means 'he who explains an oracle (or vision).' As indicated by Lidlul, his duty was to direct men by visions-bārú ina biri ul ustésir-su, 'the seer has not directed him (the troubled one) by a vision' (WAI iv. 22, 42b). To all appearance the bārû corresponds with the 'seer' of the Hebrews (hozeh, roch). The above descriptions of his duties corresponded with those of the, hartummim, of the OT (Gn 41, etc.), but he had other duties of greater importance and dignity. Thus Martin's Textes religieux pictures him to us in the assembly of the other members of the order, when, raising a branch, he intoned the incantation beginning the truth.' Šamas and Adad, arise. In my supplication, the raising of my hands, whatever I do, let the invocation which I offer be When the presages were not satisfactory, and the god did not answer, he had to perform the ceremony of washing the mouth,' pronouncing afterwards the following prayer: "Šamas, lord of judgment, Adad, lord of the oracle, I bring you, I offer you, a pure fawn, the young of the gazelle, whose eyes are bright, face perfect, hoofs without defect.' (Here follows a list of the innocent pleasures which the fawn has enjoyed.) He does not yet know the stag's desire, and I offer him to you. Samaš, Adad, arise, and in my supplication, in the raising of my hands, whatever I do, let the invocation which I offer be the truth.' Priestly supplication was generally accompanied by the lifting of the hands. They seem not to have been raised on high, but simply to the level of the face, with the finger-tips approaching. The rites accompanying the duties of the barú were very numerous, as might be expected from priests of such ancient origin and important functions. 20. The abarakku.-Closely connected with the functions of the bārû were those of the abarakku, of whom, however, very little can be said. The word is written with the same character as is used for ittu, sign,' 'omen,' and the like, and was pronounced in Sum. isikim. A mutilated explanation implies also that it was rendered by bārû, 'seer.' Abarakku is probably the 18, abrek, of Gn 41, and, if so, the proclamation made by the Egyptian heralds did not mean bow the knee,' but the (great) seer,' or the like. The existence of the word in Hebrew is due to Babylonian influence. It is doubtful whether the similar word abriqqu, from the Sum. abrig, has anything to do with this; but it may be noted that the last is expressed by the characters nun-me-du, prince (divine), command bringing,' or the like. 21. The âsû.-There may be some doubt as to this being a priestly order, but the leech in ancient times was so important that the Babylonian priesthood can hardly have failed to include the professors of the healing art among them. Nevertheless, in Hammurabi's Code, they came under the severest clauses of the lex talionis a fact which may be taken to show that priests in general were not a privileged class before the law. The etymology of ású is interesting, as it comes from the Sum. azu, meaning, probably, water-knowing,' either from the medical waters' that he used or from the knowledge that he was supposed to have of the fluids of the body. Other Sum. words translated by asû were nizu or zalzu, oil-knowing,' and mezu or išibzu, voice-knowing' or 'incantation-knowing' (see § 19). As azu also stands for barû, 'seer' (§ 19), it is clear that he belonged to the same class of temple-official. The severity of the lex talionis under which they practised proves that a knowledge of surgery was expected of them (see ERE iv. 259 f.). Herodotus (i. 197) says that the Babylonians made no use of physicians, as the people trusted to the advice of those who had already suffered from the maladies which afflicted them. The inhabitants of the capital at least therefore seem to have had unsatisfactory experience of their healing powers. The Assyrians, however, had not come to this conclu. sion, as many tablets (some of them letters) show. Asú has passed into Heb.-Aramaic as xox, âsâ, with derivatives. It is possible that the mugu was also a physician (Harper, no. 108, rev. 3). The rab-mugi is probably the rab-mag of Jer 39 (Gr. 46)3. 22. Other priestly classes.