The Water-Land Dharma Assembly, an unprecedentedly grand occasion.
At every street corner and within the deep palace courtyards, altars and incense tables were everywhere to be seen.
But the grandest spectacle was within the imperial palace, at the site of the Heaven and Earth Altar.
On the high altar, under the heavens, steps of white jade led up where the current Son of Heaven, leading the royal family and officials both civil and military, came forth to offer sacrifices.
Furthermore, high monks from the major Buddhist temples, leading three thousand six hundred monks, were divided into upper, middle, and lower sections, chanting sutras and presiding over the sacrificial rites.
At this moment, looking up at the Heavenly Altar, dozens of high monks from Buddhism stood to the left and right, donned in kasayas, radiating a dignified treasure-like aura.
