Biographies CLIII: Physicians, Diviners and Artisans

Mizunoe-no-Urashimako

¶It has been an old custom in foreign histories to record biographies of hōgi (Note: persons engaged in occult arts and technical crafts). The adepts of immortality and the followers of Daoism have been treated now together, now separately. If a man who has left the world merely cultivates his own person, no harm is done; but once a ruler comes to delight in such things, the damage they cause cannot be told in full. What is set down here is preserved as a warning against that. In our country the arts of the immortals were never transmitted, and no one has received from a master the method of refining the elixir. Only the company of Kume-no-Sennin (Note: Kume-no-Yōshō) appears faintly, mixed in among the biographies of monks. Such figures as Urashimako and the Old Man Shirahashi likewise give only a dim glimpse of one corner of these matters. Tales of this kind bring no particular benefit to the state if they exist, and do no injury to the foundations of government if they do not; one might even say it is better that they should not exist at all. En-no-Ozunu commanded demons and spirits and, by incantation, drove out and guided evil influences; his arts come fairly close to those of the Daoists. In later ages they were joined with the teachings of Buddhism and at last flourished widely. As for the fields of yin-yang, calendrical science, astronomy and medicine, specialized offices have long since been established for them. These were men who, each by his own talent, calculated and observed the motions of the heavens, practiced divination and acupuncture, served the state in every case, and made their names known in the world through their skills. These men too are recorded here together, as the Biographies of Hōgi.

En-no-Ozunu

¶Mizunoe-no-Urashimako was a man of Tsutsukawa in Yosa district, Tanba province. In the seventh month of the twenty-second year of Emperor Yūryaku (478), he went out fishing in a boat and hooked a great turtle. The turtle at once changed into a beautiful woman. Urashimako was delighted, took her as his wife, and went with her into the sea until they reached Mount Hōrai (Note: following the Nihon Shoki). There he enjoyed to the full the pleasures of the realm of the immortals, and did not notice the passing of the years. After some time, a longing for his homeland arose in him. The woman perceived his heart and counselled Urashimako to return to the human world. At parting she sealed a jeweled comb-box, a tamakushige, and gave it to him, warning him: "If you wish to see me again, you must never open it." When Urashimako boarded his boat, he arrived in a moment at Sumie Bay and went to look for his old village. But the village had changed and the hamlets were different, and there was no one at all whom he knew. As Urashimako wandered about, he happened upon an old woman washing clothes and asked her about his kinsmen and former acquaintances. The old woman replied, "I do not know them. I am a hundred and seven years old this year, but I once heard the elders of old tell of it. 'Long ago there was a man here called Urashimako who fished in Sumie Bay. One day he went out in a boat and in the end he never came back.'" Urashimako was stunned and beside himself, and, just as he was, opened the comb-box and looked inside. A purple cloud rose from the box, and at once his face and form withered and he turned into an aged man. For a long time afterwards Urashimako remained in a daze, but eventually he cultivated his person and nourished his heart, took refuge in a rock cave among the mountains, and what became of him afterwards is not known (Note: according to the Tanba no Kuni Fudoki quoted in the Shaku Nihongi, when Iyobe-no-Umakai was district governor of Yosa, he set down the story of Urashimako in writing and transmitted it to the world. But that writing no longer survives, so here the account preserved in the Nihon Ki and the Zoku Urashimako-den is followed).

Shirahashi-no-Okina

¶En-no-Ozunu, of the En-no-Kimi family of the Kamo clan, was a man of Chihara village, Katsuragi-no-kami district, Yamato province. He was intelligent and widely learned, was especially fond of Buddhism, and excelled in magical arts. At the age of thirty-two he abandoned his home and entered Mount Katsuragi, where he lived in a rock cave for more than thirty years. He ate pine seeds and clothed himself in wisteria and kudzu (Note: following the Genkō Shakusho). He drove demons and spirits and made them draw water and gather firewood. He controlled everything as he wished, and bound with spells any who did not obey his orders. Karakuni-no-Hirotari had studied among his disciples, but, envying Ozunu's powers, slandered him, saying that he used uncanny arts to delude people (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). Emperor Monmu issued an edict to arrest Ozunu. Ozunu flew through the air and escaped, and the officials were unable to pursue and seize him. They therefore seized his mother, whereupon Ozunu gave himself up and was taken (Note: following the Genkō Shakusho). He was exiled to the island of Izu (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). Later he received an amnesty and was permitted to return to the capital, and it is said that, placing his mother in an iron bowl, he crossed the sea and went to Tang China (Note: the Genkō Shakusho. According to the same book, since the way between Mount Kinpu and Mount Katsuragi was steep and hard to traverse, Ozunu ordered the gods of the mountains to build a stone bridge and open a road. The gods accepted the command and carried rocks night after night, but after a long time the work was still not finished. When Ozunu reproached them, the mountain gods complained: "Katsuragi-no-Hitokotonushi-no-Kami has an ugly face and dislikes working by day, so he waits for night to take up the task. That is why it is delayed." Ozunu was angry and bound that god by spell in a deep ravine. The god, speaking through an inner-palace woman official in an oracle, declared: "I am the god who restrains rebels and traitors. En-no-Ozunu is secretly spying on the state. If he is not restrained quickly, there will be danger." Emperor Monmu commanded that Ozunu be seized and exiled him to Izu. According to the Shoku Nihongi, Ozunu was exiled because of the slander of Karakuni-no-Hirotari, and that fact is clear, so it is followed here. The Honchō Shinsen-den says: "When the monk Dōshō went to Koryŏ and preached, there was among the audience a person who spoke Japanese. That was Ozunu. More than a hundred years had already passed." Dōshō was greatly astonished, came down from his seat and questioned him, but the man gave no answer whatever and was never seen again. The eulogy on Ozunu in the Genkō Shakusho likewise cites an old record saying: "When Dōshō went to Silla and lectured on the Lotus Sutra, a pack of tigers listened beside him, and among them one spoke in human speech and said, 'I am En-no-Ozunu.'" This tale does not agree well with the chronology, and so it is not adopted in the main text. Dōshō entered Tang with the embassy in the fourth year of Hakuchi of Emperor Kōtoku (653), and died in the fourth year of Emperor Monmu (700). The Shinsen-den statement that "more than a hundred years had already passed" is so gravely mistaken that it is not adopted).

Ōtsu-no-Mori

¶Shirahashi-no-Okina, the Old Man of the White Chopsticks, is of unknown surname, name and native place. In the last years of Jōgan (859-877) he constantly walked about the city markets and made his living selling white chopsticks. The people of the time called him "Shirahashi-no-Okina." The hair at his temples was pure white, his cap and footwear were untidy, and he wore a single black robe, which never changed in cold or heat. When people asked his age, he always said he was seventy. There was a man in the market who sold divinations, about eighty years old, who told people: "When I was a child I already knew this old man. His dress and features were exactly as they are now." Those who heard this suspected that the old man must possess some extraordinary art. If anyone gave him wine and food, he drank and ate until he was drunk and sated, whatever the quantity. At other times he would go without eating for days, yet show no sign of hunger. He was free and unrestrained yet courteous, his manner never settled, and people could not grasp what he really was. Later he fell ill beside a gate of the market and died. The people of the market pitied him and buried his body east of the Eastern River. More than twenty years later, a monk met this old man at Nanzan, the Southern Mountain. The old man lived in a stone chamber, burning incense and chanting sutras. When the monk asked, "Old man, are you well?", the old man only laughed and said nothing, then went away, and his whereabouts were unknown. The monk told the people of the market, and all who heard it marvelled (Note: following the Honchō Monzui).

