[Physiognomy] "Musha Kagami" Taira no Tadamori / Gion no Nyogo / Ayame no Mae / Minamoto no Sanmi Yorimasa
|Taira no Tadamori|
|Tadamori| is the eldest son of |Masamori|, the sixth son of |Taira no Sadamori|, the |Heida|. Once, when the |Emperor Shirakawa| was visiting |Gion no Nyogo| |frequently|, |Tadamori| was always in his |entourage|. On one |rainy night|, there was a |strange figure| in front of the |Gion shrine|. While |everyone| was |afraid|, |Tadamori| was |suspicious|, went alone, and |caught| and |looked| at it; it was a |priest| holding an |oil lamp|. Perhaps due to the |excess| of his |admiration| for his |courage|, the |Retired Emperor| |bestowed| that |Nyogo| upon |Tadamori|. At |this time|, the |Nyogo| was |pregnant|, and the |boy| who was |born| later was, in fact, |Kiyomori|. |Tadamori| had a |full lower face| and a |receding forehead|, but it is said that his |head| was |round| and |large|. This is said to be a |good| |physiognomy| for |fortune|, where one takes the |Emperor's| |seed| as one's |own child| and |makes| one's |name| |famous| for the |sake| of that |child|.
* "Gubu" means to join a procession, such as an imperial visit, as an attendant.
* "Abura-tsugi no hoshi" is a priest who works to light lanterns.
|Gion no Nyogo|
|The Nyogo| was the |wife| of |Minamoto no Nakamune|, but because she was a |peerless| |beauty| who had |a hundred charms| with just one |smile|, the |Emperor Shirakawa| wanted to |summon| her, so he |exiled| the |innocent| |Nakamune| to |Oki Province|, |summoned| her as |Gion no Nyogo|, and his |favor| was |extraordinary|. However, knowing that |Tadamori| had long been |in love| with her, he |bestowed| her as a |wife| as a |reward| for |discovering| that |strange figure|. |Although the Nyogo| was such a |beauty|, her |teeth| were |crooked| and |overlapping|, and her |voice| was |shrill|. This is said to be the |physiognomy| of having |thin| |ties| with one's |husband| and |unexpectedly| |remarrying|.
* "Hyakubi" refers to various coquettish behaviors and all kinds of allure.
* "Shiroshimeshi" means to know or to be aware of.
|Ayame no Mae|
|Ayame| was a |court lady| of the |Konoe-in|, and she was a |peerless| |beauty| of the |past and present|. Because her |heart| was |gentle| and kind, even after becoming |Yorimasa's| |wife|, their |intimacy| was like that of |mandarin ducks|. After |Yorimasa| was |killed in battle|, she went down to a |place| called |Kawachi| in |Izu|, became a |nun|, and |prayed| for the |afterlife|.
|When| one speaks of a |beauty|, it is said that there is no |need| to |elaborate|, but it is said that many |beauties| who possess the thirty-two |physiognomic marks| do not have |children|. However, since |Ayame| had a |child| called |Sanuki|, a |court lady| of the |Nijo-in|, did she have the |physiognomy| of |having| |children|? |Whether| or not, I do not |know| the |truth|, so I do not |record| it here.
* "En-o" refers to mandarin ducks, a water bird of the duck family. A metaphor for a loving couple.
* "Sanju-ni so" refers to the thirty-two excellent physical characteristics possessed only by the Buddha. Here, it means the beauty of a woman's appearance and figure.
|Minamoto no Sanmi Yorimasa|
|Yorimasa| is the |son| of |Nakamasa|, a |descendant| of |Yorimitsu|. He was a |master| of the |ancient arts| of |archery|, and in the third year of |Ninan| (1168), in May, by |imperial order|, he |shot| a |monstrous bird| called a |Nue| in the |Imperial Palace|, was |bestowed| |Ayame|, and |raised| his |name| to the |heights| of the |clouds|; this is |something| that |everyone| |knows|.
|After that|, |hating| the |arrogance| of the |Taira clan|, he |advised| the |Prince of Takakura| to |rebel|, but the |plan| |failed|, and his |entire clan| |vanished| like |morning frost| at the |Byodo-in| in |Uji| in a |single morning|. However, it is said that his |whole body| was |medium-fleshed| and |radiant|, he had |twenty-four| |teeth|, and his |laughing| |mouth| formed the |character| for |four|. This is said to be the |physiognomy| of |living a long life| and |raising| one's |name|. |Indeed|, at this |time|, he was |seventy-five| |years old|. |Moreover|, he was a |master| of |waka poetry|, and even |now| it is |practiced| as the |collection| of |Yorimasa's| |house|.
* "Itcho no shimo" is morning frost that disappears fleetingly. A metaphor for something that disappears without a trace.
* "Mube naru kana" means that is indeed true.
Click here for the list of characters in "Musha Kagami"
→ [Physiognomy] "Musha Kagami" Character Summary 👀
Author's note: ● indicates characters that could not be deciphered.
I will update this as I decipher new characters or notice typos/misreadings. For details, please read the "Self-introduction / Disclaimer" section. 📖