made up of two long and one short panel, or twenty-
five columns, each comprised of four long and one
short panel. Figure 1 shows the pattern for a seven-
columned medium-sized kasaya. Variations based on
odd numbers of columns between nine and twenty-
five also exist, and there are legends of unusual robes
with more columns. Small square patches reinforce the
material at the four outer corners and at spots where
cords are attached. Buddhist robes did not have any
kind of fastening until the disciple ANANDA’s robes
were blown by a breeze, and in order to maintain mod-
esty the Buddha permitted the use of cords and buck-
les of wood, bone, or shell. Braided cords and buckles
were common in East Asia, but not in Southeast and
South Asia.
The precepts also reinforce the idea of the robe as
ritual object regulated in size, shape, and methods of
stitching. Moreover, various texts recommend that
each stitch be accompanied by a bow or a MANTRA(in-
cantation), and advise that robes be cleaned with pu-
rified water and stored on high shelves surrounded by
flowers and incense. Before Japanese SotoZen monks
don their robes, for example, they make three pros-
trations, place the folded robe on top of their heads
and chant a verse in praise of the robe as a garment of
liberation. Clearly the color, materials, and fabrication
transform common robes into mantles of piety that
represent humility and require respect.
Buddhist robes as insignias of status, occasion,
and sectarian affiliation
Despite the Buddha’s exhortations, changes occurred.
One of the most noticeable was the East Asian prac-
tice of bordering the patched panels with a dark ma-
terial, forming a robe of striking contrasts. Most
significantly, the colder climates and customs of dress
in East Asia led to the use of tailored garments worn
beneath the kasaya.Established by the sixth century in
China, these underrobes consisted of an upper gar-
ment that had neckband sleeves falling to the wrist, and
a piece of pleated cloth used for a skirt, which Indian
Buddhists had also used. In East Asia these two pieces
eventually were sewn into a single kimono-like gar-
ment. In Japan a culotte type of skirt was also worn.
The use of these underrobes changed the function of
the kasayain East Asia. Kasayawere no longer needed
for warmth and modesty, but rather were used to con-
vey rank, status, occasion, and sectarian affiliation.
The colors of a kasayadistinguished rank, status,
and the level of formality of the occasion. To move
from white to saffron robes signaled the advance from
layman to monk in Thailand, just as the first level of
novices in Japan today wear black and are permitted
ocher robes only after receiving the formal transmis-
sion. East Asian Buddhists created complex systems of
ecclesiastical ranks and offices modeled after those
used at the imperial court, and they assigned certain
colors to specific ranks. Martin Collcutt in Five Moun-
tains (1981) describes the ranks and titles within
medieval Japanese Zen monasteries. He notes that or-
dinary monks wore black underrobes and kasaya,but
abbots wore robes of color. These colors depended not
just on the individual’s rank but also on the status of
the particular monastery. For example, only abbots of
the senior monastery of the highest status were per-
mitted to wear deep-purple robes.
The propriety of colorful robes was debated at var-
ious times. However, religious leaders as divergent as
PARAMARTHA(499–569), an Indian monk and transla-
tor of the sixth century, and DOGEN(1200–1253), the
founder of SotoZen Buddhism in thirteenth-century
Japan, affirmed that while muddy ocher may be best,
robes of blue, yellow, red, black, purple, or a combi-
nation of these colors were permissible. Occasion also
governed the selection of the robe’s color. For exam-
ple, in 1561 the New Pure Land sect decreed that
henceforth their monks would wear white underrobes
for happy events such as weddings, black underrobes
for solemn occasions such as funerals, and colored
underrobes for other ceremonial functions.
Another indication of a monk’s rank was the qual-
ity of the kasayamaterial. Many kasayafor high-
ranking monks in East Asia were made of exquisite
brocades decorated with gold leaf, gold threads, and
embroidery. These refinements were justified as marks
of respect appropriate for robes that were devotional
objects rather than ordinary garments. The precepts
themselves also permit the use of donated materials,
which could be refined, and this led to greater diver-
sity of materials. The Vinaya relates the story of Jvaka,
who received an especially beautiful cloth from a king.
When he asked the Buddha if it were permissible to
wear such a cloth, the Buddha approved, saying that
the monks were free to wear rag robes or to accept
householders’ garments, although it would be best to
cut them. The status and fervor of the donor as well as
the rank of the recipient were reflected in the quality
of the donations, and thus donors contributed the
most valuable materials they could afford. During the
seventeenth through nineteenth centuries in Japan, for
example, believers donated fragments of bright and
richly decorated theatrical garments for monks toROBES ANDCLOTHING