Empress Saimei齊明天皇

Empress Ametoyotakara Ikashihitarashihime first married Prince Takamuku, the grandson of Emperor Tachibana no Toyohi, and bore Prince Aya. Afterward she married Emperor Okinagatarashihi Hironuka, and bore two sons and one daughter.

In the second year she was set up as empress. This is seen in the chronicle of Emperor Okinagatarashihi Hironuka.

In the thirteenth year, in winter, the tenth month, Emperor Okinagatarashihi Hironuka died.

In the first month of the following year the empress ascended the throne of emperor.

In the sixth month of the fourth year after the era was changed she gave the throne over to Emperor Ameyorozu Toyohi. Empress Ametoyotakara Ikashihitarashihime was called Sumemioya no Mikoto.

Emperor Ameyorozu Toyohi died in the tenth month of the fifth year after that.

In spring, the first month, the first day being an imsin day, on the gapsul day Sumemioya no Mikoto ascended the throne of emperor at the palace of Itabuki at Asuka.

In summer, the fifth month, the first day being a gyeongo day, there was one in the air riding a dragon. His look was like a man of Tang, and he wore a blue oiled hat. He ran from the ridge of Katsuragi and hid on Mount Ikoma. When the hour of the horse came, he went from above the pine ridge of Suminoe and ran away toward the west.

In autumn, the seventh month, the first day being a gisa day, on the gimyo day ninety-nine Emishi of the north and ninety-five Emishi of the east were feasted at the court of Naniwa. Places were made ready as well for a hundred and fifty men, the envoys of Baekje who brought tribute.

Then nine Emishi reared at the stockade and six Emishi of Tsugaru were each given two grades of rank.

In the eighth month, the first day being a musul day, Kawabe no Omi Maro and the rest came back from the great Tang.

In winter, the tenth month, the first day being a jeongyu day, on the giyu day a palace was raised and built at Oharida, and it was to be covered with tiles. Timber for the palace halls was also to be got in the deep mountains and the wide valleys, but much of it was rotten and spoiled. In the end it was stopped and not built.

In this winter there was a fire at the palace of Itabuki at Asuka. Therefore she moved and dwelt at the palace of Kawara at Asuka.

In this year Goryeo, Baekje and Silla all sent envoys and offered tribute. The Emishi and the Hayato led their people and submitted, and came to the palace to pay court and to offer.

Silla besides made Mimu (彌武), of the rank of geupchan, a hostage, and made twelve men skilled workmen (才伎). Mimu met with sickness and died.

In this year the year sign was eulmyo.

In autumn, the eighth month, the first day being a gyesa day, on the gyeongja day Goryeo sent Dalsa (達沙) and the rest, who offered tribute.

In the ninth month Kashiwade no Omi Hazumi was sent to Goryeo as great envoy, Sakaaibe no Muraji Iwasuki as vice envoy, Inukami no Kimi Shiromaro as great judge, Kawachi no Fumi no Obito as middle judge, and Ōkura no Kinunui no Miyatsuko Maro as lesser judge.

In this year the ground for a palace was fixed again at Okamoto in Asuka. At that time Goryeo, Baekje and Silla all sent envoys and offered tribute. Dark blue curtains were spread on this palace ground, and they were feasted there.

At last the palace halls were raised. The empress then moved there, and it was named the palace of Nochi no Asuka no Okamoto.

A wall was set around the ridge of Tamu. On the ridge, beside two zelkova trees, a tower was raised, and it was named the palace of Futatsuki, and also the palace of Amatsu.

At that time she loved to set works afoot, and so she had the water workmen dig a channel, leading it from west of Mount Kagu as far as Mount Isonokami. With two hundred boats they loaded the stones of Mount Isonokami, drew them along with the stream to the hill east of the palace, and piled the stones up for a wall.

At that time the people spoke ill of it and said, "It is the canal of a mad heart. More than thirty thousand workmen have been lost and spent upon it. More than seventy thousand workmen have been lost and spent in building the wall. The timber of the palace has rotted. The mountain tops are buried."

They spoke ill of it again and said, "They make a mountain and a hill of stone, and as they are made they fall down of themselves."

The palace of Yoshino was also built.

