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 forming the appearance of a wheel of a thousand spokes…. The toes are slender, round, long, straight, graceful, and somewhat luminous.”

The explanation of the Seven Appearances which is given by the Shō-Ekō-Hō-Kwan cannot be called satisfactory; but it is not without interest in relation to Japanese popular Buddhism. The emblems are considered in the following order:—

I.—The Svastikâ. The figure upon each toe is said to be a modification of the manji ; and although I doubt whether this is always the case, I have observed that on some of the large kakémono representing the footprints, the emblem really is the svastika,—not a flamelet nor a flower-shape. The Japanese commentator explains the svastikâ as a symbol of “everlasting bliss.”

II.—The Fish (Gyo). The fish signifies freedom from all restraints. As in the water a fish moves easily in any direction, so in the Buddha-state the fully-emancipated knows no restraints or obstructions.