Ōtsu-no-Ōura

¶Ōtsu-no-Obito first became a monk and took the name Gihō. In the Keiun era (704-708) he went to Silla with Mino-no-Kiyomaro to study, and returned after little more than a year. He excelled at divination. In the Wadō era (708-715), by edict he was returned to lay life, was granted his present name, and was given Junior Fifth Rank Lower. Soon he advanced to Junior Fifth Rank Upper (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). He became Onmyō-no-kami, Director of the Bureau of Yin and Yang, concurrently Kōgōgū-no-suke, Assistant Director of the Empress's Household (Note: following the Kaifūsō). In the early years of Tenpyō (729-), by edict the various doctors were to teach disciples, and Obito was one of them (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). He died at the age of sixty-six (Note: following the Kaifūsō).

Fujiwara-no-Namifuji

¶Ōtsu-no-Ōura came from a family that had studied the art of yin and yang for generations, and was deeply loved and trusted by Fujiwara-no-Nakamaro. In the last years of Tenpyō-hōji (-764), when Nakamaro plotted rebellion, he asked Ōura whether it would be auspicious or not. Ōura, fearing that disaster would reach himself, secretly informed against Nakamaro's intentions. Soon afterwards Nakamaro rose in revolt. For this merit Ōura was granted Junior Fourth Rank Upper. His kabane was changed to Muraji, and he was further granted Sukune; he became Sahyōe-no-suke, Assistant Captain of the Left Gate Guards, concurrently Mimasaka-no-kami, Governor of Mimasaka. In the early years of Jingo (765-), he was granted fifteen chō of merit land. Ōura had formerly been on close terms with Prince Wake and often drank at his residence. Implicated when Prince Wake plotted rebellion, he was stripped of the kabane Sukune, demoted to Extra Assistant Governor of Hyūga, and deprived of his rank and fief households. In the Keiun era (767-770) he was removed from office and his collection of books on astronomy and yin-yang was confiscated. In the early years of Hōki (770-), he was recalled, his kabane and rank were restored, and he became Onmyō-no-kami, concurrently Aki-no-kami, Governor of Aki. In the sixth year of Hōki (775) he died while still in office (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi).

Iki-no-Koreo

¶Fujiwara-no-Namifuji was a great-grandson of the Sangi Fujiwara-no-Hamanari, and his father Omitsugu was Buzen-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Buzen. Namifuji excelled in the study of yin-yang and suihō (Note: the calculation of the movements of the heavens), and was also versed in astronomy, fūkaku (wind-angle divination) and star divination. He was first appointed Tanba-no-gon-no-jō, Provisional Third-Rank Official of Tanba, but did not go to his post and remained to become Onmyō-no-suke, Assistant Director of the Bureau of Yin and Yang. In the Tenchō (824-834) and Jōwa (834-848) periods he served successively as governor of Chikugo, Izumi and Kaga, and became Onmyō-no-kami. In the Kashō era (848-851) he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Upper. In the third year of Ninju (853), his illness grew grave. The emperor, valuing his talent and learning, granted him by special favor Senior Fifth Rank Lower. He died at the age of sixty-two (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku).

Urabe-no-Hiramaro

¶This section concerns Iki-no-Koreo and Urabe-no-Hiramaro. Iki-no-Koreo was a man of Ishida district on the island of Iki. His original surname was Urabe, and later he was granted his present surname. From the first ancestor Oshimi-no-Tarunoyano-Mikoto onward, the family had transmitted tortoise-shell divination, kiboku, as its hereditary office, and its descendants studied and carried it on, but with Koreo the art became most refined, and he was held in esteem by the men of his time. In the Kashō era (848-851) he became Miyaji of the Tōgū, the Crown Prince's household. On the accession of Emperor Seiwa he was transferred anew to the post of Miyaji. In the Jōgan era (859-877) he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower and appointed Tanba-no-gon-no-jō. There was a man called Urabe-no-Hiramaro, a native of Izu. He was a contemporary of Koreo, learned tortoise-shell divination from childhood, and became an Urabe of the Jingikan, the Department of Divinities. His divinatory judgments were often astonishingly accurate. In the early years of Jōwa (834-), because of his skill in divination he was chosen as a member of the embassy to Tang. After his return he became Jingi-no-daisakan, Senior Secretary of the Department of Divinities. In the Tenan era (857-859) he was transferred to Gon-no-daijō, Provisional Senior Secretary, and also served as Miyaji. In the Jōgan era (859-877) he was moved to Mikawa-no-gon-no-suke, Provisional Assistant Governor of Mikawa. Rising by stages, he reached Junior Fifth Rank Lower and served successively as assistant governor of Bingo and Tanba. He died in the Gangyō era (877-885) (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku).

Shigeoka-no-Kawahito

¶Shigeoka-no-Kawahito's original surname was Toki-no-Atai (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku). He was widely versed in the study of yin and yang and excelled in the arts of sukuyō (astrological reckoning by the lunar mansions) and tonkō (the "escaping the Jia" method of divination) (Note: the Ruijū Kokushi and the Konjaku Monogatari were consulted). He was gifted at foreseeing future events; when misfortune was about to befall someone, Kawahito perceived it beforehand. If that person asked for help, he calmed the danger by his arts, and there was always a marvelous effect (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari). In the reign of Emperor Montoku he was promoted to Onmyō-no-gon-no-jō, Provisional Secretary of the Bureau of Yin and Yang, and served concurrently as Onmyō-hakase, Doctor of Yin and Yang. In the first year of Saikō (854) he was granted the surname Shigeoka-no-Ason, and soon became Onmyō-no-gon-no-suke, Provisional Assistant Director (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku). In the Jōgan era (859-877) he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower and served concurrently as Harima-no-gon-no-daijō, Provisional Senior Secretary of Harima. Soon he was transferred to Provisional Assistant Governor. Later he was appointed Onmyō-no-kami and served concurrently as Aki-no-gon-no-suke, Provisional Assistant Governor of Aki. He advanced to Junior Fifth Rank Upper, remaining Doctor of Yin and Yang as before. He died in the sixteenth year of Jōgan (874). Kawahito received imperial commands more than once and went to a high mountain in Yoshino district, Yamato province, to perform rites for driving away plagues of locusts (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). He also reckoned the events of later ages, recorded them, and handed them down to the world; this was called the Kawahito Kanmon (Note: following the Zoku Kojidan). Among his writings are the Seyō Dōjō-kyō, the Shishō Sukuyō-kyō, the Shigekawa Shinjutsu Tonkō-sho, the Kinki Shin-kyō (Note: following the Ruijū Kokushi and the Ninnaji Shoseki Mokuroku), and the Takukan-kyō, which came to be regarded as the rules of the Way of Yin and Yang (Note: following the Ninnaji Shoseki Mokuroku). The Taiitsu shikiban, the divining board of the Great One, that Kawahito used was said to be inhabited by a divine spirit, and the yin-yang families handed it down for generations as a family treasure (Note: following the Sakeiki). After Kawahito there arose Yuge-no-Koreo, and after Koreo there arose Kamo-no-Tadayuki; all excelled in occult arts, and their reputations were spoken of side by side (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari).

