177 



prayed there for rain himself, and his prayer was heard. Then 

 he ordered the villagers to repair the shrine. Afterwards, when 

 the sluices of heaven were opened too long, he successfully 

 prayed to the dragons again, this time for stopping the rain. 



§ 12. A Buddhist dragon's suicide. 



The Nihon shuhyo fuzokushi ^ gives an old tradition explaining 

 the names of three Buddhist temples in Shimosa province. In 

 730 A. D., when the priest Shaku-myo by order of the Emperor 

 prayed for rain, he had a splendid success, and at the same 

 time a dragon appeared in the air, who cut his own body into 

 three parts and died. The middle part fell in Imba district, 

 where the temple called Ryufukuji, f|^^, or "Shrine of the 

 Dragon's Belly", is to be found. The tail came down in Katori 

 district (also in Shimosa), and caused the shrine RySbiji{^ ^ ^, 

 "Temple of the Dragon's Tail") to be built, while the head 

 descended on the spot where the aforesaid priest had been praying 

 and where still nowadays the name of the ssinGt\ia,ry, - Ryukakuji, 

 fl ;^ ^, or "Temple of the Dragon's Horn" (at Sakai village, 

 Shimohabu district) reminds the believers of the dragon of old. 



A similar legend is to be found in the Yuho meisho ryakw^, 

 where the ShasekisM ^ is quoted. A blue dragon, on having heard 

 a priest explaining Buddha's Law, was so full of emotion that 

 his body divided itself into three parts. Where the head came 

 down, Eyutoji, "the Temple of the Dragon's Head", was built 

 (at Nara); in another place in Nara, where the dragon's tail 

 fell down, Ryubiji was erected; and his trunk gave origin to 

 the name of Ryufukuji, also in the old capital, the only one of 

 the three shrines which still existed in Muju's time (i. e. in the 

 beginning of the fourteenth century). 



§ 13. Conclusions. 



The passages, referred to in this chapter, . have clearly taught 

 us that there were from ancient times in Japan three methods 

 of causing or stopping rain. The oldest, probably originally 



1 H^b^^M,'^;^' written in 1902 by Kato Kumaichiro, ^ ^ 

 f^- 115, p. 247. 



2 Ch. Ill, p. 54. Of. above p. 170, note 4. 



3 >l\> ;g -^^ , written by the Buddhist priest Muju, fl^ >fc , who died in 1312. 



Verh. Kon. Akad. v. Wetensoh. (Afd. Letterk.) N. K. Dl. XIII, N° 2. 12 



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