THE ORDEAL OF FIRE

Evening Star, Issue 19658, 10 September 1927, Page 18

THE ORDEAL OF FIRE

BADGES GF THE BUDDHIST MONK " THE HOUR OF THE TIGER " = Sixty men about to become priests of the Buddhist faith are kneeling awaiting their ordeal. The hour is midnight, the place a temple in Wuchang. The ceremony we are witnessing is known as “sheo kai,” or, the taking of the vows. Its chief feature, as described by L. M Cramer, in the ‘ Dearborn Inclcpendent,’ is l the burning of a certain number of spots deep into the shaved heads of the men about to be ordained. Mr Cramer explains further: Nine spots in all there usually are, three rows of three spots each, and each spot the size of the nail on a grown man’s thumb, but more nearly square in form. These nine holes arc representative of the nine vows taken by each Buddhist priest. The cauterised marks are indelible, and remain on the scalp a lifetime. Close to, the cast gate of Wuchang is a hill; Hung Shan is its name. On its peak rests the Pan Tung Shin pagoda, or the Monastery of the Pervading Preciousness. The pagoda is perhaps 1,000 years old. The Chinese claim it was built at. the beginning of the Tang dynasty, something like a.d. 630 to 907. Perhaps it was. It is one of the temples in the Yangtsc Valley still kept in repair. Until China became a republic the historic buildings, temples, drum towers, and pagodas throughout the empire were kept in repair. Many are to-day in ruins, impossible of salvage, The Pan Hung Shin pagoda is one of the few notable exceptions. It is kept constantly in repair, thanks to the earnestness of the monks there, and also to the fact that the holding group is said to be one of great wealth. Through the frosty midwinter night we made our way to the temple; ice crunched under our feet as we went along the little-used road, which was barely a trail up the steep mountain side, to the Monastery of the Pervading Preciousness. The low-hung deep velvety blue of a China winter sky was studded thick with gold stars, and a waning moon made almost superficial the dim-lighted lanterns Ave carried. We climbed the steep slope to the first court of the pagoda, our feet slipping on the frost-covered stones. Through the first court, up another hill, Avinding in and out among trees made weird Avith grotesque crooked limbs, stumbling along, panting and short of breath, we made our way. At last wo found ourselves before a little Avooden door of the temple. We could see dim lights Avithin as we looked through the cracks of the door. Faint sounds of voices reached us borne on the frosty night air, but too far away to be attracted by our pounding on the door. We almost gave up hope of entering, Avhen one of the party thought of a Avay, a little door at the far side which opened into the monastery wood shed, thence into the kitchen, and then into the refectory and into the very heart of the temple. “In fhe hour of the tiger’’—just before daAvn—the ceremony began. _ A large chorus of male voices chanting was heard in the distance. Nearer and nearer it came to the room in Avhich wo waited. As the voices dreAV near we entered a hall. Weird and mysterious it looked in, the feeble light of a feAV tall wax tapers. Do avia each side of the hall were ranged nine gilded images—the _ eighteen Lo Hans, the earliest disciples. of .Buddha. In the centre wax a great gold image of Buddha, sitting cross-legged. In front of this image had been placed a table. Three cowled monks sat on each side of it. Standing at the head of this table was a young-looking monk, Avith a scarlet tiara-shaped, hat upon his head. Each monk held a great hook in front of his face. From it they read, sometimes in turns, sometimes in unison, reading in a sing-song chant, every pause being filled in by the dashing of gqngs and the beating of Avooden drums. In one dim corner Avas a boxlike structure on Avhich a monk sat, cross-legged and silent, performing his duty of meditation. -In an adjoining room the sixty candidates knelt about tho three Avails, robed in tho long, loose grey robes of their calling, heads shaved, pale faces showing in the dim light, looking for all the world like so many death’sheads. The chanting and tho beating of gongs had been continuous, and it Avas over an hour before avo returned to the first temple. Before the great idol where had stood a small table Avas now placed a long, high wooden bench, Avith a row of kneeling cushions made of straAV in front of it. Behind this bench stood the officiating monks. Upon the bench were the instruments to ho used to burn the holes in the scalps of the candidates for ordination—thick sticks of incense, a bit of wax, and slices of toav white turnip. The initiates entered, kneeling upon the straw cushions. The officiating monks marked upon each shaved head the nine spots to be burned into the flesh during the ceremony Avhich Avas about to begin. The sticks of incense wore fixed Avith Avax at the places marked, and the taper of incense was lighted. It took two minutes—tAyo lifetimes it seemed to us—for tho incense to burn doAvn to the scalp. Pieces of raw turnip Avero placed between the burning patches to keep the surrounding skin cool. Monks in the background beat continuously upon wooden drums with heavy mallets. The initiate monks avlio Avere undergoing tho torture knelt like so many graven images. They must have been suffering agony, but not a lip quivered, not a facial muscle tAvitched. As each stick of incense burned down to the scalp the live ash Avas pressed down into the head. When the newly-or-dained men were led out by the older monks the air was pervaded with tho odor of burning flesh. It was an experience such as one cannot forget. That those men were sincere in their faith and the sacrifices they were making there could he no doubt.