The inmates of the monasteries are divided into three classes—the monks, the _nanes_ (or acolytes), and the pupils. The rules or commandments designed for the monks are 227 in number, and are given by Colquhoun in his interesting work ‘Amongst the Shans.’[15] The rules for the _nanes_ are as follows: Take no animal life; do not steal; have no venereal intercourse; do not lie; drink no intoxicating liquor; eat no food after mid-day until daybreak the next morning; adorn not the body, even with flowers, nor make it pleasant by perfumery; be not a spectator at theatrical or musical performances; sleep not on a bed raised higher than one cubit (19½ inches); touch not silver or gold, or anything which passes for money. Youths may be admitted as _nanes_ at any time above seven years of age, but cannot become monks before being fully twenty years old. To become a monk a man must pass immediately from being a _nane_. If he has been a _nane_ at some previous time, he must still become one again, and be reinstituted, before he can enter the ranks of the monks. Persons can be admitted as _nanes_ or monks at any time in the year, except from the first evening of the eighth (Siamese) waning moon until the middle of the eleventh. The period which includes the rainy months of the year is termed Wasa, and is the great annual harvest-time for making merit. It is during this season that the monks may not absent themselves for a single night from their monastery. More people become monks in the first half of the eighth month than in any other month of the year. Previous to being admitted as a monk, or even a _nane_, the candidate has the hair shaved from his head and eyebrows; and, if he has a beard, has it plucked out by the roots. This ceremony is repeated twice a month by the monks and _nanes_, on the day preceding the full and new moon of every month. The shaving day is called “Wan Kone.” The pupils are taught by the monks either in the hall of the monastery, or in a building erected for the purpose in the temple grounds. The parents select the monk by whom they wish their son to be taught, and the monk takes his pupils under his special care; and they are fed and lodged in the monastery. When they have learned to read and write their native characters, they have to study the Cambodian character in Siam (the character in which the Siamese sacred books are written), and the Pali character in the Shan States.