Saeki no Muraji Takunawa, envoy of the Western Sea, and Naniwa no Kishi Kunikatsu of the shōsenge rank and the rest came back from Baekje and offered one parrot.

There was a fire at the palace of Okamoto.

In autumn, the seventh month, the first day being a jeonghae day, on the gichuk day two men and four women of the land of Tokhwara (覩貨邏國) drifted ashore at Tsukushi and said, "Your servants first drifted ashore at the island of Umimi." They were then called up by post horse.

On the sinchuk day the shape of Mount Sumeru was made west of Asukadera, and an assembly of the Urabon was held as well. In the evening the men of Tokhwara were feasted.

In the ninth month Prince Arima was sly by nature and feigned madness. And so on.

He went to the hot spring of Muro, and came back pretending that his sickness had been cured, and praised the look of that land, saying, "I had only to look upon that place, and the sickness melted away of itself." And so on.

The empress heard it and was glad, and thought that she would go and see it.

In this year an envoy was sent to Silla to say, "The monk Jidal (智達), Hashihito no Muraji Mimaya, Yosami no Muraji Wakago and the rest are to be put in the charge of the envoys of your land and sent on to the great Tang."

Silla was not willing to hear it and did not send them. Because of this the monk Jidal and the rest came back.

Azumi no Muraji Tsuratari of the shōkege rank, envoy of the Western Sea, and Tsu no Omi Kutsuma of the shōsenge rank came back from Baekje and offered one camel and two asses.

The land of Iwami reported. "A white fox was seen."

In spring, the first month, the first day being a gapsin day, on the byeongsin day Kose no Tokota no Omi, the minister of the left, died.

In summer, the fourth month, Abe no Omi led a hundred and eighty ships with their men and struck the Emishi. The Emishi of the two districts of Akita and Nushiro looked on in fear and begged to surrender.

He then set his soldiers in order and ranged his ships at the shore of Akita.

Onga, an Emishi of Akita, came forward and swore, "It is not to withstand the government army that we hold bows and arrows. It is only that we are eaters of flesh by nature, and so we hold them. If we had made bows and arrows ready to withstand the government army, the god of the shore of Akita would know it. We will serve the government and the court with a clean and white heart."

Then Onga was given the rank of shōotsujō, and Kōri no Miyatsuko were set for the two districts of Nushiro and Tsugaru. At last the Emishi of Watarishima and the rest were called together at the shore of Arima, greatly feasted, and he came back.

In the fifth month the imperial grandson Prince Takeru died at the age of eight. A temporary burial place was raised above the valley of Imaki, and he was laid there.

The empress had from the first held the imperial grandson gentle and had valued him highly. Therefore she could not bear her grief, and her sorrow was very deep.

She gave a command to the assembled ministers. "After ten thousand years and a thousand autumns, be sure to bury him together with me in my tomb."

Then she made a song.

"If even a cloud would stand out clearly above the little hill of Imaki, what should I grieve for? (今城なる小丘が上に雲だにも著くし立たば何か歎かむ)"

— This base text gives the song in its Japanese reading and not in the man'yōgana of the original. This sets down sounds only, and is not turned into meaning.

"I never thought him young, like the young grass by the river where they track the shot deer and boar (射ゆ鹿豬を認ぐ川上の若草の若く在きと吾が思は無くに)"

— This base text gives the song in its Japanese reading and not in the man'yōgana of the original. This sets down sounds only, and is not turned into meaning.

"Like the water that swells and goes down the Asuka river, he comes to my mind without a moment between (飛鳥川漲らひつつ行水の間も無くも思ほゆるかも)"

— This base text gives the song in its Japanese reading and not in the man'yōgana of the original. This sets down sounds only, and is not turned into meaning.

The empress from time to time called him and wept in sorrow.

In autumn, the seventh month, the first day being a sinsa day, on the gapsin day more than two hundred Emishi came to the palace to pay court and to offer. They were feasted and given gifts more richly than was usual.

Then two Emishi reared at the stockade were given one grade of rank. Saniguna, the great head of the district of Nushiro, was given the rank of shōotsuge, Ubasa, the lesser head, the rank of kenmu, and two brave men one grade of rank. Besides this, Saniguna and the rest were given twenty octopus banners, two drums, two sets of bow and arrows, and two suits of armor.

