and images (as in Christian churches), and the
Bodhicaryavatara,[887] one of the most spiritual of later Mahayanist
works, mentions offerings of food and drink as part of worship. Many
things in Buddhism lent themselves to such a transformation or parody
of earlier teaching. Offerings of food to hungry ghosts were
countenanced, and it was easy to include among the recipients other
spirits. It was meritorious to present food, raiment and property to
living saints: oriental, and especially Chinese, symbolism found
it natural to express the same devotion by offerings made before
images.

In the course of most ceremonies, the monks make vows on behalf of all
beings and take oath to work for their salvation. They are also
expected to deliver and hear sermons and to engage in meditation. Some
of them superintend the education of novices which consists chiefly in
learning to read and repeat religious works. Quite recently elementary
schools for the instruction of the laity have been instituted in some
monasteries.[888]

The regularity of convent life is broken by many festivals. The year
is divided into two periods of wandering, two of meditation and one of
repose corresponding to the old Vassa. Though this division has become
somewhat theoretical, it is usual for monks to set out on excursions
in the spring and autumn. In each month there are six fasts, including
the two uposatha days. On these latter the 250 rules of the
Pratimoksha are recited in a refectory or side hall and subsequently
the fifty-eight rules of the Fan-wang-ching are recited with greater
ceremony in the main temple.

Another class of holy days includes the birthdays[889] not only of
Sakya-muni, but of other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the anniversaries
of events in Sakya-muni's life and the deaths of Bodhidharma and other
Saints, among whom the founder or patron of each monastery has a
prominent place. Another important and popular festival is called
Yu-lan-pen or All Souls' day, which is an adaptation of Buddhist
usages to Chinese ancestral worship. Of many other festivals it may be
said that they are purely Chinese but countenanced by Buddhism: such
are the days which mark the changes of the seasons, those sacred to
Kuan-ti and other native deities, and (before the revolution) imperial
birthdays.

The daily services are primarily for the monks, but the laity may
attend them, if they please. More frequently they pay their devotions
at other hours, lig