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- nine different ranks. This number of ranks may have descended from China's Han dynasty (206 bc-ad 220) which had a nine grade ranking system known as jiu pin. The number of panels or patches in each column of the kesa can also increase with a maximum of five panels in each column. The number of panels had a special symbolic meaning. Kesa sometimes have cords with special knots or amulets attached to certain spots and the manner in which a kesa was being held could also be part of the esoteric Buddhist language of gestures known as mudra.
The addition of two large contrasting panels flanking the top part of the central column is often found on the seven column type of kesa. These repre�sent the bodhisattva (bosatsu); Samantabhadra (Fugen), the bodhisattva of benevolence on the right side, and Manjusri (Monju) the bodhisattva of wis�dom on the left side, who were the principal attendants of the historical Buddha, Sakyamuni.
At the four corners of a kesa, additional contrasting patches are attached to symbolize the four Heavenly Kings, or shitenno, the Guardians of the cardinal points of the Buddhist universe, who protect the Dharma, or Buddhist Law, from evil. Often these corner patches served as receptacles concealing sacred artifacts such as a saint's or abbot's fingernail, lock of hair or personal item. In later times when kesa were sold, the relic would be carefully removed. In the first half of the twentieth century, impoverished Japanese temples and mon�asteries have been persuaded to part with their fine old mantles for bright new ones. Many of these beautiful kesa are now housed in foreign museums in Europe, the United States and Canada. In the United States alone there are at least five museums with more than one hundred examples of kesa in their holdings and several others with large collections.
The various panels of a kesa create a divided surface that reflects the transitory nature of life which is a principal theme of Buddhist teachings. The divided surface is somewhat like samsara representing the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, and symbolizes another Buddhist theme�the detachment of desire.
The making of a kesa was an act of devotion in itself. The quilting of the kesa required careful concentration and prayers (or mantras) were quietly repeated at each stage. A prescribed time of the year was chosen to make a kesa and it had to be completed within a certain length of time. Contributing clothing or money for the fashioning of a kesa or an actual complete kesa was seen as a duty of the practitioner for which they would acquire merit.
Upon the death of a devotee, their clothes would sometimes be donated to a monastery for the making of a kesa. By doing so it was hoped the prayers associated with the kesa would protect the soul of the deceased. The kesa would honour the donor and commemorate the deceased. In this way, the making of a kesa was mainly for the benefit of the donor rather than the monk. In some instances an inscription was added to the lining of the kesa to memo�rialize the donation. The cloth of choice used for Japanese kesa was usually silk in weaves of various textures and patterns but could also be cotton or ramie.
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