Note 69 — Exotics (continued 2)

This is the kaimyō of the lady for whose sake the temple of Kobudera was built; and the words “Mansion of Self-witness” here refer to the temple itself, which is thus named (Ji-Shō In). The Chinese text reads:—“Ji-Shō-In den, Kwo-zan Kyō-kei, Daishi,”—literally, “Great Elder-Sister, Dawn-Katsura-of-Luminous-Mountain, dwelling in the August Mansion of Self-witness.” The katsura (olea fragrans) is a tree mysteriously connected, in Japanese poetical fancy, with the moon; and its name is often used, as here, to signify the moon. Katsura-no-hana, or “katsura-flower” is a poetical term for moonlight.—This kaimyō is remarkable in having the honorific term “August” prefixed to the name of the mansion or temple,—a sign of the high rank of the dead lady. The full date inscribed is “twenty-eighth day of Mid-Autumn” (the old eighth month) “of the seventeenth year of Kwansei” (1640 A. D.)