Kojiki (Chamberlain, 1882)/Section 29

by Ō no Yasumaro

[Sect. XXIX.—The August Children of the Great-Harvest-Deity and of the Swift-Mountain-Deity.]

So the Great-Harvest-Deity wedded the Princess [of?] Inu,^[1] daughter of the Divine-Life-Producing-Wondrous-Deity,^[2] and begot children: the Deity August-Spirit-of-the-Great-Land,^[3] next the Deity of Kara,^[4] next the Deity Sohori,^[5] next the Deity White-Sun,^[6] next the Sage-Deity.^[7] (Five Deities.^[8]) Again he wedded the Refulgent-Princess,^[9] and begot children: the Deity Great-Refulgent-Mountain-Dwelling-Grandee,^[10] next the August-Harvest-Deity.^[11] Again he wedded Princess Ame-shiru-karu-midzu,^[12] and begot children: the Deity Oki-tsu-hiko,^[13] next Her Augustness Oki-tsu-hime,^[14] another name for whom is the Deity Great Furnace-Princess:^[15]—this is the Deity of the Furnace^[16] held in reverence by all people. Next the Deity Great-Mountain-Integrator,^[17] another name for whom is the Deity-Great-Master-of-the-Mountain-End:^[18] this Deity dwells on Mount Hiye^[19] in the land of Chika-tsu-Afumi,^[20] and is likewise the Deity dwelling at Matsu-no-wo^[21] in Kadzunu,^[22] who uses the whizzing barb.^[23] Next the Deity-of-the-Fire-in-the-Yard;^[24] next the Deity Asuha;^[25] next the Deity Hahigi;^[26] next the Deity Refulgent-Mountain-Dwelling-Grandee;^[27] next the Deity Swift-Mountain-Dwelling;^[28] next the High Deity-of-the-Fire-in-the-Yard;^[29] next the Great-Earth-Deity,^[30] another name for whom is the Deity August-Ancestor-of-Earth.^[31] (Nine Deities.^[32])

In the above papagraph the children of the Great-Harvest-Deity, from the Deity August-Spirit-of-the-Great-Land down to the Great-Earth-Deity, are altogether sixteen Deities.

The Deity Swift-Mountain-Dwelling^[33] wedded the Deity Princess-of-Great-Food,^[34] and begot children: the Deity Young-Mountain-Integrator;^[35] next the Young-Harvest-Deity;^[36] next his younger sister the Young-Rice-Transplanting-Female-Deity;^[37] next the Water-Sprinkling-Deity;^[38] next the Deity-of-the-High-Sun-of-Summer,^[39] another name for whom is the Female-Deity-of-Summer;^[40] next the Autumn-Princess;^[41] next the Deity Stem-Harvest;^[42] next the Deity Lord-Stem-Tree-Young-House-Rope.^[43]

In the above paragraph the children of the Deity Swift-Mountain-Dwelling, from the Deity Young-Mountain-Integrator down to the Deity Lord-Young-House-Rope,^[44] are altogether eight Deities.

