The herald., 1895-08-18
ENTERING TnB TEMPLE

cruel husband, struck by the devotion
of his wife, mended his ways and became
dutiful and kind. To put stop to fur
ther experiments of this XII nd. the city
government caused high bArricade to
he erected around the platform.
The next place worthy of notice is Dali
butsu (great Buddha). A huge human
figure, constructed of wood, was erected
in 1887, and measured 16O feet from the
sole of the foot to the crown of the head.
The building in which it stood was 200
feet high, 1862 feet wide and 270 feet long.
This image was destroyed by an earth
quake few years after its erection. The
shotgun, Hideyoshi. observing the condi-
tion of the ruined temple and the broken
idol, flushed with anger. shot an arrow
into it. saying, II placed you here that
you might watch over and protect the
protect yourself" The wooden image
was replaced by one Of bronze, 63 feet in
height, but in 164S. the imperial treasury
beng.cmpty, the acting shogun took 1t
down and coined it into cash. Two years
afterward another wooden statue was
erected, and this was destroyed by light
ming. The present image has been stand
ing half century, and is of inferior ma
terial and workmanship. The time for
building great images of Buddha in Ja-
pan has passed away.
The bell connected with the temple of
Daibutsu is larger and heavier than that
of Chlonin. When hung In its tower and
ready for dedication messenger from
Iyeyasu. the shogun, arrived with
orders that it should not be struck. Civ.
ing as reason that a certain passage in
the inscription on the bell prophesied
the downfall of the shogun.. 1yeyasu
was at this time 73 years of age and
jealous of Hideyori. youth of % and
heir to the shogunate. Hideyori was to
have taken part in the ceremony of the
dedication, and 1yeyasu knowing this
was glad of the occasion for provoking
quarrel hy which his powerful lival
might be got out of the way. The pre-
text succeeded, Hidevori was sacrificed and
the shogunate remained in the family OF
Iyeyasu, until the nffice of shogun was
abolished by the restoration of the
miksdo to personal control in 1868. The
following are a few extracts from the
long inscription on the bell, cut deep in
Chinese characters into the metal: THE
temple IS built-lts steep roof is high up
in the blue sky. and its crystalline base
reaches to the bottom Of the earth. Its
thousand pillars and posts stand high
with beams and rafters placed upon them.
and some parts are adorned splendidly,
and some parus are carved beautifully.
The beautiful gate stands loftily at
the front, with corridor surrounding the
most splendid temple in the world. and
everybody, even deity itself, bows down,
struck with its magnificence. Besides
all this the great bell was made for the
prupose OF Indicating the morning and
evening hours. 1t can be heard
up to heaven and down to hell. and there
is no place where its sound like thunder
cannot be heard. 1t opens the ears of
mankind, and OF the evil ones, and makes
them aware Of theif wickedness.'
But the great bell was destined never
to ring. When I saw it in 1873 it was
resting upon blocks of stone in the open
court.
In close proximity 20 Daibutsu is { he
Sanjiu-san gen dU-thirty three fold
temple, built in honor of the thousand
handed goddess of mercy.
1t contains one thousand gilt Idols,
each in the form OF a full grown human
figure. Around each of these is grouped
company of smaller idols, also gilt,
the whole collection being supposed to
number 80, 333. The largest idol is a
sitting statue of Kwannon, which meas
ures eight feet from the knees to the
crown OF the head. The other idols are
arranged in tiers on each side of this
larger one, and represent gods and god