">10</a></span> Budge, <i>The Gods of the Egyptians</i>, Vol. I, p. 481. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2062src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2073"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2073src">11</a></span> <span class="corr" id="xd31e2074" title="Source: Chavanne’s">Chavannes’</span> <i lang="fr">Contes et Apologues</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2073src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2085"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2085src">12</a></span> <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 314–5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2085src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2092"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2092src">13</a></span> <span class="corr" id="xd31e2093" title="Source: Laufers">Laufer</span>, <i>The Diamond: a study in Chinese and Hellenistic Folk-lore</i>, p. 7 (Chicago, 1915). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2092src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2104"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2104src">14</a></span> <i>Açwamedha Parva</i>, Section XC, Sloka 5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2104src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2108"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2108src">15</a></span> Budge, <i>Gods of the Egyptians</i>, Vol. II, p. 107. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2108src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2116"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2116src">16</a></span> <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, p. 120. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2116src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2120"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2120src">17</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 62. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2120src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2126"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2126src">18</a></span> <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, G. Elliot Smith, pp. 83 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2126src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2135"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2135src">19</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 130. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2135src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2142"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2142src">20</a></span> Westervelt’s <i>Legends of Gods and Ghosts</i>, p. 258. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2142src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2149"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2149src">21</a></span> <i>Buddhist India</i>, pp. 224–5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2149src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch7" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e291">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VII</h2> -<h2 class="main">Dragon Folk-stories</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">How Fish became Chinese Dragons—Fish forms of Teutonic and Celtic Gods—Dragon-slayers -eat Dragons’ Hearts—The “Language of Birds”—Heart as Seat of Intelligence—Babylonian -Dragon-Kupu—Polynesian Dragon-Kupua—Dragons and Medicinal Herbs—Story of Chinese Herbalist -and “Red Cloud Herb”—“Boy Blue” and Red Carp as Forms of Black Dragon—Ignis Fatuus -as “Dragon Lanterns”—“Heart Fire”—Story of Priest and Dragon-woman—The “Fire Nail” -in Japan and Polynesia—The “Faith Cure” in Japan—The Magic Rush-mat—Grave Reed-mats, -Skins, and Linen Wrappings—The Ephod—Melusina in Far East—Story of Wu and the Thunder -Dragon.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In Chinese and Japanese folk-stories the dragons have fish forms or avatars. They -may be eels, carps, or migratory fish like the salmon. It is believed that those fish -that ascend a river’s “dragon gate” become dragons, while those that remain behind -continue to be fish. Dragons are closely associated with waterfalls. They haunt in -one or other of their forms the deep pools below them. -</p> -<p>In western European stories, dragons and gods of fire and water assume the forms of -fish, and hide themselves in pools. Loki of Icelandic legend has a salmon form. When -the gods pursue him, he hides in Franang’s stream, or “under the waters of a cascade -called Franangurfors”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2168src" href="#xd31e2168">1</a> After he is caught and bound, Loki is tortured by a serpent. When he twists his body -violently, earthquakes are caused. He is closely associated with <span class="pageNum" id="pb77">[<a href="#pb77">77</a>]</span>the “dragon-woman”, and is the father of monsters, including the moon-swallowing wolf-dragon. -</p> -<p>Andvari, the guardian of Nibelung treasure, has a pike form.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2177src" href="#xd31e2177">2</a> -</p> -<p>In Gaelic legend the salmon is the source of wisdom and of the power to foretell events. -Finn (Fionn) tastes of the “Salmon of Knowledge” when it is being cooked, and immediately -becomes a seer. Michael Scott, in like manner, derives wisdom from the “juices” of -the white snake. The salmon is, in Gaelic, a form of the dragon. The dragon of Lough -Bel Séad<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2183src" href="#xd31e2183">3</a> (Lake of the Jewel Mouth), in Ireland, was caught “in the shape of a salmon”. -</p> -<p>Sigurd, the dragon-slayer of Norse Icelandic stories, eats the dragon’s heart, and -at once understands the language of birds. So does Siegfried of Germanic romance. -The birds know the secrets of the gods. They are themselves forms of the gods. Apollonius -of Tyana acquired wisdom by eating the hearts of dragons in Arabia. -</p> -<p>In ancient Egypt the heart was not only the seat of life, but the mind, and therefore -the source of “words of power”. The Hebrews and many other peoples used “heart” when -they wrote of “mind”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2195src" href="#xd31e2195">4</a> Ptah, god of Memphis, was the “heart” (mind) of the gods. The “heart” fashioned the -gods. Everything that is came into existence by the thought of the “heart” (mind). -</p> -<p>The Egyptian belief about the power of the “heart” (the source of magic knowledge, -and healing, and creative power) lies behind the stories regarding heroes eating dragons’ -hearts. In an Egyptian folk-tale the dragon-slayer <span class="pageNum" id="pb78">[<a href="#pb78">78</a>]</span>does not eat the heart of the reptile god, but gets possession of a book of spells, -and, on reading these, acquires knowledge of the languages of all animals, including -fish and birds.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2204src" href="#xd31e2204">5</a> -</p> -<p>When, however, we investigate the dragon beliefs of ancient Babylonia, we meet with -a reference to the Ku-pu as the source of divine power and wisdom. After Merodach -(Marduk) the dragon-slayer kills Tiamat, the “mother dragon”, a form of the mother-goddess, -he “divides the flesh of the Ku-pu, and devises a cunning plan”. As the late Mr. Leonard -W. King pointed out,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2210src" href="#xd31e2210">6</a> Ku-pu is a word of uncertain meaning. It did not signify the heart, because it had -been previously stated in the text that Merodach <i>severed her inward parts, he pierced her heart</i>. -</p> -<p>Jensen has suggested that Ku-pu signifies “trunk, body”. It is more probable that -the Ku-pu was the seat of the soul, mind, and magical power; the power that enabled -the slain reptile to come to life again in another form.<a class="noteRef" id="n78.3src" href="#n78.3">7</a> -</p> -<p>It may be that a clue is afforded in this connection by the Polynesian idea of Kupua. -Mr. Westervelt, who has carefully recorded what he has found, writes regarding the -Mo-o (dragons) of the Hawaiians: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Mighty eels, immense sea turtles, large fish of the ocean, fierce sharks, were all -called mo-o. The most ancient dragons of the Hawaiians are spoken of as living in -pools or lakes. These <span class="pageNum" id="pb79">[<a href="#pb79">79</a>]</span>dragons were known also as Kupuas, or mysterious characters, who could appear as animals, -or human beings, according to their wish. The saying was, ‘Kupuas have a strange double -body!’ ”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The Polynesian beliefs connected with the Kupuas are highly suggestive. Mr. Westervelt -continues: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“It was sometimes thought that at birth another natural form was added, such as an -egg of a fowl or a bird, or the seed of a plant, or the embryo of some animal which, -when fully developed, made a form which could be used as readily as the human body. -These Kupuas were always given some great magic power. They were wonderfully strong, -and wise, and skilful. -</p> -<p>“Usually the birth of a Kupua, like the birth of a high chief, was attended with strange -disturbances in the heavens, such as reverberating thunder, flashing lightning, and -severe storms which sent the abundant red soil of the islands down the mountain-sides -in blood-red torrents, known as ka-ua-koko (the blood rain). The name was also given -to misty, fine rain when shot through by the red waves of the sun.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>All the dragons of Hawaii were descended from Mo-o-inanea (the self-reliant dragon), -a mother-goddess. She had a dual nature, “sometimes appearing as a dragon, sometimes -as a woman”. Hawaiian dragons also assumed the forms of large stones, some of which -were associated with groves of hau trees; on these stones ferns and flowers were laid -and referred to as “kupuas”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2239src" href="#xd31e2239">8</a> -</p> -<p>In China the dragon’s kupua (to use the Polynesian term) figures in various stories. -We meet with the “Red Cloud herb”, or the “Dragon Cloud herb”, which cures diseases. -It is the gift of the dragon, and apparently a dragon kupua. Other curative herbs -are the “dragon-whisker’s herb” and the “dragon’s liver”, a species of gentian, which -is in Japan a badge of the Minamoto family. The “dragon’s spittle” had curative qualities, -<span class="pageNum" id="pb80">[<a href="#pb80">80</a>]</span>the essence of life being in the body moisture of a deity. The pearl, which the dragon -spits out, has, or is, “soul substance”. The plum tree was in China connected with -the dragon. A story tells that once a dragon was punished by having its ears cut off. -Its blood fell on the ground, and a plum tree sprang up; it bore fleshy fruit without -kernels.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2247src" href="#xd31e2247">9</a> When in an ancient Egyptian story the blood of the Bata bull falls to the ground -two trees containing his soul-forms grow in a night.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2255src" href="#xd31e2255">10</a> -</p> -<p>A Chinese “Boy Blue” story deals with the search made by Wang Shuh, a herbalist, for -the Red Cloud herb. He followed the course of a mountain stream on a hot summer day, -and at noon sat down to rest and eat rice below shady trees beside the deep pool of -a waterfall. As he lay on the bank, gazing into the water, he was astonished to see -in its depths a blue boy, about a foot in height, with a blue rush in his hand, riding -on the back of a red carp, without disturbing the fish, which darted hither and thither. -In time the pair came to the surface, and, rising into the air, turned towards the -east. Then they went swiftly in the direction of a bank of cloud that was creeping -across the blue sky, and vanished from sight. -</p> -<p>The herbalist continued to ascend the mountain, searching for the herb, and when he -reached the summit was surprised to find that the sky had become completely overcast. -Great masses of black and yellow clouds had risen over the Eastern Sea, and a thunder-storm -was threatening. Wang Shuh then realized that the blue boy he had seen riding on the -back of the red carp was no other than the thunder-dragon. He peered at <span class="pageNum" id="pb81">[<a href="#pb81">81</a>]</span>the clouds, and perceived that the boy and the carp<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2264src" href="#xd31e2264">11</a> had been transformed into a black <i>kiao</i> (scaled dragon). He was greatly alarmed, and concealed himself in a hollow tree. -</p> -<p>Soon the storm burst forth in all its fury. The herbalist trembled to hear the voice -of the black thunder-dragon and to catch glimpses of his fiery tongue as he spat out -flashes of lightning. Rain fell in torrents, and the mountain stream was heavily swollen, -and roared down the steep valley. Wang Shuh feared that each moment would be his last. -</p> -<p>In time, however, the storm ceased and the sky cleared. Wang Shuh then crept forth -from his hiding-place, thankful to be still alive, although he had seen the dragon. -He at once set out to return by the way he had come. When he drew near to the waterfall -he was greatly astonished to hear the sound of sweet humming music. Peering through -the branches of the trees, he beheld the little blue boy riding on the back of the -red carp, returning from the east and settling down on the surface of the pool. Soon -the boy was carried into the depths and past the playful fish again. -</p> -<p>Struck with fear, the herbalist was for a time unable to move. When at length he had -summoned sufficient strength and courage to go forward, he found that the boy and -the carp had vanished completely. Then he perceived that the Red Cloud herb, for which -he had been searching, had sprung up on the very edge of the swirling water. Stooping, -he plucked it greedily. As soon as he had done so, he went scampering down the side -of the mountain. On reaching the village, Wang told his friends the wonderful story -of his adventure and discovery. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p081width" id="p081"><img src="images/p081.jpg" alt="CARP LEAPING FROM WAVES" width="349" height="720"><p class="figureHead">CARP LEAPING FROM WAVES</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Japanese painting in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb82">[<a href="#pb82">82</a>]</span></p> -<p>Now it happened that the Emperor’s daughter—a very beautiful girl—was lying ill in -the royal palace. The Court physicians had endeavoured in vain to restore her to health. -Hearing of Wang Shuh’s discovery of the Red Cloud herb, the Emperor sent out for him. -On reaching the palace, the herbalist was addressed by the Emperor himself, who said: -“Is it true, as men tell, that you have seen the black <i>kiao</i> in the form of a little blue boy riding on a red carp?” -</p> -<p>“It is indeed true,” Wang Shuh made answer. -</p> -<p>“And is it true that you have found the dragon herb that sprang up during the thunder-storm?” -</p> -<p>“I have brought the herb with me, Your Majesty.” -</p> -<p>“Mayhap,” the Emperor said, “it will give healing to my daughter.” -</p> -<p>Wang Shuh at once made offer of the herb, and the Emperor led him to the room in which -the sick princess lay. The herb had a sweet odour,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2290src" href="#xd31e2290">12</a> and Wang Shuh plucked a leaf and gave it to the lady to smell. She at once showed -signs of reviving, and this was regarded as a good omen. Wang Shuh then made a medicine -from the herb, and when the princess had partaken of it, she grew well and strong -again. -</p> -<p>The Emperor rewarded Wang Shuh by appointing him his chief physician. Thus the herbalist -became a great and influential man. -</p> -<p>To few mortals comes the privilege of setting eyes on a dragon, and to fewer is the -vision followed by good fortune. -</p> -<p>In this quaint story the Red Cloud herb is evidently <span class="pageNum" id="pb83">[<a href="#pb83">83</a>]</span>a kupua of the thunder-dragon. It had “soul substance” (the vital essence). Another -kupua or avatar was the carp. -</p> -<p>In China and Japan there are references in dragon stories to pine trees being forms -assumed by dragons. The connection between the tree and dragon is emphasized by the -explanation that when a pine becomes very old it is covered with scales of bark, and -ultimately changes into a dragon. By night “dragon lanterns” (ignis fatuus) are seen -on pine trees in marshy places, and on the masts of ships at sea. -</p> -<p>The pine trees at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines are said to be regularly illuminated -by these “supernatural” lights. The “lanterns” are supposed to come from the sea. -Japanese stories tell that when a lantern appears on a pine, a little boy, known as -the “Heavenly Boy”, is to be seen sitting on the topmost branch. Some lights were -supposed to be the souls of holy men. In Gaelic stories are told about little men -being seen in these wandering lights. -</p> -<p>There is an evil form of the fire which is supposed to rise from the blood of a suicide -or of a murderer’s victim. The “heart fire” (the “vital spark”) in the blood is supposed -to rise as a flame from the ground. A similar superstition prevailed in England. If -lights made their appearance above a prison on the night before the arrival of the -judges of assize, the omen was regarded as a fatal one for the prisoners. The belief -is widespread in the British Isles that lights (usually greenish lights) appear before -a sudden death takes place. -</p> -<p>Wandering lights seen on mountains were supposed by the Chinese and Japanese to be -caused by dragons. A Japanese legend associates them with a dragon woman, named Zennyo, -who appears to have the attributes of a <span class="pageNum" id="pb84">[<a href="#pb84">84</a>]</span>fire-goddess. It is told regarding a Buddhist priest who lived beside a dragon hole -on Mount Murōbu. One day, as he was about to cross a river, a lady wearing rich and -dazzling attire came up to him and made request for a magic charm he possessed. She -spoke with averted face, telling who she was. The priest repeated the charm to her -and then said: “Permit me to look upon your face”. -</p> -<p>Said the dragon woman: “It is very terrible to behold. No man dare gaze on my face. -But I cannot refuse your request.” -</p> -<p>The priest had his curiosity satisfied, but apparently without coming to harm. Priestly -prestige was maintained by stories of this kind. -</p> -<p>As soon as the priest looked in her face the dragon woman rose in the air, and stretched -out the small finger of her right hand. It was not, however, of human shape, but a -claw that suddenly extended a great length and flashed lights of five colours. The -“five colours” indicate that the woman was a deity. Kwan Chung, in his work <i>Kwantsze</i>, says: “A dragon in the water covers himself with five colours. <i>Therefore, he is a god (shin).</i>”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2317src" href="#xd31e2317">13</a> -</p> -<p>The “fire nail” figures prominently in Polynesian mythology. In the legend of Maui, -that hero-god goes to the old woman (the goddess), his grandmother, to obtain fire -for mankind. “Then the aged woman pulled out her nail; and as she pulled it out fire -flowed from it, and she gave it to him. And when Maui saw she had drawn out her nail -to produce fire for him, he thought it a most wonderful thing.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2326src" href="#xd31e2326">14</a> -</p> -<p>The reference in the Japanese story to the averted face of the dragon woman may be -connected with the ancient belief that the mortal who looked in the face of <span class="pageNum" id="pb85">[<a href="#pb85">85</a>]</span>a deity was either shrivelled up or transformed into stone, as happened in the case -of those who fixed their eyes upon the face of Medusa. Goddesses like the Egyptian -Neith were “veiled”. A Japanese legend tells of a dragon woman who appeared as a woman -with a malicious white face. She laughed loudly, displaying black teeth. She was often -seen on a bridge, binding up her hair.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2334src" href="#xd31e2334">15</a> Apparently she was a variety of the mermaid family, and this may explain the reference -to her being “one legged”. The people scared her away by forming a torch-light procession -and advancing towards her. Dragons were sometimes expelled by means of fire. In Europe, -bonfires were lit when certain “ceremonies of riddance” were performed. -</p> -<p>British mermaids are credited, in the folk-tales, with providing cures for various -diseases, and especially herbs,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2341src" href="#xd31e2341">16</a> and in this connection they link with the dragon wives of China and Japan. Some dragon -women lived for a time among human beings as do swan-maidens, nereids, mermaids, and -fairies in the stories of various lands. -</p> -<p>A Japanese legend tells of an elderly and mysterious woman who had the power to cure -any ill that flesh is heir to. When a patient called, she listened attentively to -what was told her. Then she retired to a secret chamber, sat down and placed a rush -mat<a class="noteRef" id="n85.3src" href="#n85.3">17</a> on her head. <span class="pageNum" id="pb86">[<a href="#pb86">86</a>]</span>After sitting alone for a time (apparently engaged in working a magic spell) she left -the chamber and returned to the patient. She recommended the “faith cure”. Making -the pretence that she was handing over a medicine, she said: “Believe that I have -given you medicine. Now, go away. Each day you must sit down and imagine that you -are taking my medicine. Come back to me in seven days’ time.” Those who faithfully -carried out her instructions are said to have been cured. Large numbers visited her -daily. -</p> -<p>It was suspected that this woman was possessed by the spirit of a water-demon. A watch -was set upon her, and one night she was seen going from her house to a well in which, -during the day, she often washed her head while being consulted by patients. Those -who watched her told that she remained in human shape for a little time. Then she -transformed herself into a white mist and entered the well. Protective charms were -recited, and she never returned. For many years afterwards, however, her house was -haunted. -</p> -<p>De Groot relates a story about one of the wives of an Emperor of China who practised -magic by means of reptiles and insects. Her object was to have her son selected as -crown prince. She was detected, and she and her son were imprisoned. Both became dragons -before they died. -</p> -<p>Dragons sometimes appear in the stories in the rôle of demon lovers. A Japanese legend -tells of two boys who were the children of a man and a dragon woman. In time they -changed into dragons and flew away. The <span class="pageNum" id="pb87">[<a href="#pb87">87</a>]</span>woman herself came to her lover in the shape of a snake, and then transformed herself -into a beautiful maiden. -</p> -<p>This is a version of a very widespread story, found in the Old and New World, which -was possibly distributed by ancient mariners and traders. Its most familiar form is -the French legend of Melusina, the serpent woman, who became the wife of Raymond of -Poitou, and the mother of his disfigured children.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2369src" href="#xd31e2369">18</a> -</p> -<p>A Chinese legend of the Melusina order deals with the fall of the Hea Dynasty. A case -of dragon foam which had been kept in the royal palace during three dynasties was -one day opened, and there issued forth a dragon in the form of a black lizard. It -touched a young virgin, who became the mother of a girl whom she bore in secret and -abandoned in a wood. It chanced that a poor man and his wife, who were childless, -hearing the cries of the babe, took her to their house, where they cared for her tenderly. -But the magicians came to know of the dragon’s daughter, of whom it had been prophesied -that she would destroy the dynasty. Search was made for the child, and the foster-parents -fled with her to the land of Pao. They presented her to the king of the land, and -she grew up to be a beautiful maid who was called Pao Sze. The king loved her dearly, -and when she gave birth to a son, he made her his queen, degrading Queen Chen and -her son, the crown prince. Poh Fuh, the son of the dragon woman, then became crown -prince instead. -</p> -<p>Now Pao Sze, although very beautiful, was always sad of countenance. She never smiled. -The king did everything in his power to make her smile and laugh. But his efforts -were in vain. -</p> -<p>“Fain would I hear you laugh,” said he. -</p> -<p>But she only sighed and said: “Ask me not to laugh.” -<span class="pageNum" id="pb88">[<a href="#pb88">88</a>]</span></p> -<p>One day the king, in his endeavours to break the spell of sadness that bound his beautiful -queen, arranged that his lords should enter the palace and declare that an enemy army -was at hand, and that the life of the king was in peril. -</p> -<p>This they did. The king was at the time making merry when his lords entered suddenly -and said: “Your Majesty, the enemy have come, while you sit making merry, and they -are resolved to slay you.” -</p> -<p>The king’s sudden change of countenance made the dragon woman laugh. His Majesty was -well pleased. -</p> -<p>Then, as it chanced, the enemy came indeed. But when the alarm was raised, the lords -thought it was a false one. The army took possession of the city, entered the palace, -and slew the king. Pao Sze was taken prisoner, because of her fatal beauty; but she -brought no joy to her captor and transformed herself into a dragon, departing suddenly -and causing a thunder-storm to rage. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p088width" id="p088"><img src="images/p088.jpg" alt="CHINESE PORCELAIN VASE DECORATED WITH FIVE-CLAWED DRAGONS RISING FROM WAVES" width="426" height="720"><p class="figureHead">CHINESE PORCELAIN VASE DECORATED WITH FIVE-CLAWED DRAGONS RISING FROM WAVES</p> -<p class="first">(<i>Victoria and Albert Museum</i>)</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>To those who win their favour, the dragons are preservers even when they come forth -as destroyers. The story is told of how Wu, the son of a farmer named Yin, won the -favour of a dragon and rose to be a great man in China. When he was a boy of thirteen, -he was sitting one day at the garden gate, looking across the plain which is watered -by a winding river that flows from the mountains. He was a silent, dreamy boy, who -had been brought up by his grandmother, his mother having died when he was very young, -and it was his habit thus to sit in silence, thinking and observing things. Along -the highway came a handsome youth riding a white horse. He was clad in yellow garments -and seemed to be of high birth. Four man-servants accompanied him, and one held an -umbrella to shield him from the sun’s bright <span class="pageNum" id="pb89">[<a href="#pb89">89</a>]</span>rays. The youth drew up his horse at the gate and, addressing Wu, said: “Son of Yin, -I am weary. May I enter your father’s house and rest a little time?” -</p> -<p>The boy bowed and said: “Enter.” -</p> -<p>Yin then came forward and opened the gate. The noble youth dismounted and sat on a -seat in the court, while his servants tethered the horse. The farmer chatted with -his visitor, and Wu gazed at them in silence. Food was brought, and when the meal -was finished, the youth thanked him for his hospitality and walked across the courtyard. -Wu noticed that before one of the servants passed through the gate, he turned the -umbrella upside down. When the youth had mounted his horse, he turned to the silent, -observant boy and said: “I shall come again to-morrow.” -</p> -<p>Wu bowed and answered: “Come!” -</p> -<p>The strangers rode away, and Wu sat watching them until they had vanished from sight. -</p> -<p>When evening came on, the farmer spoke to his son regarding the visitors, and said: -“The noble youth knew my name and yet I have never set eyes on him before.” -</p> -<p>Wu was silent for a time. Then he said: “I cannot say who the youth is or who his -attendants are.” -</p> -<p>“You watched them very closely, my son. Did you note anything peculiar about them?” -</p> -<p>Said Wu: “There were no seams in their clothing; the white horse had spots of five -colours and scaly armour instead of hair. The hoofs of the horse and the feet of the -strangers did not touch the ground.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2407src" href="#xd31e2407">19</a> -</p> -<p>Yin rose up with agitation and exclaimed: “Then they are not human beings, but spirits.” -<span class="pageNum" id="pb90">[<a href="#pb90">90</a>]</span></p> -<p>Said Wu: “I watched them as they went westward. Rain-clouds were gathering on the -horizon, and when they were a great distance off they all rose in the air and vanished -in the clouds.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2417src" href="#xd31e2417">20</a> -</p> -<p>Yin was greatly alarmed to hear this, and said: “I must ask your grandmother what -she thinks of this strange happening.” -</p> -<p>The old woman was fast asleep, and as she had grown very deaf it was difficult to -awaken her. When at length she was thoroughly roused, and sat up with head and hands -trembling with palsy,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2424src" href="#xd31e2424">21</a> Yin repeated to her in a loud voice all that Wu had told him. -</p> -<p>Said the woman: “The horse, spotted with five colours, and with scaly armour instead -of hair, is a dragon-horse. When spirits appear before human beings they wear magic -garments. That is why the clothing of your visitors had no seams. Spirits tread on -air. As these spirits went westward, they rose higher and higher in the air, going -towards the rain-clouds. The youth was the Yellow Dragon. He is to raise a storm, -and as he had four followers, the storm will be a great one. May no evil befall us.” -</p> -<p>Then Yin told the old woman that one of the strangers had turned the umbrella upside -down before passing through the garden gate. “That is a good omen,” she said. Then -she lay down and closed her eyes. “I have need of sleep,” she murmured; “I am very -old.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2430src" href="#xd31e2430">22</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb91">[<a href="#pb91">91</a>]</span></p> -<p>Heavy masses of clouds were by this time gathering in the sky, and Yin decided to -sit up all night. Wu asked to be permitted to do the same, and his father consented. -Then the boy lit a yellow lantern, put on a yellow robe that his grandmother had made -for him, burned incense, and sat down reading charms from an old yellow book.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2436src" href="#xd31e2436">23</a> -</p> -<p>The storm burst forth in fury just when dawn was breaking dimly. Wu then closed his -yellow book and went to a window. The thunder bellowed, the lightning flamed, and -the rain fell in torrents, and swollen streams poured down from the mountains. Soon -the river rose in flood and swept across the fields. Cattle gathered in groups on -shrinking mounds that had become islands surrounded by raging water. -</p> -<p>Yin feared greatly that the house would be swept away, and wished he had fled to the -mountains. -</p> -<p>At night the cottage was entirely surrounded by the flood. Trees were cast down and -swept away. “We cannot escape now,” groaned Yin. -</p> -<p>Wu sat in silence, displaying no signs of emotion. “What do you think of it all?” -his father asked. -</p> -<p>Wu reminded him that one of the strangers had turned the umbrella upside down, and -added: “Before the dragon youth went away he spoke and said: ‘I shall come again to-morrow’.” -</p> -<p>“He has come indeed,” Yin groaned, and covered his face with his hands. -</p> -<p>Said Wu: “I have just seen the dragon. As I looked towards the sky he spread out his -great hood above our home. He is protecting us now.” -</p> -<p>“Alas! my son, you are dreaming.” -<span class="pageNum" id="pb92">[<a href="#pb92">92</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Listen, father, no rain falls on the roof.” -</p> -<p>Yin listened intently. Then he said: “You speak truly, my son. This is indeed a great -marvel.” -</p> -<p>“It was well,” said Wu, “that you welcomed the dragon yesterday.” -</p> -<p>“He spoke to you first, my son; and you answered, ‘Enter’. Ah, you have much wisdom. -You will become a great man.” -</p> -<p>The storm began to subside, and Wu prevailed upon his father to lie down and sleep.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2456src" href="#xd31e2456">24</a> -</p> -<p>Much damage had been done by storm and flood, and large numbers of human beings and -domesticated animals had perished. In the village, which was situated at the mouth -of the valley, only a few houses were left standing. -</p> -<p>The rain ceased to fall at midday. Then the sun came out and shone brightly, while -the waters began to retreat. -</p> -<p>Wu went outside and sat at the garden gate, as was his custom. In time he saw the -yellow youth returning from the west, accompanied by his four attendants. When he -came nigh, Wu bowed and the youth drew up his horse and spoke, saying: “I said I should -return to-day.” -</p> -<p>Wu bowed. -</p> -<p>“But this time I shall not enter the courtyard,” the youth added. -</p> -<p>“As you will,” Wu said reverently. -</p> -<p>The dragon youth then handed the boy a single scale which he had taken from the horse’s -neck, and said: “Keep this and I shall remember you.” -</p> -<p>Then he rode away and vanished from sight. -</p> -<p>The boy re-entered the house. He awoke his father <span class="pageNum" id="pb93">[<a href="#pb93">93</a>]</span>and said: “The storm is over and the dragon has returned to his pool.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2472src" href="#xd31e2472">25</a> -</p> -<p>Yin embraced his son, and together they went to inform the old woman. She awoke, sat -up, and listened to all that was said to her. When she learned that the dragon youth -had again appeared and had spoken to Wu, she asked: “Did he give you ought before -he departed?” -</p> -<p>Wu opened a small wooden box and showed her the scale that had been taken from the -neck of the dragon horse. -</p> -<p>The woman was well pleased, and said: “When the Emperor sends for you, all will be -well.” -</p> -<p>Yin was astonished to hear these words, and exclaimed: “Why should the Emperor send -for my boy?” -</p> -<p>“You shall see,” the old woman made answer as she lay down again. -</p> -<p>Before long the Emperor heard of the great marvel that had been worked in the flooded -valley. Men who had taken refuge on the mountains had observed that no rain fell on -Yin’s house during the storm. So His Majesty sent couriers to the valley, and these -bade Yin to accompany them to the palace, taking Wu with him. -</p> -<p>On being brought before the Emperor, Yin related everything that had taken place. -Then His Majesty asked to see the scale of the dragon horse. -</p> -<p>It was growing dusk when Wu opened the box, and the scale shone so brightly that it -illumined the throne-room so that it became as bright as at high noon. -</p> -<p>Said the Emperor: “Wu shall remain here and become one of my magicians. The yellow -dragon has imparted to him much power and wisdom.” -</p> -<p>Thus it came about that Wu attained high rank in <span class="pageNum" id="pb94">[<a href="#pb94">94</a>]</span>the kingdom. He found that great miracles could be worked with the scale of the dragon -horse. It cured disease, and it caused the Emperor’s army to win victories. Withal, -Wu was able to foretell events, and he became a renowned prophet and magician. -</p> -<p>The farmer’s son grew to be very rich and powerful. A great house was erected for -him close to the royal palace, and he took his grandmother and father to it, and there -they lived happily until the end of their days. -</p> -<p>Thus did Wu, son of Yin, become a great man, because of the favour shown to him by -the thunder-dragon, who had wrought great destruction in the river valley and taken -toll of many lives. -</p> -<p>It will be gathered from this story that the Chinese dragon is not always a “beneficent -deity”, as some writers put it. Like certain other gods, he is a destroyer and preserver -in one. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb95">[<a href="#pb95">95</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2168"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2168src">1</a></span> <i>Teutonic Myth and Legend</i>, p. 174 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2168src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2177"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2177src">2</a></span> <i>Teutonic Myth and Legend</i>, p. 286. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2177src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2183"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2183src">3</a></span> The Irish term <i>sed</i> (pronounced “shade”), the old form of which is <i>set</i>, signified a cow, a measure of value, property, and “a pearl, a precious stone, or -a gem of any kind”. Joyce, <i>Irish Names of Places</i>, p. 355 (Dublin, 1875). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2183src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2195"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2195src">4</a></span> Breasted, <i>A History of Egypt</i>, p. 357. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2195src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2204"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2204src">5</a></span> <i>Egyptian Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 341, 342. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2204src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2210"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2210src">6</a></span> <i>Seven Tablets of Creation.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2210src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n78.3"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n78.3src">7</a></span> The belief that the cat has nine lives may be cited, and also the belief that if an -eel or a serpent is cut in two it will come to life again. A Chinese dragon may revive -after being cut up and buried. The story is told in Japan of a man who killed a snake-dragon, -cut it into three pieces, and buried them, but thirteen years later, on the same day -of the year on which he slew the dragon, he cried out “I drink water,” choked, and -died. His death was caused by the dragon he had endeavoured to kill (de Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 195). The “Deathless Snake” in an ancient Egyptian story comes to life until -the severed parts are buried separately. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n78.3src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2239"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2239src">8</a></span> <i>Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology)</i>, pp. 256–7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2239src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2247"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2247src">9</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 127. See also the Egyptian Bata story<span class="corr" id="xd31e2250" title="Not in source">,</span> <i>Egyptian Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 49–56. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2247src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2255"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2255src">10</a></span> <i>Egyptian Myth and Legend</i>, p. 55. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2255src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2264"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2264src">11</a></span> The Dragon’s Kupuas. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2264src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2290"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2290src">12</a></span> The odour of the herb was the body odour of the dragon. It helped to restore vitality, -as did incense, when burned before an Egyptian mummy. Gods were similarly “fed” by -offerings of incense. The Babylonian Noah burned incense, and the gods smelt the sweet -savour. The gods gathered like flies about him that offered the sacrifice.—King, <i>Babylonian Religion</i>, p. 136. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2290src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2317"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2317src">13</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 63. Kwan Chung died in 645 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2317src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2326"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2326src">14</a></span> <i>Polynesian Mythology</i>, Sir George Grey, p. 33. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2326src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2334"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2334src">15</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 174. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2334src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2341"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2341src">16</a></span> A Galloway herbalist who was searching for herbs to cure a consumptive girl, named -May, saw a mermaid rising in the sea. According to the folk-story, the mermaid recommended -mugwort (southernwood) as a cure by singing: -</p> -<div class="q"> -<div class="nestedtext"> -<div class="nestedbody"> -<div class="lgouter footnote"> -<p class="line">Would you let bonnie May die in your hand, -</p> -<p class="line">And the mugwort flowering in the land?</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div><p></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n85.3"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n85.3src">17</a></span> Jade disks, decorated with the rush pattern, were in China images of Heaven and badges -of rank. The rain-dragon in human form carries in his right hand a blue rush. The -rush was connected with water—the water below the firmament and the water above the -firmament. Reeds were likewise connected with the deities. In Babylonia, priests had -visions in reed huts and the dead lay on reed mats. The reed and river-mud were used -by Marduk when he created man. Apparently, the reed was an <span class="pageNum" id="pb86n">[<a href="#pb86n">86</a>]</span>avatar of the water deity: it contained “soul substance”. Linen made from flax was -sacred and inspiring. It was wrapped round the dead, instead of animal skins, in pre-Dynastic -Egypt. The linen ephod was inspiring; like the “prophet’s mantle” it gave the wearer -power to foretell events. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n85.3src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2369"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2369src">18</a></span> S. Baring-Gould’s <i>Curious Myths of the Middle Ages</i>, pp. 471 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2369src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2407"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2407src">19</a></span> A similar belief regarding supernatural beings prevailed in India. See story of Nala -in <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2407src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2417"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2417src">20</a></span> The appearance of four servants (the gods of the four quarters) with the dragon-god, -indicates that the coming storm is to be one of exceptional violence. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2417src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2424"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2424src">21</a></span> The deep slumberer in a folk-tale is usually engaged “working a spell”. As will be -gathered from the story, the boy received his knowledge and power from his grandmother. -She resembles the Norse Vala and the Witch of Endor. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2424src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2430"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2430src">22</a></span> The Norse Vala makes similar complaint when awakened by Odin. It looks as if this -Chinese story is based on one about consulting a spirit of a “wise woman” who sleeps -in her tomb. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2430src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2436"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2436src">23</a></span> An interesting glimpse of the connection between colour symbolism and magic. Everything -is yellow because a yellow dragon is being invoked. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2436src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2456"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2456src">24</a></span> This sleep appears to be as necessary as that of the grandmother. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2456src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2472"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2472src">25</a></span> The latest spell had been worked, and it was not necessary that the father should -sleep any longer. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2472src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch8" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e301">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VIII</h2> -<h2 class="main">The Kingdom under the Sea</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">The Vanishing Island of Far-Eastern Dragon-god—Story of Priest who visited Underworld—Far-Eastern -Dragon as “Pearl Princess”—Her Human Lover—An Indian Parallel—Dragon Island in Ancient -Egyptian Story—The Osirian Underworld—Vanishing Island in Scotland and Fiji—Babylonian -Gem-tree Garden—Far-Eastern Quest of the Magic Sword—Parallels of Teutonic and Celtic -Legend—“Kusanagi Sword”, the Japanese “Excalibur”—City of the Far-Eastern Sea-god—Japanese -Vision of Gem-tree Garden—Weapon Demons—Star Spirits of Magic Swords—Swords that become -Dragons—Dragon Jewels—Dragon <span class="corr" id="xd31e2501" title="Source: Tranformations">Transformations</span>.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The palace of the dragon king is situated in the Underworld, which can be entered -through a deep mountain cave or a dragon-guarded well. In some of the Chinese stories -the dragon palace is located right below a remote island in the Eastern Sea. This -island is not easily approached, for on the calmest of days great billows dash against -its shelving crags. When the tide is high, it is entirely covered by water and hidden -from sight. Junks may then pass it or even sail over it, without their crews being -aware that they are nigh to the palace of the sea-god. -</p> -<p>Sometimes a red light burns above the island at night. It is seen many miles distant, -and its vivid rays may be reflected in the heavens. -</p> -<p>In a Japanese story the island is referred to as “a glowing red mass resembling the -rising sun”. No mariner dares to approach it. -</p> -<p>There was once a Chinese priest who, on a memorable <span class="pageNum" id="pb96">[<a href="#pb96">96</a>]</span>night, reached the dragon king’s palace by entering a deep cave on a mountain-side. -It was his pious desire to worship the dragon, and he went onward in the darkness, -reciting religious texts that gave him protection. The way was long and dark and difficult, -but at length, after travelling far, he saw a light in front of him. He walked towards -this light and emerged from the cavern to find that he was in the Underworld. Above -him was a clear blue firmament lit by the night sun. He beheld a beautiful palace -in the midst of a garden that glittered with gems and flowers, and directed his steps -towards it. He reached a window the curtain of which rustled in the wind. He perceived -that it was a mass of gleaming pearls. Peering behind it, as it moved, he beheld a -table formed of jewels. On this table lay a book of Buddhist prayers (sutras). -</p> -<p>As he gazed with wonder and reverence, the priest heard a voice that spake and said: -“Who hath come nigh and why hath he come?” -</p> -<p>The priest answered in a low voice, giving his name, and expressing his desire to -behold the dragon king, whom he desired to worship. -</p> -<p>Then the voice made answer: “Here no human eye can look upon me. Return by the way -thou hast come, and I shall appear before thee at a distance from the cavern mouth.” -</p> -<p>The priest made obeisance, and returned to the world of men by the way he had come. -He went to the spot that the voice had indicated, and there he waited, reading sacred -texts. Soon the earth yawned and the dragon king arose in human shape, wearing a red -hat and garment. The priest worshipped him, and then the dragon vanished from sight. -On that sacred spot a temple was afterwards erected. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p096width" id="p096"><img src="images/p096.jpg" alt="RESONANT STONE OF JADE SHOWING DRAGON WITH CLOUD ORNAMENTS, SUSPENDED FROM CARVED BLACKWOOD FRAME" width="439" height="720"><p class="figureHead">RESONANT STONE OF JADE SHOWING DRAGON WITH CLOUD ORNAMENTS, SUSPENDED FROM CARVED -BLACKWOOD FRAME</p> -<p class="first">A fine specimen of the glyptic art of the Kʼien-lung period. The symbols include the -peach of longevity, the swashtika, the luck bat, the fungus of immortality, &c. These -combined signify, “May numberless years and luck come to an end only at old age.” -</p> -<p><i>By courtesy of B. Laufer, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago</i></p> -</div><p> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb97">[<a href="#pb97">97</a>]</span></p> -<p>Once upon a time the daughter of the dragon king, who was named “Abundant Pearl Princess”, -fell in love with a comely youth of Japan. He was sitting, on a calm summer day, beneath -a holy tree, and his image was reflected in a dragon well. The princess appeared before -him and cast a love spell over his heart. The youth was enchanted by her beauty, and -she led him towards the palace of the dragon king, the “Abundant Pearl Prince”. There -she married him, and they lived together for three years. Then the youth was possessed -by a desire to return to the world of men. In vain the princess pleaded with him to -remain in the palace. When, however, she found that his heart was set on leaving the -kingdom of the Underworld, she resolved to accompany him. He was conveyed across the -sea on the back of a <i>wani</i> (a dragon in crocodile shape). The princess accompanied him, and he built a house -for her on the seashore. -</p> -<p>The “Abundant Pearl Princess” was about to become a mother, and she made the youth -promise not to look upon her until after her child was born. But he broke his vow. -Overcome with curiosity, he peered into her chamber and saw that his wife had assumed -the shape of a dragon. As soon as the child was born, the princess departed in anger -and was never again beheld by her husband. -</p> -<p>This story, it will be noted, is another Far-Eastern version of the Melusina legend. -</p> -<p>An Indian version of the tale relates that the hero was a sailor, the sole survivor -from a wreck, who swam to a small island in the midst of the sea. When he reached -the shore, he set out to look for food, but found that the trees and shrubs, which -dazzled him with their beauty, bore beautiful gems instead of fruit. At length, however, -he found a fruit-bearing tree. He ate and was <span class="pageNum" id="pb98">[<a href="#pb98">98</a>]</span>well content. Then he sat down beside a well. As he stooped to drink of its waters, -he had a vision of the Underworld in all its beauty. At the bottom of the well sat -a fair sea-maid, who looked upwards with eyes of love and beckoned him towards her. -He plunged into the well and found himself in the radiant Kingdom of Ocean. The maid -was the queen, and she took him as her consort. She promised him great wealth, but -forbade him to touch the statue of an Apsara<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2534src" href="#xd31e2534">1</a>, which was of gold and adorned with gems. But one day he placed his hand on the right -foot of the image. The foot darted forth and struck him with such force that he was -driven through the sea and washed ashore on his native coast.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2537src" href="#xd31e2537">2</a> -</p> -<p>The oldest version of this type of story comes from Egypt. It has been preserved in -a papyrus in the Hermitage collection at Petrograd, and is usually referred to as -of Twelfth Dynasty origin (<i>c.</i> 2000 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>). A sailor relates that he was the sole survivor from a wreck. He had seized a piece -of wood and swam to an island. After he recovered from exhaustion, he set out to search -for food. “I found there figs and grapes, all manner of good herbs, berries and grain, -melons of all kinds, fishes and birds.” In time, he heard a noise “as of thunder”, -while “the trees shook and the earth was moved”. The ruler of the island drew nigh. -He was a human-headed serpent “thirty cubits long, and his beard greater than two -cubits; his body was as overlaid with gold, and his colour as that of true lapis-lazuli”. -</p> -<p>The story proceeds to tell that the sailor becomes the guest of the serpent, who makes -speeches to him and introduces him to his family. It is stated that the island “has -risen from the waves and will sink again”. After <span class="pageNum" id="pb99">[<a href="#pb99">99</a>]</span>a time the sailor is rescued by a passing vessel.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2553src" href="#xd31e2553">3</a> This ancient Egyptian tale links with the Indian and Chinese versions given above. -The blue serpent resembles closely the Chinese dragon; the vanishing island is common -to Egypt and China. Like much else that came from Egypt, the island has a history. -Long before the ancient mariners transferred it to the ocean, it figured in the fused -mythology of the Solar and Osirian cults. Horus hid from Set on a green floating island -on the Nile. He was protected by a serpent deity. His father, Osiris, is Judge and -Ruler of the Underworld, and has a serpent shape as the Nile god and the dragon of -the abyss. The red light associated with the Chinese dragon island of ocean recalls -the Red Horus, a form of the sun-god, rising from the Nile of the Underworld, on which -floated the green nocturnal sun, “the green bed of Horus” and a form of his father -Osiris as the solar deity of night. -</p> -<p>The Osirian underworld idea appears to have given origin to the widespread stories -found as far apart as Japan and the British Isles regarding “Land-under-Waves” and -“the Kingdom of the Sea”. The green floating island of Paradise is referred to in -Scottish Gaelic folk-tales. In Fiji the natives tell of a floating island that vanishes -when men approach it.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2560src" href="#xd31e2560">4</a> -</p> -<p>In some Chinese legends Egyptian conceptions blend with those of Babylonia. The Chinese -priest who, in the dragon-king story, reached the Underworld through a deep cave, -followed in the footsteps of Gilgamesh, who went in search of the “Plant of Life”—the -herb that causes man “to renew his youth like the eagle”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2566src" href="#xd31e2566">5</a> Gilgamesh <span class="pageNum" id="pb100">[<a href="#pb100">100</a>]</span>entered the cave of the Mountain of Mashi (Sunset Hill), and after passing through -its night-black depths, reached the seaside garden in which, as on the island in the -Indian story, the trees bore, instead of fruit and flowers, clusters of precious stones. -He beheld in the midst of this garden of dazzling splendour the palace of Sabitu, -the goddess, who instructed him how to reach the island on which lived his ancestor -Pir-naphishtum (Ut-napishtim). Gilgamesh was originally a god, the earlier Gishbilgames -of Sumerian texts.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2573src" href="#xd31e2573">6</a> -</p> -<p>The Indian Hanuman (the monkey-god) similarly enters a deep cave when he goes forth -as a spy to Lanka, the dwelling-place of Ravana, the demon who carried away Sita, -wife of Rama, the hero of the <i><span class="corr" id="xd31e2581" title="Source: Ramáyana">Rámáyana</span></i>. A similar story is told in the mythical history of Alexander the Great. There are -also western European legends of like character. Hercules searches for the golden -apples that grow in the Hesperian gardens.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2584src" href="#xd31e2584">7</a> In some Far Eastern stories the hero searches for a sword instead of an herb. “Every -weapon,” declares an old Gaelic saying, “has its demon.” The same belief prevailed -in China, where dragons sometimes appeared in the form of weapons, and in India, where -the spirits of celestial weapons appeared before heroes like Arjuna and Rama.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2590src" href="#xd31e2590">8</a> In the Teutonic Balder story, as related by Saxo Grammaticus,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2594src" href="#xd31e2594">9</a> the hero is slain by a sword taken from the Underworld, where it was kept by Miming -(Mimer), the god, in an Underworld cave. Hother, who gains possession of it, goes -by a road “hard for mortal man to travel”. -</p> -<p>In the Norse version the sword becomes an herb—the mistletoe, a “cure-all”, like the -Chinese dragon herb and <span class="pageNum" id="pb101">[<a href="#pb101">101</a>]</span>the Babylonian “Plant of Life”. <i>Excalibur</i>, the sword of King Arthur, was obtained from the lake-goddess (a British “Naga”), -and was flung back into the lake before he died: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">So flashed and fell the brand Excalibur: -</p> -<p class="line">But ere he dipped the surface, rose an arm -</p> -<p class="line">Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful, -</p> -<p class="line">And caught him by the hilt, and brandished him -</p> -<p class="line">Three times, and drew him under in the mere.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2611src" href="#xd31e2611">10</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">The Japanese story of the famous Kusanagi sword is a Far-Eastern link between the -Celestial herb- and weapon-legends of Asia and Europe. It tells that this magic sword -was one of the three treasures possessed by the imperial family of Japan, and that -the warrior who wielded it could put to flight an entire army. At a naval battle the -sword was worn by the boy-Emperor, Antoku Tennō. He was unable to make use of it, -and when the enemy were seen to be victorious, the boy’s grandmother, Nu-no-ama, clutched -him in her arms and leapt into the sea. -</p> -<p>Many long years afterwards, when the Emperor Go Shirakawa sat on the imperial throne, -his barbarian enemies declared war against him. The Emperor arose in his wrath and -called for the Kusanagi sword. Search was made for it in the temple of Kamo, where -it was supposed to be in safe-keeping. The Emperor was told, however, that it had -been lost, and he gave orders that ceremonies should be performed with purpose to -discover where the sword was, and how it might be restored. One night, soon afterwards, -the Emperor dreamed a dream, in which a royal lady, who had been dead for centuries, -appeared before him and told that the Kusanagi sword <span class="pageNum" id="pb102">[<a href="#pb102">102</a>]</span>was in the keeping of the dragon king in his palace at the bottom of the sea. -</p> -<p>Next morning the Emperor related his dream to his chief minister, and bade him hasten -to the two female divers, Oimatsu and her daughter Wakamatsu, who resided at Dan-no-ura, -so that they might dive to the bottom of the sea and obtain the sword. -</p> -<p>The divers undertook the task, and were conveyed in a boat to that part of the ocean -where the boy-Emperor, Antoku Tennō, had been drowned. A religious ceremony was performed, -and the mother and daughter then dived into the sea. A whole day passed before they -appeared again. They told, as soon as they were taken into the boat, that they had -visited a wonderful city at the bottom of the sea. Its gates were guarded by silent -sentinels who drew flashing swords when they (the divers) attempted to enter. They -were consequently compelled to wait for several hours, until a holy man appeared and -asked them what they sought. When they had informed him that they were searching for -the Kusanagi sword, he said that the city could not be entered without the aid of -Buddha. -</p> -<p>Said the Emperor’s chief minister: “The city is that of the god of the sea.” -</p> -<p>“It is very beautiful,” Oimatsu told him; “the walls are of gold, and the gates of -pearl. Above the city walls are seen many-coloured towers that gleam like to precious -stones. When one of the gates was opened, we perceived that the streets were of silver -and the houses of mother-of-pearl.” -</p> -<p>Said the Emperor’s chief minister: “Fain would I visit that city.” -</p> -<p>He looked over the side of the boat and sighed, “I see naught but darkness.” -</p> -<p>“When we dived and reached the sea-bottom,” <span class="pageNum" id="pb103">[<a href="#pb103">103</a>]</span>Oimatsu continued, “we beheld a cave and entered it. Thick darkness prevailed, but -we walked on and on, groping as we went, until we reached a beautiful plain over which -bends the sky, blue as sapphire. Trees growing on the plain bear clusters of dazzling -gems that sparkle among their leaves.” -</p> -<p>“Were you not tempted to pluck them?” asked the minister. -</p> -<p>“Each tree is guarded by a poisonous snake,” Oimatsu told him, “and we dared not touch -the gems.” -</p> -<p>On the following day the divers were provided with sutra-charms by the chief priest -of the temple of Kamo. -</p> -<p>They entered the sea again, and told, on their return next morning, that they had -visited the city, and reached the palace of the dragon king, which was guarded by -invisible sentries. Two women came out of the palace and bade them stand below an -old pine tree, the bark of which glittered like the scales of a dragon. In front of -them was a window. The blind was made of beautiful pearls, and was raised high enough -to permit them to see right into the room. -</p> -<p>One of the palace ladies said, “Look through the window.” -</p> -<p>The women looked. In the room they saw a mighty serpent with a sword in his mouth. -He had eyes bright as the sun, and a blood-red tongue. In his coils lay a little boy -fast asleep.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2638src" href="#xd31e2638">11</a> The serpent looked round and, addressing the women, spoke and said: “You have come -hither to obtain the Kusanagi sword, but I shall keep it for ever. It does not belong -to the Emperor of Japan. Many years ago it was taken from this palace by a dragon -prince who went to dwell in the river Hi. He was slain <span class="pageNum" id="pb104">[<a href="#pb104">104</a>]</span>by a hero of Japan.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2643src" href="#xd31e2643">12</a> This hero carried off the sword and presented it to the Emperor. After many years -had gone past a sea-dragon took the form of a princess. She became the bride of a -prince of Japan, and was the grandmother of the boy-Emperor with whom she leapt into -the sea during the battle of Dan-no-ura. This boy now lies asleep in my coils.” -</p> -<p>The Emperor of Japan sorrowed greatly when he was informed regarding the dragon king’s -message. “Alas!” he said, “if the Kusanagi sword cannot be obtained, the barbarians -will defeat my army in battle.” -</p> -<p>Then a magician told the Emperor that he knew of a powerful spell that would compel -the dragon to give up the sword. “If it is successful,” the Emperor said, “I shall -elevate you to the rank of a prince.” -</p> -<p>The spell was worked, and when next the female divers went to the Kingdom under the -Sea, they obtained the sword, with which they returned to the Emperor. He used it -in battle and won a great victory. -</p> -<p>The sword was afterwards placed in a box and deposited in the temple of Atsuta, and -there it remained for many years, until a Korean priest carried it away. When, however, -the Korean was crossing the ocean to his own land, a great storm arose. The captain -of the vessel knew it was no ordinary storm, but one that had been raised by a god, -and he spoke and said, “Who on board this ship has offended the dragon king of Ocean?” -</p> -<p>Then said the Korean priest, “I shall throw my sword into the sea as a peace-offering.” -</p> -<p>He did as he said he would, and immediately the storm passed away. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p104width" id="p104"><img src="images/p104.jpg" alt="TORTOISE AND SNAKE" width="384" height="720"><p class="figureHead">TORTOISE AND SNAKE</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a rubbing in the British Museum of a Chinese original</i></p> -</div><p> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb105">[<a href="#pb105">105</a>]</span></p> -<p>The dragon king caused the sword to be replaced in the temple from which the Korean -had stolen it. There it lay for a century. Then it was carried back to the palace -of the dragon-god in his Kingdom under the Sea. -</p> -<p>Magic or supernatural swords were possessed by the spirits of dragon-gods. -</p> -<p>According to a Chinese story in the Books of the Tsin Dynasty, an astrologer once -discovered that among the stars there shone the spirits of two magic swords, and that -they were situated right above the spot where the swords had, in time past, been concealed. -Search was made for these, and deep down in the earth was found a luminous stone chest. -Inside the chest lay two swords that bore inscriptions indicating that they were dragon -swords. As soon as they were taken out of the box, their star-spirits faded from the -sky. -</p> -<p>These dragon swords could not be retained by human beings for any prolonged period. -Stories are told of swords being taken away by spirit-beings and even of swords leaping -of their own accord from their sheaths into rivers or the ocean, and assuming dragon -shape as soon as they touched water.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2665src" href="#xd31e2665">13</a> -</p> -<p>Similarly dragon jewels might be carried away by dragons who appeared in human shape—either -as beautiful girls or as crafty old men. -</p> -<p>It was fortunate for mortals when dragons appeared as human beings, as animals, or -as fish that spoke with human voices. Dragons were unable to change their shapes when -angry, or when they intended to avenge a wrong. A transformed dragon was therefore -quite harmless. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb106">[<a href="#pb106">106</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2534"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2534src">1</a></span> Indian fairy girl. There are apsaras in the Paradise of Indra. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2534src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2537"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2537src">2</a></span> <i>Indian Fairy Stories</i> (London, 1915), pp. 47 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2537src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2553"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2553src">3</a></span> <i>Egyptian Tales</i> (first series), W. H. Flinders Petrie (London, 1899), pp. 81 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2553src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2560"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2560src">4</a></span> <i>Folk Lore Journal</i>, Vol. V, p. 257. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2560src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2566"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2566src">5</a></span> <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, pp. 177 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2566src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2573"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2573src">6</a></span> L. W. King, <i>Legends of Babylonia and Egypt</i> (London, 1918), p. 146. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2573src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2584"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2584src">7</a></span> See references in <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, pp. 184 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2584src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2590"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2590src">8</a></span> <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>, p. 256 and p. 381. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2590src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2594"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2594src">9</a></span> Book III. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2594src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2611"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2611src">10</a></span> Tennyson’s <i>The Passing of Arthur</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2611src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2638"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2638src">11</a></span> Like the Indian god Vishnu, who lies asleep on the Naga. This sleep, like that of -magicians, is a spell-working or power-accumulating sleep. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2638src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2643"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2643src">12</a></span> Like the Egyptian hero who slays the river serpent which guards the box containing -magic spells. Sigurd, Siegfried, and other dragon-slaying heroes may be compared with -this Far-Eastern hero. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2643src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2665"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2665src">13</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2665src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch9" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e311">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER IX</h2> -<h2 class="main">The Islands of the Blest</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Souls on Islands—Wells of Life and Trees or Plants of Life in China, Ancient Egypt, -Babylonia, &c.—How Islands were Anchored—The Ocean Tortoise—A Giant’s Fishing—The -Mystery of Fu-sang—Island of Women—Search for Fabled Isles—Chinese and Japanese Stories—How -Navigation was Stimulated—Columbus and Eden—Water of Life in Ceylon, Polynesia, America, -and Scotland—Delos, a Floating Island—Atlantis and the Fortunate Isles—Celtic Island -Paradise—Apples and Nuts as Food of Life—America as Paradise—The Indian Lotus of Life—Buddhist -Paradise with Gem-trees—Diamond Valley Legend in China and Greece—Luck Gems and Immortality.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The Chinese and Japanese, like the Egyptians, Indians, Fijians, and others, believed, -as has been shown, in the existence of a floating and vanishing island associated -with the serpent-god or dragon-god of ocean. They believed, too, that somewhere in -the Eastern Sea lay a group of islands that were difficult to locate or reach; which -resembled closely, in essential particulars, the “Islands of the Blest”, or “Fortunate -Isles”, of ancient Greek writers. Vague beliefs regarding fabulous countries far across -the ocean were likewise prevalent. -</p> -<p>In some native accounts these Chinese Islands of the Blest are said to be five in -number, and named Tai Yü, Yüan Chiao, Fang Hu, Ying Chou, and P’ēng-lai; in others -the number is nine, or ten, or only three. A single island is sometimes referred to; -it may be located in the ocean, or in the Yellow River, or in the river of the Milky -Way, the Celestial Ho. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb107">[<a href="#pb107">107</a>]</span></p> -<p>The islands are, in Chinese legend, reputed to be inhabited by those who have won -immortality, or by those who have been transported to their Paradise to dwell there -in bliss for a prolonged period so that they may be reborn on earth, or pass to a -higher state of existence. -</p> -<p>It is of special interest to note in connection with these islands that they have -Wells of Life and Trees or Herbs of Life. The souls drink the water and eat the herb -or fruit of the tree to prolong their existence. One Chinese “plant of life” is <i>li chih</i>, “the fungus of immortality”. It appears on Chinese jade ornaments as a symbol of -longevity. “This fungus”, writes Laufer, “is a species of <i>Agaric</i> and considered a felicitous plant, because it absorbs the vapours of the earth. In -the <i>Li Ki</i> (ed. Couvreur, Vol. I, p. 643) it is mentioned as an edible plant. As a marvellous -plant foreboding good luck, it first appeared under the Han Dynasty, in 109 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, when it sprouted in the imperial palace Kan-tsʼüan. The emperor issued an edict -announcing this phenomenon, and proclaimed an amnesty in the empire except for relapsing -criminals. A hymn in honour of this divine plant was composed in the same year.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2696src" href="#xd31e2696">1</a> -</p> -<p>Like the Red Cloud herb the <i>li chih</i> had evidently a close connection with the dragon-god. -</p> -<p>The question arises whether the idea of an island of paradise was of “spontaneous -origin” in China, or whether the ancient Chinese borrowed the belief from intruders, -or from peoples with whom they had constant trading relations. There is evidence that -as far back as the fourth century<span id="xd31e2706"></span> <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, a Chinese explorer set out on an expedition to search for the island or islands -of Paradise <span class="pageNum" id="pb108">[<a href="#pb108">108</a>]</span>in the Eastern Sea. But it is not known at what precise period belief in the island -arose and became prevalent. -</p> -<p>The evidence afforded by the ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts is of special interest -and importance in connection with the problem of origin. As far back as <i>c.</i> 2500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> “the departed Pharaoh hoped to draw his sustenance in the realm of Re (Paradise)” -from “the tree of life in the mysterious isle in the midst of the Field of Offerings”. -The soul of the Pharaoh, according to the Pyramid Texts, set out, soon after death, -in search of this island “in company with the Morning Star. The Morning Star is a -gorgeous green falcon, a solar divinity, identified with Horus of Dewat.” The Egyptian -story of the soul’s quest goes on to tell that “this King Pepi … went to the great -isle in the midst of the Field of Offerings over which the gods make the swallows -fly. The swallows are the Imperishable Stars. They give to this King Pepi the tree -of life, whereof they live, that ye (Pepi and the Morning Star) may at the same time -live thereof.” (Pyramid Texts, 1209–16). Sinister enemies “may contrive to deprive -the king of the sustenance provided for him.…” Charms were provided to protect the -fruit of immortality. “The enemy against which these are most often directed in the -Pyramid Texts is serpents.” In the Japanese story of the Kusanagi sword, the gem-trees -of the Otherworld are protected by dragons. -</p> -<p>The Pyramid Texts devoted to the ancient Egyptian King Unis tell that a divine voice -cries to the gods Re and Thoth (sun and moon), saying, “Take ye this King Unis with -you that he may eat of that which ye eat, and that he may drink of that which ye drink.” -The magic well is referred to as “the pool of King Unis”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2722src" href="#xd31e2722">2</a> The soul of the Pharaoh also sails with the unwearied stars in <span class="pageNum" id="pb109">[<a href="#pb109">109</a>]</span>the barque of the sun-god, not only by day but by night, and as the Egyptian night -sun was green, “the green bed of Horus”, the idea of the floating solar island on -the Underworld Nile became fused with that of the island with the Well of Life and -the Tree of Life. In the Pyramid Texts the Celestial Otherworld “is”, as Breasted -says, “not only the east, but explicitly the east of the sky”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2729src" href="#xd31e2729">3</a> Similarly the fabulous continents of the Chinese were situated to the east of the -mythical sea. -</p> -<p>The Sumerians and early Babylonians had, like the Egyptians, their Islands of the -Blest. Gilgamesh, who reaches these islands by crossing the mythical sea, finds dwelling -on one of them Ut-napishtim (the Babylonian Noah) and his wife. Ut-napishtim directs -the hero to another island on which there is a fountain of healing waters and a magic -plant that renews youth. Gilgamesh finds the Plant of Immortality, but as he stoops -to drink water from a stream, a serpent darts forth and snatches the plant from him. -This serpent was a form of “the Earth Lion” (the dragon).<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2737src" href="#xd31e2737">4</a> -</p> -<p>The Gilgamesh legend dates back beyond 2500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> Like the Egyptian one enshrined in the Pyramid Texts, it has two main features, the -Well of Life and the Tree or Plant of Life, which are situated on an island. The island -in time crept into the folk-tales. It was no doubt the prototype of the vanishing -island of the Egyptian mariner’s story already referred to. -</p> -<p>In the <i>Shih Chi</i> (Historical Record) of Ssŭ-ma Chʼien, “the Herodotus of China”, a considerable part -of which has been translated by Professor Ed. Chavannes,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2750src" href="#xd31e2750">5</a> the three Chinese Islands of the Blest (<i>San</i>, <i>Shen</i>, <i>Shan</i>) are <span class="pageNum" id="pb110">[<a href="#pb110">110</a>]</span>named P’ēng-lai, Fang Chang, and Ying Chou. They are located in the Gulf of Chihli, -but are difficult to reach because contrary winds spring up and drive vessels away -in the same manner as the vessel of Odysseus was driven away from Ithaca. It is told, -however, that in days of old certain fortunate heroes contrived to reach and visit -the fabled isles. They told that they saw there palaces of gold and silver, that the -white men and women, the white beasts and the white birds ate the Herb of Life and -drank the waters of the Fountain of Life. On the island of Ying Chou are great precipices -of jade. A brook, the waters of which are as stimulating as wine, flows out of a jade -rock. Those who can reach the island and drink of this water will increase the length -of their lives. When the jade water is mixed with pounded “fungus of immortality” -a food is provided which ensures a thousand years of existence in the body. -</p> -<p>Chinese legends tell that the lucky mariners who come within view of the Isles of -the Blest, behold them but dimly, as they seem to be enveloped in luminous clouds. -When vessels approach too closely, the islands vanish by sinking below the waves, -as do the fabled islands of Gaelic stories. -</p> -<p>Lieh Tze, alleged to be an early Taoist writer,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2767src" href="#xd31e2767">6</a> but whose writings, or those writings attributed to him, were forged in the first -or second century <span class="asc">A.D.</span>, has located the islands to the east of the gulf of Chihli in that fathomless abyss -into which flow all the streams of the earth and the river of the Milky Way. Apparently -this abyss is the Mythical Sea which was located beyond the eastern horizon—a part -of the sea that surrounds the world. Into this sea or lake, according to the ancient -Egyptian texts, <span class="pageNum" id="pb111">[<a href="#pb111">111</a>]</span>pours the celestial river, along which sails the barque of the sun-god. The Nile was -supposed by the Ancient Egyptians to be fed by the waters above the firmament and -the waters below the earth. The Pyramid Texts, when referring to the birth of Osiris -as “new water” (the inundation), say: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">The waters of life that are in the sky come; -</p> -<p class="line">The waters of life that are in the earth come. -</p> -<p class="line">The sky burns for thee, -</p> -<p class="line">The earth trembles for thee.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2783src" href="#xd31e2783">7</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">In India the Ganges was likewise fed by the celestial Ganges that poured down from -the sky. -</p> -<p>Lieh Tze’s Islands of the Blest are five in number, and are inhabited by the white -souls of saintly sages who have won immortality by having their bodies rendered transparent, -or after casting off their bodies as snakes cast off their skins. All the animals -on these islands are likewise white and therefore pure and holy. The spirit-dwellings -are of gold and jade, and in the groves and gardens the trees and plants bear pearls -and precious stones. Those who eat of the fungus, or of perfumed fruit, renew their -youth and acquire the power of floating like down through the air from island to island. -</p> -<p>At one time the islands drifted about on the tides of ocean, but the Lord of All who -controls the Universe, having been appealed to by the Taoist sages who dwelt on the -isles, caused three great Atlas-turtles to support each island with their heads so -that they might remain steadfast. These turtles are relieved by others at the end -of sixty thousand years. In like manner, in Indian mythology, the tortoise Kurma, -an avatar of the god Vishnu, supports Mount Meru when it is placed in the <span class="pageNum" id="pb112">[<a href="#pb112">112</a>]</span>Sea of Milk. The Japanese Creator has a tortoise form that supports the world-tree, -on the summit of which sits a four-armed god. In China the tortoise had divine attributes. -Tortoise shell is a symbol of unchangeability, and a symbol of rank when used for -court girdles. The tortoise was also used for purposes of divination.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2794src" href="#xd31e2794">8</a> -</p> -<p>A gigantic mythical tortoise is supposed, in the Far East, to live in the depths of -ocean. It has one eye situated in the middle of its body. Once every three thousand -years it rises to the surface and turns over on its back so that it may see the sun. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p112width" id="p112"><img src="images/p112.jpg" alt="GATHERING FRUITS OF LONGEVITY" width="493" height="720"><p class="figureHead">GATHERING FRUITS OF LONGEVITY</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>Once upon a time, a legend tells, the Atlas-turtles that support the Islands of the -Blest suffered from a raid by a wandering giant. As the Indian god Vishnu and the -Greek Poseidon could cross the Universe at three strides, so could this giant pass -quickly from country to country and ocean to ocean. One or two strides were sufficient -for him to reach the mythical ocean from the Lung-po mountains. He sat on the mountain -summit of one of the Islands of the Blest, and cast his fishing-line into the deep -waters.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2809src" href="#xd31e2809">9</a> The Atlas-turtles were unable to resist the lure of his bait and, having hooked and -captured six of them, he threw them over his back and returned home in triumph. These -turtles had been supporting the two islands, Tai Yü and Yüan Chiao, which, having -been set free, were carried by powerful tides towards the north, where they stranded -among the ice-fields. The white beings that inhabited these islands were thus separated -from their fellow saints on the other three islands, Fang Hu, Ying Chou, and Pʼēng-lai. -We are left to imagine how lonely they felt in isolation. No <span class="pageNum" id="pb113">[<a href="#pb113">113</a>]</span>doubt, they suffered from the evils associated with the north—the “airt” of drought -and darkness. The giant and his tribesmen were punished by the Lord of the Universe -for this act by having their stature and their kingdom greatly reduced. -</p> -<p>On the fabled islands, the white saints cultivate and gather the “fungus of immortality”, -as the souls in the Paradise of Osiris cultivate and harvest crops of barley and wheat -and dates. Like the Osirian corn, the island fungus sprouts in great profusion. This -fungus has not only the power to renew youth but even to restore the dead to life. -The “Herodotus of China” has recorded that once upon a time leaves of the fungus were -carried by ravens to the mainland from one of the islands, and dropped on the faces -of warriors slain in battle. The warriors immediately came to life, although they -had lain dead for three days. The “water of life” had similarly reanimating properties. -</p> -<p>The famous magician, Tung-fang Shuo, who lived in second century <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, tells that the sacred islands are ten in number, there being two distinct groups -of five. One of the distant islands is named Fu-sang, and it has been identified by -different western writers with California, Mexico, Japan, and Formosa. Its name signifies -“the Land of the Leaning Mulberry”. The mulberries are said to grow in pairs and to -be of great height. Once every nine thousand years they bear fruit which the saints -partake of. This fruit adds to their saintly qualities, and gives them power to soar -skyward like celestial birds. -</p> -<p>Beyond Fu-sang is a country of white women who have hairy bodies. In the spring season -they enter the river to bathe and become pregnant, and their children are born in -the autumn. The hair of their heads is so <span class="pageNum" id="pb114">[<a href="#pb114">114</a>]</span>long that it trails on the ground behind them. Instead of breasts, they have white -locks or hairy organs at the back of their necks from which comes a liquor that nourishes -their children. These women, according to some accounts, have no husbands, and take -flight when they see a man. A historian who, by the way, gives them husbands, has -recorded that a Chinese vessel was once driven by a tempest to this wonderful island. -The crew landed and found that the women resembled those of China, but that the men -had heads like dogs and voices that sounded like the barking of dogs. Evidently the -legends about the fabled islands became mixed up with accounts of the distant islands -of a bearded race reached by seafarers. -</p> -<p>There are records of several attempts that were made by pious Chinese Emperors to -discover the Islands of the Blest, with purpose to obtain the “fungus of immortality”. -One mariner named Hsu Fü, who was sent to explore the Eastern Sea so that the fungus -might be brought to the royal palace, returned with a wonderful story. He said that -a god had risen out of the sea and inquired if he was the Emperor’s representative. -“I am,” the mariner made answer. -</p> -<p>“What seek ye?” asked the sea-god. -</p> -<p>“I am searching for the plant that has the power to prolong human life,” Hsu Fü answered. -</p> -<p>The god then informed the Emperor’s messenger that the offerings he brought were not -sufficient to be regarded as payment for this magic plant. He was willing, however, -that Hsu Fü should see the fungus for himself so that, apparently, the Emperor might -be convinced it really existed. -</p> -<p>The vessel was then piloted in a south-easterly direction until the Islands of the -Blest were reached. Hsu <span class="pageNum" id="pb115">[<a href="#pb115">115</a>]</span>Fü was permitted to land on P’ēng-lai, the chief island, on which was situated the -golden palace of the dragon king of ocean. There he saw newly-harvested crops of the -“fungus of immortality” guarded by a great brazen dragon of ferocious aspect. Not -a leaf could he obtain, however, to bring back to China. -</p> -<p>The pious mariner knelt before the sea-god and asked him what offering he required -from the Emperor in return for the fungus. He was informed that many youths and girls -would have to be sent to P’ēng-lai. -</p> -<p>On ascertaining the price demanded by the god for the magic fungus, the Emperor dispatched -a fleet of vessels with three thousand young men and virgins. Hsu Fü was placed in -command of the expedition. But he never returned again to China. According to some, -he and his followers still reside on P’ēng-lai; others assert that he reached a distant -land, supposed to be Japan, where he founded a state over which he reigned as king. -</p> -<p>Other Chinese Emperors were similarly anxious to discover the fabled islands, and -many expeditions were sent to sea. One exasperated monarch is said to have had nearly -five hundred magicians and scholars put to death because their efforts to assist him -in discovering the islands had proved to be futile. -</p> -<p>Another Emperor fitted out a naval expedition which he himself commanded. Each vessel -was packed with soldiers who in mid-ocean raised a great clamour, blowing horns, beating -drums, and shouting in chorus, with purpose to terrify the gods of ocean and compel -them to reveal the location of the Isle of Immortality. In time the dragon-god appeared -in his fiercest shape, with the head of a lion and a shark-like body 500 feet in length. -The Emperor ordered his fleet to surround the <span class="pageNum" id="pb116">[<a href="#pb116">116</a>]</span>god, who had apparently come with the intention of preventing the ships going any -farther. A fierce battle ensued. Thousands of poisoned arrows were discharged against -the god, who was so grievously wounded that his blood tinged the sea over an area -of 10,000 miles. But despite this victory achieved by mortals, the famous island on -which grew the herb of immortality was never reached. On the same night the Emperor -had to engage in single combat with the dragon-god, who came against him in a dream. -This was a combat of souls, for in sleep, as was believed, the soul leaves the body. -The soul of the Emperor fared badly. On the day that followed his majesty was unable -to rise from his couch, and he died within the space of seven days. -</p> -<p>In Japanese stories the island of P’ēng-lai is referred to as Horaizan. It has three -high mountains, on the chief of which, called Horai, grows the Tree of Life. This -tree has a trunk and branches of gold, roots of silver, and gem-leaves and fruit. -In some stories there are three trees, the peach, the plum, and the pine. The “fungus -of immortality” is also referred to. It grows in the shade of one or another of the -holy trees, usually the pine. There is evidence, too, of the belief that a “grass -of immortality” grew on the sacred island as well as the famous fungus. The life-giving -fountain was as well known to the Japanese as it was to the Chinese and others. -</p> -<p>A story is told of a Japanese Gilgamesh, named Sentaro, who, being afraid of death, -summoned to his aid an immortal saint so that he might be enabled to obtain the “grass -of immortality”. The saint handed him a crane made of paper which, when mounted, came -to life and carried Sentaro across the ocean to Mount Horai. There he found and ate -the life-giving grass. When, however, <span class="pageNum" id="pb117">[<a href="#pb117">117</a>]</span>he had lived for a time on the island he became discontented. The other inhabitants -had already grown weary of immortality and wished they could die. Sentaro himself -began to pine for Japan and, in the end, resolved to mount his paper crane and fly -over the sea. But after he left the island he doubted the wisdom of his impulsive -resolution. The result was that the crane, which moved according to his will, began -to crumple up and drop through the air. Sentaro was greatly scared, and once again -yearned so deeply for his native land that the crane, straightened and strengthened -by his yearning, rose into the air and continued its flight until Japan was reached. -</p> -<p>Another Japanese hero, named Wasobioye, the story of whose wanderings is retold by -Professor Chamberlain,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2847src" href="#xd31e2847">10</a> once set out in a boat to escape troublesome visitors. The day was the eighth of -the eighth month and the moon was full. Suddenly a storm came on, which tore the sail -to shreds and brought down the mast. Wasobioye was unable to return home, and his -boat was driven about on the wide ocean for the space of three months. Then he reached -the Sea of Mud, on which he could not catch any fish. He was soon reduced to sore -straits and feared he would die of hunger, but, in time, he caught sight of land and -was greatly cheered. His boat drifted slowly towards a beautiful island on which there -were three great mountains. As he drew near to the shore, he found, to his great joy, -that the air was laden with most exquisite perfumes that came from the flowers and -tree-blossoms of that wonderful isle. He landed and found a sparkling well. When he -had drunk of the water his strength was revived, and a feeling of intense pleasure -tingled in his veins. He rose up refreshed and happy and, walking inland, soon met -with Jofuku the <span class="pageNum" id="pb118">[<a href="#pb118">118</a>]</span>sage, known in China as Hsu Fü, who had been sent to the Island of the Blest (P’ēng-lai) -by the Emperor She Wang Ti to obtain the “fungus of immortality”, with the youths -and virgins, but had never returned. -</p> -<p>Wasobioye was taken by the friendly sage to the city of the immortals, who spent their -lives in the pursuit of pleasure. He found, however, that these people had grown to -dislike their monotonous existence, and were constantly striving to discover some -means whereby their days would be shortened. They refused to partake of mermaid flesh -because this was a food that prolonged life; they favoured instead goldfish and soot, -a mixture which was supposed to be poisonous. The manners of the people were curious. -Instead of wishing one another good health and long life, they wished for sickness -and a speedy death. Congratulations were showered on any individual who seemed to -be indisposed, and he was sympathized with when he showed signs of recovering. -</p> -<p>Wasobioye lived on the island for nearly a quarter of a century. Then, having grown -weary of the monotonous life, he endeavoured to commit suicide by partaking of poisonous -fruit, fish, and flesh. But all his attempts were in vain. It was impossible for anyone -to die on that island. In time he came to know that he could die if he left it, but -he had heard of other wonderful lands and wished to visit them before his days came -to an end. Then, instead of eating poisonous food, he began to feast on mermaid flesh -so that his life might be prolonged for many years beyond the allotted span. Thereafter -he visited the Land of Shams, the Land of Plenty, &c. His last visit was paid to the -Land of Giants. Wasobioye is usually referred to as the “Japanese Gulliver”. -</p> -<p>The search for the mythical islands with their “wells of life” and “trees” or “plants -of life” is referred to in the <span class="pageNum" id="pb119">[<a href="#pb119">119</a>]</span>stories of many lands and even in history, especially the history of exploration, -for the world-wide search for the Earthly Paradise appears to have exercised decided -influence in stimulating maritime enterprise in mediæval as well as prehistoric times. -Columbus searched for the island paradise in which the “well” and “tree” were to be -found. He sailed westward so as to approach the paradise “eastward in Eden”,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2858src" href="#xd31e2858">11</a> through “the back door” as it were, and wrote: “The saintly theologians and philosophers -were right when they fixed the site of the terrestrial paradise in the extreme Orient, -because it is a most temperate clime; and the lands which I have just discovered are -the limits of the Orient.” In another letter he says: “I am convinced that there lies -the terrestrial paradise”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2863src" href="#xd31e2863">12</a> -</p> -<p>As Ellis reminds us, “the expedition which led to the discovery of Florida was undertaken -not so much from a desire to explore unknown countries”, as to find a “celebrated -fountain, described in a tradition prevailing among the inhabitants of Puerto Rico, -as existing in Binini, one of the Lucayo Islands. It was said to possess such restorative -powers as to renew youth and the vigour of every person who bathed in its waters. -It was in search of this fountain, which was the chief object of their expedition, -that Ponce de Leon ranged through the Lucayo Islands and ultimately reached the shores -of Florida.” -</p> -<p>Ellis refers to this voyage because he found that the mythical island and well were -believed in by the Polynesians. He refers, in this connection, to the “Hawaiian account -of the voyage of Kamapiikai to the land where <span class="pageNum" id="pb120">[<a href="#pb120">120</a>]</span>the inhabitants enjoyed perpetual health and youthful beauty, where the <i>wai ora</i> (life-giving fountain) removed every internal malady, and every external deformity -or paralysed decrepitude, from all those who were plunged beneath its salutary waters”. -Ellis anticipates the views of modern ethnologists when dealing with the existence -of the same beliefs among widely-separated peoples. He says: “A tabular view of a -number of words in the Malayan, Asiatic, or the Madagasse, the American, and the Polynesian -languages, would probably show that, at some remote period, either the inhabitants -of these distant parts of the world maintained frequent intercourse with each other, -or that colonies from some one of them originally peopled, in part or altogether, -the others”. He adds, “Either part of the present inhabitants of the South Sea Islands -came originally from America, or tribes of the Polynesians have, at some remote period, -found their way to the (American) continent”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2877src" href="#xd31e2877">13</a> -</p> -<p>W. D. Westervelt, in his <i>Legends of Old Honolulu</i>, heads his old Hawaiian story “The Water of Life of Ka-ne”, which he himself has -collected, with the following extract from the Maori legend of New Zealand: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">When the moon dies, she goes to the living water of Ka-ne, to the water which can -restore all life, even the moon to the path in the sky.</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>In the Hawaiian form of the legend the hero, who found the water so that his sick -father, the king, might be cured, met with a dwarf who instructed him where to go -and what to do. -</p> -<p>A russet dwarf similarly figures in the Gaelic story of Diarmaid’s search for the -cup and the water of life so that the daughter of the King of Land-under-Waves <span class="pageNum" id="pb121">[<a href="#pb121">121</a>]</span>might be cured of her sickness. This dwarf takes the Gaelic hero across a ferry and -instructs him how to find the cup and the water.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2896src" href="#xd31e2896">14</a> -</p> -<p>The Polynesians’ ghosts went westward. In their Paradise was a bread-fruit tree. “This -tree had two branches, one towards the east and one towards the west, both of which -were used by the ghosts. One was for leaping into eternal darkness into Po-pau-ole, -the other was a meeting-place with the helpful gods.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2903src" href="#xd31e2903">15</a> Turner tells that “some of the South Sea Islanders have a tradition of a river in -their imaginary world of spirits, called the ‘water of life’. It was supposed that -if the aged, when they died, went and bathed there, they became young and returned -to earth to live another life over again.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2907src" href="#xd31e2907">16</a> Yudhishthira, one of the heroes of the Aryo-Indian epic the <i>Mahábhárata</i>, becomes immortal after bathing in the celestial Ganges.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2913src" href="#xd31e2913">17</a> In the <i>Æneid</i>, the hero sees souls in Paradise drinking of the water of Lethe so that they may -forget the past and be reborn among men. -</p> -<p>Sir John de Mandeville, the fourteenth-century traveller and compiler of traveller’s -stories, located the fountain of life at the base of a great mountain in Ceylon. This -“fayr well … hathe odour and savour of all spices; and at every hour of the day, he -chaungethe his odour and his savour dyversely. And whoso drinkethe 3 times fasting -of that watre of that welle, he is hool (whole) of alle maner (of) sykenesse that -he hathe. And they that duellen (dwell) there and drynken often of that welle, thei -nevere hau (have) sykenesse, and thei semen <span class="pageNum" id="pb122">[<a href="#pb122">122</a>]</span>(seem) alle weys yonge.” Sir John says that he drank of the water on three or four -occasions and fared the better for it. Some men called it the “Welle of Youthe”. They -had often drunk from it and seemed “alle weys yongly (youthful)” and lived without -sickness. “And men seyn that that welle comethe out of Paradys, and therefore it is -so vertuous.” The “tree of life” is always situated near the “well of life” in mediæval -literature. At Heliopolis in Egypt a well and tree are connected by Coptic Christians -and Mohammedans with Christ. When Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt they rested under -this tree, according to Egyptian belief, and the clothes of the holy child were washed -in the well. Heliopolis, the Biblical On, is “the city of the sun”, and the Arabs -still call the well the “spring of the sun”. According to ancient Egyptian belief -the sun-god Ra washed his face in it every morning. The tree, a sycamore, was the -mother-goddess. -</p> -<p>That European ideas regarding a floating island or islands were of Egyptian origin -and closely connected with the solar cult, is suggested by the classical legend regarding -Delos, one of the Cyclades. It was fabled to have been raised to the surface of the -sea at the command of Poseidon, so that the persecuted goddess Latona, who was pursued -from land to land by a python, as the Egyptian Isis was pursued by Set, might give -birth there to Apollo. On Delos the image of Apollo was in the shape of a dragon, -and delivered oracles. It was unlawful for any person to die on Delos, and those of -its inhabitants who fell sick were transported to another island. -</p> -<p>Delos was a floating island like the floating island of the Nile, “the green bed of -Horus” on which that son of Osiris and Isis hid from Set. The most ancient Apollo -was the son of cripple Hephaistos. Cripple <span class="pageNum" id="pb123">[<a href="#pb123">123</a>]</span>Horus was, in one of his forms, a Hephaistos and a metal-worker. Homer knew of the -fabled island of Apollo. The swineherd, addressing Odysseus, says,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2931src" href="#xd31e2931">18</a> “There is a certain isle called Syria … over above Ortygia, and there are the turning -places of the sun. It is not very great in compass, though a goodly isle, rich in -herds, rich in flocks, with plenty of corn and wine. Dearth never enters the land, -and no hateful sickness falls on wretched mortals.” -</p> -<p>The later Greeks located the island Paradise in the Atlantic, and it is referred to -as “Atlantis”, the Islands of the Blest and the Fortunate Isles (fortunatae insulae). -Hercules set out to search for the golden apples, the fruit of immortality that grow -in -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line xd31e2937">those Hesperian gardens famed of old, -</p> -<p class="line">Fortunate fields and groves and flowery vales.</p> -</div> -<p class="first">The garden of Paradise, cared for by those celebrated nymphs, the daughters of Hesperus, -brother of Atlas—Hesperus is the planet Venus as an evening star—was also located -among the Atlas mountains in Africa. There the tree of life, which bore the golden -apples, was guarded by the nymphs and by a sleepless dragon, like the gem-trees in -the Paradises of China and Japan. -</p> -<p>According to Diodorus, the Phœnicians discovered the island Paradise. Plutarch placed -it at a distance of five days’ voyage to the west of Brittia (England and Scotland), -apparently confusing it with Ireland (the “sacred isle” of the ancients), or with -an island in the Hebrides. -</p> -<p>The island of immortals in the western ocean is found in Gaelic folk- and manuscript-literature. -</p> -<p>Among the Gaelic names of Paradise is that of <span class="pageNum" id="pb124">[<a href="#pb124">124</a>]</span>“Emain Ablach” (Emain rich in apples). In one description a youth named Conla and -his bride Veniusa are referred to. “Now the youth was so that in his hand he held -a fragrant apple having the hue of gold; a third part of it he would eat, and still, -for all he consumed, never a whit would it be diminished. The fruit it was that supported -the pair of them and when once they had partaken of it, nor age nor dimness could -affect them.” A part of this Paradise was reserved for “monarchs, kings, and tribal -chiefs”. Teigue, a Celtic Gilgamesh who visited the island, saw there “a thickly furnished -wide-spreading apple tree that bore blossom and ripe fruit” at the same time. He asked -regarding the great tree and was informed that its fruit was “meat” intended to “serve -the congregation” which was to inhabit the mansion.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2948src" href="#xd31e2948">19</a> The rowan berry and hazel nut were also to the Gaels fruits of immortality. There -once came to St. Patrick “from the south” a youth wearing a crimson mantle fixed by -a fibula of gold over a yellow shirt. He brought “a double armful of round yellow-headed -nuts and of beautiful golden-yellow apples”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2954src" href="#xd31e2954">20</a> The Gaelic Islands of the Blest are pictured in glowing colours: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Splendours of every colour glisten -</p> -<p class="line">Throughout the gentle-voiced plains. -</p> -<p class="line">Joy is known, ranked around music -</p> -<p class="line">In the southern Silver-cloud Plain. -</p> -<p class="line">Unknown is wailing or treachery … -</p> -<p class="line">There is nothing rough or hoarse … -</p> -<p class="line">Without grief, without sorrow, without death, -</p> -<p class="line">Without sickness, without debility … -</p> -<p class="line">A lovely land -</p> -<p class="line">On which the many blossoms drop.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2970src" href="#xd31e2970">21</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure p124width" id="p124"><img src="images/p124.jpg" alt="SHOU SHAN (i.e. “HILLS OF LONGEVITY”), THE TAOIST PARADISE" width="456" height="720"><p class="figureHead"><i>SHOU SHAN</i> (i.e. “HILLS OF LONGEVITY”), THE TAOIST PARADISE</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a woven silk picture in the Victoria and Albert Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb125">[<a href="#pb125">125</a>]</span></p> -<p>The hero Bran sets out to search for the islands, and, like one of the Chinese mariners, -meets with the sea-god, who addresses him and tells of the wonders of the island Paradise -with its trees of life. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">A wood laden with beautiful fruit … -</p> -<p class="line">A wood without decay, without defect, -</p> -<p class="line">On which is a foliage of a golden hue.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2988src" href="#xd31e2988">22</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">The green floating and vanishing island and the well of life are common in Scottish -Gaelic folk-lore. It was believed that the life-giving water had greatest potency -if drunk at dawn of the day which was of equal length with the night preceding it, -and that it should be drunk before a bird sipped at the well and before a dog barked. -The Scandinavians heard of the Gaelic Island of the West during their prolonged sojourn -in the British Isles and Ireland, and referred to it as “Ireland hit Mikla” (“The -Mickle Ireland”), and the mythical island was afterwards identified with Vinland, -believed to be America, which was apparently reached by the hardy sea-rovers. -</p> -<p>The Earthly Paradise was also located in Asia. In the mythical histories of Alexander -a hero sets forth like Gilgamesh on the quest of the Water of Life. He similarly enters -a cavern of a great mountain in the west which is guarded by a monster serpent. In -one version of the tale this hero carries a jewel that shines in darkness—a jewel -that figures prominently in Chinese lore (Chap. XIII)—and passes through the dark -tunnel. He reaches the Well of Life and plunges into it. When he came out he found -that his body had turned a bluish-green colour, and ever afterwards he was called -“El Khidr”, which means “Green”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e2994src" href="#xd31e2994">23</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb126">[<a href="#pb126">126</a>]</span></p> -<p>The Well of Life is referred to in the Koran. Commentators explain a reference to -a vanishing fish by telling that Moses or Joshua carried a fried fish when they reached -the Well of Life. Some drops of the water fell on the fish, which at once leapt out -of the basket into the sea and swam away. -</p> -<p>In the Aryo-Indian epic, the <i>Mahábhárata</i>, the hero Bhima sets out in search of the Lake of Life and the Lotus of Life. He -overcomes the Yaksha-guardians of the lake, and when he bathes in the lake his wounds -are healed.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3007src" href="#xd31e3007">24</a> -</p> -<p>There are glowing descriptions in Buddhist literature of the Paradise reached by those -who are to qualify for Buddhahood. A proportion of the Chinese Taoist inhabitants -of the Islands of the Blest similarly wait for the time when they will pass into another -state of existence. A similar belief prevailed in the West. Certain Celtic heroes, -like Arthur, Ossian, Fionn (Finn), Brian Boroimhe, and Thomas the Rhymer, live in -Paradise for long periods awaiting the time when they are to return to the world of -men, as do Charlemagne, Frederick of Barbarossa, William Tell, and others on the Continent. -</p> -<p>In the Buddhist Paradise the pure beings have faces “bright and yellowish”, yellow -being the sacred colour of the Buddhist as it is the colour of the chief dragon of -China. In this Paradise is the Celestial Ganges and the great Bodhi-tree, “a hundred -<span class="corr" id="xd31e3017" title="Source: yoganas">yojanas</span> in height”, which prolongs life and increases “their stock of merit”. Their “merit” -may “grow in the following shapes, viz. either in gold, in silver, in jewels, in beryls, -in shells, in stones, in corals, in amber, in red pearls, in diamonds, &c., or in -any one of the other jewels; or in all kinds of perfumes, in flowers, in garlands, -in ointment, in incense-powder, <span class="pageNum" id="pb127">[<a href="#pb127">127</a>]</span>in cloaks, in umbrellas, in flags, in banners, or in lamps; or in all kinds of dancing, -singing, and music”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3022src" href="#xd31e3022">25</a> -</p> -<p>The gem-trees abound in this Paradise. “Of some trees”, one account runs, “the trunks -are of coral, the branches of red pearls, the small branches of diamonds, the leaves -of gold, the flowers of silver, and the fruits of beryl.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3039src" href="#xd31e3039">26</a> In the “eastern quarter” there are “Buddha countries equal to the sand of the River -Ganga (Ganges)”. The purified beings in the lands “surpass the light of the sun and -moon, by the light of wisdom, and by the whiteness, brilliancy, purity, and beauty -of their knowledge”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3043src" href="#xd31e3043">27</a> There are references to “the king of jewels that fulfils every wish”. It has “golden-coloured -rays excessively beautiful, the radiance of which transforms itself into birds possessing -the colours of a hundred jewels, which sing out harmonious notes”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3047src" href="#xd31e3047">28</a> The purified may become like Buddha “with bodies bright as gold and blue eyes”, for -“the eyes of Buddha are like the water of the four great oceans; the blue and the -white are quite distinct”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3051src" href="#xd31e3051">29</a> The imaginations of the Buddhists run riot in their descriptions of the Land of Bliss, -and the stream of glowing narrative carries with it many pre-Buddhist beliefs about -metals and precious stones, “red pearls, blue pearls”, and so on, and “nets of gold -adorned with the emblems of the dolphin, the svastika (swashtika), the nandyāvarta, -and the moon”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3055src" href="#xd31e3055">30</a> In their Paradise even the river mud is of gold. The religious ideas of the early -searchers for “soul substance” in the form of metals and gems are thus found to be -quaintly blended with Buddhist conceptions of the Earthly Paradise. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb128">[<a href="#pb128">128</a>]</span></p> -<p>In some Chinese and Japanese stories the souls of the dead are carried to Paradise -by birds, and especially by the crane or stork, which takes the place of the Indian -man-eagle Garuda (Japanese Gario, the woman-bird with crane’s legs), and of the Babylonian -eagle that carried the hero Etana to heaven. The saints who reach the Indian Paradise -of Uttara Kuru, situated at the sources of the River Indus, among the Himalayan mountains, -and originally the homeland of the Kuru tribe of Aryans, are supposed to have their -lives prolonged for centuries. When they die their bodies are carried away by gigantic -birds and dropped into mountain recesses. The belief enshrined in stories of this -kind may be traced to the wide-spread legend of the Diamond Valley. Laufer notes that -a version of it occurs in the <i>Liang se kung ki</i>, “one of the most curious books of Chinese literature”. A prince is informed by scholars -regarding the wonders of distant lands. “In the west, arriving at the Mediterranean,” -one Chinese story runs, “there is in the sea an island of two hundred square miles. -On this island is a large forest, abundant in trees with precious stones, and inhabited -by over ten thousand families. These men show great ability in cleverly working gems, -which are named for the country Fu-lin (Syria). In a north-westerly direction from -the island is a ravine, hollowed out like a bowl, more than a thousand feet deep. -They throw flesh into this valley. Birds take it up in their beaks, whereupon they -drop the precious stones.” Here Fu-lin, in the Mediterranean area, is referred to -as early as the beginning of the sixth century. -</p> -<p>The Chinese Diamond Valley story is “an abridged form of a well-known Western legend”. -In a version of it in the writings of Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus (<i>c.