that there is anything incongruous in
this heterogeneous combination. This fusion of religions, which is
more complete even than in China, is illustrated by the temples of
Annam which are of various kinds.[904] First we have the Chua or
Buddhist temples, always served by bonzes or nuns. They consist of
several buildings of which the principal contains an altar bearing a
series of images arranged on five or six steps, which rise like the
tiers of a theatre. In the front row there is usually an image of the
infant Sakyamuni and near him stand figures of Atnan (Ananda)
and Muc-Lien (Maudgalyayana). On the next stage are Taoist deities
(the Jade Emperor, the Polar Star, and the Southern Star) and on the
higher stages are images representing (_a_) three Buddhas[905] with
attendants, (_b_) the Buddhist Triratna and (_c_) the three
religions, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. But the arrangement of
the images is subject to much variation and the laity hardly know who
are the personages represented. At side altars there are generally
statues of Quan-Am, guardian deities, eminent bonzes and other
worthies. Representations of hell are also common. Part of the temple
is generally set apart for women who frequent it in the hope of
obtaining children by praying to Quan-Am and other goddesses. Buddhist
literature is sometimes printed in these Chua and such works as the
Amitayurdhyanasutra and collections of Dharanis are commonly placed
on the altars.

Quan-Am (Kuan-Yin) is a popular deity and the name seems to be given
to several goddesses. They would probably be described as incarnations
of Avalokita, if any Annamite were to define his beliefs (which is not
usual), but they are really legendary heroines who have left a
reputation for superhuman virtue. One was a daughter of the Emperor
Chuang of the Chou dynasty. Another (Quan-Am-Thi-Kinh), represented as
sitting on a rock and carrying a child in her arms, was a much
persecuted lady who passed part of her life disguised as a bonze. A
third form, Quan-Am-Toa-Son, she who dwells on the mountains, has an
altar in nearly every temple and is specially worshipped by women who
wish for sons. At Hanoi there is a small temple, rising on one column
out of the water near the shore of a lake, like a lotus in a tank,
and containing a brass image of Quan-Am with eight arms, which is
evidently of Indian origin. Sometimes popular heroines such as Cao
Tien, a princess who was drowned, are worship