147 



well as that of the yellow dragon .which was seen ascending 

 from the northwestern mountains to the sky in A. D. 887, at the 

 Emperor Uda's accession to the Throne \ 



§ 2. Dragon-horses. 



In the Nihongi'^ we read.: "The Emperor (Kotoku Tenno, in 

 the sixth year of his reign, i. e. 650) said: 'When a holy 

 sovereign appears in the world and reigns the empire. Heaven 

 in correspondence therewith gives good omens. In olden times, 

 under the reign of the monarchs of the Western country (China), 

 Ch'eng Wang of the Cheu dynasty and Ming Ti of the Han dynasty 

 [in reality of the Tsin dynasty], white pheasants appeared. Under 

 the reign of the Japanese Emperor Honda (Ojin Tenno, 270 — 310 

 A. D.) a white raven nestled in the Palace, and in the time of 

 the Emperor Osazaki (Nintoku Tenno, 311 — 399' A. D.) a dragon- 

 horse (^ill, ryU-me, or tatsu no uma)^ appeared in the West. 

 Thus from olden times down till the present day there are many 

 instances of the appearance of lucky omens in correspondence 

 with the presence of virtuous men". 



Also the Engishiki^ enumerates the dragon-horse among the 

 lucky omens (jj^ 3|§). It is called there. a "divine horse" ()jj^ j^), 

 and. is described as follows: "It has a long neck and wings at 

 its sides. When it treads upon the water it does not sink"^. 

 The dragon is mentioned in the same list, with the following 

 description borrowed from China: "He has five colours and walks 

 (or flies) about; he can make himself invisible or visible, small 

 or big". 



The Shoku Nihongi'^ and the Shoku Nihon koW^ quote Chinese 



1 Fuso ryakki, Ch. XXII, p. 637 : gP #[ ;^ ^ ^ Mi ^ [U ^ "^ M 



2 Ch. XXV, p. 451: n 3E m itt: 7o ^ T ^ . ^ MiJ ii :<: ^ ^ 



3 See above, pp. 56 sqq. 



4 ^ ^ i£' "Ceremonies of the Engi era" (901—922), written in 927 by 

 FujiWARA NO ToKiHiRA and Tadahira (^i^ ^^ and ;^^); Ch. XXI, 

 Section '/^ fP ^^ K. T. K. Vol. XIII, p. 653: || ,|| ( f | ^ „ M^^ 



5 Of. the Shut ying t'-u, above p. 57. 



6 ^g g :^ |g, written in 797; Ch. IX, K, T. K. Vol. II, p. 145: "The Hiao 

 king, Sect. "Covenants of assisting gods", says: 'When the Son of Heaven is obedient 



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