</i> 315–403), the valley is situated in “a <span class="pageNum" id="pb129">[<a href="#pb129">129</a>]</span>desert of great Scythia”, and the precious stones are gathered on the mountains, whence -the eagles carry them. The eagle-stone is “useful to women in aiding parturition”. -Laufer notes that Pliny knew about the parturition stone, and that the beliefs associated -with it are found in Egypt and India. In the latter country it occurs in legends about -the combats between the eagle and serpent.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3071src" href="#xd31e3071">31</a> -</p> -<p>A Scottish Gaelic folk-story tells of a man who had a combat with an eagle which carried -him away to the floating island of the blest. He was killed, but came to life again -after drops of the water from the well of life were thrown on his body. Stones found -in eagles’ or ravens’ nests, according to Scottish belief, imparted to their possessors -the power of prophecy or healing. -</p> -<p>The gems from the trees of Paradise in Babylonian, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese literature -were supposed to confer special powers on those who became possessed of them. To this -class belongs the “Jewel that grants all Desires”, the “gem that shines in darkness”, -the prophet’s or priest’s jewel or jewels, &c. Gems were searched for in ancient times -because they were supposed to possess what has been called “soul substance”. They -protected those who wore them from all evil, they assisted birth, they prolonged life. -Precious metals were similarly believed to be “luck-bringers”, and to early man luck -meant everything he wished for, including good health, longevity, plentiful supplies -of food, a knowledge of the future, offspring, and so on. -</p> -<p>In the stories of the Islands of the Blest the happy souls are, in the ancient sense -of the term, “lucky souls”. <span class="pageNum" id="pb130">[<a href="#pb130">130</a>]</span>Paradise was a land in which life-giving water and fruit, and innumerable gems were -to be found, and those who reached it became wise as magicians and prophets, and lived -for thousands of years free from sickness and pain. It was the land of eternal youth -and unlimited happiness. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb131">[<a href="#pb131">131</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2696"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2696src">1</a></span> <i>Jade: A Study in Chinese Archæology and Religion</i>, Berthold Laufer (Chicago, 1912), pp. 209–10. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2696src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2722"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2722src">2</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Egypt</i>, pp. 133–7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2722src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2729"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2729src">3</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Egypt</i>, p. 102. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2729src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2737"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2737src">4</a></span> <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, pp. 181–3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2737src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2750"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2750src">5</a></span> <i lang="fr">Mémoires Historiques de Se-ma Tsʼien</i> (1895–1905). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2750src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2767"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2767src">6</a></span> He figures as a character (not a real one) in the writings of Kwang-tze, who was born -in the fourth century <span class="asc">B.C.</span> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2767src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2783"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2783src">7</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 145. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2783src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2794"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2794src">8</a></span> Dr. J. Legge, <i>Chinese Classics</i>, Vol. III, Part I, p. 240, and Part II, p. 554. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2794src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2809"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2809src">9</a></span> In Scottish giant-lore giants sit on mountains in like manner and fish for whales, -using trees as fishing-rods. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2809src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2847"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2847src">10</a></span> <i>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2847src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2858"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2858src">11</a></span> <a class="biblink xd31e40" title="Reference to the Bible: Genesis 2:8" href="https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gn%202:8&version=NRSV">Genesis, ii, 8</a>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2858src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2863"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2863src">12</a></span> Navarrette, <i>Coll. de Documents</i>, I, p. 244, quoted in <i>Curious Myths of the Middle Ages</i>, p. 525. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2863src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2877"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2877src">13</a></span> William Ellis, <i>Polynesian Researches</i> (1st edition, London, 1829), Vol. II, pp. 47 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2877src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2896"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2896src">14</a></span> Campbell, <i>Popular Tales of the West Highlands</i>, Vol. III, Tale LXXXVI. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2896src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2903"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2903src">15</a></span> <i>Legends of Gods and Ghosts</i>, p. 246. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2903src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2907"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2907src">16</a></span> <i>Nineteen Years in Polynesia</i>, p. 353. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2907src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2913"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2913src">17</a></span> <i><span class="corr" id="xd31e2915" title="Source: Swargaro-hanika">Swarga-rohanika</span> Parva</i>, Section III (Roy’s translation), p. 9. The chief of the gods says to Yudhishthira: -“Here is the celestial river.… Plunging into it, thou wilt go to thine own regions -(Paradise).” Having bathed, the hero “cast off his human body” and “assumed a celestial -form”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2913src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2931"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2931src">18</a></span> <i>Odyssey</i>, XV (Butcher and Lang’s trans.), p. 253. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2931src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2948"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2948src">19</a></span> S. H. O’Grady, <i lang="la">Silva Gadelica</i>, Vol. II, pp. 393–4. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2948src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2954"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2954src">20</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, Vol. II, p. 113. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2954src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2970"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2970src">21</a></span> <i>The Voyage of Bran.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2970src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2988"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2988src">22</a></span> <i>Ancient Irish Poetry</i>, p. 8. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2988src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e2994"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e2994src">23</a></span> <i>The Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great</i>, trans. by E. Walter Budge, pp. 11 <i>et seq.</i>, and 167 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e2994src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3007"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3007src">24</a></span> “Vana Parva” of <i>Mahábhárata</i>, and <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 105–9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3007src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3022"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3022src">25</a></span> Description of <span class="corr" id="xd31e3024" title="Source: Sukhāvāti">Sukhāvatī</span>, the Land of Bliss, in <i>Buddhist <span class="corr" id="xd31e3029" title="Source: Mahayama">Mahayana</span> Texts</i> (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, Vol. XLIX), pp. 16, 17. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3022src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3039"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3039src">26</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 35. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3039src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3043"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3043src">27</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 56. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3043src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3047"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3047src">28</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 174. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3047src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3051"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3051src">29</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 180. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3051src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3055"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3055src">30</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 50. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3055src" title="Return to note 30 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3071"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3071src">31</a></span> B. Laufer, <i>The Diamond (A Study in Chinese and Hellenistic Folk-lore)</i> (Chicago, 1915). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3071src" title="Return to note 31 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch10" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e321">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER X</h2> -<h2 class="main">The Mother-goddess of China and Japan</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Food for the Dead—Milk, Bread, and Beer in Paradise—The Western Tree of Life in Egypt—Tree -of Life in Greece, Britain, and Polynesia—The Underworld Paradise—The “Wonderful Rose -Garden”—Chinese Cult of the West—Biblical Tree Parable—Chinese Peach Tree of Longevity—The -“Royal Mother of the West”—Visit of the Chinese Emperor—A Far-Eastern El-Khidr—The -Sacred Chrysanthemum—The Cassia Tree Cult—Celestial Yellow River—Moon Myths—Lunar -Elixir in China, India, and Scandinavia—Chinese Star Maiden—The Sun Barque—“Island -of Blest” in Celestial River—Moon-girl Story—The “Makara” in China and Japan—The Chinese -Ishtar—Deluge Legend—Tree Spirits—Story of Little Peachling—“Soul Substance” in Dragon -Bones, Trees, and Pearls.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The quest of the “elixir of life”, the “water of life”, or “the food of life” is as -prominent a feature of ancient religious literature as is the quest of the Holy Grail -in the Arthurian romances. As has been shown in the last chapter, the belief that -prompted the quest was widely prevalent, and of great antiquity. The Babylonian hero, -Gilgamesh, whose story is told in the oldest epic in the world, undertook his long -and perilous journey to the Otherworld, in quest of the Plant of Life, because the -thought of death was sorrowful to him. When his friend, Ea-bani, had expired, -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Gilgamesh wept bitterly, and he lay stretched out upon the ground. -</p> -<p class="line">He cried, “Let me not die like Ea-bani.… -</p> -<p class="line">I fear death.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3095src" href="#xd31e3095">1</a></p> -</div> -<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb132">[<a href="#pb132">132</a>]</span></p> -<p>In the Babylonian myth of Adapa reference is made to the “water of life” and the “food -of life”, which give wisdom and immortality to the gods and to the souls of those -mortals who win their favour. The sacred tree in Babylonian art is evidently the Tree -of Life.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3102src" href="#xd31e3102">2</a> -</p> -<p>We seem to meet with the history of the immemorial quest in the Pyramid Texts of Ancient -Egypt. The ancient priests appear to have concerned themselves greatly regarding the -problem how the dead were to be nourished in the celestial Paradise. “The chief dread -felt by the Egyptian for the hereafter,” says Breasted, “was fear of hunger.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3109src" href="#xd31e3109">3</a> In Egypt, as in other lands offerings of food were made at the tombs, and these were -supposed to be conveyed to the souls by certain of the gods. But those who hoped to -live for ever knew well that the time would come when grave-offerings would cease -to be made, and their own names would be forgotten on earth. Some Pharaohs endowed -their chapel-tombs for all time, but revolutions ultimately caused endowments to be -appropriated. -</p> -<p>The Babylonians believed that if the dead were not fed, their ghosts would prowl through -the streets and enter houses, searching for food and water.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3115src" href="#xd31e3115">4</a> In Polynesia the homeless and desolate ghosts were those of poor people, “who during -their residence in the body had no friends and no property”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3119src" href="#xd31e3119">5</a> The custom of including food-vessels and drinking-cups in the funerary furniture -of prehistoric graves in different countries was no doubt connected with the fear -of hunger in the hereafter. The custom was widespread of giving the dead food offerings -<span class="pageNum" id="pb133">[<a href="#pb133">133</a>]</span>at regular intervals. Once a year the living held feasts in the burial-grounds, and -invited the dead to partake of their share. Among the Hallowe’en beliefs in the British -Isles is one that ghosts return home during the year-end festival to attend “the feast -of all souls”. The Hebridean custom, which lingered even in the nineteenth century, -of placing food and water, or milk, beside a corpse while it lay in a house, and outside -the door or at the grave after the burial took place, was no doubt a relic of an ancient -custom, based on the haunting belief that the dead were in need of nourishment, if -not for all time, at any rate until the journey to the Otherworld was completed. -</p> -<p>As has been said, it was the provision of food in the celestial Paradise, far removed -from the earth and its produce, that chiefly concerned the Egyptians. In the Underworld -Kingdom, presided over by Osiris, the souls grew corn and gathered fruit. But the -Paradise of the solar cult was above or beyond the sky. Some of the sun-worshippers -are found in the Pyramid Texts to have placed their faith in the food-supplying Great -Mother, the goddess Hathor, who gave them corn and milk during their earthly lives. -As son of Re, born of the sky-goddess, he (the Pharaoh) is frequently represented -as suckled by one of the sky-goddesses, or some other divinity connected with Re, -especially the ancient goddesses of the prehistoric kingdoms of South and North. These -appear as “the two vultures with long hair and hanging breasts; … they draw their -breasts over the mouth of King Pepi, but they do not wean him forever.…” Another text -invokes the mother-goddess: “Give thy breast to this King Pepi, … suckle this King -Pepi therewith”. As a result, perhaps, of the prevalence of Osirian beliefs, the solar -cult adopted <span class="pageNum" id="pb134">[<a href="#pb134">134</a>]</span>the idea that food, such as is found in Egypt, might be provided in the regions above -or beyond the sky. The sun-god was appealed to: “Give thou bread to this King Pepi, -from this thy eternal bread, thy everlasting beer”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3130src" href="#xd31e3130">6</a> -</p> -<p>But the chief source of nourishment in the celestial Paradise was the Tree of Life -(a form of the mother-goddess) on the great isle in the mythical lake or sea beyond -the Eastern horizon.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3138src" href="#xd31e3138">7</a> Egyptian artists depicted this tree as a palm, or sycamore, with a goddess rising -from inside it, pouring water from a vessel on the hands of the Pharaoh’s soul, which -might appear in human form, or in the man-bird form called the <i>ba</i>. In the funeral ritual the ceremony of pouring out a libation was performed with -the object of restoring the body moisture (the water of life) to the mummy.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3144src" href="#xd31e3144">8</a> A Biblical reference to the ceremony is found in 2 Kings, iii, 11, in which it is -said of Elisha that he “poured water on the hands of Elijah”. No doubt the Egyptian -soul received water as nourishment, as well as to ensure its immortality, from the -tree-goddess. -</p> -<p>In the Book of the Dead (Chapter LIX), the Tree of Life is referred to as “the sycamore -of Nut” (the sky-goddess). Other texts call the tree “the Western Tree” of Nut or -Hathor. It may be that the solar cult of the East took over the tree from the Osirian -cult of the West. -</p> -<p>This mythical tree figures in many ancient mythologies. The goddess Europa was worshipped -at Gortyna, in Crete, during the Hellenic period, as a sacred tree.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3154src" href="#xd31e3154">9</a> The tree may be traced from the British Isles to India, and there are numerous legends -of spirits entering or leaving <span class="pageNum" id="pb135">[<a href="#pb135">135</a>]</span>it. The Polynesians have stories of this kind. Their Tree of Life was the local bread-fruit -tree which “became a god”, or, as some had it, a goddess. “Out of this magic bread-fruit -tree,” a legend says, “a great goddess was made.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3163src" href="#xd31e3163">10</a> -</p> -<p>It may be that the island Paradise with its Tree of Life was specially favoured after -maritime enterprise made strong appeal to the imagination of the Egyptians. No doubt -the old sailors who searched for “soul-substance” in the shape of pearls, precious -stones, and metals had much to do with disseminating the idea of the Isles of the -Blest. At any rate, it became, as we have seen, a tradition among seafarers to search -for the distant land in which was situated the “water of life”. The home-dwelling -Osirians clung to their idea of an Underworld Paradise, and belief in it became fused -with that of the floating island, or Islands of the Blest. Those who dwelt in inland -plains and valleys, and those accustomed to cross the great mysterious deserts on -which the oasis-mirage frequently appeared and vanished like the mythical floating -island, conceived of a Paradise on earth. There are references in more than one land -to a Paradise among the mountains. It figures in the fairy stories of Central Europe, -for instance, as “the wonderful Rose Garden” with its linden Tree of Immortality, -the hiding-place of a fairy lady, its dancing nymphs and its dwarfs; the king of dwarfs -has a cloak of invisibility which he wraps round those mortals he carries away.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3172src" href="#xd31e3172">11</a> -</p> -<p>At first only the souls of kings entered Paradise. But, in time, the belief became -firmly established that the souls of others could reach it too, and be fed there. -The quest of the “food of life” then became a popular <span class="pageNum" id="pb136">[<a href="#pb136">136</a>]</span>theme of the story-tellers, and so familiar grew the idea of the existence of this -fruit that people believed it could be obtained during life, and that those who partook -of it might have their days prolonged indefinitely. For, as W. Schooling has written, -“a few simple thoughts on a few simple subjects produce a few simple opinions common -to a whole tribe” (and even a great part of mankind), “and are taught with but little -modification to successive generations; hence arises a rigidity that imposes ready-made -opinions, which are seldom questioned, while such questioning as does occur is usually -met with excessive severity, as Galileo and others have found out”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3180src" href="#xd31e3180">12</a> -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p136width" id="p136"><img src="images/p136.jpg" alt="THE CHINESE SI WANG MU (JAPANESE SEIOBO) AND MAO NU" width="370" height="720"><p class="figureHead">THE CHINESE SI WANG MU (JAPANESE SEIOBO) AND MAO NU</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Japanese painting (by Hidenobu) in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The apple, as we have seen, was to the Celts the fruit of immortality: the Chinese -favoured the peach—that is, it was favoured by the Chinese cult of the West. As all -animals were supposed to be represented in the Otherworld by gigantic prototypes—the -fathers or mothers of their kind—so were trees represented by a gigantic tree.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3192src" href="#xd31e3192">13</a> This tree was the World Tree that supported the Universe. In Egypt the World Tree -was the sycamore of the sky-goddess, who was the Great Mother of deities and mankind. -The sun dropped into the sycamore at eventide; when darkness fell the swallows (star-gods) -perched in its branches. In Norse mythology the tree is the ash, called Ygdrasil, -and from the well at its roots souls receive the Hades-drink of immortality, drinking -from a horn embellished with serpent symbols. The Tree figures prominently in Iranian -mythology: the Aryo-Indian Indra constructs the World-house round <span class="pageNum" id="pb137">[<a href="#pb137">137</a>]</span>it. This Tree is, no doubt, identical with the sacred tree in Assyrian art, which -is sometimes the date, the vine, the pomegranate, the fir, the cedar, and perhaps -the oak. It may be that the Biblical parable about the talking trees is a memory of -the rivalries of the various Assyrian tree cults: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the -olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave -my fatness, wherewith by me they honour god and man, and go to be promoted over the -trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig -tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be -promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over -us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my vine, which cheereth God and man, -and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come -thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint -me King over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire -come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>As in Assyria, there was in China quite a selection of life-giving trees. -</p> -<p>The Chinese gigantic Peach Tree, whose fruit was partaken of by gods and men, grew -in the Paradise among the Kwun-lun mountains in Tibet, and, like the Indian Mount -Meru (“world spine”), supported the Universe. Its fruit took three thousand years -to ripen. The tree was surrounded by a beautiful garden, and was under the care of -the fairy-like lady Si Wang Mu, the queen of immortals, the “Mother of the Western -King”, and the “Royal Mother of the West”. She appears to have originally been the -mother-goddess—the Far-Eastern form of Hathor. In Japan she is called Seiobo. Her -Paradise, which is called “the palace of exalted purity”, and “the metropolis of the -pearl mountain”, or of “the jade mountain”, and is entered through “the golden <span class="pageNum" id="pb138">[<a href="#pb138">138</a>]</span>door”,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3205src" href="#xd31e3205">14</a> was originally that of the cult of the West. Sometimes Si Wang Mu is depicted as -quite as weird a deity as the Phigalian Demeter, with disordered hair, tiger’s teeth, -and a panther’s tail. Her voice is harsh, and she sends and cures diseases. Three -blue birds bring food to her. -</p> -<p>Chinese emperors and magicians were as anxious to obtain a peach from the Royal Mother’s -tree in the Western Paradise, as they were to import the “fungus of immortality” from -the Islands of the Blest in the Eastern Sea. -</p> -<p>There once lived in China a magician named Tung Fang So, who figures in Japanese legend -as Tobosaku, and is represented in Japanese art as a jolly old man, clasping a peach -to his breast and performing a dance, or as a dreamy sage, carrying two or three peaches, -and accompanied by a deer—an animal which symbolized longevity. Various legends have -gathered round his name. One is that he had several successive rebirths in various -reigns, and that originally he was an avatar of the planet Venus. He may therefore -represent the Far-Eastern Tammuz, the son of the mother-goddess. Another legend tells -that he filched three peaches from the Tree of Life, which had been plucked by the -“Royal Mother of the West”. -</p> -<p>Tung Fang So was a councillor in the court of Wu Ti, the fourth emperor of the Han -Dynasty, who reigned for over half a century, and died after fasting for seven days -in 87 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> In Japanese stories Wu Ti is called Kan no Buti. He was greatly concerned about finding -the “water of life” or the “fruit of life”, so that his days might be prolonged. In -his palace garden he caused to be erected a tower over 100 feet high, which appears -to <span class="pageNum" id="pb139">[<a href="#pb139">139</a>]</span>have been an imitation of a Babylonian temple. On its summit was the bronze image -of a god, holding a golden vase in its hands. In this vase was collected the pure -dew that was supposed to drip from the stars. The emperor drank the dew, believing -that it would renew his youth. -</p> -<p>One day there appeared before Wu Ti in the palace garden a beautiful green sparrow. -In China and Japan the sparrow is a symbol of gentleness, and a sparrow of uncommon -colour is supposed to indicate that something unusual is to happen. The emperor was -puzzled regarding the bird-omen, and consulted Tung Fang So, who informed him that -the Queen of Immortals was about to visit the royal palace. -</p> -<p>Before long Si Wang Mu made her appearance. She had come all the way from her garden -among the Kwun-lun mountains, riding on the back of a white dragon, with seven of -the peaches of immortality, which were carried on a tray by a dwarf servant. Her fairy -majesty was gorgeously attired in white and gold, and spoke with a voice of bird-like -sweetness. -</p> -<p>When she reached Wu Ti there were only four peaches on the tray, and she lifted one -up and began to eat it. The peach was her symbol, as the apple was that of Aphrodite. -Tung Fang So peered at her through a window, and when she caught sight of his smiling -face, she informed the emperor that he had stolen three of her peaches. Wu Ti received -a peach from her, and, having eaten it, became an immortal. A similar story is told -regarding the Chinese Emperor, Muh Wang. -</p> -<p>In her “Jade Mountain” Paradise of the West (the highest peak of the Kwun-lun mountains) -this goddess is accompanied by her sister, as the Egyptian Isis is by Nephthys, and -the pair are supposed to flit about in <span class="pageNum" id="pb140">[<a href="#pb140">140</a>]</span>Cloud-land, followed by the white souls of good women of the Taoist cult. Her attendants -include the Blue Stork, the White Tiger, the Stag, and the gigantic Tortoise, which -are all gods and symbols of longevity in China. -</p> -<p>Among the many stories told about Tung Fang So is one regarding a visit he once paid -to the mythical Purple Sea. He returned after the absence of a year, and on being -remonstrated with by his brother for deserting his home for so long a period, he contended -that he had been away for only a single day. His garments had been discoloured by -the waters of the Purple Sea, and he had gone to another sea to cleanse them. In like -manner heroes who visit Fairyland find that time slips past very quickly. -</p> -<p>The Purple Sea idea may have been derived from the ancient Well of Life story about -El Khidr,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3230src" href="#xd31e3230">15</a> whose body and clothing turned green after he had bathed in it. Purple supplanted -green and blue as the colour of immortality and royalty after murex dye became the -great commercial asset of sea-traders. Tung Fang So may have had attached to his memory -a late and imported version of the El Khidr story. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p140width" id="p140"><img src="images/p140.jpg" alt="MOUNTAIN VIEW WITH SCHOLAR’S RETREAT" width="353" height="720"><p class="figureHead">MOUNTAIN VIEW WITH SCHOLAR’S RETREAT</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The reference to Wu Ti’s dew-drinking habit recalls the story of the youthful Keu -Tze Tung, a court favourite, who unwittingly offended the emperor, Muh Wang, and was -banished. As the Egyptian Bata, who similarly fell into disgrace in consequence of -a false charge being made against him, fled to the “Valley of the Acacia”, Keu Tze -Tung fled to the “Valley of the Chrysanthemum”. There he drank the dew that dropped -from the petals of chrysanthemums, and became an immortal. The Buddhists took over -this story, and <span class="pageNum" id="pb141">[<a href="#pb141">141</a>]</span>told that the youth had been given a sacred text, which he painted on the petals. -This text imparted to the dew its special qualities. In the Far East the chrysanthemum -is a symbol of purity. The chrysanthemum with sixteen petals is the emblem of the -Mikado of Japan. -</p> -<p>A Chinese sage, who, like the Indian Rishis, practised <i><span class="corr" id="xd31e3248" title="Source: yogi">yoga</span></i> until he became immortal, engaged his spare moments in painting fish. He lived on -the bank of a stream for over two hundred years. In the end he was carried away to -the Underworld Paradise of the Lord of Fish, who was, of course, the dragon-god. He -paid one return visit to his disciples, riding like the Chinese “Boy Blue” in the -dragon story, on the back of a red carp. -</p> -<p>Another Chinese “tree-cult” favoured, instead of the peach tree, a cassia tree. This -cassia-cult must have been late. The peach tree is indigenous. “Of fruits,” says Laufer, -“the West is chiefly indebted to China for the peach (<i>Amygdalus persica</i>) and the apricot (<i>Prunus armeniaca</i>). It is not impossible that these two gifts were transmitted by the silk-dealers, -first to Iran (in the second or first century <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) and thence to Armenia, Greece, and Rome (in the first century <span class="asc">A.D.</span>).” In India the peach is called <i>cinani</i> (“Chinese fruit”). “There is no Sanskrit name for the tree (peach); nor does it play -any rôle in the folk-lore of India, as it does in China.” … Persia “has only descriptive -names for these fruits, the peach being termed <i>saft alu</i> (‘large plum’), the apricot, <i>zard alu</i> (‘yellow plum’).”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3270src" href="#xd31e3270">16</a> -</p> -<p>It is difficult to identify the cassia tree of Chinese religious literature. “The -Chinese word <i>Kwei</i> occurs at an early date, but it is a generic term for <i>Lauraceæ</i>; and there are about thirteen species of <i>Cassia</i>, and about sixteen species of <i>Cinnamomum</i> in China. The essential <span class="pageNum" id="pb142">[<a href="#pb142">142</a>]</span>point is that the ancient texts maintain silence as to cinnamon; that is, the product -from the bark of the tree. <i>Cinnamomum cassia</i> is a native of Kwan-si, Kwan-tun, and Indo-China; and the Chinese made its first -acquaintance under the Han, when they began to colonize and to absorb southern China.” -The first description of this tree goes no farther back than the third century. “It -was not the Chinese, but non-Chinese peoples of Indo-China who first brought the tree -into civilization, which, like all other southern cultivations, was simply adopted -by the conquering Chinese.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3291src" href="#xd31e3291">17</a> It has been suggested that the cinnamon bark was imported into Egypt from China as -far back as the Empire period (<i>c.</i> 1500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) by Phœnician sea-traders.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3301src" href="#xd31e3301">18</a> Laufer rejects this theory.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3305src" href="#xd31e3305">19</a> Apparently the ancient Egyptians imported a fragrant bark from their Punt (Somaliland, -or British East Africa). At a very much later period cinnamon bark was carried across -the Indian Ocean from Ceylon. -</p> -<p>The Egyptians imported incense-bearing trees from Punt to restore the “odours of the -body” of the dead, and poured out libations to restore its lost moisture.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3312src" href="#xd31e3312">20</a> “When”, writes Professor Elliot Smith, “the belief became well established that the -burning of incense was potent as an animating force, and especially a giver of life -to the dead, it naturally came to be regarded as a divine substance in the sense that -it had the power of resurrection. As the grains of incense consisted of the exudation -of trees, or, as the ancient texts express it, ‘their sweat’, the divine power of -animation in course of time became transferred to trees. They were no <span class="pageNum" id="pb143">[<a href="#pb143">143</a>]</span>longer merely the source of the life-giving incense, but were themselves animated -by the deity, whose drops of sweat were the means of conveying life to the mummy.… -The sap of trees was brought into relationship with life-giving water.… The sap was -also regarded as the blood of trees and the incense that exuded as sweat.” As De Groot -reminds us, “tales of trees that shed blood, and that cry out when hurt are common -in Chinese literature (as also in Southern Arabia, notes Elliot Smith); also of trees -that lodge, or can change into maidens of <span class="corr" id="xd31e3320" title="Source: transcendant">transcendent</span> beauty.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3323src" href="#xd31e3323">21</a> -</p> -<p>Apparently the ancient seafarers who searched for incense-bearing trees carried their -beliefs to distant countries. The goddess-tree of the peach cult was evidently the -earliest in China. It bore the fruit of life. The influence that led to the foundation -of this cult probably came by an overland route. The cassia-tree cult was later, and -beliefs connected with it came from Southern China; these, too, bear the imprint of -ideas that were well developed before they reached China. -</p> -<p>There are references in Chinese lore to a gigantic cassia tree which was 10,000 feet -high. Those who ate of its fruit became immortal. The earlier belief connected with -the peach tree was that the soul who ate one of its peaches lived for 3000 years. -</p> -<p>This cassia world-tree appears first to have taken the place of the peach tree of -the “Royal Mother of the West”. It was reached by sailing up the holiest river in -China, the Hoang-Ho (Yellow River), the sources of which are in the Koko-Nor territory -to the north of Tibet. It wriggles like a serpent between mountain barriers before -it flows northward; then it <span class="pageNum" id="pb144">[<a href="#pb144">144</a>]</span>flows southward for 200 miles on the eastern border of Shensi province (the Chinese -homeland), and then eastward for 200 miles, afterwards diverging in a north-easterly -direction towards the Gulf of Chihli, in which the Islands of the Blest were supposed -to be situated. -</p> -<p>It was believed that the Hoang-Ho had, like the Ganges of India and the Nile of Egypt, -a celestial origin. Those sages who desired to obtain a glimpse of Paradise sailed -up the river to its fountain head. Some reached the tree and the garden of Paradise. -Others found themselves sailing across the heavens. The Western Paradise was evidently -supposed by some to be situated in the middle of the world, and by others to have -been situated beyond the horizon. -</p> -<p>Chang Kiʼen, one of the famous men attached to the court of Wu Ti, the reviver of -many ancient beliefs and myths, was credited with having followed the course of the -sacred river until he reached the spot where the cassia tree grew. Beside the tree -were the immortal animals that haunt the garden of the “Royal Mother of the West”. -In addition, Chang Kiʼen saw the moon-rabbit or moon-hare, which is adored as a rice-giver. -In the Far East, as in the Near East and in the West, the moon is supposed to ripen -crops. The lunar rabbit or hare is associated with water; in the moon grow plants -and a tree of immortality. There is also, according to Chinese belief, a frog in the -moon. It was originally a woman, the wife of a renowned archer, who rescued the moon -from imprisonment in masses of black rain-clouds. The “Royal Mother of the West” was -so grateful to the archer for the service he had rendered that she gave him a jade -cup filled with the dew of immortality. His wife stole the cup and drank the dew. -For this offence the “Royal Mother of the West” transformed her into a frog, and <span class="pageNum" id="pb145">[<a href="#pb145">145</a>]</span>imprisoned her in the moon. In Egypt the frog was a symbol of resurrection or rebirth, -and the old frog-goddess Hekt is usually regarded as a form of Hathor, the Great Mother. -</p> -<p>The lunar tree is sometimes identified with the cassia tree of immortality. Its leaves -are red as blood, and the bodies of those who eat of its fruit become as transparent -as still water. -</p> -<p>The moon-water which nourishes plants and trees (eight lunar trees of immortality -are referred to in some legends), and the dew of immortality in the jade cup, appear -to be identical with the Indian soma and the nectar of the classical gods. In Norse -mythology the lunar water-pot (a symbol of the mother-goddess) was filled at a well -by two children, the boy Hyuki and the girl Bil,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3343src" href="#xd31e3343">22</a> who were carried away by the moon-god Mani. Odin was also credited with having recovered -the moon-mead from the hall of Suttung, “the mead wolf”, after it had been stolen -from the moon. The god flew heavenward, carrying the mead, in the form of an eagle.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3346src" href="#xd31e3346">23</a> Zeus’s eagle is similarly a nectar-bringer. -</p> -<p>In Indian mythology the soma was contained in a bowl fashioned by Twashtri, the divine -artisan, and was drunk by the gods, and especially by Indra, the rain-bringer. A Vedic -frog-hymn was chanted by Aryo-Indian priests as a rain-charm when Indra’s services -were requisitioned. In one of the Indian legends an eagle or falcon carries the soma -to Indra. The souls who reach Paradise are made immortal after they drink of the soma. -In India the soma was personified, and the lunar god, Soma, became a god of love, -immortality, and fertility. The soma juice was obtained by the Vedic priests from -<span class="pageNum" id="pb146">[<a href="#pb146">146</a>]</span>some unknown plant. There are also references in Indian mythology to the “Amrita”, -which was partaken of by the gods. It was the sap of sacred trees that grew in Paradise. -Trees and plants derived their life and sustenance from water. The Far-Eastern beliefs -in “the dew of immortality”, “the fungus of immortality”, and “the fruit of immortality” -have an intimate connection with the belief that the mother-goddess was connected -with the moon, which exercised an influence over water. The mother-goddess was also -the love-goddess, the Ishtar of Babylonia, the Hathor of Egypt, the Aphrodite of Greece. -Her son, or husband, was, in one of his phases, the love-god. -</p> -<p>The sage of the Chinese Emperor Wu Ti, who followed the course of the Yellow River -so as to reach the celestial Paradise, saw, in addition to the moon-rabbit, or hare, -the “Old Man of the Moon”, the Chinese Wu Kang and Japanese Gekkawo, the god of love -and marriage. He is supposed to unite lovers by binding their feet with invisible -red silk cords. The “Old Man in the Moon” is, in Chinese legend, engaged in chopping -branches from the cassia tree of immortality. New branches immediately sprout forth -to replace those thus removed, but the “Old Man” has to go on cutting till the end -of time, having committed a sin for which his increasing labour is the appropriate -punishment. -</p> -<p>A Buddhist legend makes Indra the old man. He asked for food from the hare, the ape, -and the fox. The hare lit a fire and leapt into it so that the god might be fed. Indra -was so much impressed by this supreme act of friendship and charity that he placed -the exemplary hare in the moon. A version of this story is given in the <i>Mahábhárata</i>. -</p> -<p>In European folk-lore the “Old Man” is either a <span class="pageNum" id="pb147">[<a href="#pb147">147</a>]</span>thief who stole a bundle of faggots, or a man who “broke the Sabbath” by cutting sticks -on that holy day. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">See the rustic in the Moon, -</p> -<p class="line">How his bundle weighs him down; -</p> -<p class="line">Thus his sticks the truth reveal -</p> -<p class="line">It never profits man to steal.</p> -</div> -<p class="first">Various versions of the Man in the Moon myth are given by S. Baring-Gould,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3372src" href="#xd31e3372">24</a> who draws attention to a curious seal “appended to a deed preserved in the Record -office, dated the 9th year of Edward the Third (1335)”. It shows the “Man in the Moon” -carrying his sticks and accompanied by his dog. Two stars are added. The inscription -on the seal is, “Te Waltere docebo cur spinas phebo gero (I will teach thee, Walter, -why I carry thorns in the moon)”. The deed is one of conveyance of property from a -man whose Christian name was Walter. -</p> -<p>Wu Ti’s sage travelled through the celestial regions until he reached the Milky Way, -the source of the Yellow River. He saw the Spinning Maiden, whose radiant garment -is adorned with silver stars. She had a lover, from whom she was separated, but once -a year she was allowed to visit him, and passed across the heavens as a meteor. This -Spinning Maiden, who weaves the net of the constellations, is reminiscent of the Egyptian -sky-goddess, Hathor (or Nut), whose body is covered with stars, and whose legs and -arms, as she bends over the earth, “represent the four pillars on which the sky was -supposed to rest and mark the four cardinal points”. Her lover, from whom she was -separated, was Seb.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3379src" href="#xd31e3379">25</a> In China certain groups of stars are referred to as the <span class="pageNum" id="pb148">[<a href="#pb148">148</a>]</span>“Celestial Door”, the “Hall of Heaven”, &c. Taoist saints dwell in stellar abodes, -as well as on the “Islands of the Blest”; some were, during their life on earth, incarnations -of star-gods. The lower ranks of the western-cult immortals remain in the garden of -the “Royal Mother”; those of the highest rank ascend to the stars. -</p> -<p>Wu Ti’s sage, according to one form of the legend, never returned to earth. His boat, -which sailed up the Yellow River and then along the “Milky Way”, was believed to have -reached the Celestial River that flows round the Universe, and along which sails the -sun-barque of the Egyptian god Ra (or Re). One day the Chinese sage’s oar—apparently -his steering oar—was deposited in the Royal Palace grounds by a celestial spirit, -who descended from the sky. Here we have, perhaps, a faint memory of the visits paid -to earth from the celestial barque by the Egyptian god Thoth, in his captivity as -envoy of the sun-god Ra. -</p> -<p>There is evidence in Far-Eastern folk-tales that at a very remote period the beliefs -of the cult of the sky-goddess, which placed the tree of immortality in the “moon -island”, and the beliefs of the peach cult of “the Westerners” were fused, as were -those of the Osirian and solar cults in Egypt. -</p> -<p>A curious story tells that once upon a time a man went to fish on the Yellow River. -A storm arose, and his boat was driven into a tributary, the banks of which were fringed -with innumerable peach trees in full blossom. He reached an island, on which he landed. -There he was kindly treated by the inhabitants, who told that they had fled from China -because of the oppression of the emperor. This surprised the fisherman greatly. He -asked for particulars, and was given the name of an <span class="pageNum" id="pb149">[<a href="#pb149">149</a>]</span>emperor who had died about 500 years before he himself was born. -</p> -<p>“What is the name of this island?” he asked. The inhabitants were unable to tell him. -“We came hither,” they said, “just as you have come. We are strangers in a strange -land.” -</p> -<p>Next day the wanderer launched his boat and set out to return by the way he had come. -He sailed on all day and all night, and when morning came he found himself amidst -familiar landmarks. He was able to return home. -</p> -<p>When the fisherman told the story to a priest, he was informed that he had reached -the land of the Celestials, and that the river fringed by peach trees in blossom was -the Milky Way. -</p> -<p>In this story the Chinese Island of the Blest is, like the Nilotic “green bed of Horus”, -a river island. -</p> -<p>Another memory of the Celestial River and the Barque of the Sun is enshrined in the -story of Lo Tze Fang, a holy woman of China who ascended to heaven by climbing a high -tree—apparently the “world-tree”. After reaching the celestial regions she was carried -along the Celestial River in a boat. According to the story, she still sails each -day across the heavens. -</p> -<p>Other saintly people have been carried to the celestial regions by dragons. According -to Chinese belief the “Yellow Dragon” is connected with the moon. The reflection of -the moon on rippling water is usually referred to as the “Golden Dragon”, or “Yellow -Dragon”, the chief of Chinese dragons, and usually associated with the sun. -</p> -<p>One of the classes of Chinese holy men of the Spirit-world, the Sien Nung, who bear -a close resemblance to Indian Rishis, is connected with the moon cult. They are believed -to prolong their lives by eating the leaves of the lunar plants. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb150">[<a href="#pb150">150</a>]</span></p> -<p>In an Egyptian legend it is told that Osiris was the son of the Mother Cow, who had -conceived him when a fertilizing ray of light fell from the moon. In like manner a -moon-girl came into being in Japan. She was discovered by a wood-cutter. One day, -when collecting bamboo, he found inside a cane a little baby, whose body shone as -does a gem in darkness. He took her home to his wife, and she grew up to be a very -beautiful girl. She was called “Moon Ray”, and after living for a time on the earth -returned to the moon. She had maintained her youthful appearance by drinking, from -a small vessel she possessed, the fluid of immortality. -</p> -<p>As the dragon was connected with the moon, and the moon with the bamboo, it might -be expected that the dragon and bamboo would be closely linked. One of the holy men -is credited with having reached the lunar heaven by cutting down a bamboo, which he -afterwards transformed into a dragon. He rode heavenwards on the dragon’s back. -</p> -<p>Saintly women, as a rule, rise to heaven in the form of birds, or in their own form, -without wings, on account of the soul-like lightness of their bodies, which have become -purified by performing religious rites and engaging in prayer and meditation. Their -husbands have either to climb trees or great mountains. Some holy women, after reaching -heaven, ride along the clouds on the back of the Kʼilin, the bisexual monster that -the soul of Confucius is supposed to ride. It is a form of the dragon, but more like -the <i>makara</i> of the Indian god Varuna than the typical “wonder beast” of China and Japan. Some -of these monsters resemble lions, dogs, deer, walruses, or unicorns. They are all, -however, varieties of the <i>makara</i>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb151">[<a href="#pb151">151</a>]</span></p> -<p>Sometimes we find that the attributes of the Great Mother, who, like Aphrodite, was -a “Postponer of Old Age” (<i>Ambologera</i>), being the provider of the fruit of immortality and a personification of the World -Tree, have been attached to the memory of some famous lady, and especially an empress. -As the Egyptian Pharaoh, according to the beliefs of the solar cult, became Ra (the -sun-god) after death, so did the Chinese empress become the “Royal Lady of the West”. -Nu Kwa, a mythical empress of China, was reputed to have become a goddess after she -had passed to the celestial regions. She figures in the Chinese Deluge Myth. Like -the Babylonian Ishtar, she was opposed to the policy of destroying mankind. She did -not, however, like Ishtar, content herself by expressing regret. When the demons of -water and fire, aided by rebel generals of her empire, set out to destroy the world, -Nu Kwa waged war against them. Her campaign was successful, but not until a gigantic -warrior had partly destroyed the heavens by upsetting one of its pillars and the flood -had covered a great portion of the earth. The empress stemmed the rising waters by -means of charred reeds (a Babylonian touch), and afterwards rebuilt the broken pillar, -under which was placed an Atlas-tortoise. Like Marduk (Merodach), she then set the -Universe in order, and formed the channel for the Celestial River. Thereafter she -created the guardians of the four quarters, placing the Black Tortoise in the north, -and giving it control over winter; the Blue Dragon in the east, who was given control -over spring; the White Tiger in the west, who was given control over autumn; and the -Red Bird in the south, who was given control over summer, with the Golden Dragon, -whose special duty was to guard the sun, the moon being protected by the White <span class="pageNum" id="pb152">[<a href="#pb152">152</a>]</span>Deity of the west. The broken pillar of heaven was built up with stones coloured like -the five gods. -</p> -<p>Among the gifts conferred on mankind by this Empress-Goddess was jade, which she created -so that they might be protected against evil influence and decay. -</p> -<p>In this Deluge Myth, which is evidently of Babylonian origin, the gods figure as rebels -and demons. The Mother Goddess is the protector of the Universe, and the friend of -man. Evidently the cult of the Mother Goddess was at one time very powerful in China. -In Japan the Empress Nu Kwa is remembered as Jokwa. -</p> -<p>The Tree of Immortality, as has been seen, is closely associated with the Far Eastern -Mother Goddess, who may appear before favoured mortals either as a beautiful woman, -as a dragon, or as a woman riding on a dragon, or as half woman and half fish, or -half woman and half serpent. It is from the goddess that the tree receives its “soul -substance”; in a sense, she is the tree, as she is the moon and the pot of life-water, -or the mead in the moon. The fruits of the tree are symbols of her as the mother, -and the sap of the tree is her blood. -</p> -<p>Reference has been made to Far Eastern stories about dragons transforming themselves -into trees and trees becoming dragons. The tree was a “kupua” of the dragon. The mother -of Adonis was a tree—Myrrha—the daughter of King Cinyras of Cyprus, who was transformed -into a myrrh tree. A Japanese legend relates that a hero, named Manko, once saw a -beautiful woman sitting on a tree-trunk that floated on the sea. She vanished suddenly. -Manko had the tree taken into his boat, and found that the woman was hidden inside -the trunk. She was a daughter of the Dragon King of Ocean. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p152width" id="p152"><img src="images/p152.jpg" alt="GENII AT THE COURT OF SI WANG MU" width="442" height="720"><p class="figureHead">GENII AT THE COURT OF SI WANG MU</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>A better-known Japanese tree hero is Momotaro <span class="pageNum" id="pb153">[<a href="#pb153">153</a>]</span>(<i>momo</i>, peach, <i>taro</i>, eldest son), whose name is usually rendered in English as “Little Peachling”. He -is known in folk-stories as a slayer of demons—a veritable Jack the Giant-Killer. -</p> -<p>The legend runs that one day an old wood-cutter went out to gather firewood, while -his wife washed dirty clothes in a river. After the woman had finished her work, she -saw a gigantic peach drifting past. Seizing a pole, she brought it into shallow water, -and thus secured it. The size of the peach astonished her greatly, and she carried -it home, and, having washed it, placed it before her husband when he returned home -for his evening meal. No sooner did the wood-cutter begin to cut open the peach than -a baby boy emerged from the kernel. The couple, being childless, were greatly delighted, -and looked upon the child as a gift from the Celestials, and they believed he had -been sent so as to become their comfort and helper when they grew too old to work. -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e3438" title="Source: Momotara">Momotaro</span>, “the elder son of the peach”, as they called him, grew up to be a strong and valiant -young man, who performed feats of strength that caused everyone to wonder at him. -</p> -<p>There came a day when, to the sorrow of his foster-parents, he announced that he had -resolved to leave home and go to the Isle of Demons, with purpose to secure a portion -of their treasure. This seemed to be a perilous undertaking, and the old couple attempted -to make him change his mind. <span class="corr" id="xd31e3443" title="Source: Momotara">Momotaro</span>, however, laughed at their fears, and said: “Please make some millet dumplings for -me. I shall need food for my journey.” -</p> -<p>His foster-mother prepared the dumplings and muttered good wishes over them. Then -<span class="corr" id="xd31e3448" title="Source: Momotara">Momotaro</span> bade the old couple an affectionate farewell, and went on his way. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb154">[<a href="#pb154">154</a>]</span></p> -<p>The young hero had not travelled far when he met a dog, which barked out: “Bow-wow! -where are you going, Peach-son?” -</p> -<p>“I am going to the Isle of Demons to obtain treasure,” the lad answered. -</p> -<p>“Bow-wow! what are you carrying?” -</p> -<p>“I am carrying millet dumplings that my mother made for me. No one in Japan can make -better dumplings than these.” -</p> -<p>“Bow-wow! give me one and I shall go with you to the Isle of Demons.” -</p> -<p>The lad gave the dog a dumpling, and it followed at his heels. -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e3460" title="Source: Momotara">Momotaro</span> had not gone much farther when a monkey, perched on a tree, called out to him, saying: -“Kia! Kia! where are you going, Son of a Peach?” -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e3464" title="Source: Momotara">Momotaro</span> answered the monkey as he had answered the dog. The monkey asked for a dumpling, -promising to join the party, and when he received one he set off with the lad and -the dog. -</p> -<p>The next animal that hailed the lad was a pheasant, who called out: “Ken! Ken! where -are you going, Son of a Peach?” -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e3469" title="Source: Momotara">Momotaro</span> told him, and the bird, having received the dumpling he asked for, accompanied the -lad, the dog, and the monkey on the quest of treasure. -</p> -<p>When the Island of Demons was reached they all went together towards the fortress -in which the demon king resided. The pheasant flew inside to act as a spy. Then the -monkey climbed over the wall and opened the gate, so that <span class="corr" id="xd31e3474" title="Source: Momotara">Momotaro</span> and the dog were able to enter the fortress without difficulty. The demons, however, -soon caught sight of the intruders, and attempted to kill them. <span class="corr" id="xd31e3477" title="Source: Momotara">Momotaro</span> fought fiercely, assisted by the <span class="pageNum" id="pb155">[<a href="#pb155">155</a>]</span>friendly animals, and slew or scattered in flight the demon warriors. Then they found -their way into the royal palace and made Akandoji, the king of demons, their prisoner. -This great demon was prepared to wield his terrible club of iron, but Momotaro, who -was an expert in the jiu-jitsu system of wrestling, seized the demon king and threw -him down, and, with the help of the monkey, bound him with a rope. -</p> -<p>Momotaro threatened to put Akandoji to death if he would not reveal where his treasure -was hidden. -</p> -<p>The king bade his servants do homage to the Son of the Peach and to bring forth the -treasure, which included the cap and coat of invisibility, magic jewels that controlled -the ebb and flow of ocean, gems that shone in darkness and gave protection against -all evil to those who wore them, tortoise-shell and jade charms, and a great quantity -of gold and silver. -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e3485" title="Source: Momotara">Momotaro</span> took possession of as much of the treasure as he could carry, and returned home a -very rich man. He built a great house, and lived in it with his foster-parents, who -were given everything they desired as long as they lived. -</p> -<p>In this story may be detected a mosaic of myths. The Egyptian Horus, whose island -floated down the Nile, had white sandals which enabled him to go swiftly up and down -the land of Egypt. There are references in the Pyramid Texts to his youthful exploits, -but the full story of them has not yet been discovered. The Babylonian Tammuz, when -a child, drifted in a “sunken boat” down the River Euphrates. No doubt this myth is -the one attached to the memory of Sargon of Akkad,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3490src" href="#xd31e3490">26</a> the son of a vestal virgin, who was placed in an ark and set adrift on the river. -He was found by a gardener, <span class="pageNum" id="pb156">[<a href="#pb156">156</a>]</span>and was afterwards raised to the kingship by the goddess Ishtar. Karna, the Aryo-Indian -Hector, the son of Surya, the sun-god, and the virgin-princess Pritha, was similarly -set adrift in an ark, and was rescued from the Ganges by a childless woman whose husband -was a charioteer. The poor couple reared the future hero as their own son.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3496src" href="#xd31e3496">27</a> -</p> -<p>Adonis, the son of the myrrh tree, was a Syrian form of Tammuz. Horus was the son -of Osiris, whose body was enclosed by a tree after Set caused his death by setting -him adrift in a chest. When Isis found the tree, which had been cut down for a pillar, -the posthumous conception of the son of Osiris took place.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3504src" href="#xd31e3504">28</a> The <span class="corr" id="xd31e3509" title="Source: Momotara">Momotaro</span> legend has thus a long history. -</p> -<p>The friendly animals figure in the folk-tales of many lands. <span class="corr" id="xd31e3515" title="Source: Momotara’s">Momotaro’s</span> fight for the treasure, including the cloak of invisibility, bears a close resemblance -to Siegfried’s fight for the treasure of the Nibelungs.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3518src" href="#xd31e3518">29</a> In western European, as in Far Eastern lore, the treasure is guarded by dragons as -well as by dwarfs and giants and other demons. When the dragon-slayer is not accompanied -by friendly animals, he receives help and advice from birds whose language he acquires -by eating a part of the dragon, or, as in the Egyptian tale, after getting possession -of the book of spells, guarded by the “Deathless Snake”. When the Egyptian hero reads -the spells he understands the language of birds, beasts, and fishes. The treasure-guarding -dragon appears, as has been suggested, to have had origin in the belief that sharks -were the guardians of pearl-beds and preyed upon the divers who stole their treasure. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb157">[<a href="#pb157">157</a>]</span></p> -<p>The beliefs connected with the life-giving virtues of the tree of the Mother Goddess -were attached to shells, pearls, gold, and jade. The goddess was the source of all -life, and one of her forms was the dragon. As the dragon-mother she created or gave -birth to the dragon-gods. Dragon-bones were ground down for medicinal purposes; dragon-herbs -cured diseases; the sap of dragon-trees, like the fruit, promoted longevity, as did -the jade which the goddess had created for mankind. -</p> -<p>The beliefs connected with jade were similar to those connected with pearls, which -were at a remote period emblems of the moon in Egypt. In China the moon was “the pearl -of heaven”. One curious and widespread belief was that pearls were formed by rain-drops, -or by drops of dew from the moon, the source of moisture, and especially of nectar -or soma. Pearls and pearl-shells were used for medicinal purposes. They were, like -the sap of trees, the very essence of life—the soul-substance of the Great Mother.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3528src" href="#xd31e3528">30</a> -</p> -<p>That the complex ideas regarding shells, pearls, dew, trees, the moon, the sun, the -stars, and the Great Mother were of “spontaneous generation” in many separated countries -is difficult to believe. It is more probable that the culture-complexes enshrined -in folk-tales and religious texts had a definite area of origin in which their history -can be traced. The searchers for precious stones and metals and incense-bearing trees -must have scattered their beliefs far and wide when they exploited locally-unappreciated -forms of wealth. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb158">[<a href="#pb158">158</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3095"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3095src">1</a></span> L. W. King, <i>Babylonian Religion</i> (London, 1903), p. 171. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3095src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3102"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3102src">2</a></span> L. W. King, <i>Legends of Babylon and Egypt</i> (London, 1918), p. 136. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3102src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3109"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3109src">3</a></span> <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 130. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3109src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3115"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3115src">4</a></span> <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, p. 71. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3115src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3119"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3119src">5</a></span> Westervelt, <i>Legends of Gods and Ghosts (Hawaiian Mythology)</i>, p. 245. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3119src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3130"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3130src">6</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, pp. 120 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3130src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3138"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3138src">7</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 134. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3138src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3144"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3144src">8</a></span> G. Elliot Smith, <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, pp. 23 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3144src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3154"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3154src">9</a></span> Farnell, <i>Cults of the Greek States</i>, Vol. III, pp. 14, 30; Cook, <i>Zeus</i>, Vol. I, p. 537. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3154src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3163"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3163src">10</a></span> Westervelt, <i>Legends of Old Honolulu</i>, pp. 22 <i>et seq.</i>, and p. 29. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3163src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3172"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3172src">11</a></span> <i>Teutonic Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 424–32. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3172src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3180"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3180src">12</a></span> <i>Westminster Review</i>, November, 1892, p. 523. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3180src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3192"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3192src">13</a></span> When, some years ago, an ass was acquired by a tenant on a Hebridean island, a native, -on seeing this animal for the first time, exclaimed, “It is the father of all the -hares”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3192src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3205"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3205src">14</a></span> Dr. Joseph Edkins, <i>Religion in China</i>, p. 151. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3205src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3230"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3230src">15</a></span> <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, pp. 185 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3230src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3270"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3270src">16</a></span> Laufer, <i>Sino Iranica</i> (Chicago, 1919), pp. 539 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3270src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3291"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3291src">17</a></span> Laufer, <i>Sino-Iranica</i>, p. 543. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3291src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3301"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3301src">18</a></span> <i>Transactions Am. Phil. Association</i>, Vol. XXIII, 1892, p. 115. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3301src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3305"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3305src">19</a></span> <i>Sino-Iranica</i>, pp. 542–3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3305src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3312"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3312src">20</a></span> G. Elliot Smith, <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, pp. 36 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3312src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3323"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3323src">21</a></span> <i>Religious System of China</i>, Vol. IV, pp. 272–6: and Elliot Smith, <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, pp. 38–9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3323src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3343"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3343src">22</a></span> The Jack and Jill of the nursery rhyme. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3343src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3346"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3346src">23</a></span> <i>Teutonic Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 22 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3346src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3372"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3372src">24</a></span> <i>Curious Myths of the Middle Ages</i>, pp. 190 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3372src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3379"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3379src">25</a></span> Budge, <i>Gods of the Egyptians</i>, Vol. II, p. 104. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3379src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3490"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3490src">26</a></span> <i>Babylonian Myth and Legend</i>, p. 126–7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3490src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3496"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3496src">27</a></span> <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 173 <i>et seq.</i>, and 192–94. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3496src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3504"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3504src">28</a></span> <i>Egyptian Myth and Legend</i>, p. 19 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3504src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3518"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3518src">29</a></span> <i>Teutonic Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 352 (<i>n.</i>), 376, 383, 389, 391, 446. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3518src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3528"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3528src">30</a></span> For beliefs connected with pearls and shells, see <i>Shells as Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture</i>, I. Wilfrid Jackson (London, 1917). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3528src" title="Return to note 30 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch11" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e332">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XI</h2> -<h2 class="main">Tree-, Herb-, and Stone-lore</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">“Soul Substance” in Medicinal Plants—Life-fire in Water and Plants—“The Blood which -is Life”—Colour Symbolism in East and West—Charm Symbolism—Gems as Fruit—Jade and -Vegetation—Far Eastern Elixirs of Life—Links between Pine, Cypress, Mandrake, and -Mugwort—Story of Treasure-finding Dog—The Far Eastern Artemis—Her Mugwort, Lotus, -and Fruit Basket—Herbs and Pearl-shell—Goats and Women’s Herb—Chinese and Tartar’s -Fight for Mandrake—Tea as an Elixir—Far Eastern Rip Van Winkles—Problem of the Date -Tree—“Tree Tears” and “Stone Tears”—Weeping Deities—Goats and Thunder-gods—Goats and -Sheep become Stones—Gems and Herbs connected with Moon—Graded Herbs, Deities, and -Stones—Foreign Ideas in China.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In the ancient medical lore of China, as in the medical lores of other lands, there -are laudatory references to “All-heal” plants and plants reputed to be specific remedies -for various diseases. Not a few of these medicinal plants have been found to be either -quite useless or positively harmful, but some are included in modern pharmacopœias, -after having been submitted to the closest investigations of physiological science. -</p> -<p>The old herbalists, witch-doctors, and hereditary “curers”, who made some genuine -discoveries that have since been elaborated, were certainly not scientists in the -modern sense of the term. Their “cures” were a quaint mixture of magic and religion. -They searched for those plants and substances that appeared, either by their shape -or colour, to contain in more concentrated form than others the “essence of life”, -the “soul substance” that restored health and promoted longevity. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb159">[<a href="#pb159">159</a>]</span></p> -<p>This “soul substance” was concentrated in body-odours and body-moistures. It was a -something mixed in water which had colour, odour, and heat—a something derived from -the Great Mother, who had herself sprung from water, as did the Egyptian Hathor and -the Greek Aphrodite, or, if not directly from the Great Mother, from one or other -of her offspring. The “soul substance” of the goddess was in vegetation; the sap of -trees was identified with her blood—the “blood which is life”. Blood was one kind -of body-moisture; other kinds were sweat, tears, saliva, &c. All these moistures had -fertilizing properties. The Mother, as the sky-goddess, provided the world’s supply -of fertilizing water. In China the supply was controlled by the dragon-gods, who caused -the thunder and lightning that released the rain and flooded the rivers. -</p> -<p>Winter is the Chinese dry season. It was believed that during this period the dragons -were concealed and asleep. No growth was possible during winter because of the scarcity -of water—the life-giving water that caused Nature to “renew her youth” in the spring -season. When the dragons awoke and rose fighting and thundering, parched wastes were -soaked and fertilized by rain. Then the old, decaying world renewed her youth and -fresh vegetation appeared, because “soul substance” in the form of rain had entered -the soil and furnished plants with “blood-sap”, and at the same time with vital energy, -vital odours, and vital colours. Thus life, which had its origin in water, was sustained -by the products of water and by the properties in water. -</p> -<p>The plants that were supposed to store up most “soul substance” were those that grew -in water, like the lotus, those that constantly absorbed moisture, like the “fungus -of immortality”, or those that sprang up suddenly <span class="pageNum" id="pb160">[<a href="#pb160">160</a>]</span>during a thunder-storm, like the “Red Cloud herb”. The latter required a heavy deluge -to bring it into existence. It was a special gift of the dragon-god—or an “avatar” -of that deity—and had concentrated in it the essence of much rain, and, in addition, -the essence of lightning—the “fire of heaven”, ejected by the rain-dragon. The lightning -was the “dragon’s tongue”, and had therefore substance, moisture, and heat, as well -as brilliance. To the early thinkers the life fluid was not only blood, but warm blood—blood -pulsating with the “vital spark”, the “fire of life”. These men would have accepted -in the literal sense the imagery of the modern Irish poet, who wrote: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">O, there was lightning in my blood, -</p> -<p class="line">Red lightning lighten’d through my blood, -</p> -<p class="line xd31e2937">My Dark Rosaleen.</p> -</div> -<p class="first">The “fire of life” might be locked up in vegetation, in stone, or in red earth, and -be made manifest by its colour alone. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p160width" id="p160"><img src="images/p160.jpg" alt="SQUARE BRICK OF THE HAN DYNASTY, WITH MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES AND INSCRIPTIONS" width="551" height="720"><p class="figureHead">SQUARE BRICK OF THE HAN DYNASTY, WITH MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES AND INSCRIPTIONS</p> -<p class="first">The figures enclosed in the rectangular panel surrounded by a geometrical border represent -the four quadrants of the Chinese uranoscope, being: 1. The Blue Dragon of the East. -2. The Black Warriors, Tortoise and Serpent of the North. 3. The Red Bird of the South. -4. The White Tiger of the West. The eight archaic characters filling in the intervals -read: <i>Chʼien chʼiu wan sui chʼang lo wei yang</i>, “For a thousand autumns and a myriad years everlasting joy without end.”</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The genesis of this idea can be traced at a very early period in the history of modern -man (<i>Homo sapiens</i>). In Aurignacian times in western Europe (that is, from ten till twenty thousand -years ago) blood was identified with life and consciousness. The red substance in -“the blood which is life” was apparently regarded as the vitalizing agency, and was -supposed to be the same as red earth (red ochre). It is found, from the evidence afforded -by burial customs, that the Aurignacian race originated or perpetuated the habit of -smearing the bodies of their dead with red ochre. After the flesh had decayed, the -red ochre fell on and coloured the bones and the pebbles around the bones. Whether -or not the red ochre was supposed to be impregnated with the essence of fire, <span class="pageNum" id="pb161">[<a href="#pb161">161</a>]</span>or of the sun, the source of fire, it is impossible to say. Behind the corpse-painting -custom there was, no doubt, a body of definite beliefs. As much is suggested by the -fact that shell-amulets and spine-amulets were laid on or about the dead. The belief -that the first man had been formed of red clay mixed with water may well have been -in existence in Aurignacian times. The amulets associated with Aurignacian ceremonial -burials suggest, too, that ideas had been formulated regarding the after-life. Was -it believed that the painted, and therefore reanimated, body would rise again, or -that the soul could be assisted to travel to the Otherworld? These questions cannot -yet be answered. We can do no more than note here that Colour Symbolism, and especially -Red Symbolism and all it entails, had origin in remote antiquity. -</p> -<p>In China red flowers and red berries were supposed, because of their colour, to be -strongly impregnated with “soul substance” or “vital essence”, or, to use the Chinese -term, with <i>shen</i>. These flowers and berries had curative qualities. In western Europe the red holly -berry was in like manner regarded as an “All-heal”. The tree on which the red berry -appears is so full of divine life that it is an evergreen. In Gaelic folk-lore holly -is associated with the Mother Goddess and with the water-beast (dragon) and its “avatar”, -the red-spotted salmon, which is supposed to swallow the holly berries that drop into -its pool. -</p> -<p>The red substance which is in the blood was not necessarily confined, however, to -vegetation. As it was of the earth, earthy, or a product of some mysterious agency -at work in the earth, it might be found in coagulated form as a ruby, or any other -red stone, or as a stone streaked or spotted with red; it might be found in water -<span class="pageNum" id="pb162">[<a href="#pb162">162</a>]</span>as a shell, wholly or partly red, or as a red or yellow pearl inside a shell. It might -likewise be found concentrated in the red feathers of a bird. A bird with red feathers -was usually recognized as a “thunder bird”—Robin Red-breast is a European “thunder -bird”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3581src" href="#xd31e3581">1</a>—and the red berry as a “thunder berry”—a berry containing the “soul substance” of -the god of lightning and fire. Fire was obtained by friction from trees associated -with the divine Thunderer; his spirit dwelt in the tree. One of the “fire sticks” -was invariably taken from a red-berried tree. -</p> -<p>The red vital substance might likewise be displayed by a sacred fish—the “thunder -fish”. In the Chinese “Boy Blue” story the thunder-dragon in human form rides on the -back of a red carp. -</p> -<p>Yellow is, like red, reputed to be a vital colour. Lightning is yellow; the flames -of wood fires are yellow, while the embers are red. Early man appears to have recognized -the close association of yellow and red in fire. Gold is yellow, and it was connected, -as a substitute for red and yellow shells, with the sun, which at morning and evening -sends forth red and yellow rays. The fire which is in the sun “warms the blood” and -promotes the growth of plants, as does the moisture in the moon—the moon which controls -the flow of sap and blood. The combination of sun-fire, lunar-fire, and moisture, -or of fire-red earth and rain, constituted, according to early man’s way of thinking, -the mystery called life. Yellow berries and yellow flowers were as sacred to him, -and had as great life-prolonging and curative qualities, as red berries, red flowers, -red feathers, and the skins and scales of red fish. Yellow gems and yellow metals -were consequently valued as highly as were red gems <span class="pageNum" id="pb163">[<a href="#pb163">163</a>]</span>and red metals. In China yellow is the earth colour. In Ceylon, Burmah, Tibet, and -China it is the sacred colour of the Buddhists. -</p> -<p>Blue, the sky colour, and therefore the colour of the sky-deity, was likewise holy. -Torquoise and lapis-lazuli were connected with the Great Mother. The sacredness of -green has a more complex history. It was not reverenced simply because of the greenness -of vegetation. The mysterious substance that makes plants green was derived from the -supreme source of life—the green form of the water-goddess or god—and was to be found -in concentrated form in green gems and stones, including green jade. White was the -colour of day, the stars, and the moon, and black the colour of night and of death, -and therefore the colour of deities associated with darkness and the Otherworld. In -China black is the colour of the north, of winter, and of drought. The combination -of the five colours (black, white, red, yellow, and blue or green) was displayed by -all deities. This conception is enshrined in the religious text which De Visser gives -without comment: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“A dragon in the water covers himself with five colours; -</p> -<p class="line"><i>Therefore he is a god.</i>”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3595src" href="#xd31e3595">2</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">In China, as in several other countries, the colour of an animal, plant, or stone -was believed to reveal its character and attributes. A red berry was regarded with -favour, because it displayed the life colour. A red stone was favoured for the same -reason. When it is nowadays found that some particular berry or herb, favoured of -old as an “All-heal”, is really an efficacious medicine, an enthusiast may incline -to regard it as a wonderful thing that modern medical science has not achieved, in -<span class="pageNum" id="pb164">[<a href="#pb164">164</a>]</span>some lines, greater triumphs than were achieved by the “simple observers” of ancient -times. But it may be that the real cures were of accidental discovery, and that the -effective berry or herb would, on account of its colour alone, have continued in use -whether it had cured or not. -</p> -<p>In China not only the berry with a “good colour” was used by “curers”, but even the -stone with a “good colour”. The physicians, for instance, sometimes prescribed ground -jade, and we read of men who died, because, as it was thought, the quantities of jade-medicine -taken were much too large. Some ancient writers assert, in this connection, that although -a dose of ground jade may bring this life to a speedy end, it will ensure prolonged -life in the next world. -</p> -<p>The berries and stones which were reputed to be “All-heals” were not always devoured. -They could be used simply as charms. The vital essence or “soul substance” in berry -or stone was supposed to be so powerful that it warded off the attacks of the demons -of disease, or expelled the demons after they had taken possession of a patient. Medicines -might be prepared by simply dipping the charms into pure well water. These charms -were often worn as body-ornaments. All the ancient personal ornaments were magic charms -that gave protection or regulated the functions of body organs. When symbols were -carved on jade, the ornaments were believed to acquire increased effectiveness. Gold -ornaments were invariably given symbolic shape. Like the horse-shoe, which in western -Europe is nailed on a door for “luck”—that is, to ward off evil—these symbolic ornaments -were credited with luck-bringing virtues. The most ancient gold ornaments in the world -are found in Egypt, and these are models of shells, which had been worn as “luck-bringers” -long before <span class="pageNum" id="pb165">[<a href="#pb165">165</a>]</span>gold was worked.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3608src" href="#xd31e3608">3</a> These shells had an intimate association with the Mother Goddess, who, in one of -her aspects, personified the birth-aiding and fertilizing shell. -</p> -<p>The idea that the coloured fruits and the coloured stones were life-giving “avatars” -of the Mother Goddess is well illustrated in the glowing accounts of the Chinese Paradise. -The Tree of Life might bear fruit or gems. The souls swallowed gems as readily as -fruit. In the Japanese Paradise the immortals devour powdered mother-of-pearl shells -as well as peaches, dried cassia pods, cinnabar, pine needles, or pine cones. -</p> -<p>Jade was connected with vegetation on this earth as well as in Paradise. As we have -seen, the Great Mother goddess created this famous mineral for the benefit of mankind. -It contained her “soul substance”, as did the trees, their blossoms, and their fruit, -and even their leaves and bark. This quaint belief is enshrined in the following quotation -from the <i>Illustrated Mirror of Jades</i>, translated by Laufer and given without comment: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“In the second month, the plants in the mountains receive a bright lustre. When their -leaves fall, they change into jade. The spirit of jade is like a beautiful woman.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3624src" href="#xd31e3624">4</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>It is obvious that the “beautiful woman” is the Goddess of the West. Reference to -coral trees in Paradise are numerous. It was believed not only in China but in western -Europe, until comparatively recent times, that coral was a marine tree—the tree of -the water-goddess. The Great Mother was connected with the <span class="pageNum" id="pb166">[<a href="#pb166">166</a>]</span>water above and beyond the firmament, as well as the rivers and the sea. -</p> -<p>“Good health” in the Otherworld was immortality or great longevity. A soul which ate -of a peach from the World Tree was assured of 3000 years of good health. He renewed -his youth, and never grew old, so long as the supply of peaches was assured.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3634src" href="#xd31e3634">5</a> -</p> -<p>In China men lengthened their days by partaking of “soul substance” in various forms. -The pine-tree cult made decoctions of pine needles and cones, or of the fungus found -at the roots of pines. “The juice of the pine”, says one Chinese sage, “when consumed -for a long time, renders the body light, prevents man from growing old, and lengthens -his life. Its leaves preserve the interior of the body; they cause a man never to -feel hunger, and increase the years of his life.” The cypress was also favoured. “Cypress -seeds,” the same writer asserts, “if consumed for a long period, render a man hale -and healthy. They endow him with a good colour, sharpen his ears and eyes, cause him -never to experience the feeling of hunger, nor to grow old.” The camphor tree comes -next to the pine and cypress as “a dispenser and depository of vital power”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3641src" href="#xd31e3641">6</a> -</p> -<p>Apparently the fact that pines and cypresses are evergreens recommended them to the -Chinese, although it was not for that reason only the belief arose about their richness -of “soul substance”. An ancient Chinese sage has declared: “Pines and cypresses alone -on this earth are endowed with life, in the midst of winter as <span class="pageNum" id="pb167">[<a href="#pb167">167</a>]</span>well as in summer they are evergreen. Pines 1000 years old resemble a blue ox, a blue -dog, or a blue human being. Cypresses 1000 years old have deep roots <i>shaped like men in a sitting posture</i>.… When they are cut they lose blood.… Branches of pines which are 3000 years old -have underneath the bark accumulations of resin in the shape of dragons, which, if -pounded and consumed in a quantity of full ten pounds, will enable a man to live 500 -years.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3652src" href="#xd31e3652">7</a> -</p> -<p>Here we have the tree connected with the blue dragon. As has been stated, ancient -pines were transformed into dragons. The assertion that the pines and cypresses were -the only trees possessed of “vital power” does not accord with the evidence regarding -the peach-tree cult. The peach, although not an evergreen, was credited with being -possessed of much “soul substance”. -</p> -<p>No doubt the ideas connected with evergreens had a close association with the doctrines -of colour symbolism. The Chinese “Tree of Heaven” (<i>Ailanthus glandulosa</i>) appears to have attracted special attention, because in spring its leaves are coloured -reddish-violet or reddish-brown before they turn green. The walnut, cherry, and peony -similarly show reddish young leaves, and these trees have much lore connected with -them. -</p> -<p>One seems to detect traces of the beliefs connected with the mandrake in the reference -to the human-shaped roots of the 1000-year-old cypress tree. The mandrake was the -plant of Aphrodite, and its root, which resembles the human form, was used medicinally; -it has narcotic properties, and was believed also to be a medicine which promoted -fertility, assisted birth, and caused youths and girls to fall in love with one another. -According to <span class="pageNum" id="pb168">[<a href="#pb168">168</a>]</span>mandrake-lore, the plant shrieks when taken from the earth, and causes the death of -the one who plucks it.<a class="noteRef" id="n168.1src" href="#n168.1">8</a> Dogs were consequently employed to drag it out of the ground, and they expired immediately. -The “mandrake apple” is believed by Dr. Rendel Harris to have been the original “love -apple”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3680src" href="#xd31e3680">9</a> -</p> -<p>In like manner the mugwort, the plant of Artemis, was connected in China and Japan -with the pine which had virtues similar to those of the herb. Although the mandrake-dog -is not associated with the cypress, it is found connected in a Japanese folk-story -with the pine. The hero of the tale, an old man called Hana Saka Jijii, acquired the -secret how to make withered trees blossom. He possessed a wonderful dog, named Shiro, -which one day attracted his attention by sniffing, barking, and wagging his tail at -a certain spot in the cottage garden. The old man was puzzled to know what curious -thing in the ground attracted the dog, and began to dig. After turning up a few spadefuls -of earth he found a hoard of gold and silver pieces. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p168width" id="p168"><img src="images/p168.jpg" alt="CHINESE BOWL WITH SYMBOL OF LONGEVITY" width="556" height="667"><p class="figureHead">CHINESE BOWL WITH SYMBOL OF LONGEVITY</p> -<p class="first">(<i>Victoria and Albert Museum</i>)</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>A jealous neighbour, having observed what had happened, borrowed Shiro and set the -animal to search for treasure in his own garden. The dog began to sniff and bark at -a certain spot, but when the man turned over the soil, he found only dirt and offal -that emitted an offensive smell. Angry at being deceived by the dog, he killed it -and buried the body below the roots of a pine tree. Hana Saka Jijii was much distressed -on account of the loss of Shiro. He burned incense below the pine tree, laid flowers -on the dog’s grave, and shed <span class="pageNum" id="pb169">[<a href="#pb169">169</a>]</span>tears. That night he dreamed a wonderful dream. The ghost of Shiro appeared before -him, and, addressing him, said: “Cut down the pine tree above my grave and make a -rice mortar of it. When you use the mortar think of me.” -</p> -<p>The old man did as the dog advised, and discovered to his great joy that when he used -the pine-tree mortar each grain of rice was transformed into pure gold. He soon became -rich. -</p> -<p>The envious neighbour discovered what was going on and borrowed the mortar. In his -hands, however, it turned rice into dirt. This enraged him so greatly that he broke -the mortar and burned it. -</p> -<p>That night the ghost of Shiro appeared once again in a dream, and advised Hana Saka -Jijii to collect the ashes of the burnt mortar and scatter them on withered trees. -Next morning he did as the dog advised him. To his astonishment he found that the -ashes caused withered trees to come to life and send forth fresh and beautiful blossoms. -He then went about the country and employed himself reviving dead plum and cherry -trees, and soon became so renowned that a prince sent for him, asking that he should -bring back to life the withered trees in his garden. The old man received a rich reward -when he accomplished the feat. -</p> -<p>The jealous neighbour came to know how <span class="corr" id="xd31e3704" title="Source: Hani">Hana</span> Saka Jijii revived dead trees, so he collected what remained of the ashes of the -pine-tree mortar. Then he set forth to proclaim to the inhabitants of a royal town -that he could work the same miracle as <span class="corr" id="xd31e3707" title="Source: Hani">Hana</span> Saka Jijii. The prince sent for him, and the man climbed into the branches of a withered -tree. But when he scattered the ashes no bud or blossom appeared, and the wind blew -the dust into the eyes of the prince and nearly blinded him. The <span class="pageNum" id="pb170">[<a href="#pb170">170</a>]</span>impostor was seized and soundly beaten; and the dog Shiro was, in this manner, well -avenged. -</p> -<p>In this story the dog is a searcher for and giver of treasure. It is of special interest, -therefore, to find that Artemis, the mugwort-goddess of the West, “was not only the -opener of treasure-houses, but she also possessed the secret of the Philosopher’s -Stone; she could transmute base substances into gold”. She could therefore grant riches -to those whom she favoured. Dr. Rendel Harris, quoting from an old English writer, -records the belief “that upon St. John’s eve there are coals (which turn to gold) -to be found at midday under the roots of mugwort, which after or before that time -are very small, or none at all”. The gold cures sickness.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3714src" href="#xd31e3714">10</a> -</p> -<p>A similar belief was attached to the mandrake. A French story tells of a peasant who -regularly “fed” a mandrake that grew below a mistletoe-bearing oak. The mandrake, -when fed, would, it was believed, “make you rich by returning twice as much as you -spent upon it.… The plant had become an animal.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3723src" href="#xd31e3723">11</a> -</p> -<p>If Shiro’s prototype was the mandrake-dog which sacrificed itself for the sake of -lovers, and was itself an “avatar” of the deity, we should expect to find the pine -tree connected with the love-goddess.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3729src" href="#xd31e3729">12</a> Joly, in his <i>Legend in Japanese Art</i> (p. 147), tells that “at Takasago there is a very old pine tree, the trunk of which -is bifurcated; in it dwells the spirit of the Maiden of Takasago, who was seen once -by the son of Izanagi, who fell in love and wedded her. Both lived to a very great -age, dying at the same hour on the same day, and since <span class="pageNum" id="pb171">[<a href="#pb171">171</a>]</span>then their spirits abide in the tree, but on moonlight nights they return to human -shape and revisit the scene of their earthly life and pursue their work of gathering -pine needles.” The needles were promoters of longevity, as we have seen. -</p> -<p>Another Japanese pair associated with the pine trees are Jo and Uba, a couple of old -and wrinkled spirits. They gathered pine needles, Jo using a rake and Uba a besom -and fan. -</p> -<p>The goddess of the pine was evidently a Far Eastern Aphrodite, as well as a Far Eastern -Artemis—an Artemis who provided medicine for women in the form of the mugwort, was -a goddess of birth, a guardian of treasure, and a goddess of travellers and hunters. -The Romans associated with Diana (Artemis) her loved one, Dianus or Janus,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3739src" href="#xd31e3739">13</a> as the tree-goddess in Japan was associated with a deified human lover. -</p> -<p>The pine may have been “a kind of mugwort” (and apparently, like the cypress, a “kind -of mandrake”), but it did not displace the mugwort as a medicinal plant. Dr. Rendel -Harris quotes a letter from Professor Giles, the distinguished Chinese scholar, who -says: “There is quite a literature about <i>Artemisia vulgaris</i>, L. (the mugwort), which has been used in China from time immemorial for cauterizing -as a counter-irritant, especially in cases of gout. Other species of Artemisia are -also found in China.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3747src" href="#xd31e3747">14</a> -</p> -<p>The Far Eastern Artemis appears to be represented by the immortal lady known in China -as Ho Sien Ku, and in Japan as Kasenko. She is shown “as a young woman clothed in -mugwort, holding a lotus stem and flower” (like a western Asiatic or Egyptian goddess), -“and talking to a phœnix”, or “depicted carrying a <span class="pageNum" id="pb172">[<a href="#pb172">172</a>]</span>basket of loquat fruits which she gathered for her sick mother. She was a woman who, -having been promised immortality in a dream, fed on mother-of-pearl, and thereafter -moved as swiftly as a bird.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3755src" href="#xd31e3755">15</a> The Mexican god Tlaloc’s wife was similarly a mugwort goddess. -</p> -<p>In the pine-tree story the Japanese representative of the tree- and lunar-goddess -of love appears with her spouse on moonlight nights. The moon was the “Pearl of Heaven”. -It will be noted that the mugwort is connected with pearl-shell—the lady Ho Sien Ku -having acquired the right to wear mugwort, in her character as an immortal, by eating -mother-of-pearl. This connection of pearl-shell with a medicinal plant is a more arbitrary -one than that of the mugwort with the pine, or the mandrake with the cypress. -</p> -<p>The lotus was a form of the ancient love-goddess, as was also the cowry. In Egypt -the solar-god Horus emerges at birth from the lotus-form of Hathor as it floats on -the breast of the Nile. Ho Sien Ku’s basket of fruit is also symbolic. “A basket of -sycamore figs” was in Ancient Egypt “originally the hieroglyphic sign for a woman, -a goddess, or a mother”. It had thus the same significance as the Pot, the lotus, -the mandrake-apple, and the pomegranate. The latter symbol supplanted the Egyptian -lotus in the Ægean area.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3764src" href="#xd31e3764">16</a> -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p172width" id="p172"><img src="images/p172.jpg" alt="GOATS CROPPING PLANT OF LIFE" width="720" height="418"><p class="figureHead">GOATS CROPPING PLANT OF LIFE</p> -<p class="first"><i>From the jade sculpture in the Scottish National Museum, Edinburgh</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>Mugwort, as already stated, was a medicine, and chiefly a woman’s medicine. “The plant -(mugwort)”, says Dr. Rendel Harris, “is Artemis, and Artemis is the plant. Artemis -is a woman’s goddess and a maid’s goddess, because she was a woman’s medicine and -a maid’s medicine.<span class="corr" id="xd31e3778" title="Not in source">”</span><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3779src" href="#xd31e3779">17</a> The mugwort promoted child-birth, and controlled <span class="pageNum" id="pb173">[<a href="#pb173">173</a>]</span>women like the moon, and was used for women’s ailments in general. It was a healing -plant, and was “good for gout” among other troubles. -</p> -<p>The women’s herb in China is called the “san tsi”. An eighteenth-century writer<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3787src" href="#xd31e3787">18</a> says it is “efficacious in women’s disorders and hæmorrhages of all sorts”. It is -found “only on the tops of high, steep mountains”, as is the scented Edelraut (<i>Artemisia mutellina</i>) an alpine plant like the famous and beautiful Edelweiss. -</p> -<p>Continuing his account of the “san tsi” herb, the eighteenth-century writer and compiler -says: “A kind of goat of a greyish colour is very fond of feeding upon this plant, -insomuch that they (the Chinese) imagine the blood of this animal is endowed with -the same medicinal properties. It is certain that the blood of these goats has surprising -success against the injuries received by falls from horses, and other accidents of -the same kind. This the missionaries have had experience of several times. One of -their servants that was thrown by a vicious horse, and who lay some time without speech -or motion, was so soon recovered by this remedy that the next day he was able to pursue -his journey.” It is also “a specific against the smallpox”. The author of <i>The Chinese Traveller</i>, touching again on the blood substitute for this plant, which is “not easy to be -had”, says: “In the experiments above mentioned, the blood of a goat was made use -of that had been taken by hunters”. -</p> -<p>The goat appears to be the link between Artemis “the curer” and Artemis as “Diana -the huntress”. As the virtues of rare curative herbs passed into the blood of animals -who ate them, the goddess, like her worshippers, hunted the animals in question, or -became their protector. <span class="pageNum" id="pb174">[<a href="#pb174">174</a>]</span>Pliny, in his twenty-eighth book, having, as Dr. Rendel Harris notes, “exhausted the -herbals”, shows that “a larger medicine is to be found in animals and in man”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3801src" href="#xd31e3801">19</a> -</p> -<p>In China the stag or deer, the stork, and the tortoise are associated with the Tree -of Life as “emblems of longevity”. One is reminded in this connection of the Western, -Eastern, and Far Eastern legends about birds that pluck and carry to human beings -leaves of “the plant of life” or “fungus of immortality”, and of Mykenæan and Ancient -Egyptian representations of bulls, goats, deer, &c., browsing on vines and other trees -or bushes that were supposed to contain the elixir of life, being sacred to the goddess -and shown as symbols of her or of the god with whom she was associated as mother or -spouse. -</p> -<p>Another famous Far Eastern curative “wort” is the <i>ginseng</i>. Like the fungus of immortality, it grew on one of the Islands of the Blest. Taken -with mermaid’s flesh, it was supposed to lengthen the life of man for several centuries. -</p> -<p>“As described by <span class="corr" id="xd31e3812" title="Source: Fathert">Father</span> Jartoux”, says the eighteenth-century English writer, already quoted,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3815src" href="#xd31e3815">20</a> “it has a white root, somewhat knotty, about half as thick as one’s little finger; -and as it frequently parts into two branches, not unlike the forked parts of a man, -it is said from thence to have obtained the name of <i>ginseng</i>, which implies a resemblance of the human form, though indeed it has no more of such -a likeness than is usual among other roots. From the root arises a perfectly smooth -and roundish stem, of a pretty deep-red colour, except towards the surface of the -ground, where it is somewhat whiter. At the top of the stem is a sort of joint or -knot, formed by <span class="pageNum" id="pb175">[<a href="#pb175">175</a>]</span>the shooting out of four branches, sometimes more, sometimes less, which spread as -from a centre. The colour of the branches underneath is green, with a whitish mixture, -and the upper part is of a deep red like the stem.… Each branch has five leaves,” -and the leaves “make a circular figure nearly parallel to the surface of the earth”. -The berries are of “a beautiful red colour”. -</p> -<p>Here we have hints of the mandrake without a doubt. As a matter of fact, the <i>ginseng</i> has been identified with the mandrake. The plant evidently attracted attention because -of its colours and form. As it has a red stem and red berries, it is not surprising -to learn that “it strengthens the vital spirits, is good against dizziness in the -head and dimness of sight, and prolongs life to extreme old age”, and that “those -who are in health often use it to render themselves more strong and vigorous”. The -four-leaved <i>ginseng</i>, like the four-leaved clover, was apparently a symbol of the four cardinal points. -Its “five leaves” and the “circular figure formed by them” must have attracted those -who selected five colours for their gods and adored the sun. -</p> -<p>The <i>ginseng</i> is found “on the declivities of mountains covered with thick forests, upon the banks -of torrents or about the roots of trees, and amidst a thousand other different forms -of vegetables”. -</p> -<p>Conflicts took place between Tartars and Chinese for possession of the <i>ginseng</i>, and one Tartar king had “the whole province where the <i>ginseng</i> grows encompassed by wooden palisades”. Guards patrolled about “to hinder the Chinese -from searching for it (<i>ginseng</i>)”. -</p> -<p>Tea first came into use in China as a life-prolonger. The shrub is an evergreen, and -appears to have attracted the attention of the Chinese herbalists on that account. -Our eighteenth-century writer says: “As to the properties <span class="pageNum" id="pb176">[<a href="#pb176">176</a>]</span>of tea, they are very much controverted by our physicians; but the Chinese reckon -it an excellent diluter and purifier of the blood, a great strengthener of the brain -and stomach, a promoter of digestion, perspiration, and cleanser of the veins and -urethra”. Large quantities of tea were in China given “in fevers and some sorts of -colics”. Our author adds: “That the gout and stone are unknown in China is ascribed -to the use of this plant”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3846src" href="#xd31e3846">21</a> -</p> -<p>Apparently we owe not only some valuable medicines, but even the familiar cup of tea, -to the ancient searchers for the elixir of life and curative herbs. Intoxicating liquors -(<i lang="la">aqua vitæ</i>, i.e. “water of life”) have a similar history. They were supposed to impart vigour -to the body and prolong life. Withal, like the intoxicating “soma”, drunk by Aryo-Indian -priests, they had a religious value as they produced “prophetic states”. Even the -opium habit had a religious origin. <i lang="la">Aqua vitæ</i> was impregnated with “soul substance”, as was the juice of grapes, or, as the Hebrews -put it, “the blood of grapes”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3859src" href="#xd31e3859">22</a> -</p> -<p>As Far Eastern beliefs associated with curative plants and curative stones (like jade) -have filtered westward, so did Western beliefs filter eastward. Dr. Rendel Harris -has shown that myths and beliefs connected with the ivy and mugwort, which were so -prevalent in Ancient Greece, can be traced across Siberia to Kamschatka. The Ainus -of Japan regard the mistletoe as an “All-heal”, as did the ancient Europeans. “The -discovery of the primitive sanctity of ivy, mugwort, and mistletoe”, says Dr. Harris, -“makes a strong link between the early Greeks and other early peoples both East and -West, and it is probable that we shall find many more contacts between peoples <span class="pageNum" id="pb177">[<a href="#pb177">177</a>]</span>that, as far as geography and culture go, are altogether remote.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3869src" href="#xd31e3869">23</a> -</p> -<p>There are many Far Eastern stories about men and women who have escaped threatened -death by eating herbs, or pine resin, or some magic fruit. -</p> -<p>One herb, called <i>huchu</i>, was first discovered to have special virtues by a man who, when crossing a mountain, -fell into a deep declivity and was unable to get out of it, not only on account of -the injuries he had sustained, but because the rocks were as smooth as glass. He looked -about for something to eat, and saw only the huchu herb. Plucking it out of the thin -soil in which it grew, he chewed the root and found that it kept his body at a temperature -which prevented him feeling cold, while it also satisfied his desire for food and -water. Time passed quickly and pleasantly. He felt happy, slept well, and did not -weary. -</p> -<p>One day the earth was shaken by a great earthquake that opened a way of escape for -him. The man at once left his mountain prison and set off for home. -</p> -<p>On reaching his house he found, to his surprise, that it was inhabited by strangers. -He spoke to them, asking why they were there, and inquiring regarding his wife and -children. The strangers only scoffed at him. Then he wandered through the village, -searching for old friends, but could not find one. He, however, interested a wise -old man in his case. An examination was made of the family annals, and it was discovered -that the name given by the man had been recorded three centuries earlier as that of -a member of the family who had mysteriously disappeared. -</p> -<p>The Chinese Rip Van Winkle then told the story of his life in the mountain cavity, -and how he had been <span class="pageNum" id="pb178">[<a href="#pb178">178</a>]</span>sustained by the <i>huchu</i> herb. In this manner, according to Chinese tradition, the discovery was made that -the herb “prolongs life, cures baldness, turns grey hair black again, and tends to -renew one’s youth”. Great quantities of <i>huchu</i> tea must be drunk for a considerable time, and no other food taken, if the desired -results are to be fully achieved. -</p> -<p>Other Rip Van Winkle stories tell of men who have lived for centuries while conversing -with immortals met by chance, or while taking part in their amusements like the men -in Western European stories, who enter fairy knolls and dance with fairy women, and -think they have danced for a single hour, but find, when they come out, that a whole -year has gone past. -</p> -<p>One day a Taoist priest, named Wang Chih, entered a mountain forest to gather firewood. -He came to a cave in which sat two aged men playing chess, while others looked on. -The game fascinated Wang Chih, so he entered the cave, laid aside his chopper, and -looked on. When he began to feel hungry and thirsty he moved as if to rise up and -go away, although the game had not come to an end. One of the spectators, however, -divining his intention, handed him a kernel, which looked like a date stone, saying, -“Suck that”. -</p> -<p>Wang Chih put the kernel in his mouth and found that it refreshed him so that he experienced -no further desire for food or drink. -</p> -<p>The chess-playing continued in silence, and several hours, as it seemed, flew past. -Then one of the old men spoke to Wang Chih, saying: “It is now a long time since you -came to join our company. I think you should return home.” -</p> -<p>Wang Chih rose to his feet. When he grasped his chopper he was astonished to find -that the handle crumbled <span class="pageNum" id="pb179">[<a href="#pb179">179</a>]</span>to dust. On reaching home, he discovered, like the man who fed on the <i>huchu</i> herb, that he had been missing for one or two centuries. The old men with whom he -had mingled in the cave were the immortals, known to the Chinese as <i>Sten Nung</i>, to the Japanese as <i>Sennin</i>, and to the Indians as <i>Rishis</i>—a class of demi-gods who once lived on earth and achieved great merit, in the spiritual -sense, by practising austerities in solitude and for long periods. -</p> -<p>The reference to the date stone is of special interest. In Babylonia and Assyria the -date palm was one of the holy trees. It was cultivated in southern Persia, and may -have been introduced into China from that quarter. Another possibility is that the -seeds were got from dates carried by Arab traders to China, or obtained from Arabs -by Chinese traders. One of the Chinese names for the date resembles the Ancient Egyptian -designation, <i>bunnu</i>. Laufer, who discusses this problem,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3912src" href="#xd31e3912">24</a> refers to early Chinese texts that make mention of Mo-lin, a distant country in which -dark-complexioned natives subsist on dates. Mo-lin, earlier Mwa-lin, is, Laufer thinks, -“intended for the Malindi of Edrīsī or Mulanda of Yãqūt, now Malindi, south of the -Equator, in Seyidieh Province of British East Africa”. The lore connected with other -Trees of Life in China appears to have been transferred to the imported date palm. -One of its names is “jujube of a thousand years”, or “jujube of ten thousand years”. -Laufer quotes a Chinese description of the date palm which emphasizes the fact that -it “remains ever green”, and tells that “when the kernel ripens, the seeds are black. -In their appearance they resemble dried jujubes. They are good to eat, and as sweet -as candy.