nes in a rare
degree sound knowledge and literary charm.

A monastery[866] is usually a quadrangle surrounded by a wall.
Before the great gate, which faces south, or in the first court is
a tank, spanned by a bridge, wherein grows the red lotus and tame fish
await doles of biscuit. The sides of the quadrangle contain dwelling
rooms, refectories, guest chambers, store houses, a library, printing
press and other premises suitable to a learned and pious foundation.
The interior space is divided into two or three courts, bordered by a
veranda. In each court is a hall of worship or temple, containing a
shelf or alcove on which are set the sacred images: in front of them
stands a table, usually of massive wood, bearing vases of flowers,
bowls for incense sticks and other vessels. The first temple is called
the Hall of the Four Great Kings and the figures in it represent
beings who are still in the world of transmigration and have not yet
attained Buddhahood. They include gigantic images of the Four Kings,
Maitreya, the Buddha designate of the future, and Wei-to,[867] a
military Bodhisattva sometimes identified with Indra. Kuan-ti, the
Chinese God of War, is often represented in this building. The chief
temple, called the Precious Hall of the Great Hero,[868] is in the
second court and contains the principal images. Very commonly there
are nine figures on either side representing eighteen disciples of the
Buddha and known as the Eighteen Lohan or Arhats.[869] Above the altar
are one or more large gilt images. When there is only one it is
usually Sakya-muni, but more often there are three. Such triads are
variously composed and the monks often speak of them vaguely as the
"three precious ones," without seeming to attach much importance to
their identity.[870] The triad is loosely connected with the idea of
the three bodies of Buddha but this explanation does not always apply
and the central figure is sometimes O-mi-to or Kuan-yin, who are the
principal recipients of the worship offered by the laity. The latter
deity has usually a special shrine at the back of the main altar and
facing the north door of the hall, in which her merciful activity as
the saviour of mankind is represented in a series of statuettes or
reliefs. Other Bodhisattvas such as Ta-shih-chi (Mahasthamaprapta) and
Ti-tsang also have separate shrines in or at the side of the great
hall.[871] The third hall contains as a rule only small images. It is
used for ex