of laymen.  Other laymen of humbler status[884] live around the monastery and furnish the labour necessary for agriculture, forestry and whatever industries the character of the property calls into being.  As a rule there is a considerable library.  Even a sympathetic stranger will often find that the monks deny its existence, because many books have been destroyed in political troubles, but most monasteries possess copies of the principal scriptures and a complete Tripitaka, usually the edition of 1737, is not rare.  Whether the books are much read I do not know, but I have observed that after the existence of the library has been admitted, it often proves difficult to find the key.  There is also a printing press, where are prepared notices and prayers, as well as copies of popular sutras.

The food of the monks is strictly vegetarian, but they do not go round with the begging bowl nor, except in a few monasteries, is it forbidden to eat after midday.  As a rule there are three meals, the last about 6 p.m., and all must be eaten in silence.  The three garments prescribed by Indian Buddhism are still worn, but beneath them are trousers, stockings, and shoes which are necessary in the Chinese climate.  There is no idea that it is wrong to sleep on a bed, to receive presents or own property.

Two or three services are performed daily in the principal temple, early in the morning, about 4 p.m., and sometimes in the middle of the day.  A specimen of this ritual may be seen in the service called by Beal the Liturgy of Kuan Yin.[885] It consists of versicles, responses and canticles, and, though strangely reminiscent both in structure and externals (such as the wearing of vestments) of the offices of the Roman Church,[886] appears to be Indian in origin.  I-Ching describes the choral services which he attended in Nalanda and elsewhere—­the chanting, bowing, processions—­and the Chinese ritual is, I think, only the amplification of these ceremonies.  It includes the presentation of offerings, such as tea, rice and other vegetables.  The Chinese pilgrims testify that in India flowers, lights and incense were offered to relics 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]