---

1. Inu-hime. Motowori supposes Inu to be the name of a place. The word properly siginfies “dog.”
2. Kamu-iku-musu-bi-no-kami.
3. Oho-kuni-mi-tama-no-kami.
4. Kara-no-kami, 韓神. Kara signifies Korea or China, and the Deity thus named appears in the “Chronicles” under the name of I-so-takeru (“Fifty-fold-Valiant), of whom it is related that he was taken over to Korea by his father Susa-no-wo (the “Impetuous-Male).
5. Sohori-no-kami. The etymology is not clear. Hirata derives the name from a Verb soru, “to ride,” “to go in a boat,” in connection with the story (mentioned in the preceding note) of I-so-takeru having been taken over to Korea. According to this view, Sohori, like Kara-no-kami, would be an alternative name of I-so-takeru. But the derivation is hazardous, to say the least.
6. Shira-hi-no-kami. Motowori supposes shira hi (白日) to be a copyist’s error for mukahi (向日). The latter, however, does not make satisfactory sense, and Tominobu proposes to invert the characters, thus: 日向, which means “sun-confronting.” Motowori suggests that the word may, after all, be but the name of a place.
7. Hizhiri-no-kami, written with the characters 聖神. The first of these is defined as signifying him who is intuitively wise and good, i.e. the perfect sage. But perhaps we should in Archaic Japanese take the term hizhiri in what is its probable native etymological sense, viz. “sun-governing” (hi-zhiri, 日知), a title properly applied to the Japanese Emperors as descendants of the Sun-Goddess, and of which the character 聖, which is used of the Chinese Monarchs, is only an equivalent in so far as it, too, is employed as an Honorific title.
8. Viz. from the August-Spirit-of-the-Great-Land to the Sage-Deity inclusive.
9. Kagayo-hime.
10. Oho-kaga-yama-to-omi-no-kami. The translation follows Hirata’s interpretation, which nearly agrees with that proposed by Mabuchi.
11. Mi-toshi-no-kami. For the meaning of “harvest” attributed to the word toshi see Sect. XX. Note 3.
12. Ame-shiru-karu-midzu-hime. The name might tentatively be translated thus: Heaven-Governing-Flesh-Princess-of-Karu. Motowori suggests that ame-shiru may be but a sort of Pillow-Word for the rest of the name. Ama-tobu is, however, the only Pillow-Word for Karu found in the poems. After all, Karu may not here be the name of a place at all.
13. Oki-tsu-hiko-no-kami. The translator ventures to think that the names of thin deity and the next might simply be rendered (in accordance with the first character, 奥, entering into their composition) “Inner Prince” and “Inner Princess” or “Prince of the Interior” and “Princess of the Interior.” Motowori however suggests that Okitsu may be the name of a place, while Hirata derives the names from oki-tsuchi, “laid earth,” finding therein a reference to the furnace (made of clay) mentioned immediately below.
14. Oki-tsu-hime-no-mikoto.
15. Oho-be-hime-no-kami.
16. Kama-no-kami (竃神). The “furnace” means the “kitchen.” Neither Motowori nor Hirata informs us that the immense popularity of this Goddess, as well as her name, can clearly be traced to China.
17. Oho-yama-kuhi-no-kami. The meaning of kuhi, here (as in the case of Tsunu-guhi and Iku-guhi, see Sect. II. Note 4) rendered by the word “integrator,” is open to doubt.
18. Yama-suwe-no-oho-nushi-no-kami. Motowori supposes the word suwe, “end,” to have the signification of “top.”
19. As it stands, the etymology of this name is not clear. In later times the mountain was called Hi-yei (比叡). But whether the, to outward appearance, native name Hiye is but a corruption of this Chinese one, or whether it be true that the latter (on this hypothesis bestowed on account of its likeness in sound to the native designation) was not used till the end of the eighth or beginning of the ninth century, as is commonly stated, is difficult to decide.
20. I.e. “Close-Fresh-Sea.” Afumi (modern pron. Ōmi, for aha-umi) alone signifies “fresh sea,” i.e. “lake.” This province contains the large lake commonly known as Lake Biha (Biwa), but anciently simply called “the Fresh Sea,” as being the lake par excellence of Japan. When one of the eastern provinces received, on account of a large lagoon or inlet which it contains, the name of Toho-tsu-Afumi (in modern pronunciation Tōtōmi), i.e. “Distant-Fresh-Sea,” the epithet Close was prefixed to the name of the province nearer to the ancient centre of government.
