[315] M. Finot conjectures that it represents the Siamese Chao (Lord) and a corruption of Guru.
[316] See chapter on Siam, sect. 1.
[317] Corpus, II. p. 422.
[318] The strange statement of Chou Ta-kuan (pp. 153-155) that the Buddhist and Taoist priests enjoyed a species of jus primæ noctis has been much discussed. Taken by itself it might be merely a queer story founded on a misunderstanding of Cambojan customs, for he candidly says that his information is untrustworthy. But taking it in connection with the stories about the Aris in Burma (see especially Finot, J.A. 1912, p. 121) and the customs attributed by Chinese and Europeans to the Siamese and Philippinos, we can hardly come to any conclusion except that this strange usage was an aboriginal custom in Indo-China and the Archipelago, prior to the introductions of Indian civilization, but not suppressed for some time. At the present day there seems to be no trace or even tradition of such a custom. For Siamese and Philippine customs see B.E.F.E.O. 1902, p. 153, note 4.
[319] The French Archæological Commission states that exclusive of Angkor and the neighbouring buildings there are remains of 600 temples in Camboja, and probably many have entirely disappeared.
[320] Maspéro, pp. 62-3.
[321] The food is prepared in the monasteries, and, as in other countries, the begging round is a mere formality.
[322] But in Chinese temples notices forbidding smoking are often posted on the doors.
[323] The word dhyâna is known, but the exercise is more commonly called Vipassanâ or Kammathâna.
[324] M.G. Coedès in Bull. Comm. Archéol. 1911, p. 220.