Yuge-no-Koreo

¶Yuge-no-Koreo was a man of Shikama district, Harima province. His ancestors descended from Nigihayahi-no-Mikoto. His father Yasuhito was granted Senior Sixth Rank Upper (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). Koreo was versed in the arts of yin-yang calculation, and the efficacy of his divinations was like that of a god (Note: following the Zenkeshū quoted in the Seiji Yōryaku). In the early years of Jōgan (859-) he became an Onmyōji, diviner of yin and yang. In the sixth year of Jōgan (864), together with his father Yasuhito and others, he changed his registered domicile and was entered in the registers of Ōagata in Kawachi province (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). In that year, Fujiwara-no-Arikage, Ōmi-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Ōmi, invited Koreo to his residence and had him perform rites for his zokushō (Note: the star that corresponds to a person's year of birth). At that time a man named Tomo-no-Yotsugu, a Naiju, Inner Page, was lodging at Arikage's house. Yotsugu had seen a bad dream and had Koreo divine it. Koreo turned his divining board and was greatly startled, saying: "If you go home, you will surely be killed by a demon. You must on no account enter your house." Yotsugu had been long away on a journey and sighed on hearing this. He asked: "I long for my home terribly and cannot help but return. Is there some way to ward it off?" Koreo divined again and said: "There is a demon in the northeast corner (Note: ushitora, the northeast) of your bedchamber. Gird on a sword, take bow and arrows, go straight into the bedchamber, draw the bow, glare toward the northeast, and cry out, 'Get out quickly! If you do not get out, I will kill you!' Then you will escape the calamity." Yotsugu did as he was told, and a monk carrying a dagger appeared, struck his head to the floor, and said: "I have been in secret union with your wife. Recently I heard that you were coming home and meant to kill you. But since you had already noticed, I give myself up." Yotsugu at once drove out his wife, seized the monk, and put him in prison. The people of the time praised Koreo, saying he was the equal of Guan Lu and Guo Pu (Note: ancient Chinese diviners) (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku and the Konjaku Monogatari). Soon he became Onmyō-no-jō, Secretary of the Bureau of Yin and Yang. In the fifteenth year of Jōgan (873) he again transferred his registered domicile to the Right Capital (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). Soon he was transferred to Onmyō-no-gon-no-suke and served concurrently as Harima-no-gon-no-shōsakan, Provisional Junior Clerk of Harima, and was granted Outer Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Ruijū Kokushi). In the first year of Gangyō (877) he changed his kabane to Muraji and was granted Sukune (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). Soon he served concurrently as Bizen-no-gon-no-jō, Provisional Secretary of Bizen, and advanced to Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Ruijū Kokushi). In the early years of Ninna (885-) he became Onmyō-no-kami (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). In the Kanpyō era (889-898) his reputation grew weightier still. Miyoshi-no-Kiyoyuki, who admired his art, is said to have once exclaimed with admiration: "Koreo's art seeks life within death and gains good fortune within misfortune, and in ten thousand cases it does not miss once" (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku).

Kamo-no-Tadayuki

¶Kamo-no-Tadayuki was a son of Minoo, Daigeki, Senior Secretary of the Council of State (Note: following the Kamo-shi Keizu; the post of Daigeki follows the Ruijū Fusenshō). Tadayuki combined learning in Japanese and Chinese letters and excelled in the art of yin-yang calculation. His shikisen, divination by the diviner's board, never erred, and both court and commoners trusted him (Note: following the Chōya Gunsai and the Konjaku Monogatari). He became an Onmyōji (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari). He served successively as Ōmi-no-jō and Tanba-no-suke (Note: following the Keizu and the Sakusha Burui), and was granted Senior Sixth Rank Upper. In the Tenryaku era (947-957), on the petition of his son Yasunori, he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Keizu and the Honchō Monzui). In the third year of Tentoku (959) the emperor had Tadayuki divine, as a test, what was in a box. Tadayuki presented a written divination reading: "The color of fire is within, but it does not spread in flames. Crystal adorns it, but its moisture does not wet the clothing. The round thing has but one mother, yet the children of the round thing number over a hundred. Like a line of wild geese in a row, it is hung from the hand and kept close to the body; it breathes out and in like a mulberry grove, like jewels strung on a skewer and hung in the air, holding dew and letting it hang at the bottom of the knee (Note: it seems that there are missing characters or errors)." This was a rosary of crystal beads strung on scarlet thread. When the box was opened it was found to be exactly so (Note: following the Chōya Gunsai). In the Tenryaku era (947-957) there was a monk in the capital who encountered a portent. When he had Tadayuki divine it, Tadayuki said: "On a certain day there will be a theft at your house. You may lose not only goods but your life as well. You should take care." The monk's house was already wealthy, and he was greatly frightened to hear this. When the day came he observed abstinence, closed his doors, and refused all visitors. Toward nightfall Taira-no-Sadamori arrived from Mutsu. Since the two were old friends, Sadamori asked to borrow lodging. The monk explained the circumstances and declined. Sadamori said: "If the master is in danger, you should keep me as a guard. To refuse me instead is a great mistake." So in the end the monk let him stay. At midnight more than ten robbers, carrying swords and clubs, came straight into the garden, laughing, talking and making a din, without any restraint at all. Sadamori rose, took his bow and arrows, and slipped quietly in among the robbers. Pretending to be a guide, he pointed out where the goods were kept. The robbers noticed nothing and pushed forward, vying with one another. Sadamori shot dead the first man to come. In the dark the robbers did not see what had happened. Sadamori cried out: "Someone has loosed an arrow. The bowstring sounds terribly strong. We may not get away. We should flee at once." One of the robbers rallied and said: "A weak arrow from a slack bow is nothing to fear. Come on, men, press on." Sadamori shot him too and brought him down. The robbers fled in alarm; Sadamori pursued them, shooting, brought down four more and took one alive. Then he sought out the rest of the band and captured them all. The monk in the end escaped misfortune (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari). Tadayuki had four sons, named Yasunori, Yasutane, Yasuakira and Yasutō (Note: following the Keizu). Yasutane changed his surname to Yoshishige and is recorded in the biographies of men of letters (Note: following the Honchō Monzui). Yasuakira reached Junior Fourth Rank Upper and became Monjō-hakase, Doctor of Letters, and Noto-no-kami, Governor of Noto (Note: following the Keizu and the Sakusha Burui). Yasutō reached Senior Fifth Rank Lower and became Gon-no-onmyō-hakase, Provisional Doctor of Yin and Yang, and Kazue-no-suke, Assistant Director of the Bureau of Accounts (Note: following the Keizu).

