In China, under the Tō dynasty (a.d. 604927),
there was a biwa player named Renjōbu,
and he had a biwa called Genjō. In the reign
of Nimmyō Tennō (a.d. 834-850) Kamon no
Kami Sadatoshi met Renjōbu in China, and
learnt from him three tunes, Ryūsen (The
Flowing Fountain), Takuboku[1]
(The Woodpecker),
and the tune Yōshin. He also brought
back to our court the biwa named Genjō.
Murakami Tennō (947-967) was a great
biwa player. One moonlit night, when he
was sitting alone in the Southern Palace, he
took the biwa Genjō and sang the old song:
Slowly the night draws on
And the dew on the grasses deepens.
Long after man's heart is at rest
Clouds trouble the moon's face—
Through the long night till dawn.
Suddenly the spirit of Renjōbu appeared
to him and taught him two new tunes, Jōgen
and Sekishō (the Stone Image). These two,
with the three that Sadatoshi had brought
before, became the Five Biwa Tunes.
These five tunes were transmitted to Daijō
Daijin Moronaga, who was the most skilful
player in the Empire.
Moronaga purposed to take the biwa Genjō
and go with it to China in order to perfect
his knowledge. But on the way the spirit of
Murakami Tennō appeared to him at Suma
under the guise of an old salt-burner.[2]
