~Khoten--Processions of Images~
Yu-Teen is a pleasant and prosperous kingdom, with a numerous and
flourishing population. The inhabitants all profess our Law, and join
together in its religious music for their enjoyment. The monks amount to
several myriads, most of whom are students of the mahâyâna. [1] They all
receive their food from the common store. Throughout the country the
houses of the people stand apart like separate stars, and each family
has a small tope [2] reared in front of its door. The smallest of these
may be twenty cubits high, or rather more. They make in the monasteries
rooms for monks from all quarters, the use of which is given to
travelling monks who may arrive, and who are provided with whatever else
they require.
The lord of the country lodged Fâ-hien and the others comfortably, and
supplied their wants, in a monastery called Gomati, of the mahâyâna
school. Attached to it there are three thousand monks, who are called to
their meals by the sound of a bell. When they enter the refectory, their
demeanor is marked by a reverent gravity, and they take their seats in
regular order, all maintaining a perfect silence. No sound is heard from
their alms-bowls and other utensils. When any of these pure men require
food, they are not allowed to call out to the attendants for it, but
only make signs with their hands.
Hwuy-king, Tâo-ching, and Hwuy-tah set out in advance towards the
country of K'eeh-ch'â; but Fâ-hien and the others, wishing to see the
procession of images, remained behind for three months. There are in
this country four great monasteries, not counting the smaller ones.
Beginning on the first day of the fourth month, they sweep and water the
streets inside the city, making a grand display in the lanes and byways.
Over the city gate they pitch a large tent, grandly adorned in all
possible ways, in which the king and queen, with their ladies
brilliantly arrayed, take up their residence for the time.
The monks of the Gomati monastery, being mahâyâna students, and held in
greatest reverence by the king, took precedence of all the others in the
procession. At a distance of three or four li from the city, they made a
four-wheeled image car, more than thirty cubits high, which looked like
the great hall of a monastery moving along. The seven precious
substances [3] were grandly displayed about it, with silken streamers
and canopies hanging all around. The chief image stood in the middle of
the car, with two Bodhisattvas [4] in attendance on it, while devas were
made to follow in waiting, all brilliantly carved in gold and silver,
and hanging in the air. When the car was a hundred paces from the gate,
the king put off his crown of state, changed his dress for a fresh suit,
and with bare feet, carrying in his hands flowers and incense, and with
two rows of attending followers, went out at the gate to meet the image;
and, with his head and face bowed to the ground, he did homage at its
feet, and then scattered the flowers and burnt the incense. When the
image was entering the gate, the queen and the brilliant ladies with her
in the gallery above scattered far and wide all kinds of flowers, which
floated about and fell promiscuously to the ground. In this way
everything was done to promote the dignity of the occasion. The
carriages of the monasteries were all different, and each one had its
own day for the procession. The ceremony began on the first day of the
fourth month, and ended on the fourteenth, after which the king and
queen returned to the palace.
Seven or eight li to the west of the city there is what is called the
King's new monastery, the building of which took eighty years, and
extended over three reigns. It may be two hundred and fifty cubits in
height, rich in elegant carving and inlaid work, covered above with gold
and silver, and finished throughout with a combination of all the
precious substances. Behind the tope there has been built a Hall of
Buddha, of the utmost magnificence and beauty, the beams, pillars,
venetianed doors and windows, being all overlaid with gold-leaf. Besides
this, the apartments for the monks are imposingly and elegantly
decorated, beyond the power of words to express. Of whatever things of
highest value and preciousness the kings in the six countries on the
east of the Ts'ung range of mountains are possessed, they contribute the
greater portion to this monastery, using but a small portion of them
themselves.
[Footnote 1: Mahâyâna is a later form of the Buddhist doctrine, the
second phase of its development corresponding to the state of a
Bodhisattva, who, being able to transport himself and all mankind to
nirvâna, may be compared to a huge vehicle.]
[Footnote 2: A worshipping place, an altar, or temple.]
[Footnote 3: The Sapta-ratna, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, rock crystal,
rubies, diamonds or emeralds, and agate.]
[Footnote 4: A Bodhisattva is one whose essence has become intelligence;
a Being who will in some future birth as a man (not necessarily or
usually the next) attain to Buddhahood. The name does not include those
Buddhas who have not yet attained to parinirvâna. The symbol of the
state is an elephant fording a river.]