Kamo-no-Yasunori

¶Kamo-no-Yasunori showed outstanding talent from early childhood, and Tadayuki regarded him as extraordinarily gifted. All the deepest secrets of the occult arts were transmitted to him. When he grew up he won renown (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari). While still young he became Reki-hakase, Doctor of the Calendar, and was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower, and his seat in court was placed above Tadayuki's; Yasunori considered this contrary to the way of father and son. In the sixth year of Tenryaku (952) he submitted a memorial: "To bear a higher rank before one's father is something the men of old were ashamed of, and I am ashamed of it today. To yield an honored rank and extend it to one's parent is something the wise have thought of, and I, though foolish, think of it too. My father Tadayuki has in his heart sought out the learning of past and present, and combines the learning of Japan and China. He has knocked at the gates of every kind of book, crossed the many streams of learning, and drawn out their shallows and depths. His love of learning is only the more ardent for his age. I, Yasunori, have received my father's teaching only a short time and have barely glimpsed one corner of the art of calculation, yet through my merit in my official duties I have already been granted an honored rank under three sovereigns. But my aged father, though he has added years, has not changed his coarse clothing and lives in poverty, while I, his young and foolish son, trail scarlet robes as I go to and from the court. I cannot attend him morning and evening in filial duty, and I am troubled in how to advance or retire. As the willow grows ever more brittle after autumn, so my father, though aged, has piled poverty upon poverty. The years in which I devote loyalty to the Son of Heaven are long, but the days in which I may serve my father in private affairs are short. Now Your Majesty already governs the realm by filial piety. How could I, a subject, forget the heart of filial piety? I beg that in Heaven's compassion you take pity and allow me to yield to my aged father my name as one who serves at this court. Then my father will ascend to an honored rank and boast the title of the Fifth Rank, and I, his son, even if I return to my first station, shall surpass a marquis of ten thousand households. I cannot bear my longing for my father, and so I present this petition" (Note: following the Chōya Gunsai). The emperor specially granted Tadayuki Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Keizu). In the early years of Tentoku (957-) Yasunori was appointed Onmyō-no-kami (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki) and served concurrently as Tenmon-hakase, Doctor of Astronomy (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Fusō Ryakki). In the Anna era (968-970) he became Kazue-no-kami, Director of the Bureau of Accounts, and was made Bettō, Superintendent, of the Kokusōin, the Granary Court (Note: following the Nichūreki). He advanced to Senior Fifth Rank Lower, remaining Doctor of Astronomy as before (Note: following the Ruijū Fusenshō). In the Tennen era (973-976), for his merit in compiling the calendar, he was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: following the Chōya Gunsai). Soon he was granted Junior Fourth Rank Upper. He died in the second year of Jōgen (977). His sons were Mitsuyoshi, Mitsukuni and Mitsusuke (Note: following the Keizu). He also had a daughter, who was blessed with intelligence and excelled at waka poetry; her personal collection is handed down in the world (Note: following the Zoku Ōjōden and the Yasunori-no-Musume Shū).

¶Kamo-no-Mitsuyoshi carried on the family learning and became Reki-hakase (Note: following the Keizu; one manuscript says Tenmon-hakase). He was spoken of in the same breath as Abe-no-Seimei (Note: following the Zoku Ōjōden). Once he disputed with Seimei over which was the superior. Seimei said: "When our masters (Tadayuki and Yasunori) were in the world, they always placed me above you. Moreover, the collection of the books of the various houses is also handed down in my family." Mitsuyoshi retorted: "Favor and dislike do not depend on closeness or distance. As for books such as the collection of the various houses, they are handed down in my house too. As for the Way of the calendar, I alone have mastered it, and it is something you do not know." The world said: "Seimei excels in occult arts, but in learning he does not equal Mitsuyoshi" (Note: following the Zoku Kojidan). In the eighth year of Kankō (1011), a sound came from above the ceiling of the residence of Imperial Prince Atsuyasu, as though rubble were being thrown. The Prince took it as an omen and had Mitsuyoshi divine it. Mitsuyoshi said: "The reading is extremely inauspicious and bodes ill for the sovereign. Within thirty days there will be an unusual event." Soon afterwards the emperor fell ill and shortly passed away. Fujiwara-no-Yukinari sighed with admiration: "Mitsuyoshi's divination is as exact as pointing to the palm of one's hand; one may call it the work of a god" (Note: following the Gonki). He served successively as Ōi-no-suke, Assistant Director of the Bureau of the Imperial Table, and Ukyō-no-gon-no-daibu, Provisional Master of the Right Capital Office, and was granted Junior Fourth Rank Upper. He died in the Chōwa era (1012-1017) (Note: following the Keizu).

¶His descendants served for generations through the arts of yin-yang and calendrical science (Note: following the Keizu and the Konjaku Monogatari). Among the books handed down in the family is the Rekirin in ten volumes (Note: following the Ninnaji Shoseki Mokuroku). Tadayuki was versed in both astronomy and the calendrical way, and transmitted all of it to Yasunori. By this Yasunori held both offices concurrently. It is said that later Yasunori handed down the calendrical way to Mitsuyoshi and astronomy to Abe-no-Seimei, so that the family business was divided into two houses (Note: following the Teiō Hennenki and the Shokugenshō).

