In general, however, natural indolence, a desire to avoid the round of drudgery at the well, the hoe, or in the kitchen, or as nurse, sent the majority of applicants to knock at the convent doors. Occasionally a noble lady was won to recluse life from the very apartments of the emperor, or his ministries, by the eloquence of a bonze who was more zealous than loyal. In a few of the convents, only ladies of wealth could enter. The monk and nun, in Japanese as in European history, romance, and drama, and art, are staple characters.
The rules of those monastic institutions forbade the eating of fish or flesh, the drinking of “sake,” the wearing of the hair or of fine clothes, indulgence in certain sensuous pleasures, or the reading of certain books. Fasting, vigils, reflection, continual prayer by book, bell, candle, and beads, were enjoined. Pious pilgrimages were undertaken. The erection of a shrine, image belfry, or lantern by begging contributions was a frequent and meritorious enterprise. There stand today thousands of these monuments of the piety, zeal, and industry of the medieval monks and nuns. Those at Nara and Kamakura are the most famous.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