-Whether the aba, which is a similar formation to azu=ású, was a priestly class or not is uncertain. It might be translated 'water- [i.e. medicine-] giver.' As a rule, he was a scribe or secretary (in Harper's 33rd Letter he heads a short list of priests). It is probably on account of his apparently secretarial duties that he has been regarded as one of the classes of scribes, tupŝarru, the tipsar of Jer 517 and Nah 317. Notwithstanding their various secular occupations, the scribes were often priests. Considerations of space prevent notice of various other priestly titles, but it is necessary to add to the list the temple-officials designated by the Sum. tu-e, 'temple visitor,' or the like (tu, 'to enter '+ é, 'house' or 'temple'). They had apparently considerable power, but it is not known in what their great influence originated. One of these, Nabûšum-ukin, attached to the great temple of Nebo at Borsippa, married Gigîtum, daughter of Neriglissar (see RP II. iv. [1890] 101 ff.). heavens ; Thus 23. The heavenly hierarchy. Though the priestly titles of the gods of the Babylonian Pantheon were imitated from those of their earthly priesthood, it is probable that the Babylonians regarded the reverse as being the case. Engur, mother of Ea, was the true abrakkatu (§ 20) of the heavenly (and the earthly) e-kura, or temple; Nin-šah was the supreme messenger or minister (sukkal-mah) of Anu, the god of the Urta (Ninip'), one of the gods of healing; Azagasud was the sura (§ 15) of Enlilla, etc. All, or and Šamas, the sun-god, had several-he of the nearly all, of the great deities had their sukkale, right, he of the left, the one who was supreme He had also a gallabu (§ 18), one who shore him (mah), and two sukkal sa-kussa, 'heart-resting.' (of his rays), either when he set or when he was lord of repose,' or the like. The name of this deity was Engana, eclipsed. Eninna-ni-zi was the sukkallu of En The great god of the various orders of priests kale, chanters,' nâre, 'musicians,' asipe, incantaseems to have been Ea, who was patron of the tion-makers,' bāre, 'seers,' tupŝarre, scribes,' âsē, physicians, and gallābe, priestly tonsure-cutters. The abode of Ereš-ki-gal or Allatum, goddess of the under world, was regarded as similarly organand she had, as well, a divine (? and priestly) foodized. Namtar, or 'Fate,' was the goddess's sukkalu, distributor (mu or mu-haltimmu). The lists of gods also give certain divine titles, which may be priestly, but are not represented on earth. LITERATURE.-Morris Jastrow, Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens, Giessen, 1905-12; E. Behrens, Assyrischbabylonische Briefe kultischen Inhalts, Leipzig, 1906; and the special lexical articles in F. Delitzsch, Assyrisches Handwörterbuch, Leipzig, 1890; and W. Muss-Arnolt, Concise Dict. of the Assyrian Language, Berlin, 1905. As the subject is a very extensive one, notes on priestly titles are scattered throughout recent Assyro-Babylonian literature, the most noteworthy being F. Martin, Textes religieux assyriens et babyloniens, 1st ser., Paris, 1903. T. G. PINCHES. PRIEST, PRIESTHOOD (Buddhist).-For all purposes, ecclesiastical and social, the priesthood in Buddhism is conterminous with the order of monks (Sangha). Every ordained member of the Sangha is qualified to act as priest, and to perform those duties which in Buddhism may be considered to attach to the office. Of priestly function, however, in the narrower, more restricted sense of the term with which Western ecclesiastical history is familiar, Buddhism knows nothing. The monk or priest, in so far as he has obligations and duties towards the laity, is the servant of all, for their edification and conversion. His relation to them is that of a minister to their religious necessities, and a confidant and guide on all the critical occasions of life, as they on their side serve his temporal needs and provide him with the requisite minimum of food and clothing. In neither of the great schools of the North and the South is there any suggestion of the thought that through a human intermediary man may or must approach unto God; and Buddhism has no order or ritual of sacrifice to require the services of an officiating priest with expert knowledge of the modes and significance of the rites. Whether, as in the Hinayana, in theory at least a man must rely solely upon his own endeavours and virtues to achieve salvation, or, as in the Mahayana, upon the merits and assistance of powerful bodhisattvas to sustain his faltering and wayward steps and to bring him to his goal, in neither case is deliverance through or by a human priest. and to present their offerings individually or in small groups. There are no general assemblies or combined devotional services. At the principal service of the day the senior monk or another to whom the duty is delegated will deliver a sermon or exposition on Buddhist doctrine or ethics; he acts, however, less by virtue of his position or office as priest than on account of the superior knowledge with which he is credited. From him the junior monks may expect to receive instruction in the right way of life. In his private capacity also the priest will give advice, and receives confessions. The