Iyo Dogo Onsen Inscription - Iyo Dogo Onsen Inscription

Japanese: 伊予道後温泉碑文 - いよどうごおんせんひぶん

This is the inscription on a monument that is said to have been located on a hill in Isaniwa, near Dogo Onsen in Iyo Province (Ehime Prefecture). The monument itself has been lost, but the inscription appears to have been included in the Iyo no Kuni Fudoki, and can be found in ancient books such as the Shaku Nihongi and the Annotated Man'yoshu, which quote from this passage. The inscription consists of two parts: an introduction that describes the origins of the monument, and a central part that praises the miraculous powers of the hot spring. The introduction describes how Prince Shotoku visited the hot spring with the monk Keiji (there is a theory that this is a mistaken name, but it may actually be Keisou) and Katsuragi no Omi in October 596, and was so moved by its miraculous powers that he wrote the inscription. The central part makes full use of parallel phrases to liken the hot spring to a pure land or a Taoist pond in a divine realm, praising the scenery.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

伊予国(愛媛県)の道後温泉のかたわら，伊佐尓波（いさにわ）の岡にあったという碑の銘文。碑そのものは失われているが，碑文は《伊予国風土記》に載せられていたらしく，その部分を引用した《釈日本紀》《万葉集註釈》などの古書でみることができる。碑文の内容は，建碑のいわれを記した序の部分と，温泉の霊験を賛美した中心部の2部から成る。序では，596年10月，聖徳太子が僧恵慈(恵聡の誤りとする説がある)や葛城臣とこの温泉に遊び，その霊験に感じて碑文を作った旨を述べ，中心部では対句的な修辞を駆使して，温泉を浄土や道教的な神仙境の池になぞらえ，その情景をたたえる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

<<: Iyonada Sea

>>: Prince Iyo