If one puts efforts into studying, the plum trees will bloom.
When searching for the origin of this quote, you will surely find the name Sugawara no Michizane or Tenman-Tenjin.
Sugawara no Michizane was a Heian period noble (794 – 1185) and excellent poet. His father and grandfather were both scholars and Sugawara no Michizane also entered this path and worked as a scholar at court.
He stood at Emperor Udas side when The Fujiwara clan tried to take away more power from the Imperial family and rose in rank. When it came to finding a successor for Emperor Uda, Sugawara no Michizane and Fujiwara no Tokihira stood on different sides and Sugawara no Michizane was exiled to Kyushu.
There is a legend that Sugawara no Michizane’s plum tree followed him to Kyushu by flying all the way down from Kyoto. You can still see the flying plum tree “tori-ume” in Dazaifu Tenmangu.
After Sugawara no Michizane died in exile, many bad things, especially weather catastrophes happened in Kyoto, hitting the palace. The people believed it was the angry spirit of Sugawara no Michizane who was banned and lost his court titles and ranks before his death.
To calm his spirit they built him a shrine (the Kitano Tenmangu in Kyoto), and restored all his ranks and titles and even all records about him being banished. But the disasters didn’t stop. The last what the people could do to calm the angry spirit was to deify him and he became a Shinto god (kami), the Tenmangu-Tenjin or short: Tenjin-sama.
All shrines with the additive “Tenjin” or “Tenmangu” are dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane. They usually feature many plum trees because of the legend of the flying plum tree and are visited by students of any age who pray for passing important tests.
Interesting to read:
Author: Robert Borgen
Price: ~$30.46
Click to see more details
Support our Work on Patreon
klick for more info