Mamu, the great head of the district of Tsugaru, was given the rank of daiotsujō, Aohiru, the lesser head, the rank of shōotsuge, and two brave men one grade of rank. Besides this, Mamu and the rest were given twenty octopus banners, two drums, two sets of bow and arrows, and two suits of armor.

The Miyatsuko of the stockade of Tsukisara was given two grades of rank, and the judge one grade of rank. Ōtomo no Kimi Inazumi, the Miyatsuko of the stockade of Nutari, was given the rank of shōotsuge.

Saniguna, the great head of the district of Nushiro, was also commanded to look into the households of the Emishi and the households of the captives and make them plain.

In this month the monks Jitong (智通) and Jidal took an imperial command, boarded a ship of Silla, went to the land of the great Tang, and at the place of the Dharma master Xuanzang received the meaning of the beings without nature (無性衆生).

In winter, the tenth month, the first day being a gyeongsul day, on the gapja day she went to the hot spring of Ki. The empress thought of the imperial grandson Prince Takeru, and wept in sorrow, and sang aloud:

"Though I cross the mountains and cross the sea, the lovely land within Imaki will not be forgotten (山越えて海渡るとも面白き今城內は忘らゆましじ)"

— This base text gives the song in its Japanese reading and not in the man'yōgana of the original. This sets down sounds only, and is not turned into meaning.

"As the tide goes down at the river mouth and the sea goes down, shall I leave him in the dark behind me and go? (水門の潮下り海下り後も暗に置きてか行かむ)"

— This base text gives the song in its Japanese reading and not in the man'yōgana of the original. This sets down sounds only, and is not turned into meaning.

"Shall I leave my dear little one behind and go? (愛しき吾が若子を置きて行かむ)"

— This base text gives the song in its Japanese reading and not in the man'yōgana of the original. This sets down sounds only, and is not turned into meaning.

A command was given to Hata no Ōkura no Miyatsuko Yorozu. "Hand this song down, and do not let it be forgotten in the world."

In the eleventh month, the first day being a gyeongjin day, on the imo day Soga no Akae no Omi, the officer left in charge, spoke to Prince Arima.

"There are three faults in the government that the empress carries on. The first is that she raises great storehouses and gathers up the wealth of the people. The second is that she digs long channels for water and loses and spends the grain of the land. The third is that she carries stones in boats and piles them up to make a hill."

Prince Arima then knew that Akae was well disposed toward him, and answered gladly, "My years are now such that I may use soldiers at last."

On the gapsin day Prince Arima went to the house of Akae, went up into the upper room and plotted with him. The leg of the seat broke of itself. At this they knew that the sign was not good, and they swore together and stopped.

The prince went home and slept. In the middle of that night Akae sent Mononobe no Enoi no Muraji Shibi with the workmen who were building the palace, and they surrounded Prince Arima in his house at Ichifu. He then sent a post messenger and reported it to the place where the empress was.

On the muja day Prince Arima, Mori no Kimi Ōishi, Sakaaibe no Muraji Kusuri and Shioya no Muraji Konoshiro were seized and sent to the hot spring of Ki. The toneri Niitabe no Memaro went with them.

Then the crown prince himself asked Prince Arima, "For what cause did you plot rebellion?"

He answered, "Heaven and Akae know it. I know nothing at all."

On the gyeongin day Tajihi no Osawa no Muraji Kuniso was sent, and he hanged Prince Arima at the slope of Fujishiro. On this day Shioya no Muraji Konoshiro and the toneri Niitabe no Muraji Memaro were beheaded at the slope of Fujishiro.

When Shioya no Muraji Konoshiro came to be put to death, he said, "I beg that my right hand be let to make the treasure vessels of the land."

Mori no Kimi Ōishi was banished to the land of Kōzuke, and Sakaaibe no Kusuri to the land of Owari.

One book says: Prince Arima, Soga no Omi Akae, Shioya no Muraji Oga, Mori no Kimi Ōishi and Sakaaibe no Muraji Kusuri drew short lots and divined the matter of rebellion.

One book tells it thus.

