Prince Kamitsumiya Toyotomimi. Certainly Heaven has freely endowed him with the virtues of a sage.[1] Born in the Land of Nippon,[2] he thoroughly possessed the three fundamental principles,[3] he continued the great plans of the former sages. He reverenced the Three Precious Things,[4] and assisted the people in their distress. He was truly a great sage. And now the Prince Imperial is dead. I, although a foreigner, was in heart closely united to him. Now what avails it that I alone should survive? I have determined to die on the 5th day of the 2nd month of next year.[5] So shall I meet the Prince Imperial Kamitsumiya in the Pure Land, and together with him pass through the metempsychosis of all living creatures." Now when the appointed day came, Hyé-chă (XXII. 34.) died, and all the people of that day said one to another:—"Prince Kamitsumiya is not the only sage, Hyé-chă is also a sage."[6]
This year Silla sent the Nama, Imimè, with tribute and a memorial, stating to the Empress the object of his mission. It was perhaps from this time that Silla began to present memorials.
A.D. 622. 30th year, Autumn, 7th month. Silla sent as ambassador the Nama, Chi-syön-i, and Imna sent the Talsol Nama, Chi. They came to Court together, and brought tribute of a golden image of Buddha, a golden pagoda, and relics, also a great baptismal flag,[7] with twelve smaller ones. Now the image of
- ↑ See Legge's "Confucian Analects," p. 82.
- ↑ Whether or not the previous examples of the use of the characters 日本 (Nippon) for Japan are authentic, or merely introduced retrospectively by later compilers, the present instance is probably a genuine case of its use. It is natural to suppose that it was used in an informal way for some time before it was used officially.
There is here, no doubt, an allusion to the meaning of Nippon, viz. "Origin of the sun."
- ↑ Viz. Heaven, Earth, and Man. The meaning is that he was a philosopher.
- ↑ Buddha, Dharma, and Samgha.
- ↑ The anniversary of the Prince's death.
- ↑ The "Kiujiki" ends here.
- ↑ The Buddhist baptism consists in washing the top of the head with perfumed water. The baptismal flags were so called because they had the same efficacy, raising those who passed under them first to the status of a