Abe-no-Seimei

¶Abe-no-Seimei was a descendant of Abe-no-Miushi, Minister of the Right. His father Masuki was Daizen-no-daibu, Master of the Palace Table Office (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Seimei at first studied under Kamo-no-Tadayuki and his son Yasunori and learned the arts of yin-yang calculation. He commanded shikigami, spirit servants, was versed in astronomy, and was also knowledgeable in miscellaneous divinations. His divinations came true as if by the work of a god (Note: the Konjaku Monogatari; that he studied under Tadayuki and his son Yasunori follows the Shokugenshō and the Abe Keizu). He rose gradually, was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower, and served successively as Tenmon-hakase, Daizen-no-daibu, Sakyō-no-daibu, Master of the Left Capital Office, and Harima-no-kami (Note: following the Keizu). On the night Emperor Kazan abdicated, he secretly left the palace, and even the court women attending him did not know. That night Seimei was out in the garden to escape the heat; looking up at the sky, he saw an anomaly in the heavens, was greatly startled, and hurried to the court. And indeed the emperor was not in the palace (Note: following the Ōkagami and the Genkō Shakusho). In the Chōtoku era (995-999) a magician told Fujiwara-no-Michinaga, Minister of the Left: "On a certain day there will be a portent at your house." When the day came, Michinaga closed his gate and refused all callers, inviting only Minamoto-no-Yorimitsu, Chinjufu-shōgun, Commander-in-Chief of the Defense of the North, the physician Tanba-no-Tadaaki (Note: the base text gives Yoshiie and Tadaaki for Yorimitsu and Tadaaki, but these are probably errors; the Genkō Shakusho gives Shigemasa, which is also an error), the Sōjō Kanjū, and Seimei. Just then melons were presented from Yamato province. Michinaga was suspicious and would not eat them. Seimei said: "These melons are poisoned." Kanjū recited an incantation, and a melon leapt about and would not stop. Tadaaki pricked it with a needle, and only then did the melon at last lie still. When Yorimitsu drew his sword and cut it open, there was a small snake inside, the needle stuck in its eye, and the blade had cut off its head (Note: following the Kokon Chomonjū). Michinaga's household kept a dog that always followed him whenever he went out. One day, as he was about to go to the Hōjōji temple, the dog blocked his way, barked, seized his robe in its mouth and pulled. Michinaga found this suspicious and did not pass through the temple gate. When he summoned Seimei and asked, Seimei said: "There is someone who is cursing you and has buried an object of malediction here," and pointed to a certain spot. They dug and found a sealed earthenware vessel with a single character written in vermilion inside. Seimei said: "No one in the world knows this art. It must be the work of the priest Dōman (Note: "man" is also written "ma")." He then folded a paper into the shape of a bird, recited a spell, and threw it; it turned into an egret and flew away. When men were sent to follow it, it came to rest at a commoner's house beside the Kawara-no-in in Madenokōji. The people seized the master of the house and brought him, and it was indeed Dōman. After questioning established the facts, Dōman was banished to Harima province (Note: following the Uji Shūi Monogatari, the Tōsai Zuihitsu and the Jikkinshō). Again, when the monk Chikō of the Onjōji temple lay gravely ill and near death, his disciples invited Seimei to pray for his recovery. Seimei said: "The master's illness cannot be cured. I have a secret talisman by which it can be transferred to another." The monk Shōkū asked to take his place. Seimei wrote the talisman and prayed, and Chikō at once recovered while Shōkū suddenly fell ill (Note: following the Genkō Shakusho). Once, passing the Jin-no-za, the guards' seat in the palace, he saw that a certain Kurōdo, Chamberlain, had been soiled by a crow's droppings, and said: "The crow is a shikigami. This man will surely suffer the curse of a shikigami." He told the man: "Your life will not last beyond tonight." The man wept and begged for help. Seimei followed him to his house and sat beside him all night reciting spells. At dawn someone knocked at the gate. When they asked, the very man who had laid the curse had come of his own accord, confessed the facts, cried out loudly and suddenly died. The Kurōdo in the end escaped misfortune (Note: following the Uji Shūi Monogatari). Seimei's wife feared the shikigami, so he kept them beside the Ichijō Modori Bridge and called them out to use only when he had business for them (Note: following the Genpei Seisuiki). At his gate the doors opened and closed of themselves, though no one was there. At that time there was a man of Harima named Chitoku, also skilled in occult arts, who wished to test Seimei's art. Pretending to be a pupil of the arts, he visited Seimei's house with two boys in attendance. Seimei thought: "That man means to test my art. Those two boys are probably shikigami." So he silently recited a spell in his heart, formed a mudra with his hand, secretly hid the two boys, and said: "I have business today; please come another day." Chitoku left, and after a while came again, saying: "I have lost my two boys. Might you have hidden them?" Seimei laughed and said: "I know nothing of it." Chitoku bowed repeatedly in apology, and Seimei said: "You meant to test me and yet supposed that I had not noticed. You have thought me very shallow indeed." He recited a spell, and the two boys suddenly appeared. Chitoku, filled with admiration, said: "From of old it has been said that to command shikigami is easy, but to hide another man's shikigami is hard. You may truly be called a god," and in the end became Seimei's pupil (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari). Once, in the Tentoku era (957-961), the setsutō, the sword of the commissioned general, had been burned in a fire and no one knew its form. By imperial edict Seimei was consulted, and he made a wooden model and presented it (Note: following the entry for the eighth year of Kanji (1094) in the Chūyūki). Among his writings is the Kingyoku Gyokuto-shū, also called the Hoki Shūri-den (Note: following this book). There is also the Senji Ryakketsu in one volume (Note: following the Ninnaji Shoseki Mokuroku). His sons were Yoshihira and Yoshimasa (Note: according to the Keizu, Yoshimasa was the eldest). Yoshihira ably carried on the family business. In the fifth year of Chōwa (1016) he was raised by special selection to Junior Fourth Rank Lower, which was regarded as an honor of the time (Note: following the Shōyūki). He served successively as Kazue-no-kami and Onmyō-hakase (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Once, when Yoshihira was drinking with Tanba-no-Masatada, the cups being filled and passed, Yoshihira said: "An earthquake is about to come and the wine in the cups will spill." Before he had finished speaking, an earthquake occurred (Note: following the Kokon Chomonjū). Yoshimasa served successively as Tajima-no-gon-no-kami, Chikara-no-suke, Assistant Director of the Bureau of Taxes, and Onmyō-no-kami (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Keizu), and served as Tenmon-hakase (Note: following the Shōyūki, the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Keizu). In the fourth year of Chōwa (1015), for his meritorious service he was specially granted Senior Fifth Rank Lower by imperial order (Note: following the Chōya Gunsai). He died in the Kannin era (1017-1021) (Note: following the Shōyūki). The fifth-generation descendant of Seimei was Yasuchika.

Abe-no-Yasuchika

¶Abe-no-Yasuchika excelled in the family learning, and his divinatory judgments never erred. People called him "Sashi-no-Miko," the Pointing Child. This meant that his calculations were as exact as pointing to the palm of one's hand (Note: following the Heike Monogatari). Once a thunderbolt fell on Yasuchika's house and touched his back. His clothes were scorched, but his body suffered no injury at all (Note: following the Gyokukai and the Heike Monogatari). He felt only as though he had been struck by the poison of the thunder, so he prepared and drank a wine of jiō, rehmannia, and was cured the same day. People passed this on as a marvel (Note: following the Akihiro-ō Ki). The Gion Shrine once suffered a fire. Yasuchika, who was then Onmyō-hakase, divined it and said: "On the day of Mizunoe-Ne in the sixth month, there will be a calamity at the imperial palace." When the day came, the Tsuchimikado Dairi did in fact burn. People regarded this as the work of a god (Note: following the Zoku Kojidan). In the eleventh month of the third year of Jishō (1179), a great earthquake struck the capital and the shaking went on for some time. Yasuchika galloped on horseback to make his report and said: "This portent is no ordinary one, and its retribution will appear before long." Before he had finished speaking he shed tears. Those around him all said: "Now the realm is at peace; what is there to worry about?" and laughed at one another at his frantic, almost mad agitation. But not ten days later, Taira-no-Kiyomori, leading several thousand horsemen, returned to the capital from Fukuhara, exiled the Kanpaku Motofusa, and stripped several dozen court officials of their posts. Even so he was not satisfied, and confined the Cloistered Emperor in the Toba Palace. Just then a great weasel appeared, circled around crying mournfully, leapt toward the Cloistered Emperor, and went away. The Cloistered Emperor found this ill-omened and asked Yasuchika. Yasuchika answered: "Within three days there will be a joyful event. But after it there will be grief." The Cloistered Emperor still did not believe it. Kiyomori's son Munemori, troubled by his father's violence, remonstrated earnestly, and the Cloistered Emperor was moved to Hachijō Karasuma, where the guard was somewhat relaxed and his heart at last grew easier. But soon afterwards Prince Mochihito raised an army, failed, and lost his life. The people of the time were struck with admiration at how accurate his art had been (Note: following the Heike Monogatari).

