A stone monument inscribed with the famous Chinese poem titled “Huukyo Yahaku (A Night-mooring near Maple Bridge)” is standing beside the steep stone steps leading up to the Hansoubou Gongen shrine, as if to hide itself from the worldly affairs.
This beautiful monument is the replica presented from Kanzan-ji Temple in Suzhou, China.
In front of the small stone cave, in the oblique afternoon sunlight of early autumn, the flame-like flowers of Higan-bana (cluster amaryllis) are blooming brightly. In Buddhism, “Higan” means “the world of enlightenment” or “the other world’. This flower is said to bloom on the border between this world and the other world.
The Higan-bana is also called Manjushage. Its vivid flower appears on the ground from mid- to late September before the leaves appear, as if suddenly descending from the heavens.
Manjushage means “red flowers falling from the heaven” in Sanskrit. This name is derived from the Buddhist scripture that says the red flowers falling from the heavens as the sign of good fortune. On the other hand, as its flowers and leaves appear separately, it is sometimes regarded as a symbol of transience and separation, which links this world and the other shore.
"Huukyo Yahaku," the seven words and seven phrases composed by the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ji, can be translated as follows:
“The moon is setting, crows are cawing, and frost is filling the sky.
I am spending a sleepless night in the deep sorrows of my journey while watching the maples and fishing fires by the riverside.
The sound of the temple bell echoes from Kanzan-ji Temple outside the city of Suzhou to the boats of the travellers who are staying there.”
