Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 1.djvu/289

 priests seem to have obtained the leaf from China, and to have remained almost the exclusive users of the beverage until the beginning of the ninth century, when the Emperor Saga was so pleased with tea given to him by a Buddhist prelate that he ordered the plant to be cultivated in five provinces near the capital. But he did not succeed in making it popular. Its very name was forgotten for nearly three centuries.  —A spray of flowers thus attached to a present was called kokoro-bana (blossom of the heart; i. e. flower of good wishes). Originally real flowers were used, but subsequently artificial blossoms were substituted or even ribbons. In a still later age, it became customary to decorate with a paper butterfly the handle of a vessel used for pouring out sake on occasions of congratulation, and it is believed that the modern habit of attaching coloured paper to a gift had its origin in the "heart-blossom."  —The annals of the Heian epoch contain the names of five celebrated flutes, four guitars, and nine harps. The names given to them were such as "Verdant leaves," "Rippling current," "Summer landscape," "Restful peace," "Autumn wind," "Pine-scented breeze," "Memories of the past," and so on.  —Sung by the celebrated Shizuka when, after her parting from Yoshitsune, she had to dance before his brother and enemy Yoritomo.  —Fille de joie. The term makes its appearance for the first time in books written at the beginning of the tenth century.  —A striking illustration of the part played by women and of the morality of this Court is furnished in the closing scene of the Heian epoch. The Emperor Toba gave his heart to a concubine, Toku (afterwards called Bifuku-mon-in). The heir-apparent, Sutoku, though nominally Toba's son by his consort Soshi, was suspected to be the son of his grandfather, Shirakawa, who had been a lover of Soshi. Toba, at the instigation of his mistress Toku, caused the heir-apparent to step aside in favour of Toku's son. But the latter died childless at an early age. Sutoku then seeking to recover his birthright, was opposed by the lady Toku, who maintained that 