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3917src" href="#xd31e3917">25</a> -</p> -<p>Another Chinese Rip Van Winkle story relates that <span class="pageNum" id="pb180">[<a href="#pb180">180</a>]</span>two men who wandered among the mountains met two pretty girls. They were entertained -by them, and fed on a concoction prepared from hemp. Seven generations went past while -they enjoyed the company of the girls. -</p> -<p>The hemp (old Persian and Sanskrit <i>bangha</i>) was cultivated at a remote period in China and Iran. A drug prepared from the seed -is supposed to prolong life and to inspire those who partake of it to prophesy, after -seeing visions and dreaming dreams. The “bang” habit is as bad as the opium habit. -</p> -<p>In the tree-lore of China there are interesting links between trees and stones. It -has been shown that jade was an “avatar” of the mother-goddess, who created it for -the benefit of mankind; that tree foliage was identified with jade; that dragons were -born from stones; certain coloured stones were “dragon eggs”, the eggs of the “Dragon -Mother”, the mother-goddess herself, who had “many forms and many colours”. Sacred -stones were supposed to have dropped from the sky, or to have grown in the earth. -Pliny refers to a stone that fell from the sun. -</p> -<p>In Ancient Egypt it was believed that the creative or fertilizing tears of the beneficent -deities, like those of Osiris and Isis, caused good shrubs to spring up, and that -the tears of a deity like Set, who became the personification of evil, produced poisonous -plants. The weeping Prajapati of the <span class="corr" id="xd31e3932" title="Source: Ayro-Indians">Aryo-Indians</span> resembles the weeping sun-god Ra of Egypt. At the beginning, Prajapati’s tears fell -into the water and “became the air”, and the tears he “wiped away, upwards, became -the sky”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3935src" href="#xd31e3935">26</a> -</p> -<p>It is evident that the idea of the weeping deity reached China, for there are references -to “tree tears” <span class="pageNum" id="pb181">[<a href="#pb181">181</a>]</span>and to “stone tears”. Both the tree and stone “avatars” of the Great Mother or Great -Father shed creative tears. -</p> -<p>The Chinese appear to have discovered their wonderful “weeping tree” in Turkestan -in the second century <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, but the beliefs connected with it were evidently of greater antiquity. They already -knew about the weeping deities who created good and baneful vegetation, and the discovery -of the tree, it would appear, simply afforded proof to them of the truth of their -beliefs. -</p> -<p>The tree in question (the <i>hu tʼun</i> tree) has been identified by Laufer as the balsam poplar. “This tree”, he quotes -from a Chinese commentator, “is punctured by insects, whereupon flows down a juice, -that is commonly termed <i>hu tʼun lei</i> (‘<i>hu tʼun</i> tears’), because it is said to resemble human tears. When this substance penetrates -earth or stone it coagulates into a solid mass, somewhat on the order of rock salt.” -Laufer notes that Pliny “speaks of a thorny shrub in Ariana, on the borders of India, -valuable for its tears, resembling the myrrh, but difficult of access on account of -the adhering thorns. It is not known what plant is to be understood by the Plinian -text; but the analogy of the tears,” comments Laufer, “with the above Chinese term -is noteworthy.” -</p> -<p>An ancient Chinese scholar, dealing with the references to the weeping trees, says -that “its sap sinks into the earth, and is similar to earth and stone. It is used -as a dye, like the ginger stone” (a variety of stalactite). Ta Min, who lived in the -tenth century of our era, wrote regarding the tree, “There are two kinds—a tree sap, -which is not employed in the Pharmacopœia, and a stone sap collected on the surface -of stones; this one only is utilized as medicine. It resembles in appearance small -pieces of stone, and those coloured like loess take the <span class="pageNum" id="pb182">[<a href="#pb182">182</a>]</span>first place. The latter was employed as a remedy for toothache.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3961src" href="#xd31e3961">27</a> -</p> -<p>In Babylonia toothache was supposed to be caused by the marsh-worm demon which devours -“the blood of the teeth” and “destroys the strength of the gums”. The god Ea smites -the worm, which is a form of the dragon Tiamat.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3967src" href="#xd31e3967">28</a> -</p> -<p>The antique conception enshrined in the “weeping tree” is that the mother-goddess -of the sky sheds tears, which cause the tree to grow, and that, as the tree, she sheds -tears that become stones, while the stones shed tears that provide soul substance -to cure disease by removing pain and promoting health. In Egypt the stone specially -sacred to the sky-goddess Hathor was the turquoise, in which was, apparently, concentrated -the vital essence or “soul substance” of the sky. The goddess sprang from water, and -her tears were drops of the primeval water from which all things that are issued forth. -Those stones that contained water were in China “dragon stones” or “dragon eggs”. -In various countries there are legends about deities, and men and women have sprung -from moisture-shedding stones. The mother-goddess of Scotland, who presides over the -winter season, transforms herself at the beginning of summer into a stone that is -often seen to be covered with moisture. In Norse mythology the earliest gods spring -from stones that have been licked by the primeval mother-cow. Mithra of Persia sprang -from a rock. Indonesian beliefs regarding moist stones, from which issue water and -human beings, are fairly common.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3973src" href="#xd31e3973">29</a> -</p> -<p>The Kayan of Sumatra are familiar with the beliefs that connect stones and vegetables -with the sky and water. <span class="pageNum" id="pb183">[<a href="#pb183">183</a>]</span>They say that “in the beginning there was a rock. On this rain fell and gave rise -to moss, and the worms, aided by the dung beetles, made soil by their castings. Then -a sword handle came down from the sun and became a large tree. From the moon came -a creeper which, hanging from the tree, mated through the action of the wind.” From -this union of tree and creeper, i.e. sun and moon, “the first men were produced”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e3982src" href="#xd31e3982">30</a> -</p> -<p>The connection between sky, plant, and animals is found in the lore regarding the -Chinese <i>sant si</i> mountain herb which is eaten by goats. This herb, like other herbs, is produced from -the body-moisture of the goddess; it is the goddess herself—the goddess who sprang -from water. The plant is guarded by the mountain goat as the pearls are guarded by -the shark, and the goat, which browses on the plant, is, like the shark, an avatar -of the goddess. Goat’s blood is therefore as efficacious as the sap of the herb. -</p> -<p>The goat or ram is the vehicle of the Indian fire and lightning god Agni; the Norse -god Thor has a car drawn by goats. Dionysos, as Bromios (the Thunderer), has a goat -“avatar”, too, and he is the god of wine (Bacchus)—the wine, the “blood of grapes”, -being the elixir of life. Osiris, who had a ram form, was to the Ancient Egyptians -“Lord of the Overflowing Wine”. European witches ride naked on goats or on brooms; -the devil had a goat form. -</p> -<p>In China, as has been shown, the dragon-herb, peach, vine, pine, fungus of immortality, -<i>ginseng</i>, &c., received their sap, or blood, or “soul substance” from rain released by dragon -gods, who thundered like Bromios-Dionysos. The inexhaustible pot from which life-giving -water came was in the moon. This Pot was the mother-goddess, <span class="pageNum" id="pb184">[<a href="#pb184">184</a>]</span>who had a star form. A fertilizing tear from the goddess-star, which falls on the -“Night of the Drop”, is still supposed in Egypt to cause the Nile to rise in flood. -</p> -<p>We should expect to find the Chinese mythological cycle completed by an arbitrary -connection between the goat or ram and sacred stones. -</p> -<p>There are, to begin with, celestial goats. Some of the Far Eastern demi-gods, already -referred to, ride through “Cloud-land” on the backs of goats or sheep. One of the -eight demi-gods, who personify the eight points of the compass, is called by the Chinese -Hwang Chʼu-Pʼing, and by the Japanese Koshohei. He is said to be an incarnation of -the “rain-priest”, Chʼih Sung Tze, who has for his wife a daughter of the Royal Mother -of the West, the mother-goddess of the Peach Tree of Life. -</p> -<p>The Japanese version of the legend of the famous Koshohei is given by Joly as follows: -“Koshohei, when fifteen years old, led his herd of goats to the Kin Hwa mountains, -and, having found a grotto, stayed there for forty years in meditation. His brother, -Shoki, was a priest, and he vowed to find the missing shepherd. Once he walked near -the mountain and he was told of the recluse by a sage named Zenju, and set out to -find him. He recognized his brother, but expressed his astonishment at the absence -of sheep or goats. Koshohei thereupon touched with his staff the white stones with -which the ground was strewn, and as he touched them they became alive in the shape -of goats.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4001src" href="#xd31e4001">31</a> -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p184width" id="p184"><img src="images/p184.jpg" alt="THE GODDESS OF THE DEW" width="376" height="720"><p class="figureHead">THE GODDESS OF THE DEW</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>Goats might become stones. The Great Mother was a stone, rock, or mountain, having -the power to assume many forms, because she was the life of all things and the <span class="pageNum" id="pb185">[<a href="#pb185">185</a>]</span>substance of all things. The goddess was the Mountain of Dawn in labour that brought -forth the mouse-form of the sun (Smintheus Apollo), or the antelope form of the sun, -or the hawk or eagle form, or the human form, or the egg containing the sun-god. She -was also the sun-boat—the dragon-ship of the sun. The five holy mountains of China -appear to have been originally connected with the goddess and her sons—the gods of -the four quarters. -</p> -<p>In China deities might on occasion take the form of stones or reptiles. During the -Chou Dynasty (756 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) “one of the feudal dukes”, says Giles, “saw a vision of a yellow serpent which descended -from heaven, and laid its head on the slope of a mountain. The duke spoke of this -to his astrologer, who said, ‘It is a manifestation of God; sacrifice to it’. In 747 -<span class="asc">B.C.</span> another duke found on a mountain a being in the semblance of a stone. Sacrifices -were at once offered, and the stone was deified and received regular worship from -that time forward.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4024src" href="#xd31e4024">32</a> -</p> -<p>Giles states further in connection with Chinese god-stones: “Under 532 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> we have the record of a stone speaking.<span class="corr" id="xd31e4033" title="Not in source">”</span> The Marquis Lu inquired of his chief musician if this was a fact, and received the -following answer: “Stones cannot speak. Perhaps this one was possessed by a spirit. -If not, the people must have heard wrong. And yet it is said that when things are -done out of season and discontents and complaints are stirring among the people, then -speechless things do speak.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4035src" href="#xd31e4035">33</a> -</p> -<p>Precious stones were, like boulders or mountains, linked with the Great Mother. In -Egypt the red jaspar amulet, called “the girdle of Isis”, was supposed to be a precious -drop of the life-blood of that goddess. Herbs were connected with precious stones, -and were credited <span class="pageNum" id="pb186">[<a href="#pb186">186</a>]</span>with the attributes and characteristics of these stones. There are many references -in Chinese, Indian, and other texts and folk-lores to gems that gleam in darkness. -No gems do. The mandrake was similarly believed to shine at night. Both gem and herb -were associated with the moon, a form of the mother-goddess, and were supposed to -give forth light like the moon,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4045src" href="#xd31e4045">34</a> just as stones associated with the rain-mother were supposed to become moist, or -to send forth a stream of water, or to shed tears like the “weeping trees”, and like -the sky from which drop rain and dew. The attributes of the goddess were shared by -her “avatars”. -</p> -<p>The amount or strength of the “soul-substance” in trees, herbs, well-water, stones, -and animals varied greatly. Some elixirs derived from one or other of these “avatars” -might prolong life by a few years; other elixirs might ensure many years of health. -</p> -<p>The difference between a medicinal herb and the herb of immortality was one of degree -in potency. The former was imbued with sufficient “soul-substance” to cure a patient -suffering from a disease, or to give good health for months, or even years; the latter -gave extremely good health, and those who partook of it lived for long periods in -the Otherworld. -</p> -<p>Even the “spiritual beings” (<i>ling</i>) of China were graded. The four <i>ling</i>, as De Visser states, are “the unicorn, the phœnix, the tortoise, and the dragon”. -The dragon is credited with being possessed of “most <i>ling</i> of all creatures”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4060src" href="#xd31e4060">35</a> -</p> -<p>Stones were likewise graded. Precious stones had more <i>ling</i> than ordinary stones. Precious stones are sometimes referred to as <i>pi-si</i>. One Chinese writer says <span class="pageNum" id="pb187">[<a href="#pb187">187</a>]</span>that “the best <i>pi-si</i> are deep-red in colour; that those in which purple, yellow, and green are combined, -and the white ones take the second place; while those half white and half black are -of the third grade”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4074src" href="#xd31e4074">36</a> -</p> -<p>Stones that displayed five colours combined apparently all the virtues of the five -deities—the gods of the four quarters, and the sun, their chief. These were all children -of the sixth deity, the Great Mother, who was the water on earth and the water above -the firmament and the moon. The moon contained, as has been said, the “Pot” of fertilizing -water which created all the water that flows into the Earth “Pot”. In China, as in -Egypt and Western Europe, the Great Mother was the reproductive principle in Nature, -the source of the moisture of life, the blood which is life, the sap of trees, the -soul-substance in herbs, in fruit, in pearls, and in precious stones and precious -metals—precious because of their close association with her. -</p> -<p>It was the human dread of death and pain, the human desire for health and long life, -and for the renewal of youth that instigated early man to search for the well of life, -the plant of life, the curative herb, the pearl, and precious stones and precious -metals. But before the search began, the complex ideas about the origin of life and -the means by which it might be prolonged, which are reviewed in this chapter, passed -through a long process of development in the most ancient centres of civilization. -In China we meet not only with primitive ideas regarding life-giving food and water, -but with ideas that had gradually developed for centuries outside China after the -earliest attempts had been made to reanimate the corpse, not merely by painting it, -but by preventing the body from decaying. In the history of mummification in Egypt -<span class="pageNum" id="pb188">[<a href="#pb188">188</a>]</span>may be found the history of complex beliefs that travelled far and wide.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4084src" href="#xd31e4084">37</a> Even those peoples who did not adopt, or, at any rate, perpetuate the custom of mummification, -adopted the belief that it was necessary to preserve the corpse. This belief is still -prevalent in China, as will be shown, but magic takes the place of surgery. -</p> -<p>In the next chapter evidence will be provided to indicate how the overland “drift” -of culture towards China was impelled by the forces at work in Babylonia and Egypt. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb189">[<a href="#pb189">189</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3581"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3581src">1</a></span> Some thunder birds are dark as thunder-clouds. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3581src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3595"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3595src">2</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 63. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3595src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3608"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3608src">3</a></span> G. A. Reisner, <i>Early Dynastic Cemeteries of Naga-ad-Dêr</i>, Vol. I, 1908, Plates 6 and 7, and <i>Shells as Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture</i>, 1917, p. xxi. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3608src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3624"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3624src">4</a></span> <i>Jade</i>, p. 1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3624src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3634"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3634src">5</a></span> The Norse gods grew old when the apples of immortality, kept by the goddess Idun, -were carried away. After the apples were restored, they ate of them and grew young -again.—<i>Teutonic Myth and Legend</i>, p. 57. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3634src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3641"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3641src">6</a></span> De Groot, <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Vol. I, p. 300. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3641src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3652"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3652src">7</a></span> De Groot, <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Vol. I, p. 295. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3652src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n168.1"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n168.1src">8</a></span> Shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth.—<i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, iv, 3. -</p> -<div class="q"> -<div class="nestedtext"> -<div class="nestedbody"> -<div class="lgouter footnote"> -<p class="line">Give me to drink mandragora … -</p> -<p class="line">That I may sleep out the great gap of time -</p> -<p class="line">My Anthony is away.—<i>Anthony and Cleopatra.</i></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div><p></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3680"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3680src">9</a></span> <i>The Ascent of Olympus</i>, pp. 107 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3680src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3714"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3714src">10</a></span> Elliot Smith, <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, p. 184; Rendel Harris, <i>The Ascent of Olympus</i>, p. 73. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3714src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3723"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3723src">11</a></span> <i>The Ascent of Olympus</i>, p. 126. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3723src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3729"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3729src">12</a></span> Artemis, as goddess of birth, was a specialized form of the Great Mother, who was -herself the goddess of love and birth, of treasure, &c.—the All-mother. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3729src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3739"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3739src">13</a></span> <i>The Ascent of Olympus</i>, p. 87. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3739src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3747"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3747src">14</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 86. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3747src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3755"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3755src">15</a></span> Joly, <i>Legend in Japanese Art</i>, p. 165. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3755src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3764"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3764src">16</a></span> Elliot Smith, <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, pp. 183, 199 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3764src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3779"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3779src">17</a></span> <i>The Ascent of Olympus</i>, 79–80. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3779src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3787"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3787src">18</a></span> <i>The Chinese Traveller</i> (London, 1772), Vol. I, p. 247. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3787src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3801"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3801src">19</a></span> <i>The Ascent of Olympus</i>, p. 82. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3801src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3815"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3815src">20</a></span> <i>The Chinese Traveller</i>, Vol. I, p. 239. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3815src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3846"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3846src">21</a></span> <i>The Chinese Traveller</i>, Vol. I, pp. 237 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3846src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3859"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3859src">22</a></span> <a class="biblink xd31e40" title="Reference to the Bible: Genesis 49:11" href="https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gn%2049:11&version=NRSV"><i>Genesis</i>, xlix, 11</a>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3859src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3869"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3869src">23</a></span> <i>The Ascent of Olympus</i> (note on <i>Ivy and Mugwort in Siberia</i>), pp. 96 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3869src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3912"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3912src">24</a></span> <i>Sino-Iranica</i> (Chicago, 1919), pp. 385 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3912src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3917"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3917src">25</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 386. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3917src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3935"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3935src">26</a></span> <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>, p. 100. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3935src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3961"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3961src">27</a></span> <i>Sino-Iranica</i>, pp. 339–42. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3961src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3967"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3967src">28</a></span> <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, pp. 234–5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3967src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3973"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3973src">29</a></span> Perry, <i>Megalithic Culture of Indonesia</i>, p. 68. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3973src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e3982"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e3982src">30</a></span> <i>Megalithic Culture of Indonesia</i>, p. 92. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e3982src" title="Return to note 30 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4001"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4001src">31</a></span> <i>Legend in Japanese Art</i>, p. 195. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4001src" title="Return to note 31 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4024"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4024src">32</a></span> <i>Religions of Ancient China</i>, pp. 24–5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4024src" title="Return to note 32 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4035"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4035src">33</a></span> <i>Ibid<span class="corr" id="xd31e4038" title="Not in source">.</span></i>, pp. 38–9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4035src" title="Return to note 33 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4045"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4045src">34</a></span> See Chapter XIII <i>re</i> shining gems, jade, coral, &c. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4045src" title="Return to note 34 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4060"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4060src">35</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, pp. 39 and 64. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4060src" title="Return to note 35 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4074"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4074src">36</a></span> Laufer, <i>Sino-Iranica</i>, p. 568. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4074src" title="Return to note 36 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4084"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4084src">37</a></span> Elliot Smith, <i>The Migration of Early Culture</i> (London, 1915), and <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i> (London, 1919). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4084src" title="Return to note 37 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch12" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e342">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XII</h2> -<h2 class="main">How Copper-culture reached China</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Metals connected with Deities—Introduction of Copper—Struggles for the First “Mine-Land”—Early -Metal-working in Caucasus, Armenia, and Persia—Civilizations of Trans-Caspian Oases—Babylonian -Influence in Mid Asia—Bronze and Jade carried into Europe—Ancient “Gold Rushes” to -Siberia—Discoveries in Chinese Turkestan—Jade carried to Babylonia—Links between China, -Iran, and Siberia—Bronze-links between China and Europe—Evidence of Ornaments and -Myths—Early Metal-working—Far Eastern and European Furnaces Identical—Chinese Civilization -dates from 1700 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>—Culture-mixing in Ancient Times.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The persistent and enterprising search for wealth in ancient times, which, as will -be shown in this chapter, had so much to do with the spread of civilization, may seem -quite a natural thing to modern man. But it is really as remarkable, when we consider -the circumstances, to find the early peoples possessed of the greed of gold as it -would be to find hungry men who have been ship-wrecked on a lonely island more concerned -about its mineral resources than the food and water they were absolutely in need of. -What was the good of gold in an ancient civilization that had no coinage? What attraction -could it possibly hold for desert nomads? -</p> -<p>The value attached to gold, which is a comparatively useless metal, has always been -a fictitious value. As we have seen, it became precious in ancient times, not because -of its purchasing power, but for the reason that it had religious associations. The -early peoples regarded the precious metal as an “avatar” of the life-giving and <span class="pageNum" id="pb190">[<a href="#pb190">190</a>]</span>life-sustaining Great Mother goddess—the “Golden Hathor”, the “Golden Aphrodite”. -</p> -<p>In Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, India, and China the cow- and sky-goddess, the source -of fertilizing water, was, in the literal sense, a goddess of gold. In India one of -the five Sanskrit names for gold is Chandra<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4113src" href="#xd31e4113">1</a> (“the moon”), and the Indus was called “Golden Stream”, not merely because gold was -found in its sand, but because of its connection with the celestials. “Gold is the -object of the wishes of the Vedic singer, and golden treasures are mentioned as given -by patrons, along with cows and horses. Gold was used for ornaments for neck and breast, -for ear-rings, and even for cups. Gold is always associated with the gods. All that -is connected with them is of gold; the horses of the sun are ‘gold skinned’, and so -on.” This summary by two distinguished Sanskrit scholars emphasizes the close connection -that existed in India between gold and gold ornaments and religious beliefs.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4116src" href="#xd31e4116">2</a> -</p> -<p>“Gold”, a reader may contend, “is, of course, a beautiful metal, and the ancients -may well have been attracted by its beauty when they began to utilize it for ornaments.” -But is there any proof that ornaments were adopted, because, in the first place, they -made appeal to the æsthetic sense, which, after all, is a cultivated sense, and not -to be entirely divorced from certain mental leanings produced by the experiences and -customs of many generations? Do ornaments really beautify those who wear them? Was -it the æsthetic sense that prompted the early peoples to pierce their noses and ears; -and to extend the lobes of their ears so as to <span class="pageNum" id="pb191">[<a href="#pb191">191</a>]</span>“adorn” themselves with shells, stones, and pieces of metal? Can we divorce the practice -of mutilation from its association with crude religious beliefs? Inherited ideas of -beauty may be wrong ideas, and it can be said of the modern lady who wears collections -of brilliant and costly jewels that she is not necessarily made more beautiful by -perpetuating a custom rooted in the grossest superstitions of antiquity, for these -jewels were originally charms to preserve health, to regulate the flow of blood, to -promote fertility and birth, and, generally speaking, to secure “luck” by bringing -the wearer into close touch with the “deities”, whose “soul-substance” was contained -in them. -</p> -<p>When the æsthetic sense of mankind reached that high stage of development represented -by Greek sculpture, the so-called ornaments were discarded and the human form depicted -in all its natural beauty and charm. -</p> -<p>Whatever was holy seemed beautiful to the early people, and that is why in a country -like India, with its wealth of exquisitely coloured flowers, the Sanskrit names for -gold include <i>Jāta-rūpa</i> (native beauty), and <i>Su-varna</i> (good, or beautiful colour). The gold colour was really a luck-bringing colour, and -therefore beautiful to Aryan eyes. -</p> -<p>Having attached in their homelands a fictitious religious value to gold, the early -prospectors and miners carried their beliefs and customs with them wherever they went, -and these were in time adopted by the peoples with whom they came into contact. -</p> -<p>When Columbus crossed the Atlantic he and his followers greatly astonished the unsophisticated -natives of the New World by their anxiety to obtain precious metals. They found, to -their joy, that “the sands of the mountain streams glittered with particles of gold; -<span class="pageNum" id="pb192">[<a href="#pb192">192</a>]</span>these”, as Washington Irving says,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4137src" href="#xd31e4137">3</a> “the natives would skilfully separate and give to the Spaniards, without expecting -a recompense”. -</p> -<p>No doubt the early searchers for gold in Africa and Asia met with many peoples who -were as much amused and interested, and as helpful, as were the natives of the New -World, who welcomed the Spaniards as visitors from the sky. -</p> -<p>Gold was the earliest metal worked by man. It was first used in Egypt to fashion imitation -sea-shells, and the magical and religious value attached to the shells was transferred -to the gold which, in consequence, became “precious” or “holy”. -</p> -<p>Copper was the next metal to be worked. It was similarly used for the manufacture -of personal ornaments and other sacred objects, being regarded apparently, to begin -with, as a variety of gold. But in time—some centuries, it would appear, after copper -was first extracted from malachite—some pioneer of a new era began to utilize it as -a substitute for flint, and copper knives and other implements were introduced. This -discovery of the usefulness of copper had far-reaching effects, and greatly increased -the demand for the magical metal. Increasing numbers of miners were employed, and -search was made for new copper-mines by enterprising prospectors who, in Egypt, were -employed, or, at any rate, protected, by the State. This search had much to do with -promoting race movements, and introducing not only new modes of life but new modes -of thought into lands situated at great distances from the areas in which these modes -of life and thought had origin. The metal-workers were the missionaries of a New Age. -In this chapter it will be shown how they reached China. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb193">[<a href="#pb193">193</a>]</span></p> -<p>Archæologists are not agreed as to where copper was first used for the manufacture -of weapons and implements. Some favour Egypt, and others Mesopotamia. In the former -country the useful metal was worked in pre-Dynastic times, that is, before 3500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> or 4500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> “Copper ornaments and objects, found in graves earlier than the middle pre-Dynastic -period”, wrote the late Mr. Leonard W. King, “are small and of little practical utility -as compared with the beautifully flaked flint knives, daggers, and lances.… At a rather -later stage in the pre-Dynastic period, copper dagger-blades and adzes were produced -in imitation of flint and stone forms, and these mark the transition to the heavy -weapons and tools of copper which, in the early Dynastic period, largely ousted flint -and stone implements for practical use. The gradual attainment of skill in the working -of copper ore on the part of the early Egyptians had a marked effect on the whole -status of their culture. Their improved weapons enabled them by conquest to draw their -raw materials from a far more extended area.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4155src" href="#xd31e4155">4</a> -</p> -<p>Copper was found in the wadis of Upper Egypt and on the Red Sea coast—in those very -areas in which gold was worked for generations before copper was extracted from malachite. -At a later period the Pharaohs sent gangs of miners to work the copper-mines in the -Sinaitic peninsula. King Semerket, of the early Dynastic age, had men extracting copper -in the Wadi Maghara. “His expedition was exposed to the depredations of the wild tribes -of Beduin … and he recorded his punishment of them in a relief on the rocks of the -Wadi.” There is evidence that at this remote period the Pharaohs “maintained foreign -relations with far remote peoples”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4161src" href="#xd31e4161">5</a> A record of a later age (<i>c.</i> 2000 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) affords us a vivid <span class="pageNum" id="pb194">[<a href="#pb194">194</a>]</span>glimpse of life in the “Mine-Land”. An official recorded in an inscription that he -had been sent there in what he calls the “Evil summer season”. He complained, “It -is not the season for going to this Mine-Land.… The highlands are hot in summer, and -the mountains brand the skin.” Yet he could boast that “he extracted more copper than -he had been ordered to obtain”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4172src" href="#xd31e4172">6</a> -</p> -<p>The transition from stone to copper cannot be traced in ancient Babylonia. Sumerian -history begins at the seaport Eridu, when that centre of civilization was situated -at the head of the Persian Gulf—a fact that suggests the settlement there of seafaring -colonists. At the dawn of Sumerian culture, copper tools and weapons had come into -use. No metals could be found in the alluvial “plain of Shinar”. -</p> -<p>The early Babylonians (Sumerians) had to obtain their supplies of copper from Sinai, -Armenia, the Caucasus area, and Persia. It may be that their earliest supplies came -from Sinai, and that the battles in that “Mine-Land”, recorded in early Egyptian inscriptions, -were fought between rival claimants of the ore from the Nile valley and the valley -of the Tigris and Euphrates. One ancient Pharaoh refers in an inscription to his “first -occurrence of smiting the Easterners” in Sinai. “This designation”, comments Breasted, -“of the event as the ‘<i>first</i> occurrence’ would indicate that it was a customary thing for the kings of the time -(First Dynasty, <i>c.</i> 3500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) to chastise the barbarians.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4187src" href="#xd31e4187">7</a> But were they really “barbarians”? Is it likely that barbarians would be found in -such a region, especially in summer? It is more probable that the “Easterners” came -from an area in which the demand for copper was as great as it was in Egypt. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb195">[<a href="#pb195">195</a>]</span></p> -<p>The regular battles between the ancient “peggers-out” of “claims” in Mine-Land no -doubt forced the “Easterners” to search for copper elsewhere. By following the course -of the Tigris the Sumerian prospectors were led to the rich mineral area of the Armenian -Highlands, and it is of special significance in this connection to find that the earliest -Assyrian colonies were founded by Sumerians. Apparently Nineveh (Mosul) had origin -as a trading centre at which metal ores were collected and sent southward some time -before the Semitic Akkadians obtained control of the northern part of the Babylonian -plain. -</p> -<p>The copper obtained from Armenia and other western Asiatic areas was less suitable -than Sinaitic copper, being much softer. Sinaitic and Egyptian copper is naturally -hard on account of the proportion of sulphur it contains. But after tin was found, -and it was discovered that, when mixed with copper, it produced the hard amalgam known -as bronze, the Sumerians appear to have entirely deserted the Sinaitic Mine-Land, -and left it to the Egyptians. -</p> -<p>The Egyptians continued in their Copper Age until their civilization ceased to be -controlled by native kings. -</p> -<p>Babylonia had likewise a Copper Age to begin with, but copper was at an early period -entirely supplanted by bronze, except for religious purposes—a fact which is of great -importance, especially when it is found that the religious beliefs associated with -copper and gold were disseminated far and wide by the early miners—the troglodytes -of Sinai in the early Egyptian texts—who formed colonies that became industrial and -trading centres. Votive images found in Babylonia are of copper. A good example of -early Sumerian religious objects is the interesting bull’s head in copper from Tello, -which is dated <i>c.</i> 3000 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> The eyes of this image of the bull-god—<span class="pageNum" id="pb196">[<a href="#pb196">196</a>]</span>the “Bull of Heaven”, the sky-god, whose mother or spouse was the “Cow of Heaven”—“are -inlaid with mother-of-pearl and lapis-lazuli”. A “very similar method is met with -in the copper head of a goat which was found at Fara”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4206src" href="#xd31e4206">8</a> Here we find fused in early Sumerian religious objects complex religious beliefs -connected with domesticated animals, sea-shells, and metals. -</p> -<p>The opinion, suggested here by the writer, that the battles between rival miners in -Sinai compelled the Sumerians to search for copper elsewhere and to discover means -whereby the softer copper could be hardened, appears to accord with the view that -bronze was first manufactured in Babylonia, or in some area colonized by Babylonia. -In his able summary of the archæological evidence regarding the introduction of bronze, -Sir Hercules Read shows that “the attribution of the discovery to Babylonia is preferred -as offering fewest difficulties”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4214src" href="#xd31e4214">9</a> -</p> -<p>Recent archæological finds make out a good case for Russian Turkestan as the “cradle -of the bronze industry”. -</p> -<p>In Troy and Crete bronze supplanted flint and obsidian. There was no Copper Age in -either of these culture centres. The copper <span class="corr" id="xd31e4221" title="Source: artifracts">artifacts</span> found in Crete are simply small and useless votive axes and other religious objects. -</p> -<p>Whence did the Babylonians receive, after the discovery was made how to manufacture -bronze, the necessary supplies of tin? Armenia and the Caucasus “appear”, as Read -says, “to be devoid of stanniferous ores”. Apparently the early metal-searchers had -gone as far as Khorassan in Persia before their fellows had ceased to wage battles -with Egyptians in the Sinaitic “Mine-Land”. Tin <span class="pageNum" id="pb197">[<a href="#pb197">197</a>]</span>has been located at Khorassan and “in other parts of Persia, near Asterabad and Tabriz.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4228src" href="#xd31e4228">10</a>… From such areas as these”, Reid says, “the tin used in casting the earliest bronze -may have been derived.” We are now fairly on our way along the highway leading to -China. “In Eastern Asia, beyond the radius of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia”, -Read continues, “there would seem to be no region likely to have witnessed the discovery -(of how to work bronze) nearer than Southern China; for India, which has copper implements -of a very primitive type, is poor in tin … while the Malay peninsula, an extremely -rich stanniferous region, does not appear to have been mined in very ancient times”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4232src" href="#xd31e4232">11</a> It is unlikely that bronze was first manufactured in China, considering the period -of its introduction into Babylonia, which antedates by several centuries the earliest -traces of civilization in the Far East. -</p> -<p>The history of the development of the industries and commerce of early Babylonia is -the history of the growth and dissemination of civilization, not only in western Asia, -but in the “Mid East” and the “Far East”. -</p> -<p>Babylonia, the Asiatic granary of the ancient world, lay across the trade routes. -Both its situation and its agricultural resources gave it great commercial importance. -It had abundant supplies of surplus food to stimulate trade, and its industrial activity -created a demand for materials that could not be obtained in the rich alluvial plain. -“Over the Persian Gulf”, says Professor Goodspeed,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4239src" href="#xd31e4239">12</a> “teak-wood, found in Eridu (the seaside “cradle” of Sumerian culture), was brought -from India. Cotton also made its way from the same source to the southern cities. -Over Arabia, by way of Ur, which stood at the <span class="pageNum" id="pb198">[<a href="#pb198">198</a>]</span>foot of a natural opening from the desert … were led the caravans laden with stone, -spices, copper, and gold<a class="noteRef" id="n198.1src" href="#n198.1">13</a> from Sinai, Yemen, and Egypt. Door-sockets of Sinaitic stone found at Nippur attest -this traffic.” Cedar wood was imported from the Syrian mountains “for the adornment -of palaces and temples. From the east, down the pass of Holwan, came the marble and -precious metal of the mountains. Much of this raw material was worked over by Babylonian -artisans and shipped back to less-favoured lands, along with the grain, dates, and -fish, the rugs and cloths of native production. All this traffic was in the hands -of Babylonian traders, who fearlessly ventured into the borders of distant countries, -and <i>must have carried with them thither the knowledge of the civilization and wealth of -their own home, for only thus can the widespread influence of Babylonian culture in -the earliest periods be explained</i>.” -</p> -<p>It was evidently due to the influence of the searchers for metals and the traders -that the culture of early Sumeria spread across the Iranian plateau. As Laufer has -shown,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4252src" href="#xd31e4252">14</a> “the Iranians were the great mediators between the West and the East”. The Chinese -“were positive utilitarians, and always interested in matters of reality; they have -bequeathed to us a great amount of useful information on Iranian plants, products, -animals, minerals, customs, and institutions”. Not only plants but also Western ideas -were conveyed to China by the Iranians.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4256src" href="#xd31e4256">15</a> -</p> -<p>The discoveries of archæological relics made by the De Morgan Expedition in Elam (western -Persia), and by the Pumpelly Expedition in Russian Turkestan, have provided further -evidence that Sumero-Babylonian civilization <span class="pageNum" id="pb199">[<a href="#pb199">199</a>]</span>exercised great influence over wide areas in ancient times. Unfortunately no such -records as those made by the Egyptians who visited Mine-Land have been discovered -either in Babylonia or beside the mineral workings exploited by the Sumerians or Akkadians. -The Egyptian Pharaohs, as we have seen, had to send military forces to protect their -miners, and on one occasion found it necessary to conduct mining operations in the -hot season instead of in the cool season, a fact which suggests that the opposition -shown by rivals was at times very formidable. It does not follow that the Babylonians -had to contend with similar opposition in Armenia and Persia. They appear to have -won the co-operation of the native peoples in the mid-Asian mining districts, and -to have made it worth their while to keep up the supply of gold, and copper, and tin. -Babylonia had corn and manufactured articles to sell, and they made it possible for -native chiefs to organize their countries and to acquire wealth and a degree of luxury. -Nomadic pastoral peoples became traders, and <span class="corr" id="xd31e4264" title="Source: commmunities">communities</span> of them adopted Babylonian modes of life. Mr. W. J. Perry has shown that in districts -where minerals were anciently worked, the system of irrigation, which brought wealth -and comfort in Babylonia and the Nile valley, was adopted, and that megalithic monuments -were erected.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4267src" href="#xd31e4267">16</a> -</p> -<p>The early searchers for metals and pearls and precious stones were apparently the -pioneers of civilization in many a district occupied by backward peoples. -</p> -<p>The mineral area to the south-east of the Caspian Sea appears to have been exploited -as early as the third <span class="corr" id="xd31e4274" title="Source: millenium">millennium</span> <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, as was also the mineral area stretching from the Caspian to the eastern coast of -the Black Sea. <span class="pageNum" id="pb200">[<a href="#pb200">200</a>]</span>New trade routes were opened up and connections established, not only with Elam and -Babylonia in the south, but with Egypt, through Palestine, and with Crete and with -the whole Ægean area. Troy became the “clearing-house” of this early trade flowing -from western Asia into Europe. The enterprising sea-kings of Crete appear to have -penetrated the Dardanelles and reached the eastern shores of the Black Sea, where -they tapped the overland trade routes.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4282src" href="#xd31e4282">17</a> Dr. Hubert Schmidt, who accompanied the Pumpelly expedition to Russian Turkestan -in 1903–4, found Cretan Vasiliki pottery in one of the excavated mounds, and, in another, -“three-sided seal-stones of Middle Minoan type (<i>c.</i> 2000 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>), engraved with Minoan designs”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4293src" href="#xd31e4293">18</a> There is evidence which suggests that this trade in metals between western Asia and -the Ægean area was in existence long before 2500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, and not long after 3000 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p200width" id="p200"><img src="images/p200.jpg" alt="AN OFFERING TO THE GODS, PEKING" width="485" height="720"><div class="figAnnotation p200width"><span class="figBottomLeft">Copyright -</span><span class="figTop"> </span><span class="figBottomRight">H. G. Ponting. F.R.G.S.</span></div> -<p class="figureHead">AN OFFERING TO THE GODS, PEKING</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>One of the great centres of Mesopotamian culture in the south-eastern Caspian area -was Anau, near Askabad, on the Merve-Caspian railway route. Another was Meshed, which -lies to the south-east of Anau in a rich metalliferous mountain region. One of the -“Kurgans” (mounds) excavated at Anau yielded archæological relics that indicated an -early connection between Turkestan and Elam in south-western Persia. In another “Kurgan” -were found traces of a copper-culture. The early searchers for metals were evidently -the originators or introducers of this culture, and as the stratum contained baked -clay figurines of the Sumerian mother-goddess, the prototype of Ishtar, little doubt -can remain whence came the earliest miners. This region of desolate sand-dunes was -in ancient times irrigated by the Mesopotamian colonists who sowed not only the seeds -of barley, wheat, and millet, but also the <span class="pageNum" id="pb201">[<a href="#pb201">201</a>]</span>seeds of civilization, and stimulated progress among the native tribes. The settlers -built houses of bricks which had been sun-dried in accordance with the prevailing -Babylonian fashion. The Egyptian potter’s wheel was introduced—another indication -that regular trading relations between Babylonia and Egypt were maintained at a very -early period. -</p> -<p>Mr. Pumpelly, in the first flush of enthusiasm aroused by the mid-Asia revelations, -urged the claim that the agricultural mode of life originated in the Transcaspian -Oases, and that it passed thence to Babylonia and Egypt. But the discovery of husks -of barley in the stomachs of naturally mummified bodies found in the hot dry sands -of Upper Egypt affords proof that cannot be overlooked in this connection.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4318src" href="#xd31e4318">19</a> Agriculture was practised in the Nile valley long centuries before the Transcaspian -Copper Age was inaugurated. Besides, barley and millet grow wild in the Delta area. -</p> -<p>The early Mesopotamian searchers for metals, and their pupils from the Transcaspian -region, continued the explorations towards the east. They appear to have wandered -to the north-west of the Oxus and the south-east of the Lake Balkash and apparently -to the very borders of China. This eastward drift must have been in progress long -before the introduction of bronze into central Europe, which had a Stone Age culture -for three or four centuries after bronze implements had become common in Troy and -Crete. The traders who carried bronze into Hungary carried jade too, and the beliefs -which had been connected with jade in Asia. The earliest supplies of European jade -objects must have come, as will be shown, from Chinese Turkestan. -</p> -<p>There was good reason for the early gold rush towards <span class="pageNum" id="pb202">[<a href="#pb202">202</a>]</span>the east. Gold can still be easily found “everywhere and in every form” in Siberia. -The Altai means “gold mountains”, and these yield silver and copper as well as gold. -Indeed, eastern Siberia is a much richer metalliferous area than western Siberia, -and this fact appears to have been ascertained at a very remote period. The searchers -for metals not only collected gold, copper, and silver on the Altai Mountains and -the area of the upper reaches of the Yenesei River, but also penetrated into Chinese -Turkestan, where, as in Russian Turkestan, trading colonies were founded, the metals -were worked, and the agricultural mode of life, including the system of irrigation, -adopted with undoubted success.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4329src" href="#xd31e4329">20</a> Important archæological excavations, conducted by Dr. Stein in Chinese Turkestan, -“on behalf of the Indian Government”, have revealed traces of the far-reaching influences -exercised by Mesopotamian culture in a region now covered by the vast and confusing -sand-dunes of the Taklamakan Desert. At Khotan the discoveries made were of similar -character to those at Anau. -</p> -<p>Khotan is the ancient trading centre which connected central Asia and India, and India -and China. One of the most important products of Khotan is jade—that is, important -from the historical point of view. It is uncertain at what period the importation -of jade into China from the Khotan area was inaugurated. But there can be no doubt -about the antiquity of the jade trade between Chinese Turkestan and Babylonia. Some -of the Babylonian cylinder-seals were of jade, others being of “marble, jasper, rock-crystal, -emerald, amethyst, topaz, chalcedony, onyx, agate, lapis-lazuli, hæmatite, and steatite”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4334src" href="#xd31e4334">21</a>—all <span class="pageNum" id="pb203">[<a href="#pb203">203</a>]</span>relics of ancient trade and mining activity. Turquoise was imported into Babylonia -from Khotan and Kashgar. The archæological finds made on the site of the ancient Sumerian -city at Nippur include cobalt, “presumably from China”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4340src" href="#xd31e4340">22</a> At Nippur was found, too, Persian marble, lapis-lazuli from Bactria, and cedar and -cypress from Zagros. -</p> -<p>When it is borne in mind that the chief incentive behind the search for precious metals -and precious stones was a religious one, we should not express surprise to find that -not only the products of centres of ancient civilization were carried across Asia -to outlying parts, but also myths, legends, and religious beliefs of complex character. -These were given a local colouring in different areas. In northern Siberia, for instance, -the local fauna displaced the fauna of the southern religious cults, the reindeer -or the goat taking the place of the gazelle or the antelope. Mythological monsters -received new parts, just as the dolphin-god of Cretan and other seafaring peoples -received an elephant’s head in northern India and became the <i>makara</i>; and the seafarers’ shark-god received in China the head of a lion, although the -lion is not found in China. No doubt the lion was introduced into China as a religious -art <i>motif</i> by some intruding cult. Touching on this phase of the problem of early cultural contact, -Ellis H. Minns<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4351src" href="#xd31e4351">23</a> suggests a number of possibilities to account for the similarities between Siberian -and Chinese art. One is that “the resemblance may be due to both (Siberians and Chinese) -having borrowed from Iranian or some other Central Asian art.… In each case,” he adds, -“we seem to have an intrusion of monsters ultimately derived from Mesopotamia, the -great breeding-ground of monsters.” The data summarized <span class="pageNum" id="pb204">[<a href="#pb204">204</a>]</span>in a previous chapter<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4357src" href="#xd31e4357">24</a> dealing with the Chinese dragon affords confirmation of this view. -</p> -<p>Dr. Joseph Edkins, writing in the seventies of last century as a Christian missionary -who made an intensive study of Chinese religious beliefs at first hand, had much to -say about the “grafting process” or culture-mixing. “Every impartial investigator”, -he wrote, “will probably admit that the ceremonies and ideas of the Chinese sacrifices -link them with Western antiquity. The inference to be drawn is this, that the Chinese -primeval religion was of common origin with the religions of the West. But if the -religion was one, then the political ideas, the mental habits, the sociology, the -early arts and knowledge of nature, should have been of common origin also with those -of the West.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4364src" href="#xd31e4364">25</a> -</p> -<p>No doubt the stories brought from Siberia by the early explorers tended to stimulate -the imaginations of the myth-makers of Mesopotamia, India, and China. The mineral -and hot springs in the cold regions may have been regarded as proof that “the wells -of life” had real existence. Some of these wells are so greatly saturated with carbonic -acid gas that they burst skin and stone bottles. “Here is living water indeed!” the -early explorer may have exclaimed when he attempted to carry away a sample. “The feathers -in the air”, as Herodotus puts it when referring to the snow, and the aurora borealis -must have greatly impressed the early miners in the mysterious Altai region—a region -possessing so much mineral wealth that it must have been regarded as a veritable wonderland -of the gods by the early prospectors. Who knows but that the story of Gilgamesh’s -pilgrimage through the dark mountain to the land in which trees bore gems instead -of fruit owes something <span class="pageNum" id="pb205">[<a href="#pb205">205</a>]</span>to the narratives of the early explorers who reached mysterious regions rich in metals -and gems, where the strange murmurings that fill the air on still winter nights are -still referred to as “the whisperings of the stars”, and the aurora borealis, which -scatters the darkness and illumines snow-clad mountain ranges and valleys, displays -wonderful and vivid colours in great variety. -</p> -<p>That the early culture which was disseminated eastward across Siberia to China and -westward into Europe was of common origin, is clearly indicated by the archæological -remains. -</p> -<p>Dealing with the bronzes of Russia and Siberia, Sir Hercules Read writes: “At both -extremities of the vast area stretching from Lake Baikal through the Southern Siberian -Steppes across the Ural Mountains to the basin of the Volga, and even beyond to the -valleys of the Don and Dnieper, there have been found, generally in tombs, but occasionally -on the surface of the ground, implements and weapons marked by the same peculiarities -of form, and by a single style of decoration. These objects exhibit an undoubted affinity -with those discovered in China; but some of the distinctive features have been traced -in the bronze industry of Hungary and the Caucasus; for example, pierced axes and -sickles have a close resemblance to Hungarian and Caucasian forms. The Siberian bronzes -have this relationship both in the East and West, but their kinship with Chinese antiquities -being the more obvious, it is natural to assume that the culture which they represent -is of East Asiatic origin.” Read notes, however, that “most of the Chinese bronze -implements are of developed, and therefore not of primitive forms.… Such forms can -only have been reached after a long period of evolution, but their prototypes are -found neither in the Ural-Altaic region itself, where some <span class="pageNum" id="pb206">[<a href="#pb206">206</a>]</span>objects may indeed be simpler in design than others, but cannot be described as quite -primitive; nor as yet within the limits of China.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4377src" href="#xd31e4377">26</a> -</p> -<p>The evidence afforded by ancient religious beliefs and customs tends to show that -the cultural centre in Asia, which stimulated the growth of civilization, was Babylonia, -while Egyptian influence flowed northward through Palestine and into Syria. In time -the influence of Cretan civilization made itself felt on the eastern shores of the -Black Sea. The ebb and flow of cultural influences along the trade routes at various -periods renders the problem of highly complex character. But one leading fact appears -to emerge. The demand for metals and precious stones in the earliest seats of civilization—that -is, in Babylonia and Egypt—stimulated exploration and the spread of a culture based -on the agricultural mode of life. Not only was the system of irrigation, first introduced -in the Nilotic and Tigro-Euphratean valleys, adopted by colonies of miners and traders -who settled in mid-Asia and founded sub-cultural centres that radiated westward and -eastward; the religious ideas and customs that had grown up with the agricultural -mode of life in the cradles of ancient civilization were adopted too. New experiences -and new inventions imparted “local colour” to colonial culture, but the leading religious -principles that veined that culture underwent little change. The immemorial quest -for the elixir of life was never forgotten. It was not to purchase their daily bread -alone that men lived laborious days washing gold dust from river sands, crushing quartz -among the Altai Mountains, or quarrying and fishing jade in Chinese Turkestan; they -were chiefly concerned about “purchasing” the “food of life” so as to secure immortality. -The fear of death, which sent <span class="pageNum" id="pb207">[<a href="#pb207">207</a>]</span>Gilgamesh on his long journey, caused many a man in ancient times to wander far and -wide in search of life-giving metals, precious stones, pearls, and plants. And so -we find in China as in Egypt, in Babylonia as in western Europe, that the quest of -immortality was the chief incentive that stimulated research, discovery, and the spread -of civilization. The demand for the wood of sacred trees, incense-bearing trees and -plants, precious metals and precious stones in the temples of Egypt and Babylonia, -had much to do with the development of early trade. The Pharaohs of Egypt and the -Patesies of Sumeria fitted out expeditions to obtain treasure for their holy places, -and to keep open the trade routes along which the treasure was carried. -</p> -<p>That the system of metal-working had anciently an area of origin is emphasized by -the investigations conducted by Professor Gowland.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4388src" href="#xd31e4388">27</a> He deals first with the Japanese evidence. “The method which was practised, and the -furnace employed by the early workers, still”, he writes, “survive in use at several -mines in Japan at the present time.” A hole in the ground forms the furnace, and a -bellows is used to introduce the blast from the top. After the copper is smelted it -is allowed to cool off, and when it is nearly solidified it is taken out and broken -up. “The copper thus produced in Japan is never cast direct from the smelting furnaces -into useful forms, but is always resmelted in crucibles, a mode of procedure which -undoubtedly prevailed in Europe during the early Metal and the Bronze Ages.” The Japanese -clay crucibles “are analogous to those found in the pile-dwellings of the Swiss and -Upper Austrian lakes”. -</p> -<p>Dealing with iron-furnaces, the Professor shows that <span class="pageNum" id="pb208">[<a href="#pb208">208</a>]</span>the Ancient Egyptian furnace resembled “the Japanese furnace for copper, tin, and -lead”. The Etruscan furnace also resembled the Egyptian one. “From metallurgical considerations -only”, Gowland adds, “we would certainly be led to the inference that the Etruscans -had obtained their knowledge of the method of extracting metal from that (the Egyptian) -source.” British evidence suggests that the methods obtaining in ancient times were -introduced from “the Mediterranean region of Europe.… The actual process for the extraction -of iron from its ores in Europe, <i>in fact in all countries in early times</i>, was practically the same.” -</p> -<p>Elsewhere, Professor Gowland has written: “It is important to note … that the type -of furnace which survives in India among the hill tribes of the Ghats is closely analogous -to the prehistoric furnace of the Danube, and of the Jura district in Europe”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4400src" href="#xd31e4400">28</a> -</p> -<p>“Culture-drifts” can thus be followed in their results. Backward communities that -adopted inventions in early times continue to use them in precisely the same manner -as did those ancient peoples by whom they were first introduced. In like manner are -early beliefs and customs still perpetuated in isolated areas. But it does not follow -that all these beliefs had origin among the peoples who still cling to them. Some -so-called “primitive” beliefs are really of highly complex character, with as long -a history of development as has the primitive type of furnace utilized by the hill -tribes of India. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p208width" id="p208"><img src="images/p208.jpg" alt="ANCIENT BRONZE ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS ON THE CITY WALL, PEKING" width="720" height="446"><p class="figureHead">ANCIENT BRONZE ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS ON THE CITY WALL, PEKING</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>In the next chapter it will be shown that in the jade beliefs of China traces survive -of ideas not necessarily of Chinese origin—ideas that, in fact, grew up and passed -through processes of development in countries in which jade was never found. For, -as the Chinese bronze <span class="pageNum" id="pb209">[<a href="#pb209">209</a>]</span>implements are “not of primitive forms”, and therefore not indigenous, neither are -all Chinese beliefs and customs “primitive” in the same sense, or, in the real sense, -indigenous either. As the stimulus to work metals in China came from an outside source, -so, apparently, did the stimulus to search for such a “life-giving” and “luck-conferring” -material as jade come from other countries, and from races unrelated to those that -occupied China in early times. -</p> -<p>The beliefs associated with jade were developed in China, although they did not originate -there; and these beliefs were similar to those attached to the pearls, the precious -stones, and the precious metals searched for by the ancient prospectors who discovered -and first worked jade in Chinese Turkestan and on the borders of China. -</p> -<p>To sum up, it would appear that the elements of a religious culture, closely associated -with the agricultural mode of life, and common to Sumeria and Egypt, passed across -Asia towards China, reaching the Shensi province about 1700 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> At a much later period the complex culture of the Egyptian Empire period gradually -drifted along the sea route and left its impress on the Chinese coast. Iranian culture, -which was impregnated with Babylonian and Egyptian ideas, likewise exercised a persisting -influence, and was renewed again and again. -</p> -<p>One of the ultimate results of the rise of Persia as a world-power, and of the invasion -of Asia by Alexander, was to bring China into direct touch with the Hellenistic world. -</p> -<p>Indian influence is represented chiefly by Buddhism. In northern India Buddhism had -been blended with Naga (serpent) worship, and when it reached China, the local beliefs -regarding dragons were given a Buddhistic colouring. The Chinese Buddhists mixed the -newly-imported <span class="pageNum" id="pb210">[<a href="#pb210">210</a>]</span>religious culture with their own. The “Islands of the Blest” were retained by the -cult of the East, and the Western Paradise by the cult of the West. The latter paradise -is unknown to the Buddhists in Burmah and Ceylon, but has never been forgotten by -the Buddhists of northern China. A Buddha called “Boundless Age” was placed in the -garden of the Royal Lady of the West, but that goddess still lingered beside the Peach -Tree of Immortality, while the sky-goddess continued to weave the web of the constellations, -and the pious men and women of the Taoist faith were supposed to reach her stellar -Paradise by sailing along the Celestial River in dragon-boats or riding on the back -of dragons. The Chinese Buddhists found ideas regarding Nirvana less satisfying than -those associated with the Paradise of the “Peaceful Land of the West” and the higher -Paradise of the “Palaces of the Stars”, in which dwelt the gods and the demi-gods -of the older faiths. -</p> -<p>Writing in this connection, Dr. Joseph Edkins says: “A mighty branch of foreign origin -has been grafted in the old stock. The metaphysical religion of Shakyamuni was added -to the moral doctrines of Confucius. Another process may then be witnessed. A native -twig was grafted in the Indian branch. Modern Taoism has grown up on the model supplied -by Buddhism. That it is possible to observe the <i>modus operandi</i> of this repeated grafting, and to estimate the amount of gain and loss to the people -of China, resulting from the varied religious teaching which they have thus received, -is a circumstance of the greatest interest to the investigator of the world’s religions.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4428src" href="#xd31e4428">29</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb211">[<a href="#pb211">211</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4113"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4113src">1</a></span> The other names are Jăta-rūpa, Su-varna, Harita, and Hiranya. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4113src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4116"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4116src">2</a></span> Macdonell and Keith, <i>Vedic Index of Names and Subjects</i> (London, 1912), Vol. II, p. 504. See also for moon and gold, Vol. I, 254. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4116src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4137"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4137src">3</a></span> <i>Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus</i> (London, 1703 Edition), p. 243. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4137src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4155"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4155src">4</a></span> <i>History of Sumer and Akkad</i>, pp. 326–7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4155src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4161"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4161src">5</a></span> <i>Breasted, A History of Egypt</i>, p. 48. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4161src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4172"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4172src">6</a></span> Breasted, <i>A History of Egypt</i>, p. 190. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4172src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4187"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4187src">7</a></span> <i>Ibid<span class="corr" id="xd31e4190" title="Not in source">.</span></i>, p. 48. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4187src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4206"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4206src">8</a></span> L. W. King, <i>A History of Sumer and Akkad</i>, pp. 74, 75. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4206src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4214"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4214src">9</a></span> <i>British Museum Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age</i>, p. 10. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4214src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4228"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4228src">10</a></span> <i>British Museum Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age</i>, p. 9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4228src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4232"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4232src">11</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4232src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4239"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4239src">12</a></span> <i>A History of the Babylonians and Assyrians</i>, p. 74. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4239src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n198.1"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n198.1src">13</a></span> In the Tell-el-Amarna letters, Western-Asian monarchs are eloquent in their requests -for gold from Egypt. In one a Babylonian king “asks for much gold” and complains that -the last supply was base, and that there was “much loss in melting”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n198.1src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4252"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4252src">14</a></span> <i>Sino-Iranica: Chinese Contributions to the History of Civilization in Ancient Iran.</i> Chicago, 1919. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4252src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4256"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4256src">15</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 185. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4256src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4267"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4267src">16</a></span> <i>The Relationship between the Geographical Distribution of Megalithic Monuments and -Ancient Times.</i> Manchester, 1915. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4267src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4282"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4282src">17</a></span> Mrs. Hawes, <i>Gournia</i>, p. 33. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4282src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4293"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4293src">18</a></span> <i>The Dawn of Mediterranean Civilization</i>, pp. 62–3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4293src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4318"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4318src">19</a></span> Elliot Smith, <i>The Ancient Egyptians</i>, pp. 41 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4318src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4329"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4329src">20</a></span> It seems ridiculous to suggest that irrigation had origin in mid-Asia and not in areas -like the deltas of Egypt and Sumeria. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4329src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4334"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4334src">21</a></span> <i>British Museum Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities</i>, p. 157. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4334src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4340"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4340src">22</a></span> Peter, <i>Nippur II</i>, p. 134. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4340src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4351"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4351src">23</a></span> <i>Scythians and Greeks</i> (1913), p. 280. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4351src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4357"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4357src">24</a></span> <a href="#ch5">Chapter V</a>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4357src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4364"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4364src">25</a></span> <i>Religion in China</i> (London 1878, 2nd Ed.), p. 38. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4364src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4377"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4377src">26</a></span> <i>British Museum Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age</i>, p. 107. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4377src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4388"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4388src">27</a></span> <i>Archæologia</i>, p. 276. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4388src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4400"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4400src">28</a></span> <i>Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute</i>, Vol. XLII, p. 279. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4400src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4428"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4428src">29</a></span> <i>Religion in China</i>, p. 6. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4428src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch13" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e352">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XIII</h2> -<h2 class="main">The Symbolism of Jade</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Jade in Early Times—Used to Reanimate and Preserve the Dead—Jade as a Night-shining -Jewel—Connection with the Pearl, Coral, Mandrake, Moon, Dragon, Fish, &c.—Jade Beliefs -in Japan—Jade Amulets—The Chinese Cicada Amulet and Egyptian Search—Butterfly, Frog, -and Bird Amulets—Jade and the Mother-goddess—The Chinese Universe—Great Bear and “World -Mill”—Babylonian Astronomy in China—Star Deities—The Fung-shui Doctrine—Jade Symbols -of Deities—Tigress as a Mother-goddess—Links with the West—The Two Souls in China -and Egypt—Jade as an Elixir—Jade and Herbs—Jade and Babylonian Nig-gil-ma—Jade and -Rhinoceros Horn—Jade Beliefs in Prehistoric Europe—Jade and Colour Symbolism—Jade -contains Heat and Moisture—Jade as “The Jewel that Grants all Desires”.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">One’s thoughts at once turn to China when mention is made of jade, for in no other -country in the world has it been utilized for such a variety of purposes or connected -more closely with the social organization and with religious beliefs and ceremonies. -</p> -<p>This tough mineral, which is also called nephrite and “axe-stone”, and is of different -chemical composition to jadeite, was known to the Chinese at the very dawn of their -history. It was used by them at first like flint or obsidian for the manufacture of -axes, arrow-heads, knives, and chisels, as well as for votive objects and personal -ornaments of magical or religious character, and then, as time went on, for mortuary -amulets, for images or symbols of deities, for mirrors,<a class="noteRef" id="n212.1src" href="#n212.1">1</a> for seals and symbols <span class="pageNum" id="pb212">[<a href="#pb212">212</a>]</span>of rank, and even for musical instruments, possessing, as it does, wonderful resonant -qualities. The latter include jade flutes and jade “luck gongs”, which have religious -associations. -</p> -<p>Native artisans acquired great skill in working this tenacious mineral, and the finest -art products in China are those exquisite jade ornaments, symbols, and vessels that -survive from various periods of its history. Not only did the accomplished and patient -workers, especially of the Han period (200 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>–200 <span class="asc">A.D.</span>), achieve a high degree of excellence in carving and engraving jade, and in producing -beautiful forms; they also dealt with their hard mineral so as to utilize its various -colours and shades, and thus increase the æsthetic qualities of their art products. -The artistic genius, as well as the religious beliefs, of the Chinese has been enshrined -in nephrite. -</p> -<p>When the prehistoric Chinese settled in Shensi, they found jade in that area. “All -the Chinese questioned by me, experts in antiquarian matters, agree”, Laufer writes, -“in stating that the jades of the Chou and Han Dynasties are made of indigenous material -once dug on the very soil of Shensi Province, that these quarries have been long ago -exhausted, no jade whatever being found there nowadays. My informant pointed to Lan-tʼien -and Fêng-siang-fu as the chief ancient mines.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4459src" href="#xd31e4459">2</a> -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p212-1width" id="p212-1"><img src="images/p212-1.jpg" alt="MORTUARY FISH IN JADE, OF HAN PERIOD" width="583" height="368"><p class="figureHead">MORTUARY FISH IN JADE, OF HAN PERIOD</p> -<p class="first">Laufer refers to this as “a marvellous carving of exceedingly fine workmanship”. In -the Han Period sacrifices were offered to a fish in jade in prayers for rain.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p212-2width" id="p212-2"><img src="images/p212-2.jpg" alt="FIGURE OF BUTTERFLY IN WHITE AND BROWNISH-YELLOW JADE, TSʼIN OR HAN PERIOD" width="586" height="388"><p class="figureHead">FIGURE OF BUTTERFLY IN WHITE AND BROWNISH-YELLOW JADE, TSʼIN OR HAN PERIOD</p> -<p class="first">A unique specimen among mortuary offerings of considerable age and unusual workmanship. -A plum-blossom pattern is depicted between the antennæ of the butterfly (see page -225). -</p> -<p><i>Both pictures by courtesy of B. Laufer, author of “Jade”, Field Museum, Chicago</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>But although the early Chinese made use of indigenous jade, it does not follow, as -has been noted, that the early beliefs connected with this famous mineral were of -indigenous origin. It cannot be overlooked that the symbolism <span class="pageNum" id="pb213">[<a href="#pb213">213</a>]</span>of jade is similar in character to the older symbolism of pearls, precious stones, -and precious metals, and that the associated beliefs can be traced not in China alone, -but in such widely-separated countries as India, Babylonia, and Egypt. There was evidently -a psychological motive for the importance attached by the early Chinese to jade, which -they called <i>yu</i>.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4481src" href="#xd31e4481">3</a> It had been regarded elsewhere as a precious mineral before they began to search -for it and make use of it, especially for religious purposes. -</p> -<p>It is not necessary to go back to the “Age of Stone” to theorize regarding Chinese -jade beliefs. It has yet to be established that China had a Neolithic Age. “As far -as the present state of our archæological knowledge and the literary records point -out”, says Laufer, “the Chinese have never passed through an epoch which, for other -culture regions, has been designated as a Stone Age.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4490src" href="#xd31e4490">4</a> -</p> -<p>Stone implements have been found, but, as in ancient Egypt, these were still being -manufactured long after metals came into general use. -</p> -<p>The fact that the same beliefs were connected with jade as with pearls, shells, gold, -&c., is brought out very clearly in Chinese records regarding ancient burial customs. -It was considered to be as necessary in ancient China as in ancient Egypt that the -bodies of the dead should be preserved from decay. The Egyptians mummified their dead, -and laid on and beside them a variety of charms that were supposed to afford protection -and assist in the process of reanimation; withal, food offerings were provided. The -Chinese, who have long been noted for their tendency to find substitutes for religious -offerings, including paper money, believed that the bodies of the dead could be preserved -by magic. At any rate, they did not <span class="pageNum" id="pb214">[<a href="#pb214">214</a>]</span>consider it necessary to practise the science of mummification. In the <i>Li Ki</i> (chapter 56) the orthodox treatment of the bodies of the Emperor and others is set -forth as follows: -</p> -<p>“The mouth of the Son of Heaven is stuffed with nine cowries, that of a feudal lord -with seven, that of a great officer with five, and that of an ordinary official with -three”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4504src" href="#xd31e4504">5</a> -</p> -<p>Gold and jade were used in like manner. Laufer quotes from Ko Hung the significant -statement: “If there is gold and jade in the nine apertures of the corpse, it will -preserve the body from putrefaction”. A fifth-century Chinese writer says: “When on -opening an ancient grave the corpse looks like alive, then there is inside and outside -of the body a large quantity of gold and jade. According to the regulations of the -Han Dynasty, princes and lords were buried in clothes adorned with pearls and with -boxes of jade for the purpose of preserving the body from decay.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4512src" href="#xd31e4512">6</a> -</p> -<p>According to De Groot, pearls were introduced into the mouth of the dead during the -Han Dynasty. “At least”, he says, “it is stated that their mouths were filled with -rice, and pearls and jade stone were put therein, in accordance with the established -ceremonial usages.” And P<i>oh hu thung i</i>, a well-known work, professedly written in the first century, says: “On stuffing -the mouth of the Son of Heaven with rice, they put jade therein; in the case of a -feudal lord they introduce pearls; in that of a great officer and so downwards, as -also in that of ordinary officials, cowries are used to this end”. -</p> -<p>De Groot, commenting on the evidence, writes: “The same reasons why gold and jade -were used for stuffing the mouth of the dead hold good for the use of pearls in this -<span class="pageNum" id="pb215">[<a href="#pb215">215</a>]</span>connection”. He notes that in Chinese literature pearls were regarded as “depositories -of Yang matter”, that medical works declare “they can further and facilitate the procreation -of children”, and “can be useful for recalling to life those who have expired, or -are at the point of dying”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4524src" href="#xd31e4524">7</a> -</p> -<p>In India, as a Bengali friend, Mr. Jimut Bahan Sen, M.A., informs me, a native medicine -administered to those who are believed to be at the point of death is a mixture of -pounded gold and mercury. It is named <i>Makara-dhwaja</i>. The <i>makara</i><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4534src" href="#xd31e4534">8</a> is in India depicted in a variety of forms. As a composite lion-legged and fish-tailed -“wonder beast” resembling the Chinese dragon, it is the vehicle of the god Varuna, -as the Babylonian “sea goat” or “antelope fish” is the vehicle of the god Ea or of -the god Marduk (Merodach). The <i>makara</i> of the northern Buddhists is likewise a combination of land and sea animals or reptiles, -including the dolphin with the head of an elephant, goat, ram, lion, dog, or alligator.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4541src" href="#xd31e4541">9</a> -</p> -<p>In China the lion-headed shark, a form of the sea-god, is likewise a <i>makara</i> or sea-dragon. Gold and night-shining pearls are connected with the <i>makara</i> as with the dragon. The Chinese dragon, as we have seen, is born from gold, while -curative herbs like the “Red Cloud herb” and the “dragon’s whiskers herb” are emanations -of the dragon. Gold, like the herb, contains “soul substance” in concentrated form. -Pounded gold, the chief ingredient in the <i>makara-dhwaja</i> medicine, is believed in India to renew youth and promote longevity like pounded -jade and gold in China. -</p> -<p>“In Yung-cheu, which is situated in the Eastern Ocean, rocks exist,” wrote a Chinese -sage in the early <span class="pageNum" id="pb216">[<a href="#pb216">216</a>]</span>part of the Christian era. “From these rocks there issues a brook like sweet wine; -it is called the Brook of Jade Must. If, after drinking some pints out of it, one -suddenly feels intoxicated, it will prolong life.… Grease of jade,” we are further -told, “is formed inside the mountains which contain jade. It is always to be found -in steep and dangerous spots.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4558src" href="#xd31e4558">10</a> The jade juice, after issuing from those mountains, coagulates into such grease after -more than ten thousand years. This grease is fresh and limpid, like crystal. If you -find it, pulverize it and mix it with the juice of herbs that have no pith; it immediately -liquefies; drink one pint of it then and you will live a thousand years.… He who swallows -gold will exist as long as gold; he who swallows jade will exist as long as jade. -Those who swallow the real essence of the dark sphere (heavens) will enjoy an everlasting -existence; the real essence of the dark sphere is another name for jade. Bits of jade, -when swallowed or taken with water, can in both these cases render man immortal.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4566src" href="#xd31e4566">11</a> -</p> -<p>As we have seen, the belief prevailed in China that pearls shone by night. The mandrake -root was believed elsewhere to shine in like manner. The view is consequently urged -by the writer that the myths regarding precious stones, jade, pearls, and herbs of -nocturnal luminosity owe their origin to the arbitrary connection of these objects -with the moon, and the lunar-goddess or sky-goddess. In China <i>Ye Kuang</i> (“light of the night”) “is”, Laufer notes, “an ancient term to designate the moon”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4575src" href="#xd31e4575">12</a> -</p> -<p>The intimate connection between the Mother deity and precious metals and stones is -brought out by Lucian in his <i>De Dea Syria</i>. He refers to the goddess Hera <span class="pageNum" id="pb217">[<a href="#pb217">217</a>]</span>of Hierapolis, who has “something of the attributes of Athene, and of Aphrodite, and -of Selene, and of Rhea, and of Artemis, and of Nemesis, and of the Fates”, and describes -her as follows: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“In one of her hands she holds a sceptre, and in the other a distaff;<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4589src" href="#xd31e4589">13</a> on her head she bears rays and a tower, and she has a girdle wherewith they adorn -none but Aphrodite of the sky. And without she is gilt with gold, and gems of great -price adorn her, some white, some sea-green, others wine-dark, others flashing like -fire. Besides these there are many onyxes from Sardinia, and the jacinth and emeralds, -the offerings of the Egyptians and of the Indians, Ethiopians, Medes, Armenians, and -Babylonians. But the greatest wonder of all I will proceed to tell: she bears a gem -on her head, called a Lychnis; it takes its name from its attribute. From this stone -flashes a great light in the night-time, so that the whole temple gleams brightly -as by the light of myriads of candles, but in the day-time the brightness grows faint; -the gem has the likeness of a bright fire.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4592src" href="#xd31e4592">14</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Laufer notes in his <i>The Diamond</i><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4600src" href="#xd31e4600">15</a> that “the name <i>lychnis</i> is connected with the Greek <i>lychnos</i><span class="corr" id="xd31e4606" title="Not in source">”</span> (“a portable lamp”), and that, “according to Pliny, the stone is so called from its -lustre being heightened by the light of a lamp”. He thinks the stone in question is -the tourmaline. Laufer reviews a mass of evidence regarding precious stones that were -reported to shine by night, and comes to the conclusion that there is no evidence -on record “to show that the Chinese ever understood how to render precious stones -phosphorescent”. He adds: “Since this experiment is difficult, there is hardly reason -to believe that they should ever have attempted it. Altogether,” he concludes, “we -have to regard the traditions about gems luminous at night, not as a result <span class="pageNum" id="pb218">[<a href="#pb218">218</a>]</span>of scientific effort, but as folk-lore connecting the Orient with the Occident, Chinese -society with the Hellenistic world.” As Laufer shows, the Chinese imported legends -regarding magical gems from Fu-lin (“the forest of Fu”), an island in the Mediterranean -Sea, which was known to them as “the Western Sea” (<i>Si hai</i>).<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4613src" href="#xd31e4613">16</a> At a very much earlier period they imported other legends and beliefs regarding metals -and minerals. -</p> -<p>Pearls and gold having been connected with the <i>makara</i> or dragon, it is not surprising to find that their lunar attributes were imparted -to jade. Laufer quotes Chinese references to the “moonlight pearl” and the “moon-reflecting -gem”,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4625src" href="#xd31e4625">17</a> while De Groot deals with Chinese legends about “effulgent pearls”, about “pearls -shining during the night”, “flaming or fiery pearls”, and “pearls lighting like the -moon”. De Groot adds, “Similar legends have always been current in the empire (of -China) about jade stone”, and he notes in this regard that “at the time of the Emperor -Shen-nung (twenty-fifth century <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) there existed”, according to Chinese records, “jade which was obtained from agate -rocks, under the name of ‘Light shining at night’. If cast into the waters in the -dark it floated on the surface, without its light being extinguished.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4634src" href="#xd31e4634">18</a> -</p> -<p>The wishing jewel (“Jewel that grants all desires”) of India, Japan, and China is -said to be “the pupil of a fish eye”. In India it was known in Sanskrit as the <i>cintimani</i>, and was believed to have originated from the <i>makara</i>.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4644src" href="#xd31e4644">19</a> The Chinese records have references to “moonlight pearls” from the eyes of female -whales, and from the eyes of dolphins.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4653src" href="#xd31e4653">20</a> It does not follow that this belief <span class="pageNum" id="pb219">[<a href="#pb219">219</a>]</span>about the origin of shining pearls had a connection with <span class="corr" id="xd31e4660" title="Source: observatious">observations</span> made of the phosphorescing of parts of marine animals, because the Chinese writers -refer too, for instance, to the nocturnal luminosity of rhinoceros horn.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4663src" href="#xd31e4663">21</a> Even coral, which, like jade, was connected with the lunar- or sky-goddess, was supposed -to shine by night. Laufer quotes from the work, <i>Si King tsa</i> (<i>Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital</i>, i.e. Si-ngan-fu), in this connection: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“In the pond Tsi-tsʼui there are coral trees twelve feet high. Each trunk produces -three stems, which send forth 426 branches. These have been presented by Chao Tʼo, -King of Nan Yūe (Annam), and were styled ‘beacon-fire trees’. <i>At night they emitted a brilliant light as though they would go up in flames.</i>”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4677src" href="#xd31e4677">22</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The “coral tree” here links with the pine, peach, and cassia trees, and the shining -mandrake, as well as with jade, gold, precious stones, and pearls. In Persia the pearl -and coral are called <i>margan</i>, which signifies “life-giver” or “life-owner”. Lapis-lazuli was called <i>Kin tsin</i> (“essence of gold”) during the Tiang period in China.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4687src" href="#xd31e4687">23</a> -</p> -<p>As the metal associated with the moon was usually silver, gold being chiefly, although -not always, the sun metal, we should expect to find silver connected with jade and -pearls. -</p> -<p>De Groot, who is frankly puzzled over Chinese beliefs regarding pearls, and has to -“plead incompetency” to solve the problem why they were “considered as depositories -and distributors of vital force”,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4699src" href="#xd31e4699">24</a> provides the translation of a passage in the <i>Ta Tsʼing thung li</i> that connects <span class="pageNum" id="pb220">[<a href="#pb220">220</a>]</span>silver with pearls. It states in reference to burial customs that “in the case of -an official of the first, second, or third degree, five small pearls and pieces of -jade shall be used for stuffing the mouth; in that of one of the fourth, fifth, sixth, -or seventh rank, five small pieces of gold and of jade. The gentry shall use three -bits of broken gold or silver; among ordinary people the mouth shall be stuffed with -three pieces of silver.” -</p> -<p>De Groot insists that the principal object of the practice of stuffing the mouths -of the dead was “to save the body from a speedy decay”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4709src" href="#xd31e4709">25</a> -</p> -<p>It is significant therefore to find references in Chinese literature to “Pearls of -Jade”, to “Fire Jade” that sheds light or even “boils a pot”, and to find silver being -regarded as a substitute for jade. Shells, pearls, gold, silver, and jade contained -“soul substance” derived from the Great Mother. As we have seen, Nu Kwa, the mythical -Chinese Empress (the sister of Fu Hi, the “Chinese Adam”), who stopped the Deluge, -took the place of the ancient goddess in popular legend. She was credited, as has -been indicated, with planning the course of the Celestial River, with creating dragons, -with re-erecting one of the four pillars that supported the firmament, and with creating -jade for the benefit of mankind. In Japan Nu Kwa is remembered as Jokwa. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p220width" id="p220"><img src="images/p220.jpg" alt="AMULETS FOR THE DEAD, AND OTHER OBJECTS IN JADE" width="492" height="720"><p class="figureHead">AMULETS FOR THE DEAD, AND OTHER OBJECTS IN JADE</p> -<p class="first">1. 2. 3. 7<span class="corr" id="xd31e4719" title="Source: ,">.</span> Tongue Amulets. 4. Amulet for eye. 5. 6. Lip amulets. 8. Girdle in shape of fungus -of immortality. 9. Axe-shaped girdle ornament. 10. Carving of man (Han Period). 11. -Jade image (Knei Pi) used in sacrifices to sun, moon and stars. -</p> -<p><i>By courtesy of B. Laufer, author of “Jade”, Field Museum, Chicago</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The Japanese beliefs connected with jade are clearly traceable to China. A Tama may -be a piece of jade, a crystal, a tapering pearl, or the pearl carried on the head -of a Japanese dragon. “The Tama”, says Joly, “is associated not only with the Bosatsu -and other Buddhist deities or saints, but also with the gods of luck.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4727src" href="#xd31e4727">26</a> There are a number of heroic legends in which <span class="pageNum" id="pb221">[<a href="#pb221">221</a>]</span>the Tama figures. In a story, relegated to the eighth century <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, a famous jade stone is called “the Tama”. It tells that Pien Ho (the Japanese Benwa) -saw an eagle standing on a large block of jade which he took possession of and carried -to his king. The royal magicians thought it valueless, and Benwa’s right foot was -cut off. He made his way to the mountains and replaced the jade, and soon afterwards -observed that the same eagle returned and perched upon it again. When a new king came -to the throne Benwa carried the jade to the court, but only to have his left foot -cut off. A third king came to the throne, and on seeing Benwa weeping by the gate -of the palace he inquired into the cause of his grief, and had the stone tested, when -it was found to be a perfect gem. This Tama was afterwards regarded so valuable that -it was demanded as “a ransom for fifteen cities”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4736src" href="#xd31e4736">27</a> -</p> -<p>Here the eagle is associated with the gems containing “soul substance”. Joly notes -that “foxes are also shown holding the Tama”, and he wonders if the globe “held under -their talons by the heraldic lions has a similar meaning”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4742src" href="#xd31e4742">28</a> Foxes and wolves were, like dragons, capable of assuming human form and figure among -the were-animals of the Far East. As these were-animals include the tiger, which is -a god in China, it is possible that they were ancient deities. The lion is associated -with the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, with the Cretan mother-goddess, while the Egyptian -Tefnut has a lioness form. Tammuz of Babylon is, as Nin-girsu of Lagash, a lion-headed -eagle. The Indian Vishnu has a lion-headed avatar. -</p> -<p>The connection of the precious jewel and of gold with the supreme deity is traceable -to the ancient beliefs regarding the shark-guardian of pearls. As the beliefs associated -with pearls were transferred to jade, it need <span class="pageNum" id="pb222">[<a href="#pb222">222</a>]</span>not surprise us to find the sacred fish—a form of the Great Mother—connected with -jade. A significant text is quoted by Laufer, without comment, which brings out this -connection. He says that “Lü Pu-wei, who died in <span class="asc">B.C.</span> 235, reports in his book <i>Lu-shih Chʼun Tsʼiu</i>: ‘Pearls are placed in the mouth of the dead, and fish-scales are added; these are -now utilized for interment with the dead.’ The Commentary to this passage explains: -‘To place pearls in the mouth of the dead (<i>han chu</i>) means to fill the mouth with them; the addition of fish-scales means, to enclose -these in a jade casket which is placed on the body of the deceased, as if it should -be covered with fish-scales.’ ”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4758src" href="#xd31e4758">29</a> Jade fish-symbols figure among the Chinese mortuary amulets. -</p> -<p>Light is thrown on Chinese beliefs regarding resurrection by the cicada mortuary amulet -which was made of jade. It was placed on the tongue of the dead and seems therefore -to have been like the Egyptian scarab amulet, a guarantee of immortality. -</p> -<p>One of the important ceremonies in connection with the process of reanimating an Egyptian -corpse was “the opening of the mouth”. It was necessary that the reanimated corpse -should speak with “the true voice” and justify itself in the court of Osiris, judge -of the dead, when the heart was weighed in the balance. -</p> -<p>Tongue and heart were closely connected. According to the beliefs associated with -the cult of Ptah, which was fused with the cult of Osiris, the heart was “the mind”, -and the source of all power and all life. The tongue expressed the thoughts of the -mind. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Ptah, the great, is the mind and tongue of the gods. -</p> -<p class="line">Ptah, from whom proceeded the power -</p> -<p class="line">Of the mind, -<span class="pageNum" id="pb223">[<a href="#pb223">223</a>]</span></p> -<p class="line">And of the tongue.… -</p> -<p class="line">It (the mind) is the one that bringeth forth every successful issue. -</p> -<p class="line">It is the tongue that repeats the thoughts of the mind.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4777src" href="#xd31e4777">30</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">The mind was the essence of life: the tongue, which formed the word, was the active -agent of the mind (heart). -</p> -<p>As “the stuffing of the corpse with jade took the place of embalming”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4784src" href="#xd31e4784">31</a> in China, the custom of placing a jade amulet on the tongue is of marked significance. -It is quite evidently an imported custom. The cicada takes the place of the Egyptian -scarabæus, the beetle-god of Egypt, named Khepera and called in the texts “father -of the gods”. In ancient Egypt scarabs were placed on the bodies and in the tombs -of the dead to protect heart (mind) and tongue and ensure resurrection. A text sets -forth in this connection: “And behold, thou shalt make a scarab of green stone, with -a rim of gold, and this shall be placed in the heart of a man, and it shall perform -for him the ‘Opening of the Mouth’ ”. The scarab is to be anointed with “<i>ānti</i> unguent” and then “words of power” are to be recited over it. In “words of power” -the deceased addresses the scarab as “my heart, my mother: my heart whereby I came -into being”. -</p> -<p>The beetle-god, in whose form the scarab was made, “becomes”, as Budge says, “in a -manner a type of the dead body, that is to say, he represents matter containing a -living germ which is about to pass from a state of inertness into one of active life. -As he was a living germ in the abyss of Nu (the primeval deep) and made himself emerge -therefrom in the form of the rising sun, so the germ of the living soul, which existed -in the dead body of man, and was to burst into new life in a new world by <span class="pageNum" id="pb224">[<a href="#pb224">224</a>]</span>means of the prayers recited during the performance of appropriate ceremonies, emerged -from its old body in a new form either in the realm of Osiris or in the boat of Ra -(the sun-god).”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4797src" href="#xd31e4797">32</a> -</p> -<p>This Egyptian doctrine was symbolized by the beetle which rolls a bit of dung in the -dust into the form of a ball, and then, having dug a hole in the ground, pushes it -in and buries it. Thereafter the beetle enters the subterranean chamber to devour -the ball. This beetle also collects dung to feed the larvæ which ultimately emerge -from the ground in beetle form. -</p> -<p>As the Chinese substituted jade for pearls, so did they substitute the cicada for -the dung-beetle. -</p> -<p>The cicada belongs to that class of insect which feeds on the juices of plants. It -is large and broad with brightly-coloured wings. The male has on each side of the -body a sort of drum which enables it to make that chirping noise called “the song -of the cicada”, referred to by the ancient classical poets. When the female lays her -eggs she bores a hole in a tree and deposits them in it. Wingless larvæ are hatched, -and they bore their way into the ground to feed on the juices of roots. After a time—in -some cases after the lapse of several years—the cicada emerges from the ground, the -skin breaks open, and the winged insect rises in the air. The most remarkable species -of the cicada is found in the United States, where it passes through a life-history -of seventeen years, the greater part of that time being spent underground—the larval -stage. In China the newly-hatched larva sometimes bores down into the earth to a depth -of about twenty feet. -</p> -<p>“The observation of this wonderful process of nature,” says Laufer, “seems to be the -basic idea of this (cicada) amulet. The dead will awaken to a new life from his <span class="pageNum" id="pb225">[<a href="#pb225">225</a>]</span>grave as the chirping cicada rises from the pupa buried in the ground. This amulet, -accordingly, was an emblem of resurrection.” Laufer quotes in this connection from -the Chinese philosopher Wang Chʼung, who wrote: “Prior to casting off the exuviæ, -a cicada is a chrysalis. When it casts them off, it leaves the pupa state, and is -transformed into a cicada. The vital spirit of a dead man leaving the body may be -compared to the cicada emerging from the chrysalis.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4810src" href="#xd31e4810">33</a> -</p> -<p>The fact that the cicada feeds on the juices of plants apparently connected it with -the idea of the Tree of Life, the source of “soul substance”. -</p> -<p>Another insect symbol of resurrection was the butterfly, which was connected with -the Plum Tree of Life. Laufer notes that some butterflies carved from jade, which -were used as mortuary amulets, have a plum-blossom pattern between the antennæ and -plum-blossoms “carved <i>à jour</i> in the wings”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4821src" href="#xd31e4821">34</a> -</p> -<p>He notes that “in modern times the combination of butterfly and plum-blossom is used -to express a rebus with the meaning <span class="corr" id="xd31e4827" title="Source: “">‘</span>Always great age<span class="corr" id="xd31e4830" title="Not in source">’</span>”. This amulet is of great antiquity. -</p> -<p>The butterfly symbol of resurrection is found in Mexico. The Codex Remensis shows -an anthropomorphic butterfly from whose mouth a human face emerges. Freyja, the Scandinavian -goddess, is connected with the butterfly, and in Greece and Italy the same insect -was associated with the idea of resurrection. Psyche (a name signifying “soul”) has -butterfly wings. Apparently the butterfly, like the cicada, was supposed to derive -its vitality from the mother-goddess’s Tree of Life. -</p> -<p>Another important Chinese mortuary jade object was the frog or toad amulet. As we -have seen, the frog was <span class="pageNum" id="pb226">[<a href="#pb226">226</a>]</span>connected with the moon and the lunar goddess, and in China, as in ancient Egypt, -was a symbol of resurrection. -</p> -<p>Among the interesting jade amulets shown by Laufer are two that roughly resemble in -shape the Egyptian scarabs. “The two pieces”, he writes, “show traces of gilding, -and resemble helmets in their shape, and are moulded into the figures of a curious -monster which it is difficult to name. It seems to me that it is possibly some fabulous -giant bird, for on the sides, two wings, each marked by five pinions, are brought -out, a long, curved neck rises from below, though the two triangular ears do not fit -the conception of a bird.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4839src" href="#xd31e4839">35</a> The figure apparently represents a “composite wonder beast”. Fishes and composite -quadrapeds were also depicted in jade and placed in graves. Human figures are rare. -</p> -<p>Stone coffins were used in ancient times. The books of the later Han Dynasty (at the -beginning of our era) tell about a pious governor, Wang Khiao, who receives a jade -coffin from heaven. It was placed by unseen hands in his hall. His servants endeavoured -to take it away, but found it could not be moved. -</p> -<p>De Groot,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4846src" href="#xd31e4846">36</a> who translates the story, continues: “Khiao said, ‘Can this mean that the Emperor -of Heaven calls me towards him?’ He bathed himself, put on his official attire with -its ornaments, and lay down in the coffin, the lid being immediately closed over him. -When the night had passed, they buried him on the east side of the city, and the earth -heaped itself over him in the shape a tumulus. All the cows in the district on that -evening were wet with perspiration and got out of breath, and nobody knew whence this -came. The people thereupon erected a temple for him.” -</p> -<p>De Groot quotes from another work written in the <span class="pageNum" id="pb227">[<a href="#pb227">227</a>]</span>fifth century, which relates that “at Lin-siang there is in the water a couch of stone, -upon which stand two coffins of solid stone, green like copper mirrors. There is nobody -who can give information regarding them.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4854src" href="#xd31e4854">37</a> -</p> -<p>Here we have jade used for the preservation of the dead, associated with the sky, -with cows, water, and stone, and, in addition, a reference to green copper. Jade has -taken the place of pearls, and pearls were, as has been shown, connected with the -mother-goddess, the sky and cow deity who was the source of fertilizing and creative -moisture and “soul substance”. The standing stones of the mother-goddess were supposed -to perspire, and to split and give birth to dragons or gods. This idea appears to -lie behind the story regarding the perspiring cows. An influence was at work on the -night when the sage was buried in the jade coffin, and that influence came from the -sky, and was concentrated in jade. It is necessary, therefore, at this point, to get -at Chinese ideas regarding the connection between jade and the mysterious influence -or influences in what we call “Nature”. -</p> -<p>Behind all mythologies lie basic ideas regarding the universe. To understand a local -or localized mythology, it is necessary that we should know something regarding the -world in which lived those who invented or perpetuated the myths. -</p> -<p>The Chinese world was flat, and over it was the dome of the firmament supported by -four pillars. These pillars were situated at the four cardinal points, and were each -guarded by a sentinel deity. The deities exercised an influence on the world and on -all living beings in it, and their influence was particularly strong during their -seasons. -</p> -<p>Like the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians the Chinese believed that their world was -surrounded by <span class="pageNum" id="pb228">[<a href="#pb228">228</a>]</span>water. There are references in the texts to the “Four Seas”, and to what the Egyptians -called the “Great Circle” (Okeanos). -</p> -<p>The Babylonians believed the world was a mountain, and their temples were models of -their world. Thus the temple of Enlil, as the world-god, was called E-Kur, which signifies -“mountain house”. His consort Ninlil was also called Nin-Kharsag, “the lady of the -mountain”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4868src" href="#xd31e4868">38</a> The Babylonian and Egyptian temples were not only places of worship, but seats of -learning, and they had workshops in which the dyers, metal-workers, &c., plied their -sacred trades. -</p> -<p>Chinese palaces and universities were in ancient times models of the world. One of -the odes says of King Wu: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“In the capital of Hao he built his hall with its circlet of water. From the west -to the east, from the south to the north, there was not a thought but did him homage.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4877src" href="#xd31e4877">39</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>This hall was a royal college, “built”, says Legge, “in the middle of a circle of -water”. Colleges might also have semicircular pools in front of them, “as may now -be seen in front of the temples of Confucius in the metropolitan cities of the provinces”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4884src" href="#xd31e4884">40</a> Ceremonies were studied in these institutions. There were also grave-pools. In Singapore -these grave-pools have had to be abolished because they were utilized for hatching -purposes by mosquitoes. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p228width" id="p228"><img src="images/p228.jpg" alt="THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN, PEKING" width="486" height="720"><div class="figAnnotation p228width"><span class="figBottomLeft">Copyright -</span><span class="figTop"> </span><span class="figBottomRight">H. G. Ponting. F.R.G.S. -</span></div> -<p class="figureHead">THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN, PEKING</p> -<p>This greatest of Confucian temples, with its tiles of deep cobalt blue shining in -the sunshine, is the most conspicuous object in the city. “During the ceremonies inside -everything is blue; the sacrificial utensils are of blue porcelain, the worshippers -are robed in blue, even the atmosphere is blue, venetians made of thin rods of blue -glass, strung together by cords, being hung down over the tracery of the doors and -windows” (Bushell).</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>Much attention was paid by the Chinese to the shape and situation of a temple, college, -palace, or grave. Each was subjected to good and bad influences, and as seafarers -set their sails to take full advantage of a favourable breeze, so did the Chinese -construct edifices and graves to take full advantage of favourable influences emanating -<span class="pageNum" id="pb229">[<a href="#pb229">229</a>]</span>from what may be called the “magic tanks” of the universe—the cardinal points and -the sky. -</p> -<p>The beliefs involved in this custom are not peculiar to China. In Scottish Gaelic, -for instance, there is the old saying: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Shut the north window, -</p> -<p class="line xd31e4904">And quickly close the window to the south; -</p> -<p class="line">And shut the window facing west; -</p> -<p class="line xd31e4904">Evil never came from the east.