most elaborate ceremonial and suggestive ritual is to be found in Tibet. Here, at a service that has derived some at least of its main features from Christian example and the commemorative observance of the Last Supper, the Buddhist Lāma officiates as priest. Formal Buddhism, however, owns no doctrine of sacrifice or propitiatory offering. The Lamaism of Tibet is Buddhist in little more than name, and the Lama priest of high rank is endowed with more of priestly function and consideration than the Buddhist monk of other lands. The services in the temple include formal and elaborate liturgies, in addition to the ordinary recitations and instruction. At the frequent festivals the ritual observed is often intricate as well as highly ornate. Extra services also are held at the request of laymen, for which payment is made in the form of gifts to the monastery, the This was the view consistently adopted and enforced by Gautama Buddha himself, if the Pāli books rightly interpret the tenor of his directions and teaching. After his death the Law which he had given to his disciples was to be their guide. Each man might gain a knowledge of the truth by his own insight and exertions, as the Buddha himself had done; and there was no other road to emancipation and rest. If, however, the Maha-merit of which accrues to the donor. To a conyanist teachers are right in maintaining the fundamentally mystical and esoteric character of his later instructions, he himself made provision for effectual external aid to be at the disposal of all who sought deliverance from suffering and wrong; but that deliverance was from a superior divine source and not mediated through a man. The offices, therefore, which the Buddhist priests undertake for the laity are chiefly those of reading and exposition of the Scriptures. In most of the monasteries also, especially in Burma, instruction is given by the older monks or those appointed for the purpose in the elements of secular fearning and the simpler doctrines of the faith together with narrative of the life or lives of the Buddha. In this service the Buddhist priests have been for many centuries the national schoolmasters; and in most Buddhist countries, except as undertaken and forwarded by European government authority or missionary enterprise, no other teaching has been available. On all important occasions, moreover, in the private life of the people, at marriages and births and especially in cases of sickness, the priest is summoned to perform ceremonies and prophylactic rites, to pronounce incantations, and by recitation of sacred texts to expel and keep at a distance evil influences. In some instances simple remedies may be applied. For the most part it is only in Vassa that formal exhortations or orations are made. The practice varies, however, in the different lands in which Buddhism prevails. Usually also the sermons or discourses are delivered not in the temples, which the laity are not expected to frequent for that purpose, but in private houses or in halls erected or lent for the occasion. The preaching work of the early itinerating monks seems to have been done to a large extent in the open air; but this practice obtains little if at all at the present day. The services within the temples themselves can hardly be said to call for the exercise of any priestly function. They consist for the most part of invocation and recitations, in which all the resident members of the monastery share, but the laity are not present, unless as accidental spectators. The latter frequent the temples for worship VOL. X.-19 siderable extent these practices have been derived from the West through the agency of early Nestorian missionaries. The monks also visit the houses of the laity to perform ceremonies and to read portions of the Buddhist sacred books. The Among the various peoples professing the faith there is no great difference in the offices thus undertaken by the Buddhist priests. Recitation of the Scriptures and more or less formal and regular discourses in the temples on the topics of the Buddhist religion form the larger part of their recognized duties. Moreover, in all the northern countries at least Buddhist usage and ceremonial have been to a considerable extent modified, as in Tibet, by indigenous beliefs and practices. With this one exception the process has_advanced farthest perhaps in China, where Buddhist and Taoist priests interchange facilities and mutually officiate in the temples of either faith. Chinese monks conduct the services and perform their duties in a very perfunctory manner. Japanese priests, on the contrary, are alert and intelligent, often well-read and interested in the history and doctrines