149 



(supposed to have reigned B. C._ 2255— 2205), and a hilin in the 

 age of Confucius, so this heavenly horse w^as an excellent omen for 

 the period, foreboding at the same time the Emperor's long 

 reign and life, and the glory of Buddhism. They further related 

 how at the time of a Chmese Emperor, Muh Wang of the Cheu 

 dynasty, eight heavenly horses had appeared, all having different 

 names, and how the Emperor, drawn by them all, had visited every 

 place of the world '. So all those present congratulated Godaigo 

 with his horse, except Fujiwara no Fujifusa. When his opinion 

 was asked, he declared to be convinced that it was not a good 

 omen, and he too referred to Chinese examples to confirm his 

 statement. The houses of two Emperors of the Han dynasty, 

 Wen and Kwang Wu, who had refused such presents, had had 

 a long and lucky reign, he said, while that of Muh, who had 

 used the eight heavenly horses, had soon declined. Those horses 

 were only a metamorphosis of the Fang constellation (^, the 

 eleventh of the zodiacal constellations), and an omen of the fall 

 of the Cheu dynasty. Godaigo, on hearing these words, was 

 angry and put a stop to the festivities of the day. Not believing 

 Fujifusa's pessimistic prediction he accepted the horse, and a 

 few years later (1336) the great schism of the Southern and 

 Northern Courts seemed to prove the truth, of Fujifusa's words. 



The same work ^ relates how the Emperor Godaigo gave the 

 aforesaid dragon-horse to Nitta Toshisada, when he despatched 

 him to Owari province (1335). It was expected to cover the 

 distance, which would have required four or five days with an 

 ordinary horse, in half a day, so that he could be back in Kyoto 

 that very evening. In a few hours he arrived in Omi province, 

 but there the animal suddenly died, which was, of course, a very 

 evil foreboding. 



Finally, we may mention a dragon-horse which certainly was 

 not a harbinger of evil, namely that on which the Empress Jingo 

 after her Consort Chuai's death (200 A. D.) flew through the air 

 to Sugiyaraa at Ikeda, Buzen province, where she prayed to the 

 gods for assistance with respect to her expedition against Korea. 

 Then the Four Deva Kings, with eight white flags (Hachiman^ 

 /V 1^) i'l their hands, descended from Heaven ^ 



1 Cf. above, p. 59, 



2 Ch. XIV, p. 14. 



3 Sansha takusen ryakusho, ^ jjft gt ^ ^ ^5 author unknown; the year 

 Keian 3 (1650) is mentioned as date of the epilogue. Zoku zoku gunsho vuiju, Vol. I, 

 p. 741. 



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