勅修百丈清規 7.87

7.87

III. Various Proprieties for the

Sweet Hot Water Reception

1. The Minor Propriety of Serving

Sweet Hot Water at the Abbot’s Office

At the occasions of the four annual celebration days, according to ancient custom, traditionally three kinds of reception are held at the abbot’s office for serving hot sweet water. The first reception prescribes the “dual division seating arrangement” (fenerchu). This reception is held for the east and west hall high-ranking officials, with the primary seat official as a participant. The second reception consists of the “quadruple division seating arrangement” (fensichu). There are four sections with this seating arrangement: 1) the training officials (the west order) are to take their seats at the first section (i.e., front right) [in the abbot’s reception hall; 2) the administrative officials (the east order) take their seats at the second section (front left); 3) the retired west order officials are seated at the third section (middle right end); 4) the retired east order officials are seated at the fourth section (middle left end). The west hall official is invited as a participant.

The third reception consists of the “sextuple division seating arrangement” (liuchu). This arrangement requires the subfunctionaries of the head temple as

well as all the other various temples to be assigned to the six divided sections according to rank. At the same time, whoever holds a similar position should be seated consecutively within the same section. The primary seat official is invited as main participant for this reception. The office of assistant officials prepares a draft chart beforehand for each occasion and presents it to the abbot before establishing the final seating arrangements.

On the appointed day, seat name tablets must be prepared by inscribing the guest names on each of them. In the afternoon, three crepe-wrapped tables are placed in a line in the reception hall (i.e., the one adjacent to the abbot’s office), and the three formal seat arrangements, drawn up as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, are displayed in the lower section of the reception hall. It is the duty of the guest reception assistant to handle the reception for the high-ranking officials, such as the east and west hall residents, the front hall primary seat official, and the head administrative official. He is obliged to visit each of their quarters and, after performing a prostration with unopened sitting cloth, makes the following request:

The abbot requests the venerable’s presence at a special serving of

sweet hot water this evening at the reception hall, sir.

For those other training officials and subfunctionaries, as well as some renowned practitioners, the attendant of the guest reception master at the abbot’s office is sent to invite them respectively with the following words:

The abbot wishes the venerable to be present at a special reception for

serving sweet hot water to be held at the reception hall before the

evening session, sir.

Curtains are hung in the reception hall, the seat name tablets placed, the candles lit, incense burned, and after all this is done, the guest reception master’s attendant notifies the assistant official and then the abbot, before drumming.

When the guests assemble for the first type of reception, they are greeted by the assistant official. They are led before the abbot, exchange bows with him, go to their respective seat positions designated by the seating tablets, and remain standing. Both the incense offering assistant and the guest reception assistant, dividing the two areas of serving, proceed to stand before each of the guests, greet each one with a bow, and, after requesting them to take their seats, return to their places. The incense offering assistant steps for-

ward to offer incense, and upon returning to his place once again, he and the guest reception assistant go around to each of the guests to bow and burn incense on their behalf. Thereupon, the abbot’s office wooden sounding block is struck twice to signal the completion of the serving of sweet hot water. Then the guest reception official goes around [once again], commending each of the guests individually to drink, and thus the reception is accomplished. Next, the incense offering assistant steps forward to burn incense on behalf of the participant. With the signal of a strike on the wooden sounding block the cups are retrieved, and at the signal of five drumbeats the guests are obliged to leave. The proprieties of the three types of reception are identical.

The proprieties of the serving of tea and sweet hot water were the major and most common tradition in Zen monastic temples. But because disruptive quarrels, concerning whether the seats are too high or too low and so on, frequently occurred among guests in recent years, [this tradition] has mostly been abandoned. However, each abbot must try to revive this propriety and established practitioners of the Zen world must urge others to do the same. This propriety is said to be regarded as a practice that should be widely encouraged in the future.

Minor Propriety Seating Arrangements

(symbols $, #, ¶, • show the direction each person faces)

1. The Dual Division Seating Arrangement

Participant ($) ($) Host

Second seat (#) (#) First seat

2. The Quadruple Division Seating Arrangement

Participant ($) ($) Host

Fourth seat (¶) (•) Third seat

Second seat (#) (#) First seat

2. The Sextuple Division Seating Arrangement

Participant ($) ($) Host

Fourth seat (¶) (•) Third seat

Sixth seat (¶) (•) Fifth seat

Second seat (#) (#) First seat

2. Prayers Given at the Shrine

of the Local Spirits on the

Four Annual Celebration Days

In general, on the afternoon of the day before [each of the four] annual cel-

ebration days, various alms offerings are solemnly set out at the shrine of