of their sect, and punctiliously observant of the duties that are incumbent upon them. In some sects they add to their other services that of an active missionary propaganda in defence of the faith. Between the Shintoist and Buddhist priests no interchange of ministry or office takes place at the present time, and the demarcation in manners and appearance, as in duty and ceremonial, is complete. The relations formerly must have been much more intimate and friendly, and Buddhism has taken over from the national faith functions which would seem to be entirely incompatible with its principles and creed. At funerals especially Buddhist priests are summoned to officiate; on the other hand, at marriages and births, on the more joyous occasions of the family life, the services of the Shinto clergy are in request. In the presentation of the ancestral offerings also the Buddhist priesthood takes an active and recognized part. The equipment and dress of the monks is similar to that found in China, and the same practice of branding at initiation into the order prevails. Whereas, however, in China the branding is upon the shaven head, in Japan the mark is made upon the arm of the monk. It is in Korea that the priesthood holds a position of least prominence, having maintained little authority or dignity. It was otherwise in the earlier centuries of the history of the country, when Buddhist priests took a leading part in the political as well as in the religious control of the people. More recently their influence diminished, and for a long time they have had little interest or concern in the national life. Their numbers do not increase, they live apart from the people, and | are little honoured or consulted. The service of the priest or monk therefore in Buddhism has been closely determined by the origin and early history of the faith, and, except where other conditions have been imposed by its environment, has not travelled beyond those limits. The absence of a doctrine of sacrifice, or of any recognized belief in a future life beyond this world, has necessarily placed a hindrance in the way of the development of a priestly office, and has retarded or altogether checked the growth of any felt need for the ministry of the priest. Notwithstanding, the Buddhist priest, although to a less extent than in Christianity or Hinduism or some other faiths, has a real place among his people, and his office carries with it prerogatives and an influence that are of much importance. It is true that the honour paid to his office has not always, any more than in other countries, been transferred to his person; and the order is sometimes recruited, as in China, from the lower classes of the population. There can be little doubt, however, that the ascendancy of the priest or monk has been a real and perhaps decisive factor in the history and development of the Buddhist religion. LITERATURE.—R. S. Copleston, Buddhism in Magadha and Ceylon2, London, 1908; J. Edkins, Chinese Buddhism2, do. 1893; H. Hackmann, Buddhism as a Religion, Eng. tr., do. 1910; R. F. Johnston, Buddhist China, do. 1913; H. Kern, Manual of Indian Buddhism, Strassburg, 1896; M. MonierWilliams, Buddhism, London, 1889; K. J. Saunders, The Story of Buddhism, Oxford, 1916; Shway Yoe (J. G. Scott), The Burman: His Life and Notions, London, 1910; L. A. Waddell, The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism, do. 1895; see also art. MONASTICISM (Buddhist). A. S. GEDEN. PRIEST, PRIESTHOOD (Chinese). The statement, which is so commonly made, that there are three religions in China is apt to convey a very misleading idea of the religious state of that country. Setting aside the members of the various Christian churches, and the adherents of Judaism and Islam, and perhaps the Buddhist monks and nuns, it would be hard to describe the average Chinaman as being an exclusive adherent of any of the three systems which are usually called the three religions of China-Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. It would scarcely be too much to say that the basis of his religion is practically the same as that of his ancestors in the days before any of the three teachers from whom these systems professedly derive their origins had been born. As a clearly defined physical type of man has been in occupation of Eastern Asia since pre-historic times, so certain elements in the religious stratification of that area appear to have remained unchanged for an immense period. These elements are shamanism (q.v.) and ancestor-worship (see art. COMMUNION WITH THE DEAD [Chinese]). When we first meet with the Chinese, we find them practising shamanistic rites and paying honour to their ancestors, though