--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Taylor, Alma O. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 17 number: 6 published: 1914-04 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Alma O. Taylor, "In the Beginning," *Improvement Era* 17, no. 6 (April 1914): 528–532.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera176unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera176unse start_page: 528 end_page: 532 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1914-04) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera176unse publication_year: 1914 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1914, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # In the Beginning In the Beginning According to Japanese Ancient Books BY ALMA 0. TAYLOR "Japan is not a land where men need pray, For 'tis itself divine." — Hitomaro, A. D. 737. "In the great days of old, And what they loved to tell, When o'er the land the gods held We of this later age ourselves do sovereign sway, prove; _ Our fathers loved to say For every living man That the bright gods with tender May feast his eyes on tokens of care enfold their love." The fortunes of Japan, Blessing the land with many an — Poem of Yamagami no Okura, holy spell: A. D. 733. In the beginning women played the star parts. Chaos enveloped all things. The world substance floated in the cosmic mass like oil in water. Heaven and earth were undivided. The male, or positive, principle, and the female, or negative, principle, had not yet developed. The three chief, or pillar, gods then existent, being single — sexless, self-begotten — "hid their bodies" (died). At length chaos began to condense. The clear, etherial elements of the floating substance sublimed and became the heavens ; the thicker elements formed into a warm earth-mold out of which two self-begotten, sexless gods sprouted like a rush, then passed away. In the "Plain of High Heaven" there sprang forth many divine lines of gods, spontaneously evolving until finally perfect bodies, sex, and differentiation of powers appeared. The first manifestation of the male essence was in the god named "Izanagi (meaning "male who invites"), and of the female essence in the god, called "Izanami" (meaning "female who invites"). These two were brother and sister in the same line. From the council of the heavenly gods they received a command to descend and inhabit the drifting earth. A floating bridge extended earthward from the heavens. On this the divine pair stood, and Izanagi plunged his jeweled spear into the liquid mass beneath, stirring it until it thickened. As he withdrew the spear, sluggish drops fell from its point, congealed and formed an island upon which they twain descended. This was the first creative act. The "Island of the Congealed Drop" (known in modern geography as "Awaji," and located at the en- IN THE BEGINNING 529 trance to the Inland Sea) became the first of the Japanese archipelago, and was the base from which these two gods operated in the creation of the other islands embraced in the Everlasting Great Japan. The creative pair started on a tour of inspection around the island, the male going to the left and the female to the right. When they met, Izanami cried out in passionate admiration, "How joyful to meet a lovely man!" But Izanagi, offended that a woman's tongue should be the first to speak, ordered the circuit to be repeated. On their second meeting, he greeted Izanami with the borrowed sentiment, "How joyful to meet a lovely woman !" In this episode we find the beginning of love between the sexes and of the human race. The fruit of Izanami's first conception was a beautiful girl. The father, having wished for a boy, felt great disappointment and chagrin. But the child, so radiant in form and feature that she lit up both heaven and earth, was named "Amaterasu" (meaning "Heaven-illuminating-goddess), and was transferred to heaven to rule over the etherial realm. The next child, also a female, became the "Moon-goddess," and ruled jointly with Amaterasu, having equal glory and light until, because of offending the Sun-goddess, she was degraded and condemned to shine only at night while Amaterasu slept. Izanami's third child was a son, ill-formed, and after three years was still unable to walk. His father, therefore, set him adrift at sea in an ark made of camphor-wood. This child became the "God of the Sea and the Storms." The fourth babe — a fine boy — filled the father's heart with delight. But he grew up to be a self-willed, mischievous, wicked fellow and bore the name "Susanoo," which means "Impetuous Male." The fifth time Izanami laid her life on the altar of motherhood, she died, but the child was saved, and became the "God of Fire." At her death, Izanami fled to the "Under World," or the "Region of Night" (Hades) and, in her flight, brought forth the "God of Clay" and the "Goddess of Fresh Water," whose mission it was to pacify the God of Fire. The God of Clay and the Goddess of Fresh Water married. The issue of this union was the "Goddess of Food," who at one time received a messenger from Amaterasu. This messenger had been sent to see if there really lived a food-possessing goddess in the "Land of Luxuriant Reedy Moors" (Japan). The Food-goddess therefore, took fish from the sea and hairy beasts from the hills and prepared a feast for her guest, who, being enraged at the manner in which the food was served, killed her. Her corpse became a fruitful field in which grew rice, barley, millet, beans, grass and 530 IMPROVEMENT ERA the mulberry tree. The Sun-goddess, on hearing of the murder, wept and sent to learn if the Food-goddess was really dead. The second messenger found her dead body ; it was overgrown with vegetation. He took of every kind and carried them to Amaterasu, who rejoiced and ordained that the fruits of the field should be the food of man ; and she appointed husbandmen to till, to sow and to reap. Izanagi, after the death of his wife, was sad and lonely. Finally, Orpheus-like, he followed his Eurydice to Hades and pleaded for her return, which she fain would do, but parleyed so long with the gods of the "Root Land," that Izanagi grew impatient, broke a tooth from his hair comb, lit it as a torch and rushed in — only to find her a heap of foul putrefaction in the midst of which sat the Gods of Thunder and Rain ! Horrified at the awful spectacle, he fled back to the upper world, pursued, but not overtaken, by the ugly gods of darkness. He retreated to another part of the earth (Japan), where he purified himself by bathing in a stream, and in this act, from each article of clothing discarded and from the filth washed from his body, were born the wicked gods who have ever since warred with the good gods and tormented mankind. At this point the divine pair who became the