The Monk Tōshō

¶The monk Tōshō was known for his excellence in reading physiognomy, and he observed people's bearing and conduct. From a person's voice he could tell wealth or poverty and length of life, and sometimes could even tell life or death merely by hearing the sound of a flute. He lived at Ichijō in the capital, and those who came to have their features read never ceased (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari). Once he visited Ingen, Tendai-zasu, Head of the Tendai school. Ingen asked: "When will my disciple Ryōin be appointed an ajari, a master of the esoteric rites?" Tōshō answered: "That will certainly never happen." Ingen laughed and said: "What you say is hard to believe. He has no equal in talent and discernment and will surely reach the highest monastic rank." After leaving, Tōshō told someone: "Ryōin lacks the years of seniority. How could he be appointed an ajari?" Later it turned out exactly as he had said. One day he visited the house of Fujiwara-no-Michinaga. Michinaga was talking with him while lying down, when his son Yorimichi came to greet him. Tōshō said privately to Michinaga: "Your son has already risen to the rank of minister, but he still bears the mark of further honored rank." Michinaga was startled, sat up, and said: "I was in fact just thinking of yielding the post of regent and kanpaku to him" (Note: following the Kojidan). He once read the features of Yorimichi and his younger brother Norimichi and said: "Both of you will reach the age of eighty, and both will be jōshō (Note: ministers) over three reigns." He also said that Fujiwara-no-Korechika bore the mark of exile; later all of these came true as he had said (Note: following the Heike Monogatari and the Genpei Seisuiki). Zōman, a scholar-monk of Tōdaiji, was on his way to the capital when he met Tōshō on the road. Zōman said happily: "I am fortunate to have met you. Please divine the good and ill of my whole life." Tōshō answered: "You have established yourself through thorough learning, but your life will not exceed forty years. If you abandon your calling, awaken a heart for enlightenment, and devote yourself to practice, you may perhaps prolong your life. Beyond that, I do not know." Zōman followed his words, and in the end lived out his natural span (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari and the Genkō Shakusho). Once, when Tōshō was passing the Suzakumon gate, several men and women were resting beneath it. When Tōshō looked at them, all bore the mark of sudden violent death. He thought: "Even if a madman were to swing a sword, at most two or three would be harmed; it cannot be that all would die violently. I think the gate itself will fall and crush them." He told the people and had them move away. Soon the gate fell, and the two or three who had not moved were all crushed to death (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari). When Sadatsugu, Tanba-no-kami, Governor of Tanba, was about to make a pilgrimage to Kitayama, Tōshō said: "Your complexion is extremely bad, and you may be possessed by a demon or spirit. Go home at once." Sadatsugu answered: "I feel no different." But soon Sadatsugu lost consciousness, revived and returned home, and died three days later (Note: following the Zoku Kojidan). There was a man named Tomo-no-Sudarehira, a contemporary of Tōshō, who was likewise known in the world as a physiognomist (Note: following the Kojidan and the Zoku Kojidan).

Yoshida-no-Yoroshi

¶Yoshida-no-Yoroshi was a descendant of Shionoritsuhiko-no-Mikoto. Shionoritsuhiko went to Mimana and governed the land of Sankimon, and his descendants stayed on and settled there (Note: following the entry for the fourth year of Jōwa (837) in the Shoku Nihon Kōki and the Shinsen Shōjiroku). His eighth-generation descendant, Tassotsu Kitsu Daishō, and his younger brother Shōshō came to Japan in admiration of its culture. They transmitted the art of medicine for generations and were also versed in letters. Their descendants established their home at Tamura-no-sato in the Nara capital (Note: following the entry for the fourth year of Jōwa (837) in the Shoku Nihon Kōki), and Yoroshi was one of their descendants (Note: following the entry for the third year of Kashō (850) in the Montoku Jitsuroku). He first became a monk and was called Eshun. Emperor Monmu praised his talent and skill, returned him to lay life, granted him the surname and name Kichi-no-Yoroshi, and appointed him to the rank of Kōshi (Note: an office rank) (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). Yoroshi loved learning and was especially versed in medicine (Note: following the entry for the third year of Kashō (850) in the Montoku Jitsuroku). He advanced to Junior Fifth Rank Upper. In the Yōrō era (717-724) he was selected for the medical branch and was granted silk, thread, cloth and hoes. In the early years of Jinki (724-), together with Kichi-no-Chishu, of Junior Fifth Rank Lower, he was granted the surname Yoshida-no-Muraji (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). The character "da" was taken from the place name Tamura (Note: following the Shinsen Shōjiroku; Chishu and Chisu are phonetically the same, and the Chisu listed in the Shinsen Shōjiroku is probably the same person). He became Ihakase, Doctor of Medicine. In the early years of Tenpyō (729-), when the doctors of yin and yang, medicine, astronomy and calendrical science were first made to teach disciples, Yoroshi was the foremost among them. Soon he became Zusho-no-kami, Director of the Bureau of Books, advanced to Senior Fifth Rank Lower, and served concurrently as Tenyaku-no-kami, Director of the Bureau of Medicine (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). Later he became Sagami-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Sagami (Note: following the entry for the third year of Kashō (850) in the Montoku Jitsuroku). He died at the age of seventy (Note: following the Kaifūsō). His son Komaro (Note: following the entry for the third year of Kashō (850) in the Montoku Jitsuroku) became Naiyaku-no-kami, Director of the Inner Medical Office, and Jii, Imperial Physician, in the Enryaku era (782-806) (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi), and reached Senior Fifth Rank Lower. Komaro's son was Fumunushi (Note: following the entry for the third year of Kashō (850) in the Montoku Jitsuroku).

Okiyo-no-Fumunushi

¶Okiyo-no-Fumunushi was respectful and prudent in character and excelled at ordering his comportment. When Emperor Saga was still a prince, he valued Fumunushi's talent highly and held him in esteem. At the end of the Enryaku era (-806) he became Owari-no-shōsakan, Junior Clerk of Owari. In the Daidō (806-810) and Kōnin (810-824) eras he served successively as Nuidono-no-takumi-no-shōjō, Junior Secretary of the Sewing and Craftsmen's Office, and Sahyōe-no-gon-no-daijō, Provisional Senior Lieutenant of the Left Gate Guards, was transferred to Saemon-no-daijō, Senior Lieutenant of the Left Gate Guards, performed the duties of a Kebiishi, police and judicial commissioner, and soon moved to Ukonoe-no-shōgen, Lieutenant of the Right Palace Guards. Since Fumunushi excelled at the wagon, the Japanese zither, he became Ōutadokoro-no-bettō, Superintendent of the Office of Great Songs. At that time there was a man of Silla named Sara-no-Makuma who excelled at the Silla zither, shiragigoto. Fumunushi studied under him and in the end mastered the art. He was granted Outer Junior Fifth Rank Lower and appointed Oribe-no-kami, Director of the Weavers' Bureau. Sent out to the provinces as Izumi-no-kami, Governor of Izumi, he achieved good administrative results. Rising by stages to Junior Fifth Rank Upper, he was transferred to Bizen-no-kami, Governor of Bizen, and was likewise praised as upright and impartial. In the Tenchō era (824-834) he became Sakyō-no-suke, Assistant Master of the Left Capital Office, and soon was appointed Chikugo-no-kami, Governor of Chikugo, but did not go to his post because of illness and was again appointed Sakyō-no-suke (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku). In the Jōwa era (834-848), together with his kinsman Takayo, Ecchū-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Etchū, and others, he petitioned to change his surname. For this he was granted the surname Okiyo-no-Ason. Soon he served successively as Shinano-no-kami, Governor of Shinano, and Moku-no-kami, Director of the Bureau of Carpentry, and rising by stages reached Junior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki and the Montoku Jitsuroku). In the third year of Kashō (850) he was transferred to Jibu-no-taifu, Senior Assistant Minister of Civil Administration. He died that year at the age of seventy-three (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku).