in addition there appears to have existed belief in a supreme being. Under the Chou dynasty (1122-249 B.C.), when we are beginning to touch firmer ground, there appeared two remarkable ethical teachers, Confucius (551-478 B.C.) and Lao-tse, his elder contemporary, and a somewhat more shadowy personality, whose teaching exercised a great influence on the subsequent development of Chinese religion. It became separated into two currents: Confucianism, which is more correctly described as a moral than as a religious system, becomes the basis of the state cultus (for the sacerdotal functions performed by the emperor before the fall of the Manchu dynasty in 1912 see art. CONFUCIAN RELIGION); and Taoism, the more popular current, becomes to a large extent identified with the shamanistic substratum of Chinese religion, which de Groot terms ́universal animism,' or the worship of the shen, departmental spirits animating the various parts of the universe. In the 1st cent. of the Christian era Chinese religion became profoundly modified by the advent of Buddhism, which now became influential in its northern form, the Mahāyāna, or Great Vehicle,' during the reign of the emperor Ming-ti (A.D. 58-76), though the first missionaries of the Indian faith may have reached China as early as 217 B.C. From Buddhism the national religion of Taoism borrowed the conception of monasticism, which now became acclimatized on Chinese soil by the votaries of the two faiths. ་ I. Primitive shamanistic priesthood.-From the earliest times there appear to have existed in China persons of both sexes credited with the possession of mana, or spiritual power (see art. MANA), of a kind found all over the world, which enabled them to wield extraordinary powers in the spirit-world. These shamans are for the most part to be identified with the wu, exorcists, mentioned in very early literary records. From the Shu king, or Canon of History,' it appears that they were entirely possessed by spirits of yang material, which represents the principle of light and warmth, according to the primitive dualist philosophy of the Chinese (see art. COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGY [Chinese]). Their functions appear to have been threefold: (a) invocation of the spirits of the dead for the purpose of inducing them to partake of offerings; (b) prophecy by means of knowledge obtained from the possessing spirits; (c) exorcism of all evil; this they accomplished in virtue of the yang power which resided in them and enabled them to neutralize the yin element, or element of darkness. In this capacity they would accompany potentates when entering a house of death. Ch. xii. leaf 46, of the Li ki, or Treatises on Ceremonial Usages,' says: 'When a ruler goes to the funeral rites of a minister, he has with him a wu and an invoker, holding respectively a piece of peachwood and reeds.' (The peach-tree was believed to be a source of terror to ghosts, and the bundle of reeds has a magical significance, being employed for the purpose of sweeping away evil.) The Cheu li, or 'Book of Institutions of the Cheu Dynasty,' ch. xxv. leaves 30 and 39, says: When the sovereign pays a visit of condolence, the invoker wu'; and 'the male wu on the same occasion walks ahead of for the funeral rites marches in front of him, in company of the him with the invoker." In the time of the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.) these wu appear to have been a kind of order of singing and dancing dervishes. They danced at sacrifices to secure rain. 'At the altars raised to pray and sacrifice for rain,' says de Groot, the priestesses, representing the Yin or female part of the Universal Order, to which clouds and water belong, performed dances; and when disasters prevailed, they conjured the gods by means of chants expressive of grief and distress.' 2 The early texts appear to suggest that the wu were the Chinese representatives of a primitive animistic priesthood found all over Asia, such as the dervish of Muhammadan countries, the Indian faqir, and the shaman of the Siberian aborigines. When 'possessed,' they suffer convulsions and distortions. The possessing spirit is believed to endow them with the power of second sight and of 1 The Religious System of China, vi. 1188. 2 vi. 1190. for its rungs. While he undergoes this ordeal, a bundle of upon it in time of illness. A sai-kong will call 'The difference between the tao shi and the wu class,' says de Groot, was finally effaced entirely when the older part of the function of the tao shi, viz. assimilation with the Tao by mental and bodily discipline in seclusion, was discarded, being incapable of being maintained by them against the competition of Buddhist monasticism, and against the oppression of ascetic and conventual life by the Confucian State. exorcizing spectres. Some ancient texts refer to the male wu as hih. They also mention a class of persons called chuh, i.e. invokers or conjurers. In texts of the Han dynasty (c. 200 B.C.