OBJECTS OF KELIGIOUS CEREMONIAL 161 



gems. The countries in which the Buddhist rosary is most widely- 

 used are China, Tibet, and Japan.^* 



266. 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 1}^ 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 ribbgn embroidered with small 

 glass beads of diverse colors to represent the swastika and other 

 symbols, with a silver enameled medallion, measuring 2}^ by 1% 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. 



267-269. TTiree Chinese rosaries. — Consisting of 108 globular beads 

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



270. 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.) 



271. Chinese rosary. — Consisting of 18 beads made of the fruit of 

 the Trapa hicornis of China, which resembles a buffalo's head with 

 two blunt horns. China. (Cat. No. 5503, U.S.N.M.) 



272. Tibetan rosary (trengwa, "string of heads"). — Consisting of 

 108 disk-shaped shell beads, divided into four groups of 27 beads 

 each hj three red coral beads. The three retaining beads {do dzin) 

 are a large spherical amber bead, a smaller disk-shaped one, and a 

 conical one of coral. The four counter strings (drang dzin), with 10 

 silver beads on each terminate in various ornaments. This form of 

 rosary is in common use among the lamas. The rosary in Tibet is 

 not only an essential part of the outfit of the lamas, but is every- 

 where in appearance. Nearly every man and woman carries a rosary, 

 holding it in the hand, or attached to the girdle, or wearing it around 

 the neck as a necklace, or twisted arount the wrist as a braclet. Lay- 

 men also use it to assist in ordinary calculations, like the sliding balls 

 of the Chinese, in their business transactions. Kumbum, Tibet. 

 (Cat. No. 167272, U.S.N.M.) 



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

 Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum, vol. 36, pp. 333-360, with pis. 21-30. 



