155 



The Shinto gods who were believed to cause rain were also 

 considered to be able to put a stop to it, and we often read 

 of prayers offered to them to that effect. In times of drought 

 mostly messengers were despatched to the different rain-bestowing 

 gods within the so-called goUnai ( S. ^ ^ )> the five provinces 

 adjoining the capital, i. e. Taraashiro, Yaraato, Kawachi, Izumi 

 and Settsu '. The most powerful in this respect was apparently 

 the river-god of JSlibu kawakami (;^ ^ jll Jt f^) mentioned 

 in the Engishiki'^ among the ten temples of Yoshino district, 

 Yamato province. Not only hemp and fibre were offered to this 

 river-god, but occasionally also a black horse in order to cause 

 him to give rain ^ His dragon-shape is evident from the term 

 ^'■Rain-master'' ( ^ 0fR > U-shi, by which he was often designated 

 in, imitation of the Chinese dragons *, and which appears to have 



H is a misprint for Q ). On the eighteenth day it thundei'ed, and a httle rain 

 slightly moistened (the earth). On the nineteenth there was an earthquake, and the 

 slight rain forthwith stopped. The reading cf the siitra was prolonged for two days 

 more, because a good, moistening rain had not yet been obtained". 



1 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. VII, XI, XXXVII, K. T. K. Vol. II, pp. 103, 187, 676. 



2 Ch. IX, K.T. K. Vol. XIII, p. 291. 



3 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. XXXIX, p. 739 : ^ ^ ]^ j^ ^J^ ^ )]\ Jl |$ „ 

 Wf M ^ o ■^^''°" ^0^^' ^^' ^^^^' ^- T- K- Vol. Ill, p. 82. ^ngishiki, Ch. Ill, 

 K.T.K. Vol. XIII, p. 144. 



4 Cf. above. Book I, Ch. V, pp. 109 sqq. We find this term passim in the S/ioAw iViAow 

 koki (K. T. K. Vol. Ill, p. 281 : p||^ |i|j 'fjl ^ ^ PI 7M , "The Rain-Masters 

 suddenly ran on the four seas" (i.e. it rained over the whole country; p. 287: ^& 



^jEm.^Tfi-^}^\±M^^n^iEM.^±^ "t^^ higher 



order of the principal fifth rank was conferred upon the Rain-Master, god of Nibu 

 kawakami, who (hitherto) possessed the lower order of the principal fifth rank"; p. 

 300 (then he was raised to the lower order of the secondary fourth rank); p. 313 

 (prayers for rain having been made at the temple of the same Rain-Master by an 

 Imperial envoy, that very evening the rain came down); p. 397 (nusa were offered to 

 him in order to cause him to stop the continuous rains) ; p. 402 : "Nusa and silk were 

 offered to the upper and lower shrines of Matsuo and Kamo, and to the shrines of 

 Kibune and the Rain-Master, in order to pray for a sweet rain"; in the Sandai 

 jitsuroku, K.T.K. Vol. IV, p. 41: nusa and a blue (i.e. dark) horse offered lo the Rain - 

 Master of Nibu kawakami, in order to stop, the continuous rains : p. 395 : nusa offered 

 with the same purpose; p. 465: the same god raised to the principal third rank, and 

 a black horse offered to him in order to cause rain ; etc. ; and in the Nihon isshi, 

 K.T.K. Vol. VI, Ch. XVIII, p. 184: nusa offered to the Rain-Master, to stop the rain; 

 Ch. XXVI, p. 270: elevated to the secondary fifth rank and prayed to for rain; Ch.. 

 XXVJI, p. 285: a black horse offered to him and prayed to for rain; p. 286: nusa 

 offered; Ch. XXXI, p. 334: nusa and a horse offered, for stopping the continuous rains; 

 p. 337: nusa offered and prayers made for rain; Ch. XXXVII, p. 412: nusa and a 

 white horse from the Imperial stables offered in order to cause the Rain-Master to stop 

 the abundant rains. 



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