urse
with Korea and China, whence came professors of the arts of
invisibility and magic. A thunder deity making his occasional abode
in lofty trees is gravely spoken of in the context of a campaign, and
if at one moment a river is inhabited by a semi-human monster, at
another a fish formed like a child is caught in the sea. There is, of
course, an herb of longevity--"a plant resembling coral in shape,
with clustering leaves and branches; some red, others purple, others
black, others golden coloured, and some changing their colours in the
four seasons." In the reign of the Empress Kogyoku, witches and
wizards betray the people into all sorts of extravagances; and a
Korean acolyte has for friend a tiger which teaches him all manner of
wonderful arts, among others that of healing any disease with a magic
needle. Later on, these and cognate creations of credulity take their
appropriate places in the realm of folk-lore, but they rank with
sober history in the ancient annals. In this respect Japan did not
differ from other early peoples.

THE FORTY-SIXTH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPRESS KOKEN (A.D. 749-758)

In July, 749, the Emperor Shomu abdicated in favour of his daughter,
Princess Abe, known in history as Koken. Her mother was the
celebrated Princess Asuka, who, in spite of the Shimbetsu lineage of
her Fujiwara family, had been made Shomu's Empress, and whose name
had been changed to Komyo (Refulgence) in token of her illustrious
piety. The daughter inherited all the mother's romance, but in her
case it often degenerated into a passion more elementary than
religious ecstasy. Shomu, having no son, made his daughter heir to
the throne. Japanese history furnished no precedent for such a step.
The custom had always been that a reign ceased on the death of a
sovereign unless the Crown Prince had not yet reached maturity, in
which event his mother, or some other nearly related princess,
occupied the throne until he came of age and then surrendered the
reigns of government to his hands. Such had been the practice in the
case of the Empresses Jito, Gemmyo, and Gensho. Shomu, however, not
only bequeathed the throne to a princess, but while himself still in
the prime of life, abdicated in her favour.

Thereafter, at the recognized instance of the all-powerful Fujiwara
family, Emperors often surrendered the sceptre to their heirs,
themselves retiring into religious life with the secular title of
Da-joko (Great ex-Emperor) and the ecclesia