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east, west, south, and north) is about 400 yoganas, the remote frontier not being counted in this measurement. Although I, myself, did not see all these parts of India, I could nevertheless ascertain anything by careful inquiry. All food, both for eating and chewing, is excellently prepared in - various ways. In the north, wheat-flour is abundant; in the western district, baked flour (rice or barley) is used above all; in Magadha ? E. g. the Samyuktavastu, book x (Nanjio’s Catal., No. 1121), and Patimokkha, ae eek eee am, Dt he hea 44 A RECORD OF BUDDHIST PRACTICES. IX, (in Central India) wheat-flour is scarce, but rice is plentiful’; and the southern frontier and the eastern border-land have similar products to those of Magadha. Ghee, oil, milk, and cream are found everywhere. Such things as cakes and fruit are so abundant that it is difficult to enunferate them here. Even laymen rarely have the taste of grease or flesh. Most of the countries have the rice which is not glutinous in abundance; millet “is rare, and glutinous millet is not found at all. There are sweet melons; sugar-canes and tubers are abundant, but edible mallows are very scarce, Wan-ching (a kind of turnip) grows in sufficient quantities ; there are two kinds of this, one with a white seed, the other with a black seed. This has recently become known as Chieh-tze (mustard seed) in China. Oil is extracted from it and used for flavouring purposes; this is done in all countries. In eating leaves of it as a vegetable we find them of the same taste as Wan-ching (a kind of turnip with a white root below the ground). But the root is hard, not like the Chinese turnip. The seed is somewhat larger and can no longer be considered ‘ mustard seed.’ The change in the growth of this plant is considered to be some- thing like the change of an orange-tree into a bramble when brought north of the Yang-tze River?. When I was in the Nalanda monastery, I discussed this point with the Dhyana master Wu-hing *, but we were doubtful still and could not exactly distinguish one from the other. None of the people of all the 1 Central India seems to have been suited for rice cultivation from early times. Names of king Suddhodana (Pure-rice), who settled in Kapilavastu, and his four brothers, Clear-rice, Strong-rice, White-ricé, and Immeasurable-rice, show the importance of this cultivation to the Sikyas (see Oldenberg’s Buddha, p. 97 note). Hiuen Thsang, at the beginning of book viii (Julien, vol. iii, p. 409), speaks of Magadha as a very fertile country, good for the cultivation of various kinds of rice. ? What he means here is this, that Indian mustard seed (Sarshapa) is larger than the Chinese ; its taste is like Chinese turnip, but the roots, being hard, are different from the Chinese; and that the difference may be accounted for by the difference of soil, just as an orange-tree becomes a thorn when it is removed from the Kiang-nan (south of the Yang-tze River) to the north of the river. *.A Chinese priest whom I-tsing met unexpectedly in India, and whose RULES ABOUT THE UPAVASATHA-DAY. 45 five parts of India eat any kind of onions’, or raw vegetables, and there- fore they do not suffer from indigestion ; the stomach and the intestines are healthy, and there is no trouble in their becoming hard and aching. In the ten islands of the Southern Sea, the entertainment on the fast- day is made on a grander scale. On the first day the host prepares a Pin-lang nut¥, fragrant oil prepared from Fu-tzti ? (mustaka, Cyperus rotundus), and a small quantity of crushed rice placed on a leaf in a plate; these three items being arranged on a large tablet are covered with a white cloth, water is poured out and kept in a golden jar, and the ground in front of this tablet is sprinkled with water. After these have been prepared, the priests are invited. In the forenoon of the last day, the priests are asked to anoint their bodies and wash and bathe. When the horse-hour (midday) of the second day has passed, a holy image is conveyed (from the monastery) on a carriage or on a palanquin, accompanied by a multitude of priests and laymen, playing or striking drums and musical instruntents, making offerings of incense and flowers, and taking banners which shine in the sun,—in this manner it is carried to the courtyard of the house. Under a canopy amply spread, the image of gold or bronze, brilliant and beautifully decorated, is anointed with some aromatic paste, and then put in a clean basin. It is bathed by all those present with perfumed water (gandhodaka). After being wiped with a scented cloth, it is carried into the principal hall of the house, where it is received amidst rich offerings of lights and incense, while hymns of praise are sung. Then the priest first in rank (Sthavira) recites the Danagatha for the host to declare the merit of a religious feast with ‘regard to the future life. Then the priests are led outside the house to wash their hands and rinse their mouths, and, after this, sugar-water and Pin-lang fruits (i.e. betel-nuts) are offered to them in sufficient quantity ; then they withdraw from the house. In the forenoon of the L-tsing, Memoirs of Eminent Priests who visited India during the T‘ang ‘dynasty (Nanjio’s Catal., No. 1491); Chavannes’ translation, § 52, p. 138. 