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Abstract
The core of this study is my translation of the first segment of the Enoshima Engi (江嶋縁起), the first in
a
western language. The Enoshima Engi
is a history of the temples/shrines on Enoshima Island, which lies in
Sagami Bay about 50 kilometers south of present-day Tokyo. Written in
Chinese by the learned Buddhist monk Kokei (皇慶) in 1047 AD, this
segment
of the Enoshima Engi relates
an
apparently fabulous story of a destructive five-headed dragon that
lived
in a large, swampy lake along the course of a local river in the period
prior to the sixth century AD. The dragon plagued the inhabitants of
the
low coastal hills in the vicinity of Enoshima, causing floods and
swallowing children.
This segment of Kokei's history has long been dismissed as myth.
However, many details related in the history are accurate for the time
frame covered by the story (a period of 1,000-some years ending in 552
AD according to traditional, unconfirmed dates used by Kokei), when
much
of the area was still emerging from under the water of Sagami Bay. This
study assembles evidence and/or documentation to support the view that:
The large lake and the villages not only existed but were at
precisely the locations described in the history. Related details are
also supported.
The destructive five-headed dragon represented the violent local
river and its four major tributaries as seen from the hills where the
ancient inhabitants lived. As such it was a deification of water — the
waters of the river and the estuary — which was the dominant threat to
the lives and livelihoods of the local inhabitants.
Flooding was a problem, caused in part by a local river that is
still notorious for its violent floods and in part by storms.
The extensive correspondence between the details of this segment of
Kokei's history and the supporting evidence and documentation suggests
that Kokei had access to fairly accurate information on the
"proto-history" of this region of Japan. Thus Kokei's Enoshima Engi may contribute to our
knowledge of conditions in early Japan in the area around Enoshima.
Further research (see
VI. below) suggests that the spectacular aerial
and terrestrial phenomena described by Kokei actually occurred. (this
section added March 2006)
The phenomena included dark clouds covering the sea for almost
two weeks, a swarm of earthquakes, the appearance of a bright goddess
above the clouds, great stones falling from the
sky, lightning bolts, rocks and
sand spurting up from the bottom of the sea, and the descent of the
goddess onto the island. These phenomena resemble (note the
similarities between here
and here)
phenomena mentioned in a Purana
as having occurred around the Sarasvati River. Also see this article.
This segment describes the spectacular aerial and terrestrial phenomena
at Enoshima in the early summer of 552, the descent of the goddess, and
the subduing of the dragon.
"Documentary
Evidence for the Apparition of a Comet in Late 593 and Early 594 AD,"
print-only abstract at the 38th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference,
Lunar and Planetary Institute, 2007. Note:
Clicking on the link will
download a .pdf file of the four abstracts in the Comets and Kuiper Belt Objects
section of the conference.
Read a bare-bones outline of the story
without footnotes and long-winded explanations; includes a photograph
of one representation of the goddess
Acknowledgments: I wish to thank
the staff of the public libraries of Fujisawa and Kamakura for their
courteous and
extensive help in locating reference materials.
E-mail (Remove "SPAMNO"
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(added
March 2006) What caused the
unusual celestial and terrestrial phenomena in Japan in the early
summer of AD552: a meteor shower, an aurora, a comet sighting? Whatever
their cause, they have striking similarities to phenomena associated
with the
ancient Sarasvati River.