21. I.e. Pine-tree-Declivity.
22. I.e. Pueraria-Moor.
23. This passage (用鳴鏑神者也) must be corrupt. Mabuchi proposes to insert the character 祭 before 神, and to undertand the author to have meant to tell us that the deity was worshipped with arrows, that is to say, that arrows were offered at his shrine. Motowori’s proposal to consider 用 as an error for 成 or 化, and to interpret the clause thus: “the Deity who was changed into an arrow” is also worthy of notice. But a further suggestion of his to read 丹 for 用 and to interpret thus: “the Deity of the Red Arrow,” seems best of all when taken in connection with the tradition, which he quotes from the “Topography of Yamashiro,” to the effect that this god took the shape of a red arrow to gain access to his mistress Tama-yori-hime, such a transformation being one of the commonplaces of Japanese myth.
24. Niha-tsu-hi-no-kami. The interpretation of this name here adopted is not Motowori’s, who takes hi in the sense of “wondrous,” but Hirata’s. The latter author makes it clear that this deity (for whom Niha-taka-tsu-hi-no-kami, i.e. “the High-Deity-of-the-Fire-in-the-Yard,” is but a slightly amplified designation) was none other than the above-mentioned Deity of the Kitchen, and his name an inclusive one for the pair of deities Oki-tsu-hiko and Oki-tsu-hime.
25. Asuha-no-kami. The signification of this name is obscure, and Motowori’s proposal to derive it from ashi-niha, “foot-place,” because the god in question may be supposed to protect the place on which people stand, is not altogether convincing. In fact he himself only advances it with hesitation. It should be added, however, that Hirata stamps it with his special approval, as he does also Motowori’s derivation of the following name, Hahigi.
26. Hahigi-no-kami. Obscure, but ingeniously derived by Motowori from hahi-iri-gimi, i.e. “entering prince,” the deity in question being supposed to have been the special protector of the entrances to houses, and to have thence received his name. Mr. Satow has translated it in the Rituals as “Entrance Limit.”
27. Kaga-yama-to-omi-no-kami. The name is almost identical with that in Note 10.
28. Ha-yama-to-no-kami. The interpretation of the name is that proposed by Motowori, and which seems tolerably satisfactory.
29. Niha-taku-tsu-hi-no-kami. See Note 24.
30. Oho-tsuchi-no-kami.
31. Tsuchi-no-mi-oya-no-kami.
32. This number is obtained if (as is perhaps permissible from a Japanese point of view) we consider Oki-tsu-hiko and Oki-tsu-hime as forming a single deity. Otherwise there are ten. A similar remark applies to the number sixteen mentioned immediately below.
33. See Note 28.
34. See Sect. V, Note 8. The fact that this goddess is related to have been previously killed (see Sect. XVII) causes Motowori some embarrassment.
35. Waka-yama-kuhi-no-kami.
36. Waka-toshi-no-kami. Motowori proposes (considering this name in connection with the four that follow) to take waka-toshi in this place in the signification of “the first sprouting” of the young rice. The five deities whose birth is here mentioned seem collectively to represent the natural succession of agricultural operations throughout the year.
37. Waka-sa-na-me-no-kami.
38. Midzu-maki-no-kami.
39. Natsu-taka-tsu-hi-no-kami. Motowori’s interpretation of hi as “wondrous” is perhaps as good as that here adopted, according to which it signifies “sun.” His view would give us in English “the Summer-High-Wondrous-Deity.”
40. Natsu-no-me-no-kami.
41. Aki-bime-no-kami.
42. Kuku-toshi-no-kami. The word kuku, “stem,” seems to allude to the length of the well-grown rice.
43. Kuku-ki-waka-muro-tsuna-ne-no-kami. Motowori supposes this god to have been the protector of houses, and interprets the name to denote the beams, and the ropes with which the beams were bound together. The word here read tsuna, “rope,” is written with the character, 葛, and might perhaps be readered “pueraria.” But as in early times the tendrils of such creeping plants formed the only substitute for rope, the two renderings come to have very nearly the same signification.
44. The name is here abbreviated in the original to Waka-muro-tsuna-ne-no-kami.