Sugawara-no-Minetsugu

¶Sugawara-no-Minetsugu was a man of the Left Capital, and his original surname was Izumo-no-Ason. His father Hirosada was versed in medicine and was of Senior Fifth Rank Lower, Shinano-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Shinano (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). Receiving an edict from Emperor Heizei, he compiled, together with Abe-no-Manao and others, the Daidō Ruijuhō in one hundred volumes (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Ninnaji Shoseki Mokuroku). Minetsugu served Emperor Junna from the time when the emperor was still a prince, petitioned to carry on his father's work, and was appointed Itokugyōshō, a candidate in medicine. He sat the examination and passed, and the system of the Itokugyōshō began from this. He became Sahyōe-no-ishi, Physician of the Left Gate Guards. In the early years of Tenchō (824-) he was moved to Ihakase, Doctor of Medicine, and served concurrently as Naiyaku-no-suke, Assistant Director of the Inner Medical Office, and Jii. Soon he also served as Settsu-no-daisakan, Senior Clerk of Settsu, yielded his post as doctor to Mononobe-no-Hiroizumi, moved to Shuzen-no-kami, Director of the Table Office, and kept his other posts as before. After Emperor Junna abdicated, recalling their old bonds from his princely days, he called Minetsugu into his entourage, and the favor shown him was beyond the ordinary. He was transferred to Owari and Mino as Provisional Assistant Governor, but did not go. In the Kashō era (848-851) he became Echigo-no-kami, Governor of Echigo. For his medical service to the Grand Empress Dowager he was transferred to Harima-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Harima, and was treated with special favor beyond that given in neighboring provinces. Rising by stages to Junior Fifth Rank Upper, he became Tenyaku-no-kami. In the fifth year of Jōgan (863), pleading old age, he asked to resign. He went out to the provinces as Settsu-no-gon-no-kami and retired to his mountain villa in Teshima district. While he lived in retirement growing medicinal herbs, he had no dealings with the world, and changed to his present surname because he shared a common ancestor with the Haji clan. Minetsugu did not let his family's name fall, and the medicines he prescribed achieved many effects. He once received an imperial command to compile the Kinran-hō together with the famous physicians of the time, and also added commentary on the methods of acupuncture and moxibustion. Physicians of later generations took these as their model (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku).

Sugawara-no-Kajinari

¶Sugawara-no-Kajinari was a man of the Right Capital. He was skilled in medicine and especially excellent in prescriptions. The court valued his depth in the classics of medicine and wished to have him asked about points of doubt (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku). In the early years of Jōwa (834-), he went to Tang as Chijōsenji, Ship Supervisor, of the embassy to Tang. In the sixth year of Jōwa (839) he returned home. At sea he encountered a violent storm and was driven to the southern seas, where he was attacked and plundered by robbers, and several men died. Kajinari and the others fought with all their strength and barely escaped. They obtained one five-shaku halberd, one Hengai-ōhai, and one arrow, none of which resembled Chinese weapons in the least. They gathered timbers of the wrecked ship, built a small boat, and drifted in it to Ōsumi (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki; that they gathered timbers of the wrecked ship follows the Montoku Jitsuroku). When the Dazaifu reported this to the court, an imperial order was sent down to the Dazaifu, which said: "Sugawara-no-Kajinari and the others, ship supervisors of the embassy to Tang, divided among a single small boat and drifted to the coast of Ōsumi province. Though Kajinari and his companions were swept away to a foreign land, they escaped with their lives against all odds. Considering their hardships, they should truly be treated with great kindness." Until they reached the capital, they were to be comforted as before and given appropriate cloth and silk. Kajinari entered the capital and presented the weapons he had obtained (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki). In the tenth year of Jōwa (843) he became Hari-hakase, Doctor of Acupuncture, and was transferred to Jii. In the third year of Ninju (853) he was granted Outer Junior Fifth Rank Lower and afterwards died (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku).

Mononobe-no-Hiroizumi

¶Mononobe-no-Hiroizumi was a man of Kazahaya district, Ise province. Later he transferred his registered domicile to the capital, studied medicine while young, and read many medical books. He first became Ihakase, Doctor of Medicine, served concurrently as Tenyaku-no-jō, Secretary of the Bureau of Medicine, rose to Jii, Imperial Physician, and served successively as Jō, Third-Rank Official, of Iyo and Sanuki (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). At the end of the Jōwa era (-848) he served concurrently as Naiyaku-no-kami (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki and the Sandai Jitsuroku). Rising by stages, he reached Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). In the Ninju (851-854) and Saikō (854-857) eras he became Jijijū, Junior Chamberlain, changed his kabane to Obito, and was granted Ason (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku). In the early years of Jōgan (859-) he rose by stages to Senior Fifth Rank Lower and became Mikawa-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Mikawa, and Naiyaku-no-kami, remaining Imperial Physician as before. He died at the age of seventy-six. In medicine Hiroizumi had no equal in his day, and he was also skilled in caring for his own health; even in old age his beard and eyebrows were white, his skin lustrous, and his strength still robust. He wrote the Sesshū Yōketsu in twenty volumes (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku).

Tanba-no-Masatada

¶Tanba-no-Masatada was a descendant of Achi-no-Omi. The family had lived in Tanba for generations, and his great-grandfather Yasuyori was granted the surname Tanba-no-Sukune. Excelling in medicine, he was appointed Uemon-no-suke, Assistant Captain of the Right Gate Guards, and served concurrently as Shin'i-hakase, Doctor of Acupuncture. In the Eikan era (983-985) he wrote the Ishinpō in thirty volumes and presented it to the throne. His grandfather Shigemasa became Tenyaku-no-kami and Jii and served concurrently as Tanba-no-gon-no-kami. His father Tadaaki likewise became Tenyaku-no-kami and Jii, served concurrently as Tanba-no-suke, and by imperial command changed his kabane to Sukune and was granted Ason (Note: following the Tanba Keizu). Masatada carried on the work of his father and forebears and became an Igaku Tokugyōshō, a candidate in medical studies. In the seventh year of Chōgen (1034) he took the examination. Since the time of his great-grandfather Yasuyori the examination had long not been held, and it was now held again (Note: following the Sakeiki). The next year he became Gon-no-ihakase, Provisional Doctor of Medicine. In the early years of Chōkyū (1040-) he served concurrently as Bingo-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Bingo (Note: following the Jimoku Taiseishō). In the Eishō era (1046-1053) he was appointed Kamon-no-kami, Director of the Bureau of Housekeeping. At that time the emperor lay ill, and when Masatada administered medicine it was effective, and for this merit he was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Hyakurenshō). He became Jii and was granted Senior Fourth Rank Lower. In the Eihō era (1081-1084) he became Tanba-no-suke. In the early years of Ōtoku (1084-) he was transferred to Provisional Governor (Note: following the Jimoku Taiseishō). He reached Tenyaku-no-kami and Uemon-no-suke (Note: following the Keizu). In the Jōryaku era (1077-1081), when the consort of the king of Koryŏ fell ill, the king entrusted a diplomatic note to a merchant ship and sent it to the Dazaifu, seeking to summon Masatada with generous gifts. The court did not permit it and had a reply sent to the Dazaifu, which contained the passage: "How could Bian Que (Note: a renowned physician of ancient China) travel beyond the clouds of Gyerim (Note: Korea)?" (Note: following the Ruijū Honchō Monzui, the Chōya Gunsai and the Jikkinshō). From this time the world began to call Masatada the "Bian Que of Japan." In the second year of Kanji (1088) he died at the age of sixty-eight (Note: following the Rekidai Kōki). Once, when Emperor Go-Suzaku suffered from a boil, Wake-no-Sukenari, Tenyaku-no-kami, diagnosed: "When the pus and fluid stop, he will recover." Masatada was then barely of age, but after withdrawing he told someone: "I do not think he will recover." And indeed the emperor died. Masatada once saw in a dream a boy who said to him: "Your great-grandfather Yasuyori prayed to me earnestly and sincerely. Since then I have long guarded the medical books. Now a calamity is about to occur, so I warn you." Masatada woke in alarm and made preparations. Soon there was a fire, but the medical books in the end escaped being burned (Note: following the Zoku Kojidan). His sons were Tadayasu and Shigeyasu. Tadayasu also became Tenyaku-no-kami and served concurrently as Bettō of the Kokusōin. Shigeyasu became Zusho-no-kami and Seyakuin-shi, Commissioner of the Hospital of Medicines, and served as Jii. His descendants served for generations through medicine (Note: following the Keizu).