</p> -</div> -<p class="first">Another saying is: “Shut the windows to the north, open the windows to the south, -and do not let the fire go out”. Both in Scottish and Irish Gaelic the north is the -“airt” (cardinal point) of evil influence, and is coloured black, as is the north -in China, and the south in India. The black Indian south is “Yama’s gate”, that is -the “gate” of the god of death. One cannot say anything worse to a Hindu than “Go -to Yama’s gate”. The north is the good and white “airt” of Indian mythology; the good -go northward to Paradise, as in Scotland they go southward. A Japanese poet has written: -“The Paradise is in the south; only fools pray towards the west”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4911src" href="#xd31e4911">41</a> -</p> -<p>In the Pyramid Texts of ancient Egypt the east is held by the solar cult “to be the -most sacred of all regions”, while the west is the sacred “airt” of the Osirian cult.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4919src" href="#xd31e4919">42</a> In the east the sun-god, to whom the soul of the dead Pharaoh went, was supposed -to be reborn every morning. The Chinese regarded the east “as the quarter”, says De -Groot, “in which is rooted the life of everything, the great genitor of life (the -sun) being born there every day”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4924src" href="#xd31e4924">43</a> As we have seen, there was in China, as in Egypt, a rival cult of the west. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb230">[<a href="#pb230">230</a>]</span></p> -<p>The gods of the four quarters of China, from whom influences flowed, were: The Blue -(or Green) Dragon (east), the Red Bird (south), the White Tiger (west), and the Black -Tortoise (north). The east is the left side, and the west is the right side; a worshipper -therefore faces the south. In Irish and Scottish Gaelic lore the south is the right -side, and the north is the left side; a worshipper therefore faces the east. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p230width" id="p230"><img src="images/p230.jpg" alt="THREE SAGES STUDYING SYMBOL OF YIN AND YANG" width="364" height="720"><p class="figureHead">THREE SAGES STUDYING SYMBOL OF <i>YIN</i> AND <i>YANG</i></p> -<p class="first">(The <i>Yin</i> is the black and the <i>Yang</i> the white “comma” forming circle) -</p> -<p><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>According to Kwang-tze, the Taoist, it was believed in China that “the breath (or -influence) of the east is wind, and wind creates wood”; that “the breath of the south -is Yang, which creates fire”; that “the centre is earth”; that “the breath of the -west is Yin, which gives birth to metal”; and that the breath of the north “is cold, -by which water is produced”. Another native pre-Christian writer says that “the east -appertains to wood, the south to fire, the west to metal, and the north to water”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4948src" href="#xd31e4948">44</a> Thus taking in the seasons we have the following combinations, showing the organs -of the body influenced by the gods of the “airts”: -</p> -<ul> -<li>East—the Blue Dragon, Spring, Wood; Planet, Jupiter; liver and gall. -</li> -<li>South—the Red Bird, Summer, Fire, the Sun; Planet, Mars; heart and large intestines. -</li> -<li>West—the White Tiger, Autumn, Wind, Metal; Planet, Venus; lungs and small intestine. -</li> -<li>North—the Black Tortoise, Winter, Cold, Water; Planet, Mercury; kidneys and bladder.</li> -</ul><p> -</p> -<p>The good influence (or breath) was summed up in the term Yang, and bad influence in -the term Yin. Yang refers to what is bright, warm, active, and life-giving; and Yin -to what is inactive, cold, and of the earth earthy. “When”, says a Chinese writer, -“we speak of the Yin <span class="pageNum" id="pb231">[<a href="#pb231">231</a>]</span>and the Yang, we mean the air (or ether) collected in the Great Void. When we speak -of the Hard and Soft, we mean that ether collected and formed into substance.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4963src" href="#xd31e4963">45</a> Says De Groot in this connection: “In China vital power is specially assimilated -with the Yang, the chief part of the Cosmos, identified with light, warmth, and life”. -Yin is “the principle of darkness, cold, and death, standing in the universe diametrically -opposite to Yang”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4968src" href="#xd31e4968">46</a> The chief source of Yang is the sun, which gives forth “shen” or “soul substance”; -the chief source of Yin is the moon. Yang strengthens the vital energy, and is the -active principle in various elixirs of life, including, as De Groot notes, “the cock, -jade, gold, pearls, and the products of pine and cypress trees”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4972src" href="#xd31e4972">47</a> -</p> -<p>Yin and Yang are controlled by the constellation, the Great Bear, called in China -“the Bushel”. In the <i>Shi Ki</i> there is a reference to “the seven stars of the Bushel”, styled “the Revolving Pearls -or the Balance of Jasper”, and arrayed “to form the body of seven rulers”. This constellation -is “the chariot of the Emperor (of Heaven). Revolving around the pole, it descends -to rule the four quarters of the sphere and to separate the Yin and the Yang; by so -doing it fixes the four seasons, upholds the equilibrium between the five elements, -moves forward the subdivisions of the sphere, and establishes all order in the Universe.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4980src" href="#xd31e4980">48</a> -</p> -<p>An ancient Chinese writer says in this connection that when the handle (tail) of the -Bushel (Great Bear) points to the east (at nightfall), it is spring to all the world. -When the handle points to the south it is summer, when it points to the west it is -autumn, and when it points to the north it is winter. In the <i>Shu King</i> <span class="pageNum" id="pb232">[<a href="#pb232">232</a>]</span>(Part II, Book I) the Great Bear is referred to as “the pearl-adorned turning sphere -with its transverse tube of jade”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4991src" href="#xd31e4991">49</a> The Polar Star is the “Pivot of the Sky”, which revolves in its place, “carrying -round with it all the other heavenly bodies”. In like manner the Taoists taught that -“the body of man is carried round his spirit and by it”. The spirit is thus the “Pivot -of Jade”. That is why the Pivot of Jade is used in the ritual services of Taoism.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e4996src" href="#xd31e4996">50</a> -</p> -<p>In Norse-Icelandic mythology the World Mill controls the seasons and the movements -of the heavenly bodies. The heavens revolve round the Polar Star, <i>Veraldar Nagli</i> (“the world spike”). Nine giant maids turn the world mill.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5005src" href="#xd31e5005">51</a> -</p> -<p>The Babylonians, who were the pioneer astronomers and astrologers of Asia, identified -the stable and controlling spirit of the night sky with the Polar Star, which was -called “Ilu Sar” (“the god Shar”) or “Anshar” (“Star of the Height” or “Star of the -Most High”).<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5011src" href="#xd31e5011">52</a> -</p> -<p>Isaiah (xiv, 4–14) refers to the supreme star-god when he makes Lucifer declare: “I -will ascend unto heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit -also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend -above the heights of the clouds; I will be the most High”. -</p> -<p>Chinese astronomy and the Chinese calendar are undoubtedly of Babylonian origin. The -Babylonian god of the Pole Star has not been forgotten. Dr. Edkins once asked a Chinese -schoolmaster: “Who is the Lord of heaven and earth?” He replied “that he knew none -but the Pole Star,<span class="corr" id="xd31e5018" title="Not in source">”</span> called in the Chinese language Teen-hwang-ta-te, <i>the great imperial ruler of heaven</i>.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5022src" href="#xd31e5022">53</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb233">[<a href="#pb233">233</a>]</span></p> -<p>There is a god and a goddess in the Great Bear. “Among the liturgical works used by -the priests of Tao”, says Edkins, “one of the commonest consists of prayers to Towmoo, -a female divinity supposed to reside in the Great Bear. A part of the same constellation -is worshipped under the name Kwei-sing. A small temple is erected to this deity on -the east side of the entrance to Confucian temples, and he is regarded as being favourable -to literature.” But the chief god of literature is “Wen-chang<span class="corr" id="xd31e5030" title="Not in source">”</span>, who is identified with a constellation near the Great Bear which bears his name. -He is prayed to by scholars to assist them in their examinations. Temples were erected -to him on elevated earthen terraces. “Wen-chang”, says Edkins, “is said to have come -down to our world during many generations at irregular intervals. Virtuous and highly-gifted -men were chosen from history as likely to have been incarnations of this divinity.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5032src" href="#xd31e5032">54</a> -</p> -<p>The five elements controlled by the Great Bear as it swings round the Polar Star are -in China (1) water, (2) fire, (3) wood, (4) metal, and (5) earth. These elements compose -what we call Nature. As we have seen, they were placed under the guardianship of animal -gods. The White Tiger of the West, for instance, is associated with metal. When, therefore, -metal is placed in a grave, a ceremonial connection with the tiger-god is effected. -“According to the Annals of Wu and Yueh, three days after the burial of the king, -the essence of the element metal assumed the shape of a white tiger and crouched down -on the top of the grave.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5038src" href="#xd31e5038">55</a> Here the tiger is a protector—a preserver. -</p> -<p>Jade being strongly imbued with Yang or “soul <span class="pageNum" id="pb234">[<a href="#pb234">234</a>]</span>substance” was intimately associated with all the gods, and the various colours of -jade were connected with the colours of the “airts” and of the heavens and earth. -Laufer quotes from the eighteenth chapter of <i>Chou li</i>, which deals with the functions of the Master of Religious Ceremonies: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“He makes of jade the six objects to do homage to Heaven, to Earth, and to the Four -Points of the compass. With the round tablet <i>pi</i> of bluish (or greenish) colour, he does homage to Heaven. With the yellow jade tube -<i>tsʼung</i>, he does homage to Earth. With the green<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5056src" href="#xd31e5056">56</a> tablet <i>Kuei</i>, he renders homage to the region of the East. With the red tablet <i>chang</i>, he renders homage to the region of the South. With the white tablet in the shape -of a tiger (<i>hu</i>), he renders homage to the region of the West. With the black jade piece of semicircular -shape (<i>huang</i>) he renders homage to the region of the North. The colour of the victims and of the -pieces of silk for these various spirits correspond to that of the jade tablet.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5068src" href="#xd31e5068">57</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The shape, as well as the colours, of the jade symbols was of ritualistic importance. -</p> -<p>What would appear to be the most ancient Chinese doctrine regarding the influences -or “breaths” that emanated from Nature, and affected the living and the dead, is summed -up in the term Fung-shui. “Fung” means wind, and “shui” means “the water from the -clouds which the wind distributes over the world”. Certain winds are good, and certain -winds are bad. -</p> -<p>The importance attached to wind and water appears to be connected with the ancient -belief, found in Babylonia and Egypt, that wind is the “breath of life”, the soul, -and that water is the source of all life—“the water of life”. -</p> -<p>“Fung-shui”, says De Groot, “denotes the atmospherical <span class="pageNum" id="pb235">[<a href="#pb235">235</a>]</span>influences which bear absolute sway over the fate of man, as none of the principal -elements of life can be produced without favourable weather and rains.” It also means, -he adds, “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”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5080src" href="#xd31e5080">58</a> -</p> -<p>The controllers of wind and water are the White Tiger god of the West, and the Blue -(or green) Dragon god of the East. “These animals”, says De Groot, “represent all -that is expressed by the word Fung-shui, viz., both æolian and aquatic influences, -Confucius being reputed to have said that ‘the winds follow the tiger’, and the dragon -having, since time immemorial, in Chinese cosmological mythology played the part of -chief spirit of water and rain.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5086src" href="#xd31e5086">59</a> -</p> -<p>When the dead were buried it was considered necessary, according to Fung-shui principles, -to have graves facing the south, and the Dragon symbol on the left (east) side of -the coffin, and the Tiger symbol on the right (west) side, while the Red Bird of the -south was on the front, and the Black Tortoise of the north on the back. -</p> -<p>These symbols were, so to speak, set amidst natural surroundings that allowed the -“free flow” of auspicious influences or “breaths”. A site for a burial-ground was -carefully selected, due account being taken of the configurations of the surrounding -country and the courses followed by streams.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5093src" href="#xd31e5093">60</a> -</p> -<p>Not only graves, but houses and towns, were so placed <span class="pageNum" id="pb236">[<a href="#pb236">236</a>]</span>as to secure the requisite balance between the forces of Nature. De Groot notes that -Amoy is reputed by Chinese believers of the Fung-shui system to owe its prosperity -to two knolls flanking the inner harbour, called “Tiger-head Hill” and “Dragon-head -Hill”. Canton is influenced by the “White clouds”, a chain of hills representing the -Dragon on one side of its river, and by undulating ground opposite representing the -Tiger. “Similarly”, he says, “Peking is protected on the north-west by the Kin-shan -or Golden Hills, which represent the Tiger and ensure its prosperity, together with -that of the whole empire and the reigning dynasty. These hills contain the sources -of a felicitous watercourse, called Yu-ho or ‘Jade River’, which enters Peking on -the north-west, and flows through the grounds at the back of the Imperial Palace, -then accumulates its beneficial influences in three large reservoirs or lakes dug -on the west side, and finally flows past the entire front of the inner palace, where -it bears the name of the Golden Water.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5100src" href="#xd31e5100">61</a> -</p> -<p>Here we find jade and gold closely associated in the Fung-shui system. -</p> -<p>As we have seen, white jade was used when the Tiger god of the West was worshipped; -it is known as “tiger jade”; a tiger was depicted on the jade symbol. To the Chinese -the tiger was the king of all animals and “lord of the mountains”, and the tiger-jade -ornament was specially reserved for commanders of armies. The male tiger was, among -other things, the god of war, and in this capacity it not only assisted the armies -of the emperors, but fought the demons that threatened the dead in their graves. -</p> -<p>There are traces in China of a tigress shape of the <span class="pageNum" id="pb237">[<a href="#pb237">237</a>]</span>goddess of the West. Laufer refers to an ancient legend of the country of Chu, which -tells of a prince who in the eighth century <span class="asc">B.C.</span> married a princess of Yün. A son was born to them and named Tou Po-pi. The father -died and the widow returned to Yün, where Tou Po-pi, in his youth, had an intrigue -with a princess who bore him a son. “The grandmother ordered the infant to be carried -away and deserted on a marsh, but a tigress came to suckle the child. One day when -the prince of Yün was out hunting, he discovered this circumstance, and when he returned -home terror-stricken, his wife unveiled to him the affair. Touched by this marvellous -incident, they sent messengers after the child, and had it cared for. The people of -Chʼu, who spoke a language differing from Chinese, called suckling <i>nou</i>, and a tiger they called <i>yü-tʼu</i>; hence the boy was named Nou Yü-tʼu (‘Suckled by a Tigress’). He subsequently became -minister of Chʼu.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5118src" href="#xd31e5118">62</a> -</p> -<p>This Far Eastern legend recalls that of Romulus and Remus, who were thrown into the -Tiber but were preserved and rescued; they were afterwards suckled by a she-wolf. -The Cretan Zeus was suckled, according to one legend, by a sow, and to another by -a goat. A Knossian seal depicts a child suckled by a horned sheep. Sir Arthur Evans -refers, in this connection, to the legends of the grandson of Minos who was suckled -by a bitch; of Miletos, “the mythical founder of the city of that name”, being nursed -by wolves.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5124src" href="#xd31e5124">63</a> Vultures guarded the Indian heroine Shakuntala, the Assyrian Semiramis was protected -by doves, while the Babylonian Gilgamesh and the Persian patriarch Akhamanish were -protected and rescued at birth by eagles. Horus of Egypt was nourished and concealed -by the serpent goddess Uazit, and in his boyhood made <span class="pageNum" id="pb238">[<a href="#pb238">238</a>]</span>friends of wild animals, as did also Bharata, the son of the Indian vulture-guarded -Shakuntala. Horus figures in the constellation of Argo as a child floating in a chest -or boat like the abandoned Moses, the abandoned Indian Karna, the abandoned Sargon -of Akkad, and, as it would appear, Tammuz who in childhood lay in a “sunken boat”. -Horus of the older Egyptian legends was concealed on a green floating island on the -Nile—the “green bed of Horus”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5130src" href="#xd31e5130">64</a> -</p> -<p>The oldest known form of the suckling legend is found in the Pyramid Texts of Ancient -Egypt. When the soul of the Pharaoh went to the Otherworld he was suckled by a goddess -or by the goddesses of the north and south. The latter are referred to in the Texts -as “the two vultures with long hair and hanging breasts”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5143src" href="#xd31e5143">65</a> Here the vultures take the place of the cow-goddess Hathor. In Troy the cow-mother, -covered with stars, becomes the star-adorned sow-mother.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5148src" href="#xd31e5148">66</a> Demeter had a sow form and Athene a goat form, and other goddesses had dove, eagle, -wolf, bitch, &c., forms. The Chinese tigress-goddess is evidently a Far Eastern animal -form of the Great Mother who suckles the souls of the dead and the abandoned children -who are destined to become notables. Thus behind the wind-god, in the Chinese Fung-shui -system, we meet with complex ideas regarding the source of the “air of life”, and -the source of the food-supply. The Blue Dragon of the East is the Naga form of the -Aryo-Indian Indra,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5153src" href="#xd31e5153">67</a> the rain-controller, the fertilizer, who is closely associated with Vayu, the wind-god; -the dragon <span class="pageNum" id="pb239">[<a href="#pb239">239</a>]</span>is the thunderer, too, like Indra. The close association of the tiger- and dragon-gods -in the Fung-shui system may account for the custom of decorating jade symbols of the -tiger with the thunder pattern.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5160src" href="#xd31e5160">68</a> -</p> -<p>In jade-lore, as will be seen, we touch on complex religious beliefs and conceptions -not entirely of Chinese origin. Indeed, it is necessary to leave China and investigate -the religious systems of more ancient countries to understand rightly Chinese ideas -regarding jade as a substitute for gold, pearls, precious stones, &c., and its connection -with vegetation and the Great Mother, the source of all life. -</p> -<p>It remains with us to deal with Chinese ideas regarding the soul which was protected -by jade, the concentrated form of “soul substance”. -</p> -<p>The Chinese believed that a human being had two souls. One was the <i>Kwei</i>, that is the soul which partook of the nature of the element Yin and returned to -the earth from which it originally came;<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5171src" href="#xd31e5171">69</a> the other soul was the <i>shen</i> which partook of the element Yang. When the <i>shen</i> is in the living body, it is called <i>Khi</i> or “breath”; after death “it lives forth as a refulgent spirit, styled <i>ming</i>”. The other soul, called <i>Kwei</i>, is known as the <i>pʼoh</i> during life; after death it lives on in the grave beside the body, which is supposed -to be protected against decay by the jade, gold, pearls, shells, &c., and the good -influences “flowing” from east and west. -</p> -<p>The <i>shen</i>, like the cicada, may also dwell for a time in the grave or in the gravestone before -it rises on wings to the Sky Paradise, or passes to the Western Paradise or the Eastern -“Islands of the Blest”. Ancient local <span class="pageNum" id="pb240">[<a href="#pb240">240</a>]</span>and tribal beliefs and beliefs imported at different periods from different culture -centres were evidently fused in China, and we consequently meet with a variety of -ideas regarding the destiny of the <i>shen</i>. “Departed souls”, says De Groot, “are sometimes popularly represented as repairing -to the regions of bliss on the back of a crane.”<a class="noteRef" id="n240.1src" href="#n240.1">70</a> The soul may sail to the Western Paradise in a boat. “Thou hast departed to the West, -from whence there is no returning in the barge of mercy”, runs an address to the corpse.<a class="pseudoNoteRef" id="xd31e5204src" href="#n240.1">70</a> Here we have the Ra-boat of Egypt conveying the soul to the Osirian Paradise. As -has been shown, souls sometimes departed on the backs of dragons, or rose in the air -towards cloudland, there to sail in boats or ride on the backs of birds or kirins, -or reached the moon or star-land by climbing a gigantic tree. Belief in transmigration -of souls can also be traced in China, the result apparently of the importation of -pre-Buddhist as well as Buddhist beliefs from India. -</p> -<p>The living performed ceremonies to assist the soul of the dead on its last journey. -Priests chanted: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">I salute Ye, Celestial Judges of the three spheres constituting the higher, middle, -and lower divisions of the Universe, and Ye, host of Kings and nobles of the departments -of land and water and of the world of men! Remember the soul of the dead, and help -it forward in going to the Paradise of the West.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5211src" href="#xd31e5211">71</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Egyptian, Babylonian, and Indian ideas regarding the Western Paradise are here significantly -mingled. -</p> -<p>During life the soul might leave the body for a period, either during sleep or when -one fainted suddenly. -</p> -<p>This belief is widespread. The soul, in folk-stories, is sometimes seen, as in Scotland, -as a bee, or bird, or serpent, as in Norway as an insect or mouse, as in Indonesia -<span class="pageNum" id="pb241">[<a href="#pb241">241</a>]</span>and elsewhere as a worm, snake, butterfly, or mouse, and even, as in different countries, -as deer, cats, pigs, crocodiles, &c. Chinese beliefs regarding souls as butterflies, -cicadas, &c., have already been referred to. -</p> -<p>The wandering soul could be “called back” by repeating the individual’s name. In China, -even the dead were called back, and the ceremony of recalling the soul is prominent -in funeral rites, as De Groot shows.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5225src" href="#xd31e5225">72</a> Peoples as far separated as the Mongolian Buriats and the inhabitants of England, -Scotland, and Ireland believed that ghosts could be enticed to return to the body.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5230src" href="#xd31e5230">73</a> The “death-howl” in China and Egypt, and elsewhere, is evidently connected with this -ancient belief. -</p> -<p>Of special interest is the evidence regarding Korean customs and beliefs. Mrs. Bishop -writes: “Man is supposed to have three souls. After death one occupies the tablet, -one the grave, and one the unknown. During the passing of the spirit there is complete -silence. The under-garments of the dead are taken out by a servant, who waves them -in the air, and calls him by name, the relations and friends meantime wailing loudly. -After a time the clothes are thrown upon the roof.” When a man dies, one of his souls -is supposed to be seized and carried to the unknown and placed on trial before the -Ten Judges, who sentence it “either to ‘a good place’ or to one of the manifold hells”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5238src" href="#xd31e5238">74</a> -</p> -<p>Professor Elliot Smith, reviewing the Chinese ideas regarding the two souls, comes -to the conclusion that “the early Chinese conceptions of the soul and its functions -are essentially identical with the Egyptian, and must have been derived from the same -source”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5245src" href="#xd31e5245">75</a> As the Chinese <span class="pageNum" id="pb242">[<a href="#pb242">242</a>]</span>have the <i>shen</i> and the <i>Kwei</i>, so had the Egyptians the <i>Ka</i> and the <i>ba</i>. The <i>Ka</i> was the spirit of the placenta, “which was accredited with the attributes of the -life-giving and birth-promoting Great Mother and intimately related to the moon and -the earliest totem”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5262src" href="#xd31e5262">76</a> In China the beliefs and customs connected with the placenta and the moon are quite -Egyptian in character.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5266src" href="#xd31e5266">77</a> -</p> -<p>Even in the worship of ancestors in China one can trace the influence of Ancient Egyptian -ideas. When the Pharaoh died, he was identified with the god. King Unis, in the Pyramid -Texts, becomes Osiris, who controls the Nile. “It is Unis”, we read, “who inundates -the land.” Pepi I, in like manner, supplanted the god, and he is addressed as Osiris, -as is also King Mernere—“Ho this Osiris, King Mernere!” runs a Pyramid Text.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5273src" href="#xd31e5273">78</a> The sun-god Ra was similarly supplanted by his son, the dead Pharaoh. -</p> -<p>The souls of Chinese ancestors, who passed to the Otherworld, became identified with -the deities who protected households. Emperors became, after death, emperors in heaven -and their souls were the deified preservers of their dynasties. Clan and tribal ancestors -were protectors of their clans and tribes, and families were ever under the care of -the souls of their founders. The belief became deeply rooted in China that the ancestral -soul exercised from generation to generation a beneficent influence over a home. It -is not surprising to find, therefore, that gods are exceedingly numerous in China, -and that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish an ancestor from a god and a god -from an ancestor. The State religion was something apart from domestic <span class="pageNum" id="pb243">[<a href="#pb243">243</a>]</span>religion. Emperors worshipped the deities that controlled the nation’s destinies, -and families worshipped the deities of the household. -</p> -<p>Local and imported beliefs were fused and developed on Chinese soil, and when, in -time, Buddhism was introduced it was mixed with pre-existing religious systems. Chinese -Buddhism is consequently found to have local features that distinguish it from the -Buddhism of Tibet, Burmah, and Japan, in which countries there was, in like manner, -culture-mixing. -</p> -<p>Beliefs connected with jade, which date back to the time when the jade fished from -the rivers of Chinese Turkestan was identified with pearls and gold, were similarly -developed in China. At first the jade was used to assist birth and to cure diseases. -It likewise brought luck, being an object that radiated the influence of the All-Mother. -As the living had their days prolonged and their youth revived by jade, so were the -dead preserved from decay by the influence of the famous mineral. The custom ultimately -obtained of eating jade, as has already been noted in these pages. Ground jade or -“pure extract of jade” was not only supposed to promote longevity, but to effect a -ceremonial connection between the worshipper and the spirits or deities. In the <i>Chou li</i> it is stated that “when the Emperor purifies himself by abstinence, the chief in -charge of the jade works prepares for him the jade which he is obliged to eat”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5287src" href="#xd31e5287">79</a> It is explained by commentators that “the emperor fasts and purifies himself before -communicating with the spirits; he must take the pure extract of jade; it is dissolved -that he may eat it”. Jade was also pounded with rice as food for the corpse. “A marvellous -kind of jade”, says Laufer, “was called <i>Yü ying</i>, ‘the perfection of jade’,” which ensured eternal <span class="pageNum" id="pb244">[<a href="#pb244">244</a>]</span>life. “In 163 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> a jade cup of this kind was discovered on which the words were engraved ‘May the -sovereign of men have his longevity prolonged’.” Immortality was secured by eating -from jade bowls, or, as we have seen, by drinking dew from a jade bowl.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5298src" href="#xd31e5298">80</a> -</p> -<p>As has been shown, the Great Mother created jade for the benefit of mankind, and “the -spirit of jade is like a beautiful woman”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5306src" href="#xd31e5306">81</a> Jade was also “the essence of the purity of the male principle”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5310src" href="#xd31e5310">82</a> -</p> -<p>Apparently the god who was husband and son of the Great Mother was connected with -jade. The Mother was the life-giver, and the son, as Osiris, was “the imperishable -principle of life wherever found”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5316src" href="#xd31e5316">83</a> If men died, the seed of life in the body was preserved by jade amulets; the plants -might shed their leaves, but the life of the plants was perpetuated by the spirit -of jade. “In the second month”, says <i>The Illustrated Mirror of Jade</i>, “the plants in the mountains receive a brighter lustre. When their leaves fall, -they change into jade.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5323src" href="#xd31e5323">84</a> The mountain plants in question appear to be the curative herbs that contained, like -jade, the elixir of life, and the chief of these plants was the <i>ginseng</i> (mandrake), an avatar of the Great Mother. The plant, or ground jade, or food or -moisture from the jade vessel renewed youth and prolonged life. All the elixirs were -concentrated in jade; the vital principle in human beings and plants was derived from -and preserved by jade. -</p> -<p>It is of special interest to find that the Chinese Nu Kwa who caused the flood to -retreat was the creator of the jade which protected mankind and ensured longevity -by preserving the seed or <i>shen</i> of life, being impregnated with <i>Yang</i>, the male principle. In Babylonia, the seed of <span class="pageNum" id="pb245">[<a href="#pb245">245</a>]</span>mankind was preserved during the flood by the <i>nig-gil-ma</i>. -</p> -<p>In the Sumerian version of the Creation legend, the three great gods Anu, Enlil, and -Enki, assisted by the Great Mother goddess Ninkharasagga, first created mankind, then -the <i>nig-gil-ma</i>, and lastly the four-legged animals of the field. The mysterious <i>nig-gil-ma</i> is referred to in the story of the Deluge as “Preserver of the seed of mankind”, -while the ship or ark is “Preserver of Life”, literally “She that preserves life”. -A later magical text refers to the creation after that of mankind and animals of “two -small creatures, one white and one black”. Man and animals were saved from the flood -and the <i>nig-gil-ma</i> played its or their part “in ensuring their survival”. -</p> -<p>Leonard W. King, who has gathered together the surviving evidence regarding the mysterious -<i>nig-gil-ma</i><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5352src" href="#xd31e5352">85</a> points out that the name is sometimes preceded by “the determinative for ‘pot’, ‘jar’, -or ‘bowl’ ”, and is identical with the Semitic word <i>mashkhalu</i>. In the Tell-el-Amarna letters there are references to a <i>mashkhalu</i> of silver and a <i>mashkhalu</i> of stone (a silver vessel and a stone vessel). The <i>nig-gil-ma</i> may be simply a “jar” or “bowl”. “But”, says Mr. L. King, “the accompanying references -to the ground, to its production from the ground, and to its springing up … suggest -rather some kind of plant; and this, from its employment in magical rites, may also -have given its name to a bowl or vessel which held it. A very similar plant was that -found and lost by Gilgamesh, after his sojourn with Ut-napishtim<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5370src" href="#xd31e5370">86</a>; it too had potent magical power, and bore a title descriptive of its peculiar virtue -of transforming old age to youth.” The <i>nig-gil-ma</i> may <span class="pageNum" id="pb246">[<a href="#pb246">246</a>]</span>therefore be a plant, a ship, a stone bowl or jar, or a vessel of silver (the moon -metal). If we regard it as a symbol or avatar of the mother-goddess it was any of -these things and all of these things—the Mother Pot, the inexhaustible womb of Nature, -the Plant of Life containing “soul substance”, the red clay, the moon-silver, or, -as in China, the jade of which the sacred vessel was made. The Great Mother’s herb-avatar -was the <i>ginseng</i> (mandrake), as in the Egyptian Deluge story it was the red earth <i>didi</i> from Elephantine placed in the beer prepared for the slaughtering goddess Hathor-Sekhet -as a surrogate of blood and a soporific drink; the mixture was “the giver of life”, -the red <i>aqua vitae</i>, like the red wine and the juice of red berries in different areas.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5384src" href="#xd31e5384">87</a> The mandrake was the <i>didi</i> of southern Europe and of China. Dr. Rendel Harris shows that the early Greek magicians -and doctors referred to the male mandrake, which was white, and the female mandrake, -which was black. The black mandrake was personified as the Black Aphrodite.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5391src" href="#xd31e5391">88</a> -</p> -<p>The Babylonian reference in a magical text to the <i>nig-gil-ma</i> as “two small creatures, one white and one black” is therefore highly significant. -Apparently, like jade, the <i>nig-gil-ma</i> symbolized “the male principle”, and “the spirit” of “a beautiful woman”. Thus mandrake -(<i>ginseng</i>), the Plant of Life, red earth, jade, the pearl and the pot or jar or bowl, and the -Deluge ship, and the ship of the sun-god, were forms, avatars, or manifestations of -the Great Mother who preserved the seed of mankind and the elixir of life—in the Pot -it grew the Plant of Life, and from it could be drunk the dew of life, the water of -life, plant and water being impregnated with the “spirit” of jade. Jade-lore is of -highly complex character <span class="pageNum" id="pb247">[<a href="#pb247">247</a>]</span>because, as has been indicated, the early instructors of the Chinese attached to the -mineral the Egypto-Babylonian doctrines regarding the Great Mother and her shells, -pearls, precious stones, gold, silver and copper, herbs, trees, cereals, red earth, -&c. The Babylonian evidence regarding the <i>nig-gil-ma</i> as a herb, and as a silver or stone jar, pot, or cup, in which was preserved the -seed of mankind (“soul substance”) may explain why in the Chinese Deluge myth there -is no ark or ship. The goddess provided jade instead of a boat and she created dragons -to control the rain-supply, so that the world might not again suffer from the effects -of a flood. -</p> -<p>The virtues of jade were shared to a certain degree by rhinoceros horn, which, as -we have seen, was reputed to shine by night. -</p> -<p>Laufer has gathered together sufficient evidence to prove that the rhinoceros was -one of the wild animals known in ancient China.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5410src" href="#xd31e5410">89</a> A hero of the Chou Dynasty, who subdued rebels and established peace throughout the -Empire, “drove away also the tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses and elephants—and all -the people were greatly delighted”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5415src" href="#xd31e5415">90</a> A native writer says: “To travel by water and not avoid sea-serpents and dragons—this -is the courage of a fisherman. To travel by land and not avoid the rhinoceros and -the tiger—this is the courage of hunters.” In ancient times certain of the lords attending -on the emperor had a tiger symbol on each chariot wheel, while other lords had on -their wheels crouching rhinoceroses.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5420src" href="#xd31e5420">91</a> Laufer expresses the view that “the strong desire prevailing in the epoch of the -Chou for the horn of the animal (rhinoceros) which was carved into ornamental cups, -and for its valuable skin, <span class="pageNum" id="pb248">[<a href="#pb248">248</a>]</span>which was worked up into armour, had … contributed to its final destruction.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5427src" href="#xd31e5427">92</a> The rhinoceros-horn cups were used, like jade cups, chiefly for religious purposes. -Rice-wine was drunk from them when vows were made, and from them were poured libations -to ancestors. The animal’s skin was used not only for armour, because of its toughness -and durability, but because the rhinoceros was a longevity animal, and a form of the -god of longevity (shou-sing). It was used, too, for the coffin of the “Son of Heaven” -(the Emperor). “The innermost coffin was formed by hide of water buffalo and rhinoceros.” -This case was enclosed in white poplar timber and the two outer cases were of catalpa -wood.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5432src" href="#xd31e5432">93</a> The jade coffin was similarly a protecting life-giver. -</p> -<p>As there were black and white <i>nig-gil-ma</i>, and black and white deities, so were there black and white rhinoceroses and black -and white elephants. Gautama Buddha entered his mother’s right side “in the form of -a superb white elephant”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5443src" href="#xd31e5443">94</a> -</p> -<p>The water-rhinoceros had “pearl-like armour” (a significant comparison when it is -remembered that pearl-lore and jade-lore are so similar), but not the mountain rhinoceros. -It was the horn of the male animal that had special virtues. The markings on it included -a red line, which was a result of his habit of gazing at the moon; the spots were -stars. As the animal was connected with the “material sky”, the horn was impregnated -with the Yang principle. A horn that “communicated with the sky” was of the “first -quality”. Laufer quotes the statement: “If the horn of the rhinoceros ‘communicating -with the sky’ emits light, so that it can be seen by night, <span class="pageNum" id="pb249">[<a href="#pb249">249</a>]</span>it is called ‘horn shining at night’ (<i>ye ming si</i>): hence it can communicate with the spirits and open a way through the water”. A -man who carried in his mouth a piece of rhinoceros horn found, it was alleged, on -diving into the sea, that the water gave way so as to allow a space for breathing.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5454src" href="#xd31e5454">95</a> The pearl-fishers may therefore have used the magic horn, believing that it protected -and assisted them. -</p> -<p>It is recorded of a horn presented to an emperor of the Tʼang Dynasty that “at night -it emitted light so that a space of a hundred paces was illuminated. Manifold silk -wrappers laid around it could not hide its luminous power. The emperor ordered it -to be cut into slices and worked up into a girdle; and whenever he went out on a hunting -expedition, he saved candle light at night.” With the aid of the horn it was possible -“to see supernatural monsters in water”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5461src" href="#xd31e5461">96</a> -</p> -<p>There was warm rhinoceros horn and cold rhinoceros horn, as there was warm jade and -cold jade. A Chinese work of the eighth century mentions “cold-dispelling rhinoceros -horn (<i>pi han si</i>), whose colour is golden.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5470src" href="#xd31e5470">97</a>… During the winter months it spreads warmth which imparts a genial feeling to man.” -Another work speaks of “heat-dispelling rhinoceros horn (<i>pi shu si</i>).… During the summer months it can cool off the hot temperature.” Girdles of “wrath-dispelling” -horn caused men “to abandon their anger”; hair-pins, combs, &c., were made from “dust -dispelling” horn. Rhinoceros horn had, like jade, healing properties. A fourth-century -Chinese writer tells that “the horn can neutralize poison because the animal devours -all sorts of vegetable poisons with its food”. Chinese drug stores still stock shavings -of the horn to <span class="pageNum" id="pb250">[<a href="#pb250">250</a>]</span>cure fever, smallpox, ophthalmia, &c.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5477src" href="#xd31e5477">98</a> According to S. W. Williams<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5484src" href="#xd31e5484">99</a> “a decoction of the horn shavings is given to women just before parturition and also -to frighten children”. A medicine is prepared from rhinoceros skin, too. Laufer states -that “the skin, as well as the horn, the blood, and the teeth, were medicinally employed -in Cambodja, notably against heart diseases.… In Japan rhinoceros horn is powdered -and used as a specific in fever cases of all kind.” Dragon bones were used in like -manner in China. It is of importance to note that the rhinoceros horn derived its -healing qualities because the animal fed on plants and trees provided with thorns.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5488src" href="#xd31e5488">100</a> Like the dragon, the rhinoceros had an intimate connection with certain plants; like -the ginseng-devouring goat, it carried in its blood the virtue of the plants and herbs -it devoured. In Tibet and China the rhinoceros became confused with the stag, antelope, -and goat with one horn. It was the prototype of the unicorn. In India and Iran it -was confused with the horse. There is in Chinese lore a “spiritual rhinoceros (<i>ling si</i>)” with the body of an ox, the hump of a zebu, cloven feet, the snout of a pig, and -a horn in front.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5494src" href="#xd31e5494">101</a> It may be that in ancient times the lore connected with the hippopotamus was transferred -by the searchers for pearls, precious stones, and metals to the Chinese “water-rhinoceros”. -Like the composite wonder-beast in the Osirian hall of judgment, which tore the unworthy -soul to pieces, the rhinoceros had its place in judicial proceedings in China. In -its goat form it solved a difficult case when Kas Yas administered justice by butting -the guilty party and sparing the innocent.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5498src" href="#xd31e5498">102</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb251">[<a href="#pb251">251</a>]</span></p> -<p>The importance attached to jade in prehistoric Europe raises an interesting problem. -Jade artifacts have been found associated with the Swiss lake-dwellings, and at “Neolithic -sites” in Brittany and Ireland, as well as in Malta and Sicily, and other parts of -Europe. Schliemann found votive axes of green and white jade (nephrite) in the stratum -of the first city of Troy. It was believed at the time that the European jade artifacts -had been imported from the borders of China, and Professor Fischer expressed the wish -“that before the end of his life the fortune might be allotted to him of finding out -what people brought them to Europe”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5513src" href="#xd31e5513">103</a> Professor Max Muller believed that the Aryans were the carriers of jade. “If”, he -wrote, “the Aryan settlers could carry with them into Europe so ponderous a tool as -their language, without chipping a single facet, there is nothing so very surprising -in their having carried along and carefully preserved from generation to generation -so handy and so valuable an instrument as a scraper or a knife, made of a substance -which is <i>Aere perennuis</i>”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5520src" href="#xd31e5520">104</a> -</p> -<p>After a prolonged search, European scientists have located nephrite (jade proper) -or jadeite in situ in Silesia, Austria, North Germany, Italy, and among the Alps. -“A sort of nephrite workshop was discovered in the vicinity of Maurach (Switzerland), -where hatchets chiselled from the mineral and one hundred and fifty-four pieces of -cuttings were found.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5528src" href="#xd31e5528">105</a> -</p> -<p>Laufer writes in this connection: “If we consider how many years, and what strenuous -efforts it required for European scientists to discover the actual sites of jade in -Central Europe, which is geographically so well explored, we may realize that it could -not have been quite such an <span class="pageNum" id="pb252">[<a href="#pb252">252</a>]</span>easy task for primitive man to hunt up these hidden places”. Laufer thinks that in -undertaking to overcome the difficulties experienced in discovering jade in Europe, -early man “must have been prompted by a motive pre-existing and acting in his mind; -the impetus of searching for jade he must have received somehow from somewhere.… Nothing”, -he says, “could induce me to believe that primitive man of Central Europe incidentally -and spontaneously embarked on the laborious task of quarrying and working jade. The -psychological motive for this act must be supplied.… From the standpoint of the general -development of culture in the Old World there is absolutely no vestige of originality -in the prehistoric cultures of Europe which appear as an appendix to Asia.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5537src" href="#xd31e5537">106</a> -</p> -<p>Apparently the “psychological motive” for searching for jade in China and Europe came -from the Khotan area in Chinese Turkestan, whence jade was carried to Babylonia during -the Sumerian period. It is probable that bronze was first manufactured in the jade-bearing -area of Asia, and that the people who carried “the knowledge of bronze-making into -Europe”, as Professor Elliot Smith suggests, “also introduced the appreciation of -jade”. Laufer comments in this connection: “Originality is certainly the rarest thing -in the world, and in the history of mankind the original thoughts are appallingly -sparse. There is, in the light of historical facts and experience, no reason to credit -the prehistoric and early populations of Europe with any spontaneous ideas relative -to jade.” After receiving jade and adopting the beliefs attached to it, they set out -to search for it, and found it in Europe. -</p> -<p>The polished axe pendants of jade found in Malta were evidently charms. Among the -Greeks jade was <span class="pageNum" id="pb253">[<a href="#pb253">253</a>]</span>“the kidney stone”; it cured diseases of the kidneys. The Spaniards brought jade or -jadeite from Mexico, and called it “the loin stone” (<i lang="es">piedra de hijada</i>). Sir Walter Raleigh introduced it into England, and used the Spanish name from which -“jade” is derived. -</p> -<p>Red, green, blue, white, grey, and black jade were used, by reason of their colours, -for various deities in China, and to indicate the rank of officials. “White jade, -considered the most precious, was the privileged ornament of the emperor; jade green -like the mountains was reserved for the princes of the first and second ranks; water-blue -jade was for the great prefects; the heir apparent had a special kind of jade.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5551src" href="#xd31e5551">107</a> Mottled jades—some resembling granite—were likewise favoured for a variety of purposes. -</p> -<p>Jade played an important part in Chinese rain-getting ceremonies. Dragon jade symbols, -decorated with fish-scales, were placed on the altar as offerings and for the purpose -of invoking the rain-controlling “composite wonder beast” and god. Sometimes bronze -and silver dragon symbols were used. According to Laufer, “the jade image of the dragon -remained restricted to the Han period, and was substituted at later ages by prayers -inscribed on jade or metal tablets. A survival of the ancient custom”, he adds, “may -be seen in the large paper or papier mâché figures of dragons carried around in the -streets by festival processions in times of drought to ensure the benefit of rain.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5558src" href="#xd31e5558">108</a> In front of these dragons are carried the red ball, which symbolizes the moon, the -source of fertilizing moisture—of dew, of rain, and therefore of the streams and rivers -that flow to the sea. -</p> -<p>Jade links with pearls in the ocean surrounding the world, in which lies a gigantic -oyster that gapes after rain <span class="pageNum" id="pb254">[<a href="#pb254">254</a>]</span>falls, and sends forth the gleaming rainbow. The Greek historian, Isidorus of Charace -(<i>c.</i> 300 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>), referring to the pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf, relates a story about the breeding -of pearls being influenced by thunder-storms.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5571src" href="#xd31e5571">109</a> The jade ceremonial object, which roused the dragon, had thus indirectly a share -in pearl production. Pearls were, as we have seen, likewise produced by dragons, who -spat them out during storms. As certain pearls were supposed to be formed by dew that -dropped from the moon, it may be that the Chinese gigantic oyster was, when it gaped -to send forth the rainbow, receiving the substance of a gigantic pearl from the celestial -regions. The life-prolonging and youth-renewing “Red Cloud herb” came into existence -during a thunder- and rain-storm. -</p> -<p>As we have seen, jade contains, according to Far Eastern belief, the essence of heat -as well as of moisture. It contains, too, the essence of cold—not the cold of winter -but the coolness desired in hot weather.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5579src" href="#xd31e5579">110</a> In the <i>Tu yang tsa pien</i>, a Chinese work of the ninth century, it is recorded that the Emperor of China received -from Japan “an engraved gobang board of warm jade, on which the game could be played -in winter without getting cold, and that it was most highly prized”. It is told in -this connection that “thirty thousand <i>li</i> (leagues) east of Japan is the island of <i>Tsi-mo</i>, and upon this island the Ninghia Terrace, on which terrace is the Gobang Player’s -Lake. This lake produces the chess-men which need no carving, and are naturally divided -into black and white. They are warm in winter, cool in summer, and known as cool and -warm jade. It also produces the catalpa-jade, in structure like the wood of the catalpa -tree, which <span class="pageNum" id="pb255">[<a href="#pb255">255</a>]</span>is carved into chess-boards, shining and brilliant as mirrors.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5591src" href="#xd31e5591">111</a> -</p> -<p>Jade is, in short, a “luck stone”: the giver of children, health, immortality, wisdom, -power, victory, growth, food, clothing, &c. It is “the jewel that grants all desires” -in this world and the next, and is therefore connected with all religious beliefs, -while it also plays its part as a symbol in the social organization, being the medium -through which the mysterious forces of nature exercise their influence in every sphere -of human thought and activity. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb256">[<a href="#pb256">256</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="n212.1"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n212.1src">1</a></span> Jade and other stone mirrors are referred to in ancient texts. No doubt these were -religious symbols. None survives. Jade shoes are mentioned too, but there are <span class="pageNum" id="pb212n">[<a href="#pb212n">212</a>]</span>no surviving specimens. In Ireland bronze shoes were worn in ancient times—perhaps -in connection with religious ceremonies. Obsidian mirrors were used in Mexico for -purposes of divination, and there were stone mirrors in Peru. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n212.1src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4459"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4459src">2</a></span> <i>Jade: A Study in Chinese Archæology and Religion</i>, Berthold Laufer (Field Museum of Natural History, Publication 154, Anthropological -Series, Vol. X, Chicago, 1912, p. 23). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4459src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4481"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4481src">3</a></span> Laufer notes that <i>yu</i> included nephrite, jadeite, bowenite, and sometimes “beautiful kinds of serpentine, -agalmatolite, and marble”.—<i>Jade</i>, p. 22. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4481src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4490"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4490src">4</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 29. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4490src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4504"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4504src">5</a></span> De Groot, <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, pp. 275 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4504src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4512"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4512src">6</a></span> <i>Jade</i>, p. 299. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4512src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4524"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4524src">7</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, pp. 274 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4524src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4534"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4534src">8</a></span> Pronounced <i>muk’ăra</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4534src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4541"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4541src">9</a></span> See illustrations in Professor Elliot Smith’s <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, pp. 88, 89. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4541src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4558"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4558src">10</a></span> Like the <i>ginseng</i> (mandrake) in the Kang-ge mountains in northern Korea. (See <a href="#ch17">Chapter XVII</a>.) <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4558src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4566"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4566src">11</a></span> De Groot, <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, Vol. I, pp. 272–3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4566src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4575"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4575src">12</a></span> <i>The Diamond</i>, pp. 55, 56, <i>n.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4575src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4589"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4589src">13</a></span> She is thus the divine spinner as the god Ptah of Egypt is the divine potter. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4589src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4592"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4592src">14</a></span> <i>The Syrian Goddess</i>, Strong and Garstang (London, 1913), pp. 71, 72. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4592src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4600"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4600src">15</a></span> Chicago, 1915, p. 58. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4600src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4613"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4613src">16</a></span> <i>The Diamond</i>, p. 7. <i>Lesser Fu-lin</i> was Syria, and <i>Greater Fu-lin</i> the Byzantine Empire. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4613src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4625"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4625src">17</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 55, <i>n.</i> 2, 56. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4625src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4634"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4634src">18</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, Vol. I, pp. 277–8. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4634src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4644"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4644src">19</a></span> Laufer, <i>The Diamond</i>, p. 22 and <i>n.</i> 3, and p. 69 and <i>n.</i> 7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4644src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4653"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4653src">20</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 68–9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4653src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4663"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4663src">21</a></span> Laufer, <i>Chinese Clay Figures</i>, pp. 138, 151. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4663src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4677"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4677src">22</a></span> <i>The Diamond</i>, p. 71. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4677src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4687"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4687src">23</a></span> Elliot Smith, <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, p. 157, <i>n.</i> 1. Laufer, <i>Sino-Iranica</i>, pp. 520 and 525. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4687src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4699"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4699src">24</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book II, Vol. IV, p. 331. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4699src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4709"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4709src">25</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, pp. 278–9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4709src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4727"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4727src">26</a></span> <i>Legend in Japanese Art</i>, pp. 354, 355. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4727src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4736"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4736src">27</a></span> <i>Legend in Japanese Art</i>, pp. 355–6. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4736src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4742"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4742src">28</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 355. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4742src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4758"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4758src">29</a></span> <i>Jade</i>, p. 21, <i>n.</i> 4. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4758src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4777"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4777src">30</a></span> Breasted, <i>A History of Egypt</i>, p. 357. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4777src" title="Return to note 30 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4784"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4784src">31</a></span> Laufer, <i>Jade</i>, p. 299, <i>n.</i> 1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4784src" title="Return to note 31 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4797"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4797src">32</a></span> Budge, <i>The Gods of the Egyptians</i>, Vol. I, pp. 357–8. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4797src" title="Return to note 32 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4810"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4810src">33</a></span> <i>Jade</i>, p. 301 and <i>n.</i> 1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4810src" title="Return to note 33 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4821"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4821src">34</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 310. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4821src" title="Return to note 34 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4839"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4839src">35</a></span> <i>Jade</i>, pp. 306–7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4839src" title="Return to note 35 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4846"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4846src">36</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, p. 284. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4846src" title="Return to note 36 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4854"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4854src">37</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, p. 284. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4854src" title="Return to note 37 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4868"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4868src">38</a></span> <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, p. 332. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4868src" title="Return to note 38 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4877"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4877src">39</a></span> Legge, <i>The Shih King</i>, p. 395. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4877src" title="Return to note 39 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4884"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4884src">40</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 338. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4884src" title="Return to note 40 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4911"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4911src">41</a></span> Joly, <i>Legend in Japanese Art</i>, p. 297. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4911src" title="Return to note 41 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4919"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4919src">42</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 100. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4919src" title="Return to note 42 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4924"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4924src">43</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, Vol. III, p. 962. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4924src" title="Return to note 43 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4948"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4948src">44</a></span> De Groot, <i>op. cit.</i>, Book I, Vol. III, p. 983. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4948src" title="Return to note 44 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4963"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4963src">45</a></span> Legge, <i>The Yi King</i>, pp. 43–44. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4963src" title="Return to note 45 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4968"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4968src">46</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, p. 327. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4968src" title="Return to note 46 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4972"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4972src">47</a></span> <i>Op. cit.</i>, p. 327. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4972src" title="Return to note 47 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4980"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4980src">48</a></span> De Groot, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 317. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4980src" title="Return to note 48 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4991"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4991src">49</a></span> Legge, <i>Texts of Taoism</i>, Vol. II, p. 265. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4991src" title="Return to note 49 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e4996"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e4996src">50</a></span> Legge, <i>The Shu King</i>, pp. 38, 39. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e4996src" title="Return to note 50 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5005"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5005src">51</a></span> <i>Teutonic Myth and Legend</i>, p. 5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5005src" title="Return to note 51 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5011"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5011src">52</a></span> <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, pp. 330, 331. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5011src" title="Return to note 52 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5022"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5022src">53</a></span> <i>Religion in China</i> (London, 1878), p. 109. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5022src" title="Return to note 53 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5032"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5032src">54</a></span> <i>Religion in China</i>, p. 107. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5032src" title="Return to note 54 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5038"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5038src">55</a></span> Quoted by De Groot, <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, Vol. III, p. 983. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5038src" title="Return to note 55 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5056"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5056src">56</a></span> Green and blue are interchangeable in China. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5056src" title="Return to note 56 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5068"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5068src">57</a></span> Biot, Vol. I, pp. 434, 435, quoted by Laufer in <i>Jade</i>, p. 120. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5068src" title="Return to note 57 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5080"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5080src">58</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, Part III, p. 935. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5080src" title="Return to note 58 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5086"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5086src">59</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, Book I, Vol. III, p. 949. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5086src" title="Return to note 59 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5093"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5093src">60</a></span> In Scotland south-flowing water is specially good and influential. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5093src" title="Return to note 60 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5100"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5100src">61</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, Vol. III, pp. 949, 950. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5100src" title="Return to note 61 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5118"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5118src">62</a></span> <i>Jade</i>, pp. 182–3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5118src" title="Return to note 62 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5124"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5124src">63</a></span> <i>Journal of Hellenic Studies</i>, Vol. XXI, pp. 128–9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5124src" title="Return to note 63 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5130"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5130src">64</a></span> See <i>Egyptian Myth and Legend</i>, <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, <i>Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe</i>, and <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5130src" title="Return to note 64 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5143"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5143src">65</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 130. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5143src" title="Return to note 65 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5148"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5148src">66</a></span> See terra-cotta image of pig marked with stars in Schliemann’s <i>Troy and its Remains</i> (translation by Smith, London, 1875), p. 232. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5148src" title="Return to note 66 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5153"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5153src">67</a></span> Elliot Smith, <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, p. 96. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5153src" title="Return to note 67 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5160"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5160src">68</a></span> Laufer, <i>Jade</i> (for illustrations of tigers with thunder pattern), pp. 180–4. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5160src" title="Return to note 68 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5171"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5171src">69</a></span> De Groot, <i>Religious System of China</i>, Vol. I, Book I, pp. 94 and 110; Book II, pp. 5 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5171src" title="Return to note 69 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n240.1"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n240.1src">70</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, Vol. I, p. 226, <i>n.</i> 2. <span class="fnarrow">↑ </span><a class="fnreturn" href="#n240.1src" title="Return to note 70(a) in text.">a</a> <a class="fnreturn" href="#xd31e5204src" title="Return to note 70(b) in text.">b</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5211"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5211src">71</a></span> De Groot, <i>op. cit.</i>, Book I, p. 72. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5211src" title="Return to note 71 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5225"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5225src">72</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, Vol. I, pp. 241 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5225src" title="Return to note 72 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5230"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5230src">73</a></span> See references in <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, pp. 69, 70, and 70 <i>n.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5230src" title="Return to note 73 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5238"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5238src">74</a></span> Mrs. Bishop, <i>Korea and Her Neighbours</i>, Vol. II, pp. 84–5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5238src" title="Return to note 74 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5245"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5245src">75</a></span> <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, p. 50. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5245src" title="Return to note 75 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5262"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5262src">76</a></span> <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, pp. 51–2. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5262src" title="Return to note 76 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5266"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5266src">77</a></span> De Groot, op. cit., p. 396, and Elliot Smith, op. cit., p. 48, and <i>n.</i> 1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5266src" title="Return to note 77 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5273"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5273src">78</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 19. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5273src" title="Return to note 78 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5287"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5287src">79</a></span> Biot, Vol. I, p. 125. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5287src" title="Return to note 79 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5298"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5298src">80</a></span> Laufer, <i>Jade</i>, pp. 296 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5298src" title="Return to note 80 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5306"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5306src">81</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5306src" title="Return to note 81 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5310"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5310src">82</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 296. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5310src" title="Return to note 82 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5316"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5316src">83</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 23. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5316src" title="Return to note 83 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5323"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5323src">84</a></span> Laufer, <i>Jade</i>, p. 1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5323src" title="Return to note 84 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5352"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5352src">85</a></span> <i>Legends of Babylonia and Egypt in relation to Hebrew Tradition</i> (The Schweich Lectures), London, 1918, pp. 56 <i>et seq<span class="corr" id="xd31e5357" title="Not in source">.</span></i> and pp. 88 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5352src" title="Return to note 85 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5370"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5370src">86</a></span> The Babylonian Noah, who became an immortal and lived on an “Island of the Blest” -and near the island on which were the Plant of Life and the Well of Life. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5370src" title="Return to note 86 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5384"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5384src">87</a></span> Elliot Smith, <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, p. 205. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5384src" title="Return to note 87 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5391"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5391src">88</a></span> <i>The Ascent of Olympus</i>, pp. 120–1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5391src" title="Return to note 88 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5410"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5410src">89</a></span> <i>History of the Rhinoceros</i> in Chinese clay figures (Field Museum of Natural History, Publication 177), Chicago, -1914, pp. 73 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5410src" title="Return to note 89 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5415"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5415src">90</a></span> Legge, <i>The Chinese Classics</i>, Vol. II, p. 281. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5415src" title="Return to note 90 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5420"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5420src">91</a></span> Laufer, <i>op. cit.</i>, pp. 160–1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5420src" title="Return to note 91 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5427"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5427src">92</a></span> <i>Op. cit.</i>, p. 161. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5427src" title="Return to note 92 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5432"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5432src">93</a></span> Legge, <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, Vol. XXVII, p. 158, and Laufer, <i>Chinese Clay Images</i>, p. 172. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5432src" title="Return to note 93 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5443"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5443src">94</a></span> Rhys David, <i>Buddhism</i> (London, 1903), p. 183. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5443src" title="Return to note 94 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5454"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5454src">95</a></span> Laufer, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 138. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5454src" title="Return to note 95 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5461"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5461src">96</a></span> <i>Chinese Clay Images</i>, pp. 150 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5461src" title="Return to note 96 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5470"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5470src">97</a></span> Like the “golden sun”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5470src" title="Return to note 97 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5477"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5477src">98</a></span> <i>Chinese Clay Images</i>, pp. 152–3 and p. 153 <i>n.</i> 2. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5477src" title="Return to note 98 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5484"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5484src">99</a></span> <i>The Chinese Commercial Guide</i>, p. 95 (Hong-Kong, 1863). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5484src" title="Return to note 99 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5488"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5488src">100</a></span> <i>Chinese Clay Images</i>, p. 139. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5488src" title="Return to note 100 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5494"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5494src">101</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 108. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5494src" title="Return to note 101 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5498"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5498src">102</a></span> Referred to by the philosopher Wang Chʼung in his work <i>Lun heng</i> (<span class="asc">A.D.</span> 82 or 83), quoted by Laufer, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 171 <i>n.</i> 3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5498src" title="Return to note 102 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5513"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5513src">103</a></span> Schliemann’s <i>Ilios</i>, p. 242. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5513src" title="Return to note 103 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5520"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5520src">104</a></span> Letter to the <i>Times</i>, 18th December, 1879. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5520src" title="Return to note 104 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5528"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5528src">105</a></span> Laufer’s <i>Jade</i>, p. 2. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5528src" title="Return to note 105 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5537"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5537src">106</a></span> <i>Jade</i>, pp. 4–5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5537src" title="Return to note 106 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5551"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5551src">107</a></span> Laufer’s <i>Jade</i>, p. 196. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5551src" title="Return to note 107 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5558"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5558src">108</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 186–9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5558src" title="Return to note 108 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5571"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5571src">109</a></span> <i>Athenæus Deipnos</i>, Book III, chap. xlvi; and Jackson, <i>Shells as Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture</i>, p. 77. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5571src" title="Return to note 109 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5579"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5579src">110</a></span> Like rhinoceros horn. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5579src" title="Return to note 110 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5591"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5591src">111</a></span> Heber R. Bishop, <i>Investigations and Studies in Jade</i> (New York, 1906), Vol. I, p. 47; and A. Wylie, <i>Notes on Chinese Literature</i> (Shanghai, 1901), p. 194. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5591src" title="Return to note 111 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch14" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e362">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XIV</h2> -<h2 class="main">Creation Myths and the God and Goddess Cults</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Are Animistic Beliefs Primitive?—Evidence of a Mummy-imported Culture in Primitive -Communities—Chinese Creation Myth—Chaos Transformed into Kosmos—Pʼan Ku as the World-artisan—Chinese -World-giant Myth—Tibetan Version—Pʼan Ku and the Egyptian Ptah—Hammer Gods—Pʼan Ku -and the Scandinavian Ymir—Osiris as a World-giant—Fusion of Egyptian and Babylonian -Myths—The Chinese Ishtars—The Goddess of the Deluge—The Chinese Virgin Mother—Dragon -Boat Ceremonies—The Mountain Goddess in China—Kiang Yuan as the Divine Mother—Ancient -Myths in Chinese Buddhism—The “Poosa” as Goddess of Mercy—As Controller of Tides—Vision -of Sky-goddess—Island Seat of Goddess Worship—The Chinese Indra.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Although some exponents of the stratification theory incline to regard Chinese religion -as a stunted outcrop of animistic ideas, and chiefly because of the remarkable persistence -through the ages of the worship of ancestors—the worship of ghost-gods and ghosts -identified with gods—there is really little trace of what is usually referred to as -“the primitive state of mind”. Under the term “animism” have been included ideas that -are less primitive than was supposed to be the case about a generation ago. The belief, -for instance, that there are spirits in stones, or that the soul of the dead enters -a megalithic monument, or a statue placed in the tomb, may not, after all, belong -to a primitive stage of thought; nor does it follow that because it is found to be -prevalent among savage tribes isolated on lonely islands it is a product <span class="pageNum" id="pb257">[<a href="#pb257">257</a>]</span>merely of the early “workings of the human mind” when man, as if by instinct, framed -his “first crude philosophy of human thought”. The fact that savages reached isolated -islands, such as, for instance, Eastern Island, where stone idols were erected, indicates -clearly that they had acquired a knowledge of shipbuilding and navigation directly -or indirectly from a centre of ancient civilization. It may be, therefore, that they -likewise acquired from the same source ideas regarding the soul and the origin of -things, and that these, instead of being “simple” and “primitive”, are really of complex -character, and have remained in a state of arrested development, simply because they -have been detached from the parent stem, to be preserved like flower petals pressed -in a book, that still retain a degree of their original brightness and characteristic -odour. -</p> -<p>In outlying areas, like Australia and Oceania, are found not only “primitive beliefs”, -but definite burial customs that have a long history elsewhere, including cremation -and even mummification. “You get the whole bag of tricks in Australia”, the late Andrew -Lang once declared to the writer when contending that certain beliefs and customs -found in Egypt, Babylonia, India, and Europe were “natural products of the primitive -mind”. But is it likely that such a custom as mummification should have “arisen independently” -in Australasia? Let us take, for instance, the case of the mummy from the Torres Straits, -which is preserved in the Mackay Museum in the University of Sydney. It was examined -by Professor G. Elliot Smith, who, during his ten years’ occupancy of the Chair of -Anatomy in the Government School of Medicine in Cairo, had unique opportunities of -studying Ancient Egyptian surgery as revealed by the mummies preserved in Gizeh museum. -When he examined the <span class="pageNum" id="pb258">[<a href="#pb258">258</a>]</span>Papuan mummy at Sydney he found that undeniable Egyptian methods of a definite period -in Egyptian history had been employed. He communicated his discovery to the Anthropological -Section of the British Association in Melbourne in 1914, and, as an anatomist, was -astonished to hear Professor Myres contending that it seemed to him natural that people -should want to preserve their dead! “If”, Professor Elliot Smith has written, “Professor -Myers had known anything of the history of anatomy he would have realized that the -problem of preserving the body was one of extreme difficulty which for long ages had -exercised the most civilized peoples, not only of antiquity, but also of modern times. -In Egypt, where the natural conditions favouring the successful issue of attempts -to preserve the body were largely responsible for the possibility of such embalming, -it took more than seventeen centuries of constant practice and experimentation to -reach the stage and to acquire the methods exemplified in the Torres Straits mummies.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5615src" href="#xd31e5615">1</a> Arm-chair theories vanish like mist when the light of scientific evidence is released. -</p> -<p>In like manner may be found in the folk-lore and religious literature of China “mummies” -of imported myths, as well as early myths of local invention that, ancient as they -may be, cannot be regarded as “primitive” in the real sense of the term. The following -myth, found in the literature of Taoism, may be more archaic than the writings of -Kwang-tze, who gives it. -</p> -<p>At the beginning of time there were two oceans—one in the south and one in the north, -and there was land in the centre. The Ruler of the southern ocean was Shu (Heedless), -and the Ruler of the northern ocean was Hu <span class="pageNum" id="pb259">[<a href="#pb259">259</a>]</span>(Hasty), while the Ruler of the Centre was Hwun-tun (Chaos). -</p> -<p>“Heedless” and “Hasty” were in the habit of paying regular visits to the land, and -there they met and became acquainted. “Chaos” treated them kindly, and it was their -desire to confer upon him some favour so as to give practical expression to their -feelings of gratitude. They discussed the matter together, and decided what they should -do. -</p> -<p>Now Chaos was blind, his eyes being closed, and he was deaf, his ears being closed, -and he could not breathe, having no nostrils, nor eat, because he was mouthless. -</p> -<p>“Hasty” and “Heedless” met daily in the Central land, and each day they opened an -orifice. On the seventh day their work was finished. But when he had eyes and ears -opened, and could see and hear, and could breathe through his nostrils, and had a -mouth with which to eat, old Chaos died. -</p> -<p>The meaning of this Chinese parable seems to be that the Universe had, in the space -of seven days, been “set in order”, Chaos having been transformed into Kosmos. -</p> -<p>Although Taoism has been referred to by some writers of the “Evolution School” as -“an elaboration of animistic lore”, this myth is really a product of the years that -bring the philosophic mind. The three “Rulers” may have originally been giants, and -the story may owe something to the Babylonian myth of Ea-Oannes, the sea-god, who -came daily from the Persian Gulf to instruct the early Sumerians how to live civilized -lives; but it was evidently some Far Eastern Socrates who first named the sea-gods -“Heedless” and “Hasty”, and tinged the fable with Taoistic cynicism. -</p> -<p>Creation myths are not as “primitive” as some writers <span class="pageNum" id="pb260">[<a href="#pb260">260</a>]</span>would have us suppose. Considerable progress was achieved before mankind began to -theorize regarding the origin of things. Even the widespread and so-called “primitive -myth” about the egg from which the Universe, or the first god, was hatched by the -“Primeval Goose” may belong to a much later stage of human development than is supposed -by some of those writers who speculate with so much confidence regarding “the workings -of the human mind”. Even the metaphysicians of Brahmanic India were prone to speak -in parables and fables. -</p> -<p>“At the beginning there was nothing”, the Chinese philosophers taught their pupils. -“Long ages passed by. Then nothing became something.” The something had unity. Long -ages passed by, and the something divided itself into two parts—a male part and a -female part. These two somethings produced two lesser somethings, and the two pairs, -working together, produced the first being, who was named Pʼan Ku. Another version -of the myth is that Pʼan Ku emerged from the cosmic egg. -</p> -<p>It is not difficult to recognize in Pʼan Ku a giant god or world-god. He was furnished -with an adze, or, as is found in some Chinese prints, with a hammer and a chisel. -With his implement or implements Pʼan Ku moves through the universe as the Divine -Artisan, who shapes the mountains and hammers or chisels out the sky, accompanied -by the primeval Tortoise, and the Phœnix, and a dragon-like being who may represent -the primeval “somethings”—the symbols of water, earth, and air. The sun, moon, and -stars have already appeared. -</p> -<p>Another version of the Pʼan Ku myth represents him as the Primeval World-giant, who -is destroyed so that the material universe may be formed. From his flesh comes the -soil, from his bones the rocks; his blood is the waters of rivers and the ocean; his -hair is vegetation; <span class="pageNum" id="pb261">[<a href="#pb261">261</a>]</span>while the wind is his breath, the thunder his voice, the rain his sweat, the dew his -tears, the firmament his skull, his right eye the moon, and his left eye the sun. -Pʼan Ku’s body was covered with vermin, and the vermin became the races of mankind. -</p> -<p>A somewhat similar myth is found in Tibet. When M. Huc sojourned in that country, -he had a conversation with an aged nomad, who said: -</p> -<p>“There are on the earth three great families, and we are all of the great Tibetan -family. This is what I have heard the Lamas say, who have studied the things of antiquity. -At the beginning there was on the earth only a single man; he had neither house nor -tent, for at that time the winter was not cold, and the summer was not hot; the wind -did not blow so violently, and there fell neither snow nor rain; the tea grew of itself -on the mountains, and the flocks had nothing to fear from beasts of prey. This man -had three children, who lived a long time with him, nourishing themselves on milk -and fruits. After having attained to a great age, this man died. The three children -deliberated what they should do with the body of their father, and they could not -agree about it; one wished to put him in a coffin, the other wanted to burn him, the -third thought it would be best to expose the body on the summit of a mountain. They -resolved then to divide it into three parts. The eldest had the body and arms; he -was the ancestor of the great Chinese family, and that is why his descendants have -become celebrated in arts and industry, and are remarkable for their tricks and stratagems. -The second son had the breast; he was the father of the Tibetan family, and they are -full of heart and courage, and do not fear death. From the third, who had inferior -parts of the body, are descended the Tartars, who are simple and timid, without head -or heart, and who <span class="pageNum" id="pb262">[<a href="#pb262">262</a>]</span>know nothing but how to keep themselves firm in their saddles.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5646src" href="#xd31e5646">2</a> -</p> -<p>Pʼan Ku, with his implements, links with the Egyptian artificer god Ptah of Memphis, -who used his hammer to beat out the metal firmament. Ptah’s name means “to open” in -the sense of “to engrave, to carve, to chisel”; the sun and moon were his eyes; he -was “the great artificer in metals, and he was at once smelter, and caster, and sculptor, -as well as the master architect and designer of everything that exists in the world”. -In the <i>Book of the Dead</i> he (or Shu) is said to have performed “the ceremony of opening the mouth of the gods -with an iron knife”,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5654src" href="#xd31e5654">3</a> as “Hasty” and “Heedless” opened the mouth, eyes, ears, and nostrils of Chaos in -the Chinese myth. The high priest of Memphis was called <i>Ur Kherp hem</i>, “the great chief of the hammer”. As we have seen, he was closely associated with -the Egyptian potter’s wheel, which reached China at an early period. Like Ptah, Pʼan -Ku is sometimes depicted as a dwarf, and sometimes as a giant. -</p> -<p>Other hammer-gods include the Aryo-Indian Indra, who builds the world house; the Anatolian -Tarku, the Mesopotamian Rammon or Adad, the northern European Thor. The hammer is -apparently identical with adze and axe, and in Egypt the axe is an exceedingly ancient -symbol of a deity; in Crete the double axe has a similar significance. In Scotland -the hammer is carried by the Cailleach (Old Wife) in her character as Queen of Winter; -she shapes the mountains with it, and causes the ground to freeze hard when she beats -it. The hammer-god is in many countries a thunderer; to the modern Greeks lightning -<span class="pageNum" id="pb263">[<a href="#pb263">263</a>]</span>flashes are caused by blows of the “sky-axe” (<i>astro-peléki</i>); in Scottish Gaelic mention is made of the “thunder-ball” (<i>peleir-tarnainach</i>). A thunder-ball is carried by the Japanese thunder-god, but it is often replaced -by the thunder-drum. -</p> -<p>Pʼan Ku plays no conspicuous part in Chinese mythology; he is evidently an importation. -In his character as a world-god he resembles the primeval giant Ymir of Norse-Icelandic -myth, who was similarly cut up or ground in the “World Mill”, so that the universe -might be set in order. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">From the flesh of Ymir the world was formed, -</p> -<p class="line xd31e4904">From his blood the billows of the sea, -</p> -<p class="line">The hills from his bones, the trees from his hair, -</p> -<p class="line xd31e4904">The sphere of heaven from his skull. -</p> -</div> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">Out of his brows the blithe powers made -</p> -<p class="line xd31e4904">Midgarth for sons of men, -</p> -<p class="line">And out of his brains were the angry clouds -</p> -<p class="line xd31e4904">All shaped above in the sky.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5686src" href="#xd31e5686">4</a></p> -</div> -</div> -<p class="first">Ymir was, like Pʼan Ku, born from inanimate matter. He was nourished by Audhumbla -(Darkness and Vacuity), the cow mother, the Scandinavian Hathor. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">From stormy billow sprang poison drops, -</p> -<p class="line xd31e4904">Which waxed into Jotum (giant) form, -</p> -<p class="line">And from him are come the whole of our <i>Kin</i>; -</p> -<p class="line xd31e4904">All fierce and dread is that race.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5702src" href="#xd31e5702">5</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">Another version of the Ymir myth makes the giant come into existence like the self-created -Ptah: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">’Twas the earliest of times when Ymir lived; -</p> -<p class="line">Then was sand, nor sea, nor cooling wave, -</p> -<p class="line">Nor was Earth found even, nor Heavens on high; -</p> -<p class="line">There was Yawning of Deeps, and nowhere grass.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5713src" href="#xd31e5713">6</a></p> -</div> -<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb264">[<a href="#pb264">264</a>]</span></p> -<p>The black dwarfs were parasites on Ymir’s body, as human beings were parasites on -the body of Pʼan Ku. -</p> -<p>It may be that the idea of a primeval giant like Pʼan Ku, or Ymir, was derived from -the conception of Osiris as a world-god, which obtained in Egypt as far back as the -Empire period. Erman translates a hymn in which it is said of the god: “The soil is -on thy arm, its corners are upon thee as far as the four pillars of the sky. When -thou movest, the earth trembles.…<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5721src" href="#xd31e5721">7</a> The Nile comes from the sweat of thy hands. Thou spewest out the wind that is in -thy throat into the nostrils of men, and that whereon men live is divine. It is<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5724src" href="#xd31e5724">8</a> [alike in] in thy nostrils, the tree and its verdure, reeds, plants, barley, wheat, -and the tree of life.” Everything constructed on earth lies on the “back” of Osiris. -“Thou art the father and mother of men, they live on thy breath, they eat of the flesh -of thy body. The ‘Primæval’ is thy name.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5727src" href="#xd31e5727">9</a> -</p> -<p>The body of Osiris was cut into pieces by Set. As the bones of Pʼan Ku and Ymir are -the rocks, so are the bones of Set the iron found in the earth, but no myth survives -of the cutting up of Set’s body. The black soil on the Nile banks is the body of Osiris, -and vegetation springs from it. -</p> -<p>It may be, however, that it was in consequence of the fusion in some cultural centre -of the Babylonian myth regarding the cutting up of the dragon Tiamat and the cutting -up of the body of Osiris that the northern Europeans came to hear of an Ymir and the -Chinese of a Pʼan Ku from the early traders in amber, jade, and metals. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb265">[<a href="#pb265">265</a>]</span></p> -<p>When Tiamat was slain, Marduk “smashed her skull”. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">He cut the channels of her blood, -</p> -<p class="line">He made the North Wind bear it away into secret places.…</p> -</div> -<p class="tb">. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">He split her up like a flat fish into two halves, -</p> -<p class="line">One half of her he set in place as a covering for the heavens.</p> -</div> -<p class="first">With the other part of Tiamat’s body Marduk made the earth. Then he fashioned the -abode of the god Ea in the deep, the abode of the god Anu in high heaven, and the -abode of Enlil in the air.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5748src" href="#xd31e5748">10</a> -</p> -<p>In India is found another myth that appears to have contributed to the Chinese mosaic. -At the beginning the Universal Soul assumed “the shape of a man”. This was Purusha. -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“He did not feel delight. Therefore nobody, when alone, feels delight. He was desirous -of a second. He was in the same state as husband (Pati) and wife (Patni).… He divided -this self two fold. Hence were husband and wife produced. Therefore was this only -a half of himself, as a split pea is of the whole.… The void was completed by woman.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5757src" href="#xd31e5757">11</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>It may be that India and China derived the god-splitting idea from a common source -in Central Asia, where such “culture-mixing” appears to have taken place. -</p> -<p>In China itself there are many traces of blended ideas. In the <i>Texts of Confucianism</i>, for instance, the symbol of the Khien stands for heaven, and that of the <i>Khwan</i> for earth. -</p> -<p>In one of the native treatises it is stated: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“<i>Khien</i> suggests the idea of heaven; of a circle; of a ruler; of a father; of jade; of metal; -of cold; of ice; of deep red; of a good horse; of an old horse; of a thin horse; of -a piebald horse; and of the fruit of trees. -</p> -<p>“<i>Khwan</i> suggests the idea of the earth; of a mother; of cloth; <span class="pageNum" id="pb266">[<a href="#pb266">266</a>]</span>of a caldron; of parsimony; of a turning lathe; of a young heifer; of a large waggon; -of what is variegated; of a multitude; and of a handle and support. Among soils it -denotes what is black.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5782src" href="#xd31e5782">12</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Here we have the Great Father, the god of heaven, who is red and is a circle (the -sun); and the Great Mother, the goddess of Earth, who is black. -</p> -<p>The sky-god is connected with jade and metal. As we have seen, the cult of the west -attributed the creation of jade to the Chinese Ishtar. Precious metals were in several -countries associated with sun, moon, and stars. The horse is one of the animals associated -with sky-gods; it was, of course, later than the bull, stag, antelope, goat, ram, -&c. Cold as well as warmth was sent by the sky-god, who controls the seasons. -</p> -<p>The mother-goddess is the Caldron—the “Pot”, which, as has already been noted, was -in Ancient Egypt the symbol of the inexhaustible womb of nature personified by deities -like Hathor, Rhea, Aphrodite, Hera, Ishtar, &c. The “young heifer” has a similar connection, -while the “waggon” seems to be another form of the “Pot”. Cloth was woven by men and -women, but the production of thread was always the work of women in Ancient Egypt -and elsewhere. Apparently the turning lathe was female, because the chisel was male; -it may be that it was because the potter’s wheel was female that it had to be operated -by a man. “A multitude” may refer to the reproductivity of the Great Mother of all -mankind. The goddess was, perhaps, parsimonious because during a period of the year -the earth gives forth naught, and stores all it receives. -</p> -<p>The egg from which Pʼan Ku emerged appears to have been a symbol of the Mother Goddess -of the sacred <span class="pageNum" id="pb267">[<a href="#pb267">267</a>]</span>West, remembered in Chinese legends as Si Wang Mu, “the mother of the Western King”, -and in Japanese as Seiobo, who was guardian of the World Tree, the giant peach, or -the lunar, cassia tree (Chapter X). Other references to her, under various names, -are scattered through ancient Chinese writings. In the “Annals of the Bamboo Books” -mention is made of “the Heavenly lady Pa”. She favoured the Chinese monarch, Hwang -Ti, who is supposed to have reigned during 2688 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> by stopping “the extraordinary rains caused by the enemy”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5799src" href="#xd31e5799">13</a> -</p> -<p>Here we seem to meet with a vague reference to the Deluge legend. The Babylonian Ishtar -was angered at the gods for causing the flood and destroying mankind, as is gathered -from the Gilgamesh epic: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Then the Lady of the gods drew nigh, -</p> -<p class="line">And <i>she lifted up the great jewels</i><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5811src" href="#xd31e5811">14</a> which Anu had made according to her wish (and said): -</p> -<p class="line">“What gods these are! By the jewels of <i>lapis lazuli</i> which are upon my neck, I will not forget! -</p> -<p class="line">These days I have set in my memory, never will I forget them! -</p> -<p class="line">Let the gods come to the offering, -</p> -<p class="line">But Bel shall not come to the offering, -</p> -<p class="line">Since he refused to ask counsel and sent the deluge, -</p> -<p class="line">And handed over my people unto destruction.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5824src" href="#xd31e5824">15</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">A goddess who protests against the destruction of her human descendants by means of -a flood, caused by the gods, was likely to protect them against “extraordinary rains”, -caused by their human or demoniac enemies. -</p> -<p>As we have seen in previous chapters, the Chinese Deluge legend, in one of its forms, -was attached to the memory of the mythical Empress Nu Kwa, the sister <span class="pageNum" id="pb268">[<a href="#pb268">268</a>]</span>of the mythical Emperor Fuh-hi, sometimes referred to as “the Chinese Adam”. Three -rebels had conspired with the demons or gods of water and fire to destroy the world, -and a great flood came on. Nu Kwa caused the waters to retreat by making use of charred -reeds (quite a Babylonian touch!). Then she re-erected one of the four pillars of -the sky against which one of the rebels, a huge giant, had bumped his head, causing -it to topple over. -</p> -<p>According to Chinese chronology, this world-flood occurred early in the “Patriarchal -Period” between 2943 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> and 2868 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> -</p> -<p>Another reference to the mother-goddess crops up in a poem by “the statesman poet, -Chu Yuan, 332–295 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, who drowned himself”, Professor Giles writes,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5846src" href="#xd31e5846">16</a> “in despair at his country’s outlook, and whose body is still searched for annually -at the Dragon-boat Festival”. The poem in question is entitled “God Questions”, and -one question is: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“As Nu-Chi had no husband, how could she bear nine sons?”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">Professor Giles adds: “The Commentary tells us that Nu Chi was a ‘divine maiden’, -but nothing more seems to be known about her”. It is evident that she was a virgin -goddess, who, like the Egyptian Nut, was the spirit of the cosmic waters.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5854src" href="#xd31e5854">17</a> It is of interest to find the memory of the poet associated with the Dragon-boat -Festival, which, according to Chinese belief, had origin because he drowned himself -in the Ni-ro River. There is evidence, however, that the festival had quite another -origin. Dragon-boats were used in China on the fifth day of the fifth month at water -festivals. They were <span class="pageNum" id="pb269">[<a href="#pb269">269</a>]</span>“big ships adorned with carved dragon ornaments”, the yih bird being painted on the -prow.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5864src" href="#xd31e5864">18</a> De Visser says that these boats were used by emperors for pleasure trips, and music -was played on board them. “The bird was painted, not to denote their swift sailing, -but to suppress the water-gods.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5869src" href="#xd31e5869">19</a> According to De Groot, dragon-boat races were “intended to represent fighting dragons -in order to cause a real dragon fight, which is always accompanied by heavy rains. -The dragon-boats carried through the streets may also serve to cause rain, although -they are at the same time considered to be substitutes.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5873src" href="#xd31e5873">20</a> -</p> -<p>Having drowned himself, the poet became associated with the river dragon. “Offerings -of rice in bamboo”, says Giles, “were cast into the river as a sacrifice to the spirit -of their great hero.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5882src" href="#xd31e5882">21</a> In like manner, offerings were made to dragons in connection with rain-getting ceremonies -long before the poet was born. It is evident that he took the place of the dragon-god -as the mythical Empress Nu Kwa of the Patriarchial Period took the place of the Chinese -Ishtar, and as Ishtar took the place of the earlier Sumerian goddess Ninkharasagga, -who, with “Anu, Enlil, and Enki”, “created the black-headed (i.e. mankind)”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5886src" href="#xd31e5886">22</a> -</p> -<p>The same Chinese poet sings of the mother-goddess in his poem, “The Genius of the -Mountain”, which Professor Giles has translated: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Methinks there is a Genius of the Hills clad in wistaria, girdled with ivy, with -smiling lips, of witching mien, riding on the red pard, wild cats galloping in the -rear, reclining in a chariot, <span class="pageNum" id="pb270">[<a href="#pb270">270</a>]</span>with banners of cassia, cloaked with the orchid, girt with azalea, culling the perfume -of sweet flowers to leave behind a memory in the heart.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Like Ishtar, who laments for her lost Tammuz, this goddess laments for her “Prince”. -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Dark is the grove wherein I dwell. No light of day reached it ever. The path thither -is dangerous and difficult to climb. Alone I stand on hill-top,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5904src" href="#xd31e5904">23</a> while the clouds float beneath my feet, and all around is wrapped in gloom.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>This goddess is not only associated with ivy, the cassia tree, &c., but with the pine. -“I shade myself”, she sings, “beneath the spreading pine.” The poem concludes: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Now booms the thunder through the drizzling rain. The gibbons howl around me all -the long night. The gale rushes fitfully through the whispering trees. And I am thinking -of my Prince, but in vain; for I cannot lay my grief.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5914src" href="#xd31e5914">24</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The goddess laments for her prince, as does Ishtar for Tammuz. -</p> -<p>The mother-goddess is found also in the “Book of Odes” (<i>The Shih King</i>). She figures as the mother of the Hau-Ki and “the people of Kau” in the ode which -begins as follows: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“The first birth of (our) people was from Kian Yuan. How did she give birth to our -people? She had presented a pure offering and sacrificed, that her childlessness might -be taken away. She then trod on a toe-print made by God, and was moved in the large -place where she rested. She became pregnant; she dwelt retired; she gave birth to -and nourished (a son), who was Hau-Ki.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5926src" href="#xd31e5926">25</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Professor Giles refers to this birth-story “as an <span class="pageNum" id="pb271">[<a href="#pb271">271</a>]</span>instance in Chinese literature, which, in the absence of any known husband, comes -near suggesting the much-vexed question of parthenogenesis”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5935src" href="#xd31e5935">26</a> -</p> -<p>Other Chinese references to miraculous conceptions, given below, emphasize how persistent -in Chinese legend are the lingering memories of the ancient mother-goddess. -</p> -<p>As was the case in Babylonia and Egypt, the rival biological theories of the god cult -and the goddess cult were fused or existed side by side in ancient China. -</p> -<p>The goddess cult influenced Buddhism even when it was adopted in China, and fused -with local religious systems. To the lower classes the “Poosa”, who brings luck—that -is, success and protection—may be either a Buddha or a goddess. The name is “a shortened -form of the Sanskrit term Bodhisattwa”, and was originally “a designation of a class -of Buddha’s disciples.… The ‘Poosa<span class="corr" id="xd31e5943" title="Source: ”">’</span> feels more sympathy with the lower wants of men than the Buddha (Fuh) does.” -</p> -<p>One of the holy beings referred to in China as a “Poosa” is Kwan-yin, the so-called -“goddess of mercy”. Dr. Joseph Edkins<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5948src" href="#xd31e5948">27</a> says that “this divinity is represented sometimes as male, at others as female.… -She is often represented with a child in her arms, and is then designated the giver -of children. Elsewhere she is styled the ‘Kwan-yin who saves from the eight forms -of suffering’ or ‘of the southern sea’, or ‘of the thousand arms’, &c. She passes -through various metamorphoses, which give rise to a variety in names.” -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p271width" id="p271"><img src="images/p271.jpg" alt="KWAN-YIN, THE CHINESE “GODDESS OF MERCY”" width="456" height="720"><p class="figureHead">KWAN-YIN, THE CHINESE “GODDESS OF MERCY”</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a porcelain figure decorated in soft enamels in the Victoria and Albert Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The “Poosa” of Buddhism or the ancient Chinese faith is a powerful protector. Dr. -Edkins tells that “Chinese worshippers will sometimes say, for example, that they -must spend a little money occasionally to obtain <span class="pageNum" id="pb272">[<a href="#pb272">272</a>]</span>a favour of Poosa, in order to prevent calamities from assailing them. I saw”, he -relates, “an instance of this at a town on the sea-coast near Hangchow. The tide here -is extremely destructive in the autumn.