classes, the Western
who are concerned with ritual and other purely religious duties and
the Eastern who are relatively secular and superintend the business of
the establishment.[883] This is often considerable for the income is
usually derived from estates, in managing which the monks are assisted
by a committee of laymen. Other laymen of humbler status[884] live
around the monastery and furnish the labour necessary for agriculture,
forestry and whatever industries the character of the property calls
into being. As a rule there is a considerable library. Even a
sympathetic stranger will often find that the monks deny its
existence, because many books have been destroyed in political
troubles, but most monasteries possess copies of the principal
scriptures and a complete Tripitaka, usually the edition of 1737, is
not rare. Whether the books are much read I do not know, but I have
observed that after the existence of the library has been
admitted, it often proves difficult to find the key. There is also
a printing press, where are prepared notices and prayers, as well as
copies of popular sutras.

The food of the monks is strictly vegetarian, but they do not go round
with the begging bowl nor, except in a few monasteries, is it
forbidden to eat after midday. As a rule there are three meals, the
last about 6 p.m., and all must be eaten in silence. The three
garments prescribed by Indian Buddhism are still worn, but beneath
them are trousers, stockings, and shoes which are necessary in the
Chinese climate. There is no idea that it is wrong to sleep on a bed,
to receive presents or own property.

Two or three services are performed daily in the principal temple,
early in the morning, about 4 p.m., and sometimes in the middle of the
day. A specimen of this ritual may be seen in the service called by
Beal the Liturgy of Kuan Yin.[885] It consists of versicles, responses
and canticles, and, though strangely reminiscent both in structure and
externals (such as the wearing of vestments) of the offices of the
Roman Church,[886] appears to be Indian in origin. I-Ching describes
the choral services which he attended in Nalanda and elsewhere--the
chanting, bowing, processions--and the Chinese ritual is, I think,
only the amplification of these ceremonies. It includes the
presentation of offerings, such as tea, rice and other vegetables. The
Chinese pilgrims testify that in India flowers, lights and incense
were offered to relics