three leaders and seven witnesses ［三師七証］ ( sanshi-shichishō): Also, three teachers and seven witnesses. Ten monks whose attendance is required at the ceremony in which a novice receives the entire set of rules of monastic discipline (250 precepts for a monk) and becomes a fully ordained monk. The three leaders play a central role in this ordination ceremony, and the seven witnesses act as witnesses to the event. The three leaders are (1) a preceptor (also called teacher of discipline), whose role it is to confer the precepts; (2) a chairman, who recites words that describe the intent, significance, and form of the ceremony; and (3) an instructor, who examines an applicant’s qualification for ordination and teaches ceremonial manner to him. At least seven monks are required as witnesses to the ordination, though in distant locations where this is impossible, at least two are necessary. Their role is to attest that the ordination rite was conducted properly and that the novice was ordained as a monk. A novice must meet certain requirements to be ordained as a monk. For example, he cannot have had sexual relations while a novice or committed any of the other grave offenses that warrant expulsion from the Buddhist Order, nor can he have asked for ordination for the purpose of making a living. He must be at least twenty years old, have his parents’ permission, be free from debt, disease, etc. Who he practiced under as a novice is also considered. The chairman announces a candidate’s petition for ordination and questions the assembly three times as to whether the novice is qualified to be accepted into the monkhood. If there is no objection, the candidate is ordained as a monk.