, 1, the rank of Brahma; 2, the rank of Indra; 3,
the rank of a chief guardian of the four quarters; 4, the rank of
Kakravartin; 5, the rank of a Bodhisattva incapable of sliding back,"
Saddharma Pundarika, Kern's Translation, p. 252.]
[Footnote 56: Chi[=u]-j[=o]-hime was the first Japanese nun, and the
only woman who is commemorated by an idol. "She extracted the fibres of
the lotus root, and wove them with silk to make tapestry for altars."
Fuso Mimi Bukuro, p. 128. Her romantic and marvellous story is given in
S. and H., p. 397. "The practice of giving ranks to women was commenced
by Jito Tenn[=o] (an empress, 690-705)." Many women shaved their heads
and became nuns "on becoming widows, as well as on being forsaken by, or
after leaving their husbands. Others were orphans." One of the most
famous nuns (on account of her rank) was the Nii no Ama, widow of
Kiyomori and grandmother of the Emperor Antoku, who were both drowned
near Shimono-seki, in the great naval battle of 1185 A.D. Adams's
History of Japan, Vol. I., p. 37; M.E., p. 137.]
[Footnote 57: M.E., p. 213; Japanese Women, World's Columbian
Exhibition, Chicago, 1893, Chap. III.]
[Footnote 58: There is no passage in the original Greek texts, or in the
Revised Version of the New Testament which ascribes wings to the
_aggelos_, or angel.
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