Wooden fish or muyu are often found in Buddhist temples. There-are-two kinds of wooden fish. One is shaped like a fish and hangs in front of the Abstinence Hall in the temple. It is a clapper beaten to announce mealtime in the morning and at noon. Another is round, made of a hollow wooden block, used by monks to beat rhythm when chanting sutras. It is said that when the sutras were brought to China from India, they were dropped into the sea and eaten by a fish. The monks beat the fish, forcing it to throw out the sutras from its mouth.
So in Buddhist temples in China, monks are sometimes seen beating a wooden fish when they chant sutras.