Prince Arima said, "First burn the palace halls. Then with five hundred men, in one day and two nights, hold the ferry of Muro. Then quickly cut off the land of Awaji with ships and soldiers and make it like a prison. Then the thing will be easy to do."

Someone remonstrated and said, "It cannot be done. What you have reckoned is so, and yet there is no virtue in it. Now the prince is but nineteen years old and has not yet come to manhood. When he comes to manhood he may get that virtue."

On another day, when Prince Arima was plotting rebellion with a judge, the leg of the table the prince leaned on broke of itself without cause. He did not stop his plotting, and in the end he was put to death.

In this year Abe no Hiketa no Omi Hirafu, governor of the land of Koshi, struck the Mishihase and offered two live brown bears and seventy bear skins. The monk Jiyu (智踰) made a south-pointing carriage.

The land of Izumo reported. "On the shore of the northern sea fish have died and are heaped up. They are about three feet thick, and their size is like a puffer fish, with a sparrow's beak and needle scales. The scales are several inches long. Among the people it is said, 'The sparrows went into the sea and were changed into fish. Their name is sparrow fish.'"

One book tells it thus. In the seventh month of the year gyeongsin Baekje sent an envoy who reported, "The great Tang and Silla joined their strength and struck us. They have already taken King Uija, the queen and the crown prince captive and gone away."

Because of this the land set its soldiers and its mailed men in array on the northwestern border, and repaired the forts and the stockades. It was a sign that the mountains and the rivers would be cut off and barred.

Azumi no Muraji Tsuratari of the shōkege rank, envoy of the Western Sea, also came back from Baekje and said, "When Baekje struck Silla and came back, a horse went round the golden hall of a temple of itself, by day and by night without rest. It stopped only when it ate grass."

One book says that this answered to the destruction by the enemy in the year gyeongsin.

In spring, the first month, the first day being a gimyo day, on the sinsa day the empress arrived from the hot spring of Ki.

In the third month, the first day being a muin day, the empress went to Yoshino and held a feast. On the gyeongjin day the empress went to the shore of Hira in Ōmi.

On the jeonghae day a man of Tokhwara came together with his wife, a woman of Sawi (舍衛).

On the gabo day a Mount Sumeru was made on the riverbank east of the hill of Amakashi, and the Emishi of Mutsu and Koshi were feasted.

In this month Abe no Omi was sent, and he led a hundred and eighty ships with their men and struck the land of the Emishi.

Abe no Omi gathered in one place two hundred and forty-one Emishi of the two districts of Akita and Nushiro with thirty-one of their captives, a hundred and twenty Emishi of the district of Tsugaru with four of their captives, and twenty Emishi of Iburisahe, and greatly feasted them and gave them gifts. He then sacrificed to the god of that land with one ship and silk of five colors.

When he came to Shishiriko, he asked Ikashima and Uhona, two Emishi of Tobiu, and they came forward and said, "Shiribeshi may be made the place of government."

According to the words of Ikashima and the rest, Kōri no Miyatsuko were set there at last, and he came back.

The Kuni no Tsukasa of Michinoku and of Koshi were each given two grades of rank, and the Kōri no Miyatsuko and the chief clerks one grade each.

One book says that Abe no Hiketa no Omi Hirafu fought with the Mishihase and came back, and offered forty-nine captives.

In autumn, the seventh month, the first day being a byeongja day, on the muin day Sakaaibe no Muraji Iwashiki of the shōkinge rank and Tsumori no Muraji Kichisō of the daisenge rank were sent as envoys to the land of Tang. Two Emishi of Michinoku, a man and a woman, were shown to the Son of Heaven of Tang.

The writing of Iki no Muraji Hakatoko says:

In the time of the same empress the two ships of Sakaaibe no Iwashiki no Muraji of the shōkinge rank and Tsumori no Kichisō no Muraji of the daisenge rank and the rest went as envoys on the road to Wu and Tang. On the third day of the seventh month of the year gimi they set out from the shore of Mitsu at Naniwa.

On the eleventh day of the eighth month they set out from the shore of Ōtsu in Tsukushi.

On the thirteenth day of the ninth month they came to an island on the southern border of Baekje. The name of the island is not clear.

On the fourteenth day, at the hour of the tiger, the two ships followed one another and put out into the great sea.

