178 



Japanese, although at the same time Chinese, Way was offering 

 white or black or red horses to the dragon-shaped river-gods 

 (red horses only for stopping rain). Then followed the Chinese 

 custom of the Emperor's praying to the four quarters of Heaven, 

 and the, also quite Chinese, idea of stirring up the dragons by 

 great noise (as was done by the Court oflBcials in 877 on the 

 pond of the Sacred Spring Park). The same thought is found in 

 the custom, prevalent in much later times, of throwing iron 

 into a dragon's pond. The snake, and therefore also the dragon, 

 which is considered to belong to the same species, is believed to 

 hate and fear iron very strongly V and many a mighty serpent is 

 said to have been killed or driven away by means of a single needle. 

 Therefore, when iron is thrown into a pond, inhabited by a 

 dragon, this rain-god is sure to get angry and to arise from his 

 abode to the sky, which is in a moment covered with clouds. 

 Then the dragon gives vent to his anger in a terrible thunder- 

 storm accompanied by heavy rains, and the aim of the person 

 who threw the iron utensil or the metal shavings into the pond, 

 is reached. 



The third way of causing rain, i. e. the Buddhist method, 

 started from an opposite point of view. Instead of making the 

 dragons rise by annoying them, the Buddhist priests recited 

 sutras which made such an impression upon the devout minds 

 of the Nagas, that they at once used to assist mankind and to 

 liberate the people from the terrible sufferings caused by a long 

 drought. Sometimes a sutra was read concerning the Grariida- 

 kings, the deadly and much dreaded enemies of the Nagas, 

 probably in order to make the latter feel quite dependent on 

 Buddha's mighty protection. As Buddhism flourished more and 

 more, this kind of rain-prayer soon became by far predominant 

 in Japan. In the eighteenth century, however, the Chinese methods 

 of stirring up the dragons seem to have revived. Nowadays, when 

 in the seventh and eighth months a continuous drought prevails 

 and the peasants anxiously look up to the sky, fearing that the 

 crops may be , spoiled, they often go about in processions, beating 

 drums and making noise, just as the Court-ofiBcials did in the 

 year 877 A. D. So deeply rooted are the old Chinese ideas in the 

 minds of the people. 



■ i Cf. above, pp. 67 sqq. 



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