-A.D. 200) the expression wu-chuh occurs, thus indicating that the functions of the two classes had become assimilated. The wu were frequently employed by the emperors of this dynasty. Since disease was popularly ascribed to demoniacal possession, the wu, being exorcists, were much sought after as physicians. In this capacity they were employed in the 4th cent. A.D. to chase away foxes and lizards, which were believed to bring disease. What gave the wu their greatest influence, how-to contribute, and has the privilege of drawing ever, appears to have been the fact that in their mediumistic capacity they claimed to reveal to their clients the wishes of their departed ancestors. The southern provinces have always been the great stronghold of wu-ism. Its influence with women was enormous, and probably in early times there were more female than male wu. Any woman, married or unmarried, who felt herself capable of becoming a medium could do so. A state of ecstasy was induced by dancing, and perpetuated by monotonous music and the beating of drums. At certain periods wu-ism constituted a grave political danger, and, under the influence of its representatives, mandarins were induced to plot against the emperor. Its social influence was, moreover, so great that it led to the complete transgression of the canons of Confucian morality, by which women were forbidden to appear in public in the presence of men. Repressive edicts against wu-ism were therefore not infrequent. The wu were often employed as exorcists by the Tatar dynasty of Liao, but under the Ming dynasty which succeeded it (1368-1643) vigorous measures were adopted against them. Texts of the Ming period make it clear that the wu had temples and images of their own gods, to whom they offered sacrifice. They were no doubt the same as the thousands of village-temples existing in China at the present day. In all ages the wu appear to have been paid for their services in employing spells, and also for the crime of life-plucking, i.e. dismembering a living body for the purpose of sorcery. At the present time their functions fall into three classes: (1) clairvoyance and soothsaying; (2) exorcism; (3) sacrificial work, with invocation and conjuration. Formerly there existed a division of labour, one class exercising each of these three functions separately, and this condition still exists in the province of Fukien and on Amoy Island. All over China, however, there is found a class of so-called sai-kong, which is almost exclusively occupied with sacrificial work and magical exorcism. In popular estimation this class is the most important branch of the wu-ist priesthood. The sai-kong, who are permitted to marry, wear no distinctive costume. Their houses are indicated to clients by sign-boards, on which are written the characters, There is a Taoist altar here,' showing that they regard themselves as Taoist priests. In practice the wu-ist priesthood is more or less hereditary; it is usual for every sai-kong to design one of his sons for his own profession, as he does not like to initiate strangers into its arcana. Before initiation the prospective sai-kong undergoes a fast or vigil. When the hour for the ceremony arrives, attired in clean underwear beneath a sacrificial robe, and with bare feet, he is carried on some one's back to the temple in which it is to take place. The reason for his being carried is that the earth is a great repository of yin substance, and contact with it might therefore be dangerous, as it might neutralize the yang substance within him. The ceremony of initiation is performed by a wu of advanced age, who is known as a kao tsa, 'chief of religion. The chief portion of the ceremony of initiation consists in the candidate undergoing the ordeal of climbing a to t'ui, or ladder which has swords with the blades placed upwards A respectable sai-kong accepts what his employer offers him in the shape of money or kind in return for his professional services, but never demands payment. In officiating at religious ceremonies the sai-kong wears a square silk garment, resembl ing a chasuble in being without sleeves, and embroidered on the back. It is of magical significance, representing the shape of the earth according to primitive Chinese philosophy, and invests the wearer with the power of the order of the world or Tao, and enables him to restore that order. It is called to