On the fifteenth day, at sundown, the ship of Iwashiki no Muraji met a head wind from the side and drifted to an island of the southern sea. The name of the island is Ikawi. There they were destroyed by the men of the island.

Then Yamato no Aya no Naga no Atai Arima, Sakaaibe no Muraji Inazumi and the rest, five men, stole a ship of the islanders and fled to Kuozhou (括州). The officers of the prefecture and the district sent them on to the capital at Luoyang.

On the sixteenth day, in the middle of the night, the ship of Kichisō no Muraji came to Mount Su'an in the district of Kuaiji in Yuezhou (越州). The wind was from the northeast and blew very hard. On the twenty-third day they came to the district of Yuyao. The great ship they had ridden and the goods of their outfit were left there.

On the first day of the intercalary tenth month they came to the foot of Yuezhou. On the fifteenth day of the tenth month they took post horses and entered the capital. On the twenty-ninth day they hurried to the eastern capital. The Son of Heaven was in the eastern capital.

On the thirtieth day the Son of Heaven met them and asked, "Is the empress of the land of Japan at peace?"

The envoys answered with respect, "Heaven and earth have joined their virtue, and peace has been got of itself."

The Son of Heaven asked, "Are the ministers who hold office well?"

The envoys answered with respect, "The empress pities them and holds them dear, and so they too are well."

The Son of Heaven asked, "Is it at peace within the land?"

The envoys answered with respect, "The government accords with heaven and earth, and the ten thousand people are without trouble."

The Son of Heaven asked, "On which side is this land of the Emishi?"

The envoys answered with respect, "The land is in the northeast."

The Son of Heaven asked, "How many kinds of Emishi are there?"

The envoys answered with respect, "There are three kinds. The farthest are named Tsugaru, the next are the Ara Emishi, and the nearest are named Niki Emishi. These now are Niki Emishi. Every year they come in and offer tribute at the court of our own land."

The Son of Heaven asked, "Are there the five grains in that land?"

The envoys answered with respect, "There are none. They live by eating flesh."

The Son of Heaven asked, "Are there houses in the land?"

The envoys answered with respect, "There are none. They stay and live at the foot of trees deep in the mountains."

The Son of Heaven said again, "I have seen how strange the bodies and the faces of the Emishi are, and I take a full delight in the wonder of it. The envoys have come from afar and are weary. Withdraw and stay in your lodging. We shall see one another again later."

On the morning of the first day of the eleventh month there was the gathering of the winter solstice. On the day of the gathering they had audience again. Among the many lands that came to court, the guests of Wa were the best. Afterward, because of the trouble of a fire that broke out, they were left aside and not looked to again.

On the third day of the twelfth month Nishigori no Aya no Ōmaro, a man in the service of Han Jiheung (韓智興), slandered the guests of Wa falsely. The guests were found guilty by the court of Tang, and banishment had already been settled upon them. Jiheung had been banished before this to a place three thousand li away. Among the guests there was Iki no Muraji Hakatoko, who made a plea. Because of this they were at once forgiven.

After the matter was ended there was an imperial word. "Next year the land will surely have a campaign east of the sea. You guests of Wa cannot go back eastward." In the end they were kept in the western capital and shut up in a separate place. The doors were closed and barred, and they were not allowed to go east or west. They passed a year in hardship and suffering.

The writing of Naniwa no Kishi Ohito says: The great envoy who went toward the great Tang struck an island and was overturned. The vice envoy himself had audience of the Son of Heaven and showed him the Emishi. Then the Emishi offered to the Son of Heaven one white deer skin, three bows and eighty arrows.

On the gyeongin day a command was given to the assembled ministers. "Have the Urabon sutra expounded in the temples within the capital, and let requital be made to the fathers and mothers of seven generations."

In this year the Kuni no Miyatsuko of Izumo was ordered to put the shrine of the god in order with reverence.

A fox bit off the end of the arrowroot vine that a laborer of the district of Tomo was holding, and went away. A dog also bit off the arm of a dead man and left it at the shrine of Ifuya.

An envoy of Goryeo also brought one bear skin and named its price, saying, "Sixty catties of floss silk." The officer of the market laughed and went away.