Kudara-no-Kawanari

¶Kudara-no-Kawanari's original surname was Yo, and his ancestors were men of Paekche (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki). He excelled in martial skills and could draw a strong bow, and was also gifted in painting. In the Daidō era (806-810) he became a member of the Sakonoe, the Left Palace Guards (Note: after "Sakonoe" the base text seems to have missing characters). He was often summoned by the emperor. The portraits of men of old and the plants and trees that he painted were exquisite and lifelike; once, while he was in the palace and someone was trying to have an attendant summoned, the man declined, saying he did not know the attendant's face. Kawanari immediately took out paper and drew the man's face, and by that picture the man was able to find the attendant. Those who spoke of painting in the world took this as a model. In the fourteenth year of Kōnin (823) he was appointed Mimasaka-no-gon-no-shōsakan, Provisional Junior Clerk of Mimasaka. After some time he was granted Outer Junior Fifth Rank Lower. In the Jōwa era (834-848) he served successively as assistant governor of Bitchū and Harima (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku). Together with Fukunari, Ukyō-no-daisakan, Senior Clerk of the Right Capital Office, and others, he was granted the surname Kudara-no-Ason. Soon he advanced to Junior Fifth Rank Lower and was transferred to Aki-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Aki (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki). The men of the time regarded this as an honor. He died in the third year of Ninju (853) (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku).

Kose-no-Kanaoka

¶Kose-no-Kanaoka became Gen, Inspector, of the Shinsen-en garden in the Jōgan era (859-877) (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō). Later he became Hayato-no-kami, Director of the Hayato Office, and was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Kanshoku Hishō and the Kose-shi Keizu in the Jisha Zōjiki). He excelled in painting and was called the foremost of his time. In the fourth year of Gangyō (880) he painted the images of the Former Sage and Former Teacher, Confucius and his foremost disciple, for use in the Sekiten (Note: the rite honoring Confucius), and these were used for generations (Note: following the Taiki and the entry for the fourth year of Enkyū (1072) quoted in the Gōke Shidai Chū). Emperor Uda commanded Minamoto-no-Naokata, Fujiwara-no-Okimoto and others to select Confucian scholars distinguished for poetry from the Kōnin era (810-824) onward, and had Kanaoka paint the east and west sliding screens of the Seiryōden and also the Kenjō-no-shōji, the screen of sages, of the Shishinden (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki). Above all he was most skilled at painting horses, and this was handed down and praised in the world. When the emperor was at the Ninnaji temple, Kanaoka painted a horse on the wall of the hall. Something then began to eat the rice in the neighboring fields every night, and no one knew what it was. Later hoofprints of mud were found on the painted horse's hooves, and when they tried scraping away its pupils, the damage ceased, it is said (Note: following the Kokon Chomonjū). He had two sons, Kinmochi and Kintada. Kinmochi's son was Fukae, and Fukae's son was Hirotaka (Note: "hiro" is also written with another character). They carried on the family business generation after generation, and all excelled in painting. A seller of folding-screen paintings appeared, and Fukae bought one, but Hirotaka was not much impressed. Fukae asked: "Can you paint this field and plain?" Hirotaka answered: "I cannot." "Then can you paint these crags and ravines?" He answered: "I cannot." Fukae said slowly: "This was painted by your uncle Kintada. Whenever your uncle paints, he always signs on the back of the paper." They looked, and it was indeed so. The people of the time praised his discernment. Later those who spoke of painting regarded the Kose family as the main house. Kinmochi and Kintada were both called masters, Fukae came next, and from Hirotaka downward the estimation declined somewhat. Kanaoka could paint a mountain in as many as fifteen layers, with all of distance, nearness, darkness and lightness fully expressing its character, but Hirotaka could not exceed five layers (Note: following the Masakane Ki quoted in the Kachō Yojō). When putting brush to paper he first drew the underdrawing, and if there was anything unsettled in the arrangement or the touches, he would think it over all night before applying color. Once he released a work into the world it won renown, and the folding screens and sliding screens he painted were treasured and handed down by the imperial princes and the regent families of the time. They were not used except on the occasion of a Taikyō banquet or for a special guest. Prince Tomohira said to the Kanpaku Michitaka: "For something like a cloth-covered screen, we should not trouble Hirotaka." Such was the esteem in which he was held at that time. Hirotaka was deeply devoted to the Buddhist way, and when his illness grew grave he shaved his head and became a monk. Later, when he recovered somewhat, the emperor, regretting the loss of his painting talent, commanded him to let his hair grow. He lived in the Higashiyama villa of a certain Ōmi-no-kami, with a hall beside the residence. Hirotaka painted a picture of hell there, and those who saw it shrank back in dread. This is the present Chōrakuji temple (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari). In his last years he painted a further transformation tableau of hell, in which demons pierced sinners with halberds, and the force of it was terribly fierce. Hirotaka sighed: "Perhaps my own life is now at its end." Soon afterwards he died. At that time there was a man named Asuka-no-Tsunenori, who was likewise known in painting alongside Kinmochi (Note: following the Kokon Chomonjū). He became Saemon-no-sakan, Clerk of the Left Gate Guards, and directly ran the Edokoro, the Painting Office. In the Ōwa era (961-964), by imperial command, he painted on the south wall of the west eaves of the Seiryōden a picture of King Hakutaku slaying a demon (Note: following the imperial diary quoted in the Kakaishō; the two characters "slaying the demon" follow the Kinpishō). This is the so-called "Demon Room," Oni-no-ma (Note: following the Kinpishō).