y
uncover the right shoulder, but the lower part of their body is draped
with a skirt of yellow cloth and they go bare foot. Their temples are
sometimes roofed with tiles. Inside there is only one image, exactly
like the Buddha Sakya, which they call Po-lai (=Prah), ornamented
with vermilion and blue, and clothed in red. The Buddhas of the towers
(? images in the towers of the temples) are different and cast in
bronze. There are no bells, drums, cymbals, or flags in their temples.
They eat only one meal a day, prepared by someone who entertains them,
for they do not cook in their temples. They eat fish and meat and also
use them in their offerings to Buddha, but they do not drink wine.
They recite numerous texts written on strips of palm-leaf. Some bonzes
have a right to have the shafts of their palanquins and the handles of
their parasols in gold or silver. The prince consults them on serious
matters. There are no Buddhist nuns.

"The Pa-ssu-wei dress like everyone else, except that they wear on
their heads a piece of red or white stuff like the Ku-ku worn by
Tartar women but lower. Their temples are smaller than those of the
Buddhists, for Taoism is less prosperous than Buddhism. They worship
nothing but a block of stone, somewhat like the stone on the altar of
the God of the Sun in China. I do not know what god they adore. There
are also Taoist nuns. The Pa-ssu-wei do not partake of the food of
other people or eat in public. They do not drink wine.

"Such children of the laity as go to school frequent the bonzes, who
give them instruction. When grown up they return to a lay life.

"I have not been able to make an exhaustive investigation."

Elsewhere he says "All worship the Buddha" and he describes some
popular festivals which resemble those now celebrated in Siam. In
every village there was a temple or a Stupa. He also mentions that in
eating they use leaves as spoons and adds "It is the same in their
sacrifices to the spirits and to Buddha."

Chou Ta-kuan confesses that his account is superficial and he was
perhaps influenced by the idea that it was natural there should be
three religions in Camboja, as in China. Buddhists were found in both
countries: Pan-ch'i no doubt represents Pandita and he saw an
analogy between the Brahmans of the Cambojan Court and Confucian
mandarins: a third and less known sect he identified with the Taoists.
The most important point in his description is the prominence given to
th