pō, gown of the Tao.' There exists also a class of youths known popularly as ki-tong, 'divining youths.' They are believed to possess shen. They usually acquire it at a religious ceremony in a temple, at which they suddenly begin to hop and dance, making strange gestures. When a youth behaves in this way, the bystanders realize that he has become 'possessed.' The case is investigated by a sai-kong, and the possessed youth begins to form a clientele, who employ him as a medium. The ki-tong are employed as exorcists. When an epidemic prevails, they are organized into processions, in which, stripped to the waist, and covered with blood flowing from self-inflicted wounds, they indulge in frantic dancing. They have even been seen carrying heavy pewter lamps, fastened to hooks thrust through their arms. Female wu are frequently mentioned in Chinese texts subsequent to the Han dynasty. De Groot knows of no female sai-kong in the Amoy district. Women, however, participate in other kinds of wu-ist work. 2. The priesthood in the State religion.-We learn from the Cheu li that at the time of its composition the wu were not the only priesthood in China; there was also a body of officials charged with the performance of rites and ceremonies, among which those connected with the State religion were the most important. 'Under the direction of a Minister, entitled Ta tsung poh or Superintendent of the Ancestry, . . . those officers had to direct the erection and conservation of the temples and altars of the State and the mausolea and tombs of the reigning House, furthermore, the celebration of sacrifices with music and dances, victims and implements, besides the funeral rites in the royal family, divination and auguration, etc. This ministerial department was undeniably a priesthood of Universal Animism, the gods whose worship they had to maintain and regulate being the shen which animate Heaven and Earth and their constituent parts and phenomena, as also the spirits of the dead.'2 This priesthood was in its inception an official creation, not a spontaneous development of the animistic substratum of Chinese religion. It was probably the prototype of the li-pu, 'board of rites,' which in later ages supervised the ceremonial aspects of the State religion. The board of rites was the fifth in order of precedence among the eighteen boards to which the administration of the empire was entrusted prior to the Revolution of 1911, when it was suppressed, its functions being absorbed into those of the ministry of the interior. The Cheu li (xvii.-xxvii.) gives a list of the officials who served under the ministry of rites, with a description of their functions. They include the superior of the sacred ceremonies and his assist ant, a master of the sacrifices, an officer in charge of the vases containing the libations and of the preparation of the sweet-smelling wine, an officer charged with providing the sacrificial cocks, an official who sets in their places the cups containing the libations at sacrifices, one to set in order the mats, a keeper of the ancestral hall of the imperial family, a keeper of the seals, a keeper of the imperial wardrobe, annalists and imperial secretaries, musicians, a grand augurer, invokers, and sorcerers. The last were the wu, who were already at that period incorporated into the State religion. The board of rites cannot, however, be regarded as a priesthood, since it was charged with the supervision of the State sacrifices merely, and was not a body charged with the task of mediating between God and man. 3. The Buddhist priesthood.-There is not in Buddhism any clearly marked distinction between the priest and the monk as in Catholic Christianity. In the latter religion the priest is one whose duty it is to officiate at the holy mysteries, while the monk is one who seeks to sanctify his soul by a life of retirement from the world, it being unusual during the earlier period of Christian monasticism for monks to be priests. In Buddhism, however, there is only one type of religious official whom we may call priests or monks, some of whom live in communities and some of whom do not. In the earliest form of Buddhism, which was agnostic, the idea of mediation was of necessity completely absent. In the first two and a half centuries after the introduction of Buddhism into China Buddhist monks were all foreigners, as it was not till the 4th cent. A.D. that Chinese subjects were permitted to adopt the monastic life. At the present time Buddhist monasteries in China are usually situated outside the cities in the open country, the ideal situation being a wooded height. Their inmates are for the most part recruited from the ranks of children, who