Jamaryeo (子麻呂), a painter of Goryeo, on the day when he entertained guests of the same surname in his own house, borrowed seventy bear skins of the government and made them the seats of his guests. The guests were ashamed and thought it strange, and withdrew.

In spring, the first month, the first day being an imin day, the Goryeo envoy Ha Chwimun (賀取文), of the rank of eulsang, and more than a hundred others anchored at Tsukushi.

In the third month Abe no Omi was sent, and he led two hundred ships and struck the land of the Mishihase.

Abe no Omi had the Emishi of Mutsu ride in his own ships, and came to the side of a great river.

Then more than a thousand Emishi of Watarishima gathered on the seashore and made their camp facing the river. Two men from the camp came forward and cried out in haste, "The ships and men of the Mishihase have come in great number and are about to kill us. Therefore we beg to cross the river and serve the government."

Abe no Omi sent a ship and had the two Emishi called to him, and asked where the robbers were hidden and how many their ships were. The two Emishi at once pointed to the hiding place and said, "There are more than twenty ships."

He then sent a messenger to call them, but they would not come.

Abe no Omi then heaped silk, weapons and iron on the seashore and made them covet these.

The Mishihase then set their ships and men in array, tied feathers to wood, raised them and made them banners. They brought their oars together, came near, and stopped in a shallow place.

From inside one ship two old men came out, went about, and looked closely at the silk and the other things that were heaped there. They then changed into single robes, each took up one end of cloth, boarded their ship and went back.

After a while the old men came again, took off the robes they had changed into and laid them down, laid down the cloth they had taken as well, boarded their ship and withdrew.

Abe no Omi sent several ships to call them, but they would not come, and went off again to the island of Herobe. After the space of a meal they begged for peace. In the end they would not listen, and they held their own stockade and fought.

At this time Noto no Omi Mamutatsu was killed by the enemy. While the fighting was still not weary, the robbers broke and killed their own wives and children.

In summer, the fifth month, the first day being a sinchuk day, on the musin day the Goryeo envoy Ha Chwimun of the rank of eulsang and the rest came to the guest house at Naniwa.

In this month the officers in charge took an imperial command, made a hundred high seats and a hundred kesa of patched cloth, and held an assembly of the Benevolent Kings Prajñā.

The crown prince also made a water clock for the first time, and let the people know the hours.

Abe no Hiketa no Omi also offered more than fifty barbarians.

A Mount Sumeru was also made beside the pond of Isonokami. Its height was like the pagoda of a shrine. With this forty-seven Mishihase were feasted.

The common people of the whole land also carried weapons without cause and went to and fro on the roads.

In autumn, the seventh month, the first day being a gyeongja day, on the eulmyo day the Goryeo envoy Ha Chwimun of the rank of eulsang and the rest took their leave and went back.

Also Geondu Pasadala (乾豆波斯達阿), a man of Tokhwara, wished to go back to his own country and asked for envoys to send him, saying, "I wish to come to court in the great land afterward. Therefore I leave my wife behind for a token." He then went on the road of the western sea with several tens of men.

The Nihon seiki (日本世記) of Dohyeon (道顯), a monk of Goryeo, says:

In the seventh month, and so on. Chunchuji (春秋智) borrowed the hand of the great general Su Dingfang (蘇定方), had him strike Baekje, and destroyed it.

Someone said, "Baekje fell of itself. The great lady of the lord, a wicked woman, was without the way. She seized the power of the land as she pleased and put the worthy and the good to death, and so she called down this calamity. How should one not be careful? How should one not be careful?"

Its note says, "Chunchuji of Silla could not get what he wished from the inner minister Gaegeum (蓋金). Therefore he went as an envoy to Tang as well, cast off the robe and cap of his own country, begged to please the Son of Heaven, threw calamity upon a neighboring land, and framed this purpose and carried it out."

The writing of Iki no Muraji Hakatoko says: In the eighth month of the year gyeongsin, after Baekje had been subdued, on the twelfth day of the ninth month the guests were released to their own land. On the nineteenth day they set out from the western capital.

On the sixteenth day of the tenth month they came back to the eastern capital, and for the first time they could see Arima and the rest, five men.