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5963src" href="#xd31e5963">28</a> It often overflows the embankment made to restrain it, and produces devastation in -the adjoining cottages and fields. A temple was erected to the Poosa Kwan-yin, and -offerings are regularly made to her, and prayers presented for protection against -the tide.” -</p> -<p>A vision of this Chinese Aphrodite was beheld about two years before the British forces -captured Canton. “The governor of the province to which that city belongs”, says Dr. -Edkins, “was engaged in exterminating large bands of roving plunderers that disturbed -the region under his jurisdiction. He wrote to the Emperor on one occasion a dispatch -in which he said that, at a critical juncture in a recent contest, a large figure -in white had been seen beckoning to the army from the sky. It was Kwan-yin. The soldiers -were inspired with courage, and won an easy victory over the enemy.” -</p> -<p>Edkins notes that “the principal seat of the worship of Kwan-yin is at the island -of Poots”. Here the deity “takes the place of Buddha, and occupies the chief position -in the temples”. There are many small caves on the island dedicated to the use of -hermits. “In several of them, high up on a hill-side”, Dr. Edkins “noticed a small -figure of Buddha”. Here we have an excellent instance of “culture-mixing” in China -in our own day. -</p> -<p>Shang-ti, the personal god who rules in the sky, is to the Chinese Buddhists identical -with Indra, the Hindu god of thunder and rain. In India Indra was in Vedic times the -king of the gods, but in the Brahmanic Age became a lesser being than Brahma, Shiva, -and Vishnu. <span class="pageNum" id="pb273">[<a href="#pb273">273</a>]</span>When Buddha was elevated to the godhead these great deities shrank into minor positions. -In China they stand among the auditors of the supreme Buddha, as he sits on the lotus -flower, and “occupy”, as Edkins found, “a lower position than the personages called -Poosa, Lohan, &c.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5973src" href="#xd31e5973">29</a> -</p> -<p>In the next chapter it will be found that floating myths were attached to the memories -of mythical and legendary monarchs in China, and that not a few of these myths resemble -others found elsewhere. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb274">[<a href="#pb274">274</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5615"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5615src">1</a></span> <i>The Migration of Early Culture: A Study of the Significance of the Geographical Distribution -of the Practice of Mummification</i>, &c., pp. 20 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5615src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5646"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5646src">2</a></span> <i>Recollections of a Journey through Tartary, Tibet, and China</i>, by M. Huc (English translation, London, 1852), pp. 219–20. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5646src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5654"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5654src">3</a></span> Budge, <i>Gods of the Egyptians</i>, Vol. I, p. 500 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5654src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5686"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5686src">4</a></span> <i>The Elder Edda</i>, translation by O. Bray, p. 19. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5686src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5702"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5702src">5</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 51. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5702src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5713"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5713src">6</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 277. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5713src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5721"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5721src">7</a></span> In Norse mythology the earth trembles when Loki moves. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5721src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5724"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5724src">8</a></span> The “breath” which is “soul substance”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5724src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5727"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5727src">9</a></span> Quoted by Breasted, <i><i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i></i>, pp. 21–2. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5727src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5748"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5748src">10</a></span> <i>Babylonian Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 146–7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5748src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5757"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5757src">11</a></span> <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>, p. 95. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5757src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5782"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5782src">12</a></span> James Legge, <i>The Texts of Confucianism</i>, Part II, p. 430 (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5782src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5799"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5799src">13</a></span> Legge, <i>The Chinese Classics</i>, Vol. III, Part I, p. 108. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5799src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5811"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5811src">14</a></span> This reference to the use of personal ornaments is highly significant. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5811src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5824"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5824src">15</a></span> King, <i>Babylonian Religion</i>, p. 136. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5824src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5846"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5846src">16</a></span> <i>Religions of Ancient China</i>, pp. 43–44. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5846src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5854"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5854src">17</a></span> For a discussion on “Early Biological Theories” in this connection see Professor G. -Elliot Smith’s <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, pp. 26 <i>et seq.</i>, and pp. 178 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5854src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5864"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5864src">18</a></span> Wells Williams, <i>Chinese-English Dictionary</i>, p. 1092. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5864src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5869"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5869src">19</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, pp. 83–4. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5869src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5873"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5873src">20</a></span> De Groot, <i>The Religious System of China</i>; and De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 85. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5873src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5882"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5882src">21</a></span> <i>Chinese Literature</i>, p. 52. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5882src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5886"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5886src">22</a></span> King, <i>Legends of Babylonia and Egypt</i> (1916), p. 56. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5886src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5904"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5904src">23</a></span> Like the mountain-goddess of Crete. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5904src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5914"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5914src">24</a></span> <i>Chinese Literature</i>, pp. 52, 53. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5914src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5926"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5926src">25</a></span> Legge, <i>Shu King, Shih King, Hsiao King (Sacred Books of the East)</i>, Vol. III, pp. 396, 397. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5926src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5935"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5935src">26</a></span> <i>Religions of Ancient China</i>, pp. 21–3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5935src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5948"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5948src">27</a></span> <i>Religion in China</i> (London, 1878, second edition), pp. 99 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5948src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5963"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5963src">28</a></span> The season controlled by the White Tiger-god of the west. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5963src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5973"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5973src">29</a></span> <i>Religion in China</i>, p. 104. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5973src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch15" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e372">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XV</h2> -<h2 class="main">Mythical and Legendary Kings</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Pʼan Ku as the Divine Ancestor—The Mythical Age—Gods as Kings—The Prometheus of China—Fu -Hi as Adam—Doctrine of World’s Ages in China—Links with Babylonia and India—Legendary -Kings—The Chinese Osiris—Reign of the “Yellow God”—Empress and Silk-worm Culture—Royal -Sons of Star-gods—Yaou, Son of the Red Dragon—Shun, Son of the Rainbow—The Hea Dynasty—The -Emperor Yu—Star Myths—Yu and the River God—Yu as Pʼan Ku—The Flood Myth in Legends -of Yu—The Dynasty of Shang—Moon and Egg Myths—The Wicked Wu—A Hated Queen—The Dynasty -of Chou—A Chinese Gilgamesh—The Pious King Wen—Divination by Tortoise and Grass—The -Chous as Invaders—Historical Dynasties—Ancient Iranian Traders—Trade and Civilization -promoted by the Dread of Death.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Pʼan Ku, the first “man” or “god”, was the ancestor of three families—the rulers of -Heaven, Earth, and Mankind. In Tibet, as we have seen, the first man had three sons, -who divided his body between them, and they were the ancestors of the three human -races. Like the Babylonians, the Chinese had dynastic lists of antediluvian kings. -Pʼan Ku’s descendants ruled the nine divisions of the prehistoric empire or world. -There were ten dynastic periods, the first being that of the “Nine Heads” (kings), -the second that of the “Five Dragons”, and so on. The five dragon kings were connected -with the five planets: Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn, and therefore with -the five elements, for Venus was the Star of Metal, Jupiter that of Wood, Mercury -that of Water, Mars the Star of Fire, and Saturn the Star of Earth. <span class="pageNum" id="pb275">[<a href="#pb275">275</a>]</span>Thus every part of the terrestrial surface, when identified with one or more elements -on account of its shape, is under the influence of the corresponding metals, and also -under that of the constellations through which these planets move.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e5990src" href="#xd31e5990">1</a> As we have seen, the spirits of dragon swords appeared in the sky as stars. The star-gods, -like the dragons, were fathers of some of the famous kings of China. -</p> -<p>Towards the end came the period “Having Nests”, which indicates that houses were built. -Then came the period of Sui-zan, “the Fire-producer”, who has been referred to as -the “Prometheus of China”. -</p> -<p>A new age was ushered in by Fu Hsia or Fu Hi, the so-called “Adam of China”. He is -the first monarch of China’s legendary history, and was supposed to reign from 2953 -till 2838 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> Some regard him as the leader of a colony which settled in Shensi. But he is more -like a mythical culture hero. He was the offspring of a miraculous conception, and -had dealings with dragons. Like the Babylonian Ea he instructed the people how to -live civilized lives. Before Fu-hi came, they lived like animals; they knew their -mothers but not their fathers, and they ate raw flesh. They kept records by means -of knotted cords, and he instructed them in the mysteries of lineal figures, which -had a mystic significance. These were eight in number—the eight kwâ or trigrams, which -represented: (1) the sky; (2) water of lakes and marshes; (3) fire, lightning, and -the sun; (4) thunder; (5) wind and wood; (6) water as in rain, springs, streams, clouds, -and the moon; (7) a hill; (8) the earth. -</p> -<p>Fu-hi also instructed the people to worship spirits, and he instituted sacrifices. -He kept in a park six kinds of animals, and sacrificed twice a year at the two solstices, -<span class="pageNum" id="pb276">[<a href="#pb276">276</a>]</span>causing the days to be regarded as sacred, so that the people might show gratitude -to heaven. -</p> -<p>According to the Taoists, Fu-hi disturbed the primal unity, and caused the people -to begin to deteriorate. -</p> -<p>Here we touch on the doctrine of the World’s Ages. Like the Indians of the Brahmanic -period, the Chinese Taoists believed that the first age was a perfect one, and that -mankind gradually deteriorated. In the Indian Krita Age “all men were saintly, and -therefore they were not required to perform religious ceremonies.… There were no gods -in the Krita Age, and there were no demons.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6007src" href="#xd31e6007">2</a> -</p> -<p>Lao Tze, who will be dealt with more fully in the next chapter, exclaims: “I would -make people return to the use of knotted cords”. His disciple, Kwang Tze, lamented -that the paradisaical state of the early ages had been disturbed by law-makers. Decadence -set in with the “Prometheus” and the “Adam”, and continued until the people became -“perplexed and disordered, and had no way by which they might return to their true -nature, and bring back their original condition”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6013src" href="#xd31e6013">3</a> -</p> -<p>“It is remarkable”, says Legge, “that at the commencement of Chinese history, Chinese -tradition placed a period of innocence, a season when order and virtue ruled in men’s -affairs.” This comment is made in connection with the following passage in the <i>Shu King</i> (Book XXVII, “The Marquis of Lu on Punishments”): “The King said, ‘According to the -teachings of ancient times, Khih Yu was the first to produce disorder, which spread -among the quiet, orderly people, till all became robbers and murderers, owl-like and -yet self-complacent in their conduct, traitors and villains, snatching and filching, -dissemblers and oppressors<span class="corr" id="xd31e6022" title="Not in source">’</span>”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6024src" href="#xd31e6024">4</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb277">[<a href="#pb277">277</a>]</span></p> -<p>In some accounts of the early period, Fu Hi is succeeded by his sister, the Empress -Nu Kwa, the heroine of the Deluge. -</p> -<p>Fu Hi’s usual successor, however, is Shen-nung (2838–2698 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>), the Chinese Osiris, who introduced the agricultural mode of life and instructed -the people how to make use of curative herbs. He was worshipped as the god of agriculture. -Thus an Ode sets forth: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">That my fields are in such good condition, -</p> -<p class="line">Is matter of joy to my husbandmen. -</p> -<p class="line">With lutes, and with drums beating, -</p> -<p class="line">We will invoke the Father of Husbandry, -</p> -<p class="line">And pray for sweet rain, -</p> -<p class="line">To increase the produce of our millet fields, -</p> -<p class="line">And to bless my men and their wives.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6050src" href="#xd31e6050">5</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">Shen-nung was not content with two annual sacrifices, and fixed two others at the -equinoxes, “that in spring to implore a blessing on the fruit of the earth, and that -in autumn, after the harvest was over, to offer the first fruits to the ruler of heaven”. -</p> -<p>After Shen-nung died the emperor Hwang-Ti (“The Yellow God”) ascended the throne. -He was in the literal sense the “Son of Heaven”, for his real father was the thunder-god, -and he had therefore “a dragon-like countenance”. As in the case of Osiris, who was -reputed to have reigned over Egypt, it is difficult to conclude whether he was a deified -monarch or a humanized deity. He belongs, of course, to the mythical period of the -“five Tis” in Chinese legendary history. -</p> -<p>The account of his origin sets forth that one night his mother witnessed a brilliant -flash of lightning which darted from the vicinity of the star <i>chʼoo</i> in the Great Bushel (the “Great Bear”) and lit up the whole country. <span class="pageNum" id="pb278">[<a href="#pb278">278</a>]</span>Her Majesty became pregnant, but did not give birth to her son until twenty-five months -later. Hwang Ti was able to speak as soon as he was born. When he ascended the throne, -he possessed the power of summoning spirits to attend at the royal palace, and his -allies in battle included tigers, panthers, and bears, as those of Rama, the hero -of the Indian epic, the <i><span class="corr" id="xd31e6063" title="Source: Ramáyana">Rámáyana</span></i>, included bears and gigantic monkeys. Hwang Ti was a lover of peace, and because -he caused peaceful conditions to prevail, phœnixes nested in his garden, or, like -swallows, perched on the palace roof and terraces and sang in the courtyard. Other -spirit-birds haunted the residence of the “Yellow God”. -</p> -<p>He built a large temple so that he might not be prevented by bad weather from offering -up sacrifices and performing other religious ceremonies at any season of the year, -and he instructed the people in their duties towards the spirits, their ancestors, -and himself. He fixed the holy days and introduced music in temple worship. His wife -undertook the duty of nourishing silk-worms and producing silk. An enclosure on the -north side of the temple was planted with mulberry trees, and in this grove the Empress -and the ladies of her court attended to the silk-worms specially kept for the silk -required for religious ceremonies. Her Majesty was the goddess as her husband was -the god, and had therefore to promote reproduction and growth. She therefore visited -also the enclosure on the southern side of the temple in which grew the cereals and -fruits offered to the deities. -</p> -<p>Hwang Ti was specially favoured by the goddess known as “the heavenly lady Pao”, who -on one occasion stopped the heavy and destructive rains that had been caused by the -enemy. -</p> -<p>When the Emperor was in his seventy-seventh year, he retired from the world, like -an Indian ascetic, to practise <span class="pageNum" id="pb279">[<a href="#pb279">279</a>]</span>austerities beside the Jo water. He died in his one hundredth year. Some tell that -when he was ascending to heaven an earthquake occurred; others hold that he never -died but was transformed into a dragon. After he passed away, either as a soul or -dragon, to associate with the immortals, a wooden image of him was made and worshipped -by princes. -</p> -<p>His successor is said to have been the Emperor Che, whose dynastic title was Shao-Hao. -This monarch was the son of a star god. One night his mother beheld a star, which -resembled a rainbow, floating on a stream in the direction of a small island. After -retiring to rest she dreamed that she received the star, and, in due course, she gave -birth to her son. Phœnixes visited the royal palace on the day that he ascended the -throne. This monarch had some mysterious association with the west—probably with the -goddess of the west—and is said to have commanded an army of birds. -</p> -<p>He was followed by the Emperor Chuen-Heugh (Kao-Yang). He, too, was the son of a star-god. -It chanced that his mother witnessed the <i>Yao-Kwang</i> star passing through the moon like a rainbow. She gave birth to her son in the vicinity -of the Jo water. There was a shield and spear on his head at birth, a tradition which -recalls that when the Indian princess Pritha gave birth to Karna, son of Surya, the -sun-god, he was fully armed. -</p> -<p>Chuen-Heugh was a great sage. “He invented calendaric calculations and delineations -of the heavenly bodies,” and composed a piece of music called “The Answer to the Clouds”. -</p> -<p>Next came the Emperor Kuh (Kao-sin) who, like Richard III, had teeth when he was born. -He similarly rose from the rank of a State prince to the Imperial throne. The State -of Yew-Kae was conquered by him. His son, <span class="pageNum" id="pb280">[<a href="#pb280">280</a>]</span>named Che, proved to be unworthy, and his younger son, Yao, was selected as his successor. -</p> -<p>The Emperor Yao was the son of a red dragon, as well as of the Emperor, and was not -born until fourteen months after conception. He is said to have been ten cubits in -height when full grown. There were two pupils in each of his eyes. He was a great -sage and wonderful happenings occurred during his reign. -</p> -<p>A mysterious grass grew on the palace stairs. It bore a pod on each day of the month. -He selected as his colleague and successor the sage Shun, who had held an undistinguished -position. It is told that this selection was approved by five star-gods whose spirits -appeared as five old men and walked about among the islands of the River Ho. On another -occasion a bright light came from the river; then beautifully-coloured vapours arose -and a dragon-horse appeared, carrying in its mouth a scaly cuirass for Shun, whose -appointment was thus definitely approved by Heaven. Thirty years later a tortoise -rose from the water and rested on the altar. On its back was an inscribed order instructing -Yao to resign in favour of Shun. This divine command was duly obeyed. -</p> -<p>Shun’s mother had conceived after seeing a rainbow. As has been stated, a rainbow -was believed to emanate from the gigantic oyster that lay in mid ocean. When the child -was born his mother and father detested him, because his body was black and his eyes -had double pupils, and because he had a dragon face and a large mouth. When he became -a youth he reached the height of six cubits, and was thus like the Egyptian Horus -and the Norse hero Sigurd, a veritable giant. His parents endeavoured on more than -one occasion to cause his death by giving him difficult tasks to perform, and acting -treacherously towards him. On one occasion they ordered him to plaster a <span class="pageNum" id="pb281">[<a href="#pb281">281</a>]</span>granary, and when he was engaged at the work they set fire to the building. But Shun -was clad in “bird’s work clothing”, which seems to indicate that he had power to assume -bird form, and he flew away. He was next ordered to deepen a well. He went to work -obediently, and while engaged in his task the well was suddenly filled up with stones. -But Shun had “dragon’s work clothing”, or was able to assume a dragon form, and contrived -to escape through the side of the well. Like Hercules, he performed all his difficult -tasks and escaped without injury. -</p> -<p>Although Shun is usually said to have been selected by Yaou as his successor, a vague -tradition states that he dethroned Yaou by force and kept him a prisoner. Before long, -however, he degraded the young ruler and took his place. -</p> -<p>On ascending the throne, Shun publicly worshipped the spirit of Shang Ti (Ruler of -Heaven, the personal god). He enacted new laws, so that the government of the Empire -might be regulated and strengthened, and he was the first monarch to create Mandarins. -Shun is credited with selecting his successor Yu. -</p> -<p>The Emperor Yu was the first monarch of the Dynasty of Hea. According to tradition -he was the son of a star-god. It is told that one night his mother saw a falling star -and became pregnant. She afterwards swallowed a pearl that had been dropped by a spirit. -In due course she gave birth to Yu. -</p> -<p>A similar myth is attached to the memory of the Irish Christian saint Ciaran of Saigir, -which was probably taken over from some ancient Celtic hero, the son or grandson of -Sirona (the aged one or star-goddess). A Gaelic poem, believed to have been composed -in the ninth century, sets forth: -<span class="pageNum" id="pb282">[<a href="#pb282">282</a>]</span></p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Liadaine (his mother) was asleep -</p> -<p class="line">On her bed (a saying not wrong). -</p> -<p class="line">When she turned her face to heaven -</p> -<p class="line">A star fell into her mouth. -</p> -<p class="line">Thence was born the marvellous child, -</p> -<p class="line">Ciaran of Saigir who is proclaimed to thee -</p> -<p class="line">And thence (a saying without pride) -</p> -<p class="line">Luaigne (Liadaine’s husband) said he (Ciaran) was not his son.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6105src" href="#xd31e6105">6</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">Osiris, as the son of the cow-goddess, was a son of the moon, from which fell a fertilizing -ray of light. The Egyptian deities had star forms. As stars, they rose from malachite -pools and perched in swallow-shape on the branches of the world-tree of the Great -Mother. Hathor and Isis were personified as the star Sirius, from which fell the tear, -or drop of dew, that caused the low Nile to have increase and rise in flood. As the -morning star, the goddess was the mother of the rising sun. Much star-lore surviving -from ancient times remains to be gleaned. -</p> -<p>When the star-deity’s son, the Chinese Emperor Yu, was born, he had the mouth of a -tiger. “His ears had three orifices; his head bore the resemblance of the star <i>Kow</i> and <i><i>Kʼeen</i></i>. On his breast seemed a figure in gem of the Great Bear.” When he grew up he reached -the height of 9 cubits, 6 inches.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6117src" href="#xd31e6117">7</a> -</p> -<p>The Irish hero, Cuchullin, was likewise a marvellous youngster. He had “seven toes -to each foot, and to either hand as many fingers; his eyes were bright, with seven -pupils apiece”, and so on. -</p> -<p>Yu was probably a historical character, to whose memory many floating myths and legends -were attached. He figures as the hero of a deluge. One night, during his youth, he -dreamt that while bathing in the Ho (the <span class="pageNum" id="pb283">[<a href="#pb283">283</a>]</span>Yellow River) he drank up the water. He also beheld a white fox with nine tails—a -particularly good omen. This was during the reign of Yau. Shun came to know about -him and showed him special favour, causing him to be promoted until he became an influential -man in the Empire. -</p> -<p>The gods were well pleased because he was loved by them. One day, as Yu stood on the -banks of the River Ho, gazing at the water, a god appeared as a tall, white-faced -man, with the body of a fish, like the Babylonian Ea. He addressed Yu and said: “I -am the spirit of the Ho. Wan-ming shall regulate the waters.” -</p> -<p>The god then gave Yu a plan of the Ho, which gave full details regarding the regulating -of the waters, and sank into the river. -</p> -<p>A good deal of controversy has been engaged in as to what Yu was supposed to have -done. In the <i>Shu King</i> (“The Tribute of Yu” chapter) it is stated: “Yu divided the land, following the course -of the hills, he cut down the trees. He determined the highest hills and largest rivers -(in the several regions).… The (waters of the) Hang and Wei were brought to their -proper channels.” Other rivers were similarly controlled.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6133src" href="#xd31e6133">8</a> -</p> -<p>In another section Yu says: “When the floods were lifted to the heavens, spreading -far and wide, surrounding the hills and submerging the mounds, so that the common -people were bewildered and dismayed, I availed myself of four vehicles,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6141src" href="#xd31e6141">9</a> and going up the hills I felled the trees.… After that I drained off the nine channels, -directing them into the four seas; I dug out ditches and canals and brought them into -rivers.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6144src" href="#xd31e6144">10</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb284">[<a href="#pb284">284</a>]</span></p> -<p>In the fourth book of the <i>Shu King</i>, “The Great Plan”, it is said: “I have heard that in old time Khwan dammed up the -inundating waters, and thereby threw into disorder the arrangement of the five elements. -God was consequently roused to anger, and did not give him the Great Plan with its -nine divisions, and thus the unvarying principles (of Heaven’s method) were allowed -to go to ruin.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6154src" href="#xd31e6154">11</a> -</p> -<p>In one of the Odes it is stated that “when the waters of the Deluge spread vast abroad, -Yu arranged and divided the regions of the land”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6161src" href="#xd31e6161">12</a> -</p> -<p>It has been suggested by some that Yu constructed a great embankment to prevent the -Yellow River changing its course—a task even greater than constructing the Great Wall, -and that he formed dams and opened irrigating channels. It may be that he did much -work in reclaiming land and regulating the government of the Empire. But there can -be little doubt that the traditions surviving from his age were mixed with the older -traditions regarding the Babylonian flood. Yu is no mere canal cutter. He hews the -rocks and forms chasms between the mountains, like Pʼan Ku, the Chinese Ptah or Indra, -he constructs the embankments of lakes, and makes channels for the great rivers, and -he drains the marshes. The grounds are made habitable and fit for cultivation. There -are even faint echoes of the Osirian legend in the stories regarding his achievements. -</p> -<p>After Yu had finished his work, Heaven presented him with a dark-coloured mace.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6169src" href="#xd31e6169">13</a> He was destined to become Emperor of the nine provinces, we are told, but it is doubtful -if the Empire was really so large during his reign. After Shun resigned, Yu ascended -the throne. <span class="pageNum" id="pb285">[<a href="#pb285">285</a>]</span>The vegetation then became luxuriant, and green dragons lay on the borders of the -Empire. Yellow dragons rose from the rivers when Yu crossed them. His reign lasted -for forty-five years. -</p> -<p>The sixth Emperor of the Hea Dynasty was another famous man. This was Shao-Kʼang. -His father had been murdered, and his mother took flight and concealed herself. She -gave birth to her son during her reign in Shan-tung, when he became a herdsman. Like -Horus, he was searched for by the monarch who had usurped the throne, and he had to -take to flight and become a cook. In time he was able to collect an army and win a -great victory, which enabled him to regain the throne of his father. -</p> -<p>The last few <span class="corr" id="xd31e6178" title="Source: emperors">Emperors</span> of the Dynasty of Hea were weak and licentious men. It is told of Kʼung-Kea, the -fourteenth of his line, that he was the cause of much misfortune, and caused the government -to decay. Among the terrible things he did was to eat a female dragon which had been -slain and pickled for him. Kwei, the seventeenth <span class="corr" id="xd31e6181" title="Source: emperor">Emperor</span>, was the first to introduce men-drawn carriages, but the omens of his reign foretold -the approaching doom of the dynasty; the five planets wandered from their courses, -and stars fell like rain in his tenth year. He was overthrown by Tʼang, the founder -of the Dynasty of Shang. -</p> -<p>Tʼang had seven names, one of which was Li. He was descended from the Empress Keen-tieh, -who, having prayed for a son, entered a river to bathe. A dark swallow came nigh and -dropped a variegated egg from her mouth, which the Empress swallowed. She became pregnant, -and gave birth to a son named See, who, when he grew up, was appointed by Yao, Minister -of Instruction, and was given the principality of Shang. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb286">[<a href="#pb286">286</a>]</span></p> -<p>Thirteen generations later the wife of one of See’s descendants gave birth to Tʼang, -the future Emperor. She had become pregnant after seeing a white vapour passing through -the moon. The child had whiskers at birth, and his arms had four joints. He grew to -the height of nine cubits. -</p> -<p>Wonderful things happened to prove that Tʼang was the chosen by Heaven to reign over -the Empire. When he visited the altar of Yao, he dropped a jewel into the water. “Lo! -yellow fishes leapt up in pairs; a blackbird followed him, and stood on the altar, -where it changed into a black gem.” There also appeared a black tortoise, which had -on its back characters intimating that Tʼang was to become the Emperor. A spirit appeared -on Mount Pei at the same time. “Another spirit, dragging a white wolf, with a hook -in his mouth, entered the court of Shang. The virtue of metal waxed powerful; silver -overflowed from the hills.” Tʼang himself dreamed that “he went to the sky and licked -it. After this he became possessor of the Empire.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6190src" href="#xd31e6190">14</a> -</p> -<p>When the Dynasty of Shang began to decline, the rulers became weak and profligate. -It is told of Wu-Yih, who reigned for only four years (1198–1194 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>), he was “without any right principle. He made an image of a man, and called it ‘the -Spirit of Heaven’. Then he ‘gamed with it’ (played dice, or at chess), causing someone -to play for the image. ‘The Spirit of Heaven’ was unsuccessful, on which he disgraced -it, and made a leather bag, which he filled with blood, and then placed aloft and -shot at (the image was probably in the bag as well), calling this ‘shooting at Heaven’.… -In the fourth year of his reign, while hunting between <span class="pageNum" id="pb287">[<a href="#pb287">287</a>]</span>the Ho and the Wei, Wu-Yih suddenly died. Tsʼeen says that he was struck dead by lightning; -and people recognize in that event the just and appropriate vengeance of Heaven which -he had insulted.”<a class="noteRef" id="n287.1src" href="#n287.1">15</a> -</p> -<p>The Kafirs of Africa “play at a game of chance before their idols, and, should chance -be against them, kick and box their idols; but if, after this correction, on pursuing -their experiments they should continue unsuccessful, they burn the hands and feet -off them in the fire; should ill fortune still attend them, they cast the idols on -the ground, tread them under foot, dash them about with such force as to break them -to pieces. Some, indeed, who show greater veneration for the images, content themselves -with fettering and binding them until they have obtained their end; but should this -not take place as early as their impatience looks for, they fasten them to a cord -and gradually let them down into the water, even to the bottom, thus trusting to force -them to be propitious”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6215src" href="#xd31e6215">16</a> It may be that Wu-Yih (Wuh-I) was engaged in some such ceremony when he disgraced -and tortured his god. -</p> -<p>A successor is remembered as the first man who used ivory chop-sticks. The Viscount -of Ke admonished him, saying: “Ivory chop-sticks will be followed by cups of gem; -and then you will be wanting to eat bears’ paws and leopards’ wombs, and proceed to -other extravagances. Your indulgence of your desires may cost you the Empire.” This -was Chou-sin, an intemperate and extravagant tyrant. He came under the influence of -a beautiful but wicked woman, called Ta-ke, whom he <span class="pageNum" id="pb288">[<a href="#pb288">288</a>]</span>married. “The most licentious songs were composed for her amusement and the vilest -dances exhibited.” A park was laid out for her amusement. “There was a pond of wine; -the trees were hung with flesh; men and women chased each other about quite naked.” -Drinking bouts were common in the palace, and when the princes began to rebel, new -and terrible tortures were introduced. The queen had constructed a copper pillar, -which was greased all over. It was laid above a charcoal fire, and culprits were ordered -to walk on it. When they slipped and fell into the fire, Ta-ke was “greatly delighted”. -</p> -<p>The Dynasty of Shang was overthrown by King Wu, the founder of the Dynasty of Chou. -Wu was descended from the famous lady Kian Yuan, already referred to (see <a href="#ix.kian.yuan">Index</a>). After treading in the toe-print (or foot-print) made by God, she gave birth to -her son, Hau Ki, suffering no pain. Like Gilgamesh, Sargon, Romulus and Remus, Karna, -and other famous heroes, the child was exposed after birth, the lady’s husband, according -to one Chinese commentator, having been displeased with what had taken place. In the -<i>Shih King</i> the ode, which relates the legend of Hau Ki, says: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">He was placed in a narrow lane, -</p> -<p class="line">But the sheep and oxen protected him with loving care. -</p> -<p class="line">He was placed in a wide forest, -</p> -<p class="line">Where he was met by the wood-cutters. -</p> -<p class="line">He was placed on the cold ice, -</p> -<p class="line">And a bird screened and supported him with its wings. -</p> -<p class="line">When the bird went away, -</p> -<p class="line">Hau Ki began to wail. -</p> -<p class="line">His cry was long and loud, -</p> -<p class="line">So that his voice filled the whole way.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6243src" href="#xd31e6243">17</a></p> -</div> -<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb289">[<a href="#pb289">289</a>]</span></p> -<p>The ode goes on to tell that when Hau Ki grew up he promoted husbandry and founded -the sacrifices of his house. Some of the Osirian-Tammuz traditions were attached to -his memory, but, as Legge says, “he has not displaced the older Shan-nung, with whom, -on his father’s side, he had a <span class="corr" id="xd31e6251" title="Source: connexion">connection</span> as ‘the Father of Husbandry’ ”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6254src" href="#xd31e6254">18</a> -</p> -<p>Before Wu became Emperor, a red man came out of the river to secure the support of -allies, and phœnixes brought messages to the effect that the reigning dynasty was -doomed. The empire could not be enjoyed by the Shang King; “the powerful spirits of -the earth have left it; all the spirits are whisked away; the conjunction of the five -planets in Fang brightens all within the four seas”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6262src" href="#xd31e6262">19</a> King Wen, the father of Wu, to whom this revelation had been made, was a ruler in -the west, and knew that his son’s mission in life was the regeneration of the empire. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">The dynasties of Hsia (Hea) and Shang -</p> -<p class="line">Had not satisfied God with their government; -</p> -<p class="line">So throughout the various States -</p> -<p class="line">He sought and considered -</p> -<p class="line">For a State on which he might confer the rule. -</p> -</div> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">God said to King Wen: -</p> -<p class="line">I am pleased with your conspicuous virtue, -</p> -<p class="line">Without noise and without display, -</p> -<p class="line">Without heat and without change, -</p> -<p class="line">Without consciousness of effort, -</p> -<p class="line">Following the pattern of God. -</p> -</div> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">God said to King Wen: -</p> -<p class="line">Take measures against hostile States, -</p> -<p class="line">Along with your brethren, -</p> -<p class="line">Get ready your engines of assault, -</p> -<p class="line">To attack the walls of Tsʼung.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6288src" href="#xd31e6288">20</a></p> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb290">[<a href="#pb290">290</a>]</span></p> -<p>After Wu became the Emperor the worship of ancestors was promoted, and dragons, tortoises, -and phœnixes made regular appearances, while vegetation flourished, and the mugwort -grew so plentifully that a palace could be erected from it. -</p> -<p>After Wu died spirit-birds appeared, and a mysterious bean, which was an elixir, grew -up. The Crown Prince was still a minor, and for seven years the Duke of Chou acted -as regent. Accompanied by the young king the duke visited the Ho and the Lo. The king -dropped a gem into the water, and after day declined “rays of glory came out and shrouded -all the Ho (Yellow River), and green clouds came floating in the sky. A green dragon -came to the altar, and went away. They did the same at the Lo, and the same thing -happened.” A tortoise appeared, and on its shell were writings that told of the fortunes -of the empire till the dynasties of Tsʼin and Han.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6296src" href="#xd31e6296">21</a> -</p> -<p>The tortoise-shell and stalks of a variety of grass were long used in China for purposes -of divination. What the tortoise and the grass revealed was supposed to be the will -of the spirits. Nowadays lots are drawn, spirit-writing is believed in, and revelations -are supposed to be made when a bean symbol is tossed in the air, as is a coin in the -West; when the flat side is uppermost the tosser is supposed to receive a refusal -to his prayer. -</p> -<p>The Chou Dynasty was founded, according to Chinese dating, in 1122 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, and lasted until 249 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> It has been suggested that although the Chous claimed to be descended from one of -Shun’s ministers, they were really foreigners partly or wholly of Tartar origin. King -Wu introduced the sacrifice of human beings to the spirits of ancestors, and favoured -the magicians, whom he appointed to high positions in his court. His empire consisted -of a confederacy <span class="pageNum" id="pb291">[<a href="#pb291">291</a>]</span>of feudal states, and its strength endured so long as the central state remained sufficiently -powerful to exact tribute. -</p> -<p>After holding sway for about eight hundred years, the Chou Dynasty, and with it the -Feudal Age, came to an end. The State of Chin or Tsʼin, which had been absorbing rival -states, became so powerful that, in 221 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, its king, Shih-huang-ti, became the first Emperor of China. He resolved that the -future history of China should begin with himself, and issued a decree commanding -that all existing literature should be burned, except medical and agricultural books, -and those dealing with divination. Those who disobeyed his order and attempted to -conceal the forbidden books were put to death. Fortunately, however, some devoted -scholars succeeded in preserving for posterity a number of the classics which would -otherwise have perished. This extraordinary decree has cast a shadow over the fame -of the first emperor, who was undoubtedly a great man. -</p> -<p>During the early years of the Chin or Tsʼin Dynasty the Great Wall to the west and -north of China was constructed, so as to protect the empire against the barbarians -who were wont to raid and pillage the rich pastoral and agricultural lands, and impose -their sway on the industrious Chinese. “The building of the Great Wall”, says Kropotkin, -“was an event fraught with the greatest consequences, and one may say without exaggeration -that it contributed powerfully to the premature downfall of the Roman Empire.” The -Mongolian and Turki peoples who had been attempting to subdue China were forced westward, -and tribal and racial movements were set in motion that ultimately led to the invasions -of Europe by nomadic fighting pastoralists from Asia.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6318src" href="#xd31e6318">22</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb292">[<a href="#pb292">292</a>]</span></p> -<p>The Great Wall is said to have been built in ten years in a straight line of about -1200 miles, the average width at the base being 25 feet, and the average height 30 -feet. Strong “block-house” towers were constructed in the wall for the accommodation -of bodies of troops. -</p> -<p>It was during this Dynasty that China and related forms of that name, based on “Tsʼin” -or “Chin”, came into use in the west. The dynasties that followed the Chin or Tsʼin -(221–200 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) are as follows: -</p> -<div class="table"> -<table> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft cellTop">The Han Dynasty </td> -<td class="xd31e6331 cellTop"> 200 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> </td> -<td class="cellTop">–</td> -<td class="xd31e6331 cellRight cellTop"> 200 <span class="asc"><span class="seg">A.D.</span></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft">The Minor Dynasties </td> -<td class="xd31e6331"> 200 <span class="asc">A.D.</span> </td> -<td>–</td> -<td class="xd31e6331 cellRight"> 600 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft">The Tʼang Dynasty </td> -<td class="xd31e6331"> 600 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span> </td> -<td>–</td> -<td class="xd31e6331 cellRight"> 900 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft">The Sung Dynasty </td> -<td class="xd31e6331"> 900 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span> </td> -<td>–</td> -<td class="xd31e6331 cellRight">1200 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft">The Mongol Dynasty </td> -<td class="xd31e6331">1200 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span> </td> -<td>–</td> -<td class="xd31e6331 cellRight">1368 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft">The Ming Dynasty </td> -<td class="xd31e6331">1368 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span> </td> -<td>–</td> -<td class="xd31e6331 cellRight">1644 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="cellLeft cellBottom">The Manchu Dynasty </td> -<td class="xd31e6331 cellBottom">1644 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span> </td> -<td class="cellBottom">–</td> -<td class="xd31e6331 cellRight cellBottom">1900 <span class="asc"><span class="seg"><span class="ditto"><span class="s">A.D.</span><span class="d"><span class="i">,,</span></span></span> </span></span></td> -</tr> -</table> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The evidence afforded by Chinese archæology, and Chinese religious beliefs, symbols, -and customs tends to emphasize that the early inhabitants of Shensi province were -strongly influenced by culture-drifts from the mid-Asian colonies of the ancient civilizations. -Hunting and pastoral peoples adopted the agricultural mode of life, and with it the -elements of a complex civilization which had <span class="corr" id="xd31e6447" title="Not in source">its </span>origin in those areas where grew wild the cereals first cultivated by man. -</p> -<p>The Chinese are a mixed race. In the north the oblique-eyed, yellow-skinned element -predominates. Like the Semites, who overran Sumeria and adopted Sumerian modes of -thought and life, so did the Mongoloid tribes overrun northern China and became a -sedentary people. Petty kingdoms grew up, and in time found it necessary to unite -against the hordes who invaded and plundered their lands. The invaders included Siberian -nomads, Manchus, Mongolo-Turki peoples, the Sacæ <span class="pageNum" id="pb293">[<a href="#pb293">293</a>]</span>(western Scythians), and the blue-eyed Usuns or Wusuns who are believed to have been -congeners of the kurgan-builders of southern Siberia and southern Russia. It was against -Manchus and Mongols that the Great Wall was erected, after northern China had been -united as a result of those conquests which made petty kings over-lords of ever-widening -areas. During the Han Dynasty southern China was subdued. There the brownish-skinned -Man-tze stock is most in prominence. Ancient Indonesian intrusions have left their -impress on the racial blend. -</p> -<p>Along the sea-coasts of China the sea-traders exercised their influence, and in time -their mode of life was adopted by the conquerors from the inland parts of the growing -empire. The types of vessels used by the ancient Egyptians, the Phœnicians, the peoples -of the Persian Gulf, the Indians, Burmese, Indonesians, and Polynesians became common -on the Chinese coast and rivers. Maritime enterprise was stimulated, as we have seen, -by the Far Eastern Columbuses who searched for the elixir of life and the fabled “Islands -of the Blest”. “The Chinese,” writes Mr. Kebel Chatterton, “in their own independent -way went on developing from the early Egyptian models (of ships), and have been not -inaptly called the Dutchmen of the east in their nautical tendencies.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6455src" href="#xd31e6455">23</a> It is believed that they were the inventors of the rudder, which took the place of -the ancient steering-oar. -</p> -<p>Along their coastal sea-routes the Chinese were brought into touch with southern peoples, -with whom they traded. Chinese records throw light on the articles that were in demand -at markets. “In Nan-čao”,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6461src" href="#xd31e6461">24</a> an ancient text reveals, “there are people from Pʼo-lo-men (Burma), Pose (Malay), -Še-po (Java), Pʼo-ni (Borneo), Kʼun-lun (a Malayan country), and of many other heretic -tribes, meeting <span class="pageNum" id="pb294">[<a href="#pb294">294</a>]</span>at one trading-mart, where pearls and precious stones in great number are exchanged -for gold and musk.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6466src" href="#xd31e6466">25</a> The early traders by sea and land attached great importance to medicines and elixirs, -and precious stones and metals, and pearls. -</p> -<p>The overland trade-routes through Iran brought the Chinese into direct touch with -Lesser Fu-lin (Syria), and ultimately with Greater Fu-lin (the Byzantine Empire). -The vine and other plants with ancient religious associations were imported into China, -and the Chinese peach tree reached Europe. With the peach went silk. “It is not impossible,” -says Laufer, “that these two gifts were transmitted by the silk-dealers, first to -Iran (in the second or first century <span class="asc">B.C.</span>), and thence to Armenia, Greece, and Rome (in the first century <span class="asc">A.D.</span>).”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6478src" href="#xd31e6478">26</a> -</p> -<p>As the cuckoos hatched in the nests of hedge-sparrows, meadow-pipits, and wagtails -overcome and eject the offspring of their foster-parents, so did the vigorous nomadic -peoples who absorbed the elements of ancient civilizations overcome and eject the -offspring of their “foster-parents”. The Babylonian Empire perished, and Irania, which -had been stimulated by it to adopt civilized conditions of life, became, in turn, -the nursery of vigorous states. Recent discoveries have brought to light evidence -which shows that the Iranian peoples “once covered an immense territory, extending -all over Chinese Turkestan, migrating into China, coming into contact with the Chinese, -and exerting a profound influence on nations of other stock, notably Turks and Chinese. -The Iranians were the great mediators between the West and the East, conveying the -heritage of Hellenistic ideas to central and eastern Asia, and transmitting valuable -plants and goods of China to the Mediterranean area.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6485src" href="#xd31e6485">27</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb295">[<a href="#pb295">295</a>]</span></p> -<p>The laws of supply and demand operated then as now on the trade-routes, which brought -communities of regular traders into touch after they had cultivated plants or manufactured -articles to offer in exchange for what they received. Before these routes could, however, -have hummed with commerce, a considerable advance in civilization had to be achieved. -States had to be organized and laws enforced for the protection of property and property -owners. -</p> -<p>The Iranians, who obtained silk from China, were not the originators of the culture -represented by this commodity; they simply stimulated the demand for silk. Chinese -civilization dates back to the time when the early prospectors and explorers came -into touch with backward peoples, and introduced new modes and conditions of life. -These pioneers did not necessarily move along the routes that were ultimately favoured -by merchants, nor even those followed by migrating tribes in quest of green pastures. -They wandered hither and thither searching for gold and gems and herbs, sowing as -they went the seeds of civilization, which did not, however, always fall on good ground. -But in those places where the seed took root and the prospects of development were -favourable, organized communities gradually grew up with an assured food-supply. This -was the case in Shensi province, in which was settled the “little leaven” that ultimately -“leavened the whole lump” of northern China. It was after the empire became united -under the Tsʼin Dynasty that organized trade with the west assumed great dimensions, -and was regularly maintained under assured protection. -</p> -<p>Myths as well as herbs and gems and garments were exchanged by traders. With the glittering -jewel was carried the religious lore associated with it; with the curative <span class="pageNum" id="pb296">[<a href="#pb296">296</a>]</span>herb went many a fable of antiquity. Laufer has shown in his <i>The Diamond</i> how Hellenistic lore connected with that gem crept into Chinese writings. It is consequently -possible to trace in the mosaic of Chinese beliefs and mythology certain of the cultural -elements that met and blended and were developed on the banks of the Yellow River. -</p> -<p>Elixirs and charms were in great demand in all centres of ancient civilizations. It -can be held, therefore, that behind the commerce of early times, as behind the early -religious systems, lay the haunting dread of death. Gems warded off evil, and imparted -vitality to those who possessed them, and curative herbs renewed youth by restoring -health. Even the dead were benefited by them. Progress was thus, in a sense, increasing -efficiency in the quest of longevity in this world and the next. -</p> -<p>In China, as elsewhere, the dread of death, as expressed in the religious system, -promoted the arts and crafts; artists, engravers, architects, builders, jewellers, -and scribes, as well as priests and traders, were engaged in the unceasing conflict -against the all-dreaded enemy of mankind, the God of Death. The incentive that caused -men to undertake perilous journeys by land and sea in quest of elixirs, to live laborious -lives in workshops and temples, and to grasp at the mythical straws of hope drifted -along trade-routes from other lands, was the same as that which sent the Babylonian -Gilgamesh to explore the dark tunnel of the Mountain of Mashu and cross the Sea of -Death, and it is found on the ninth tablet of the most ancient epic in the world: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Gilgamesh wept bitterly, and he lay stretched out upon the ground. -</p> -<p class="line">He cried: “Let me not die like Ea-bani! -</p> -<p class="line">Grief hath entered into my body, and -</p> -<p class="line"><i>I fear death</i>.…”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6508src" href="#xd31e6508">28</a></p> -</div> -<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb297">[<a href="#pb297">297</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e5990"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e5990src">1</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, p. 959. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e5990src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6007"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6007src">2</a></span> <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>, p. 107. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6007src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6013"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6013src">3</a></span> Legge, <i>The Texts of Taoism</i>, Vol. I, pp. 370–1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6013src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6024"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6024src">4</a></span> Legge, <i>The Shu King</i> (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>), Vol. III, p. 255 and <i>n.</i> 1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6024src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6050"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6050src">5</a></span> Giles, <i>Religions of Ancient China</i>, p. 22. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6050src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6105"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6105src">6</a></span> <i>Three Irish Glossaries</i>, Whitley Stokes (London, 1862), p. lxxiii. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6105src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6117"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6117src">7</a></span> Legge, <i>The Chinese Classics</i>, Vol. III, Part I, p. 117. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6117src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6133"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6133src">8</a></span> Legge, <i>The Shu King (Sacred Books of the East)</i>, pp. 64 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6133src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6141"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6141src">9</a></span> Boats, carriages, sledges, and spiked boots. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6141src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6144"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6144src">10</a></span> W. G. Old, <i>The Shu King</i> (London, 1904), pp. 36–7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6144src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6154"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6154src">11</a></span> Legge, <i>The Shu King</i>, p. 139. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6154src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6161"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6161src">12</a></span> Legge, <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 309. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6161src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6169"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6169src">13</a></span> The sky is the “dark sphere”, and the mace is therefore a sky-mace. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6169src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6190"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6190src">14</a></span> Legge, <i>The Annals of the Bamboo Book</i>, pp. 128, 129 (<i>The Chinese Classics</i>, Vol. III, Part 1). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6190src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n287.1"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n287.1src">15</a></span> Legge, <i>The Shu King</i>, <i>n.</i> 5, p. 269 (<i>The Chinese Classics</i>, Vol. III, p. 1). Herodotus tells (Book II, chapter 122) that Pharaoh Rhampsinitus -(? Rameses) of Egypt descended to Hades and played dice with Ceres (Isis), “sometimes -winning and sometimes suffering defeat”. A curious festival celebrated the event. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n287.1src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6215"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6215src">16</a></span> Pinkerton, <i>A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels</i> (London, 1814), XVI, 696. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6215src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6243"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6243src">17</a></span> Legge, <i>The Shih King</i>, p. 397. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6243src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6254"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6254src">18</a></span> Legge, <i>The Shih King</i>, p. 398, <i>n.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6254src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6262"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6262src">19</a></span> Legge, <i>The Annals of the Bamboo Books</i>, p. 143. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6262src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6288"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6288src">20</a></span> Giles, <i>Religions of Ancient China</i>, p. 20. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6288src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6296"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6296src">21</a></span> <i>The Annals of the Bamboo Books</i>, p. 147. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6296src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6318"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6318src">22</a></span> Geographical Journal, XXII, 1904, pp. 24, 176, 331, 772. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6318src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6455"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6455src">23</a></span> <i>Sailing Ships and their Story</i>, p. 310. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6455src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6461"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6461src">24</a></span> In Yūn-nan <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6461src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6466"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6466src">25</a></span> <i>Sino-Iranica</i>, p. 469. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6466src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6478"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6478src">26</a></span> Pliny, XV, 11, 13, and <i>Sino-Iranica</i>, p. 539. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6478src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6485"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6485src">27</a></span> <i>Sino-Iranica</i>, p. 185. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6485src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6508"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6508src">28</a></span> King, <i>Babylonian Religion</i>, p. 165. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6508src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch16" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e382">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XVI</h2> -<h2 class="main">Myths and Doctrines of Taoism</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Taoism and Buddhism—The Tao—Taoism and Confucianism—Lao Tze and Osiris—The “Old Boy” -Myth—Lao Tze goes West—Kwang Tze—Prince who found the Water of Life—The “Great Mother” -in Taoism—Taoism and Egyptian Ptahism—Doctrine of the Logos—Indian Doctrines in China—Taoism -and Brahmanism—Metal Searchers as Carriers of Egyptian and Babylonian Cultures—The -Tao and Water—The Tao as “Mother of All Things”—Fertilizing Dew and Creative Tears—The -Tao and Artemis—The Gate Symbol—Tao and Good Order—The World’s Ages in Taoism—Taoists -rendered Invulnerable like Achilles, &c.—The Tao as the Elixir of Life—Breathing Exercises—The -Impersonal God—Lao Tze and Disciples deified and worshipped.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">There are three religions in China, or, as native scholars put it, “three Teachings”, -namely Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Pure Taoism, as taught by Lao Tze, is, -like the Buddhism of its founder, Siddhartha Gautama, metaphysical and mystical. It -is similarly based on a vague and somewhat bewildering conception of the origin of -life and the universe; it recognizes a creative and directing force which, at the -beginning, caused Everything to come out of Nothing. This force, when in action, is -called the Tao. It is so called from the time when it began to move, to create, to -cause Unity to be. The Tao existed before then, but it was nameless, and utterly incomprehensible. -It existed, some writers say, even when there was nothing. Others go the length of -asserting that it existed before there was nothing. We can understand what is meant -by “nothing”, but we cannot <span class="pageNum" id="pb298">[<a href="#pb298">298</a>]</span>understand what the Nameless was before it was manifested as the Tao. -</p> -<p>The Tao is not God; it is impersonal. Taoists must make unquestioning submission to -the Tao, which must be allowed to have absolute sway in the individual, in society, -in the world at large. Taoism does not, like Buddhism, yearn for extinction, dissolution, -or ultimate loss of identity and consciousness in the nebulous Nirvana. Nor does it, -like Buddhism, teach that life is not worth living—that it is sorrowful to be doomed -to be reborn. Rather, it conceives of a perfect state of existence in this world, -and of prolonged longevity in the next. All human beings can live happily if they -become like little children, obeying the law (Tao) as a matter of course, following -in “the way” (Tao) without endeavouring to understand, or having any desire to understand, -what the Tao is. The obedient, unquestioning state of mind is reached by means of -Inaction—mental Inaction. The Tao drifts the meritorious individual towards perfection, -out of darkness into light. Those who submit to the Tao know nothing of ethical ideals; -they are in no need of definite beliefs. It is unnecessary to teach virtue when all -are virtuous; it is unnecessary to have rites and ceremonies when all are perfect; -it is unnecessary to be concerned about evil when evil ceases to exist. The same idea -prevailed among the Brahmanic sages of India, whose Krita or Perfect Age was without -gods or devils. Being perfect, the people required no religion. -</p> -<p>Confucianism is not concerned with metaphysical abstractions, or with that sense of -the Unity of all things and all beings in the One, which is summed up in the term -“Mysticism”. It maintains a somewhat agnostic, but not irreligious frame of mind, -confessing inability <span class="pageNum" id="pb299">[<a href="#pb299">299</a>]</span>to deal with the spirit world, or to understand, or theorize about, its mysteries. -It recognizes the existence of God and of spirits. “Respect the spirits,” said Confucius, -“but keep them at a distance.…” He also said: “Wisdom has been imparted to me. If -God were to destroy this wisdom (his system of ethics) the generations to come could -not inherit it.” -</p> -<p>Whether or not Confucius ever heard of the system of Lao Tze is uncertain. If he did, -it certainly made no appeal to him. His own system of instruction was intensely practical. -It was concerned mainly with ethical and political ideals—with political morality. -He was no believer in Inaction. The salvation of mankind, according to his system, -could be achieved by strict adherence to the ideals of right living and right thinking, -and a robust and vigorous application of them in the everyday life of individuals -and the State. -</p> -<p>The reputed founder or earliest teacher of Taoism was Lao Tze, about whom little or -nothing is known. He is believed to have been born in 604 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, and to have died soon after 532 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> Confucius was born in 551 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, and died in 479 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> There are Chinese traditions that the two sages met on at least one occasion, but -these are not credited by Western or modern native Chinese scholars. Confucius makes -no direct reference to Lao Tze in his writings. -</p> -<p>Lao Tze<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6545src" href="#xd31e6545">1</a> means “Old Boy”, as Osiris, in his Libyan form, is said to mean the “Old Man”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6548src" href="#xd31e6548">2</a> He was given this name by his followers, because “his mother carried him in her womb -for seventy-two years, so that when he was at length cut out of it his hair was already -white”. Julius Cæsar was reputed to have been born in like <span class="pageNum" id="pb300">[<a href="#pb300">300</a>]</span>manner; so was the Gaelic hero, Goll MacMorna, who, as we gather from Dunbar, was -known in the Lowlands as well as the Highlands; the poet makes one of his characters -exclaim, -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">My fader, meikle Gow mas Mac Morn, -</p> -<p class="line">Out of his moderis (mother’s) wame was shorn.</p> -</div> -<p class="first">The same legend clings to the memory of Thomas the Rhymer, who is referred to in Gaelic -as “the son of the dead woman” (<i lang="ga">mac na mna marbh</i>), because his mother died before the operation was performed. Shakespeare’s Macduff -“was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6561src" href="#xd31e6561">3</a> -</p> -<p>It may be that this widespread birth-story had its origin in Egypt. Plutarch, in his -treatise on the Mystery of Osiris and Isis, tells that Set (the ancient god who became -a devil) was “born neither at the proper time, nor by the right place”, but that he -“forced his way through a wound which he had made in his mother’s side”. -</p> -<p>Different forms of the legend are found in China. According to the traditions preserved -in the “Bamboo Books”, which are of uncertain antiquity, the Emperor Yao was born -fourteen months after he was conceived, the Emperor Yu emerged from his mother’s back, -and the Emperor Yin from his mother’s chest. The Aryo-Indian hero, Karna, a prominent -figure in the <i><span class="corr" id="xd31e6570" title="Source: Máhabhárata">Mahábhárata</span></i>, emerged from one of his mother’s ears; he was a son of Surya, the sun-god. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p300width" id="p300"><img src="images/p300.jpg" alt="LAO TZE AND DISCIPLES" width="523" height="720"><p class="figureHead">LAO TZE AND DISCIPLES</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Chinese painting in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>According to Taoist lore (after Buddhism and Taoism were partly fused in China), Lao -Tze appeared from time to time in China during the early dynasties in different forms, -and with different names. He had the <span class="pageNum" id="pb301">[<a href="#pb301">301</a>]</span>personal knowledge of the decline of the influence of the Tao from the Perfect Age. -After Fu-hi and other sovereigns disturbed the harmonies of heaven and earth, “the -manners of the people, from being good and simple, became bad and mean”. He came to -cleanse the stream of spiritual life at its source, and was ultimately reborn as Lao -Tze, under the Plum Tree of Longevity, having been conceived under the influence of -a star in the constellation of the Great Bear. Li (plum tree) was his surname. -</p> -<p>Lao Tze is said to have held a position in the Royal Library of Kau. When he perceived -that the State showed signs of decadence, he resolved to leave the world, like the -Indian heroes, <span class="corr" id="xd31e6585" title="Source: Yudhíshthira">Yudhishthira</span> and his brothers. He went westwards, apparently believing, as did Confucius, “that -the Most Holy was to be found in the West”. On entering the pass of Hsien-Ku (in modern -Ling-pao, Ho-nan province) the Warden, Yin Hsi, a Taoist, welcomed the sage and set -before him a dish of tea. Lao Tze sat down to drink tea with his friend. This was -the beginning of the tea-drinking custom between host and guest in China.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6588src" href="#xd31e6588">4</a> -</p> -<p>Said the Warden, “And so you are going into retirement. I pray you to write me a book -before you leave.” -</p> -<p>Lao Tze consented, and composed the <i>Tao Teh King</i>,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6596src" href="#xd31e6596">5</a> which is divided into two parts, and contains over 5000 words. -</p> -<p>When he had finished writing, he gave the manuscript to the Warden, bade him farewell, -and went on his way. It is not known where he died. -</p> -<p>The most prominent of Lao Tze’s disciples was Kwang Tze, who lived in the fourth century -<span class="asc">B.C.</span> Sze-ma <span class="pageNum" id="pb302">[<a href="#pb302">302</a>]</span>Khien, the earliest Chinese historian of note, who died about 85 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, says that Kwang Tze wrote “with purpose to calumniate the system of Confucius and -exalt the mysteries of Lao Tze”. But although he wrote much, “no one could give practical -application to his teaching”. Other famous Taoist writers were Han Fei Tze, who committed -suicide in 233 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, and Liu An, prince of Hwai-nan, and grandson of the founder of the Han Dynasty, -who took his own life in 122 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, having become involved in a treasonable plot. -</p> -<p>Another form of the legend is that this prince discovered the Water of Life. As soon -as he drank of it, his body became so light that he ascended to the Celestial Regions -in broad daylight and was seen by many. As he rose he let fall the cup from which -he had drunk. His dogs lapped up the water and followed him. Then his poultry drank -from the cup and likewise rose in the air and vanished from sight. Apparently it was -not only the poor Indians “with untutored minds” who thought their dogs (not to speak -of their hens) would be admitted to the “equal sky”, there to bear them company. -</p> -<p>It is generally believed by Oriental scholars that both Taoism and Confucianism are -of greater antiquity than their reputed founders. Confucius insisted that he was “a -transmitter, not a maker”, and Lao Tze is found to refer to “an ancient”, “a sage”, -and “a writer on war”, as if he had been acquainted with writings that have not come -down to us. -</p> -<p>There is internal evidence in the Taoistic texts of Lao Tze and Kwang Tze that the -idea of the Tao had an intimate association in early times with the ancient Cult of -the West—the cult of the mother-goddess who had her origin in water. The priestly -theorists instructed the worshippers of the Great Mother that at the beginning <span class="pageNum" id="pb303">[<a href="#pb303">303</a>]</span>she came into existence as an egg, or a lotus bloom from which rose the Creator, the -sun-god, or that she was a Pot containing water from which all things have come—the -pot being the inexhaustible womb of Nature, and the symbol of the Great Mother-goddess. -</p> -<p>But they themselves were not satisfied with this myth. They recognized that there -was at work at the beginning a force—a law which “opened the way”, a phrase which -may have had a physical significance but ultimately became a mystical one. In Chinese -Taoism, this force is the Tao which is manifested in order, stability, and rightness; -it is Truth. -</p> -<p>The Ancient Egyptian philosophers believed, at as remote a time as the Pyramid Texts -period (<i>c.</i> 2500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>), that everything had origin in Mind. The Universe was the idea of Ptah, the “opener”; -he conceived it in his “Heart” (Mind); when he expressed the idea, the Universe came -into existence. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Ptah, the great, is the mind and tongue of the gods.… -</p> -<p class="line">It (the mind) is the one that bringeth forth every successful issue. -</p> -<p class="line">It is the tongue which repeats the thought of the mind: -</p> -<p class="line">It (the mind) was the fashioner of all gods … -</p> -<p class="line">At a time when every divine word -</p> -<p class="line">Came into existence by the thought of the mind, -</p> -<p class="line">And the command of the tongue.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6640src" href="#xd31e6640">6</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">Although Breasted first thought that this fragment was a survival from the Empire -period (<i>c.</i> 1500 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>), he has since become convinced, like Erman, that it must, on the basis of orthography, -be relegated to the Pyramid Age. -</p> -<p>“Is there not here,” Breasted asks, “the primeval germ of the later Alexandrian doctrine -of the ‘Logos’?”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6653src" href="#xd31e6653">7</a> -</p> -<p>In India Brahma (neuter) was the World Soul, “that <span class="pageNum" id="pb304">[<a href="#pb304">304</a>]</span>subtle essence” which, according to the composers of the <i>Upanishads</i>, exists in everything that is, but cannot be seen. The personal Brahma, as Prajapati, -arose, at the beginning, from this impersonal World Soul. “Mind (or Soul, <i>manas</i>),” an Indian sage has declared, “was created from the non-existent. Mind created -Prajapati. Prajapati created offspring. All this, whatever exists, rests absolutely -on mind.” -</p> -<p>Another Indian sage writes: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“At first the Universe was not anything. There was neither sky, nor earth, nor air. -Being non-existent, it resolved, ‘Let me be.’ It became fervent. From that fervour -smoke was produced. It again became fervent. From the fervour fire was produced. Afterwards -the fire became ‘rays’<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6670src" href="#xd31e6670">8</a> and the ‘rays’ condensed into a cloud, producing the sea. A magical formula (Dasahotri) -was created. Prajapati is the Dasahotri.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>When the Rev. Dr. Chalmers of Canton translated the Taoist Texts into English in 1868<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6676src" href="#xd31e6676">9</a>, he wrote: “I have thought it better to leave the word ‘Tao’ untranslated, both because -it has given the name to the sect—the Taoists—and because no English word is its exact -equivalent. Three terms suggest themselves—‘the Way’, ‘Reason’, and ‘the Word’; but -they are all liable to objection. Were we guided by etymology, ‘the Way’ would come -nearest to the original, and in one or two passages the idea of a Way seems to be -in the term; but this is too materialistic to serve the purpose of a translation. -‘Reason’ again seems to be more like a quality or attribute of some conscious Being -than Tao is. I would translate it by ‘the Word’ in the sense of the Logos, but this -would be like settling the question which I wish to leave open, viz. what amount of -resemblance there is between the <span class="pageNum" id="pb305">[<a href="#pb305">305</a>]</span>Logos of the New Testament and this Tao, which is its nearest representative in Chinese.” -</p> -<p>The New Testament doctrine of the Logos may here be reproduced by way of comparison, -the quotation being from Dr. Weymouth’s idiomatic translation, which may be compared -with the authorized versions:<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6683src" href="#xd31e6683">10</a> -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He -was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from -Him nothing that exists came into being. In Him was Life, and that Life was the Light -of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it. -</p> -<p>There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, in order -that he might give testimony concerning the Light—so that all might believe through -him. He was not the Light, but he existed that he might give testimony concerning -the Light. The true Light was that which illumines every man by its coming into the -world. He was in the world, and the world came into existence through Him, and the -world did not recognize Him.</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The meaning of the word “Tao”, says Max Von Brandt, “has never been explained or understood,” -and he adds, “Like the Hellenistic ‘Logos’, it is at once the efficient and the material -cause.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6694src" href="#xd31e6694">11</a> Professor G. Foot Moore says, “Tao is literally ‘way’; like corresponding words in -many languages, ‘course’, ‘method’, ‘order’, ‘norm’.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6698src" href="#xd31e6698">12</a> Archdeacon Hardwick<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6702src" href="#xd31e6702">13</a> was “disposed to argue” that the system of Taoism was founded on the idea of “some -power resembling the ‘Nature’ of modern speculators. The indefinite expression ‘Tao’ -was adopted to denominate an abstract cause, or the initial principle of life and -order, <span class="pageNum" id="pb306">[<a href="#pb306">306</a>]</span>to which worshippers were able to assign the attributes of immateriality, eternity, -immensity, invisibility.” -</p> -<p>Canon Farrar has written in this connection: “We have long personified under the name -of Nature the sum total of God’s law as observed in the physical world; and now the -notion of Nature as a distinct, living, independent entity seems to be ineradicable -alike from our literature and our systems of philosophy.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6711src" href="#xd31e6711">14</a> -</p> -<p>Dr. Legge comments on this passage: “But it seems to me that this metaphorical use -of the word ‘nature’ for the Cause and Ruler of it implies the previous notion of -Him, that is, of God, in the mind.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6719src" href="#xd31e6719">15</a> -</p> -<p>Dr. Legge notes that in Lao Tze’s treatise “Tao appears as the spontaneously operating -cause of all movement in the phenomena of the universe.… Tao is a phenomenon, not -a positive being, but a mode of being.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6727src" href="#xd31e6727">16</a> -</p> -<p>Others have rendered Tao as “God”. But “the old Taoists had no idea of a personal -God,” says Dr. Legge. -</p> -<p>De Groot<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6734src" href="#xd31e6734">17</a> refers to Tao as “the ‘Path’, the unalterable course of Nature,” and adds that the -“reverential awe of the mysterious influences of Nature is the fundamental principle -of an ancient religious system usually styled by foreigners Tao-ism.” -</p> -<p>The idea of the Chinese Tao resembles somewhat that of the Indian Brahma (neuter). -Lao Tze says: “It (Tao) was undetermined and perfected, existing before the heaven -and the earth. Peaceful was it and incomprehensible, alone and unchangeable, filling -everything, the inexhaustible mother of all things. I know not its name, and therefore -I call it Tao. I seek after its name and I call <span class="pageNum" id="pb307">[<a href="#pb307">307</a>]</span>it the Great. In greatness it flows on for ever, it retires and returns. Therefore -is the Tao great.” -</p> -<p>In his chapter “The Manifestation of the Mystery”, Lao Tze says: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“We look at it (Tao), and we do not see it, and we name it ‘the Equable’. -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e6747" title="Not in source">“</span>We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it ‘the Inaudible’. -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e6750" title="Not in source">“</span>We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name it ‘the Subtle’. -</p> -<p><span class="corr" id="xd31e6753" title="Not in source">“</span>With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of description; and hence -we blend them together and obtain ‘The One’.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Some scholars, like Joseph Edkins and Victor von Strauss, have contended that Lao -Tze was attempting to express the ideas of Jehovah in Hebrew theology. Others incline -to the belief that the influence of Indian Brahmanic speculations had reached China -at an early period and inaugurated the intuitional teaching found in Lao Tze’s treatise. -</p> -<p>The idea of the first cause had arisen in India before the close of the Vedic Age. -At the beginning: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">There was neither existence nor non-existence, -</p> -<p class="line">The Kingdom of air, nor the sky beyond. -</p> -</div> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">What was there to contain, to cover, in— -</p> -<p class="line">Was it but vast, unfathomed depths of water? -</p> -</div> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">There was no death there, nor Immortality: -</p> -<p class="line">No sun was there, dividing day from night. -</p> -</div> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">Then was there only THAT, resting within itself. -</p> -<p class="line">Apart from it, there was not anything. -</p> -</div> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">At first within the darkness veiled in darkness, -</p> -<p class="line">Chaos unknowable, the All lay hid. -</p> -</div> -<div class="lg"> -<p class="line">Till straitway from the formless void made manifest -</p> -<p class="line">By the great power of heat was born the germ.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6778src" href="#xd31e6778">18</a></p> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pageNum" id="pb308">[<a href="#pb308">308</a>]</span></p> -<p>The Great Unknown was by the later Vedic poets referred to by the interrogative pronoun -“What?” (<i>Ka</i>). -</p> -<p>In the Indian <i>Khandogya Upanishad</i>, the sage tells a pupil to break open a fruit. He then asks, “What do you see?” and -receiving the reply, “Nothing”, says, “that subtle essence which you do not perceive -there, of that very essence this great Nyagrodha tree exists. Believe me, my son, -that which is the subtle essence, in it all that exists has itself. It is the True. -It is self; and thou, my son, art it.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6791src" href="#xd31e6791">19</a> -</p> -<p>The idea of the oneness and unity of all things is the basic principle of mysticism. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">There is true knowledge. Learn thou it is this: -</p> -<p class="line">To see one changeless Life in all the lives, -</p> -<p class="line">And in the Separate, One Inseparable.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6801src" href="#xd31e6801">20</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">Dr. Legge in his commentary on <i>The Texts of Taoism</i>, asks his readers to mark well the following predicates of the Tao: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Before there were heaven and earth, from of old, there It was securely existing. -From It came the mysterious existence of spirits; from It the mysterious existence -of Ti (God). It produced heaven. It produced earth.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6814src" href="#xd31e6814">21</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Lao Tze had probably never been in India, but that passage from his writings might -well have been composed by one of the Brahmanic sages who composed the Upanishads. -</p> -<p>The explanation may be that in Brahmanism and Taoism we have traces of the influence -of Babylonian and Egyptian schools of thought. No direct proof is available in this -connection. It is possible, however, that the ancient sages who gave oral instruction -to their pupils <span class="pageNum" id="pb309">[<a href="#pb309">309</a>]</span>were the earliest missionaries on the trade-routes. The search for wealth had, as -has been shown, a religious incentive. It is unlikely, therefore, that only miners -and traders visited distant lands in which precious metals and jewels were discovered. -Expeditions, such as those of the Egyptian rulers that went to Punt for articles required -in the temples, were essentially religious expeditions. It was in the temples that -the demand for gold and jewels was stimulated, and each temple had its workshops with -their trade secrets. The priests of Egypt were the dyers, and they were the earliest -alchemists<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6823src" href="#xd31e6823">22</a> of whom we have knowledge. Such recipes as are found recorded in the Leyden papyrus -were no doubt kept from the common people. -</p> -<p>Associated with the search for metals was the immemorial quest of the elixir of life, -which was undoubtedly a priestly business—one that required the performance of religious -ceremonies of an elaborate character. Metals and jewels, as we have seen, as well -as plants, contained the “soul substance” that was required to promote health and -to ensure longevity in this world and in the next. It was, no doubt, the priestly -prospectors, and not the traders and working miners, who first imparted to jade its -religious value as a substitute for gold and jewels. -</p> -<p>When the searchers for wealth introduced into India and China the god Ptah’s potter’s -wheel they may well have introduced too the doctrine of the Logos, found in the pyramid-age -Ptah hymn quoted above, in which the World Soul is the “mind” of the god, and the -active principle “the tongue” that utters “the Word”. -</p> -<p>If they did so—the hypothesis does not seem to be improbable—it may be that as Buddhism -was in India <span class="pageNum" id="pb310">[<a href="#pb310">310</a>]</span>mixed with Naga worship, and was imported into Tibet and China as a fusion of metaphysical -speculations and crude idolatrous beliefs and practices, the priestly philosophies -of Egypt and Babylonia were similarly associated with the debris of primitive ideas -and ceremonies when they reached distant lands. As a matter of fact, it is found that -in both these culture centres this fusion was maintained all through their histories. -Ptah might be the “Word” to the priests, but to the common people he remained the -artisan-god for thousands of years—the god who hammered out the heavens and set the -world in order—a form of Shu who separated the heavens from the earth, as did Pʼan -Ku in China. -</p> -<p>In India and China, as in ancient Egypt, the doctrine of the Logos, in its earliest -and vaguest form, was associated with the older doctrine that life and the universe -emerged at the beginning from the womb of the mother-goddess, who was the active principle -in water, or the personification of that principle. -</p> -<p>In one of the several Indian creation myths, Prajapati emerges, like the Egyptian -Sun-god Horus, from the lotus-bloom floating on the primordial waters. The lotus is -the flower form of the Great Mother, who in Egypt is Hathor. -</p> -<p>Another myth tells that after the heat caused the rays to arise, and the rays caused -a cloud to form, and the cloud became water, the Self-Existent Being (here the Great -Father) created a seed. He flung the seed into the waters, and it became a golden -egg. From the egg came forth the personal Brahma (Prajapati).<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6837src" href="#xd31e6837">23</a> Because Brahma came from the waters (Narah), and they were his first home or path -(<i>ayana</i>), he is called Narayana.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6842src" href="#xd31e6842">24</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb311">[<a href="#pb311">311</a>]</span></p> -<p>Here we have the “path” or “way”, the Chinese Tao in one of its phases. -</p> -<p>When the Tao (neuter) became “active”, it did not manifest itself as a Great Father, -however, but as a Great Mother. The passive Tao is nameless; the active Tao has a -name. Lao Tze’s great treatise, <i>The Tao Teh King</i>, opens: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. -</p> -<p class="line">The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name, -</p> -<p class="line">(Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; -</p> -<p class="line">(Conceived of as) having a name, it is the <i>Mother of all</i> things.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6860src" href="#xd31e6860">25</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">The creation myths embedded in the writings of Lao Tze are exceedingly vague. -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced All things. -All things leave behind them the Obscurity (out of which they have come), and go forward -to embrace the Brightness (into which they have emerged), while they are harmonized -by the Breath of Vacancy.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6869src" href="#xd31e6869">26</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Another passage seems to indicate that the One, first produced, was the Mother, and -that the two produced by her were Heaven and Earth—the god of the sky and the goddess -of the earth: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Heaven and Earth (under the guidance of Tao) unite together and send down the sweet -dew, which, without the direction of men, reaches equally everywhere as of its own -accord.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6878src" href="#xd31e6878">27</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The fertilizing dew, like the creative tears of Egyptian and Indian deities, gave -origin to earth and its plants, and to all living things. But no such details are -given by Lao Tze. He is content to suggest that the Tao as “the <span class="pageNum" id="pb312">[<a href="#pb312">312</a>]</span>Honoured Ancestor” appears to have been before God. -</p> -<p>In his chapter, “The Completion of Material Forms”, he refers to the female valley -spirit. “The valley,” says Legge, “is used metaphorically as a symbol of ‘emptiness’ -or ‘vacancy’, and the ‘spirit of the valley’ is ‘the female mystery’—the Tao which -is ‘the mother of all things’.” -</p> -<p>Chalmers renders Chapter VI as follows: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“The Spirit (like perennial spring) of the Valley never dies. This (Spirit) I call -the abyss-mother. The passage of the abyss-mother I call the root of heaven and earth. -Ceaselessly it seems to endure, and it is employed without effort.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Dr. Legge’s rendering is in verse: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">The valley spirit dies not, aye the same; -</p> -<p class="line">The female mystery thus do we name. -</p> -<p class="line">Its gate, from which at first they issued forth, -</p> -<p class="line">Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth. -</p> -<p class="line">Long and unbroken does its power remain, -</p> -<p class="line">Used gently, and without the touch of pain.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6902src" href="#xd31e6902">28</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">The symbolism of this short chapter is of special interest, and seems to throw light -on the origin of the myths that were transformed by Lao Tze into philosophical abstractions. -We find the “female mystery” or “abyss mother” is at once a gate (or passage) and -a “root”. The Greek goddess Artemis was both. She was the guardian of the portals, -and was herself the portals; she was the giver of the mugwort (the Chinese knew it), -and was herself the mugwort (<i><span class="corr" id="xd31e6909" title="Source: Artemesia">Artemisia</span></i>), as Dr. Rendel Harris has shown.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6912src" href="#xd31e6912">29</a> She opened the gate of birth as the goddess of birth, her “key” being the mugwort, -and she opened the portal of death as the goddess of death. As the goddess of riches -she guarded the door of the treasure-house, and she possessed the “philosopher’s stone”, -which transmuted <span class="pageNum" id="pb313">[<a href="#pb313">313</a>]</span>base metals into gold. Artemis was a form of the Egyptian Hathor, Aphrodite being -another specialized form. Hathor was associated with the lotus and other water plants, -and was <i>Nub</i>, the lady of gold, who gave her name to Nubia; she was the goddess of miners, and -therefore of the Sinaitic peninsula; she was the “gate” of birth and death. The monumental -gateways of Egypt, India, China, and Japan appear to have been originally goddess -portals.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6920src" href="#xd31e6920">30</a> -</p> -<p>The goddess of the early prospectors and miners was, as has been said, a water-goddess. -In the writings of Lao Tze, his female and active Tao, “the Mother of all Things”, -is closely associated with water. The chapter entitled “The Placid and Contented Nature” -refers to water, and water as “an illustration of the way of the Tao, is”, Dr. Legge -comments, “repeatedly employed by Lao Tze”. -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of water appears in -its benefiting all things.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6932src" href="#xd31e6932">31</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Lao Tze, dealing with “The Attribute of Humility”, connects “water” with “women”: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“What makes a great state is its being (like a low-lying down-flowing stream); it -becomes the centre to which tend (all the small states) under heaven. -</p> -<p>“(To illustrate from) the case of all females:—the female always overcomes the male -by her stillness.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6943src" href="#xd31e6943">32</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Water is soft, but it wears down the rocks. -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“The softest thing in the world dashes against and overcomes the hardest; that which -has no (substantial) existence enters where there is no crevice.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6952src" href="#xd31e6952">33</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb314">[<a href="#pb314">314</a>]</span></p> -<p>The Tao acts like water, and (The Tao) “which originated all under the sky is”, Lao -Tze says, “to be considered as the mother of all of them. When the mother is found, -we know what her children should be.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6959src" href="#xd31e6959">34</a> -</p> -<p>A passage which has puzzled commentators is, -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Great, it (the Tao) passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it becomes remote. -Having become remote, it returns. Therefore the Tao is great.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6969src" href="#xd31e6969">35</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The reference may be to the circle of water which surrounds the world. It is possible -Lao Tze had it in mind, seeing that he so often compares the action of the Tao to -that of water—the Tao that produces and nourishes “by its outflowing operation”. -</p> -<p>Like “soul substance”, the Tao is found in all things that live, and in all things -that exercise an influence on life. The Tao is the absolute, or, as the Brahmanic -sages declared, the “It” which cannot be seen—the “It” in the fruit of the tree, the -“It” in man. Lao Tze refers to the “It” as the “One”. -</p> -<p>In his chapter, “The Origin of the Law”, he writes: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">The things which from of old have got the One (the Tao) are: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">Heaven, which by it is bright and pure; -</p> -<p class="line">Earth endowed thereby firm and sure; -</p> -<p class="line">Spirits with powers by it supplied; -</p> -<p class="line">Valleys kept full throughout their void; -</p> -<p class="line">All creatures which through it do live; -</p> -<p class="line">Princes and Kings who from it get -</p> -<p class="line">The model which to all they give.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6988src" href="#xd31e6988">36</a> -</p> -</div> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The Tao may produce and nourish all things and bring them to maturity, but it “exercises -no control over them”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e6995src" href="#xd31e6995">37</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb315">[<a href="#pb315">315</a>]</span></p> -<p>Man must begin by taking control of himself: he must make use of the light that is -within him. The wise man “does not dare to act” of his accord. When he has acted so -that he reaches a state of inaction, the Tao will then drift him into a state of perfection. -He must guard the mother (Tao) in himself by attending to the breath. “The management -of the breath,” says Dr. Legge, “is the mystery of the esoteric Buddhism and Taoism.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7003src" href="#xd31e7003">38</a> “When one knows,” Tao Tze has written, “that he is his mother’s child, and proceeds -to guard (the qualities of) the mother that belongs to him, to the end of his life -he will be free from peril. Let him keep his mouth closed, and shut up the portals -(of his nostrils), and all his life he will be exempt from laborious exertion.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7007src" href="#xd31e7007">39</a> -</p> -<p>By giving “undivided attention to the breath” (the vital breath), and bringing it -“to the utmost degree of pliancy”, he “can become as a (tender) babe. When he has -cleansed away the most mysterious sights (of his imagination), he can become without -a flaw.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7013src" href="#xd31e7013">40</a> -</p> -<p>The doctrine of Inaction pervades the teaching of Lao Tze, which is quite fatalistic. -Salvation depends on the individual and the state allowing the Tao to “flow” freely. -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“If the Empire is governed according to Tao, evil spirits will not be worshipped as -good ones. -</p> -<p>“If evil spirits are not worshipped as good ones, good ones will do no injury. Neither -will the Sages injure the people. Each one will not injure the other. And if neither -injures the other, there will be mutual profit.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>A native commentator writes in this connection: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Spirits do not hurt the natural. If people are natural, spirits have no means of -manifesting themselves, and if spirits do not manifest themselves, we are not conscious -of their existence <span class="pageNum" id="pb316">[<a href="#pb316">316</a>]</span>as such. Likewise, if we are not conscious of the existence of spirits as such, we -must be equally unconscious of the existence of inspired teachers as such; and to -be unconscious of the existence of spirits and of inspired teachers is the very essence -of Tao.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7030src" href="#xd31e7030">41</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The scholarly sage thus reached the conclusion that it is a blessed thing to know -nothing, to be ignorant. Good order is necessary for the workings of the Tao, and -good order is secured by abstinence from action, and by keeping the people in a state -of simplicity and ignorance, so that they may be restful and child-like in their unquestioning -and complete submission to the Tao. “The state of vacancy,” says Lao Tze, “should -be brought to the utmost degree.… When things (in the vegetable world) have displayed -their luxuriant growth, we see each of them return to its root. This returning to -their root is what we call the state of stillness.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7037src" href="#xd31e7037">42</a> -</p> -<p>There would be no virtues if there were no vices, no robberies if there were no wealth. -</p> -<p>“If,” the Taoists argued, “we would renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, -it would be better for the people a hundredfold. If we could renounce our benevolence -and discard our rightness, the people would again become filial and kindly. If we -could renounce our artful contrivances and discard our scheming for gain, there would -be no thieves and robberies.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7044src" href="#xd31e7044">43</a> -</p> -<p>Here we meet with the doctrine of the World’s Ages, already referred to. Men were -perfect to begin with, because, as Lao Tze says, “they did not know they were ruled”. -“In the age of perfect virtue,” Kwang Tze writes, “they attached no value to wisdom.… -They <span class="pageNum" id="pb317">[<a href="#pb317">317</a>]</span>were upright and correct, without knowing that to be so was righteousness; they loved -one another, without knowing that to do so was benevolence; they were honest and leal-hearted -without knowing that it was loyalty; they fulfilled their engagements, without knowing -that to do so was good faith; in their simple movements they employed the services -of one another, without thinking that they were conferring or receiving any gift. -Therefore their actions left no trace, and there was no record of their affairs.” -</p> -<p>To this state of perfection, Lao Tze wished his fellow-countrymen to return. -</p> -<p>That the idea of the Tao originated among those who went far and wide, searching for -the elixir of life, is suggested by Lao Tze’s chapter, “The Value Set on Life”. He -refers to those “whose movements tend to the land (or place) of death”, and asks, -“For what reason?” The answer is, “Because of their excessive endeavours to perpetuate -life”. -</p> -<p>He continues: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“But I have heard that he who is skilful in managing the life entrusted to him for -a time travels on the land without having to shun rhinoceros or tiger, and enters -a host without having to avoid buff coat or sharp weapon. The rhinoceros finds no -place in him into which to thrust its horn, nor the tiger a place in which to fix -its claws, nor the weapon a place to admit its point. And for what reason? Because -there is in him no place of death.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7060src" href="#xd31e7060">44</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>It would appear that Lao Tze was acquainted not only with more ancient writers regarding -the Tao, but with traditions regarding heroes resembling Achilles, Siegfried, and -Diarmid, whose bodies had been rendered invulnerable by dragon’s blood, or the water -of a river in the Otherworld; or, seeing that each of these heroes <span class="pageNum" id="pb318">[<a href="#pb318">318</a>]</span>had a spot which was a “place of death”, with traditions regarding heroes who, like -El Kedir, plunged in the “Well of Life” and became immortals, whose bodies could not -be injured by man or beast. The El Kedirs of western Asia and Europe figure in legends -as “Wandering Jews” or invulnerable heroes, including those who, like Diarmid, found -the “Well of Life”, and those who had knowledge of charms that rendered them invisible -or protected them against wounds. The Far Eastern stories regarding the inhabitants -of the “Islands of the Blest”, related in a previous chapter, may be recalled in this -connection. Having drunk the waters of the “Well of Life” and eaten of the “fungus -of immortality”, they were rendered immune to poisons, and found it impossible to -injure themselves. When, therefore, we find Lao Tze referring to men who had no reason -to fear armed warriors or beasts of prey, it seems reasonable to conclude that these -were men who had found and partaken of the elixir of life, or had accumulated “stores -of vitality” by practising breathing exercises and drinking charmed water, or by acquiring -“merit”, like the Indian ascetics who concentrated their thoughts on Brahma (neuter). -</p> -<p>In the chapter, “Returning to the Root”, in his <i>Tao Teh King</i>, Lao Tze appears to regard the Tao as a preservative against death. He who in “the -state of vacancy” returns to primeval simplicity and perfectness achieves longevity -through the workings of the Tao. -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Possessed of the Tao, he endures long; and to the end of his bodily life is exempt -from all danger of decay.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7076src" href="#xd31e7076">45</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Here the Tao acts like the magic water that restores <span class="pageNum" id="pb319">[<a href="#pb319">319</a>]</span>youth. It is “soul substance”, and is required by the Chinese gods as Idun’s apples -are required by the Norse gods. Says Lao Tze: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Spirits of the dead receiving It (Tao) become divine; the very gods themselves owe -their divinity to its influence; and by It both heaven and earth were produced”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7087src" href="#xd31e7087">46</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>There were floating traditions in China in Lao Tze’s time regarding men who had lived -for hundreds of years. One was “the patriarch Phăng”, who is referred to by Confucius<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7093src" href="#xd31e7093">47</a> as “our old Phăng”. It was told that “at the end of the Shang Dynasty (1123 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>) he was more than 767 years old, and still in unabated vigour”. We read that during -his lifetime he lost forty-nine wives and fifty-four sons; and that, after living -for about 1500 years, he died and left two sons, Wu and I, who “gave their names to -the Wu-i or Bu-i Hills, from which we get our Bohea tea”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7100src" href="#xd31e7100">48</a> -</p> -<p>Kwang Tze refers to Phăng. But instead of telling that he had discovered and partaken -of the elixir of life, as he must have done in the original story, he says that he -“got It (the Tao), and lived on from the time of the lord Yu to that of the five chiefs”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7107src" href="#xd31e7107">49</a> -</p> -<p>Others who got It (the Tao) in like manner were, according to Kwang Tze, the prehistoric -Shih-wei who “adjusted heaven and earth”, Fu-hsi who “by It penetrated to the mystery -of the maternity of the primary matter”, the sage Hwang-Ti who “by It ascended the -cloudy sky”, Fu Yueh, chief minister of Wu-ting (1324–1264 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>), who got It and after death mounted to the Eastern portion of the Milky Way, where, -riding on Sagittarius and <span class="pageNum" id="pb320">[<a href="#pb320">320</a>]</span>Scorpio, he took his place among the stars. Various spirits “imbibed” It likewise -and owed their power and attributes to It (the Tao).<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7120src" href="#xd31e7120">50</a> -</p> -<p>Kwang Tze tells that a man once addressed a Taoist sage, saying, “You are old, sir, -while your complexion is like that of a child; how is it so?” -</p> -<p>The reply was, “I have become acquainted with the Tao”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7128src" href="#xd31e7128">51</a> -</p> -<p>Here the Tao is undoubtedly regarded as the elixir of life—as “soul substance” that -renews youth and promotes longevity. It was not, however, a thing to eat and drink—the -“plant of life” or “the water of life”—but an influence obtained like the spiritual -power, the “merit”, accumulated by the Brahmanic hermits of India who practised “yogi”. -As the mystery of creation was repeated at birth when a new soul came into existence, -so did the Tao create new life when the devotee reached the desired state of complete -and unquestioning submission to its workings. -</p> -<p>There were some Taoists who, like the Brahmanic hermits, sought refuge in solitary -places and endeavoured to promote longevity by management of the breath, adopting -what Mr. Balfour has called a “system of mystic and recondite calisthenics”. As we -have seen, Lao Tze makes reference to “breathing exercises”, but apparently certain -of his followers regarded the performance of these exercises as the sum and substance -of his teachings, whereas they were but an aid towards attaining the state of mind -which prepared the Taoist for submission to the Tao. Kwang Tze found it necessary -to condemn the practices of those “scholars” who, instead of pursuing “the path of -self cultivation”, endeavoured to accumulate “the breath of life” so that they might -live as long as the <span class="pageNum" id="pb321">[<a href="#pb321">321</a>]</span>patriarch Phăng. In his chapter, “Ingrained Ideas”, he writes: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Blowing and breathing with open mouth; inhaling and exhaling the breath; expelling -the old breath and taking in new; passing their time like the (dormant) bear, and -stretching and twisting (the neck) like a bird; all this simply shows the desire for -longevity”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7140src" href="#xd31e7140">52</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The genuine devotees “enjoy their ease without resorting to the rivers and seas”, -they “attain to longevity without the management (of the breath)”, they “forget all -things and yet possess all things<span id="xd31e7146"></span> by cultivating the qualities of placidity, indifference, silence, quietude, absolute -vacancy and non-action”. These qualities “are the substance of the Tao and its characteristics”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7148src" href="#xd31e7148">53</a> -</p> -<p>It seems undoubted, however, that the system of Lao Tze, whereby “spiritual fluid” -flowed into the placid, receptive mind, originated in the very practices here condemned—in -the quest of “soul substance” contained in water, herbs, metals, and gems. As Indian -and Chinese sages retired to solitudes and endured great privations, so that they -might accumulate “merit”, so did the searchers for herbs, metals, and gems penetrate -desert wastes and cross trackless mountains, so as to accumulate the wealth which -was “merit” to them. They were inspired in like manner by genuine religious enthusiasm. -</p> -<p>The Taoists never forgot the “Elixir”. Taoism began with the quest of that elusive -and mystical “It” which renewed youth and ensured immortality, or prolonged longevity -after death, and the later Taoists revived or, perhaps one should say, perpetuated -the search for “the Water of Life”, and the “Plant of Life”, the “Peach of 3000 years”, -or “10,000 years”, the gem trees, gold, pearls, jade, &c. The fear of death obsessed -their minds. <span class="pageNum" id="pb322">[<a href="#pb322">322</a>]</span>They wished to live as long as the Patriarch Phăng on this earth, or to be transferred -bodily to the Paradise of the West, the Paradise of Cloudland or Star-land, or that -of the “Islands of the Blest”. Besides, it was necessary that the earthly life should -be prolonged so that they might make complete submission to the Tao. Their lives had -to be passed in tranquillity; they were not to reflect on the past or feel anxiety -regarding the future. The fear of death in the future tended to disturb their peace -of mind, and they were therefore in need of water which, like the water of Lethe, -would make them forget their cares, or some other elixir that would inspire them with -confidence and give them strength. Kwang Tze might censure the ascetics for confusing -“the means” with “the end”, but ordinary men have always been prone to attach undue -importance to ceremonies and rites—to concentrate their thoughts on the performance -of rites rather than in accumulating “merit”, and to believe that “merit” can be accumulated -by the performance of the rites alone. -</p> -<p>The explanation of the state of affairs censured by Kwang Tze seems to be that the -transcendental teachings of Lao Tze and himself, in which the vague idea of the Logos -was fused with belief in a vague elixir of life, were incomprehensible not only to -the masses but even to scholars, and that the practices and beliefs of the older faith -on which Lao Tze founded his system were perpetuated by custom and tradition by other -adherents to the cult of which he was a teacher. Ordinary men, who were not by temperament -or mental constitution or training either mystics or metaphysicians, required something -more concrete than the elusive Tao of Lao and Kwang; they clung to their beliefs in -the efficacy of life-prolonging herbs, jewels, metals, coloured stones, water, fresh -air, &c. Withal, they required something to worship, having <span class="pageNum" id="pb323">[<a href="#pb323">323</a>]</span>always been accustomed to perform religious ceremonies and offer up sacrifices. They -could not worship or sacrifice to an abstraction like the Tao. Nor could they grasp -the idea of an impersonal God as expressed in the writings of Kwang Tze, who taught: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“God is a principle which exists by virtue of its own intrinsicality, and operates -spontaneously without self-manifestation”.