Fannbay, to quote the definition of the ‘Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist terms’ are ‘Buddhist hymns [which are] sung to repress externals and calm the mind within2 for religious service; also in praise of Buddha’. The first element, Fann, a transliteration of Brahma, refers to the Indian origin of the term, the second element, bay, is the Chinese transliteration of pāṭha ‘chanting’. Under the name Fannbay this type of Buddhist chant as developed in China (actually a kind of long-drawn-out tune) was transplanted in Japan in Tarng times and is known in Sino-Japanese reading as Bonbai.3