On the first day of the eleventh month the king of Baekje and below him the crown prince Yung (隆) and the other princes, thirteen men, with the daejwapyeong Sataek Cheonbok (沙宅千福) and Guk Byeonseong (國辨成) and below them thirty-seven men, some fifty men in all, who had been taken by the general Su Dingfang and the rest, were brought forward to the court hall. They were led in haste toward the Son of Heaven. The Son of Heaven with a gracious command had them released there before him.

On the nineteenth day they were given comfort. On the twenty-fourth day they set out from the eastern capital.

In the ninth month, the first day being a gihae day, on the gyemyo day Baekje sent the dalsol Sami Gakjong (沙彌覺從) and the rest, who came and reported:

"In the seventh month of this year Silla trusted in its strength and made a show of power, and was not friendly with its neighbor. It drew in the men of Tang and overthrew Baekje. Lord and subject were all taken captive, and hardly one was left alive.

"At this Gwisil Boksin (鬼室福信), the eunsol of the Western Division, was fierce in his anger and held Mount Imsagi (任射岐山). The dalsol Yeo Jajin (餘自進) held the fortress of Gumanori (久麻怒利城) in the Middle Division. Each made a camp in one place and drew the scattered soldiers together and gathered them.

"Their weapons were spent in the fighting before, and so they fought with clubs. The army of Silla was broken, and Baekje took their weapons. After this the soldiers of Baekje were sharp again, and Tang did not dare to come in.

"Boksin and the rest gathered the men of their own land at last, and together they held the royal fortress. The men of the land honored them and said, 'The jwapyeong Boksin! The jwapyeong Jajin!' It was Boksin alone who raised a godlike and warlike power and lifted up a land that had already fallen."

In winter, the tenth month, Gwisil Boksin, the jwapyeong of Baekje, sent the jwapyeong Gwiji (貴智) and the rest, who came and offered more than a hundred captives of Tang. These are the men of Tang now in the two districts of Fuwa and Katagata in the land of Mino.

They also begged for soldiers and asked for help. Together with this they begged for the prince Yeo Pungjang (餘豐璋), saying:

"The men of Tang led our own robbers and came, and shook our borders, overthrew our altars of land and grain, and took our lord and our subjects captive. Yet the land of Baekje has leaned from afar upon the care and the thought of the empress, and has gathered again and made itself a country. Now it is humbly asked that the prince Pungjang, whom the land of Baekje sent to serve the court of heaven, be received and made the lord of the land." And so on.

A command was given.

"To beg for soldiers and ask for help was heard of in old times. To hold up the falling and to join again what has been cut off stands plain in the constant rule. The land of Baekje has come to us in its need. It says, 'Our own country is broken and in disorder, and we have nothing to lean on and no one to tell. We sleep upon our spears and taste gall, and we look to be saved without fail.' They have come from afar and sent up their writing, and their will is hard to take from them.

"Let it be commanded to the generals, each in their part, to go forward together by every road. Let them gather like clouds and move like thunder, come together at Satak (沙㖨), kill that whale, and loose those who hang head downward. Let the officers in charge make all things ready for them and send them off with due rite." And so on.

In the twelfth month, the first day being a jeongmyo day, on the gyeongin day the empress went to the palace of Naniwa. The empress was following the wish that Boksin had begged, and thought to go to Tsukushi and send an army of rescue, and so she went there first and made ready the weapons of war.

In this year, for the sake of Baekje, it was meant to strike Silla. A command was then given to the land of Suruga to build ships. When they were finished and were being drawn to the village of Omino, the bow and the stern of one ship turned about of themselves in the middle of the night without cause. Many knew then that the war would end in defeat.

The land of Shinano reported. "A swarm of flies went toward the west and flew over the great slope. Their size was about ten arm spans, and their height reached to the blue sky."

Some knew it for a strange sign that the army of rescue would be defeated.

There was a children's song.

"Mahiraku tsunokure zure onohedao rafukuno rikariga miwada donorikami onohedao rafukuno rikariga kaushito wayoto mionohedao rafukuno rikariga (摩比邏矩都能俱例豆例於能幣陀乎邏賦倶能理歌理鵝美和陀騰能理歌美烏能陛陀烏邏賦倶能理歌理鵝甲子騰和與騰美烏能陛陀烏邏賦俱能理歌理鵝)"

— This sets down sounds only, and is not turned into meaning. From old times it has been known as a song whose meaning has not been unravelled.

