[Footnote 1:  This is the name which Fa-hien always uses when he would speak of China, his native country, as a whole, calling it from the great dynasty which had ruled it, first and last, for between four and five centuries.  Occasionally, as we shall immediately see, he speaks of “the territory of Ts’in or Ch’in,” but intending thereby only the kingdom of Ts’in, having its capital in Ch’ang-gan.]

[Footnote 2:  Meaning the “small vehicle, or conveyance.”  There are in Buddhism the triyana, or “three different means of salvation, i.e. of conveyance across the samsara, or sea of transmigration, to the shores of nirvana.  Afterwards the term was used to designate the different phases of development through which the Buddhist dogma passed, known as the mahayana, hinayana, and madhyamayana.”  “The hinayana is the simplest vehicle of salvation, corresponding to the first of the three degrees of saintship.”  E.H., pp. 151-2, 45, and 117.]

[Footnote 3:  “Sraman” may in English take the place of Sramana, the name for Buddhist monks, as those who have separated themselves from (left) their families, and quieted their hearts from all intrusion of desire and lust.]

CHAPTER III

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 mahayana. [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 Fa-hien and the others comfortably, and supplied their wants, in a monastery called Gomati, of the mahayana 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, Tao-ching, and Hwuy-tah set out in advance towards the country of K’eeh-ch’a; but Fa-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.