</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The people clung to their belief in a personal God, or personal gods including dragon-gods, -and when the old deities believed in by their ancestors were discredited by their -teachers, they deified Lao Tze and his disciples as the Indians deified Buddha and -the Rishis. Lao Tze was sacrificed to in the second century B.C., and a superb temple -was erected to him. One of the Emperors who embraced the Taoist faith caused the statue -of Lao Tze to be carried into his palace, with pomp and ceremony. The ordinary priests -in the temples of China were called Taoists. -</p> -<p>When Buddhism began to exercise an influence in China between the third century B.C. -and the first century <span class="asc">A.D.</span>, the Taoists borrowed from the Buddhists, while the Buddhists, in turn, borrowed -from the Taoists. The myth then arose that when Lao Tze “went west”, he was reborn -in India as the Buddha. But the Taoists clung also to the older myth that after Lao -Tze died, he ascended to Cloudland and became the personal god of heaven, Shang Ti, -the Supreme and Divine Emperor. It was as Shang Ti, a term which includes the spirits -of deceased Emperors of China, he was worshipped not only in temples but at domestic -shrines, along with the various groups of demi-gods, some of whom were identified -with the disciples of Lao Tze. The Chinese Shang Ti, like the ancient Egyptian sun-god -Ra and the Babylonian Marduk (Merodach), was the divine father of the living monarch. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb324">[<a href="#pb324">324</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6545"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6545src">1</a></span> One of his names during his lifetime was Li Po-Yang: after his death he was Li Tan. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6545src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6548"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6548src">2</a></span> <i>Journal of Egyptian Archæology.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6548src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6561"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6561src">3</a></span> <i>Macbeth</i>, Act v, scene 7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6561src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6588"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6588src">4</a></span> As has been stated, tea was an elixir. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6588src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6596"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6596src">5</a></span> “King” signifies “classic”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6596src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6640"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6640src">6</a></span> Breasted, <i>A History of Egypt</i>, p. 357. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6640src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6653"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6653src">7</a></span> <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, pp. 46–7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6653src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6670"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6670src">8</a></span> In Egypt the “rays” were the creative tears of the sun-god. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6670src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6676"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6676src">9</a></span> <i>The Speculations in Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality of “The Old Philosopher”.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6676src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6683"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6683src">10</a></span> <i>The Modern Speech New Testament</i> (London, 1903): John, Chap. i, verse 1 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6683src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6694"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6694src">11</a></span> <i>The Ancient Faiths of China</i>, p. 49. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6694src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6698"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6698src">12</a></span> <i>History of Religions</i> (Edinburgh, 1914), p. 49. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6698src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6702"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6702src">13</a></span> <i>Christ and Other Masters</i>, Vol. II, p. 67. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6702src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6711"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6711src">14</a></span> <i>Language and Languages</i>, pp. 184–5. Jowett, in a letter to Mrs. Asquith in 1893, wrote, “I think also that -you might put religion in another way, as absolute resignation to the Will of God -and the order of Nature” (<i>Autobiography of Mrs. Asquith</i>). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6711src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6719"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6719src">15</a></span> <i>The Texts of Taoism</i> p. 13 (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6719src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6727"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6727src">16</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 15. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6727src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6734"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6734src">17</a></span> <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Book I, p. 936. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6734src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6778"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6778src">18</a></span> <i>Rigveda</i>, X, 129. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6778src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6791"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6791src">19</a></span> <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 97–9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6791src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6801"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6801src">20</a></span> <i>The <span class="corr" id="xd31e6804" title="Source: Blagavad-Gita">Bhagavad-Gita</span></i>, Book 18. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6801src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6814"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6814src">21</a></span> <i>The Texts of Taoism</i>, p. 19. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6814src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6823"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6823src">22</a></span> The beginnings of Alchemy can be traced back to the early dynastic period in ancient -Egypt. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6823src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6837"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6837src">23</a></span> The Egyptian gods Ra and Ptah similarly emerged from cosmic eggs. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6837src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6842"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6842src">24</a></span> <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 100–2. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6842src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6860"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6860src">25</a></span> Dr. Legge, <i>Taoist Texts</i>, p. 47. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6860src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6869"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6869src">26</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 85. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6869src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6878"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6878src">27</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 74, 75. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6878src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6902"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6902src">28</a></span> Dr. Legge, <i>Taoist Texts</i>, p. 51. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6902src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6912"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6912src">29</a></span> <i>Ascent of Olympus</i>, p. 73. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6912src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6920"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6920src">30</a></span> For discussions on these gates see Elliot Smith in <i>Journal of the Manchester and Oriental Society</i> (1916), and <i>The Evolution of the Dragon</i>, pp. 184, 185. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6920src" title="Return to note 30 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6932"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6932src">31</a></span> Dr. Legge, <i>Taoist Texts</i>, p. 52. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6932src" title="Return to note 31 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6943"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6943src">32</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 104. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6943src" title="Return to note 32 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6952"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6952src">33</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 87. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6952src" title="Return to note 33 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6959"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6959src">34</a></span> Dr. Legge, <i>Taoist Texts</i>, pp. 94, 95. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6959src" title="Return to note 34 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6969"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6969src">35</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 67–9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6969src" title="Return to note 35 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6988"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6988src">36</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 82. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6988src" title="Return to note 36 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e6995"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e6995src">37</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 94. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e6995src" title="Return to note 37 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7003"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7003src">38</a></span> <i>The Texts of Taoism</i>, p. 96. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7003src" title="Return to note 38 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7007"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7007src">39</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 95. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7007src" title="Return to note 39 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7013"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7013src">40</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 53, 54. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7013src" title="Return to note 40 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7030"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7030src">41</a></span> Herbert A. Giles, <i>Religions of Ancient China</i>, p. 47. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7030src" title="Return to note 41 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7037"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7037src">42</a></span> <i>The Texts of Taoism</i>, p. 59. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7037src" title="Return to note 42 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7044"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7044src">43</a></span> Giles, <i>Chuang Tzu, Mystic, Moralist, and Social Reformer</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7044src" title="Return to note 43 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7060"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7060src">44</a></span> <i>The Texts of Taoism</i>, pp. 92, 93. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7060src" title="Return to note 44 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7076"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7076src">45</a></span> <i>The Texts of Taoism</i>, p. 60. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7076src" title="Return to note 45 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7087"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7087src">46</a></span> <i>Kwang Tze</i>, Book VI, par. 7 (Balfour’s translation). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7087src" title="Return to note 46 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7093"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7093src">47</a></span> <i>Analects</i> VII, 1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7093src" title="Return to note 47 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7100"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7100src">48</a></span> <i>The Texts of Taoism</i>, p. 167 <i>n.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7100src" title="Return to note 48 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7107"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7107src">49</a></span> <i>The Texts of Taoism</i> (The Writings of <i>Kwang Tze</i>), p. 245. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7107src" title="Return to note 49 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7120"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7120src">50</a></span> <i>The Texts of Taoism</i>, pp. 244 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7120src" title="Return to note 50 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7128"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7128src">51</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 245. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7128src" title="Return to note 51 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7140"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7140src">52</a></span> <i>The Texts of Taoism</i>, p. 364. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7140src" title="Return to note 52 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7148"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7148src">53</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 364–5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7148src" title="Return to note 53 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch17" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e392">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XVII</h2> -<h2 class="main">Culture Mixing in Japan</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Races and Archæological Ages—The “Pit-dwellers”—Ainu Myths and Legends—Mummification—Sacred -Animals, Herbs, and Trees—Ainu Cosmogony—Ainu Deluge Legend—Pearl-lore in Japan—Mandrake -in Korea, Japan, and China—The Japanese “Dragon-Pearl” as Soul—Links with America—Medicinal -Herbs and Jewels—The “God-Body”—Sanctity of Beads—The Coral, Shells, Coins, Fruit, -and Feathers of Luck-gods—Jade in Japan—No Jade Necklaces in China—Japanese Imperial -Insignia the Mirror, Sword, and Jewel—Shinto Temples and Artemis Gateways—Mikado as -Osiris—The Shinto Faith—Yomi—Food of the Dead—The Souls of Mikados and Pharaohs—The -<i>Kami</i> as Gods, &c.—Gods of the Cardinal Points.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">There was not only “culture” mixing but also a mixing of races in ancient times throughout -the Japanese Archipelago. Distinct racial types can be detected in the present-day -population. “Of these,” says the Japanese writer, Yei Ozaki,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7184src" href="#xd31e7184">1</a> “the two known as the patrician and the plebeian are the most conspicuous. The delicate -oval face of the aristocrat or Mongoloid, with its aquiline nose, oblique eyes, high-arched -eyebrows, bud-like mouth, cream-coloured skin, and slender frame, has been the favourite -theme of artists for a thousand years, and is still the ideal of beauty to-day. The -Japanese plebeian has the Malayan cast of countenance, high cheek-bones, large prognathic -mouth, full, straight eyes, a skin almost as dark as bronze, and a robust, heavily-boned -physique. The flat-faced, heavy-jawed, hirsute Ainu type, with <span class="pageNum" id="pb325">[<a href="#pb325">325</a>]</span>luxuriant hair and long beards, is also frequently met with among the Japanese. Such -are the diverse elements which go to comprise the race of the present time.” -</p> -<p>The oblique-eyed aristocrats—the Normans of Japan—appear to have come from Korea, -and to have achieved political ascendancy as a result of conquest in the archæological -“Iron Age”, when megalithic tombs of the corridor type, covered with mounds, were -introduced.<a class="noteRef" id="n325.1src" href="#n325.1">2</a> They brought with them, in addition to distinctive burial customs, a heritage of -Korean religious beliefs and myths regarding serpent- or dragon-gods of rivers and -ocean, air and mountains. After coming into contact with other peoples in Japan, their -mythology grew more complex, and assumed a local aspect. Chinese and Buddhist elements -were subsequently added. -</p> -<p>There was no distinct “Bronze Age” in Japan. “Ancient bronze objects are,” says Laufer, -“so scarce in Japan, that even granted they were indigenous, the establishment of -a Bronze Age would not be justified, nor is there in the ancient records any positive -evidence of the use of bronze.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7205src" href="#xd31e7205">3</a> Although stone implements have been found, it is uncertain whether there ever was, -in the strict Western European sense, a “Neolithic Age”. The earliest inhabitants -of the islands could not have reached them until after ships came into use in the -Far East, and therefore after the culture of those who used metals had made its influence -felt over wide areas. -</p> -<p>As we have seen (Chapter III), the most archaic ships in the Kamschatka area in the -north, and in the Malayan area in the south, were of Egyptian type, having apparently -<span class="pageNum" id="pb326">[<a href="#pb326">326</a>]</span>been introduced by the early prospectors who searched for pearls and precious stones -and metals. In the oldest Japanese writings, the records of ancient oral traditions, -gold and silver are referred to as “yellow” and “white” metals existing in Korea, -while bronze, when first mentioned, is called the “Chinese metal” and the “Korean -metal”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7215src" href="#xd31e7215">4</a> “The bronze and iron objects found in the ancient graves have simply,” says Laufer, -“been imported from the mainland, and plainly are, in the majority of cases, of Chinese -manufacture. Many of these, like metal mirrors, certain helmets, and others, have -been recognized as such; but through comparison with corresponding Chinese material, -the same can be proved for the rest.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7219src" href="#xd31e7219">5</a> At the beginning of our era, the Japanese, as the annals of the Later Han Dynasty -of China record, purchased iron in Korea. The Chinese and Koreans derived the knowledge -of how to work iron from the interior of Siberia, the Turkish Yakut there being the -older and better iron-workers.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7225src" href="#xd31e7225">6</a> -</p> -<p>The racial fusion in ancient Japan was not complete. Although the Koreans, Chinese, -and Malayans intermarried and became “Japanese”, communities of the Ainu never suffered -loss of identity, and lived apart from the conquerors and those of their kinsmen who -were absorbed by them. -</p> -<p>An outstanding feature of Japanese archæology is that Culture A appears to have been -a higher one than Culture B, which is represented by Ainu artifacts. Culture A is -that of a pre-Ainu people whom the Ainu found inhabiting parts of the archipelago, -and called the Koro-pok-guru. The name signifies “the people having depressions”, -and <span class="pageNum" id="pb327">[<a href="#pb327">327</a>]</span>is usually rendered by Western writers as “Pit-dwellers”. In the Japanese writings -the Koro-pok-guru are referred to as “the small people” and “earth spiders”. -</p> -<p>During the winter season the Koro-pok-guru lived in pit-houses, with conical or beehive -roofs. The depth of these earth houses was greater on slopes and exposed heights than -on low-lying ground. In summer they occupied beehive houses erected on the level. -Their “kitchen-midden” deposits have yielded pottery, including well-shaped vases, -and arrowheads of flint, obsidian, reddish jasper or dark siliceous rock. Like the -“pit-dwellers” of Saghalin and Kamschatka, the Koro-pok-guru were seafarers and fishers. -Their houses were erected on river banks and along the sea coast. -</p> -<p>Culture B deposits are devoid of pottery. The Ainu have never been potters; their -bowls and spoons were in ancient times made of wood. They claim to have exterminated -the Koro-pok-guru, who appear to have had affinities with the present inhabitants -of the northern Kuriles, a people of short stature, with roundish heads, the men having -short, thick beards, and being quite different in general appearance from the “hairy -Ainu” with long, flowing beards. Some communities of Ainu present physical characteristics -that suggest the blending in ancient times of the “long beards” and “short beards”. -The pure Ainu are the hairiest people in the world. They are broad-headed and have -brown eyes and black beards, and are of sturdy build. Their <i>tibia</i> and <i>humerus</i> bones are somewhat flat. In old age some resemble the inhabitants of Great Russia. -</p> -<p>The Ainu<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7248src" href="#xd31e7248">7</a> are hunters and fishers. Their women <span class="pageNum" id="pb328">[<a href="#pb328">328</a>]</span>cultivate millet (their staple food) and vegetables, and gather herbs and roots among -the mountains. According to their own traditions, they came from Sara, which means -a “plain”. Their “culture hero”, Okikurumi, descended from heaven to a mountain in -Piratoru,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7264src" href="#xd31e7264">8</a> having been delegated by the Creator to teach the Ainu religion and law. Before this -hero returned to heaven, he married Turesh Machi,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7270src" href="#xd31e7270">9</a> and he left his son, Waruinekuru, to instruct the Ainu “how to make cloth, to hunt -and fish, how to make poison and set the spring-bow in the trail of animals”. -</p> -<p>When Okikurumi first arrived among the Ainu, the crust of the earth was still thin -and “all was burning beneath”. It was impossible for people to go a-hunting without -scorching their feet. The celestial hero arranged that his wife should distribute -food, but made it a condition that no human being would dare to look in her face. -She went daily from house to house thrusting in the food with her great hands. -</p> -<p>An inquisitive Ainu, of the “Peeping Tom” order, resolved to satisfy his curiosity -regarding the mysterious food-distributor. One morning he seized her and pulled her -into his house, whereupon she was immediately transformed into a wriggling serpent-dragon. -A terrible thunderstorm immediately broke out, and the house of “Peeping Tom” was -destroyed by lightning. -</p> -<p>This is an interesting Far Eastern version of the Godiva legend<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7280src" href="#xd31e7280">10</a> of Coventry. -</p> -<p>Greatly angered by the breaking of the taboo, Okikurumi returned to the celestial -regions. His dragon-wife is not only a Godiva, but another Far Eastern Melusina.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7288src" href="#xd31e7288">11</a> -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p328width" id="p328"><img src="images/p328.jpg" alt="THE MOST FAMOUS PAI-LO (GODDESS SYMBOL) IN CHINA: AT THE MENG TOMBS, NEAR PEKING" width="720" height="420"><div class="figAnnotation p328width"><span class="figBottomLeft">Copyright -</span><span class="figTop"> </span><span class="figBottomRight">H. G. Ponting. F.R.G.S. -</span></div> -<p class="figureHead">THE MOST FAMOUS PAI-LO (GODDESS SYMBOL) IN CHINA: AT THE MENG TOMBS, NEAR PEKING</p> -<p>(Compare with Japanese type, page <a href="#pb338" class="pageref">338</a>)</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>Okikurumi is said to have worn ear-rings. He had <span class="pageNum" id="pb329">[<a href="#pb329">329</a>]</span>therefore a solar connection. The Aryo-Indian hero, <span class="corr" id="xd31e7311" title="Source: Karma">Karna</span>, son of Surya, the sun-god, who emerged from an ear of his human mother, Princess -Pritha, was similarly adorned at birth with ear-rings. The Ainu have from the earliest -times considered it essential that they should all wear ear-rings, and the ears of -males and females are bored in childhood. It was similarly a ceremonial practice in -ancient Peru to bore the ears of Inca princes. Jacob objected to his wives wearing -ear-rings, and buried those so-called “ornaments” with the gods of Laban under an -oak at Shechem.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7314src" href="#xd31e7314">12</a> Bracelets and “ear-ornaments” were similarly favoured as religious charms and symbols -by the Ainu. -</p> -<p>It is of special interest to note that mummification was practised by some Ainu tribes -or families. Whether or not they acquired this custom from the Koro-pok-guru is uncertain. -Women tattooed their arms, their upper and lower lips, and sometimes their foreheads. -Tattooing and mummification similarly obtained among the Aleutian Islanders. The same -peculiar methods of preserving corpses obtained among the Ainu, the Aleutians, and -certain Red Indian tribes of North America.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7321src" href="#xd31e7321">13</a> Another link between the Old and New Worlds is afforded by American-Asiatic bone -plate armour.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7327src" href="#xd31e7327">14</a> -</p> -<p>Like the Ostiaks and other Siberian tribes, the Ainu worship the bear. Their bear -feasts are occasions for heavy drinking and much dancing and singing. Drunkenness -is to them “supreme bliss”. -</p> -<p>The bear-goddess was the wife of the dragon-god. She had a human lover, and that is -why bears, her descendants, “are half like a human being”. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb330">[<a href="#pb330">330</a>]</span></p> -<p>The salmon is divine, and its symbol is worshipped. Folk-tales are told regarding -salmon taking human shape, as do the seals in Scottish Gaelic stories. As in China -and Japan, the fox is the most subtle of all beasts. It supplanted the tiger as chief -god, according to an Ainu folk-tale. There is a great tortoise-god in the sea and -an owl-god on the land, and their children have intermarried. The cock is of celestial -origin. It was, at the beginning, sent down from heaven by the Creator to ascertain -what the world looked like, but tarried for so long a time, being well pleased with -things, that it was forbidden to return. Hares are mountain deities. -</p> -<p>The oldest trees are the oak and pine, and they are therefore sacred, and the oldest -and most sacred herb is the mugwort. In Kamschatka the pine is associated with the -mugwort. The mugwort is connected with goddesses of the Artemis order.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7340src" href="#xd31e7340">15</a> Sacred, too, was the willow, and specially sacred the mistletoe that grew on a willow -tree. An elixir prepared from the mistletoe was supposed to renew youth, and therefore -to prolong life and cure diseases. Siberians venerate the herb willow.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7350src" href="#xd31e7350">16</a> The drink prepared from it was a soporific for human beings, wild animals, and deities. -Far Eastern deities had apparently to be soothed as well as invoked as, it may be -recalled, was Hathor-Sekhet in the Egyptian “flood myth”, when she was given beer -poured out from jars, so that she might cease from slaughtering mankind.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7355src" href="#xd31e7355">17</a> -</p> -<p>When the Ainu performed religious ceremonies, shavings and whittled sticks of willow -were used, and libations of intoxicating liquors provided. Deities were made drunk, -as in Babylonia,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7362src" href="#xd31e7362">18</a> and then provided with a <span class="pageNum" id="pb331">[<a href="#pb331">331</a>]</span>soothing anti-intoxicant. The Ainu set up their willow sticks at wells and around -their dwellings. They had no temples, and when they worshipped the sun, a shaven willow -stick was placed at the east end of a house. -</p> -<p>The moon-god came next in order to the sun-god. The fire-god was invoked to cure disease. -There was a subtle connection between fire and mistletoe, perhaps because fire was -obtained by friction of soft and hard wood, and an intoxicating elixir prepared from -a tree or its parasite was believed to be “fire water”—that is, “water of life”. Offerings -were made to gods of ocean, rivers, and mountains. -</p> -<p>The world was supposed to be floating on and surrounded by water, and to be resting -on the spine of a gigantic fish which caused earthquakes when it moved. There were -two heavens—one above the clouds and another in the Underworld. A hell, from which -the volcanoes vomit fire, was reserved for the wicked. -</p> -<p>Like the Chinese, the Ainu tell stories of visits paid to Paradise. A man, whose wife -had been spirited away, appealed to the oak-god, who provided him with a golden horse -on which he rode to the sky. He reached a beautiful city in which people went about -singing constantly. They smelled a stranger, and, the smell being offensive to them, -they appealed to the chief god to give him his wife. The god promised to do so if -the visitor would agree to go away at once. He consented readily, and returned to -the oak-god, who told him his wife was in hell, and that the place was now in confusion -because the chief god had ordered a search to be made for her. Soon afterwards the -lost woman was restored to her husband. This man was given the golden horse to keep, -and all the horses in Ainu-land are descended from it. -</p> -<p>Another man once chased a bear on a mountain side. <span class="pageNum" id="pb332">[<a href="#pb332">332</a>]</span>The animal entered a cave, and he followed it, passing through a long, dark tunnel. -He reached the beautiful land of the Underworld. Feeling hungry, he ate grapes and -mulberries, and, to his horror, was immediately transformed into a serpent. He crawled -back to the entrance and fell asleep below a pine tree. In his dream the goddess of -the tree appeared. She told him he had been transformed into a serpent because he -had eaten of the food of Hades, and that, if he wished to be restored to human shape, -he must climb to the top of the tree and fling himself down. When he awoke, the man-serpent -did as the goddess advised. After leaping from the tree top, he found himself standing -below it, while near him lay the body of a great serpent which had been split open. -He then went through the tunnel and emerged from the cave. But later he had another -dream, in which the goddess appeared and told him he must return to the Underworld -because a goddess there had fallen in love with him. He did as he was commanded to -do, and was never again seen on earth. -</p> -<p>A story tells of another Ainu who reached this Paradise. He saw many people he had -known in the world, but they were unable to see him. Only the dogs perceived him, -and they growled and barked. Catching sight of his father and mother he went forward -to embrace them, but they complained of being haunted by an evil spirit, and he had -to leave them. -</p> -<p>The Ainu have a Deluge Myth which tells that when the waters rose the vast majority -of human beings were destroyed. Only a remnant escaped by ascending to the summit -of a high mountain.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7378src" href="#xd31e7378">19</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb333">[<a href="#pb333">333</a>]</span></p> -<p>Although the Ainu claimed to have exterminated the Koro-pok-guru, it is possible that -they really intermixed with them and derived some of their religious ideas and myths -from them, and that, in turn, the Japanese were influenced by both Ainu and Koro-pok-guru -ideas and myths. The aniconic pillars and the female goddess with fish termination -(the Dragon Mother) figure in Japanese as well as Ainu religion. Both are found in -Kamschatka, too. Dr. Rendel Harris, commenting on the pillar and fish-goddess idols -of the Kamschatdals,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7401src" href="#xd31e7401">20</a> recalls “the various fish forms of Greek and Oriental religions, the Dagon and Derceto -of the Philistines, the Oannes of the Assyrians,<a class="noteRef" id="n333.2src" href="#n333.2">21</a> Eurynome of the Greek legends, and the like”. The pillar, sometimes shown to be clad -with ivy, links with the symbols of Hermes and Dionysos. He adds: “The Kamschatdals -and other Siberian tribes manufacture for themselves intoxicating and stupefying drinks -which have a religious value, and are employed by their Shamans in order to produce -prophetic states of inspiration”. The Japanese manufactured <i>sake</i> from rice with precisely the same motive, and, like the Ainu, offered their liquor -to the gods. -</p> -<p>What attracted the Koro-pok-guru and the Ainu to Japan? As we have seen (Chapter III), -the primary incentive for sea-trafficking and prospecting by sea and land was the -desire to obtain wealth in the form of pearls, precious stones, and metals. Now, pearls -are found round the Japanese coasts. Marco Polo has recorded that in his day the people -of Japan practised the mortuary custom (obtaining also in China) of placing pearls -in the mouths of the dead. “In the Island of Zipangu<a class="noteRef" id="n333.3src" href="#n333.3">22</a> (Japan),” <span class="pageNum" id="pb334">[<a href="#pb334">334</a>]</span>he says, “rose-coloured pearls were abundant, and quite as valuable as white ones.” -Kaempfer, writing in the eighteenth century, stated that the Japanese pearls were -found in small varieties of oysters (<i>akoja</i>) resembling the Persian pearl oyster, and also in “the yellow snail-shell”, the <i>taira gai</i> (<i>Placuna</i>), and the <i>awabi</i> or <i>abalone</i> (<i>Haliotis</i>). A pearl fishery formerly existed in the neighbourhood of Saghalin Island. As pearls -have from the earliest times been fished from southern Manchurian rivers, in Kamschatka, -and on the south coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, it may be that the earliest settlers -in Japan were prehistoric pearl-fishers. It is of special interest to note here that, -according to G. A. Cooke, pearls and <i>ginseng</i> (mandrake) were formerly Manchurian articles of commerce.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7458src" href="#xd31e7458">23</a> The herbs and pearls were, as we have seen, regarded as “avatars” of the mother-goddess. -</p> -<p>In Korea <i>ginseng</i> is cultivated under Government supervision. “It is”, Mrs. Bishop writes,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7479src" href="#xd31e7479">24</a> “one of the most valuable articles which Korea exports, and one great source of its -revenue.” A basket may contain <i>ginseng</i> worth £4000. “But,” she adds, “valuable as the cultivated root is, it is nothing -to the value of the wild, which grows in Northern Korea, a single specimen of which -has been sold for £40! It is chiefly found in the Kang-ge Mountains, but it is rare, -and the search so often ends in failure, that the common people credit it with magical -properties, and believe that only men of pure lives can <span class="pageNum" id="pb335">[<a href="#pb335">335</a>]</span>find it.” The dæmon who is “the tutelary spirit of <i>ginseng</i> … is greatly honoured” (p. 243). A ready market is found in China for Korean <i>ginseng</i>. “It is a tonic, a febrifuge, a stomachic, the very elixir of life, taken spasmodically -or regularly in Chinese wine by most Chinese who can afford it” (p. 95). -</p> -<p>In Japan, <i>ginseng</i>, mushroom, and fungus are, like pearls, promoters of longevity, and sometimes, says -Joly, “masquerade as phalli”: they are “Plants of Life” and “Plants of Birth”, like -the plants searched for by the Babylonian heroes Gilgamesh and Etana, and like the -dragon-herbs of China.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7498src" href="#xd31e7498">25</a> -</p> -<p>In Shinto, the ancient religion of the Japanese, prominence is given to pearls and -other precious jewels, and even to ornaments like artificial beads, which were not, -of course, used merely for personal decoration in the modern sense of the term; beads -had a religious significance. A sacred jewel is a <i>tama</i>, a name which has deep significance in Japan, because <i>mi-tama</i> is a soul, or spirit, or double. <i>Mi</i> is usually referred to as an “honorific prefix” or “honorific epithet”, but it appears -to have been originally something more than that. A Japanese commentator, as De Visser -notes, has pointed out in another connection<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7515src" href="#xd31e7515">26</a> that <i>mi</i> is “an old word for snake”, that is, for a snake-dragon. <i>Mi-tama</i>, therefore, may as “soul” or “double” be all that is meant by “snake-pearl” or “dragon-pearl”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7524src" href="#xd31e7524">27</a> <span class="pageNum" id="pb336">[<a href="#pb336">336</a>]</span>The pearl, as we have seen, contained “soul substance”, the “vital principle”, the -blood of the Great Mother, like the “jasper of Isis” worn by women to promote birth, -and therefore to multiply and prolong life; in China and Japan the pearl was placed -in the mouth of the dead to preserve the corpse from decay and ensure longevity or -immortality. The connection between jewels and medicine is found among the Maya of -Central America. <i>Cit Bolon Tun</i> (the “nine precious stones”) was a god of medicine. The goddess <i>Ix Tub Tun</i> (“she who spits out precious stones”) was “the goddess of the workers in jade and -amethysts”. She links with Tlaloc’s wife. -</p> -<p>According to Dr. W. G. Aston<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7537src" href="#xd31e7537">28</a> <i>tama</i> contains the root of the verb <i>tabu</i>, “to give”, more often met with in its lengthened form <i>tamafu</i>. “<i>Tama</i> retains its original significance in <i>tama-mono</i>, a gift thing, and <i>toshi-dama</i>, a new year’s present. <i>Tama</i> next means something valuable, as a jewel. Then, as jewels are mostly globular in -shape,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7557src" href="#xd31e7557">29</a> it has come to mean anything round. At the same time, owing to its precious quality, -it is used symbolically for the sacred emanation from God which dwells in his shrine, -and also for that most precious thing, the human life or soul.… The element <i>tama</i> enters into the names of several deities. The food-goddess is called either <i>Ukemochi no Kami</i> or <i>Uka no mi-tama</i>.” Phallic deities are also referred to as <i>mi-tama</i>. The <i>mi-tama</i> is sometimes used in much the same sense as the Egyptian <i>Ka</i>: it is the spirit or double of a deity which dwells in a shrine, where it is provided -with a <i>shintai</i> (“god body”)—a jewel, weapon, stone, mirror, pillow, or some such object. -</p> -<p>The jewels (<i>tama</i>) worn by gods and human beings were <span class="pageNum" id="pb337">[<a href="#pb337">337</a>]</span>not, as already insisted upon, merely ornaments, but objects possessing “soul substance”. -These are referred to in the oldest Shinto books. In ancient Japanese graves archæologists -have found round beads (<i>tama</i>), “oblong perforated cylinders” or “tube-shaped beads” (<i>kuda-tama</i>), and “curved” or “comma-shaped<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7585src" href="#xd31e7585">30</a> beads” (<i>maga-tama</i>). According to W. Gowland, “the stones of which <i>maga-tama</i> are made are rock-crystal, steatite, jasper, agate, and chalcedony, and more rarely -chrysoprase and nephrite (jade)”. He notes that “the last two minerals are not found -in Japan”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7593src" href="#xd31e7593">31</a> -</p> -<p>Henri L. Joly, writing on the <i>tama</i>, says<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7603src" href="#xd31e7603">32</a> it is also “represented in the form of a pearl tapering to a pointed apex, and scored -with several rings. It receives amongst other names <i>Nio-i-Hojiu</i>, and more rarely of <i>Shinshi</i>, the latter word being used for the spherical jewel, one of the three relics left -to <i>Ninigi no Mikoto</i><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7612src" href="#xd31e7612">33</a> by his grandmother, <i><span class="corr" id="xd31e7617" title="Source: Amaterasu">Amaterâsu</span></i>.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7620src" href="#xd31e7620">34</a> The necklace of <i>Shinshi</i>, mentioned in the traditions, was lost, and in its place a large crystal ball, some -three or four inches in diameter, is kept and carried by an aide-de-camp of the Emperor -on State occasions.” -</p> -<p>The pearl (<i>tama</i>) is “one of the treasures of the Takaramono, a collection of objects associated with -the Japanese gods of luck, which includes the hat of invisibility (<i>Kakuregasa</i>), a lion playing with a jewel, a jar containing coral, coins, &c.; coral branches -(<i>sangoju</i>), the cowrie shell (<i>kai</i>), an orange-like fruit, the five-coloured feather robe of the Tennins, the winged -maidens of the Buddhist paradise, copper cash, &c.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7635src" href="#xd31e7635">35</a> But although the <span class="pageNum" id="pb338">[<a href="#pb338">338</a>]</span><i>tama</i> may correspond to the <i>mani</i> of the Indian Buddhists, it was not of Buddhist origin in Japan; the Buddhists simply -added to the stock of Japanese “luck jewels”. -</p> -<p>The <i>tama</i> of jade has raised an interesting problem. Nephrite is not found in Japan. “It is -difficult”, says Laufer, “to decide from what source, how and when the nephrite or -jadeite material was transmitted to Japan.” Referring to jade objects found in the -prehistoric Japanese graves, he says: “The jewels may go back, after all, to an early -period when historical intercourse between Japan and China was not yet established; -they<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7649src" href="#xd31e7649">36</a> represent two clearly distinct and characteristic types, such as are not found in -the jewelry of ancient China. If the Japanese <i>maga-tama</i> and <i>kuda-tama</i> would correspond to any known Chinese forms, it would be possible to give a plausible -reason for the presence of jade in the ancient Japanese tombs; but such a coincidence -of type cannot be brought forward. Nor is it likely that similar pieces will be discovered -in China, as <i>necklaces were never used there anciently or in modern times</i>. We must therefore argue that the two Japanese forms of ornamental stones were either -indigenous inventions or borrowed from some other non-Chinese culture sphere in south-eastern -Asia, the antiquities of which are unknown to us.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7663src" href="#xd31e7663">37</a> -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p338width" id="p338"><img src="images/p338.jpg" alt="THE FAMOUS OLD TORI-WI (GODDESS SYMBOL), MIYAJIMA, JAPAN" width="464" height="720"><div class="figAnnotation p338width"><span class="figBottomLeft">Copyright -</span><span class="figTop"> </span><span class="figBottomRight">H. G. Ponting. F.R.G.S. -</span></div> -<p class="figureHead">THE FAMOUS OLD TORI-WI (GODDESS SYMBOL), MIYAJIMA, JAPAN</p> -<p>Miyajima or Itskushima (“Island of Light”) is one of the San-Kei or “Three most beautiful -scenes of Japan”. The island is sacred to Benten, the Goddess of the Sea, of Beauty, -of Wealth—one of the seven Divinities of Luck (see “The Japanese Treasure Ship”, page -352).</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>The <i>tama</i> is of great importance in Shinto religion. At Ise,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7680src" href="#xd31e7680">38</a> “the Japanese Mecca”, which has long been visited by pious pilgrims, a virgin daughter -of the Mikado used to keep watch over the three imperial insignia—the mirror, the -sword, and the jewel (<i>tama</i>)—which had been handed down from Mikado to Mikado. There were no idols in the temples. -The <i>Shintai</i> was carefully wrapped up and kept in a box in the “holy of holies”, a screened-off -<span class="pageNum" id="pb339">[<a href="#pb339">339</a>]</span>part of the simple and unadorned wooden and thatched little temple. The temple was -entered through a gateway—the <i>tori wi</i>, a word which means “bird-perch”, in the sense of a hen-roost. “As an honorary gateway”, -says Dr. Aston, “the <i>tori-wi</i> is a continental institution identical in purpose and resembling in form the <i><span class="corr" id="xd31e7695" title="Source: turan">toran</span></i> of India, the <i>pailoo</i> of China, and the <i>hong-sal-mun</i> of Korea.<span class="corr" id="xd31e7702" title="Not in source">”</span><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7704src" href="#xd31e7704">39</a> When this symbol of Artemis<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7708src" href="#xd31e7708">40</a> was introduced into Japan is uncertain. “Rock gates” were of great sanctity in old -Japan. There is one at Ise—the “twin-rocks of Ise”. -</p> -<p>The mirror was the <i>shintai</i> (god-body) of the sun-goddess; the sword was the <i>shintai</i> of the dragon; and the jewel (<i>tama</i>) was the <i>shintai</i> of the Great Mother, who was the inexhaustible womb of nature. At sacred Ise, the -chief deities worshipped were Ama-terâsu, the goddess of the sun, and Toyouke-hime, -the goddess of food.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7725src" href="#xd31e7725">41</a> The high-priest was the Mikado, who was a <i>Kami</i> (a god), and called “the Heavenly Grandchild”, his heir being “august child of the -sun”, and his residence “the august house of the sun”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7735src" href="#xd31e7735">42</a> After the Mikado had ascended the throne, the <i>Ohonihe</i> (great food offering) ceremony was performed. It was “the most solemn and important -festival of the Shinto religion”, says Aston, who quotes the following explanation -of it by a modern Japanese writer: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Anciently the Mikado received the auspicious grain from the Gods of Heaven and therewithal -nourished the people. In the <i>Daijowe</i> (or <i>Ohonihe</i>) the Mikado, when the grain became ripe, joined unto him the people in sincere veneration, -and, as in duty bound, made return to the Gods of Heaven. He thereafter partook of -it along with the nation. Thus the people learnt that the <span class="pageNum" id="pb340">[<a href="#pb340">340</a>]</span>grain which they eat is no other than the seed bestowed on them by the Gods of Heaven.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The Mikado was thus, in a sense, a Japanese Osiris. -</p> -<p>Shinto religion was in pre-Buddhist days a system of ceremonies and laws on which -the whole social structure rested. The name is a Chinese word meaning “the way of -the gods”, the Japanese equivalent being <i>Kami no michi</i>. But although the gods were numerous, only a small proportion of them played an important -part in the ritual (<i>norito</i>), which was handed down orally by generations of priests until after the fifth century -of our era, when a native script, based on Chinese characters, came into use. -</p> -<p>Old Shinto was concerned chiefly with the food-supply, with child-getting, with the -preservation of health, and protection against calamities caused by floods, droughts, -fire, or earthquakes. It has little or nothing to say regarding the doctrine of immortality. -There was no heaven and no hell. The spirits of some of these deities who died like -ordinary mortals went to the land of Yomi, as did also the spirit of the Mikado, but -little is told regarding the mysterious Otherworld in which dwelt the spirits of disease -and death. “In one passage of the <i>Nihon-gi</i>,” says Aston,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7764src" href="#xd31e7764">43</a> “Yomi is clearly no more than a metaphor for the grave.” It thus resembled the dark -Otherworld or Underworld of the Babylonians, from which Gilgamesh summoned the spirit -of his dead friend, Ea-bani.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7768src" href="#xd31e7768">44</a> No spirit of a god could escape from Yomi after eating “the food of the dead”. When -the Babylonian god Adapa, son of Ea, was summoned to appear in the Otherworld, his -father warned him not to accept of <span class="pageNum" id="pb341">[<a href="#pb341">341</a>]</span>the water and food which would be offered him.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7776src" href="#xd31e7776">45</a> The goddess Ishtar was struck with disease when she entered Hades in quest of her -lover, the god Tammuz, and it was not until she had been sprinkled with the “water -of life” that she was healed and liberated.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7781src" href="#xd31e7781">46</a> -</p> -<p>The Mikado, being a god, had a spirit, and might be transferred to Yomi or might ascend -to heaven to the celestial realm of his ancestress, the sun-goddess. Some distinguished -men had spirits likewise. But there is no clear evidence in the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> or the <i>Nihon-gi</i> that the spirits of the common people went anywhere after death, or indeed, that -they were supposed to have spirits. Some might become birds, or badgers, or foxes, -and live for a period in these forms, and then die, as did some of the gods. There -are no ghosts in the early Shinto books.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7791src" href="#xd31e7791">47</a> -</p> -<p>The ancient Pharaohs of Egypt, like the ancient Mikados of Japan, were assured of -immortality. The mortuary Pyramid Texts “were all intended for the king’s exclusive -use, and as a whole contain beliefs which apply only to the king”. There are vague -references in these texts to the dead “whose places are hidden”, and to those who -remain in the grave.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7798src" href="#xd31e7798">48</a> The fate of the masses did not greatly concern the solar cult. -</p> -<p>Before dealing with the myths of Japan, it is necessary to consider what the term -<i>kami</i>, usually translated “gods”, signified to the devotees of “Old Shinto”. The <i>kami</i> were not spiritual beings, but many of them had spirits or doubles that resided in -the <i>shintai</i> (god body). Dr. Aston reminds us that although <i>kami</i> “corresponds in a general way to ‘god’, it has some important limitations. The <i>kami</i> are high, swift, good, rich, living but not <span class="pageNum" id="pb342">[<a href="#pb342">342</a>]</span>infinite, omnipotent, or omniscient. Most of them had a father and mother, and of -some the death is recorded.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7819src" href="#xd31e7819">49</a> It behoves us to exercise caution in applying the term “animistic” to the numerous -<i>kami</i> of Japan, or in assuming that they were worshipped, or reverenced rather, simply -because they were feared. Some of the <i>kami</i> were feared, but the fear of the gods is not a particular feature of Shinto religion -with its ceremonial hand-clappings and happy laughter. -</p> -<p>Dr. Aston quotes from Motöori, the great eighteenth century Shinto theologian, the -following illuminating statement regarding the <i>kami</i>: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“The term <i>kami</i> is applied in the first place to the various deities of heaven and earth who are -mentioned in the ancient records as well as to their spirits (<i>mi-tama</i>) which reside in the shrines where they were worshipped. Moreover, not only human -beings, but birds, beasts, plants, and trees, seas and mountains, and all other things -whatsoever which deserve to be dreaded and revered for the extraordinary and pre-eminent -powers which they possess are called <i>kami</i>. They need not be eminent for surpassing nobleness, or serviceableness alone. Malignant -and uncanny beings are also called <i>kami</i> if only they are objects of general dread. Among <i>kami</i> who are human beings, I need hardly mention, first of all, the successive Mikados—with -reverence be it spoken.… Then there have been numerous examples of divine human beings, -both in ancient and modern times, who, although not accepted by the nation generally, -are treated as gods, each of his several dignity, in a single province, village, or -family.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>In ancient Egypt the reigning monarch was similarly a god—a Horus while he lived and -an Osiris after he died, while a great scholar like Imhotep (the Imuthes of the Greeks -in Egypt who identified him with Asklepois) might be deified and regarded as the son -of Ptah, the god <span class="pageNum" id="pb343">[<a href="#pb343">343</a>]</span>of Memphis. Egypt, too, had its local gods like Japan; so had Babylonia. -</p> -<p>The Japanese theologian proceeds to say: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Amongst <i>kami</i> who are not human beings, I need hardly mention Thunder (in Japanese <i>Nuru kami</i> or the sounding-god). There are also the Dragon and Echo (called in Japanese <i>Ko-dama</i> or the Tree Spirit), and the Fox, who are <i>kami</i> by reason of their uncanny and fearful natures. The term <i>kami</i> is applied in the <i>Nihon-gi</i> and <i>Manjoshiu</i> to the tiger and the wolf. Isanagi (the creator-god) gave to the fruit of the peach -and to the jewels round his neck names which implied that they were <i>kami</i>.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7871src" href="#xd31e7871">50</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Here we touch on beliefs similar to those that obtained in China where the dragon -and tiger figure so prominently as the gods of the East and the West. The idea that -the peach was a <i>kami</i> appears to be connected with the Chinese conception of a peach world-tree, a form -of the Mother Goddess, the fruit of which contains her “life substance” or <i>shen</i> as do the jewels like the pearl and jade objects; the peach is a goddess symbol as -the phallus is a symbol of a god. -</p> -<p>Motöori adds: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“There are many cases of seas and mountains being called <i>kami</i>. <i>It is not their spirits which are meant.</i> The word was applied directly to the seas or mountains themselves as being very awful -things.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7889src" href="#xd31e7889">51</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>There were a beneficent class and an evil class of <i>kami</i>. Beneficent deities provided what mankind required or sought for; they were protectors -and preservers. Four guardians of the world were called “Shi Tenno”. They were posted -at the cardinal points like the Chinese Black Tortoise (north), the Red Bird (south), -the White Tiger <span class="pageNum" id="pb344">[<a href="#pb344">344</a>]</span>(west), and the Blue or Green Dragon (east). The Japanese colour scheme, however, -is not the same as the Chinese. At the north is the blue god Bishamon or Tamoten; -at the south the white-faced warrior Zocho; at the west the red-faced Komoku with -book and brush or a spear; and at the east the warrior with green face, named Jikoku, -who is sometimes shown trampling a demon under foot. -</p> -<p>In India the north is white and the south black, and in Ceylon the Buddhist colours -of the cardinal points are yellow (north), blue (south), red (west), and white (east). -</p> -<p>Although it is customary to regard the coloured guardians of the Japanese world as -of Buddhist origin, it may well be that the original Japanese guardians were substituted -by the Hindu and Chinese divinities imported by the Buddhists. The dragon-gods of -China and Japan were pre-Buddhistic, as De Visser has shown,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7904src" href="#xd31e7904">52</a> but were given, in addition to their original attributes, those of the <i>naga</i> (serpent or dragon) gods introduced by Buddhist priests. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb345">[<a href="#pb345">345</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7184"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7184src">1</a></span> <i>Customs of the World</i>, p. 380. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7184src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n325.1"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n325.1src">2</a></span> The terraced mound tombs of the Emperors of Japan appear to be survivals of the ancient -tombs. Although true dolmens have been found in Korea, they do not, so far as is known, -occur in Japan (<i>Journal <span class="corr" id="xd31e7196" title="Source: Athrop.">Anthrop.</span> Inst.</i>, xxiv, p. 330, and 1907, pp. 10 <i>et seq.</i>). <a class="fnarrow" href="#n325.1src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7205"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7205src">3</a></span> <i>Chinese Clay Figures</i>, p. 265, <i>n.</i> 3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7205src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7215"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7215src">4</a></span> <i>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</i>, Vol. X (supplement), p. xxxvi. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7215src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7219"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7219src">5</a></span> <i>Chinese Clay Figures</i> (Chicago, 1914), p. 265, <i>n.</i> 3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7219src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7225"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7225src">6</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 271 and <i>n.</i> 3, p. 272 and <i>n.</i> 1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7225src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7248"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7248src">7</a></span> In their own language <i>Ainu-utara</i>: “utara” is the plural suffix. Their Japanese name is <i>Yemishi</i>; the Chinese came to know of them first in <span class="asc">A.D.</span> 659, and called them <i>Hia-i</i>. A later Chinese name is <i>Ku-hi</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7248src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7264"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7264src">8</a></span> <i>Pira</i>, “cliff”; <i>toru</i>, “to stay”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7264src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7270"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7270src">9</a></span> <i>Turesh</i>, “younger sister”; <i>machi</i>, “wife”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7270src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7280"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7280src">10</a></span> For other versions, see Hartland, <i>The Science of Fairy Tales</i> (London, 1891), pp. 71 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7280src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7288"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7288src">11</a></span> See Index under “<a href="#ix.melusina">Melusina</a>”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7288src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7314"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7314src">12</a></span> <a class="biblink xd31e40" title="Reference to the Bible: Genesis 35:4" href="https://classic.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gn%2035:4&version=NRSV">Genesis, chapter xxxv, 4</a>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7314src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7321"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7321src">13</a></span> Elliot Smith, <i>Distribution of Mummification</i>: Manchester Memories, Vol. LIX (1915), pp. 90 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7321src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7327"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7327src">14</a></span> Laufer, <i>Chinese Clay Figures</i>, p. 269. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7327src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7340"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7340src">15</a></span> Rendel Harris, <i>The Ascent of Olympus</i>, pp. 56 <i>et seq.</i>, with its <i>Note on Ivy and Mugwort in Siberia</i>, pp. 96 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7340src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7350"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7350src">16</a></span> Rendel Harris, <i>op. cit.</i>, pp. 101–2. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7350src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7355"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7355src">17</a></span> <i>Egyptian Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 6 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7355src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7362"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7362src">18</a></span> <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, pp. 143–4. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7362src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7378"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7378src">19</a></span> Batchelor, <i>The Ainu and their Folk-lore.</i> Batchelor, <i>Notes on the Ainu</i> (<i>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</i>), Vol. X, pp. 206 <i>et seq.</i> Milne, <i>Notes on the Koro-pok-guru</i> (<i>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</i>), Vol. X, pp. 187 <i>et seq.</i> Chamberlain, <i>Ainu Folk-tales</i> (Folk-lore Society’s Publications, Vol. XXII, 1888). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7378src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7401"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7401src">20</a></span> Note on <i>Ivy and Mugwort in Siberia</i> in <i>The Ascent of Olympus</i>, pp. 99–100. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7401src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n333.2"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n333.2src">21</a></span> The god Ea of the Sumero-Babylonians. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n333.2src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n333.3"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n333.3src">22</a></span> <i>Zipangu</i> and <i>Cipangu</i> are renderings of the Chinese Jih-pên (“the place the sun comes from”), with the -word <i>Kuo</i>, “country”, added. The Japanese <i>Nihon</i> or <i>Nippon</i>, <span class="pageNum" id="pb334n">[<a href="#pb334n">334</a>]</span>and our <i>Japan</i>, are other renderings of the Chinese name which was first used officially in Japan -in the seventh century <span class="asc">A.D.</span> Earlier Japanese names include <i>Yamato</i> and <i>Ō-mi-kuni</i>, “the great dragon (<i>mi</i>) land”, &c. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n333.3src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7458"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7458src">23</a></span> Yule, <i>The Book of Ser Marco Polo</i> (Book III, chapter iii), Vol. III, p. 200. Kunz, <i>Folk-lore of Precious Stones</i> (<i>Memoirs Internat. Congr. Anthrop.</i>, Chicago, 1894), pp. 147 <i>et seq.</i> G. A. Cooke, <i>System of Universal Geography</i>, Vol. I (1801), p. 574. J. W. Jackson, <i>Shells as Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture</i> (London, 1917), pp. 106 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7458src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7479"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7479src">24</a></span> <i>Korea and her Neighbours</i> (London, 1898), Vol. II, pp. 95 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7479src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7498"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7498src">25</a></span> The Chinese dragon, <i>K’üh-lung</i>, originated from a sea-plant called <i>hai-lü</i>. De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 72. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7498src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7515"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7515src">26</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 137. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7515src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7524"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7524src">27</a></span> The temple of the Mexican dragon- and rain-god, Tlaloc, was called “Ep-coatl”, which -signifies “pearl-serpent” or “serpent-pearl”. Young children sacrificed to Tlaloc -by being thrown into the whirlpool (<i>pan tit lan</i>) of the lake of Mexico, were also called “Ep-coatl”. This sacrifice took place at -the water festival in the first month of the Mexican year. The infants were sacrificed -at several points, some being butchered on holy hills, including the “place of mugwort”, -sacred to the mugwort and gem-goddess Chalchihuitlicue, wife of Tlaloc. But only the -children thrown into the lake were called “Ep-coatl”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7524src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7537"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7537src">28</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (London, 1905), pp. 27 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7537src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7557"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7557src">29</a></span> This does not seem to be the reason for the sanctity of a round object. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7557src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7585"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7585src">30</a></span> Or shaped like the teeth of tigers or bears. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7585src" title="Return to note 30 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7593"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7593src">31</a></span> <i>Archæologia</i>, 1897 (<i>The Dolmens and Burial Mounds in Japan</i>), p. 478. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7593src" title="Return to note 31 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7603"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7603src">32</a></span> <i>Legend in Japanese Art</i>, pp. 354–6. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7603src" title="Return to note 32 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7612"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7612src">33</a></span> Ancestor of the Mikado. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7612src" title="Return to note 33 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7620"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7620src">34</a></span> Goddess of the Sun. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7620src" title="Return to note 34 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7635"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7635src">35</a></span> <i>Legend in Japanese Art</i>, pp. 350–1. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7635src" title="Return to note 35 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7649"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7649src">36</a></span> The <i>Maga-tama</i> and the <i>Kuda-tama</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7649src" title="Return to note 36 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7663"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7663src">37</a></span> <i>Jade</i>, pp. 353–4. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7663src" title="Return to note 37 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7680"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7680src">38</a></span> Ise is the name of a province, and the nearest town to the “Mecca” is Yamada. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7680src" title="Return to note 38 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7704"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7704src">39</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1905), pp. 231–2. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7704src" title="Return to note 39 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7708"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7708src">40</a></span> See Index under <i><a href="#ix.artemis">Artemis</a></i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7708src" title="Return to note 40 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7725"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7725src">41</a></span> The temple of the sun-goddess is called <i>Naiku</i>, and that of the food-goddess <i>Geku</i>. These temples are of wood, with thatched roofs. Every twenty years the buildings -are renewed. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7725src" title="Return to note 41 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7735"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7735src">42</a></span> <i>Shinto</i>, p. 38. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7735src" title="Return to note 42 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7764"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7764src">43</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1907), pp. 15–6. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7764src" title="Return to note 43 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7768"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7768src">44</a></span> King, <i>Babylonian Religion and Mythology</i>, pp. 35, and 174 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7768src" title="Return to note 44 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7776"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7776src">45</a></span> <i>Myths of Babylonia and Assyria</i>, pp. 72–3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7776src" title="Return to note 45 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7781"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7781src">46</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 95. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7781src" title="Return to note 46 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7791"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7791src">47</a></span> Aston, <i>Shinto</i> (1907), p. 14. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7791src" title="Return to note 47 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7798"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7798src">48</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, pp. 99 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7798src" title="Return to note 48 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7819"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7819src">49</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1907), p. 6. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7819src" title="Return to note 49 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7871"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7871src">50</a></span> Here we have the sanctity of jewels and other so-called “ornaments” brought out very -clearly. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7871src" title="Return to note 50 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7889"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7889src">51</a></span> Aston, <i>Shinto</i> (1907), pp. 6–7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7889src" title="Return to note 51 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7904"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7904src">52</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7904src" title="Return to note 52 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch18" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e402">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XVIII</h2> -<h2 class="main">Japanese Gods and Dragons</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Japanese Version of Egyptian Flood Myth—A Far Eastern Merodach—Dragon-slaying Story—The -River of Blood—Osiris as a Slain Dragon—Ancient Shinto Books—Shinto Cosmogony—Separation -of Heaven and Earth—The Cosmic “Reed Shoot” and the <i>Nig-gil-ma</i>—The Celestial Jewel Spear—Izanagi and Izanami—Births of Deities and Islands—The Dragons -of Japan—The Wani—Bear, Horse, and other Dragons—Horse-sacrifice in Japan—Buddhist -Elements in Japanese Dragon Lore—Indian Nagas—Chinese Dragons and Japanese Water-Snakes.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">There is no Shinto myth regarding the creation of man; the Mikados and the chiefs -of tribes were descendants of deities. Nor is there a Deluge Myth like the Ainu one, -involving the destruction of all but a remnant of mankind. The Chinese story about -<i>Nu Kwa</i>, known to the Japanese as Jokwa, was apparently imported with the beliefs associated -with the jade which that mythical queen or goddess was supposed to have created after -she had caused the flood to retreat, but it does not find a place in the ancient Shinto -books. There is, however, an interesting version of the Egyptian flood story which -has been fused with the Babylonian Tiamat dragon-slaying myth. Susa-no-wo,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7923src" href="#xd31e7923">1</a> a Far Eastern Marduk, slays an eight-headed dragon and splits up its body, from which -he takes a spirit-sword—an avatar of the monster. -</p> -<p>Hathor-Sekhet, of the Egyptian myth, was made drunk, so that she might cease from -slaying mankind, <span class="pageNum" id="pb346">[<a href="#pb346">346</a>]</span>and a flood of blood-red beer was poured from jars for that purpose. Susa-no-wo provides -sake (rice beer) to intoxicate the dragon which has been coming regularly—apparently -once a year—for a daughter of an earth god. When he slays it, the River Hi is “changed -into a river of blood”. -</p> -<p>Another version of the Egyptian myth, as the Pyramid Texts bear evidence, appears -to refer to the “Red Nile” of the inundation season as the blood of Osiris, who had -been felled by Set at Nedyt, near Abydos.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7935src" href="#xd31e7935">2</a> Lucian tells that the blood of Adonis was similarly believed to redden each year -the flooded River of Adonis, flowing from Lebanon, and that “it dyed the sea to a -large space red”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7940src" href="#xd31e7940">3</a> Here Adonis is the Osiris of the Byblians. Osiris, as we have seen, had a dragon -form; he was the dragon of the Nile flood, and the world-surrounding dragon of ocean.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7944src" href="#xd31e7944">4</a> He was also the earth-giant; tree and grain grew from his body.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7949src" href="#xd31e7949">5</a> The body of the eight-headed Japanese dragon was covered with moss and trees. -</p> -<p>Susa-no-wo, as the rescuer of the doomed maiden, links with Perseus, the rescuer of -Andromeda from the water-dragon.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7955src" href="#xd31e7955">6</a> The custom of sacrificing a maiden to the Nile each year obtained in Ancient Egypt. -In the Tiamat form of the Babylonian myth, Marduk cut the channels of the dragon’s -blood and “made the north wind bear it away into secret places”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7960src" href="#xd31e7960">7</a> The stories of Pʼan Ku of China and the Scandinavian <span class="corr" id="xd31e7965" title="Source: Ymer">Ymir</span>, each of <span class="pageNum" id="pb347">[<a href="#pb347">347</a>]</span>whose blood is the sea, are interesting variants of the legend.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7970src" href="#xd31e7970">8</a> -</p> -<p>The Japanese dragon-flood myth is merely an incident in the career of a hero in Shinto -mythology, which is a mosaic of local or localized and imported stories, somewhat -clumsily arranged in the form of a connected narrative. -</p> -<p>Our chief sources of information regarding these ancient Japanese myths are the Shinto -works, the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> and the <i>Nihon-gi</i>.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e7989src" href="#xd31e7989">9</a> Of these works, the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> (“Records of Ancient Matters”) is the oldest; it was completed in Japanese in <span class="asc">A.D.</span> 712; the <i>Nihon-gi</i> (“Chronicles of Japan”) was completed in <span class="asc">A.D.</span> 720 in the Chinese language. -</p> -<p>Although the myths, formerly handed down orally by generations of priests, were not -collected and systematized until about 200 years after Buddhism was introduced into -Japan, they were not greatly influenced by Indian ideas. Dragon-lore, however, became -so complex that it is difficult to sift the local from the imported elements. -</p> -<p>In the preface to the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, Yasumaro, the compiler, in his summary, writes: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Now when chaos had begun to condense, but force and form were not yet manifest, and -there was nought named, nought done, who could know its shape? Nevertheless Heaven -and Earth first parted, and the Three Deities performed the commencement of Creation; -the Passive and Active Essences then developed, and the Two Spirits became the Ancestors -of all things.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb348">[<a href="#pb348">348</a>]</span></p> -<p>The myth of the separation of Heaven and Earth dates back to remote antiquity in Egypt. -Shu, the atmosphere-god, separated the sky-goddess Nut from the earth-god Seb. In -Polynesian mythology Rangi (Heaven), and Papa (Earth), from whom “all things originated”, -were “rent apart” by Tane-mahuta, “the god and father of forests, of birds, of insects”. -But in this case the earth is the mother and the sky the father.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8023src" href="#xd31e8023">10</a> -</p> -<p>About the “Three Deities” referred to by Yasumaro, we do not learn much. The idea -of the trinity may have been of Indian origin. The Passive and Active Essences recall -the male <i>Yang</i> and its female <i>Yin</i> principles of China. These are represented in the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> by Izanagi (“Male who Invites”) and Izanami (“Female who Invites”). -</p> -<p>Dr. Aston translates the opening passage of the <i>Nihon-gi</i> as follows: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Of old, Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the In and the Yo not yet divided. -They formed a chaotic mass like an egg, which was of obscurely defined limits, and -contained germs. The purer and clearer part was thinly diffused and formed Heaven, -while the heavier and grosser element settled down and became Earth. The finer element -easily became a united body, but the consolidation of the heavy and gross element -was accomplished with difficulty. Heaven was therefore formed first, and Earth established -subsequently. Thereafter divine beings were produced between them.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Here we meet with the cosmic egg, from which emerged the Chinese Pʼan Ku, the Indian -Brahma, the Egyptian Ra or Horus, and one of the Polynesian creators. It might be -held that China is the source of the Japanese myth, because the <i>In</i> and the <i>Yo</i> are <span class="pageNum" id="pb349">[<a href="#pb349">349</a>]</span>here, quite evidently the <i>Yang</i> and the <i>Yin</i>, representing not Izanagi and Izanami as in the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, but the deities of heaven and earth. But the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> form of the myth may be the oldest, and we may have in the <i>Nihon-gi</i> evidence of Chinese ideas having been superimposed on those already obtaining in -Japan, into which they were imported from other areas. -</p> -<p>But to return to the Creation myth. An ancient native work, the <i>Kiu-ji-ki</i>, which has not yet been translated into English, refers to seven generations of gods, -beginning with one of doubtful sex, in whose untranslatable name the sun, moon, earth, -and moisture are mentioned. This First Parent of the deities was the offspring of -Heaven and Earth. The last couple is Izanagi and Izanami, brother and sister, like -Osiris and Isis, who became man and wife. -</p> -<p>According to the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> the first three deities came into being in <i>Takama-no-hara</i>, the “Plain of High Heaven”. They were alone, and afterwards disappeared, i.e. died. -The narrative continues: “The names of the deities that were born next from a thing -that sprouted up like unto a reed-shoot when the earth, young and like unto floating -oil, drifted about medusa-like,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8073src" href="#xd31e8073">11</a> were the Pleasant-Reed-Shoot-Prince-Elder-Deity, next the Heavenly-Eternally-Standing-Deity. -These two Deities were likewise born alone, and hid their persons.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8076src" href="#xd31e8076">12</a> Earth and mud deities followed, and also the other deities who were before Izanagi -and Izanami. -</p> -<p>It may be that the “reed-shoot” was the Japanese <i>nig-gil-ma</i>. (See Chapter XIII.) As in one of the early <span class="pageNum" id="pb350">[<a href="#pb350">350</a>]</span>Sumerian texts, the mysterious plant, impregnated with preserving and perpetuating -“life substance”, was the second product of Creation. -</p> -<p>Izanagi and Izanami were told by the elder deities that they must “make, consolidate, -and give birth to this drifting land”. They were then given the <i>Ame no tama-boko</i>, the “Celestial Jewel-spear”. It is suggested that the spear is a phallic symbol. -The jewel (tama) is “life substance”. Izanagi and Izanami stood on “the floating bridge -of heaven”, which Aston identifies with the rainbow, or, as some Japanese scholars -put it, the “Heavenly Rock Boat”, or “Heavenly Stairs”, and pushed down the <i>tama-boko</i> and groped with it until they found the ocean. According to the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, they “stirred the brine until it went curdle-curdle (<i>koworo-koworo</i>)”, that is, as Chamberlain suggests, “thick and glutinous”. Others think the passage -should be translated so as to indicate that the brine gave forth “a curdling sound”. -When the primæval waters and the oily mud began to “curdle” or “cook”, the deities -drew up the spear. Some of the cosmic “porridge” dropped from the point and formed -an island, which was named <i>Onogoro</i> (“self-curdling”, or “self-condensed”). The deities descended from heaven and erected -on the island an eight-fathom house<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8098src" href="#xd31e8098">13</a> with a central pillar. Here we meet with the aniconic pillar, the “herm” of Kamschatkan -religion, the pillar of the Vedic world-house erected by the Aryo-Indian god Indra, -the “branstock” of Scandinavian religion, the pillar of the “Lion Gate” of Mycenæ; -the “pillar” is the “world spine”, like the Indian Mount Meru.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8101src" href="#xd31e8101">14</a> “The central pillar of a house (corresponding to our king-post) is,” writes Dr. Aston, -“at the present day, an object of <span class="pageNum" id="pb351">[<a href="#pb351">351</a>]</span>honour in Japan as in many other countries. In the case of Shinto shrines, it is called -<i>Nakago no mibashira</i> (‘central august pillar’), and in ordinary houses the <i>Daikoku-bashira</i>.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8112src" href="#xd31e8112">15</a> -</p> -<p>Izanagi and Izanami become man and wife by performing the ceremony of going round -the pillar and meeting one another face to face. Their first-born is Hiruko (leech-child). -At the age of three he was still unable to stand upright, and was in consequence placed -in a reed boat and set adrift on the ocean. -</p> -<p>Here we have what appears to be a version of the Moses story. The Indian Karna, who -is similarly set adrift, was a son of Surya, god of the sun. The Egyptian Horus was -concealed after birth on a floating island, and he was originally a solar deity with -a star form.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8119src" href="#xd31e8119">16</a> Ra, the Egyptian sun-god, drifted across the heavens on reed floats before he was -given a boat. Osiris was, after death, set adrift in a chest. When the Egyptians paid -more attention to the constellations than they did in the early period of their history, -they placed in the constellation of Argo the god Osiris in a chest or boat. In the -Greek period Canopus, the chief star of the constellation of Argo, is the child Horus -in his boat. Horus was a reincarnation of Osiris. The Babylonian Ea originally came -to Eridu in a boat, which became transformed into a fish-man. As the sign for a god -was a star, Ea was apparently supposed to have come from one. Lockyer refers to Egyptian -and Babylonian temples, which were “oriented to Canopus”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8122src" href="#xd31e8122">17</a> Sun-gods were the offspring of the mother-star, or their own souls were stars by -night. “Hiruko,” says Aston, “is in reality simply a masculine <span class="pageNum" id="pb352">[<a href="#pb352">352</a>]</span>form of Hirume, the sun female.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8129src" href="#xd31e8129">18</a> The sun and moon had not, however, come into existence when he was set adrift, and -it may be that as the “leech-child” he was a star. He became identified in time with -Ebisu (or Yebisu), god of fishermen, and one of the gods of luck. -</p> -<p>Izanagi and Izanami had subsequently as children the eight islands of Japan, and although -other islands came into existence later, Japan was called “Land-of-the-Eight-great-Islands” -(<i>Oho-ya-shima-kuni</i>). “When,” continues the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, “they (Izanagi and Izanami) had finished giving birth to countries they began afresh, -giving birth to deities (<i>kami</i>).” These included “Heavenly-Blowing Male”, “Youth of the Wind”, the sea-<i>kami</i>, “Great-Ocean-Possessor”, “Foam Calm”, “Foam Waves”, “Heavenly-Water-Divider”, or -“Water-Distributor” (<i>Ame-no-mi-kumari-no-kami</i>), and the deities of mountains, passes, and valleys. -</p> -<p>According to the <i>Nihon-gi</i>, the gods of the sea to whom Izanagi and Izanami gave birth are called <i>Watatsumi</i>, which means “sea children”, or, as Florenz translates it, “Lords of the Sea”. <i>Wata</i>, so like our “water”, is “an old word for sea”. It is probable that, as De Visser -says, “the old Japanese sea-gods were snakes or dragons”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8154src" href="#xd31e8154">19</a> -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p352width" id="p352"><img src="images/p352.jpg" alt="THE JAPANESE TREASURE SHIP" width="720" height="465"><p class="figureHead">THE JAPANESE TREASURE SHIP</p> -<p class="first">A favourite theme of Japanese art, depicting the Seven Gods (or rather six Gods and -one Goddess) of Good Fortune. This illustration is from a woodcut in the British Museum.</p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>In the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> two groups of eight deities are followed by “the Deity Bird’s-Rock-Camphor-Tree-Boat”, -another name for this <i>kami</i> being “Heavenly Bird-Boat”. Then came the food-goddess, “Deity Princess-of-Great-Food”. -She was followed by the fire-god, <i>kagu-tsuchi</i>. This deity caused the death of his mother Izanami, having burned her at birth so -severely that she sickened <span class="pageNum" id="pb353">[<a href="#pb353">353</a>]</span>and “lay down”. Before she died, an interesting group of deities, making a total of -eight from “Heavenly Bird-Boat” to the last named, “Luxuriant Food Princess”, came -into being. From her vomit sprang “Metal-Mountain Prince” and “Metal-Mountain Princess”; -from her fæces came “Clay Prince” and “Clay Princess” (earth deities); and from her -urine crept forth <i>Mitsu-ha no-Me</i>, which Japanese commentators explain as “Female-Water-snake”, or “The Woman who produces -the Water”. In the first rendering <i>ha</i> is regarded as meaning “snake” (dragon), and in the second as “to produce”. Neither -Florenz nor De Visser can decide which explanation is correct.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8178src" href="#xd31e8178">20</a> The dragon was, of course, a water-producer, or water-controller, or a “water-confiner”, -who was forced to release the waters, like the “drought demon”, slain by the Aryo-Indian -god Indra, and the water-confiner of the Nile, whose blood reddened the river during -inundation. -</p> -<p>When Izanami died, the heart of Izanagi was filled with wrath and grief. Drawing his -big sabre, he, according to the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, cut off the head of the fire-god; or, as the <i>Nihon-gi</i> tells, cut him into three pieces, each of which became a god. Other gods sprang from -the pieces, from the blood drops that bespattered the rocks, the blood that clung -to the upper part of the sabre, and the blood that leaked out between the fingers -of Izanagi. -</p> -<p>According to the <i>Nihon-gi</i>, the blood dripping from the upper part of the sword became the gods <i>Kura-okami</i>, <i>Kura-yama-tsumi</i>, and <i>Kura-mitsu-ha</i>. The meaning of the character <i>kura</i> is “dark”, and Professor Florenz explains it as “abyss, valley, cleft”,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8205src" href="#xd31e8205">21</a> and notes that <i>okami</i> means <span class="pageNum" id="pb354">[<a href="#pb354">354</a>]</span>“rain” and “dragon”. According to De Visser, <i>Kura-okami</i> is a dragon- or snake-god who controls rain and snow, and had Shinto temples “in -all provinces”. Another reading in the <i>Nihon-gi</i> states that one of the three gods who came into being from the pieces of the fire-god’s -body was <i>Taka-okami</i>, a name which, according to a Japanese commentator, means “the dragon-god residing -on the mountains”, while <i>Kura-okami</i> means “the dragon-god of the valleys”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8223src" href="#xd31e8223">22</a> The second god born from the blood drops from the upper part of the sword, <i>Kura-yama-tsumi</i>, is translated “Lord of the Dark Mountains”, and “Mountain-snake”; and the third, -<i>Kura-mitsu-ha</i>, is “Dark-water-snake” or “Valley-water-snake”. According to the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, the deities <i>Kura-okami</i> and <i>Kura-mitsu-ha</i> came from the blood that leaked out between Izanagi’s fingers. -</p> -<p>It is of interest to note here that other dragon deities to which Izanagi and Izanami -gave origin, included the <i>mizuchi</i> or “water fathers”, which are referred to as “horned deities”, “four-legged dragons”, -or “large water-snakes”. As Aston notes,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8243src" href="#xd31e8243">23</a> these “water fathers” had no individual names; they were prayed to for rain in times -of drought. Another sea-dragon child of the great couple was the <i>wani</i>, which appears to have been a combination of crocodile and shark. Aston thinks that -<i>wani</i> is a Korean word. De Visser, on the other hand, is of opinion that the <i>wani</i> is the old Japanese dragon-god or sea-god, and that the legend about the Abundant -Pearl Princess (<i>Toyo-tama-bime</i>)<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8256src" href="#xd31e8256">24</a> who had a human lover and, like Melusina, transformed herself from human shape into -that of a <i>wani</i> (<i>Ko-ji-ki</i>) or a dragon (<i>Nihon-gi</i>), was originally a Japanese serpent-dragon, which was “dressed <span class="pageNum" id="pb355">[<a href="#pb355">355</a>]</span>in Indian garb by later generations”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8272src" href="#xd31e8272">25</a> Florenz, the German Orientalist, thinks the legend is of Chinese origin, but a similar -one is found in Indonesia. “<i>Wani</i>,” De Visser says, “may be an Indonesian word,” and it is possible, as he suggests, -that “foreign invaders, who in prehistoric times conquered Japan, came from Indonesia -and brought the myth with them.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8278src" href="#xd31e8278">26</a> -</p> -<p>There is a reference in the <i>Nihon-gi</i> (Chapter I) to a “bear-wani, eight fathoms long”, and it has been suggested that -“bear” means here nothing more than “strong”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8286src" href="#xd31e8286">27</a> The Ainu, however, as we have seen (Chapter XVII), associated bear and dragon deities; -the bear-goddess was the wife of the dragon-god, and that goddess had, like the Abundant -Pearl Princess, a human lover. “Bear-wani” may therefore have been a bear-dragon. -There was a dragon-horse “with a long neck and wings at its sides”, which flew through -the air, and did not sink when it trod upon the water,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8291src" href="#xd31e8291">28</a> and there were withal Japanese crow-dragons, toad-dragons, fish-dragons, and lizard-dragons. -</p> -<p>The horse played as prominent a part in Japanese rain-getting and rain-stopping ceremonies -as did the bear among the Ainu. White, black, or red horses were offered to bring -rain, but red horses alone were sacrificed to stop rain. Like the Buriats of Siberia -and the Aryo-Indians of the Vedic period, the Japanese made use of the domesticated -horse at the dawn of their history. No doubt it was imported from Korea. There is -evidence that at an early period human beings were sacrificed to the Japanese dragon-gods -of rivers, lakes, and pools. Human sacrifices at tombs are also referred to. In the -<i>Nihon-gi</i>, under the legendary date 2 <span class="asc">B.C.</span>, it is related that when a <span class="pageNum" id="pb356">[<a href="#pb356">356</a>]</span>Mikado died his personal attendants were buried alive in an upright position beside -his tomb.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8306src" href="#xd31e8306">29</a> -</p> -<p>In his notable work on the dragon, M. W. de Visser<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8313src" href="#xd31e8313">30</a> shows that the Chinese ideas regarding their four-legged dragon and Indian Buddhist -ideas regarding <i>nagas</i> were introduced into Japan and fused with local ideas regarding serpent-shaped water-gods. -The foreign elements added to ancient Japanese legends have, as has been indicated, -made their original form obscure. In the dragon place-names of Japan, however, it -is still possible to trace the locations of the ancient Shinto gods who were mostly -serpent-shaped. An ancient name for a Japanese dragon is <i>Tatsu</i>. De Visser notes that <i>Tatsu no Kuchi</i> (“Dragon’s mouth”) is a common place-name. It is given to a hot spring in the Nomi -district, to a waterfall in Kojimachi district, to a hill in Kamakura district, where -criminals were put to death, and to mountains, &c., elsewhere. <i>Tatsu ga hana</i> (“Dragon’s nose”) is in Taga district; <i>Tatsukushi</i> (“Dragon’s skewer”) is a rock in Tosa province; and so on. Chinese and Indian dragons -are in Japanese place-names “ryu” or “ryo”. These include <i>Ryo-ga-mine</i> (“Dragon’s peak”) in Higo; <i>Ryu-ga-take</i> (“Dragon’s peak”) in Ise; <i>Ryu-kan-gawa</i> (“Dragon’s rest river”) in Tokyo, &c. -</p> -<p>The worship of the Water Fathers or Dragons in Japan was necessary so as to ensure -the food-supply. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb357">[<a href="#pb357">357</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7923"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7923src">1</a></span> See <a href="#ch20">Chapter XX</a>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7923src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7935"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7935src">2</a></span> Breasted, <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 26. The Texts referred to are: “His brother Set felled him to the earth in Nedyt.… -Osiris was drowned in his new water (the inundation).” <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7935src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7940"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7940src">3</a></span> <i>De Dea Syria</i>, Chapter VIII. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7940src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7944"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7944src">4</a></span> Breasted, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 20. Osiris was addressed: “Thou art great, thou art green, in thy name of Great -Green (Sea); lo, thou art round as the Great Circle (Okeanos); lo, thou art turned -about, thou art round as the circle that encircles the Haunebu (Ægeans)”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7944src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7949"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7949src">5</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, 22–3. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7949src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7955"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7955src">6</a></span> For various versions of this legend see Hartland, <i>Legend of Perseus and River deities</i> in Index. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7955src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7960"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7960src">7</a></span> King, <i>Babylonian Religion</i>, p. 77. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7960src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7970"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7970src">8</a></span> See Index under <i><a href="#ix.ymir"><span class="corr" id="xd31e7974" title="Source: Ymer">Ymir</span></a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.pan.ku">Pʼan Ku</a></i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7970src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e7989"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e7989src">9</a></span> A translation into English of the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, by Professor B. H. Chamberlain, was printed as a supplement to Vol. X of the <i>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</i> (1893). The <i>Nihon-gi</i> was translated into English by Dr. Aston, and printed in the <i>Transactions of the Japan Society</i> for 1896. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e7989src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8023"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8023src">10</a></span> Grey, <i>Polynesian Mythology</i>, pp. 1 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8023src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8073"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8073src">11</a></span> Like the Floating Island or Islands of the Blest. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8073src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8076"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8076src">12</a></span> “Hid their persons” signifies, according to some commentators, that they died. But -certain Egyptian deities were “hidden”; their influence remained: the Japanese hidden -deity had a “mi-tama” (soul). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8076src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8098"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8098src">13</a></span> Eight is a sacred number in Japan. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8098src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8101"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8101src">14</a></span> See <i>Myths of Crete and pre-Hellenic Europe</i>, pp. 305–9. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8101src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8112"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8112src">15</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1905), p. 90. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8112src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8119"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8119src">16</a></span> He is the green falcon of the Morning Star in the Pyramid Texts. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8119src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8122"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8122src">17</a></span> <i>The Dawn of Astronomy</i> (London, 1894), pp. 383 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8122src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8129"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8129src">18</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1905), p. 132. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8129src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8154"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8154src">19</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 137. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8154src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8178"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8178src">20</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, pp. 136–7; and Florenz, <i lang="de">Japanische Mythologie</i>, Chap. III, p. 33. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8178src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8205"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8205src">21</a></span> <i lang="de">Japanische Mythologie</i>, p. 46. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8205src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8223"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8223src">22</a></span> De Visser, <i>op. cit.</i>, pp. 135–6. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8223src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8243"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8243src">23</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1905), p. 73. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8243src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8256"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8256src">24</a></span> See Index under <i><a href="#ix.wani">wani</a></i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8256src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8272"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8272src">25</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 140. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8272src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8278"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8278src">26</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 141–2. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8278src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8286"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8286src">27</a></span> De Visser, <i>op. cit.</i>, pp. 139–40. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8286src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8291"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8291src">28</a></span> De Visser, <i>op. cit.</i>, pp. 147 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8291src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8306"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8306src">29</a></span> Aston, <i>Shinto</i> (1905), p. 56 and pp. 219–20. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8306src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8313"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8313src">30</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, pp. 231 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8313src" title="Return to note 30 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch19" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e412">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XIX</h2> -<h2 class="main">Rival Deities of Life and Death, Sunshine and Storm</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">Izanagi visits Hades—Origin of Thunder Deities—The Flight from Hades—Japanese Version -of the “Far-travelled Tale”—The Sacred Peach Tree—Izanami as Goddess of Death—Births -of Sun and Moon from Eyes of Izanagi—The Sun-goddess’s Necklace—Susa-no-wo as “Impetuous -Male Deity”—Connection with Typhoon and Rain—A Japanese Indra—Vitalizing and Blighting -Tears of Deities—Deities Born from Jewels and Sword—The Harrying of Heaven—Flight -of Sun-goddess—How Light was Restored—The Sacred Mirror—Banishment of Susa-no-wo.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">After Izanagi had slain his son, the fire-god, and brought into being new gods, including -dragons, he was seized with longing to see Izanami once more. Accordingly he set out -to find her in Yomi (“Yellow stream”), the dark Hades of the Underworld. “The orthodox -Japanese derivation of Yomi,” says Chamberlain, “is from <i>yoru</i>, ‘night’, which would give us for <i>Yomo-tsu-kuni</i> some such rendering as ‘Land of Gloom’.” Another view is that “Yomi” is a mispronunciation -of “Yama”, the name of the Aryo-Indian god of death.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8350src" href="#xd31e8350">1</a> -</p> -<p>When Izanagi reached the gloomy dwelling of his sister, she raised the door, and he -spoke to her, saying: “Thine Augustness, my lovely young sister! the lands that I -and you made are not yet finished; so come back”. She replied out of the darkness: -“It is sorrowful that you did not come hither sooner, for I have eaten of the <span class="pageNum" id="pb358">[<a href="#pb358">358</a>]</span>food of Yomi. Nevertheless, it is my desire to return. I will therefore speak with -the <i>kami</i> of Yomi.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8360src" href="#xd31e8360">2</a> She added in warning, “Look not at me!” -</p> -<p>Izanami then went back to the place she had come from. She tarried there for so long -a time that Izanagi grew impatient. At length he felt he could not wait any longer, -so he broke off the end tooth of his hair-comb, which is called the “male pillar”, -and thus made a light, and entered.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8365src" href="#xd31e8365">3</a> He found his sister. Her body was rotting, and maggots swarmed over it. The <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> proceeds: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“In her head dwelt the Great Thunder, in her breast dwelt the Fire Thunder, in her -belly dwelt the Black Thunder, in her private parts dwelt the Cleaving Thunder, in -her left hand dwelt the Young Thunder, in her right hand dwelt the Earth Thunder, -in her left foot dwelt the Rumbling Thunder, in her right foot dwelt the Couchant -Thunder; altogether eight thunder deities had been born and dwelt there.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Horrified at the spectacle, Izanagi drew back suddenly; whereupon his sister exclaimed, -“You have put me to shame!” and became angry. -</p> -<p>Here Izanagi has broken a taboo, as did the Japanese youth who married the dragon-maid, -Abundant Pearl Princess, and as did the husband of Melusina in the French legend. -It was an ancient custom in Japan to erect “parturition houses”. These were one-roomed -huts to which women retired so as to give birth to children unseen. Ernest Satow tells -that on the island of Hachijo, until comparatively recent times, “women, when about -to become mothers, were … driven out to the huts on the mountain-side, and according -to the <span class="pageNum" id="pb359">[<a href="#pb359">359</a>]</span>accounts of native writers, left to shift for themselves, the result not infrequently -being the death of the new-born infant”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8379src" href="#xd31e8379">4</a> It was taboo for a man to enter a “parturition house”. Apparently Izanami had retired -to a “parturition house” in Yomi. -</p> -<p>Enraged against Izanagi, because he had put her to shame, Izanami commanded the Ugly -Females of Yomi to pursue and slay him. -</p> -<p>At this point in the mythical narrative begins a version of the widespread folk-story -about the young man who makes escape from his enemy or enemies, and in the course -of his flight throws down articles that are transformed into obstacles, or into things -which tempt the pursuers to tarry and eat.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8386src" href="#xd31e8386">5</a> -</p> -<p>The first article that Izanagi cast down behind him was his wreath or head-dress, -which was instantly turned into grapes. This is according to the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>; the <i>Nihon-gi</i> makes the head-dress the second obstacle. His pursuer (<i>Ko-ji-ki</i>) or pursuers (<i>Nihon-gi</i>), having devoured the grapes, resumed the chase. Then Izanagi, as he fled, broke -his hair-comb and threw it down; it instantly turned into bamboo sprouts. While these -were being pulled up and eaten, he continued his flight. -</p> -<p>The <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> (but not the <i>Nihon-gi</i>) here introduces another set of pursuers. Izanami, finding that her brother had outwitted -the Ugly Female (or Females), “sent the eight Thunder-Deities with a thousand and -five hundred warriors of Hades to pursue him. Izanagi, drawing the ten-grasp sabre -that was augustly girded on him, fled forward, brandishing it in his back hand (brandishing -it behind him); and as the demons still <span class="pageNum" id="pb360">[<a href="#pb360">360</a>]</span>continued to pursue him, he took, on reaching the base of the Even Pass of Hades,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8411src" href="#xd31e8411">6</a> three peaches that were growing at its base, and waited and smote (his pursuers therewith) -so that they all fled back.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8414src" href="#xd31e8414">7</a> -</p> -<p>Having thus rid himself of his pursuers, Izanagi addressed the peaches, saying: “As -you have helped me, so must ye help all living people in the Central Land of Reed-Plains, -when they are troubled and harassed”. -</p> -<p>Here we have not only a native name of China (“Land of Reed-Plains”) applied to Japan, -but also the sacred Chinese peach, a symbol of the Great Mother, the Western Queen -of Immortals (Si Wang Fu). The story of a hero’s flight from the Underworld has not -survived in China, if ever it existed there. It is, however, found in the myths of -Scandinavia. -</p> -<p>In the <i>Nihon-gi</i> (Aston) the comment is added to the peach incident: “This was the origin of the custom -of exorcising evil spirits by means of peaches”. -</p> -<p>The peach, like the bean, was in Japan a symbol of the mother-goddess, as was the -shell in Egypt and the pig-shell in Greece. -</p> -<p>Izanami herself was the last to pursue Izanagi. When he saw her coming, Izanagi blocked -up the Pass of Yomi with a huge boulder of rock, which it would take a thousand men -to lift, and he stood on one side of it, while she stood on the other to “exchange -leave-takings” (<i>Ko-ji-ki</i>), or to pronounce the formula of divorce (<i>Nihon-gi</i>). -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p360width" id="p360"><img src="images/p360.jpg" alt="SUSA-NO-WO MAKING A COMPACT WITH DISEASE SPIRITS" width="720" height="476"><p class="figureHead">SUSA-NO-WO MAKING A COMPACT WITH DISEASE SPIRITS</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Japanese painting (by Hoga) in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>In the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> Izanami threatens to slay a thousand inhabitants in the land of the living, but Izanagi -retorts <span class="pageNum" id="pb361">[<a href="#pb361">361</a>]</span>that he will arrange for the birth of one thousand and five hundred, so that the number -born may exceed the number who must die. -</p> -<p>Izanami became thereafter <i>Yomo-tsu-oho-kami</i> (Yomi’s Great Deity).