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Description
In Japanese and Chinese legend eight magical cassia trees grow on the moon. Their red leaves in autumn are said to give the harvest moon its color. The trees' seeds bestow immortality and also give the power of invisibility to those who eat them. Here a Buddhist adept -- a rakan -- seated on a rock holds out his begging bowl to catch seeds falling from the moon. His Chinese robes are bordered with a pattern of lotus blossoms, a symbol of purity in Buddhist iconography. Such characters are typically depicted with halos in Japanese and Chinese painting; here the moon is suggested by the halo as well as by the falling cassia seeds. (John Stevenson, "Yoshitoshi's One Hundred Aspects of the Moon," plate 93.)
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