are frequently sold to them by a necessitous mother after the father's death. Hackmann mentions a case in which twenty-five Mexican dollars (40s.) were paid for a child. Only a few monasteries receive any appreciable number of adult novices. When in their seventh year, these children begin to be initiated into their religious duties. Their heads are completely shaved, and a special teacher is appointed to each. When the final consecration takes place, the novice is branded on the head as a sign of his willingness to endure hardship. Sometimes this branding is voluntarily repeated in later life. Nine vows are usually taken-to abstain from taking life, stealing, adultery, slander, reviling, lying, and feelings of jealousy, hatred, or folly. Sometimes others are added. Devotional exercises, which consist of invocations, praises, and the read ing of extracts from the scriptures, usually take place three times a day. They are frequently accompanied by a sacrifice, in which the oblation usually consists of rice or tea. Meditation, both 1 Buddhism as a Religion, p. 218. thou ambulatory and sedentary, is still continued in some monasteries, but it has widely fallen into desuetude. A moderate-sized community consists of about thirty to forty members. There is a well-organized domestic economy. All owe obedience to the abbot (fang-chang). The community is divided into an eastern and a western half. The eastern deals mostly with secular matters. It includes a book-keeper, guest-master, commissioner of stores, superintendent of field labour, superintendent of water-supply, overseer of the kitchen, manager of the clothing department, another for giving out tea, superintendent of repairs, and others. The western division deals with the religious side of life, and includes sacristans, chanters, lectors, and monks, who expound the sacred science to laymen. Chinese monks wear trousers, stockings, and shoes, besides an undergarment extending from the waist to the knees, and a garment covering the whole body. A wide garment is worn over this for full equipment. Poverty has ceased to be enforced, and monks freely accept gifts. The average monk has no real knowledge of the Buddha's teaching. Penalties are imposed on those monks who commit ritual offences, but moral offences often go unpunished. Punishment is generally administered by flogging on the naked back by lay-brothers. The monks are for the most part at a low stage of intellectual culture, though a sand years ago, when Europe was in the Dark Ages, the monasteries of China were filled with philosophers and scholars. A person of good family rarely becomes a monk. When he does so, however, he speedily attains to abbatical rank. Immorality is wide-spread, and this led to the suppression of all the monasteries in Fuchow in the years 1830-40. It is, however, unwise to generalize on this point, as the reputations of individual monasteries vary very greatly; that of the celebrated monasteries of Chiu-hua and Puto stands high. The use of opium is also prevalent among the monks. Individual monks of ascetic life are found, and even in recent times a monk has sometimes been voluntarily burnt alive on a funeral pyre. Monks are usually cremated at death. Besides the cœnobitical communities, Buddhist hermits are found in China. They dwell in poor huts or in holes in the mountains, and are maintained by alms or by a neighbouring monastery. The hermits do not shave their heads, but wear their hair long. Some who are more ascetic than their fellows live in small mountain caves, into which the sunlight never penetrates. When such a one dies, his body is embalmed in a special manner, and, after being painted and gilded, is set up in a temple as an object of veneration. There is no supreme authority over all the monks in China, each monastery being self-contained. The government has, however, bestowed an official status on some of the abbots, who act as intermediaries between it and the monasteries. These abbots are responsible to the government for the conduct of the monks. Any ordained monk may move at will from one monastery to another, on showing a pass issued by his abbot, or he may adopt an itinerant mode of life. Buddhist monks are usually known as bonzes, a Japanese term introduced into China by Roman Catholic missionaries. 4. The Taoist priesthood. The indigenous religion of Taoism, which, though it professes to be founded on the ethical teaching of Lao-tse, nevertheless in some of its manifestations appears to merge imperceptibly into the popular animism of the country, began under the influence of Buddhism to evolve an organized priesthood and ritual soon after the opening of the Christian era. At |