No. 2371. CATALOGUE OF BUDDHIST ART— CASANOWICZ 329 



doctrine (dharma), and the community (sangha). Attached to the 

 main string are two small pendant strings, having each 10 smaller 

 beads. These pendants are used as counters to keep count of the 

 number of times the rosary is said. A bead of one pendant string is 

 slid down on completion of a single recital of the rosary, while the 

 beads of the second note each 10 repetitions. They thus serve to 

 register the utterance of 10S multiplied by 10 multiplied by 10, 

 equaling 10,800 prayers or formulas. Sometimes there are two 

 additional pendants. 



Alongside of the full rosary of 108 beads, employed' by the monks, 

 there are in vogue rosaries of 18 and 16 beads, representing, respec- 

 tively, the 18 lohans or chief disciples of Buddha counted by the 

 Chinese, and the 16 rohans of the Japanese. The common people, 

 moreover, use indifferently rosaries with various numbers of beads. 



The material of the Buddhist rosaries varies according to the 

 taste, wealth, and rank of the owner. The commonest are made of 

 seeds, wood, pebbles, shells, glass, or bone; the more costly of jade, 

 turquoise, coral, amber, silver, and gold, and even of pearls and 

 other gems. The countries in which the Buddhist rosary is most 

 widely used are China, Tibet, and Japan. 14 



217. Chinese rosary {su-chu). — The 108 beads of the main string 

 are palm-wood balls. The dividing and retaining beads are of 

 silver, richly enameled, measuring r| inches in diameter. The three 

 counter strings have each 10 beads, likewise of enameled silver but 

 of smaller size, being only one-half inch in diameter. From the re- 

 taining beads is suspended a silk ribbon embroidered with small 

 glass beads of diverse colors to represent the swastika and other 

 symbols, with a silver enameled medallion, measuring 2\ by If inches 

 in the center, and terminating in an oblong or oval bead 2 inches 

 long. Such an oval bead is also at the end of each of the three 

 counter strings, each 1| inches long. They are called the "four 

 dewdrops," which they resemble, or the "disciple beads," or the 

 "regents of the four heavens." They typify the emperor, father, 

 mother, and the teacher, to whom a Chinese subject owes reverence 

 and obedience. This rosary is the official necklace which used to be 

 worn by dignitaries on state occasions. China. (Cat. No. 202869, 

 U.S.N.M.) Gift of Yang Yu, Chinese minister to the United States, 

 1897. 



218-20. Three Chinese rosaries. — Consisting of 108 globular beads 

 made of black wood. Hoihau, China. (Cat. No. 154242, U.S.N.M.) 



221. Chinese rosary. — Consisting of 18 olive-shaped beads, probably 

 made of some wax or resin composition, each being carved into an 

 image of one of the 18 lohans or saints. China. (Cat. No. 130388, 

 U.S.N.M.) 



l « Compare also "The collection of rosaries in the U. S. National Museum," by I. M. Casanowicz. 

 Proc. of the U- **■ National Museum, vol. 30, pp. 333-360, with pis. 21-30. 



