Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/176

JAPAN not limit his examination to merely identifying the name of the maker, so the connoisseur of the countenance should not be content to consider the lucky or unlucky attributes only. The two estimates should go hand in hand. A sword being the product of the five elements, wood, fire, metal, and water, a fortunate blade cannot be forged at will, whatever guerdon be given to the sword-smith. There are good and bad men as also there are good and bad swords. If a master be virtuous, his servant will tread the path of right. If a captain be craven and incompetent, a brave soldier cannot serve under him. It is impossible for an evil-hearted man to retain possession of a famous sword." The quality of the blade reflects the character of the owner. In the age when this dictum was penned, and in previous centuries, few would have been found to dispute it, except on the ground that it underrated the sword's esoteric influences. Many men declined to use a blade decorated with Buddhist symbols; as Namu Amida Butsu (hear, oh! Amida Buddha), Hachiman Dai-Bosatsu (great Bodhisatva, God of War), various Sanscrit texts, the lotus flower, and so on. By association with a creed that forbade the taking of life, these symbols seemed unfitted to figure on a blade. On the other hand, it was contended that the sword being an instrument for preserving peace as well as for killing a foe, its connection with the 150