1890-91.] SIBERIAN INSCRIPTIONS. 273 



the Chinese Sheketang or Shekingtang. He is said to have reigned 

 from 8io to 823, more than three centuries too late. Sagateno or simply 

 Saga, for the final ieno means "emperor," is, in Japanese history, made 

 the second son of Kwan-mu, and the successor of Fei-zei^**. But the 

 story of an insurrection against his authority by Fei-zei, who, with his 

 son Take-Oka were compelled to shave their heads and become priests, 

 although the latter had been appointed Taishi or heir-apparent, gives to 

 Saga's reign the appearence of an usurpation. The emperor dwelt at 

 Siga in the province of Oomi, which, with those of Ize and Mino, seem 

 to have been his chief care. His hunting grounds were Owara, Tarizen, 

 Mitsunari, Katano, Serigawa, and Oigawa. If these are to be recognized 

 in Siberia, Oomi may be Omsk, and Mino, Minusinsk. Then the Koibal 

 steppe would answer to Owara, Turuchansk to Tarizen, and Saragatch 

 to Serigawa. Sagateno worshipped heathen gods, and invoked them 

 for rain and fair weather ; but he had an hospital built for the Budhist 

 priest Kobo near the temple Kobuksi, and called it Nanyendo. To the 

 same priest he gave the temple of Tosi, and to another, that of Saisi. 

 It may be that Saisi is the very Schouscha in which the stone that tells 

 of Sagota's conversion was left by Castren. There is no record of any 

 destruction of temples by Sagateno's Taishis, of whom the first became 

 a priest, and the second was a zealous Budhist. He was himself a lover 

 of literature, a poet, an orator, and a legislator. He inspired his people 

 with a taste for flowers, and spent much time in his own garden, 

 Sinzenyen. Many incidents in his history indicate a simple and primi- 

 tive sort of life. 



Sagateno's successor was his younger brother, named Otomo-no-Sino, 

 and he, apparently, is the same person as the Metome of the inscriptions; 

 for O-tomo means " the great or honourable companion," and such also is 

 the signification of Mi-tomo. He was a lover of science, composed verses, 

 and wrote excellently. A zealous Budhist, he gave to the priest, Ghisin, 

 the temple of Yenriaksi for the observance of the Budhist rites called 

 Tendai, and built a tower, apparently for the protection of the temple 

 Tosi. His reign was a peaceful one, marked by an improvement in agri- 

 culture, to facilitate which he had hydraulic contrivances made all over 

 the country for the irrigation of the cultivated land. He was in the habit 

 of convoking the learned men of his kingdom, to learn from them the 

 progress made by their scholars, to collect the ancient poems of the 

 nation, to write chronicles, and read the books of the law. He collected 

 a library of a thousand volumes, and in many other ways encouraged 

 literature. The Japanese annals do not name the wife of Otomo, whose 

 importance is vouched for by the frequent mention of her name in ex- 

 tant inscriptions, and especially by the statement of Shidzuta that she was 