<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8446src" href="#xd31e8446">8</a> The rock which blocks the Pass of Yomi became the “Great-Deity-of-the-Road-Turning-back”. -</p> -<p>In the <i>Nihon-gi</i> (Aston’s translation) it is related that Izanagi flung down various articles on leaving -Hades, as the goddess Ishtar in Babylonian mythology flung down her clothing and ornaments -on entering the dread abode of Erish-ki-gal (Persephone). Having pronounced the divorce -formula: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“He also said, ‘Come no farther’, and threw down his staff, which was called <i>Funando-no-kami</i> (pass-not-place-deity), or <i>Kunado-no-kami</i> (come-not-place-deity). Moreover, he threw down his girdle, which was called <i>Nagachiha-no-kami</i>. Moreover, he threw down his upper garment, which was called <i>Wadzurahi-no-kami</i> (god of disease). Moreover, he threw down his trousers, which were called <i>Aki-guhi-no-kami</i>. Moreover, he threw down his shoes, which were called <i>Chi-shiki-no-kami</i>.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>On returning to the land of the living, Izanagi exclaimed: “I have come from a hideous -and polluted place. I will therefore perform the purification of my august body.” -</p> -<p>He went to bathe at a river mouth on a plain covered with bush-clover, beside a grove -of orange trees confronting the sun. It is here, according to the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, that he flings down his staff and the various articles of clothing that are transformed -into deities. Two evil deities were born from the filth of Hades that fell from his -person when he entered the water. He dived, and three sea-gods came into being. He -washed his left eye, and thus gave origin to the goddess of the sun, <i>Ama-terâsu-oho-mi-kami</i> <span class="pageNum" id="pb362">[<a href="#pb362">362</a>]</span>(The Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity). He washed his right eye, and there came into -being the god of the moon, <i>Tsuki-yomi-no-kami</i> (Moon-Night-Possessor). He washed his nose, and from it was born <i>Take-haya-susa-no-wu-no-mikoto</i><a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8483src" href="#xd31e8483">9</a> (His-Brave-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness). -</p> -<p>Izanagi took off his necklace of jewels or beads (tama), and, shaking it so that the -beads jingled, bestowed it on Ama-terâsu, the sun kami or goddess, and set her to -rule the “Plain of High Heaven”. He commanded the moon-god to rule the night, and -Susa-no-wo to rule the “Sea Plain”. -</p> -<p>“At this point,” as Chamberlain says, “the story loses its unity. The moon-goddess -is no more heard of, and the traditions concerning the sun-goddess diverge from those -concerning the ‘Impetuous-Male-Deity’ in a manner which is productive of inconsistencies -in the rest of the mythology.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8489src" href="#xd31e8489">10</a> -</p> -<p>Chamberlain translates Susa-no-wo as “Impetuous-Male-Deity”, connecting his name with -<i>susama</i>, “to be impetuous”. But, as Aston points out, the implied noun <i>susa</i>, “impetuosity”, does not exist. There is, however, a town named Susa in Idzumo,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8499src" href="#xd31e8499">11</a> with which area the legends regarding the god are specially associated. Susa-no-wo -may therefore have been simply “the god of Susa”. Aston, following Dr. Buckley, Chicago, -regards him as a personification of the rain-storm. Japanese writers, on the other -hand, have connected him with Godzu Tenno, an Indian Hades deity, and with the moon-god, -or regarded him as a war-god, while some European scholars have referred to him as -a “rotating-heavens god”. Having been born from the nose of <span class="pageNum" id="pb363">[<a href="#pb363">363</a>]</span>Izanagi, we should expect Susa-no-wo to have a connection with wind and “the air of -life”, as well as with rain and the sea. It is of special interest to note in this -connection that, as Aston says,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8505src" href="#xd31e8505">12</a> “Japan is annually visited by destructive typhoons, accompanied by great darkness -and a terrific downpour of rain”. Susa-no-wo is “continually weeping, wailing, and -fuming with rage”, and is “a lover of destruction”, and he is associated with <i>Yomi</i>, the habitation of the deities that work evil against mankind. Susa-no-wo may be -the Japanese Indra, who brings rain. Japanese wind-gods were givers of rain, as well -as wind.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8512src" href="#xd31e8512">13</a> Like Indra, Susa-no-wo is a dragon-slayer. A festival “celebrated in his honour at -Onomochi in Bingo” is described by a Japanese writer in these words:<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8517src" href="#xd31e8517">14</a> -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“The procession is a tumultuous trial of speed and strength. Bands of strong men seize -the sacred cars, race with them to the sea, and having plunged in breast-deep, their -burden held aloft, dash back at full speed to the shrine. There refreshments are served -out, and then the race is resumed, the goal being the central flag among a number -set up in a large plain. Their feet beat time to a wildly shouted chorus, and they -sweep along wholly regardless of obstacles or collisions.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Indra, with Agni, the fire-god, was the winner in a race of the gods; he links with -Vayu or Vata, the wind-god, and he wages war against the Danavas, the demons of ocean.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8526src" href="#xd31e8526">15</a> -</p> -<p>In China dragon-boat races were held so as to cause rain. Imitation boats were likewise -carried through the streets to the seashore, and there burned so as to take away evil -influences. The boats represented fighting dragons, and these were rain-bringers. -The Japanese <span class="pageNum" id="pb364">[<a href="#pb364">364</a>]</span>imitated these Chinese customs, but not, however, until about the eleventh century.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8534src" href="#xd31e8534">16</a> -</p> -<p>As a trickster among the gods, Susa-no-wo bears some resemblance to the Scandinavian -Loki; he is, like that deity, an ally of the powers of darkness and destruction, and -he similarly suffers banishment from the celestial land. Susa-no-wo also recalls Nergal, -the Babylonian warrior-god, who conquered Hades, and was “the death spreader” (<i>Mushtabarrû-mûtanu</i>). -</p> -<p>The deities of the sun and moon proceeded to rule the day and the night as commanded -by their parent Izanagi, but Susa-no-wo did not depart to the ocean, which had been -committed to his charge; instead, he cried and wept until his eight-grasp beard reached -the pit of his stomach. Says the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“The fashion of his weeping was such as by his weeping to dry up all the rivers and -seas. For this reason the sound of bad deities was like unto the flies of the fifth -moon as they all swarmed, and in all things every portent of woe arose.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The reference to the god’s tears causing the green mountains to wither and the waters -to dry up has greatly perplexed Japanese commentators. But there are statements in -Asian and American mythologies regarding “evil” or “poisonous rain” distributed, to -the injury of vegetation, by dragons that may be sick or badly disposed towards mankind. -De Visser refers to a Buddhist legend about a poisonous Naga that guarded a big tree -and killed all those who took a branch from it; when angry it sent thunder and rain.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8552src" href="#xd31e8552">17</a> Central Asian legends tell that evil rains were sent out of season by disturbed and -enraged dragons. A Chinese story tells of a sick dragon that, <span class="pageNum" id="pb365">[<a href="#pb365">365</a>]</span>having been roused by prayers, gave “a badly-smelling rain which would have spoiled -the crops if a diviner had not discovered it in time and cured the dragon at the latter’s -request”. Thereupon a fertilizing rain fell and a very clear spring dashed forth from -a rock.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8558src" href="#xd31e8558">18</a> -</p> -<p>In Ancient Egypt the deities wept vitalizing tears (see <a href="#ix">Index</a>). Ra’s tears gave life to gods and men, the tears of the god Shu and the goddess -Tefnut became incense-bearing trees. The tears of Osiris and Isis caused life-giving -herbs, &c., to grow, but the tears shed on the world by the evil Set and his partisans -produced poisonous plants. When deities were enraged, their saliva, sweat, and blood -on touching the earth germinated and produced poisonous plants, scorpions, serpents, -&c.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8567src" href="#xd31e8567">19</a> -</p> -<p>The Chinese Buddhists believed in a Naga that, by means of a single drop of water, -could give rain to one or two kingdoms, and even prevent the sea from drying up.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8575src" href="#xd31e8575">20</a> Similarly a single tear from Isis-Hathor, as the star Sirius, that fell on the “Night -of the Drop”, caused the Nile to rise in flood. -</p> -<p>The blighting and ocean-drying tears of Susa-no-wo were evidently those of an evil -or angry deity, or of one who was sick with sorrow. -</p> -<p>Izanagi, beholding the ocean-ruler in tears, asked him why he wailed and wept. -</p> -<p>Susa-no-wo made answer: “I wail because I wish to depart to the land of my dead mother -(Izanami) in the Nether-Distant Land (Yomi, i.e. Hades)”. -</p> -<p>Izanagi was very angry, and said: “If that be so, you <span class="pageNum" id="pb366">[<a href="#pb366">366</a>]</span>shall not dwell in the ocean domain”. He then banished Susa-no-wo to Afumi.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8588src" href="#xd31e8588">21</a> -</p> -<p>Susa-no-wo made answer that he would first take leave of his sister, Ama-terâsu, goddess -of the sun. He rose in the air, as does a thunder-bringing dragon. Says the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“(With these words) he forthwith went up to Heaven, whereupon all the mountains shook, -and every land and country quaked. So Ama-terâsu, alarmed at the noise, said: ‘The -reason of the ascent hither of His Augustness my elder brother<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8602src" href="#xd31e8602">22</a> is surely no good intent. It is only that he wishes to wrest my land from me.’ ”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8605src" href="#xd31e8605">23</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>The goddess unbound her hair, twisted it into bunches, put on her string of five hundred -curved jewels (<i>maga-tama</i>, i.e. claw-shaped),<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8612src" href="#xd31e8612">24</a> and armed herself with bow and arrows. She stood “valiantly like unto a mighty man”, -and asked her brother why he had ascended. Susa-no-wo declared he had no evil intention, -and she asked him to give proof of his sincerity and goodwill. He proposed that they -should pledge their faith and produce children. To this she consented, and they “swore -to each other from the opposite banks of the Tranquil River of Heaven”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8615src" href="#xd31e8615">25</a> -</p> -<p>Ama-terâsu asked Susa-no-wo for his sword. He gave it to her and she broke it into -three pieces. She then made a jingling sound with her jewels, brandished and washed -them in the True-Pool-Well of Heaven<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8620src" href="#xd31e8620">26</a> and “crunchingly crunched them”. Then from the mist (of <span class="pageNum" id="pb367">[<a href="#pb367">367</a>]</span>her breath) were born the deities Torrent-Mist-Princess, Lovely-Island-Princess, and -Princess-of-the-Torrent. -</p> -<p>Susa-no-wo then asked for and obtained from Ama-terâsu the string of five hundred -curved jewels<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8627src" href="#xd31e8627">27</a> which was twisted in the left bunch of her hair. He made a jingling sound with the -jewels, washed them in the Pool, and, having crunched them, “blew them away”. From -his breath were born the god “Truly-Conqueror-I-Conquer-Conquering-Swift-Heavenly-Great-Great-Ears”, -the god Ame-no-hohi,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8630src" href="#xd31e8630">28</a> the god “Prince-Lord of Heaven”, the god “Prince-Lord of Life”, and the god of Kumano. -In all eight deities—three goddesses and five gods—were born. -</p> -<p>From these deities the Japanese noble families have claimed descent. The Mikados were -supposed to be descended from the Conquering God with Great Ears (<i>Masa-ya-a-katsu-kachi-haya-hi-ama-no-oshi-ho-mi-mi</i>). Another myth makes the Mikado a descendant of the sun-goddess and <i>Taka-mi-musubi</i> (the High, August God of Birth and Growth), who, in a sense, is a Japanese Osiris. -He has been compared to the Hindu god Shiva. Aston says that “musubi” is “the abstract -process of growth personified—that is, a power immanent in nature and not external -to it”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8639src" href="#xd31e8639">29</a> Breasted similarly regards Osiris as “the imperishable principle of life wherever -found”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8643src" href="#xd31e8643">30</a> Shiva, as “the fructifying principle”, is represented by the phallus. It is believed -that this symbol was the “shintai” (god body) of Musubi.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8647src" href="#xd31e8647">31</a> -</p> -<p>After the three goddesses and five gods had come into being, Susa-no-wo declared, -“I have undoubtedly gained <span class="pageNum" id="pb368">[<a href="#pb368">368</a>]</span>the victory”. He then proceeded to harry the celestial regions. He broke down the -divisions of the rice-fields, filled up the ditches, and fouled with excrement and -urine the palace in which the goddess took food. He became even more violent. Having -broken open a hole in the sacred house in which sat Ama-terâsu superintending the -weaving of the garments of deities, he let fall into it a heavenly piebald horse that -had been flayed backwards (a criminal offence). The celestial female weavers were -terrified. -</p> -<p>Alarmed by Susa-no-wo’s doings, the sun-goddess entered her cave, the Heavenly Rock -Dwelling,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8659src" href="#xd31e8659">32</a> shut the door and made it fast. All the land became dark. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p368width" id="p368"><img src="images/p368.jpg" alt="AMATERÂSU, THE SUN GODDESS, EMERGING FROM HER CAVE" width="720" height="258"><p class="figureHead">AMATERÂSU, THE SUN GODDESS, EMERGING FROM HER CAVE</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Japanese painting in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>Then the eight hundred myriad deities took counsel, sitting in the bed of the River -of Heaven, so as to plan how they could entice the sun-goddess from her hiding-place. -They made the cocks (“the long-singing birds of eternal night”) to crow loud, they -caused the Heavenly Smith to shape a mirror of iron (the “true metal”) from the Heavenly -Metal-Mountains (the mines), and charged the Jewel-Ancestor (<i>Tama-noya-no-mikoto</i>) to make a complete string of five hundred curved jewels. A tree was then taken from -the celestial Mount Kagu<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8673src" href="#xd31e8673">33</a> and on it were hung the mirror, the jewel, cherry bark, and other offerings. The -ritual was recited, and thereafter <i>Ama-no-Uzume</i> (the Dread Celestial Female), wearing metal head-gear (flowers of gold and silver) -and a sash of club-moss from the celestial mountain, and holding in her hands a posy -of bamboo grass, danced on a tub<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8682src" href="#xd31e8682">34</a> until the eight hundred myriad deities laughed. Wondering to hear sounds of merriment, -instead of sounds of woe, the sun-goddess <span class="pageNum" id="pb369">[<a href="#pb369">369</a>]</span>opened the door of her cave a little and asked why they all laughed. She was told -that the deities rejoiced because they had among them a more august goddess than herself. -</p> -<p>One of the gods then held up the mirror, and the sun-goddess was astonished to behold -a bright deity, not knowing it was her reflected image, and gradually came forth, -fascinated by her own beauty and brightness. A strong deity took her hand and drew -her out while another deity, Grand Jewel, drew a straw rope behind her so as to prevent -her retreating.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8689src" href="#xd31e8689">35</a> In this manner the sun-goddess was enticed to return and light up the world. -</p> -<p>The second expulsion of Susa-no-wo followed. He was fined an immense fine of table-offerings, -his beard was shorn, and his finger and toe nails were drawn out. -</p> -<p>According to the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, he begged for food from the food-goddess. She took “dainty things” from various -parts of her body which he regarded as filth, so he slew her. Then from her head “were -born silk-worms, in her two eyes were born rice-seeds, in her two ears were born millet, -in her nose were born small beans, in her private parts were born barley, in her fundament -were born large beans”. These were used as seeds. According to the <i>Nihon-gi</i>, they were sown “in the narrow fields and in the long fields of Heaven”. -</p> -<p>The reason for keeping the mirror and jewels (<i>tama</i>) in the shrine of Ise, and for worshipping the sun-goddess and the food-goddess there, -are thus explained in Shinto mythology. Virgin priestesses danced at religious ceremonies -as did the tub-thumping goddess, and offerings <span class="pageNum" id="pb370">[<a href="#pb370">370</a>]</span>were suspended from trees as in the celestial regions, while the straw rope was utilized -to keep back demons and to ensure the rising of the sun by preventing the retreat -of the sun-goddess. -</p> -<p>The finding of the dragon-sword is dealt with in the next mythical story. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb371">[<a href="#pb371">371</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8350"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8350src">1</a></span> <i>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</i>, Vol. X (supplement), p. 34. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8350src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8360"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8360src">2</a></span> The spirits of disease, decay, destruction, and darkness. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8360src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8365"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8365src">3</a></span> This phallic symbol had, apparently, like jade, rhinoceros-horn, &c., nocturnal luminosity. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8365src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8379"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8379src">4</a></span> <i>Transactions of Asiatic Society of Japan</i>, Vol. VI, Part III, pp. 455–6. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8379src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8386"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8386src">5</a></span> For representative versions in various lands, see Andrew Lang’s <i>Custom and Myth</i> (A Far-travelled Tale), pp. 87 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8386src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8411"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8411src">6</a></span> Or “Flat Hill of Hades”, the frontier line between the land of the living and the -land of the dead. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8411src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8414"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8414src">7</a></span> In the Ainu story about the man who visited the Underworld and was transformed into -a snake, a pine tree, inhabited by a goddess, occupies the spot on which grows the -peach tree in this Japanese myth. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8414src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8446"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8446src">8</a></span> The Japanese Persephone. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8446src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8483"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8483src">9</a></span> “Susa-no-wo” for short. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8483src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8489"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8489src">10</a></span> <i>Things Japanese</i>, p. 145. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8489src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8499"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8499src">11</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1905), p. 141. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8499src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8505"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8505src">12</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1905), p. 137. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8505src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8512"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8512src">13</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, pp. 153–4. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8512src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8517"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8517src">14</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1905), p. 140. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8517src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8526"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8526src">15</a></span> <i>Indian Myth and Legend</i>, pp. 14, 15, 24, 64, 65. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8526src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8534"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8534src">16</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, pp. 83 et seq. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8534src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8552"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8552src">17</a></span> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 15. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8552src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8558"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8558src">18</a></span> <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 121. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8558src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8567"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8567src">19</a></span> Maspero, <i>Dawn of Civilization</i>, pp. 156 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8567src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8575"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8575src">20</a></span> De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 13. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8575src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8588"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8588src">21</a></span> The modern Omi, Afumi (Aha-humi), “Fresh-water Lake”: Chamberlain, <i>Transactions of Asiatic Society of Japan</i>, Vol. X (supplement), p. 45, <i>n.</i> 12. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8588src" title="Return to note 21 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8602"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8602src">22</a></span> That is, the elder brother of her family. He was really younger than herself. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8602src" title="Return to note 22 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8605"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8605src">23</a></span> As the Babylonian Nergal wrested Hades from Eresh-ki-gal (Persephone). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8605src" title="Return to note 23 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8612"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8612src">24</a></span> The so-called “comma-shaped” beads, which represented the claws of tigers or bears, -or a cut sea-shell. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8612src" title="Return to note 24 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8615"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8615src">25</a></span> The “Milky Way” by night, also called the “Heavenly River of Eight currents (or ‘reaches’)”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8615src" title="Return to note 25 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8620"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8620src">26</a></span> The ancient Egyptian Celestial Pool of the Gods. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8620src" title="Return to note 26 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8627"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8627src">27</a></span> Each jewel was eight feet long. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8627src" title="Return to note 27 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8630"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8630src">28</a></span> The “hohi of Heaven”. What “hohi” signifies is a puzzle. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8630src" title="Return to note 28 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8639"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8639src">29</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1905), p. 172. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8639src" title="Return to note 29 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8643"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8643src">30</a></span> <i>Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 23. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8643src" title="Return to note 30 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8647"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8647src">31</a></span> <i>Shinto</i> (1905), p. 174. Professor Benoy K. Sarkar compares Shiva to Osiris. See <i>The Folk-Element in Hindu Culture</i> (London, 1917), p. 7. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8647src" title="Return to note 31 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8659"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8659src">32</a></span> In Ancient Egypt the mountain that splits when the sun emerges at dawn. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8659src" title="Return to note 32 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8673"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8673src">33</a></span> The tree <i>Sakaki</i> (<i>Cleyera japonica</i>) planted beside Shinto shrines. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8673src" title="Return to note 33 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8682"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8682src">34</a></span> The dance was a gross and indelicate one. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8682src" title="Return to note 34 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8689"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8689src">35</a></span> This rope (<i>shime-naha</i>) is tied round trees at Shinto shrines. At Ise it stretches across a ravine, through -which the sun is seen and adored at dawn. The straw is pulled up by the roots. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8689src" title="Return to note 35 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch20" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e422">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XX</h2> -<h2 class="main">The Dragon-Slayer and His Rival</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">The Eight-headed Dragon—Sacrifices of Maidens—How the Dragon was intoxicated and slain—Finding -of the Dragon-sword—The Nuptial House—Adventures of Ohonamochi—The Jealous Brothers—Flight -of Ohonamochi to Hades—Susa-no-wo as Giant-god of Hades—Princess Forward—Far Eastern -Version of Jack-and-the-Beanstalk Story—The Life-sword, Life-bow and arrows, &c.—Ohonamochi’s -Conquest of Japan—A Japanese Odin—Another Creation Myth—The Elfin Deity in Bird Skins—A -Shining Sea-god.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">After Susa-no-wo had been banished from heaven, he descended on <i>Tori-kami</i>, beside the river Hi, in the province of Idzumo. A chopstick came floating down the -river, so he knew that people were dwelling near, and he set out to search for them. -He soon met an old man and an old woman who were weeping bitterly; between them walked -a lovely maiden. -</p> -<p>“Who are you?” asked Susa-no-wo. -</p> -<p>The old man made answer: “I am a god of earth, son of a mountain god, and my name -is <i>Ashi-na-dzu-chi</i> (‘foot-stroker’); this woman is my wife, and her name is <i>Te-na-dzu-chi</i> (‘hand stroker’); the maiden is my daughter <i>Kush-inada-hime</i> (‘Miraculous-rice-field-sun-maiden’).” -</p> -<p>“Why do you weep?” asked Susa-no-wo. -</p> -<p>Said the old man: “I have had eight daughters, but each year the eight-forked serpent -(dragon) of Koshi has come and devoured one after the other. I weep now because the -time is at hand to give Kush-inada-hime to the serpent.” -</p> -<p>“What is the serpent like?” -<span class="pageNum" id="pb372">[<a href="#pb372">372</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Its eyes are red as the winter cherry<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8736src" href="#xd31e8736">1</a>; it has a body with eight heads and eight tails, and on its body grow moss and trees. -It is so long that it stretches over eight valleys and eight hills. Its belly is constantly -bloody and inflamed.”<a class="noteRef" id="n372.2src" href="#n372.2">2</a> -</p> -<p>“If this maiden is your daughter,” said Susa-no-wo, “will you give her to me?” -</p> -<p>“You honour me,” the old man made answer, “but I do not know your name.” -</p> -<p>“I am the dear brother of the sun-goddess, and have just descended from heaven.” -</p> -<p>“Most obediently do I offer my daughter to you,” the old man said with reverence. -</p> -<p>Susa-no-wo then transformed the girl into a comb, which he placed in his hair. Having -done this, he bade the old couple to brew rice-beer (<i>sake</i>). They obeyed him, and he asked them to construct a fence with eight gates and eight -benches, and to place on each bench a vat filled with the beer. -</p> -<p>In time the eight-forked serpent came nigh. It dipped each of its heads into each -of the vats, drank the <i>sake</i>, became drunk, and then lay down and slept. Susa-no-wo drew his two-handed sword,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8763src" href="#xd31e8763">3</a> and cut the serpent in pieces. The Hi River turned red with blood. -</p> -<p>When Susa-no-wo cut the middle tail his sword broke. He marvelled at this. Taking -the point of the sword in his hand, he thrust and split, and looked inside, and found -a keen-cutting blade within this tail. He took it out and sent it to his sister, Ama-terâsu, -the sun-goddess. <span class="pageNum" id="pb373">[<a href="#pb373">373</a>]</span>This sword is the <i>Kusa-nagi-no-tachi</i> (the “herb-quelling” dragon-sword). -</p> -<p>Susa-no-wo afterwards built a house in the land of Idzumo, at a place called Suga. -Clouds rose up from that place. He made an ode regarding the eight clouds that formed -an eight-fold fence for husband and wife to retire within the house. Then he appointed -the maiden’s father to be keeper, or head-man of the house. -</p> -<p>In this nuptial house children were born to Susa-no-wo and the young woman he had -rescued from the dragon. These children included <i>Oho-toshi-no-kami</i> (Great Harvest deity), <i>Uka-no-mitama</i> (the August Spirit of Food), and <i>Ohonamochi</i> (“Great Name Possessor”), the god of Idzumo,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8785src" href="#xd31e8785">4</a> who could assume snake form or human form at will. -</p> -<p>Ohonamochi and his eighty brothers desired to marry the Princess of Yakami in Inaba. -On their way thither the eighty brothers tricked a hare, which came by a distressing -injury, but Ohonamochi caused it to be cured. The grateful hare of Inaba, now called -“the Hare Deity”, promised Ohonamochi, who carried the bag as a servant to his brothers, -that he would get the princess for wife. -</p> -<p>The princess afterwards refused to marry any of the eighty brothers, saying she favoured -Ohonamochi. Being enraged, the brothers took counsel together and said to Ohonamochi: -“There is a red boar on this mountain, named Tema, in the land of Hataki. When we -drive it down, you must catch it. If you fail to catch it, we shall certainly slay -you.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8793src" href="#xd31e8793">5</a> -</p> -<p>Having thus spoken, the eighty deities kindled a fire, in which they heated a great -boulder, shaped like to a boar. They rolled the stone down the mountain-side, <span class="pageNum" id="pb374">[<a href="#pb374">374</a>]</span>and when Ohonamochi seized it he was so grievously burned that he died. -</p> -<p>Then his mother wept and lamented, and ascending to heaven, appealed to <i>Kami-musu-bi-no-kami</i> (Divine-Producing Wondrous-Deity), one of the elder gods,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8805src" href="#xd31e8805">6</a> who sent <i>Kisa-gahi-hime</i> (Princess Cockle-Shell)<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8810src" href="#xd31e8810">7</a> and <i>Umugi-hime</i> (Princess Clam)<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8818src" href="#xd31e8818">8</a> to restore the dead deity to life. Kisa-gahi-hime “triturated and scorched her shell”, -and Umugi-hime “carried water and smeared him as with mother’s milk”.<a class="noteRef" id="n374.4src" href="#n374.4">9</a> Thereupon Ohonamochi came to life as a beautiful young man and walked again. -</p> -<p>The eighty deities again deceived Ohonamochi. They led him to the mountains. There -they cut down a tree, which they split, inserting a wedge in it, and having made him -stand in the middle, they took away the wedge, and thus killed him. -</p> -<p>Ohonamochi’s mother again wailed and wept. She cut the tree, and, taking him out, -restored him to life once more. Then he fled to the Land of Trees, escaping from his -pursuers, who had fixed arrows in their bows, by dipping under the fork of a tree -and disappearing.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8833src" href="#xd31e8833">10</a> -</p> -<p>Ohonamochi was advised to seek refuge in the Nether-Distant-Land (Hades), where dwelt -Susa-no-wo. Princess Forward met him, and they exchanged glances, and were married. -She then informed her father, Susa-no-wo, that a very beautiful god had arrived. But -Susa-no-wo was angry, and called the youthful deity “Ugly-Male-God-of-Reed-Plain”, -<span class="pageNum" id="pb375">[<a href="#pb375">375</a>]</span>and commanded him to sleep in the snake-house. The Princess Forward gave Ohonamochi -a snake-scarf, instructing him to wave it thrice when the snakes threatened to bite -him. This he did, and was protected. On the next night Susa-no-wo placed the young -god in the house of centipedes and wasps, but the princess gave him another scarf -that protected him against attack. -</p> -<p>Next day Susa-no-wo shot a “humming arrow”<a class="noteRef" id="n375.1src" href="#n375.1">11</a> into the middle of a moor, and made Ohonamochi fetch it back. But when the young -god went out on the moor Susa-no-wo set fire to it all round. Ohonamochi could perceive -no way of escape. As he stood there, a mouse<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8847src" href="#xd31e8847">12</a> came and told him of a hollow place in which he could shelter himself. Ohonamochi -hastened to the hole and hid in it till the fire had gone past. Then the mouse discovered -and brought the humming arrow to Ohonamochi. “The feathers of the arrows were brought -in their mouths by all the mouse’s children” (<i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, p. 73).<a class="noteRef" id="n375.3src" href="#n375.3">13</a> -</p> -<p>Princess Forward lamented for her husband, and Susa-no-wo believed he was dead. But -the princess found Ohonamochi, and took him to the house. He returned the arrow to -Susa-no-wo. This god had many centipedes in his hair, and bade the youth take them -out. Ohonamochi made pretence of doing this, and Susa-no-wo fell asleep. -</p> -<p>Then Ohonamochi tied the hair of Susa-no-wo to the rafters, placed a great boulder -against the door, and fled <span class="pageNum" id="pb376">[<a href="#pb376">376</a>]</span>away with Princess Forward on his back. He carried away, too, Susa-no-wo’s life-sword -and life-bow and arrows, and the heavenly-speaking lute.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8860src" href="#xd31e8860">14</a> -</p> -<p>As Ohonamochi fled, the lute touched a tree, and the earth resounded with its call. -Susa-no-wo was awakened by the spirit-call. He pulled down the great house so as to -get out, but was so long delayed in disentangling his hair from the rafters, that -when he went in pursuit he did not get within call of Ohonamochi until he reached -the Even Pass of Yomi (Hades).<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8865src" href="#xd31e8865">15</a> -</p> -<p>Susa-no-wo shouted to Ohonamochi, advising him to pursue the eighty half-brothers -with the life-sword and life-bow and arrows until they were swept into the river rapids. -“Then, wretch,” said he, “become <i>Oho-kuni-nushi</i> (Great Master god of the land), and make Princess Forward thy consort. Set up the -temple-pillars at the foot of Mount Uka on foundations of rock and raise the cross-beams -to the Plain of High Heaven. Dwell there, you villain.” -</p> -<p>Ohonamochi pursued and destroyed the eighty deities. “Then,” the narrative continues, -“he began to make the land.” -</p> -<p>Here we meet with another Creation myth. -</p> -<p>Two children were born to Ohonamochi and Princess Forward; these were <i>Ki-no-mata-no-kami</i> (Tree-fork-deity) and <i>Mi-wi-no-kami</i> (Deity of August Wells). -</p> -<p>Like Odin, Ohonamochi woos in the course of his career more than one goddess. One -of these, the Princess of <i>Nuna-kaha</i> (Lagoon-river), sings to him: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Being a man probably (thou) hast on the various island headlands that thou seest, -and on every beach headland that thou lookest <span class="pageNum" id="pb377">[<a href="#pb377">377</a>]</span>on, a wife like the young herbs. But as for me, alas! being a woman, I have no man -except thee.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8890src" href="#xd31e8890">16</a></p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>An elfin deity comes across the ocean to assist Ohonamochi to “make and consolidate -the land”. He is named <i>Sukuna-bikona</i> (the Little Prince god). Attired in bird<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8898src" href="#xd31e8898">17</a> skins, the little god sailed in a boat of the heavenly <i>Kagami</i>.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8903src" href="#xd31e8903">18</a> -</p> -<p>After Little Prince had for a time assisted to consolidate the land, he crossed over -to <i>Toko-yo-no-kuni</i> (the Eternal Land). -</p> -<p>Then came a deity illuminating the sea to assist in consolidating the land. He asked -for a temple on Mount Mimoro and was afterwards worshipped there. He himself passed -to the Eternal Land (<i>Toko-yo-no-kuni</i>), where grows the orange tree of life.<a class="noteRef" id="n377.4src" href="#n377.4">19</a> The deity there who revealed Little Prince is called Crumbling Prince; his legs do -not walk, but he knows everything beneath the Heavens.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8917src" href="#xd31e8917">20</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb378">[<a href="#pb378">378</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8736"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8736src">1</a></span> The modern <i>hohodzuki</i> (<i>Physalis Alkekengi</i>). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8736src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n372.2"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n372.2src">2</a></span> De Groot refers to a “venerable” Chinese dragon living in a pond; it had nine heads -and eighteen tails, and “ate nothing but fever demons”. <i>The Religious System of China</i>, Vol. VI, p. 1053. Another dragon is 1000 miles long; his breath causes wind; when -he opens his eyes it is day, and when he closes them it is night. De Visser, <i>The Dragon in China and Japan</i>, p. 62. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n372.2src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8763"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8763src">3</a></span> In the <i>Nihon-gi</i> this sword is called <i>Ama no-hawe-giri</i> (the heavenly fly-cutter). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8763src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8785"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8785src">4</a></span> Idzumo is the next holiest place to Ise. The god had other names including <i>Oho-kuni-nushi</i> (“Great Land Master”). <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8785src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8793"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8793src">5</a></span> An incident that recalls the Diarmid story in Scottish and Irish Gaelic folk-tales. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8793src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8805"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8805src">6</a></span> One of the first three deities, the children of Heaven and Earth. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8805src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8810"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8810src">7</a></span> The <i>Arca inflata</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8810src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8818"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8818src">8</a></span> The <i>Cytherea meretrix</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8818src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n374.4"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n374.4src">9</a></span> Chamberlain, in his translation of the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> (p. 70), says “the meaning is that a paste like milk was made of the triturated and -calcined shell mixed with water”. Mother (<i>omo</i>) may be read as “nurse” too. Mrs. Carmichael, widow of Dr. Alexander Carmichael, -the Scottish folk-lorist, informs me that in the Outer Hebrides women burn and grind -cockle-shells to make a “lime water” for delicate children. The clam is likewise used. -The ancient Japanese and ancient Hebrideans may have received this folk-medicine from -the ancient seafarers who searched for shells and metals. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n374.4src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8833"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8833src">10</a></span> This was a magical act. He rendered himself invisible. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8833src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n375.1"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n375.1src">11</a></span> The “sounding arrow” with a whistling contrivance made of bone. It was known in China -during the Tʼang Dynasty, and was used by hunters to make birds rise, and by soldiers -to scare enemies. Laufer thinks the Japanese sounding arrows were of Chinese origin.—<i>Chinese Clay Figures</i>, p. 224, n. 4. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n375.1src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8847"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8847src">12</a></span> Or a rat. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8847src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n375.3"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n375.3src">13</a></span> Here one is tempted to see mouse-Apollo, or the mouse of the Homeric Apollo who shoots -the arrows of disease. The mice that strip the arrows of their feathers may be the -arresters of disease. Mouse medicine is of great antiquity in Egypt. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n375.3src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8860"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8860src">14</a></span> “Divine messages,” says Chamberlain, “were conveyed through a person playing on the -lute.” The language of the “lute” was thus like the “language of birds”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8860src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8865"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8865src">15</a></span> This is a Far Eastern version of the Jack-and-the-Beanstalk story. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8865src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8890"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8890src">16</a></span> <i>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</i>, Vol. X (supplement), p. 81. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8890src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8898"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8898src">17</a></span> Native commentators say “goose” or “wren”; some consider that owing to a copyist’s -error “insect” has been changed to bird, and that the reading should be “moth” or -“silk-worm moth” or “fire insect”. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8898src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8903"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8903src">18</a></span> Some think this plant is one that bears a berry three or four inches long, and that -the boat was a scooped-out berry. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8903src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="n377.4"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#n377.4src">19</a></span> This is not Yomi, but either the Chinese Paradise of the West or the Paradise of the -Buddhists. <a class="fnarrow" href="#n377.4src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8917"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8917src">20</a></span> A Chinese phrase signifying anciently the Chinese world or empire. The “Crumbling -Deity” may be the “leech-child”, or the caterpillar worshipped by a Japanese cult. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8917src" title="Return to note 20 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch21" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e432">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="label">CHAPTER XXI</h2> -<h2 class="main">Ancient Mikados and Heroes</h2> -<div class="argument"> -<p class="first">End of Dynasty of Susa-no-wo—Dynasty of Sun-goddess—The First Emperor of Japan—Mikado -as Descendant of the Sea-god, the “Abundant Pearl Prince”—A Japanese Gilgamesh—Quest -of the Orange Tree of Life—The “Eternal Land”—The Polynesian Paradise and Tree of -Life—Yamato-Take, National Hero of Japan—Conflicts with Gods and Rebels—Enchantment -and Death of Hero—The Bird-soul—Empress Jingo—Mikado deified as God of War—Shinto -Religion and Nature-worship—The Goddess Cult in Japan—Adoration of the Principle of -Life in Jewels, Trees, Herbs, &c.—Buddhism—Revival of Pure Shinto—Culture-mixing in -China and Japan—China “not a nation”.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Many children were born to Ohonamochi, but the Celestials would not give recognition -to the Dynasty of Susa-no-wo, and resolved that Ninigi, the august grandchild of the -sun-goddess, should rule Japan. Ohonamochi was deposed, and several deities were sent -down from heaven to pacify the land for the chosen one. -</p> -<p>Ninigi’s wife was <i>Konohana-sakuyahime</i>, and two of their children were <i>Hohodemi</i>, the hunter, and <i>Ho-no-Susori</i>, the fisherman. -</p> -<p>It was Hohodemi who wooed and wed the “Abundant Pearl Princess” and lived with her -for a time in the land under the ocean.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8938src" href="#xd31e8938">1</a> After she gave birth to her child, she departed to her own land, deeply offended -because her husband beheld her in dragon (<i>wani</i>) shape in the parturition house he had built for her on the seashore. -</p> -<p>This child was the father of the first Emperor of <span class="pageNum" id="pb379">[<a href="#pb379">379</a>]</span>Japan, Jimmu Tenno.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8950src" href="#xd31e8950">2</a> The Mikados were therefore descended from the sun-goddess Ama-terâsu and the Dragon-king -of Ocean, the “Abundant Pearl Prince”. -</p> -<p>When engaged pacifying the land, Jimmu followed a gigantic crow<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8957src" href="#xd31e8957">3</a> that had been sent down from heaven to guide him. He possessed a magic celestial -cross-sword and a fire-striker. His two brothers, who accompanied him on an expedition -across the sea, leapt overboard when a storm was raging so that the waves might be -stilled. They were subsequently worshipped as gods. -</p> -<p>Yamato now becomes the centre of the narrative, Idzumo having lost its former importance. -</p> -<p>Jimmu Tenno reigned until he was 127 years of age, dying, according to Japanese dating, -in 585 <span class="asc">B.C.</span> His successor was Suisei Tenno. There follows a blank of 500 years which is bridged -by the names of rulers most of whom had long lives, some reaching over 120 years. -</p> -<p>At the beginning of the Christian era, the Mikado was Sui-nin, who died at the age -of 141 years. This monarch sent the hero Tajima-mori to the Eternal Land with purpose -to bring back the fruit of the “Timeless (or Everlasting) Fragrant Tree”. The Japanese -Gilgamesh succeeded in his enterprise. According to the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>: -</p> -<blockquote> -<p class="first">“Tajima-mori at last reached that country, plucked the fruit of the tree, and brought -of club-moss eight and of spears eight; but meanwhile the Heavenly Sovereign had died. -Then Tajima-mori set apart of club-moss four and of spears four, which he presented -to the Great Empress, and set up of club-moss four and of spears four as an offering -at the door of the Heavenly Sovereign’s august mausoleum, and, raising on high the -fruit of the tree, wailed and wept, saying: ‘Bringing the fruit of the Everlasting -Fragrant Tree from the Eternal Land, I have come to serve thee.’ At last he <span class="pageNum" id="pb380">[<a href="#pb380">380</a>]</span>wailed and wept himself to death. This fruit of the Everlasting Fragrant Tree is what -is now called the orange.”</p> -</blockquote><p> -</p> -<p>Chamberlain explains<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8979src" href="#xd31e8979">4</a> that “club-moss oranges” signifies oranges as they grow on the branch surrounded -by leaves, while spear-oranges are the same divested of leaves and hanging to the -bare twig. -</p> -<p>The location of the Eternal Land has greatly puzzled native scholars. Some suppose -it was a part of Korea and others that it was Southern China or the Loocho Islands. -According to the <i>Nihon-gi</i>, Tajima-mori found the Eternal Land to be inhabited by gods and dwarfs. As it lay -somewhere to the west of Japan, it would appear to be identical with the Western Paradise -which, according to Chinese belief, is ruled over by Si Wang Mu (the Japanese Seiobo), -the “Royal Mother” and “Queen of Immortals”. Instead of the Chinese Peach Tree of -Life, the Japanese had in their own Western Paradise the Orange Tree of Life. The -orange was not, however, introduced into Japan until the eighth century of our era.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e8989src" href="#xd31e8989">5</a> Whether or not it supplanted in the Japanese paradise an earlier tree, as the cassia -tree supplanted the peach tree in the Chinese paradise, is at present uncertain. It -may be that the idea of the Western Paradise was introduced by the Buddhists. At the -same time, it will be recalled that the Peach Tree of Life grew on the borderland -of Yomi, which was visited by Izanagi. -</p> -<p></p> -<div class="figure p380width" id="p380"><img src="images/p380.jpg" alt="SEIOBO (= THE CHINESE SI WANG MU) WITH ATTENDANT AND THREE RISHI" width="351" height="720"><p class="figureHead">SEIOBO (= THE CHINESE SI WANG MU) WITH ATTENDANT AND THREE RISHI</p> -<p class="first"><i>From a Japanese painting (by Sanraku) in the British Museum</i></p> -</div><p> -</p> -<p>A similar garden paradise was known to the Polynesians, and especially the Tahitians. -It was called Rohutu noanoa (“Perfumed or Fragrant Rohutu”). Thither the souls of -the dead were conducted by the god <span class="pageNum" id="pb381">[<a href="#pb381">381</a>]</span>Urutaetae. This paradise “was supposed”, writes Ellis,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9004src" href="#xd31e9004">6</a> “to be near a lofty and stupendous mountain in Raiatea, situated in the vicinity -of Hamaniino harbour and called <i>Temehani unauna</i>, ‘splendid or glorious Temehani’. It was, however, said to be invisible to mortal -eyes, being in the <i>reva</i>, or aerial regions. The country was described as most lovely and enchanting in appearance, -adorned with flowers of every form and hue, and perfumed with odours of every fragrance. -The air was free from every noxious vapour, pure, and most salubrious.… Rich viands -and delicious fruits were supposed to be furnished in abundance for the frequent and -sumptuous festivals celebrated there. Handsome youths and women, <i>purotu anae</i>, all perfection, thronged the place.” -</p> -<p>Another Polynesian paradise, called Pulotu, was reserved for chiefs, who obtained -“plenty of the best food and other indulgences”. Its ruler, Saveasiuleo, had a human -head. The upper part of his body reclined in a great house “in company with the spirits -of departed chiefs”, while “the extremity of his body was said to stretch away into -the sea in the shape of an eel or serpent”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9016src" href="#xd31e9016">7</a> -</p> -<p>The Japanese had thus, like the Polynesians, a garden paradise and a sea-dragon-king’s -paradise, as well as the gloomy Yomi. It may be that the beliefs and stories regarding -these Otherworlds were introduced by the earliest seafarers, who formed pearl-fishing -communities round their shores. The Ainu believe that Heaven and Hell are beneath -the earth, “in <i>Pokna moshiri</i>, the lower world”, but they have no idea what the rewards of the righteous are.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9025src" href="#xd31e9025">8</a> Nothing is definitely known regarding <span class="pageNum" id="pb382">[<a href="#pb382">382</a>]</span>the beliefs of the earlier and more highly civilized people remembered as the Koro-pok-guru. -</p> -<p>The Mikado Sui-nin was succeeded by the Mikado Kei-ko, who died in <span class="asc">A.D.</span> 130, aged 143 years. One of his sons, Yamato-Take, is a famous legendary hero of -Japan. He performed many heroic deeds in battle against brigands and rebels. At Ise -he obtained from his aunt, Yamato-hime, the priestess, the famous Kusanagi sword, -and a bag which he was not to open except when in peril of his life. He then set out -to subdue and pacify all savage deities and unsubmissive peoples. The ruler of Sagami -set fire to a moor which Yamato entered in quest of a “Violent Deity”. Finding himself -in peril, he opened the bag and discovered in it a fire-striker (or fire-drill). He -mowed the herbage with the dragon-sword, and, using the fire-striker, kindled a counter-fire, -which drove back the other fire. The Kusanagi (herb-quelling) sword takes its name -from this incident. Yamato-Take afterwards slew the wicked rulers of that land. He -also slew a god in the shape of a white deer which met him in Ashigara Pass. He lay -in ambush, and with a scrap of chive<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9039src" href="#xd31e9039">9</a> hit the deer in the eye and thus struck it dead. Then he shouted three times “Adzuma -ha ya” (Oh, my wife!). The land was thereupon called Adzuma. -</p> -<p>Then follows the mysterious story of the death of the hero. He went to the land of -Shinanu, in which Ohonamochi had taken refuge when Japan was being subdued for the -ruler chosen by the sun-goddess, and where, being pursued and threatened with death, -Ohonamochi consented to abdicate and take up his abode in a temple. The country takes -its name from <i>shina</i>, a tree resembling the lime,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9049src" href="#xd31e9049">10</a> and <i>nu</i> or <i>no</i>, “moor”. Yamato-Take entered <span class="pageNum" id="pb383">[<a href="#pb383">383</a>]</span>this land through Shinanu Pass (<i>Shinanu no saka</i>), between the provinces of Shinano and Mino. He overcame the deity of the pass, and -went to dwell in the house of Princess Miyazu, of fragrant and slender arms. She welcomed -him with love. In the house of the princess he left the Kusanagi sword, and went forth -against the deity of evil breath (or influence) on Mount Ibuki. As he climbed the -mountain he met a white boar, big as a bull. Believing it was a messenger of the deity, -he vowed he would slay it when he returned, and continued to climb the mountain. But -the boar was not a messenger; it was the very deity in person, and it sent a heavy -ice-rain.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9066src" href="#xd31e9066">11</a> The rain-smitten and perplexed hero was thus misled by the deity. -</p> -<p>On descending the mountain, Yamato-Take reached the fresh spring of <i>Tama-kura-be</i> (the “Jewel-store-tribe”). He drank from it, and revived somewhat. The spring was -afterwards called <i>Wi-same</i> (the “well of awakening” or “resting”). -</p> -<p>Then Yamato-Take departed, and reached the moor of <i>Tagi</i>,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9079src" href="#xd31e9079">12</a> lamenting the loss of bodily strength. He passed on to Cape Wotsu in Ise, and there -found a sword he had left at a pine tree, and sang: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“O pine tree, my brother, -</p> -<p class="line">If thou wert a person, -</p> -<p class="line">My sword and my garments -</p> -<p class="line">To thee would I give”.</p> -</div> -<p class="first">Having sung this song, he proceeded on his way, yearning for his native land, delightful -Yamato, situated <span class="pageNum" id="pb384">[<a href="#pb384">384</a>]</span>behind Mount Awogaki. His next song was one of love and regret. -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“How sweet o’er the skies -</p> -<p class="line">From Yamato, my home, -</p> -<p class="line">Do its white clouds arise, -</p> -<p class="line">Do its white clouds all come.”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">His sickness and weariness made him feel more and more faint, and he sang in his distress: -</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“Oh! the sharp sabre-sword -</p> -<p class="line">I left by the bedside -</p> -<p class="line">Of Princess Miyazu— -</p> -<p class="line">The sabre-sword”.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9104src" href="#xd31e9104">13</a></p> -</div> -<p class="first">Yamato-Take sank and died as soon as he had finished his song. -</p> -<p>In time his wives came and built for him a mausoleum, weeping and moaning the while, -because he could not hear them or make answer. Then Yamato-Take was transformed into -a white bird,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9109src" href="#xd31e9109">14</a> which rose high in the air and flew towards the shore. The wives pursued the bird -with lamentations and entered the sea. They saw the bird flying towards the beach, -and followed it. For a time it perched on a rock. Then it flew from Ise to Shiki, -in the land of Kafuchi, where a mausoleum was built for it, so that it might rest.<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9113src" href="#xd31e9113">15</a> But the white bird rose again to heaven and flew away. It was never again seen. -</p> -<p>After Mikado Kei-ko, father of Yamato-Take, had passed away, Sei-mu reigned until -he was 108 years old. Then followed the Mikado Chiu-ai. His capital was in the south-west -on the island of Kyushu. A message <span class="pageNum" id="pb385">[<a href="#pb385">385</a>]</span>came from the goddess through the Empress Jingo, who was divinely possessed, promising -him Korea, “a land to the westward” with “abundance of various treasures, dazzling -to the eye, from gold and silver downwards”. -</p> -<p>The Mikado refused to believe there was a land to the west, and declared that the -gods spoke falsely. Soon afterwards the heavenly sovereign was struck dead. -</p> -<p>Now the Empress Jingo was with child. Having received the instructions of the deities -to conquer Korea for her son, she delayed his birth by taking a stone and attaching -it to her waist with cords. Korea was subdued, the Empress having made use of the -“Jewels of flood and ebb”, as related in a previous chapter. Her child was born after -she returned to Japan. -</p> -<p>Empress Jingo is further credited with subduing and uniting the Empire of Japan, and -again establishing the central power at Yamato. She lived until she was 100 years -old. -</p> -<p>Her son Ojin Tenno,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9127src" href="#xd31e9127">16</a> who had a dragon’s tail, lived until he was 110 years old, and died in <span class="asc">A.D.</span> 310. He was worshipped after death as a war-god, and the patron of the Minamoto clan. -His successor, Nin-toku, who died at the age of 110, was the last of the mythical -monarchs, or of the monarchs regarding whom miraculous deeds are related. Japanese -history begins and myth ends about the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian -era. -</p> -<p>The cult of Hachiman (Ojin Tenno) came into prominence in the ninth century with the -rise of the Minamoto family; its original seat was Usa, in Buzen province. Hachiman’s -<i>shintai</i> (“god body”) is a white stone, or a fly-brush, or a pillow, or an arm-rest. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb386">[<a href="#pb386">386</a>]</span></p> -<p>Jimmu Tenno, the Empress Jingo, and Yamato-Take were similarly deified and worshipped. -A ninth century scholar, Sugahara Michizane, was deified as Temmangû, god of scholars. -Living as well as dead Mikados were <i>kami</i> (deities). “The spirits of all the soldiers who died in battle,” writes Yei Ozaki,<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9143src" href="#xd31e9143">17</a> “are worshipped as deified heroes at the Kudan shrine in Tokyo.” -</p> -<p>The worship of human ancestors in Japan is due to Chinese influence, and had no place -in old Shinto prior to the sixth century. In the <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> and <i>Nihon-gi</i> the ancestors of the Mikados and the ruling classes are the deities and their avatars. -As we have seen, the Mikados were reputed to be descended from the sun-goddess, and -from the daughter of the Dragon King of Ocean, called the “Abundant-Pearl Princess”, -a Japanese Melusina. -</p> -<p>It is far from correct, therefore, to refer, as has been done, to Shinto religion -as “the worship of nature-gods and ancestors”. Even the term “nature-worship” is misleading. -The adoration in sacred shrines of the <i>mi-tama</i> (the “August jewel”, or “Dragon-pearl”, or “spirit”, or “double”) of a deity is not -“the worship of Nature”, but the worship of “the imperishable principle of life wherever -found”. At Ise, the “Mecca” of Japan, the goddess cult is prominent. Both the sun-goddess -and the food-goddess are forms of the Far Eastern Hathor, the personification of the -pearl, the shell, the precious jewel containing “life substance”, the sun mirror, -the sword, the pillow, the standing-stone, the holy tree, the medicinal herb, the -fertilizing rain, &c. The Mikado, as her descendant, was the living Horus, an avatar -of Osiris; after death the Mikado ascended, like Ra, to the celestial regions, or -departed, like Osiris, to the Underworld of <span class="pageNum" id="pb387">[<a href="#pb387">387</a>]</span>the Dead. The Mikado of Japan, like the Pharaoh of Egypt, was a Son of Heaven. -</p> -<p>After Buddhism had been introduced into Japan in the sixth century, it was fused with -Shinto. The Shinto deities figured as avatars of Buddha in the cult of Ryobu-Shinto. -Even the Mikados came under the spell of Buddhism. -</p> -<p>In the eighteenth century began the movement known as the “Revival of Pure Shinto”. -It was promoted chiefly by Motöori and his disciple Hirata. In time it did much to -bring about the revolution which restored to supreme political power, as the hereditary -high priest and living representative of the sun-goddess, the Mikado of Japan. Shinto -is the official religion of modern Japan; but Buddhism, impregnated with Shinto elements, -is the religion of the masses. “Pure Shinto”, however, was not “pure” in the sense -that Motöori and Hirata professed to believe. It was undoubtedly a product of culture -mixing in early times. “The <i>Ko-ji-ki</i> and <i>Nihon-gi</i>,” as Laufer says, “do not present a pure source of genuine Japanese thought, but -are retrospective records largely written under Chinese and Korean influence, and -echoing in a bewildering medley continental-Asiatic and Malayo-Polynesian traditions.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9167src" href="#xd31e9167">18</a> In China, Korea, Polynesia, &c., a similar process of culture mixing can be traced. -Buddha and Mohammed were not the earliest founders of cults which have left their -impress on the religious systems of the Far East. Vast areas were influenced by the -cultures of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia. -</p> -<p>The history of civilization does not support the hypothesis that the same myths and -religious practices <span class="pageNum" id="pb388">[<a href="#pb388">388</a>]</span>were of spontaneous generation in widely-separated countries. Culture complexes cannot -be accounted for or explained away by the application of the principles of biological -evolution. As has been shown in these pages, there are many culture complexes in China -and Japan, and many links with more ancient civilizations. -</p> -<p>Touching on the problem of culture mixing in China, Laufer writes: -</p> -<p>“In opposition to the prevalent opinion of the day, it cannot be emphasized strongly -enough on every occasion that Chinese civilization, as it appears now, is not a unit -and not the exclusive production of the Chinese, but the final result of the cultural -efforts of a vast conglomeration of the most varied tribes, an amalgamation of ideas -accumulated from manifold quarters and widely differentiated in space and time; briefly -stated, this means China is not a nation, but an empire, a political, but not an ethnical -unit. No graver error can hence be committed than to attribute any culture idea at -the outset to the Chinese, for no other reason than because it appears within the -precincts of their empire.”<a class="noteRef" id="xd31e9180src" href="#xd31e9180">19</a> -<span class="pageNum" id="pb389">[<a href="#pb389">389</a>]</span></p> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8938"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8938src">1</a></span> See <a href="#ix.pearl.princess">Index</a>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8938src" title="Return to note 1 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8950"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8950src">2</a></span> This is his posthumous name. During his life he was <i>Kamu-Yamato-Iware-Biko</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8950src" title="Return to note 2 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8957"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8957src">3</a></span> The golden crow of the sun had three legs. In the moon was the jewelled hare. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8957src" title="Return to note 3 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8979"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8979src">4</a></span> <i>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</i>, Vol. X (supplement), p. 199, <i>n.</i> 5. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8979src" title="Return to note 4 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e8989"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e8989src">5</a></span> Chamberlain, <i>Things Japanese</i>, p. 57. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e8989src" title="Return to note 5 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9004"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9004src">6</a></span> <i>Polynesian Researches</i> (First Edition, 1829), p. 327. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9004src" title="Return to note 6 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9016"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9016src">7</a></span> Turner, <i>Nineteen Years in Polynesia</i> (1861), p. 237. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9016src" title="Return to note 7 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9025"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9025src">8</a></span> Batchelor, <i>Notes on the Ainu</i> (<i>Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan</i>, Vol. X), p. 218. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9025src" title="Return to note 8 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9039"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9039src">9</a></span> <i>Nira</i>, the <i>Allium odorum</i>. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9039src" title="Return to note 9 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9049"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9049src">10</a></span> <i>Tilia cordata.</i> See Chamberlain’s <i>Ko-ji-ki</i>, pp. 102 <i>n.</i> 26, and 215. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9049src" title="Return to note 10 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9066"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9066src">11</a></span> An evil rain which did harm like the evil rain sent by a sick or an angry and destroying -dragon. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9066src" title="Return to note 11 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9079"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9079src">12</a></span> The moor of the waterfall of the River Yoro in Mino. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9079src" title="Return to note 12 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9104"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9104src">13</a></span> Apparently the sword would have protected him against the fatal enchantment wrought -by the white boar-god of Mount Ibuki. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9104src" title="Return to note 13 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9109"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9109src">14</a></span> <i>Chidori</i>, a dotteril, plover, or sandpiper. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9109src" title="Return to note 14 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9113"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9113src">15</a></span> As a god’s <i>mi-tama</i> rests in a temple to be worshipped. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9113src" title="Return to note 15 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9127"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9127src">16</a></span> His posthumous title. During life he was called Hachiman. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9127src" title="Return to note 16 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9143"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9143src">17</a></span> <i>Customs of the World</i> (Japan), pp. 380 <i>et seq.</i> <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9143src" title="Return to note 17 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9167"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9167src">18</a></span> <i>Chinese Clay Figures</i>, Part I, p. 272 (<i>Field Museum of Natural History</i>, Publication 177; Anthropological Series, Vol. XIII, No. 2). Chicago, 1914. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9167src" title="Return to note 18 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -<div class="fndiv" id="xd31e9180"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="fnlabel"><a class="noteRef" href="#xd31e9180src">19</a></span> <i>Jade</i>, p. 57. <a class="fnarrow" href="#xd31e9180src" title="Return to note 19 in text.">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="back"> -<div id="ix" class="div1 index"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#xd31e442">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">INDEX</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Adam, Chinese, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.ages">Ages, Archæological, in China (see <i><a href="#ix.neolithic.age">Neolithic Age</a></i>); -<br>in Japan, <a href="#pb325" class="pageref">325</a><span class="corr" id="xd31e9203" title="Source: .">;</span> -<br>Mythical, Chinese, <a href="#pb274" class="pageref">274</a>; -<br>first Age perfect as in India, <a href="#pb276" class="pageref">276</a>; -<br>in Taoism, <a href="#pb316" class="pageref">316</a>; -<br>see also <i><a href="#ix.worlds.ages">World’s Ages</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Agriculture, origin of, <a href="#pb6" class="pageref">6</a>, <a href="#pb201" class="pageref">201</a>. -</p> -<p>Ainu, the, <a href="#pb326" class="pageref">326</a>; -<br>as potters, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>; -<br>myths of, <a href="#pb328" class="pageref">328</a>; -<br>deities of sun, moon, and fire, <a href="#pb331" class="pageref">331</a>; -<br>deities of, made drunk, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>; -<br>dragon mother of, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a>; -<br>Aniconic pillar and mother goddess, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a>; -<br>the Paradise of, <a href="#pb381" class="pageref">381</a>, <a href="#pb382" class="pageref">382</a>. -</p> -<p>“All-heal” plants, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>. -</p> -<p>All Souls, feast of, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>. -</p> -<p>Ama-terâsu, Japanese sun goddess, <a href="#pb339" class="pageref">339</a>; -<br>creates children from jewels, <a href="#pb366" class="pageref">366</a>, <a href="#pb367" class="pageref">367</a>; -<br>necklace of, <a href="#pb362" class="pageref">362</a>; -<br>sun goddess (cave and mirror myth), <a href="#pb368" class="pageref">368</a>. -</p> -<p>Amber, Buddhist belief in, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>. -</p> -<p>America, ancient mariners in, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>; -<br>gem symbolism in, <a href="#pb336" class="pageref">336</a>; -<br>whale worshipped in, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>. -</p> -<p>Amoy, religious significance of situation of, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.amrita">Amrita, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.soma">Soma</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Amulets, mortuary, in Egypt and China, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>. -</p> -<p>Ancestor worship, Chinese, <a href="#pb242" class="pageref">242</a>; -<br>Egyptian Pharaoh worship, <a href="#pb242" class="pageref">242</a>. -</p> -<p>Aniconic Pillar, in Shinto myth, <a href="#pb350" class="pageref">350</a>; -</p> -<p>— Pillars, the Far Eastern, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a>. -</p> -<p>Animism, origin of, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>; -<br>its connection with mummification, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>. -</p> -<p>Antelope, Ea-dragon and, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>Horus and, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>; -<br>Hindu wind god and, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>. -</p> -<p>Aphrodite, Hathor and, <a href="#pb313" class="pageref">313</a>; -<br>Kwan-yin as Chinese, <a href="#pb272" class="pageref">272</a>. -</p> -<p>Apollo, as dragon on Island of Delos, <a href="#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>; -<br>as son of Hephaistos, <a href="#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>; -<br>the Mouse-, <a href="#pb185" class="pageref">185</a>. -</p> -<p>Apple, fruit of Aphrodite, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>. -</p> -<p>Apple Tree, as Tree of Life, <a href="#pb124" class="pageref">124</a>; -<br>mandrake and, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>. -</p> -<p>Arrow, the sounding, <a href="#pb375" class="pageref">375</a> and also note <a href="#n375.1">1</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.artemis">Artemis, Ainu and, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>; -<br>Chinese Ho Sien Ku and Japanese Kasenko as, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>; -<br>goat and, <a href="#pb173" class="pageref">173</a>, <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a>; -<br>in Taoism, <a href="#pb312" class="pageref">312</a>, <a href="#pb313" class="pageref">313</a>; -<br>mugwort of, <a href="#pb170" class="pageref">170</a>; -<br>Japanese symbolic gateway of, <a href="#pb339" class="pageref">339</a>. -</p> -<p>Arthur’s sword Excalibur, <a href="#pb101" class="pageref">101</a>. -</p> -<p>Astronomy, see <i><a href="#ix.great.bear">Great Bear</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.polar.star">Polar Star</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.stars">Stars</a></i>, &c. -</p> -<p>Axe and hammer gods, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.babylonia">Babylonia, Ainu deities made drunk as in, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>; -<br>as cradle of Bronze industry, <a href="#pb196" class="pageref">196</a>; -<br>Chinese hill goddess and Ishtar, <a href="#pb269" class="pageref">269</a>; -<br>Chinese Ishtar in Deluge legend, <a href="#pb151" class="pageref">151</a>; -<br>Chinese world-giant myth and Tiamat myth, <a href="#pb264" class="pageref">264</a>; -<br>colonists from, as Kurgan builders, <a href="#pb200" class="pageref">200</a>; -<br>copper used at early period in, <a href="#pb194" class="pageref">194</a>; -<br>search for copper, &c., <a href="#pb194" class="pageref">194</a>; -<br>religious use of copper in, <a href="#pb195" class="pageref">195</a>; -<br>culture of in Eastern Asia, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>; -<br>jade from Chinese Turkestan in, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>; -<br>Date Tree of Life, <a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>; -<br>dragon of, and Polynesian dragon, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>; -<br>dragons of, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>; -<br>Ea and Chinese Fu Hi, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>; -<br>Ea and Japanese Hiruko, <a href="#pb351" class="pageref">351</a>; -<br>eagle god of, and Garuda, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>; -<br>Gilgamesh and Sargon and Chinese Wu, <a href="#pb288" class="pageref">288</a>; -<br>ideas of, regarding souls, in China, <span class="pageNum" id="pb390">[<a href="#pb390">390</a>]</span><a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>Indian makara and “goat fish”, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>; -<br>Ishtar and Chinese goddess, <a href="#pb267" class="pageref">267</a>; -<br>Island of Blest in, <a href="#pb109" class="pageref">109</a>; -<br>Japanese Deluge myth and Tiamat myth, <a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>; -<br>Japanese links with, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a> and also note <a href="#n333.2">2</a>; -<br>Japanese Yomi and Otherworld of, <a href="#pb340" class="pageref">340</a>; -<br>food of the dead, <a href="#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>; -<br>Nig-gil-ma of, <a href="#pb245" class="pageref">245</a>; -<br>Plant of Birth, <a href="#pb335" class="pageref">335</a>; -<br>Plant of Life<span class="corr" id="xd31e9672" title="Not in source">,</span> legend of, <a href="#pb99" class="pageref">99</a>; -<br>Pole Star as god in, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>; -<br>Chinese astronomy from, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>; -<br>precious stones from Chinese Turkestan, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>; -<br>evidences of ancient trade of, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>; -<br>religious use of reeds in, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a> and also note <a href="#n85.3">3</a>; -<br>sea-god of (see <i><a href="#ix.sumeria">Sumeria</a></i>), <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>; -<br>Siberia and, <a href="#pb204" class="pageref">204</a>; -<br>source of Siberian and Chinese mythological monsters, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>; -<br>Tammuz of, and Chinese, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>; -<br>Tammuz story and Japanese, <a href="#pb155" class="pageref">155</a>; -<br>the Japanese Gilgamesh and, <a href="#pb379" class="pageref">379</a>; -<br>Tiamat dragon of, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>; -<br>Ea-dragon, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>Water of Life in Adapa myth, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>; -<br>ghosts search for food and water, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>; -<br>wide areas influenced by culture of, <a href="#pb387" class="pageref">387</a>. -</p> -<p>Bamboo, moon and, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>; -<br>dragon and, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.barge.of.death">Barge of Death, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>. -</p> -<p>Beads, as Kami in Japan, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>; -<br>children created from, <a href="#pb366" class="pageref">366</a>; -<br>in Japanese religion (see <i><a href="#ix.tama">Tama</a></i>), <a href="#pb337" class="pageref">337</a>; -<br>sun goddess, <a href="#pb362" class="pageref">362</a>. -</p> -<p>Bear, Ainu and, <a href="#pb355" class="pageref">355</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.great.bear">Great Bear</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Bird and serpent myths, <a href="#pb66" class="pageref">66</a>; -<br>in Diamond Valley legend, <a href="#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>. -</p> -<p>Birds, as carriers of souls, <a href="#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>; -<br>in Diamond Valley legend, <a href="#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>; -<br>the Thunder-, <a href="#pb162" class="pageref">162</a>. -</p> -<p>Bird souls in China, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>. -</p> -<p>Blood-bag myth, <a href="#pb286" class="pageref">286</a>. -</p> -<p>Blood from trees, <a href="#pb143" class="pageref">143</a>. -</p> -<p>Blood of Life, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>. -</p> -<p>Blood, River of, Japanese, Asiatic, and Egyptian, <a href="#pb346" class="pageref">346</a>. -</p> -<p>Blue Dragon, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>. -</p> -<p>Boar stone, in Japanese myth, <a href="#pb373" class="pageref">373</a>. -</p> -<p>Boat, Japanese god in, <a href="#pb351" class="pageref">351</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.boat.of.death">Boat of Death, Chinese, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>Egyptian, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>. -</p> -<p>Bride, Serpent of the Celtic goddess, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>. -</p> -<p>British “foreign devils”, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>. -</p> -<p>Bronze, first manufactured in Babylonia, <a href="#pb196" class="pageref">196</a>; -<br>industry, and European and Chinese links, <a href="#pb205" class="pageref">205</a>; -<br>jade and, in ancient Europe, <a href="#pb201" class="pageref">201</a>. -</p> -<p>Buddha, blue eyes of, <a href="#pb127" class="pageref">127</a>; -<br>Chinese deities and, <a href="#pb273" class="pageref">273</a>; -<br>of Western Paradise, <a href="#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>; -<br>Nagas as worshippers of, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>. -</p> -<p>Buddhism, Chinese Taoism and, <a href="#pb297" class="pageref">297</a>; -<br>culture mixing in, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>; -<br>Dew of life in, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>; -<br>Japanese, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>; -<br>religious merit in jewels, gems, &c., <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>; -<br>Shinto and, <a href="#pb347" class="pageref">347</a>. -</p> -<p>Burma, Chinese influence in, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>; -<br>junks of, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>. -</p> -<p>Butterfly, as Chinese longevity symbol, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>as soul in Mexico, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>as Scandinavian goddess, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>as soul in Italy and Greece, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>Psyche a, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>cicada and, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>as soul in Indonesia, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>; -<br>soul form in China, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a><span class="corr" id="xd31e10024" title="Source: ,">;</span> -<br>and in Scotland, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>. -</p> -<p>Calendar, ancient Egyptian, <a href="#pb11" class="pageref">11</a>. -</p> -<p>California, whale’s vertebra in grave in, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>. -</p> -<p>Calisthenics, in Taoism, <a href="#pb320" class="pageref">320</a>. -</p> -<p>Camphor Tree of Life, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.cardinal.points">Cardinal Points, Chinese gods of, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>; -<br>Chinese colours of, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>; -<br>Chinese connection of, with seasons, elements, plants, and internal organs, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>; -<br>colours of, in Scotland and India, <a href="#pb229" class="pageref">229</a>; -<br>in Japan, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>; -<br>jades of, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>; -<br>pillars of, <a href="#pb227" class="pageref">227</a>, <a href="#pb268" class="pageref">268</a>. -</p> -<p>Cassia Tree of Life, <a href="#pb141" class="pageref">141</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.tree.of.life">Tree of Life</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Caves, wells and dragons of, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>. -</p> -<p>Charm, Scottish and Chinese similar, <a href="#pb65" class="pageref">65</a>. -</p> -<p>Chin Dynasty, <a href="#pb291" class="pageref">291</a>. -</p> -<p>China, as culture centre in Far East, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>; -<br>potter’s wheel in (see <i><a href="#ix.potters.wheel">Potter’s wheel</a></i>); -<br>Babylonian links with, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>; -<br>British “foreign devils” in, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>; -<br>civilization of, began in Shensi province, <a href="#pb209" class="pageref">209</a>; -<br>Egyptian, Babylonian, and Indian influence in, <a href="#pb209" class="pageref">209</a>; -<br>civilization of, not of local origin, <a href="#pb388" class="pageref">388</a>; -<br>connection of, with Khotan, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>; -<br>dragon lore of, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>, <a href="#pb46" class="pageref">46</a>; -<br>early culture of, similar to European, <a href="#pb205" class="pageref">205</a>; -<br>early trade of, <a href="#pb293" class="pageref">293</a>; -<br><span class="pageNum" id="pb391">[<a href="#pb391">391</a>]</span> -<br>Empire of, how formed, <a href="#pb295" class="pageref">295</a>; -<br>Great Wall of, <a href="#pb291" class="pageref">291</a>; -<br>how civilization first reached, <a href="#pb199" class="pageref">199</a>; -<br>Indian influence in South, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>; -<br>Egyptian influence in, <a href="#pb23" class="pageref">23</a>; -<br>metal symbolism of, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>no “Neolithic Age” in, <a href="#pb213" class="pageref">213</a>; -<br>Siberian art links with, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>. -</p> -<p>Chinese, a mixed people, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>. -</p> -<p>Chinese Turkestan, Babylonian influence in, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>. -</p> -<p>Chou Dynasty, Wu founder of, <a href="#pb288" class="pageref">288</a>. -</p> -<p>Chrysanthemum in religious legends, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>. -</p> -<p>Cicada, jade tongue amulets, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>Scarab and, <a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>; -<br>“Song of”, <a href="#pb224" class="pageref">224</a>; -<br>Soul and, <a href="#pb224" class="pageref">224</a>; -<br>Tree of Life and, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>“Shen” and the, <a href="#pb239" class="pageref">239</a>. -</p> -<p>Cinnabar, in Elixir of Life, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Civilization, origin of, <a href="#pb2" class="pageref">2</a>. -</p> -<p>Cock, the Celestial, Ainu and, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.colour.symbolism">Colour Symbolism, black and white mandrakes, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>; -<br>black and white <i>nig-gil-ma</i>, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>; -<br>black and white rhinoceroses, <a href="#pb248" class="pageref">248</a>; -<br>black and white elephants, <a href="#pb248" class="pageref">248</a>; -<br>blue eyes of Buddha, <a href="#pb127" class="pageref">127</a>; -<br>coloured fruits and stones as forms of goddess, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>colours of Cardinal Points in Celtic and Indian myths, <a href="#pb229" class="pageref">229</a>; -<br>Chinese Cardinal Points, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>; -<br>Chinese coloured internal organs, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>; -<br>Chinese colours of seasons, elements, and planets, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>; -<br>colours of sacred animals, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>; -<br>five colours of dragon, <a href="#pb84" class="pageref">84</a>; -<br>gem symbolism and, <a href="#pb186" class="pageref">186</a>; -<br>green falcon of Horus, <a href="#pb108" class="pageref">108</a>; -<br>green sparrow of goddess, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>; -<br>colours of saints, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>; -<br>white saints, <a href="#pb113" class="pageref">113</a>; -<br>Indian metal symbolism and, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>jade colours, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>; -<br>Japanese and Indian Cardinal Points coloured, <a href="#pb344" class="pageref">344</a>; -<br>Japanese river of blood, <a href="#pb346" class="pageref">346</a>; -<br>mandrake colours, <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a>; -<br>Osiris as green water, <a href="#pb9" class="pageref">9</a>; -<br>Plants of Life, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>; -<br>Purple Sea legend, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>; -<br>green Water of Life, <a href="#pb125" class="pageref">125</a>, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>; -<br>red All-father and black All-mother, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>; -<br>red as life colour, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>; -<br>red birds as “Thunder-birds”, <a href="#pb162" class="pageref">162</a>; -<br>red jasper as blood of goddess, <a href="#pb185" class="pageref">185</a>; -<br>the five dragons, <a href="#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>; -<br>Dragon bones colours, <a href="#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>; -<br>colours of internal organs, plants, &c., <a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>; -<br>the Yellow God as Chinese Emperor, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>; -<br>Tree of Life and, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>; -<br>yellow fire, &c., <a href="#pb162" class="pageref">162</a>; -<br>Yellow as earth colour, <a href="#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>; -<br>Blue symbolism, <a href="#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>; -<br>White symbolism, <a href="#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>; -<br>Black symbolism, <a href="#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>; -<br>the five colours, <a href="#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>. -</p> -<p>Columbus, his search for Paradise, <a href="#pb119" class="pageref">119</a>. -</p> -<p>Confucianism, <a href="#pb297" class="pageref">297</a>. -</p> -<p>Confucian temple, god of, <a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.copper">Copper, ancient Egyptians and, <a href="#pb10" class="pageref">10</a>; -<br>as variety of gold, <a href="#pb192" class="pageref">192</a>; -<br>early implements of, <a href="#pb193" class="pageref">193</a>; -<br>wars for mines of, <a href="#pb194" class="pageref">194</a>; -<br>search for, <a href="#pb197" class="pageref">197</a>; -<br>associated with death in China, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>; -<br>dragon and, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>Japanese smelting of, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>; -<br>malachite as offering to dead, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>Egyptian deities and, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.metal.symbolism">Metal Symbolism</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Coral, as marine tree of goddess, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>Buddhist belief in, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>; -<br>night-shining, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>, <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>; -<br>trees of, in Paradise, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>Chinese coral trees, <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>. -</p> -<p>Cords, The Knotted, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>. -</p> -<p>Cosmogony, Chinese, <a href="#pb227" class="pageref">227</a>; -<br>Egyptian and Babylonian, <a href="#pb227" class="pageref">227</a>; -<br>The Ainu, <a href="#pb311" class="pageref">311</a>. -</p> -<p>Cowry (see <i><a href="#ix.shells">Shells</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Creation Myths, none in Shinto, <a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>; -<br>Taoist, <a href="#pb258" class="pageref">258</a>; -<br>Cosmic Egg, <a href="#pb260" class="pageref">260</a>; -<br>Pʼan Ku myths, <a href="#pb260" class="pageref">260</a>; -<br>Tibetan Ymir myth, <a href="#pb261" class="pageref">261</a>, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>. -</p> -<p>Crete, Dolphin god of, and elephant, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>; -<br>influence of, in Asia, <a href="#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>; -<br>potter’s wheel in, <a href="#pb17" class="pageref">17</a>; -<br>prospectors from, in Asia, <a href="#pb200" class="pageref">200</a>; -<br>whale’s vertebra as amulet in, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>. -</p> -<p>Cro-Magnon races, <a href="#pb5" class="pageref">5</a>. -</p> -<p>Cromarty, Demon in “Dropping Cave” at, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>. -</p> -<p>Culture Heroes, Fu Hi, Chinese Adam, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>; -<br>Shen-nung as Chinese Osiris, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>. -</p> -<p>Culture mixing in China and Japan, <a href="#pb387" class="pageref">387</a>. -</p> -<p>Cypress Tree of Life, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>; -<br>mandrake and, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>. -</p> -<p>Dagan, Philistine Dagon, and, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.ea">Ea</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Date Stone elixir, <a href="#pb178" class="pageref">178</a>. -</p> -<p>Date Tree, Mesopotamian Tree of Life, <a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb392">[<a href="#pb392">392</a>]</span></p> -<p>Deluge Legend, Chinese goddess Nu Kwa in, <a href="#pb151" class="pageref">151</a>; -<br>Chinese reference to, <a href="#pb267" class="pageref">267</a>; -<br>Nu Kwa and, <a href="#pb267" class="pageref">267</a>; -<br>Chinese date of, <a href="#pb268" class="pageref">268</a>; -<br>Japanese version, <a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>; -<br>the Ainu, <a href="#pb332" class="pageref">332</a>. -</p> -<p>Deluge myth, Emperor Yu and, <a href="#pb283" class="pageref">283</a>; -<br>the Chinese, why ship is absent from, <a href="#pb247" class="pageref">247</a>. -</p> -<p>Demeter, Chinese goddess and, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>. -</p> -<p>Devils, “The Foreign”, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>. -</p> -<p>Dew, as Water of Life, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>. -</p> -<p>Dew of Immortality, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>; -<br>Pot and Plant of Life and, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>. -</p> -<p>Dew of Life, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>. -</p> -<p>Diamond Valley Legend, Chinese version of, <a href="#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>. -</p> -<p>Dionysos, goat and, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>. -</p> -<p>Dog, connection with trees and plants, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>; -<br>Japanese story of Shiro, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>; -<br>the lunar, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>. -</p> -<p>Dolmen, in Korea, <a href="#pb325" class="pageref">325</a>, and also note <a href="#n325.1">1</a>. -</p> -<p>Dolphin, Buddhists and, <a href="#pb127" class="pageref">127</a>; -<br>Dragon and, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.dragon">Dragon, Apollo as, <a href="#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>; -<br>as Celestial stag in China, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>as water god in China, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>; -<br>as makara, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>; -<br>as symbol of Emperor, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>; -<br>as Tree, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>, <a href="#pb152" class="pageref">152</a>; -<br>as Vampire, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>; -<br>as water controller, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>; -<br>Babylonian Ea and, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>Babylonian Goat-fish god, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>; -<br>Babylonian Tiamat as, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>; -<br>bad rain from sick dragon, <a href="#pb364" class="pageref">364</a>, <a href="#pb365" class="pageref">365</a>; -<br>Bird and serpent myth and, <a href="#pb72" class="pageref">72</a>; -<br>blue and yellow, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>; -<br>characters of Chinese, <a href="#pb46" class="pageref">46</a>; -<br>Chinese and Egyptian Deathless Snake, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>, and also note <a href="#n78.3">3</a>; -<br>Chinese and Scottish charms, <a href="#pb56" class="pageref">56</a>, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>; -<br>connection with Pines, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>; -<br>Dugong and Dolphin and, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>; -<br>Eastern Dragon as Indra, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>; -<br>eggs of, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>; -<br>Egyptian slayer of, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>; -<br>Emperor Hwang-Ti becomes, <a href="#pb279" class="pageref">279</a>; -<br>Yao as son of, <a href="#pb280" class="pageref">280</a>; -<br>Shun and, <a href="#pb280" class="pageref">280</a>; -<br>female dragon eaten by Emperor, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a>; -<br>five colours of, <a href="#pb84" class="pageref">84</a>, <a href="#pb163" class="pageref">163</a>; -<br>fish forms of, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>; -<br>folk-stories of, <a href="#pb76" class="pageref">76</a>; -<br>forms assumed by, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>; -<br>as thunder and rain god, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>; -<br>Indra, Zeus, &c., and, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>; -<br>as guardians of pearls, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>; -<br>shark and, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>; -<br>gold and, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>; -<br>has most “ling” of all creatures, <a href="#pb186" class="pageref">186</a>; -<br>influence of, on towns, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>; -<br>Japanese, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>, <a href="#pb347" class="pageref">347</a>; -<br>Japanese and Indian Naga, <a href="#pb344" class="pageref">344</a>; -<br>Japanese and Nagas, <a href="#pb356" class="pageref">356</a>; -<br>“makara” and Chinese sea-dragon, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>; -<br>moon and bamboo and, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>; -<br>Osiris as, in serpent form, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>; -<br>Plum tree grows from blood of, <a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>; -<br>Polynesian forms of, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>; -<br>Polynesian gods and, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>; -<br>sea and land animals and, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>; -<br>Teutonic, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>; -<br>the Chinese, and metal symbolism, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>the Eight-Headed Japanese, slain by Susa-no-wo, <a href="#pb371" class="pageref">371</a>; -<br>the great mountain, <a href="#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>; -<br>the Japanese sea snake and, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>; -<br>Jewels offered to, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>; -<br>the lunar, <a href="#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>; -<br>the Polynesian (see <i><a href="#ix.polynesia">Polynesia</a></i>), tiger as enemy of, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>; -<br>water snake becomes, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>; -<br>coiled dragon as water-retainer, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>; -<br>woman as, <a href="#pb84" class="pageref">84</a>; -<br>Medusa legend of, <a href="#pb84" class="pageref">84</a>; -<br>Japanese dragon woman, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon and Ball procession, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon Battles, <a href="#pb56" class="pageref">56</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon Boat Festival, <a href="#pb268" class="pageref">268</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon Boats, in rain-getting ceremonies, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.dragon.eggs">Dragon Eggs, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon Fire, <a href="#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon Herbs, <a href="#pb79" class="pageref">79</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.dragon.island">Dragon Island, Greek legend of, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>; -<br>in Egyptian, Scottish, and Melanesian legends, <a href="#pb98" class="pageref">98</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon jade symbols, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon Kings, the five, and the five planets, <a href="#pb274" class="pageref">274</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon Mother, in Polynesia, <a href="#pb79" class="pageref">79</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon of Babylonia, the Kupu of, and Polynesian Kupua, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon-slayer, Egyptian, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>; -<br>Siegfried and Sigurd as, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon Stones, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon Sword of Japan, how Susa-no-wo obtained it, <a href="#pb372" class="pageref">372</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon Swords, <a href="#pb101" class="pageref">101</a>, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon wells, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon’s Blood, manufactured from metals, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. -</p> -<p>Dragon’s Heart, as source of knowledge, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>. -</p> -<p>“Dragon’s Spittle”, <a href="#pb79" class="pageref">79</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.dragons">Dragons as guardians of treasure, <a href="#pb156" class="pageref">156</a>; -<br>Babylonian and Chinese, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>; -<br>connection with “Water of Life” and “Tree of Life”, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>; -<br>blue <span class="pageNum" id="pb393">[<a href="#pb393">393</a>]</span>rush of, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>; -<br>Chinese and Polynesian, <a href="#pb67" class="pageref">67</a>; -<br>and Dragon Boat Festival, <a href="#pb269" class="pageref">269</a>; -<br>Egyptian serpent-island story, <a href="#pb98" class="pageref">98</a>; -<br>Five, as rulers of seasons, &c., <a href="#pb61" class="pageref">61</a>; -<br>Fungus of Immortality and, <a href="#pb107" class="pageref">107</a>; -<br>Garudas and Nagas and, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>; -<br>gods ride on, <a href="#pb65" class="pageref">65</a>; -<br>herbs, &c., and, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>; -<br>human shapes of, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>; -<br>Indian Nagas and, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>; -<br>in pools, rivers, and sea, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>; -<br>as tide controllers, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>; -<br>iron dreaded by, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>; -<br>as rain-bringers, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>; -<br>fond of gems, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>Japanese dragon place-names, <a href="#pb356" class="pageref">356</a>; -<br>Japanese sea-gods as, <a href="#pb352" class="pageref">352</a>; -<br>Japanese “water snakes” as, <a href="#pb353" class="pageref">353</a>; -<br>“Kingdom Under the Sea” legends of, <a href="#pb95" class="pageref">95</a>; -<br>as Light-gods, <a href="#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>; -<br>Melusina legend in lore of, <a href="#pb86" class="pageref">86</a>, <a href="#pb87" class="pageref">87</a>; -<br>mother of, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>; -<br>Pearl Princess legend, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>; -<br>pearls produced by, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>; -<br>Japanese mountains and, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>; -<br>Red Island of<span class="corr" id="xd31e11507" title="Not in source">,</span> <a href="#pb95" class="pageref">95</a>; -<br>skins of, shine by night, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>; -<br>the Chinese nine-headed dragon, <a href="#pb372" class="pageref">372</a>, and also note <a href="#n372.2">2</a>; -<br>transformed dragons harmless, <a href="#pb105" class="pageref">105</a>; -<br>vital spirit in eyes of, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>; -<br>Water of Life controlled by, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>; -<br>were-animals and, <a href="#pb221" class="pageref">221</a>; -<br>whales and, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>; -<br>women as, in China, <a href="#pb86" class="pageref">86</a>; -<br>boys become, in Japan, <a href="#pb86" class="pageref">86</a>. -</p> -<p>Dugong, dragon and, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Dynasties, Chin or Tsʼin, <a href="#pb291" class="pageref">291</a>; -<br>Early and Mythical, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>; -<br>Han, Minor, Tʼang, Sung, Mongol, Ming, and Manchu, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>; -<br>the Chinese, Chou Dynasty, <a href="#pb288" class="pageref">288</a>; -<br>the Hea, <a href="#pb281" class="pageref">281</a>; -<br>the Shang, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.ea">Ea, Babylonian god, as seafarer, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>; -<br>Dagan and Dagon and, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>; -<br>dragon and, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>antelope, goat, gazelle and, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>Oannes and, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>. -</p> -<p>Eagle, jade and, <a href="#pb221" class="pageref">221</a>. -</p> -<p>Eagle-stone, <a href="#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>, <a href="#pb129" class="pageref">129</a>. -</p> -<p>East, Cult of, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>, <a href="#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>; -<br>Cult of, in China and Egypt, <a href="#pb60" class="pageref">60</a>; -<br>sacredness of, in Egypt and China, <a href="#pb229" class="pageref">229</a>. -</p> -<p>East Indies, Egyptian millet in, <a href="#pb9" class="pageref">9</a>. -</p> -<p>Eel, as Polynesian dragon, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>; -<br>God of Samoa as, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>. -</p> -<p>Eels as dragon-vampires, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>. -</p> -<p>Egg, the Cosmic, <a href="#pb260" class="pageref">260</a>, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>, <a href="#pb303" class="pageref">303</a>; -<br>in Shinto, <a href="#pb348" class="pageref">348</a>. -</p> -<p>Egg, the Swallow’s, Ancestress of Emperor Tʼang and, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.dragon.eggs">Dragon Eggs</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Egypt, agriculture in, <a href="#pb6" class="pageref">6</a>; -<br>beliefs of, regarding souls, in China, <a href="#pb239" class="pageref">239</a>, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>Bird and serpent myth in, <a href="#pb71" class="pageref">71</a>; -<br>Chinese adopt inventions of, <a href="#pb13" class="pageref">13</a>; -<br>potter’s wheel of, <a href="#pb13" class="pageref">13</a>; -<br>Chinese goddess and, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>Chinese Horus, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a>; -<br>Chinese Isis and Nephthys, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>; -<br>Chinese Shun and Horus, <a href="#pb280" class="pageref">280</a>; -<br>cinnamon imported into, <a href="#pb142" class="pageref">142</a>; -<br>corn, fruit, and milk in Paradise, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>; -<br>Cosmic Egg in, <a href="#pb348" class="pageref">348</a>; -<br>cult of East and of West in, <a href="#pb60" class="pageref">60</a>; -<br>Date Tree of Life, <a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>; -<br>Deathless Snake of, and Chinese and Japanese dragons, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>, and also note <a href="#n78.3">3</a>, <a href="#pb156" class="pageref">156</a>; -<br>deities as fish, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>; -<br>deities create plants of life, <a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>; -<br>Dragon Isle story of, <a href="#pb98" class="pageref">98</a>; -<br>Dragon-slayer of, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>; -<br>Dragon-stones and mountain of dawn, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>; -<br>Frog goddess of, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>; -<br>god Ptah and Dragon, <a href="#pb63" class="pageref">63</a>; -<br>goddess of turquoise, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>; -<br>gold plentiful in, <a href="#pb198" class="pageref">198</a>, and also note <a href="#n198.1">1</a>; -<br><span id="ix.hathor">Hathor</span> and Chinese Spinning Maiden, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>; -<br>Hathor and Taoism, <a href="#pb313" class="pageref">313</a>; -<br>Hathor beer and Far Eastern intoxicants, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>; -<br>Heart and tongue connection in, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>Heart as “mind” in, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>; -<br>Horus myth in Japan, <a href="#pb351" class="pageref">351</a>; -<br>Horus story in Japan, <a href="#pb155" class="pageref">155</a>; -<br>Indian links with, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>; -<br>influence of, in Asia, <a href="#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>; -<br>iron as Set’s metal, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>; -<br>Island of the Blest in Pyramid Texts of, <a href="#pb108" class="pageref">108</a>; -<br>Japanese Deluge myth and Egyptian, <a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>; -<br>Pharaoh and Mikado, <a href="#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>, <a href="#pb387" class="pageref">387</a>; -<br>jasper of Isis and Japanese Tama, <a href="#pb336" class="pageref">336</a>; -<br>kings of, as gods, <a href="#pb342" class="pageref">342</a>; -<br>Mikado as Osiris and Horus, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>; -<br>Mikado and Osiris, <a href="#pb339" class="pageref">339</a>, <a href="#pb340" class="pageref">340</a>; -<br>myths of, in China, <a href="#pb148" class="pageref">148</a>; -<br>myth of separation of Heaven and Earth, in Japan and Polynesia, <a href="#pb348" class="pageref">348</a>; -<br>Nile flows from Milky Way in, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>; -<br>Nut and Chinese virgin goddess, <a href="#pb268" class="pageref">268</a>; -<br>origin of agriculture in, <a href="#pb201" class="pageref">201</a>; -<br>origin of mummification in, <a