ancestors of all things pass from the story, and in their passing the beginning ends. There is, however, a mythical tale about Amaterasu which begs a place in this article, for in the tale we discover the origin of many arts and customs that contribute to the charm of Japanese life. It runs thus : After designating the food for man and appointing husbandmen to till the fields, Amaterasu set the example of industry herself by raising silk-worms, spinning thread and weaving cloth. One day while sitting at her loom with her weaving-maidens, Susanoo, that "Impetuous Male" brother with whom she had had several quarrels, rushed into the room and threw the reeking carcass of a flayed horse before her. This impious act so wounded the fine feelings of the beautiful goddess that she retired to a cave and closed the entrance with a large rock. Earth and heaven were immediately enshrouded in darkness, and the evil gods of night came forth and danced and cried in terrifying boldness. The tumult in the inky blackness grew more appalling day by day. Then all the gods — eight myriads in number — gathered on the fair river-plain of Yasu and devised a scheme to entice the great illuminating goddess from her hiding place. The wise gods drew attention to the fact that curiosity and jealousy were ruling passions' in all females, and therefore proposed that an image of the self-imprisoned goddess be made, one even more beautiful than herself. But how could this be done? A god, wiser than the wise, IN THE BEGINNING 531 knowing, too, the vanity of all females, said, "Let the image be a round mirror like the sun !" Enough of the plans. To work. A large stone brought from the river formed the anvil ; the skin of a deer furnished the bellows ; and the blacksmith-god molded two mirrors out of iron taken from heaven's mines. These were too small, but the third he made was large and beautiful with a surface polished bright like the sun. It was approved by all the gods. The artisan-gods were set to work. A splendid palace was erected to receive the great goddess ; coarse, fine and striped cloths were woven to cover her dainty limbs ; costly jewelry was made for her adornment ; and instruments of music invented for her entertainment. But would she come? Two gods were appointed to find out by divination. They caught a wild buck, took out the bone of its foreleg and set him free. When the bone was placed in a cherry-bark fire, it cracked propitiously. The sign was positive. Let the great final act begin. A sakaki (sacred tree) was uprooted, the jewelry hung on its top branches, and the fine and coarse cloths displayed on its lower branches, while the middle limbs supported the great mirror. Innumerable chanticleers were perched in a lusty chorus. The musician-gods formed in an imposing orchestra. A goddess named "Uzume," with countenance of "heavenly glossiness," led the dance. The bonfires were lit before the cavern. Uzume mounted upon a circular box, carrying in her hand a wand of bamboo trimmed with grass, from the points of which tiny bells tinkled. The music started. Uzume burst forth in song: "Ye gods, behold the cavern door! Majesty appears — Our hearts are fully satisfied; Behold my charms." She danced, and the box resounded in drum-like melody to the touch of her feet, and, like Salome, she disrobed herself in a rhythm of graceful movements. The gods, overcome with the spirit of mirth and folly, laughed so loudly, and the irrepressible chanticleers crowed so lustily that all heaven shook. The sound entered the cave, and the Sun-goddess was amazed : "Are not heaven and earth in darkness ? Why, then, this ill-timed mirth?" She drew near the entrance and listened. That wise god, who knew a woman's nature, standing without, poured honeyed words of flattery, through the crack in the rocky door. These fell on Amaterasu's ears, and, impelled on by curiosity, she rolled the rock slightly aside and asked, "Why are the gods merry? Why does Uzume dance?" To which Uzume replied, "I dance because there is a deity whose beauty surpasses yours." At that instant, a god of much personal charm, who had 532 IMPROVEMENT ERA been assigned to the duty, turned the large mirror so it would reflect the face of the Sun-goddess as she peered from the cave. Amaterasu, beholding for the first time the reflection of her own loveliness, advanced a little in eager admiration. Then the "God of Invincibly Strong Arms," who had stood concealed beside the cave, pulled the rock door wide open and brought the Sun-goddess forth. She took her eternal abode in the palace the gods had builded for her, and from that time she has ever shone in undimmed glory from heaven to earth. The "Impetuous Male" god, Susanoo, was driven out of heaven. He paid a visit to Hades where he encountered a murderous, eight-headed dragon. By a clever stratagem, he slew the dragon and found in its tail a sword (called "Cloud Cluster") of superior temper, which he afterwards presented to his sister, Amaterasu. Returning to Idzumo, in Japan, he lived a strenuous life, and, after much righting, established himself as ruling god. But Amaterasu, seeing war and contention on the earth, decided to send one of her own family to rule and subdue the land. A grandchild named Ninigi was chosen for this mission. But before his descent, envoys were dispatched to the earth to obtain the submission of the ruling deity. This finally accomplished, Ninigi descended and lighted on a mountain peak in southwestern Japan. At the departure from heaven, Amaterasu gave her grandson three treasures (which now form the sacred emblems in the imperial regalia) — the mirror, emblem of her own soul, the "cloud cluster" sword, taken from the dragon's tail, and a stone seal. Giving these she said, "For centuries upon centuries shall thy descendants rule this kingdom. Herewith receive from me the succession and the three-crown talismans. Should you at any future time desire to see me, look in this mirror. Govern this country with the pure lustre that radiates from its surface. Deal with thy subjects with the gentleness which the smooth rounding of this stone typifies. Combat the enemies of thy kingdom with this sword, and slay them on the edge of it." After Ninigi's descent, heaven and earth became further separated, and communication with heaven by the floating bridge ceased. It is interesting to note that the grandchild of Ninigi became the first emperor of Japan. Ninigi was the great grandchild of the first creative pair who, standing on the floating bridge of heaven, separated the land from the waters with their jeweled spear. The present emperor of Japan, being a descendant of the first emperor, is, therefore, verily in the lineage of the gods. ("Confucius, the Light of the East," is the next and final article in this series of three, on eastern lands.)