The evidence in various documents, images and field investigations shows that there are several large differences between the staffs carried by Chinese monks and those used by Indian monks. With this observation as a starting point, this paper presents a study on the earliest style of staff and follows the evolution of the staff from being an everyday item, to becoming a symbol of a monk’s lifestyle, and finally a Buddhist ritual item. The author provides an additional textual research on the etymology of terms used to refer to staffs. The ultimate purpose of this article is threefold: to clarify the historical changes that monk’s staffs underwent in terms of both function and style, to understand the sinicization of Buddhist precepts, and to understand why some precepts were given greater emphasis and more extended interpretation in China.