In spring, the first month, the first day being a jeongyu day, on the imin day the imperial ship went west on campaign, and took to the sea road for the first time.

On the gapjin day the imperial ship came to the sea of Ōku. At that time Princess Ōta gave birth to a daughter. This daughter was therefore named Princess Ōku.

On the gyeongsul day the imperial ship anchored at the temporary palace of Iwayu at Nikitatsu in Iyo.

In the third month, the first day being a byeongsin day, on the gyeongsin day the imperial ship came back to Na no Ōtsu. She stayed at the temporary palace of Iwase. The empress changed this name and called it Nagatsu.

In summer, the fourth month, Boksin of Baekje sent an envoy and sent up a writing, begging to receive his prince Gyuhae (糺解).

The Nihon seiki of the monk Dohyeon says that Boksin of Baekje offered a writing and begged for his lord Gyuhae from the eastern court.

One book says that in the fourth month the empress moved and dwelt at the palace of Asakura.

In the fifth month, the first day being an eulmi day, on the gyemyo day the empress moved and dwelt at the palace of Tachibana no Hironiwa at Asakura.

At this time the trees of the shrine of Asakura had been cut down and cleared away to build this palace, and so the god was angry and pulled down the hall. Demon fires were also seen within the palace. Because of this many of the great toneri and of those in close service fell sick and died.

On the jeongsa day Tamna (耽羅) for the first time sent the prince Apagi (阿波伎) and the rest, who offered tribute.

The writing of Iki no Muraji Hakatoko says: In the year sinyu, on the twenty-fifth day of the first month, they came back to Yuezhou.

On the first day of the fourth month they took the road from Yuezhou and went back eastward. On the seventh day they came to Jeongansanmyeong. On the eighth day, at cockcrow, they followed the southwest wind and put the ship out into the great sea. In the sea they lost their way and drifted about in hardship. After nine days and eight nights they came with difficulty to the island of Tamna. Then they called the islanders, the prince Apagi and the rest, nine men, and comforted them, put them aboard the guests' ship together, and thought to present them at the court of the emperor.

On the twenty-third day of the fifth month they were brought forward to the court at Asakura. The coming of Tamna to court began at this time.

Also, because they were slandered by Yamato no Aya no Kaya no Atai Tarushima, a man in the service of Jiheung, the envoys did not receive the command of favor. The envoys were full of resentment, and it reached the god of high heaven, and Tarushima was struck by lightning and died. The people of the time said, "The requital of heaven of great Yamato is near."

In the sixth month Prince Ise died.

In autumn, the seventh month, the first day being a gabo day, on the jeongsa day the empress died at the palace of Asakura.

In the eighth month, the first day being a gapja day, the crown prince bore the coffin of the empress away, and came back to the palace of Iwase.

On this evening there was a demon on the top of Mount Asakura, wearing a great hat, who looked down on the funeral rites. All were amazed and thought it strange.

In winter, the tenth month, the first day being a gyehae day, on the gisa day the coffin of the empress went back by sea. Then the crown prince stayed at one place, and grieved and longed for the empress, and sang aloud:

"Because your eyes are dear to me I have stayed here, and shall I long like this, wishing for your eyes? (君が目の戀しきからに泊てて居て斯くや戀ひむも君が目を欲り)"

— This base text gives the song in its Japanese reading and not in the man'yōgana of the original. This sets down sounds only, and is not turned into meaning.

On the eulyu day the coffin of the empress came back and anchored at Naniwa.

In the eleventh month, the first day being an imjin day, on the musul day the coffin of the empress was laid in the temporary burial place at Kawara in Asuka. From this time mourning was made for nine days.

The Nihon seiki says that in the eleventh month Xu Shouyan (續守言) and the rest, men of Tang taken by Boksin, came to Tsukushi.

One book says that in the year sinyu a hundred and six captives of Tang offered by the jwapyeong Boksin of Baekje lived on the reclaimed land in the land of Ōmi. In the year gyeongsin it was already said that Boksin offered captives of Tang. Therefore the note is now kept here, and the matter is settled by it.