href="#pb257" class="pageref">257</a>; -<br>connection of mummification with Animism, <a href="#pb256" class="pageref">256</a>; -<br>Osiris and Chinese Shen-nung, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>; -<br>Osiris and Lao Tze, <a href="#pb299" class="pageref">299</a>; -<br>Set and Lao Tze, <a href="#pb300" class="pageref">300</a>; -<br><span class="pageNum" id="pb394">[<a href="#pb394">394</a>]</span> -<br>Osiris of Japan, <a href="#pb367" class="pageref">367</a>; -<br>Paradises of, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>; -<br>pearl lore in, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>; -<br>pearl searchers of, in East, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>; -<br>Pharaoh becomes god, <a href="#pb242" class="pageref">242</a>; -<br>Polynesian boats, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>; -<br>Ptah and the Chinese artisan god, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>; -<br>Osiris and Pʼan Ku, <a href="#pb264" class="pageref">264</a>; -<br>Ptah doctrine and Taoism, <a href="#pb303" class="pageref">303</a>; -<br>Queen Hatshepsut’s naval expedition, <a href="#pb36" class="pageref">36</a>, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>red earth in Deluge myth of, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>; -<br>religious use of reeds and linen in, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>, and also note <a href="#n85.3">3</a>; -<br>Rhampsinitus and Chinese Wu-Yih, <a href="#pb286" class="pageref">286</a>, <a href="#pb287" class="pageref">287</a>, and also note <a href="#n287.1">1</a>; -<br>scarab as mother goddess, <a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>; -<br>scarab of, and Chinese cicada amulets, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>scarab protected heart and tongue, <a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>; -<br>search for life-giving herbs, stones, &c., <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>; -<br>ships of, in Sea of Okhotsk, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>; -<br>smelting furnaces of, in Asia and Europe, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>, <a href="#pb208" class="pageref">208</a>; -<br>star-form of goddess, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>; -<br>struggles for copper-mines, <a href="#pb194" class="pageref">194</a>; -<br>Japanese Hathor, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>; -<br>Tree of Life as “World Tree” in, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>; -<br>weeping deities of, <a href="#pb365" class="pageref">365</a>; -<br>Well and Tree of Life at Heliopolis, <a href="#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>; -<br>wide areas influenced by culture of, <a href="#pb387" class="pageref">387</a>. -</p> -<p>Egyptian ships in Northern Europe, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>. -</p> -<p>Egyptians, earliest shipbuilders and navigators, <a href="#pb27" class="pageref">27</a>; -<br>maritime expeditions of, <a href="#pb28" class="pageref">28</a>. -</p> -<p>Elephant and dolphin, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>. -</p> -<p>Elixir of Life, malachite and silver offered to dead as, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>Chinese alchemical, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.metal.symbolism">Metal Symbolism</a></i>, <i>Peach</i>, <i><a href="#ix.pearls">Pearls</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.plant.of.life">Plant of Life</a></i>, and <i><a href="#ix.water.of.life">Water of Life</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Emperors of China as culture heroes, <a href="#pb19" class="pageref">19</a>, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>. -</p> -<p>England, soul beliefs in, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>. -</p> -<p>Evolution, biological, ethnology and, <a href="#pb2" class="pageref">2</a>. -</p> -<p>Eye as Seat of Soul, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>. -</p> -<p>Fig Tree of Life, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.sycamore">Sycamore</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.tree.of.life">Tree of Life</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Fire and water, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>. -</p> -<p>Fire-Balls, pearls and, produced by dragons, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>. -</p> -<p>Fire, Chinese and Polynesian “fire nail” myths, <a href="#pb84" class="pageref">84</a>; -<br>dragons scared by, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>; -<br>from trees, <a href="#pb162" class="pageref">162</a>. -</p> -<p>Fish as carrier of souls, <a href="#pb141" class="pageref">141</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.makara">Makara</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Fish-forms of dragon in China and Japan, <a href="#pb76" class="pageref">76</a>. -</p> -<p>Fish-goddess, the Far Eastern, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a>. -</p> -<p>Fish scales, Pearls and jade and, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>. -</p> -<p>Fish symbols in jade, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>. -</p> -<p>Food offerings to dead, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>. -</p> -<p>Food of the Dead, in Japanese Yomi, <a href="#pb340" class="pageref">340</a>; -<br>in Babylonian Hades, <a href="#pb340" class="pageref">340</a>. -</p> -<p>“Foreign devils”, British as, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>. -</p> -<p>Fox, Ainu and, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>; -<br>in Japan, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>. -</p> -<p>Foxes, were-animals in China and Japan, <a href="#pb221" class="pageref">221</a>. -</p> -<p>Frog, Chinese goddess transforms woman into, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>; -<br>Egyptian goddess as, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>; -<br>in jade, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>in China and Egypt, <a href="#pb226" class="pageref">226</a>. -</p> -<p>Frogs, British compared to, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>. -</p> -<p>Fruit of Life, Chinese and Japanese search for, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>. -</p> -<p>Fu Hi, Nu Kwa as sister of, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>; -<br>the Chinese Adam, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>. -</p> -<p>Fu-lin, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>; -<br>Chinese references to, <a href="#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>. -</p> -<p>Fung-shui, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>; -<br>connection with Babylonia and Egypt, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>; -<br>graves and, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>; -<br>houses and towns and, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>; -<br>the Trigrams, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>; -<br>tiger and dragon controllers, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>; -<br>Wind and Water doctrine, <a href="#pb228" class="pageref">228</a>. -</p> -<p>Fungus of Immortality, <a href="#pb107" class="pageref">107</a>, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>, <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a>; -<br>in Chinese Isles of Blest, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>. -</p> -<p>Ganges, the Celestial, Buddhists and, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>. -</p> -<p>Garudas, as enemies of Nagas, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>; -<br>Babylonian eagle god and, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>. -</p> -<p>Gazelle, Ea-dragon and, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>Egyptian gods and, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>. -</p> -<p>Gems, as fruit of Tree of Life, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>dragons fond of, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>. See also <i><a href="#ix.jewels">Jewels</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.pearls">Pearls</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.stones">Stones</a></i>. -</p> -<p>“Genius of the Hills”, Chinese goddess called, <a href="#pb269" class="pageref">269</a>. -</p> -<p>Giant in Isle of Blest legend, <a href="#pb112" class="pageref">112</a>. -</p> -<p>Ginseng, in Korea, <a href="#pb334" class="pageref">334</a>; -<br>Spirit of, <a href="#pb335" class="pageref">335</a>; -<br>mandrake, <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.mandrake">Mandrake</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Goat, blood of, as substitute for herb, <a href="#pb173" class="pageref">173</a>; -<br>Chinese Celestial, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>; -<br>Japanese legend, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>; -<br>as stones, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>; -<br>Thunder-gods and, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>. -</p> -<p>Goats, Goddess of herbs and, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>; -<br>as avatars of goddess, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb395">[<a href="#pb395">395</a>]</span></p> -<p>Goddesses (see <i><a href="#ix.mother.goddess">Mother Goddess</a></i>). -</p> -<p id="ix.gold">Gold, as sun metal, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>Buddhist belief in, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>; -<br>dragon’s connection with, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>; -<br>earliest use of, <a href="#pb164" class="pageref">164</a>; -<br>eastward “rushes” for, <a href="#pb201" class="pageref">201</a>; -<br>Egyptian kings asked for, <a href="#pb198" class="pageref">198</a>; -<br>Goddesses of, <a href="#pb190" class="pageref">190</a>; -<br>religious value of, <a href="#pb191" class="pageref">191</a>; -<br>imitation shells in, <a href="#pb192" class="pageref">192</a>; -<br>copper regarded as variety of, <a href="#pb192" class="pageref">192</a>; -<br>goddess of, <a href="#pb313" class="pageref">313</a>; -<br>good metal in India, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>in Buddhist Paradise, <a href="#pb127" class="pageref">127</a>; -<br>in “Fung-shui” system, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>; -<br>in Indian medicine, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>; -<br>vital principle in, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>; -<br>jade used like, <a href="#pb214" class="pageref">214</a>; -<br>lapis-lazuli and, <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>; -<br>Mother Goddess and, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>; -<br>Siberian, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>; -<br>Syrian goddess and, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>; -<br>Tree of Life and, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>; -<br>why early people searched for, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>, <a href="#pb189" class="pageref">189</a>; -<br>yellow, blue, red, white, and black in China, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.metal.symbolism">Metal Symbolism</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Golden Hills of Peking, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>. -</p> -<p>Golden Well Cave, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>. -</p> -<p>Golden Well Spring, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>. -</p> -<p>Grass of Immortality, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>. -</p> -<p>Grave pools, Chinese, <a href="#pb228" class="pageref">228</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.great.bear">“Great Bear” constellation, as father of Chinese Emperor, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>; -<br>as Chinese controller, <a href="#pb231" class="pageref">231</a>; -<br>Chinese deities of, <a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>; -<br>Emperor Yu and, <a href="#pb282" class="pageref">282</a>; -<br>Five elements controlled by, <a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>. -</p> -<p>Great Mother, various forms of, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>. -</p> -<p>Great Wall, <a href="#pb291" class="pageref">291</a>. -</p> -<p>Greece, metal symbolism of, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>. -</p> -<p>Green water, Osiris as, <a href="#pb9" class="pageref">9</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.colour.symbolism">Colour Symbolism</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Han Dynasty, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>. -</p> -<p>Hare, Indian legend of the lunar, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>; -<br>in Ohonamochi myth, <a href="#pb373" class="pageref">373</a>; -<br>of moon, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>. -</p> -<p>Hares, Ainu mountain deities, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>. -</p> -<p>Hea Dynasty, <a href="#pb281" class="pageref">281</a>. -</p> -<p>Heart, protected by scarab, <a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>; -<br>tongue connection with, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>as mind in Egypt, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>. -</p> -<p>Hebrews, religious literature of, <a href="#pb15" class="pageref">15</a>. -</p> -<p>Herbalists, Chinese culture heroes as, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>. -</p> -<p>Herbs, the “huchu”, <a href="#pb177" class="pageref">177</a>; -<br>and stones, <a href="#pb186" class="pageref">186</a>; -<br>and swords, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>; -<br>as life-givers, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>; -<br>goat and, <a href="#pb173" class="pageref">173</a>; -<br>of Life, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>. -</p> -<p>Hiruko, as god of fishermen in Japan, <a href="#pb352" class="pageref">352</a>; -<br>as sun god, <a href="#pb351" class="pageref">351</a>. -</p> -<p>Hirume, Japanese sun-female, <a href="#pb352" class="pageref">352</a>. -</p> -<p>Horse, in Japanese rain ceremonies, <a href="#pb355" class="pageref">355</a>. -</p> -<p>Horus, crossing the sea, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>; -<br>gazelle and, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>antelope and, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>; -<br>Hephaistos and, <a href="#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>; -<br>Osiris and, <a href="#pb9" class="pageref">9</a>. -</p> -<p>Ho Sien Ku, Chinese Artemis, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>. -</p> -<p>Human sacrifices, <a href="#pb290" class="pageref">290</a>. -</p> -<p>Hunters, ancient, <a href="#pb5" class="pageref">5</a>, <a href="#pb6" class="pageref">6</a>. -</p> -<p>Hwang-Ti, Chinese Emperor and god, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>. -</p> -<p><i>Iliad, The</i>, Bird and serpent myth in, <a href="#pb71" class="pageref">71</a>. -</p> -<p>Incense, beliefs connected with, <a href="#pb142" class="pageref">142</a>. -</p> -<p>India, Babylonian legend in, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>; -<br>birds carry souls in, <a href="#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>; -<br>Brahmanic doctrines and Taoism, <a href="#pb303" class="pageref">303</a>; -<br>Ganges as river of life, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>; -<br>Chinese and Brahmanic ascetics, <a href="#pb320" class="pageref">320</a>; -<br>Chinese belief in transmigration, from, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>Chinese First Age perfect as in, <a href="#pb276" class="pageref">276</a>; -<br>Taoism and doctrines of, <a href="#pb276" class="pageref">276</a>; -<br>Cosmic Egg in, <a href="#pb348" class="pageref">348</a>; -<br>Egyptian furnace in, <a href="#pb208" class="pageref">208</a>; -<br>Egyptian myths in, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>; -<br>Emperor Yu and Indra, <a href="#pb284" class="pageref">284</a>; -<br>Garudas and Babylonian eagle god, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>; -<br>goat of fire god of, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>; -<br>Indra and Chinese Pʼan Ku, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>; -<br>Indra and Chinese Eastern Dragon, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>, <a href="#pb239" class="pageref">239</a>; -<br>Indra and Chinese Shang-ti, <a href="#pb272" class="pageref">272</a>; -<br>Indra and Susa-no-wo of Japan, <a href="#pb363" class="pageref">363</a>; -<br>Indra as man in the moon, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>; -<br>influence of, in Southern China, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>, <a href="#pb22" class="pageref">22</a>; -<br>Japanese dragons and the Nagas, <a href="#pb344" class="pageref">344</a>; -<br>Karna and Chinese Wu, <a href="#pb288" class="pageref">288</a>; -<br>Karna born from mother’s ear, <a href="#pb300" class="pageref">300</a>; -<br>Karna myth in Japan, <a href="#pb351" class="pageref">351</a>; -<br>Karna story and Japanese, <a href="#pb156" class="pageref">156</a>; -<br>long voyage by mariners of, <a href="#pb34" class="pageref">34</a>; -<br>metal symbolism in Creation Myth, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>metal symbolism of, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>Milky Way as source of Ganges, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>; -<br>Mount Meru as “world spine”, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>Mungoose displaces Secretary Bird in, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>; -<br>Chinese dragons and the Nagas, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>; -<br>Phœnician colonies in, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>; -<br>Purusha myth and Chinese Pʼan Ku, <a href="#pb265" class="pageref">265</a>; -<br>Tama and Japanese Yomi, <a href="#pb357" class="pageref">357</a>. -</p> -<p>Indonesia, Japanese wani and, <a href="#pb355" class="pageref">355</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb396">[<a href="#pb396">396</a>]</span></p> -<p>Indra, as man in the moon, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>. -</p> -<p>Iranians, as mediators between West and East, <a href="#pb294" class="pageref">294</a>. -</p> -<p>Ireland, apple-land Paradise, <a href="#pb124" class="pageref">124</a>; -<br>calling back souls in, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>; -<br>salmon as dragon in, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>; -<br>star myth of, and Chinese, <a href="#pb281" class="pageref">281</a>, <a href="#pb282" class="pageref">282</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.iron">Iron, dragons dread, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>. -</p> -<p>Isanagi, jewels of, were “Kami”, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>. -</p> -<p>Ise, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>; -<br>Japanese Mecca, <a href="#pb338" class="pageref">338</a>; -<br>Goddesses of, <a href="#pb339" class="pageref">339</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.islands.of.blest">Islands of the Blest, Far Eastern legends of, <a href="#pb106" class="pageref">106</a>; -<br>origin of conception of, <a href="#pb108" class="pageref">108</a>; -<br>Chinese sage reaches, <a href="#pb148" class="pageref">148</a>; -<br>Egyptian, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>; -<br>Herbs, Trees, and Wells of Life in, <a href="#pb107" class="pageref">107</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.dragon.island">Dragon Island</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.red.island">Red Island</a></i>); -<br>Scottish legend, <a href="#pb129" class="pageref">129</a>; -<br>cult of East and, <a href="#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>; -<br>Dragon Isle of Delos, <a href="#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>; -<br>ginseng (mandrake) on, <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a>; -<br>gold, jade, pearls, &c., in, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>; -<br>Fungus of Immortality in, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>; -<br>jade in, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>; -<br>Japanese legends of Horaizan, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>; -<br>search for, promotes exploration, <a href="#pb119" class="pageref">119</a>; -<br>shipping and, <a href="#pb293" class="pageref">293</a>; -<br>Syria, Atlantis, and Fortunate Isles, <a href="#pb123" class="pageref">123</a>; -<br>Hebrides and Ireland, <a href="#pb123" class="pageref">123</a>; -<br>Gaelic Apple-land, <a href="#pb123" class="pageref">123</a>; -<br>Gaelic floating and vanishing island, <a href="#pb125" class="pageref">125</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.paradise">Paradise</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.underworld">Underworld</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Ivy, Chinese goddess and, <a href="#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>. -</p> -<p>Izanagi, creation of islands and deities by, <a href="#pb352" class="pageref">352</a>; -<br>in Hades, <a href="#pb357" class="pageref">357</a>; -<br>Japanese deity, <a href="#pb349" class="pageref">349</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.izanami">Izanami, creation of islands and deities by, <a href="#pb352" class="pageref">352</a>; -<br>Japanese deity, <a href="#pb349" class="pageref">349</a>; -<br>visit to and flight from Hades, <a href="#pb357" class="pageref">357</a>. -</p> -<p>Jade, as “Light shining at night,” <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>; -<br>Babylonia imported, from Chinese Turkestan, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>; -<br>Babylonian <i>nig-gil-ma</i> and, <a href="#pb245" class="pageref">245</a>; -<br>birth assisted by, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>; -<br>diseases cured by, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>; -<br>Mother Goddess and, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>, <a href="#pb221" class="pageref">221</a>, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>, <a href="#pb244" class="pageref">244</a>; -<br>brook of, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>juice of, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>grease of, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>butterflies in, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>Chinese and Babylonian jade links, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>; -<br>Chinese Mother Goddess creates, <a href="#pb152" class="pageref">152</a>; -<br>Chinese symbolism of, <a href="#pb208" class="pageref">208</a>; -<br>Chou and Han jades indigenous, <a href="#pb212" class="pageref">212</a>; -<br>cicada amulets of, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>coffins of, <a href="#pb226" class="pageref">226</a>; -<br>colours of, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>; -<br>connections of, with Cardinal Points, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>; -<br>shapes of, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>; -<br>complex symbolism of, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>, <a href="#pb254" class="pageref">254</a>–<a href="#pb5" class="pageref">5</a>; -<br>supplants boat in Chinese Deluge myth, <a href="#pb247" class="pageref">247</a>; -<br>connection of, with cows, copper, water, &c., <a href="#pb227" class="pageref">227</a>; -<br>earliest use of, in China, <a href="#pb211" class="pageref">211</a>, and also note <a href="#n212.1">1</a>; -<br>mirrors of, <a href="#pb211" class="pageref">211</a>, and also note <a href="#n212.1">1</a>; -<br>“Fire jade”, <a href="#pb220" class="pageref">220</a>; -<br>ground jade swallowed, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>; -<br>immortality ensured by, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>; -<br>spirit of, in all life, <a href="#pb244" class="pageref">244</a>; -<br>fish scales and, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>fish symbols in, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>Frog or Toad amulet, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>scarab-like amulets in, <a href="#pb226" class="pageref">226</a>; -<br>fish forms in, <a href="#pb226" class="pageref">226</a>; -<br>gold, cowries, and, <a href="#pb214" class="pageref">214</a>; -<br>mouth of dead stuffed with, <a href="#pb214" class="pageref">214</a>; -<br>“Great Bear” and, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>; -<br>soul as pivot of, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>; -<br>in “Fung-shui” system, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>; -<br>tiger-jade and war, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>; -<br>in Japan, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>; -<br>in rain-getting ceremonies, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>; -<br>introduced with bronze into Europe, <a href="#pb201" class="pageref">201</a>; -<br>Japanese beliefs regarding, of Chinese origin, <a href="#pb220" class="pageref">220</a>; -<br>lunar attributes of, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>; -<br>nocturnal luminosity of, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>no necklaces of, in China, <a href="#pb338" class="pageref">338</a>; -<br>origin of symbolism of, <a href="#pb206" class="pageref">206</a>, <a href="#pb207" class="pageref">207</a>; -<br>pearls and, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>; -<br>promotes longevity, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>rhinoceros horn and, <a href="#pb247" class="pageref">247</a>–<a href="#pb9" class="pageref">9</a>; -<br>warm and cold, <a href="#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>, <a href="#pb254" class="pageref">254</a>; -<br>rush pattern on, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>, and also note <a href="#n85.3">3</a>; -<br>symbolism of, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>symbolism of, and pearl symbolism, <a href="#pb212" class="pageref">212</a>; -<br>used instead of embalming, <a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>; -<br>why swallowed, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>why sought in Europe, <a href="#pb251" class="pageref">251</a>, <a href="#pb252" class="pageref">252</a>; -<br>Spanish name of, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>; -<br>colour symbolism of, <a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>. -</p> -<p>“Jade Mountain”, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>; -<br>in Chinese Paradise, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>. -</p> -<p>Jade River of Peking, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>. -</p> -<p>Japan, archæology of, <a href="#pb325" class="pageref">325</a>; -<br>Ainu and Koro-pok-guru, <a href="#pb326" class="pageref">326</a>; -<br>Chinese name applied to, <a href="#pb360" class="pageref">360</a>; -<br>dragon-pearl peak of, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>; -<br>dragons of, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>; -<br>early searchers for wealth in, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a>; -<br>Egyptian ships in, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>; -<br>Empress Jingo and pearls of ebb and flood, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>; -<br>history and mythology of, <a href="#pb324" class="pageref">324</a>; -<br>races of, <a href="#pb324" class="pageref">324</a>; -<br>names of, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a>, and also note <a href="#n333.3">3</a>; <a href="#pb352" class="pageref">352</a>. -</p> -<p>“Jewel that grants all Desires”, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>, <a href="#pb129" class="pageref">129</a>; -<br>in India, China, and Japan, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>; -<br>fish eye as, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb397">[<a href="#pb397">397</a>]</span></p> -<p id="ix.jewels">Jewels as “Kami” in Japan, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>. -</p> -<p>“Jewels of Flood and Ebb”, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>. -</p> -<p>Jimmu Tenno, <a href="#pb379" class="pageref">379</a>, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>. -</p> -<p>Jingo, Japanese Empress, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb385" class="pageref">385</a>. -</p> -<p>Jokwa, <a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>; -<br>as Mother Goddess, <a href="#pb152" class="pageref">152</a>. -</p> -<p>Junks, Burmese and Chinese, and Egyptian ships, <a href="#pb29" class="pageref">29</a>, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>; -<br>origin of, <a href="#pb24" class="pageref">24</a>. -</p> -<p>Kami, the evil, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>; -<br>the Japanese, <a href="#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>. -</p> -<p>Kasenko, Japanese Artemis, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>. -</p> -<p>Khotan, as trading centre, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.kian.yuan">Kian Yuan, Chinese goddess, <a href="#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>. -</p> -<p>“Kingdom under the Sea”, <a href="#pb95" class="pageref">95</a>; -<br>Kusanagi sword legend and, <a href="#pb101" class="pageref">101</a>. -</p> -<p>Kings, Mythical Chinese, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>. -</p> -<p>Ko-ji-ki, the, Japanese sacred book, <a href="#pb347" class="pageref">347</a>. -</p> -<p>Korea, Empress Jingo and, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>; -<br>ginseng (mandrake) cultivated in, <a href="#pb334" class="pageref">334</a>; -<br>ideas regarding soul in, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>; -<br>Japanese and, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>; -<br>Chinese overrun, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>; -<br>the dolmen in, <a href="#pb325" class="pageref">325</a>. -</p> -<p>Koryaks, Egyptian boats of, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.kuda-tama">Kuda-tama, “tube-shaped” beads, <a href="#pb337" class="pageref">337</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.tama">Tama</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Kufas, Chinese and Mesopotamian, <a href="#pb25" class="pageref">25</a>. -</p> -<p>Kurgans as culture centres, <a href="#pb200" class="pageref">200</a>. -</p> -<p>Kusanagi sword, <a href="#pb382" class="pageref">382</a>; -<br>of Japan, <a href="#pb101" class="pageref">101</a>. -</p> -<p>Kwang Tze, Taoist teacher, <a href="#pb302" class="pageref">302</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.kwan-yin">Kwan-yin, goddess of mercy, <a href="#pb271" class="pageref">271</a>; -<br>as mother and child giver, <a href="#pb271" class="pageref">271</a>; -<br>as war goddess, <a href="#pb272" class="pageref">272</a>. -</p> -<p>Lake of Life, the Indian, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>. -</p> -<p>“Language of Birds”, in dragon lore, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>; -<br>in Egyptian dragon-slaying myth, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>; -<br>in northern myths, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>. -</p> -<p>Lao Tze, founder of Taoism, <a href="#pb299" class="pageref">299</a>; -<br>Osiris, Julius Cæsar, &c., and, <a href="#pb299" class="pageref">299</a>, <a href="#pb300" class="pageref">300</a>. -</p> -<p>Lapis-lazuli, as “essence of gold”, <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>. -</p> -<p>Leech-child, deity called, <a href="#pb351" class="pageref">351</a>. -</p> -<p>Lightning as “Fire of Life”, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>. -</p> -<p>Literature, Chinese god of, <a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>. -</p> -<p>Loki, Susa-no-wo and, <a href="#pb364" class="pageref">364</a>. -</p> -<p>Lotus, Far Eastern goddess’s flower, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>; -<br>Egyptian Hathor as, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>; -<br>the Cosmic, <a href="#pb303" class="pageref">303</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.maga-tama">Maga-tama, “comma-shaped” beads, <a href="#pb337" class="pageref">337</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.tama">Tama</a></i>); -<br>curved jewels, children created from, <a href="#pb366" class="pageref">366</a>; -<br>in Amaterâsu cave-myth, <a href="#pb368" class="pageref">368</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.makara">Makara, dragon as, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>; -<br>elephant-headed dolphin as, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>; -<br>eye of a gem, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>; -<br>gold and mercury and, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>; -<br>Babylonian sea-goat and, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>; -<br>gold and pearls and, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>. -</p> -<p>Malachite, as offering to dead, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.metal.symbolism">Metal Symbolism</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Manchu Dynasty, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.mandrake">Mandrake, as life plant, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>; -<br>colours and shapes of, <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a>; -<br>cultivated in Korea, <a href="#pb334" class="pageref">334</a>; -<br>Korean spirit of, <a href="#pb335" class="pageref">335</a>; -<br>cypress tree and, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>; -<br>dog and, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>; -<br>apple tree and, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>; -<br>jade and, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>lotus, pomegranate, and, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>; -<br>ginseng as, <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a>; -<br>Shakespeare’s references to, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>, and also note <a href="#n168.1">1</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.plant.of.life">Plant of Life</a></i>. -</p> -<p>“Man in the moon”, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.mariners">Mariners, ancient, <a href="#pb13" class="pageref">13</a>; -<br>as culture-carriers, <a href="#pb35" class="pageref">35</a>; -<br>motives for activities of, <a href="#pb36" class="pageref">36</a>; -<br>Chinese, <a href="#pb24" class="pageref">24</a>; -<br>in Korea and Japan, <a href="#pb25" class="pageref">25</a>; -<br>Crete reached by, <a href="#pb28" class="pageref">28</a>; -<br>early activities of, <a href="#pb27" class="pageref">27</a>; -<br>Egyptian voyages, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>; -<br>Sumeria’s first seaport, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>; -<br>motives for voyages of, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>; -<br>pearl-lore and, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>; -<br>Phœnicians as traders, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>; -<br>sea gods of, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>; -<br>Sumeria reached by, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>; -<br>the Polynesian, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>; -<br>long voyages of, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>–<a href="#pb5" class="pageref">5</a>, <a href="#pb36" class="pageref">36</a>; -<br>wanderings of, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.ships">Ships</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Maya gem symbolism, <a href="#pb336" class="pageref">336</a>. -</p> -<p>Mead in moon, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>. -</p> -<p>Medicinal plants, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.tree.of.life">Tree of Life</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Melanesia, Fish-god of, and dragon, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.melusina">Melusina legend, in Chinese dragon-lore, <a href="#pb87" class="pageref">87</a>, <a href="#pb88" class="pageref">88</a>, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.pearl.princess">Pearl Princess</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Mercury, in Elixir of Life, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>in Indian medicine, <a href="#pb215" class="pageref">215</a>. -</p> -<p>Mercy, goddess of, <a href="#pb271" class="pageref">271</a>. -</p> -<p>Mermaids, as providers of herb cures, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>. -</p> -<p>Metals, search for, spreads civilization, <a href="#pb199" class="pageref">199</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.mariners">Mariners</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.ships">Ships</a></i>). -</p> -<p id="ix.metal.symbolism">Metal Symbolism, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>Chinese associated copper with death and darkness, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>; -<br>iron dreaded by dragons, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>; -<br>Greek, Indian, Chinese, <span class="pageNum" id="pb398">[<a href="#pb398">398</a>]</span><a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>in Chinese dragon-lore, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>in Indian creation myth, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>Indian colour symbolism and, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>malachite and silver as offerings to Egyptian dead, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>Chinese alchemists’ “liquor of immortality”, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>why gold was sought, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.copper">Copper</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.gold">Gold</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.iron">Iron</a></i>, and <i><a href="#ix.silver">Silver</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Mikado, as Osiris and Horus, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>; -<br>Paradise of, <a href="#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>; -<br>like Pharaohs of Egypt, <a href="#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>; -<br>as an Osiris, <a href="#pb339" class="pageref">339</a>. -</p> -<p>Mikados, descent of, from deities, <a href="#pb378" class="pageref">378</a>; -<br>the ancient, <a href="#pb378" class="pageref">378</a>. -</p> -<p>Milk, Egyptian goddesses suckle souls, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>; -<br>from cockle-shells in Japanese myth, <a href="#pb374" class="pageref">374</a>; -<br>from cockle-shells in Scotland, <a href="#pb374" class="pageref">374</a>, and also note <a href="#n374.4">4</a>; -<br>motherless children in Tibetan myth, <a href="#pb261" class="pageref">261</a>; -<br>offered to dead in Scotland, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>; -<br>in Egyptian Paradise <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>; -<br>Sea of, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>, <a href="#pb112" class="pageref">112</a>. -</p> -<p>Milk goddesses, Chinese tigress and European and Egyptian forms of, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>; -<br>vultures with breasts in Egyptian myth, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>; -<br>Egyptian cow-goddess, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.mother.goddess">Mother Goddess</a></i>). -</p> -<p id="ix.milky.way">Milky Way, as source of Chinese, Egyptian, and Indian rivers, <a href="#pb110" class="pageref">110</a>, <a href="#pb111" class="pageref">111</a>; -<br>Celestial River of, <a href="#pb148" class="pageref">148</a>; -<br>Chinese sage reaches, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>; -<br>holy woman reaches, <a href="#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>; -<br>Island of Blest in, <a href="#pb106" class="pageref">106</a>; -<br>souls in, <a href="#pb319" class="pageref">319</a>; -<br>Spinning Maiden of, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>. -</p> -<p>Mind, heart as, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>, <a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>. -</p> -<p>Ming Dynasty, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.mirror">Mirror, <a href="#pb369" class="pageref">369</a>; -<br>in Amaterâsu cave myth, <a href="#pb369" class="pageref">369</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.obsidian">Obsidian</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Mistletoe, as plant of life, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>; -<br>in Asia, <a href="#pb176" class="pageref">176</a>; -<br>sacred to Ainu, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.plant.of.life">Plant of Life</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Mongol Dynasty, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>. -</p> -<p>Moon, as “Pearl of Heaven”, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>; -<br>as source of dew and nectar, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>; -<br>as source of life, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>; -<br>bamboo and, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>; -<br>Chinese woman in, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>; -<br>jade, pearls, mandrake, &c., shine like, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>Man in the, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>; -<br>Indra in, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>; -<br>dog in, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>; -<br>metals of, <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>; -<br>Mother Goddess and, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>; -<br>night-shining stones and herbs and, <a href="#pb186" class="pageref">186</a>; -<br>pearls and, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>; -<br>as pearl, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>; -<br>silver as metal of, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>as source of Water of Life, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>; -<br>Tree of, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>; -<br>vapour from, causes pregnancy, <a href="#pb286" class="pageref">286</a>; -<br>yellow dragon and, <a href="#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>. -</p> -<p>Moon and Tree goddess, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>. -</p> -<p>Moon Girl, the Japanese, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>. -</p> -<p>Moon Island, <a href="#pb148" class="pageref">148</a>. -</p> -<p>Moon mead, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>. -</p> -<p>Moon rabbit and hare, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>. -</p> -<p>Moon Water, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>. -</p> -<p>Moonlight Pearl, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.mother.goddess">Mother Goddess, as “Mountain of Dawn”, <a href="#pb185" class="pageref">185</a>; -<br>as sun-boat, <a href="#pb185" class="pageref">185</a>; -<br>as source of moistures of life, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>; -<br>as Tree of Life, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>; -<br>Babylonian <i>nig-gil-ma</i> and, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>; -<br>mandrake and, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>; -<br>red earth and, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>; -<br>Chinese, and Demeter, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>; -<br>Chinese archer and, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>; -<br>Chinese “Genius of the Hills”, <a href="#pb269" class="pageref">269</a>, <a href="#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>; -<br>Chinese Nu Kwa, <a href="#pb151" class="pageref">151</a>; -<br>jade created by, <a href="#pb152" class="pageref">152</a>; -<br>Chinese symbols of, <a href="#pb265" class="pageref">265</a>; -<br>Cosmic Egg and, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>; -<br>Chinese Si Wang Mu, and Japanese Seiobo, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>Chinese tigress as, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>; -<br>coloured fruits and stones of, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>connection of, with gems and metals, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>coral as tree of, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>connection of, with water, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>Dew of Immortality from, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>; -<br>Egyptian and Chinese, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>Egyptian Hathor feeds souls of dead, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>; -<br>European animal forms of, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>; -<br>Egyptian serpent form of, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>; -<br><span class="corr" id="xd31e14948" title="Source: Egyptain">Egyptian</span> cow-goddess, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>; -<br>fish form of, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>pearl connection causes jade connection, <a href="#pb221" class="pageref">221</a>; -<br>forms and attributes of, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>; -<br>goat form of, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>; -<br>gold of, <a href="#pb189" class="pageref">189</a>, <a href="#pb190" class="pageref">190</a>; -<br>in Taoism, <a href="#pb302" class="pageref">302</a>; -<br>jade contains influence of, <a href="#pb243" class="pageref">243</a>; -<br>Kiang Yuan as, <a href="#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>; -<br>lotus of, in Far East and Egypt, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>; -<br>mugwort of, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>; -<br>moon and, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>; -<br>night-shining gems and herbs of, <a href="#pb186" class="pageref">186</a>; -<br>peach and, in Japan, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>; -<br>peach tree of, <a href="#pb143" class="pageref">143</a>; -<br>pot of, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>, <a href="#pb187" class="pageref">187</a>; -<br>star form of, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>; -<br>scarab as, <a href="#pb223" class="pageref">223</a>; -<br>cicada as, <a href="#pb224" class="pageref">224</a>; -<br>Scottish, as a stone, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>; -<br>sparrow as messenger of, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>; -<br>stones as, <a href="#pb185" class="pageref">185</a>; -<br>precious stones of, <a href="#pb185" class="pageref">185</a>; -<br>the Ainu and, <a href="#pb329" class="pageref">329</a>, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a>; -<br>the Heavenly Lady <i>Pa</i>, Virgin Mother Nu-Chi and nine Sons, <a href="#pb268" class="pageref">268</a>; -<br>“The Heavenly Lady Pao”, <a href="#pb278" class="pageref">278</a>; -<br>The Poosa as goddess <span class="pageNum" id="pb399">[<a href="#pb399">399</a>]</span>or Buddha, <a href="#pb271" class="pageref">271</a>; -<br>Kwan-yin, goddess of mercy, <a href="#pb271" class="pageref">271</a>; -<br>Kwan-yin as child-giver, <a href="#pb271" class="pageref">271</a>; -<br>the Syrian, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>tree, shells, pearls, gold, silver, jade, and, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>, <a href="#pb220" class="pageref">220</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.artemis">Artemis</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.hathor">Hathor</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.izanami">Izanami</a></i>, &c. -</p> -<p>Mother of Western King, Chinese goddess as, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>. -</p> -<p>Mountains, Japanese dragons and, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>. -</p> -<p>Mouse-Apollo, <a href="#pb185" class="pageref">185</a>, <a href="#pb375" class="pageref">375</a><span id="xd31e15167"></span> and also note <a href="#n375.1">3</a>. -</p> -<p>Mouse, in Japanese Ohonamochi myth, <a href="#pb375" class="pageref">375</a>. -</p> -<p>Mugwort, reverenced by Ainu, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>; -<br>Artemis and, <a href="#pb170" class="pageref">170</a>; -<br>Chinese lore regarding, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>; -<br>as aid at birth, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>; -<br>Far Eastern Artemis clothed in, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>; -<br>Mexican goddess of, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>; -<br>goat and, <a href="#pb173" class="pageref">173</a>; -<br>pine and, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>. -</p> -<p>Mummification, history of, <a href="#pb257" class="pageref">257</a>. -</p> -<p>Naga form of Indra, <a href="#pb238" class="pageref">238</a>. -</p> -<p>Nagas, as guardians of pearls, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>; -<br>Chinese dragons and, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>; -<br>Garudas as enemies of, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>; -<br>Japanese dragons and, <a href="#pb344" class="pageref">344</a>; -<br>Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.navigation">Navigation, Egyptian origin of, <a href="#pb27" class="pageref">27</a>; -<br>in Far East and Oceania, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>–<a href="#pb5" class="pageref">5</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.mariners">Mariners</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.ships">Ships</a></i>. -</p> -<p id="ix.neolithic.age">“Neolithic Age” unknown in China, <a href="#pb213" class="pageref">213</a>. -</p> -<p>Nig-gil-ma, the Babylonian, <a href="#pb245" class="pageref">245</a>; -<br>the Japanese, <a href="#pb349" class="pageref">349</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.plant.of.life">Plant of Life</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Nihon-gi, Japanese sacred book, <a href="#pb347" class="pageref">347</a>. -</p> -<p>Nu-Chi, Chinese goddess, <a href="#pb268" class="pageref">268</a>. -</p> -<p>Nu Kwa, <a href="#pb220" class="pageref">220</a>, <a href="#pb345" class="pageref">345</a>; -<br>as goddess of West, <a href="#pb151" class="pageref">151</a>; -<br>Japanese Jokwa, <a href="#pb152" class="pageref">152</a>; -<br>Chinese Ishtar, <a href="#pb269" class="pageref">269</a>; -<br>Fu Hi as brother of, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>; -<br>in Deluge myth, <a href="#pb267" class="pageref">267</a>. -</p> -<p>Oak, reverenced by Ainu, <a href="#pb331" class="pageref">331</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.obsidian">Obsidian, mirrors of, <a href="#pb211" class="pageref">211</a>, and also note <a href="#n212.1">1</a>; -<br>use of, by early seafarers, <a href="#pb28" class="pageref">28</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.mirror">Mirror</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Ohonamochi, flight of, from Hades, <a href="#pb376" class="pageref">376</a>; -<br>in Creation myth, <a href="#pb376" class="pageref">376</a>; -<br>elfin deity and, <a href="#pb377" class="pageref">377</a>; -<br>the story of, <a href="#pb373" class="pageref">373</a>. -</p> -<p>Ojin Tenno, the Mikado, <a href="#pb385" class="pageref">385</a>. -</p> -<p>“Opening of Mouth” ceremony in Egypt and China, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>in Chinese myths, <a href="#pb258" class="pageref">258</a>–<a href="#pb62" class="pageref">62</a>. -</p> -<p>Orange Tree of Life, <a href="#pb379" class="pageref">379</a>, <a href="#pb380" class="pageref">380</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.tree.of.life">Tree of Life</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Osiris, agriculture and, <a href="#pb6" class="pageref">6</a>; -<br>as the Nile, <a href="#pb8" class="pageref">8</a>, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>; -<br>as dangerous god, <a href="#pb53" class="pageref">53</a>; -<br>as serpent of Nile, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>; -<br>Babylonian Ea and, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>; -<br>cult of, <a href="#pb9" class="pageref">9</a>; -<br>missionaries of, <a href="#pb9" class="pageref">9</a>, <a href="#pb10" class="pageref">10</a>; -<br>Dionysos and Bacchus and, <a href="#pb10" class="pageref">10</a>; -<br>dragon-lore and, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>; -<br>gazelle and, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>; -<br>potter’s wheel and, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.pan.ku">Pʼan Ku, as ancestor of three races, <a href="#pb274" class="pageref">274</a>; -<br>as world artisan, <a href="#pb260" class="pageref">260</a>; -<br>as Chinese Ymir, <a href="#pb260" class="pageref">260</a>; -<br>Egyptian Ptah and, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>–<a href="#pb5" class="pageref">5</a>; -<br>Emperor Yu as, <a href="#pb284" class="pageref">284</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.paradise">Paradise, Ainu myths of, <a href="#pb331" class="pageref">331</a>; -<br>Chinese sages reach, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>; -<br>Japanese “Eternal Land”, <a href="#pb379" class="pageref">379</a>; -<br>Lord of Fish carries saint to, <a href="#pb141" class="pageref">141</a>; -<br>Polynesian, <a href="#pb380" class="pageref">380</a>; -<br>Buddhist, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>; -<br>Indian Uttara Kuru, <a href="#pb128" class="pageref">128</a>; -<br>the Stellar, <a href="#pb148" class="pageref">148</a>, <a href="#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>; -<br>the “Wonderful Rose Garden”, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>; -<br>Under-Sea, of Japan, <a href="#pb381" class="pageref">381</a>; -<br>Ainu, <a href="#pb381" class="pageref">381</a>; -<br>see also <i><a href="#ix.underworld">Underworld</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.islands.of.blest">Islands of Blest</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Patriarch <span class="corr" id="xd31e15591" title="Source: Phang">Phăng</span> lives for 1500 years, <a href="#pb319" class="pageref">319</a>, <a href="#pb322" class="pageref">322</a>. -</p> -<p>Peach, as fruit of Chinese goddess, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>; -<br>as Kami in Japan, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>; -<br>in Japanese Hades myth, <a href="#pb360" class="pageref">360</a>. -</p> -<p>Peach of Longevity, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>. -</p> -<p>Peach, Son of, story, <a href="#pb153" class="pageref">153</a>. -</p> -<p>Peach tree indigenous in China, <a href="#pb141" class="pageref">141</a>. -</p> -<p>Peach Tree of Life, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>Chinese, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.tree.of.life">Tree of Life</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Pearl, as “wish-jewel”, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>; -<br>moon and lore of, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>; -<br>Polynesian dragon and, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>“soul substance” in, <a href="#pb86" class="pageref">86</a>. -</p> -<p>Pearl fishers, sharks and dragon-lore, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>; -<br>wanderings of, <a href="#pb43" class="pageref">43</a>. -</p> -<p>Pearl Mountain, in Chinese Paradise, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>. -</p> -<p>“Pearl of Heaven” in dragon procession, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>; -<br>moon as, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.pearl.princess">Pearl Princess legend, <a href="#pb97" class="pageref">97</a>; -<br>the Abundant, <a href="#pb378" class="pageref">378</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.melusina">Melusina</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Pearl-shell, mugwort and, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>; -<br>religious use of, by Sumerians, <a href="#pb195" class="pageref">195</a>, <a href="#pb196" class="pageref">196</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.pearls">Pearls, ancient mariners as searchers for, <a href="#pb41" class="pageref">41</a>; -<br>as “life-givers” (<i>margan</i>), <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>; -<br>beliefs regarding origin of, <span class="pageNum" id="pb400">[<a href="#pb400">400</a>]</span><a href="#pb253" class="pageref">253</a>; -<br>Buddhist belief in, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>; -<br>dragons and, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>; -<br>fish scales and, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>“Great Bear” and, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>; -<br>in Japan, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>; -<br>in Japanese waters, <a href="#pb333" class="pageref">333</a>; -<br>in Shinto faith, <a href="#pb335" class="pageref">335</a>; -<br>jade and, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>; -<br>jade and gold used like, <a href="#pb214" class="pageref">214</a>; -<br>Japanese Tama, <a href="#pb220" class="pageref">220</a>; -<br>Nagas and, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>; -<br>night-shining, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>, <a href="#pb216" class="pageref">216</a>; -<br>Polynesian dragon and, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>; -<br>produced at Dragon Battles, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>; -<br>shark as guardian of, <a href="#pb221" class="pageref">221</a>; -<br>Mother Goddess and, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>; -<br>the moonlight, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>; -<br>flaming or fiery, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>; -<br>whale’s eyes as, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>; -<br>of Ebb and Flood, <a href="#pb40" class="pageref">40</a>, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>. -</p> -<p>Peking, religious significance of situation of, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>. -</p> -<p>Perseus myth, Japanese version of, <a href="#pb346" class="pageref">346</a>. -</p> -<p>Persia, Bird and serpent myth in, <a href="#pb74" class="pageref">74</a>. -</p> -<p>Peruvians, whale worshipped by, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>. -</p> -<p>Phœnicians, Africa circumnavigated by, <a href="#pb34" class="pageref">34</a>; -<br>as seafarers, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>; -<br>Solomon’s mariners were, <a href="#pb36" class="pageref">36</a>; -<br>as Egypt’s mariners, <a href="#pb34" class="pageref">34</a>; -<br>colonies of, in Europe and Asia, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>. -</p> -<p>Pike, Northern God as, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>. -</p> -<p>Pillars of Cardinal Points, <a href="#pb227" class="pageref">227</a>, <a href="#pb268" class="pageref">268</a>. -</p> -<p>Pine, Ainu and, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>; -<br>Chinese goddess and, <a href="#pb270" class="pageref">270</a>. -</p> -<p>Pine Tree, Maiden of, <a href="#pb170" class="pageref">170</a>; -<br>Japanese Jo and Uba of, <a href="#pb171" class="pageref">171</a>; -<br>mugwort and, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>; -<br>Japanese dog and pine story, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>. -</p> -<p>Pine Tree of Life, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>. -</p> -<p>Planets, the five, mythical kings and, <a href="#pb274" class="pageref">274</a>. -</p> -<p>Plant of Birth, <a href="#pb335" class="pageref">335</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.plant.of.life">Plant of Life, Babylonian legend of, <a href="#pb99" class="pageref">99</a>; -<br>Babylonian <i>nig-gil-ma</i> and, <a href="#pb245" class="pageref">245</a>; -<br>goat and, <a href="#pb173" class="pageref">173</a>; -<br>in Taoism, <a href="#pb320" class="pageref">320</a>; -<br>Japanese “reed shoot” as, <a href="#pb349" class="pageref">349</a>, <a href="#pb350" class="pageref">350</a>; -<br>mandrake as, <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a>, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>; -<br>tea as, <a href="#pb175" class="pageref">175</a>; -<br>mistletoe as, in Asia and Europe, <a href="#pb176" class="pageref">176</a>; -<br>ivy and mugwort in Asia, <a href="#pb176" class="pageref">176</a>; -<br>mandrake (ginseng), mushroom and fungus as, in Japan, <a href="#pb335" class="pageref">335</a>; -<br>mistletoe as, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>; -<br>origin of, from tears of deities, <a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>; -<br>sap of, as elixir, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>; -<br>hemp as, <a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>; -<br>the “huchu”, <a href="#pb177" class="pageref">177</a>; -<br>the “root”, in Taoism, <a href="#pb312" class="pageref">312</a>. -</p> -<p>Plants of Life, <a href="#pb158" class="pageref">158</a>. -</p> -<p>Plum tree, dragon’s blood originates, <a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>. -</p> -<p>Plum Tree of Life, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>; -<br>butterfly and, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.polar.star">Polar Star, as “Pivot of Sky”, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>; -<br>as Babylonian god, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>; -<br>as Chinese god, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.polynesia">Polynesia, ancient mariners reach, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>; -<br>bird-god and serpent-god in, <a href="#pb71" class="pageref">71</a>; -<br>Cosmic Egg in, <a href="#pb348" class="pageref">348</a>; -<br>dragon of, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>dragon of, and pearls, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>dragon of, and Babylonian, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>; -<br>dragon of, and Chinese, <a href="#pb67" class="pageref">67</a>; -<br>“Fire nail” legend of, <a href="#pb84" class="pageref">84</a>; -<br>Garden Paradise of, <a href="#pb380" class="pageref">380</a>; -<br>Paradise of chiefs, <a href="#pb381" class="pageref">381</a>; -<br>ghosts go westward, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>; -<br>myth of separation of Heaven and Earth in, <a href="#pb348" class="pageref">348</a>; -<br>Tree of Life in, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>; -<br>wandering ghosts in, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>; -<br>well of life in, <a href="#pb119" class="pageref">119</a>, <a href="#pb120" class="pageref">120</a>; -<br>connection with America, <a href="#pb120" class="pageref">120</a>. -</p> -<p>Polynesian gods, Chinese dragons and, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>; -<br>birds, beasts, and reptiles as, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>; -<br>in sea shells, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>; -<br>protectors of fisheries, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>. -</p> -<p>Polynesians, Egyptian boats of, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>; -<br>long voyages of, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>. -</p> -<p>Poosa (see <i><a href="#ix.kwan-yin">Kwan-yin</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Pot, the Mother, <a href="#pb16" class="pageref">16</a>, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>, <a href="#pb187" class="pageref">187</a>, <a href="#pb303" class="pageref">303</a>; -<br>Babylonian <i>nig-gil-ma</i> and, <a href="#pb245" class="pageref">245</a>; -<br>Chinese, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>; -<br>Lotus and, <a href="#pb172" class="pageref">172</a>. -</p> -<p>Potters, male and female, <a href="#pb15" class="pageref">15</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.potters.wheel">Potter’s wheel, an Egyptian invention, <a href="#pb13" class="pageref">13</a>; -<br>China receives, <a href="#pb17" class="pageref">17</a>; -<br>Chinese same as Egyptian, <a href="#pb22" class="pageref">22</a>; -<br>in Babylonia and Persia, <a href="#pb22" class="pageref">22</a>; -<br>did not “evolve”, <a href="#pb17" class="pageref">17</a>; -<br>unknown in America, <a href="#pb18" class="pageref">18</a>; -<br>Japanese receive, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>; -<br>Koreans and, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>, <a href="#pb21" class="pageref">21</a>; -<br>Ptah-Osiris and, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>; -<br>sacred in Egypt, <a href="#pb19" class="pageref">19</a>; -<br>Biblical references to, <a href="#pb19" class="pageref">19</a>; -<br>Chinese Emperors and potters, <a href="#pb19" class="pageref">19</a>–<a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>; -<br>went farther than inventors, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>. -</p> -<p>Pottery and civilization, <a href="#pb14" class="pageref">14</a>, <a href="#pb15" class="pageref">15</a>. -</p> -<p>Pottery, religious and secular, <a href="#pb18" class="pageref">18</a>. -</p> -<p>Progress, Origin of, <a href="#pb12" class="pageref">12</a>. -</p> -<p>Ptah, Egyptian god (or Ptah-Osiris), as divine potter, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>. -</p> -<p>Pumpelly Expedition, <a href="#pb200" class="pageref">200</a>. -</p> -<p>Purple Sea, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>. -</p> -<p>Rabbit of moon, <a href="#pb144" class="pageref">144</a>. -</p> -<p>Rain god, dragon as, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.red.island">Red Island, Egyptian Horus and, <a href="#pb99" class="pageref">99</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb401">[<a href="#pb401">401</a>]</span></p> -<p>Reed Plains, Land of, China and Japan as, <a href="#pb360" class="pageref">360</a>. -</p> -<p>Reed Shoot, in Japanese myth, <a href="#pb349" class="pageref">349</a>. -</p> -<p>Reeds, religious use of, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>, and also note <a href="#n85.3">3</a>. -</p> -<p>Rhinoceros horn, healing qualities of, <a href="#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>; -<br>jade and, <a href="#pb247" class="pageref">247</a>; -<br>Yang in, <a href="#pb248" class="pageref">248</a>; -<br>pearl fishers used, <a href="#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>; -<br>nocturnal luminosity of, <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>, <a href="#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>; -<br>warm and cold, <a href="#pb249" class="pageref">249</a>. -</p> -<p>Rhinoceros, prototype of unicorn, <a href="#pb250" class="pageref">250</a>; -<br>herbs and, <a href="#pb250" class="pageref">250</a>; -<br>as Judgment Beast, <a href="#pb250" class="pageref">250</a>. -</p> -<p>Rip Van Winkles, the Chinese, <a href="#pb177" class="pageref">177</a>–<a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>. -</p> -<p>River of Life, Polynesian belief regarding, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>; -<br>Ganges as, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>; -<br>Lethe as, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>. -</p> -<p>Rush mats, magical use of, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>. -</p> -<p>Rush patterns on jade, <a href="#pb85" class="pageref">85</a>. -</p> -<p>Russian Turkestan, Babylonian influence in, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>. -</p> -<p>Sacrifices, human, in China, <a href="#pb290" class="pageref">290</a>. -</p> -<p>Salmon, worshipped by Ainu, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>; -<br>as dragon in China, <a href="#pb76" class="pageref">76</a>; -<br>as dragon in Scotland, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>; -<br>as Irish dragon, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>; -<br>Loki as, <a href="#pb76" class="pageref">76</a>. -</p> -<p>“Salmon of Knowledge”, the Gaelic, <a href="#pb77" class="pageref">77</a>. -</p> -<p>San Tsi herb, goat and, <a href="#pb173" class="pageref">173</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.plant.of.life">Plant of Life</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Scarab, jade forms resemble, <a href="#pb226" class="pageref">226</a>. -</p> -<p>Scotland, Apple-land Paradise, <a href="#pb124" class="pageref">124</a>; -<br>doctrine of Cardinal Points in, <a href="#pb229" class="pageref">229</a>; -<br>eagle carries man to Island Paradise, <a href="#pb129" class="pageref">129</a>; -<br>eagle-stone and raven-stone, <a href="#pb129" class="pageref">129</a>; -<br>Gaelic story regarding water of life, <a href="#pb120" class="pageref">120</a>; -<br>goddess as stone, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>; -<br>goddess with hammer, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>; -<br>offerings to dead in, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>; -<br>salmon as dragon in, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>; -<br>soul forms in, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>calling back of souls, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>; -<br>wind-raising stones in, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>. -</p> -<p>Scottish serpent charm resembles Chinese, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>. -</p> -<p>Sea-cows, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>. -</p> -<p>Sea-dogs, dragons and, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>; -<br>as guardians of pearls, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>. -</p> -<p>Seafarers, ancient (see <i><a href="#ix.mariners">Mariners</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Sea trade, early, <a href="#pb293" class="pageref">293</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.ships">Ships</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Secretary Bird, mungoose replaces, in Indian myth, <a href="#pb73" class="pageref">73</a>; -<br>origin of bird and serpent myth, <a href="#pb71" class="pageref">71</a>, <a href="#pb72" class="pageref">72</a>. -</p> -<p>Seiobo, <a href="#pb380" class="pageref">380</a>; -<br>Cosmic Egg and, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>, <a href="#pb267" class="pageref">267</a>; -<br>Japanese goddess, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>same as Si Wang Mu of China, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>. -</p> -<p>Serpent and bird myths, <a href="#pb66" class="pageref">66</a>. -</p> -<p>Serpent charm, Scottish, resembles Chinese, <a href="#pb57" class="pageref">57</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.serpent">Serpent, Osiris as, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>; -<br>the horned, dragon and, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>; -<br>water snake becomes dragon, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.snake">Snake</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Set, gazelle and, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>. -</p> -<p>Shang Dynasty, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a>–<a href="#pb8" class="pageref">8</a>; -<br>Patriarch Phăng in, <a href="#pb319" class="pageref">319</a>. -</p> -<p>Shang-ti, God of Sky, <a href="#pb272" class="pageref">272</a>. -</p> -<p>Shao-Kʼang, the Chinese Horus, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a>. -</p> -<p>Shark, as guardian of pearls, <a href="#pb221" class="pageref">221</a>; -<br>King as, <a href="#pb68" class="pageref">68</a>, <a href="#pb69" class="pageref">69</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.dragons">Dragons</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Sharks, as dragons in Polynesia, <a href="#pb78" class="pageref">78</a>; -<br>dragons and, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.shells">Shells, ancient trade in, <a href="#pb43" class="pageref">43</a>; -<br>religious use of, <a href="#pb43" class="pageref">43</a>; -<br>Buddhist belief in, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>; -<br>cowry symbolism, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>; -<br>deities and, <a href="#pb44" class="pageref">44</a>; -<br>gold and, <a href="#pb164" class="pageref">164</a>; -<br>milk from, <a href="#pb374" class="pageref">374</a>, and also note <a href="#n374.4">4</a>; -<br>Polynesian dragon and, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>; -<br>Polynesian gods in, <a href="#pb48" class="pageref">48</a>. -</p> -<p>Shen-ming, as father of agriculture, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>; -<br>Osiris and, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>. -</p> -<p>Shensi, as cradle of Chinese civilization, <a href="#pb209" class="pageref">209</a>. -</p> -<p>Shintai (god body), the Japanese, <a href="#pb338" class="pageref">338</a>; -<br>Spirit of Kami in, <a href="#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>. -</p> -<p>Shinto, concerned chiefly with food supply, health, &c., <a href="#pb340" class="pageref">340</a>; -<br>deities of fire, food, &c., <a href="#pb352" class="pageref">352</a>; -<br>Dragon Flood myth in, <a href="#pb346" class="pageref">346</a>; -<br>Gods of Sea, <a href="#pb352" class="pageref">352</a>; -<br>myth of separation of heaven and earth in, <a href="#pb347" class="pageref">347</a>, <a href="#pb348" class="pageref">348</a>; -<br>not Nature worship, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>; -<br>doctrines of, <a href="#pb335" class="pageref">335</a>; -<br>revival of, <a href="#pb387" class="pageref">387</a>. -</p> -<p>Shipbuilding, origin of, in Egypt, <a href="#pb27" class="pageref">27</a>; -<br>as Egyptian national industry, <a href="#pb28" class="pageref">28</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.ships">Ships, Ancient Egyptian and Chinese, <a href="#pb24" class="pageref">24</a>; -<br>earliest, on Chinese coasts, <a href="#pb293" class="pageref">293</a>; -<br>Egyptian, in Burmah, &c., <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>; -<br>in Japan, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>; -<br>in Far East, <a href="#pb325" class="pageref">325</a>; -<br>Malay, Polynesian, &c., <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>; -<br>Cecil Torr on Egyptian types of, <a href="#pb33" class="pageref">33</a>; -<br>went farther than inventors, <a href="#pb42" class="pageref">42</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.barge.of.death">Barge of Death</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.boat.of.death">Boat of Death</a></i>, <i><a href="#ix.navigation">Navigation</a></i>, and <i><a href="#ix.mariners">Mariners</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Shun, the Emperor, as fisher, potter, and agriculturist, <a href="#pb20" class="pageref">20</a>; -<br>son of rainbow, <a href="#pb280" class="pageref">280</a>. -</p> -<p>Siberia, art links with China, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>; -<br>bronze links with Europe, <a href="#pb205" class="pageref">205</a>; -<br><span class="pageNum" id="pb402">[<a href="#pb402">402</a>]</span> -<br>gold in, <a href="#pb202" class="pageref">202</a>; -<br>horse sacrifices in, <a href="#pb355" class="pageref">355</a>; -<br>religious symbols of, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>. -</p> -<p>Sigurd, Chinese Shun and, <a href="#pb280" class="pageref">280</a>. -</p> -<p>Silk-worms, Chinese Empress nourishes, <a href="#pb278" class="pageref">278</a>; -<br>Japanese myth of origin of, <a href="#pb369" class="pageref">369</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.silver">Silver, as moon metal, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>as offering to dead, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>Babylonian <i>nig-gil-ma</i> and, <a href="#pb245" class="pageref">245</a>; -<br>bad metal in India, <a href="#pb38" class="pageref">38</a>; -<br>Buddhist belief in, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>; -<br>pearls, &c., and, <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>; -<br>Tree of Life roots are, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.metal.symbolism">Metal Symbolism</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Si Wang Mu, <a href="#pb380" class="pageref">380</a>; -<br>Chinese goddess, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>Japanese Seiobo and, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>Cosmic egg and, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>, <a href="#pb267" class="pageref">267</a>; -<br>in Chinese legend, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.snake">Snake, Dragon-maiden as, <a href="#pb87" class="pageref">87</a>; -<br>Japanese dragon as, <a href="#pb353" class="pageref">353</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.serpent">Serpent</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Solomon, as importer of peacocks, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a>; -<br>imports of, <a href="#pb34" class="pageref">34</a>; -<br>ships of, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.soma">Soma, moon and, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.amrita">Amrita</a></i>). -</p> -<p id="ix.soul">Soul, as White Bird in Japanese myth, <a href="#pb384" class="pageref">384</a>; -<br>calling back of, in China, Siberia, Egypt, and British Isles, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>; -<br>Chinese ideas regarding, <a href="#pb239" class="pageref">239</a>; -<br>crane as carrier of, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>boat of, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>dragon as carrier of, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>departure of, during life, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>animal, &c., forms of, in Europe, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>Indonesian forms of, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>; -<br>two souls in China, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>; -<br>Egyptian ideas regarding, in China, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>; -<br>Japanese dead as animals, <a href="#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>; -<br>no ghosts in early Shinto, <a href="#pb341" class="pageref">341</a>; -<br>Kami and, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>; -<br>kings and ancestors as gods, <a href="#pb242" class="pageref">242</a>; -<br>kirins as carriers of, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>in moon or starland, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>transmigration of, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>Korean belief in three souls, <a href="#pb241" class="pageref">241</a>; -<br>Shinto ideas regarding, <a href="#pb335" class="pageref">335</a>; -<br>soldiers’ spirits worshipped in Japan, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>. -</p> -<p>Sparrow as messenger of goddess, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>. -</p> -<p>Spines of fish and whales as amulets in Europe and America, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>. -</p> -<p>Spinning Maiden in Milky Way, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>, <a href="#pb148" class="pageref">148</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.milky.way">Milky Way</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.mother.goddess">Mother goddesses</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Spirits (see <i><a href="#ix.soul">Soul</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Spirits of fallen soldiers worshipped in Japan, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>. -</p> -<p>Stag, Chinese goddess and, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>; -<br>dragon and, <a href="#pb51" class="pageref">51</a>. -</p> -<p>Star goddesses of China and Egypt, <a href="#pb147" class="pageref">147</a>. -</p> -<p>Star gods, as ancestors, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>; -<br>Dragon Swords and, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.stars">Stars, Chinese Emperors and, <a href="#pb277" class="pageref">277</a>–<a href="#pb80" class="pageref">80</a>; -<br>Chinese god and goddess of, <a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>; -<br>Emperor Yu and, <a href="#pb281" class="pageref">281</a>; -<br>Irish myth and Chinese, <a href="#pb281" class="pageref">281</a>, <a href="#pb282" class="pageref">282</a>; -<br>“Great Bear” constellation as controller of Yang and Yin, <a href="#pb231" class="pageref">231</a>; -<br>Norse “World mill” and, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>. -</p> -<p>Stone, coffins of, <a href="#pb226" class="pageref">226</a>. -</p> -<p>“Stone of Darkness”, copper and, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>. -</p> -<p>Stone tears, <a href="#pb181" class="pageref">181</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.tears">Tears</a></i>). -</p> -<p id="ix.stones">Stones, as Dragon Eggs, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>; -<br>deities in, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>; -<br>formed by sap, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>; -<br>goats as, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>; -<br>Chinese spirits in, <a href="#pb185" class="pageref">185</a>; -<br>herbs and, <a href="#pb186" class="pageref">186</a>; -<br>night-shining, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>, <a href="#pb186" class="pageref">186</a>; -<br>water-yielding, <a href="#pb186" class="pageref">186</a>; -<br>Norse gods spring from, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>; -<br>Mithra springs from rock, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>; -<br>Indonesian beliefs regarding, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>; -<br>Syrian goddess and, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>; -<br>Syrian goddess’s night-shining gem, <a href="#pb217" class="pageref">217</a>; -<br>the Dragon, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>; -<br>turquoise, and goddess, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>; -<br>Egyptian goddess and, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>; -<br>vital essence graded in, <a href="#pb186" class="pageref">186</a>. -</p> -<p>Stones and trees, <a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>. -</p> -<p>Stork, the blue, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.sumeria">Sumeria, culture of, begins in seaport, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>; -<br>dragon-god (Ea) of, <a href="#pb30" class="pageref">30</a>, <a href="#pb52" class="pageref">52</a>; -<br>early seafarers reach, <a href="#pb31" class="pageref">31</a>, <a href="#pb32" class="pageref">32</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.babylonia">Babylonia</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Sung Dynasty, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>. -</p> -<p>Sun goddess, Japanese, in cave, <a href="#pb368" class="pageref">368</a>, <a href="#pb369" class="pageref">369</a>. -</p> -<p>Sun, gold as metal of, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>. -</p> -<p>Susa-no-wo, as Lord of Hades, <a href="#pb374" class="pageref">374</a>; -<br>banishment of, <a href="#pb365" class="pageref">365</a>; -<br>creates children from jewels, <a href="#pb366" class="pageref">366</a>; -<br>children of, <a href="#pb373" class="pageref">373</a>; -<br>dragon-slaying myth, <a href="#pb371" class="pageref">371</a>; -<br>slays food goddess, <a href="#pb369" class="pageref">369</a>; -<br>harries Heaven, <a href="#pb368" class="pageref">368</a>; -<br>expulsion and punishment of, <a href="#pb369" class="pageref">369</a>; -<br>Japanese dragon-slayer, <a href="#pb346" class="pageref">346</a>; -<br>son of Izanagi, <a href="#pb362" class="pageref">362</a>; -<br>as weeping god, <a href="#pb363" class="pageref">363</a>; -<br>Indra and, <a href="#pb363" class="pageref">363</a>. -</p> -<p>Sword, the Dragon (Kusanagi sword), <a href="#pb382" class="pageref">382</a>. -</p> -<p>Sword, the Japanese Dragon, <a href="#pb372" class="pageref">372</a>. -</p> -<p>Sword transformed into tree, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>. -</p> -<p>Swords, dragons and stars and, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>; -<br>and herbs, <a href="#pb100" class="pageref">100</a>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb403">[<a href="#pb403">403</a>]</span></p> -<p id="ix.sycamore">Sycamore Fig Tree of Life, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.tree.of.life">Tree of Life</a></i>). -</p> -<p id="ix.tama">Tama, <a href="#pb350" class="pageref">350</a>, <a href="#pb369" class="pageref">369</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.maga-tama">Maga-tama</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.kuda-tama">Kuda-tama</a></i>); -<br>foxes and, <a href="#pb221" class="pageref">221</a>; -<br>the Japanese, pearl, jade, &c., as, <a href="#pb220" class="pageref">220</a>; -<br>soul and, <a href="#pb335" class="pageref">335</a>. -</p> -<p>Tammuz, the Far Eastern, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>. -</p> -<p>Tʼang, founder of Shang Dynasty, <a href="#pb285" class="pageref">285</a>. -</p> -<p>Tʼang Dynasty, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>. -</p> -<p>Taoism, Buddhism and, <a href="#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>, <a href="#pb323" class="pageref">323</a>; -<br>doctrines of, <a href="#pb297" class="pageref">297</a>; -<br>Egyptian and Indian elements in, <a href="#pb303" class="pageref">303</a>; -<br>Lao Tze founder of, <a href="#pb299" class="pageref">299</a>; -<br>Kwang Tze, <a href="#pb302" class="pageref">302</a>. -</p> -<p>Tea as elixir, <a href="#pb175" class="pageref">175</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.plant.of.life">Plant of Life</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.tree.of.life">Tree of Life</a></i>). -</p> -<p id="ix.tears">Tears, “Tree tears” and “Stone tears”, <a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>, <i>et seq.</i>; -<br>of deities, <a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>; -<br>plants grow from, <a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>. -</p> -<p>Thunder-ball, -axe, and -drum, <a href="#pb262" class="pageref">262</a>, <a href="#pb263" class="pageref">263</a>. -</p> -<p>Thunder-god, goats of, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>. -</p> -<p>Thunder-pearls, dragon and, <a href="#pb39" class="pageref">39</a>. -</p> -<p>Tibet, bird and serpent combined in, <a href="#pb72" class="pageref">72</a>; -<br>Nagas of, <a href="#pb70" class="pageref">70</a>; -<br>Ymir myth of, <a href="#pb261" class="pageref">261</a>; -<br>Ymir of, <a href="#pb274" class="pageref">274</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.tiger">Tiger, as Chinese were-animal, <a href="#pb221" class="pageref">221</a>; -<br>as enemy of dragon, <a href="#pb47" class="pageref">47</a>; -<br>as Kami in Japan, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>; -<br>as wind controller, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>; -<br>Chinese goddess and, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>; -<br>and war, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>; -<br>Emperor Yu and, <a href="#pb282" class="pageref">282</a>; -<br>influence of, on towns, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>; -<br>metal and, <a href="#pb233" class="pageref">233</a>; -<br>the white, Chinese -<br>goddess and, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.cardinal.points">Cardinal Points</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.colour.symbolism">Colour Symbolism</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Tigress, Mother Goddess as, <a href="#pb237" class="pageref">237</a>. -</p> -<p>Tongue amulets of jade, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>. -</p> -<p>Tongue and heart connection, <a href="#pb222" class="pageref">222</a>. -</p> -<p>Toriwi, symbolic gateway, <a href="#pb339" class="pageref">339</a>. -</p> -<p>Tortoise, Chinese goddess and, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>; -<br>god as, in India and Japan, <a href="#pb112" class="pageref">112</a>; -<br>use of, in China, <a href="#pb112" class="pageref">112</a>; -<br>in royal legend, <a href="#pb280" class="pageref">280</a>. -</p> -<p>Tortoise god, the Ainu, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>. -</p> -<p>Trade, earliest Egyptian, <a href="#pb10" class="pageref">10</a>; -<br>Chinese, <a href="#pb293" class="pageref">293</a>. -</p> -<p>Tree, deities and dragons become, <a href="#pb152" class="pageref">152</a>; -<br>fire from, <a href="#pb162" class="pageref">162</a>; -<br>sword becomes, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>. -</p> -<p>Tree-lore, blood from trees, <a href="#pb143" class="pageref">143</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.tree.of.life">Tree of Life</a></i>); -<br>gold, jade, pearls, shells, and, <a href="#pb157" class="pageref">157</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.tree.of.life">Tree of Life, animals that browse on, <a href="#pb174" class="pageref">174</a>; -<br>as “World Tree”, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>; -<br>at Heliopolis, <a href="#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>; -<br>Buddhist Bodhi-tree as, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>; -<br>cassia tree as, <a href="#pb141" class="pageref">141</a>; -<br>peach tree indigenous in China, <a href="#pb141" class="pageref">141</a>; -<br>Chinese goddess and, <a href="#pb152" class="pageref">152</a>; -<br>Chinese Peach, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>; -<br>cicada and, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>butterfly and, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>Plum, <a href="#pb225" class="pageref">225</a>; -<br>Coral Tree, <a href="#pb219" class="pageref">219</a>; -<br>date stone <span class="corr" id="xd31e18005" title="Source: elexir">elixir</span>, <a href="#pb178" class="pageref">178</a>; -<br>dragon and, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>; -<br>dragons and, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>; -<br>evergreen as, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>; -<br>mandrake and cypress, <a href="#pb167" class="pageref">167</a>; -<br>fruit of, ensures 3000 years of life, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>; -<br>pine tree elixir, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>; -<br>cypress seeds as elixir, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>; -<br>camphor as life-giver, <a href="#pb166" class="pageref">166</a>; -<br>gems as fruit of, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>gold trunk, silver roots, and gem leaves of, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>; -<br>in Egyptian Paradise, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>; -<br>in Egyptian Pyramid Texts, <a href="#pb108" class="pageref">108</a>; -<br>in Greek myths, <a href="#pb123" class="pageref">123</a>; -<br>apple tree as, <a href="#pb124" class="pageref">124</a>; -<br>in Polynesia, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>; -<br>life-giving incense from, <a href="#pb142" class="pageref">142</a>; -<br>blood from, <a href="#pb143" class="pageref">143</a>; -<br>linden tree as, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>; -<br>Chinese peach tree as, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>; -<br>men climb, to reach Paradise, <a href="#pb149" class="pageref">149</a>, <a href="#pb150" class="pageref">150</a>; -<br>mugwort and pine, <a href="#pb168" class="pageref">168</a>; -<br>orange tree as, in Japan, <a href="#pb379" class="pageref">379</a>; -<br>sap of, as elixir, <a href="#pb146" class="pageref">146</a>; -<br>souls ascend, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -<br>sycamore fig as, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>; -<br>Cretan, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>; -<br>British and Indian, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>; -<br>Polynesian, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>; -<br>the ash as, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>; -<br>Indian, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a>; -<br>Assyrian, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>date, vine, fir, cedar, oak, and pomegranate, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>Biblical reference to, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>the date, <a href="#pb178" class="pageref">178</a>; -<br>the jujube, <a href="#pb179" class="pageref">179</a>; -<br>world mountain and, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>peach, plum, and pine as, <a href="#pb116" class="pageref">116</a>. -</p> -<p>Trees, jade and, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>coral and, <a href="#pb165" class="pageref">165</a>; -<br>stones formed from, <a href="#pb182" class="pageref">182</a>; -<br>weeping, <a href="#pb181" class="pageref">181</a>. -</p> -<p>Trees and stones, <a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>. -</p> -<p>Tree tears, <a href="#pb180" class="pageref">180</a>. -</p> -<p>Tree under water, dragon as, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>. -</p> -<p>Trigrams, <a href="#pb275" class="pageref">275</a>. -</p> -<p>Tsʼin Dynasty, <a href="#pb291" class="pageref">291</a>. -</p> -<p>Turquoise, Babylonian supplies of, from Chinese Turkestan, <a href="#pb203" class="pageref">203</a>; -<br>Hathor goddess of, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>. -</p> -<p>Turtles in Isle of Blest legend, <a href="#pb112" class="pageref">112</a>. -</p> -<p>Typhoon, cave of, <a href="#pb55" class="pageref">55</a>, <a href="#pb56" class="pageref">56</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.underworld">Underworld, Ainu ideas of, <a href="#pb331" class="pageref">331</a>; -<br>dragons of, <a href="#pb95" class="pageref">95</a>; -<br>Gaelic story of, <a href="#pb120" class="pageref">120</a>; -<br>Isles of Blest and, <a href="#pb135" class="pageref">135</a>; -<br>Osiris and, <a href="#pb99" class="pageref">99</a>; -<br>Susa-no-wo as lord of, <a href="#pb374" class="pageref">374</a>; -<br>Yomi as, <a href="#pb340" class="pageref">340</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.islands.of.blest">Islands of Blest</a></i> and <i><a href="#ix.paradise">Paradise</a></i>. -<span class="pageNum" id="pb404">[<a href="#pb404">404</a>]</span></p> -<p>Unicorn, rhinoceros and, <a href="#pb250" class="pageref">250</a>. -</p> -<p>Vampire, dragon as, <a href="#pb64" class="pageref">64</a>, <a href="#pb65" class="pageref">65</a>. -</p> -<p>Wall, the Great, <a href="#pb291" class="pageref">291</a>, <a href="#pb292" class="pageref">292</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.wani">Wani, Japanese, <a href="#pb354" class="pageref">354</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.dragon">Dragon</a></i>). -</p> -<p>War god of China, tiger as, <a href="#pb236" class="pageref">236</a>. -</p> -<p>Water, dragon controller of, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a>; -<br>stones and, <a href="#pb58" class="pageref">58</a>, <a href="#pb59" class="pageref">59</a>. -</p> -<p>Water and fire, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>, <a href="#pb160" class="pageref">160</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.water.of.life">Water of Life, Alexander’s search for, <a href="#pb125" class="pageref">125</a>; -<br>body moistures and, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>; -<br>Chinese and Japanese search for, <a href="#pb138" class="pageref">138</a>; -<br>dew as, <a href="#pb139" class="pageref">139</a>; -<br>dragons and, <a href="#pb75" class="pageref">75</a>, <a href="#pb159" class="pageref">159</a>; -<br>Hawaiian story of, <a href="#pb120" class="pageref">120</a>; -<br>Gaelic story of, <a href="#pb120" class="pageref">120</a>; -<br>in Chinese Island of Blest, <a href="#pb110" class="pageref">110</a>; -<br>in Egyptian Paradise, <a href="#pb133" class="pageref">133</a>; -<br>in Fung-shui doctrine, <a href="#pb234" class="pageref">234</a>; -<br>in Taoism, <a href="#pb302" class="pageref">302</a>, <a href="#pb317" class="pageref">317</a>, <a href="#pb321" class="pageref">321</a>; -<br>in various Paradises, <a href="#pb129" class="pageref">129</a>; -<br>in Babylonian myth, <a href="#pb132" class="pageref">132</a>; -<br>lunar pot of, <a href="#pb187" class="pageref">187</a>; -<br>lunar source of, <a href="#pb183" class="pageref">183</a>; -<br>Pot and, <a href="#pb246" class="pageref">246</a>; -<br>South Sea Island tradition of, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>; -<br>tear from goddess star, <a href="#pb184" class="pageref">184</a>; -<br>Siberian wells, <a href="#pb204" class="pageref">204</a>; -<br>lunar, <a href="#pb145" class="pageref">145</a>; -<br>purple, <a href="#pb140" class="pageref">140</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.well.of.life">Well of Life</a></i>. -</p> -<p>Water snakes and dragons, <a href="#pb54" class="pageref">54</a>. -</p> -<p>Wealth, religious incentive to quest of, <a href="#pb45" class="pageref">45</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.well.of.life">Well of Life, Ceylon, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>; -<br>at Heliopolis, <a href="#pb122" class="pageref">122</a>; -<br>green water of, <a href="#pb125" class="pageref">125</a>; -<br>in Koran, <a href="#pb126" class="pageref">126</a>; -<br>in Egyptian Pyramid Texts, <a href="#pb108" class="pageref">108</a>; -<br>in Taoism, <a href="#pb318" class="pageref">318</a>; -<br>search for, led to discovery of Florida, <a href="#pb119" class="pageref">119</a>; -<br>Polynesian search for, <a href="#pb119" class="pageref">119</a>; -<br>see <i><a href="#ix.water.of.life">Water of Life</a></i>. -</p> -<p>West, cult of, <a href="#pb134" class="pageref">134</a>, <a href="#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>; -<br>Chinese goddess and, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>; -<br>Chinese Ishtar and, <a href="#pb266" class="pageref">266</a>; -<br>in China and Egypt, <a href="#pb60" class="pageref">60</a>, <a href="#pb229" class="pageref">229</a>; -<br>in Japan, <a href="#pb380" class="pageref">380</a>; -<br>in Polynesia, <a href="#pb121" class="pageref">121</a>; -<br>in Taoism, <a href="#pb302" class="pageref">302</a>; -<br>Japanese and, <a href="#pb229" class="pageref">229</a>. -</p> -<p>West, Paradise of, Chinese souls in, <a href="#pb240" class="pageref">240</a>; -in Japanese myth, <a href="#pb377" class="pageref">377</a>, and also note <a href="#n377.4">4</a>. -</p> -<p>West, Royal Lady of, and Buddha, <a href="#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>; -<br>Chinese empress becomes, <a href="#pb151" class="pageref">151</a>. -</p> -<p>West, Royal Mother of, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>. -</p> -<p>Western Paradise, Buddha of, <a href="#pb210" class="pageref">210</a>. -</p> -<p>Whale, Maori dragon compared to, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>; -<br>Scottish witches and, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>; -<br>dolphin, dugong, and, <a href="#pb50" class="pageref">50</a>; -<br>worshipped in Peru, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>; -<br>dragons and, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>; -<br>backbone of, as amulet in Crete, in Liguria, and America, <a href="#pb49" class="pageref">49</a>; -<br>pearls as eyes of, <a href="#pb218" class="pageref">218</a>. -</p> -<p>Willow, sacred in Siberia, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>; -<br>sacred to Ainu, <a href="#pb330" class="pageref">330</a>. -</p> -<p>Wind, controlled by White Tiger god, <a href="#pb235" class="pageref">235</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.tiger">Tiger</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Winged disk, in Egypt and Mexico, <a href="#pb71" class="pageref">71</a>. -</p> -<p>Winter, as dry season in China, <a href="#pb56" class="pageref">56</a>. -</p> -<p>Wolf, as Kami in Japan, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>. -</p> -<p>World Guardians, Japanese, <a href="#pb343" class="pageref">343</a>. -</p> -<p>World Mill, “Great Bear” constellation and, <a href="#pb232" class="pageref">232</a>. -</p> -<p>World Mountain, <a href="#pb137" class="pageref">137</a>. -</p> -<p>World Tree, <a href="#pb136" class="pageref">136</a> (see <i><a href="#ix.tree.of.life">Tree of Life</a></i>). -</p> -<p id="ix.worlds.ages">World’s Ages, metals and doctrine of, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a>; -<br>Greek and Indian, <a href="#pb37" class="pageref">37</a> -<br>(see <i><a href="#ix.ages">Ages, the Mythical</a></i>). -</p> -<p>Wu, founder of Chou Dynasty, Gilgamesh, &c., and, <a href="#pb288" class="pageref">288</a>; -<br>ode on birth of, <a href="#pb288" class="pageref">288</a>; -<br>reign of, <a href="#pb289" class="pageref">289</a>; -<br>human sacrifices introduced by, <a href="#pb290" class="pageref">290</a>. -</p> -<p>Wu-Yih, the Emperor, blood bag of, <a href="#pb286" class="pageref">286</a>; -<br>plays dice with god, <a href="#pb286" class="pageref">286</a>; -<br>Kafir idol-beating, <a href="#pb287" class="pageref">287</a>; -<br>Egyptian king and, <a href="#pb287" class="pageref">287</a>, and also note <a href="#n287.1">1</a>. -</p> -<p>Yakuts, poor potters but good wood- and iron-workers, <a href="#pb15" class="pageref">15</a>. -</p> -<p>Yamato-Take, Japanese hero, <a href="#pb382" class="pageref">382</a>; -<br>worship of, <a href="#pb386" class="pageref">386</a>. -</p> -<p id="ix.yang.and.yin">Yang and Yin, <a href="#pb230" class="pageref">230</a>; -<br>controlled by “Great Bear”, <a href="#pb231" class="pageref">231</a>; -<br>in Japan, <a href="#pb348" class="pageref">348</a>. -</p> -<p>Yellow River, Paradise reached by, <a href="#pb143" class="pageref">143</a>. -</p> -<p>Yin and Yang (see under <i><a href="#ix.yang.and.yin">Yang</a></i>). -</p> -<p id="ix.ymir">Ymir, Pʼan Ku and, <a href="#pb263" class="pageref">263</a>. -</p> -<p>Yomi, Izanami and Izanagi in, <a href="#pb357" class="pageref">357</a>; -<br>Indian Yama and, <a href="#pb357" class="pageref">357</a>; -<br>Japanese Otherworld, <a href="#pb340" class="pageref">340</a>; -<br>Peach Tree of Life on border of, <a href="#pb380" class="pageref">380</a>; -<br>Susa-no-wo as lord of, <a href="#pb374" class="pageref">374</a>. -</p> -<p>Yu, the Emperor, <a href="#pb281" class="pageref">281</a>; -<br>in Deluge myth, <a href="#pb283" class="pageref">283</a>; -<br>as Pʼan Ku, <a href="#pb284" class="pageref">284</a>. -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 imprint"><span class="pageNum">[<a href="#toc">Contents</a>]</span><div class="divBody"> -<p class="first xd31e181"><i>Printed and bound in Great Britain</i> -</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="transcriberNote"> -<h2 class="main">Colophon</h2> -<h3 class="main">Availability</h3> -<p class="first">This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project -Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at <a class="seclink xd31e40" title="External link" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/">www.gutenberg.org</a>. -</p> -<p>This eBook is produced by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at <a class="seclink xd31e40" title="External link" href="https://www.pgdp.net/">www.pgdp.net</a>. -</p> -<p>Scans of this book are available from the Internet Archive (copy <a class="seclink xd31e40" title="External link" href="https://archive.org/details/mythsofchinajap00mack">1</a>, <a class="seclink xd31e40" title="External link" href="https://archive.org/details/mythsofchinajapa00mack">2</a>). -</p> -<h3 class="main">Metadata</h3> -<table class="colophonMetadata" summary="Metadata"> -<tr> -<td><b>Title:</b></td> -<td>Myths of China and Japan</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Author:</b></td> -<td>Donald Alexander Mackenzie (1873–1936)</td> -<td><a href="https://viaf.org/viaf/45360568/" class="seclink">Info</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Language:</b></td> -<td>English</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Original publication date:</b></td> -<td>[1923]</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -</table> -<h3 class="main">Revision History</h3> -<ul> -<li>2022-01-30 Started. -</li> -</ul> -<h3 class="main">External References</h3> -<p>This Project Gutenberg eBook contains external references. These links may not work -for you.</p> -<h3 class="main">Corrections</h3> -<p>The following corrections have been applied to the text:</p> -<table class="correctionTable" summary="Overview of corrections applied to the text."> -<tr> -<th>Page</th> -<th>Source</th> -<th>Correction</th> -<th>Edit distance</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e208">viii</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Bhuddists</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Buddhists</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e978">17</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1303">34</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4038">185</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4190">194</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e5357">245</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">.</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1567">49</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3778">172</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4033">185</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4606">217</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e5018">232</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e5030">233</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e7702">339</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">”</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1630">51</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">conection</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">connection</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1766">56</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Ling</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Lin</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1795">57</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Gadlica</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Gadelica</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e1948">65</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Dragom</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Dragon</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2074">73</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Chavanne’s</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Chavannes’</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2093">73</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Laufers</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Laufer</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2250">80</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e9672">390</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e11507">393</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">,</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2501">95</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Tranformations</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Transformations</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2581">100</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6063">278</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Ramáyana</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Rámáyana</td> -<td class="bottom">1 / 0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2706">107</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e15167">399</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">,</td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Deleted</i>] -</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e2915">121</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Swargaro-hanika</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Swarga-rohanika</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3017">126</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">yoganas</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">yojanas</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3024">127</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Sukhāvāti</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Sukhāvatī</td> -<td class="bottom">2 / 0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3029">127</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Mahayama</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Mahayana</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3248">141</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">yogi</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">yoga</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3320">143</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">transcendant</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">transcendent</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3438">153</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3443">153</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3448">153</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3460">154</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3464">154</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3469">154</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3474">154</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3477">154</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3485">155</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3509">156</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Momotara</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Momotaro</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3515">156</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Momotara’s</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Momotaro’s</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3704">169</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3707">169</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Hani</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Hana</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3812">174</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Fathert</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Father</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e3932">180</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Ayro-Indians</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Aryo-Indians</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4221">196</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">artifracts</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">artifacts</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4264">199</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">commmunities</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">communities</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4274">199</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">millenium</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">millennium</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4660">219</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">observatious</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">observations</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4719">220</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">,</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">.</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4827">225</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">“</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">‘</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e4830">225</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6022">276</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">’</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e5943">271</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">”</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">’</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6178">285</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">emperors</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Emperors</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6181">285</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">emperor</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Emperor</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6251">289</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">connexion</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">connection</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6447">292</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">its </td> -<td class="bottom">4</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6570">300</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Máhabhárata</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Mahábhárata</td> -<td class="bottom">2 / 0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6585">301</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Yudhíshthira</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Yudhishthira</td> -<td class="bottom">1 / 0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6747">307</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6750">307</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6753">307</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Not in source</i>] -</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">“</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6804">308</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Blagavad-Gita</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Bhagavad-Gita</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e6909">312</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Artemesia</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Artemisia</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e7146">321</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">”</td> -<td class="width40 bottom"> -[<i>Deleted</i>] -</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e7196">325</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Athrop.</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Anthrop.</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e7311">329</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Karma</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Karna</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e7617">337</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Amaterasu</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Amaterâsu</td> -<td class="bottom">1 / 0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e7695">339</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">turan</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">toran</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e7965">346</a>, <a class="pageref" href="#xd31e7974">347</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Ymer</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Ymir</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e9203">389</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">.</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">;</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e10024">390</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">,</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">;</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e14948">398</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Egyptain</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Egyptian</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e15591">399</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Phang</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">Phăng</td> -<td class="bottom">1 / 0</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd31e18005">403</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">elexir</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">elixir</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -</table> -</div> -</div> -<div style='display:block; 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