Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 6.djvu/267

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APPENDIX

cal, or burlesque, language, but was used with reference to the entertainment furnished by the choric monologues rather than to any extravagance in their diction.

Note 41.—The Oban (large plate) did not consist of pure gold. It contained about sixty-eight per cent of gold and twenty-nine per cent of silver.

Note 42.—A cheque, or commercial note, is still called te-gata (lit. hand-shape), evidently from the fact that in early times the impression of the thumb was the common method of signature. Sometimes the whole hand was impressed.

Note 43.—The fact that they were market towns in the old days may be gathered from the names that some places still retain; as Yokka-ichi (fourth-day market), Yōka-ichi (eighth-day market), Kami-ichi (upper market), Shimo-ichi (lower market), etc.

Note 44.—This hall was called Koro-kwan. There were three: one in Kyōtō, one in Naniwa (Ōsaka), and one at Hakata in Chikuzen.

Note 45.—They were called toimaru, a term now obsolete.

Note 46.—These were known as kaisen, in mediæval phraseology.

Note 47.—The interior dimensions of the masu as prescribed by the Taikō's legislation were 5.1 inches by 5.15 inches by 2.45 inches. Japanese joiners found no difficulty in conforming with these measurements. The object of the legislator was to contrive a measure which should contain a fraction less than 1 sho (or 10 go). The masu here indicated had a capacity of 9.86 go.

Note 48.—This céladon is called Tenryu-seiji, seiji (green ware) being the general name given to céladon in Japan. (Vide chapter on porcelain and pottery.)

Note 49.—There has been some dispute about these facts, but they appear to be historical. It is on record that Yoshimitsu went to Hyōgo to meet a Chinese ambassador; that he wore a Chinese costume to receive his guest and rode in a Chinese palanquin to the place of meeting.

Note 50.—Nanking was the residence of the Chinese Court until the year 1412, when Peking became the capital.

Note 51.— The reader should perhaps be warned against

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