1 See chap. xxviii below, p. 137; onions forbidden, Kull. V, 34, 1. 2 Te. betel-nut; it is called Pin-lang, from the Malay Pinang, which is the fruit of Areca Catechu. : gs v..3 £2L er. ee 46 A RECORD OF BUDDHIST PRACTICES. IX. third day, the host, going to the monastery, announces to the priests : ‘It is the time. They, after bathing, come to the festal house, This time too the image is set up, and the ceremony of bathing it is held more briefly. But the offerings of flowers and incense and music are twice as grand as on the previous morning. Numerous offerings are arranged orderly before the image, and on both sides of it five or ten girls stand in array ; and also some boys, according to convenience. Every one of them either carries an incense-burner, or holds a golden water- jar, or takes a lamp or some beautiful flowers, or a white fly- flapper. People bring and offer all kinds of toilet articles, mirrors, mirror-cases, and the like, before the image of the Buddha. ‘ For what purpose are you doing this?’ I once inquired of them. ‘Here is the field, and we sow our seed of merit,’ they replied; ‘if we do not make offerings now, how can we reap our future rewards?’ It may be said reasonably that such is also a good action. Next, one of the priests, on being requested, kneels down before the image, and recites hymns in praise of the Buddha’s virtues. After this two other priests, being requested, sitting near the image, read a short Sitra of a page or a leaf. On such an occasion, they sometimes consecrate idols (lit. bless idols), and mark the eyeballs of them, in order. to obtain the best reward of happiness. Now the priests withdraw at pleasure to one side of the room ; and, folding up their Kashayas (i.e. yellow robes), and binding their two corners at the breasts, they wash their hands: then they sit down to eat 1. As to the processes such as strewing the ground with cow-dung, examining water, or washing the feet, and as to the manner of taking or serving food, all these particulars are much the same as in India, with this addition, that in the islands of the Southern Sea the priests take the three kinds of pure meat* also. They frequently use leaves sewn together * (Note by Ltsing): Ka-Cha (K4shaya) is a Sanskrit word meaning the reddish colour (colour of Kan-da(?), an orchidaceous plant), It is not a Chinese word; what then is the use of choosing for the transliteration the two Chinese words which indicate robes (i.e, 2 BR; #E being a sign of its being a robe). According to the Buddhist word of the Vinaya text, the three garments are all called Xivara. RULES ABOUT THE UPAVASATHA-DAY. - 47 for plates as capacious as half a mat (on which they sit); and rice- cakes made of one or two Shang ! (a Shing=about 2} qt.) of non-glutinous grains, are prepared in such a plate. Having made similar vessels capable of one or two Shing of grains, they bring them and offer them before the priests. Then twenty or thirty kinds of food are served to them. This, however, is the case of an entertainment by comparatively poor people. If it be by kings or rich men, bronze-plates, bronze-bowls, and also leafed plates as large as a mat are distributed; and the-number of the several kinds of food and drink amounts to a hundred. - Kings on such an occasion disregard their own high dignity, and call themselves servants, and help the priests to the food with every sign of respect. The priests have to receive as much food as is given, but never to resist it, however excessive it may be. If they have only food just enough to satisfy, the host would not be pleased ; for he only feels satisfied when seeing food served over-abundantly. Four or five Shang of boiled rice and cakes in two or three plates are given to each. The relations and the neighbours of the host help the entertainment, bringing with them several kinds of food, such as rice-cakes, boiled rice, vegetables for soup, &c. Usually the remainder of the food (i. e. UkkAishtabhogana) given to one person may satisfy three persons ; but in, case of a richer entertainment, it could not be eaten up even by ten men. The food remaining over is left to the priests, who order their servants to carry it ¢o the monastery." The ceremony of the Upavasatha-day reception in China differs from that of India. In China the host gathers the food left over, and the guests are not allowed to take it away.