Monks
Not necessarily. Many religions have monks. Monks are people who withdraw from ordinary life to pursue their religious beliefs on a daily basis. So you can have Christian monks, Buddhist monks, Hindu monks, etc. Islam does not have a similar tradition though.
it actually helped the monks achieve zen
robes
In an nunnery. Monks lived in Monerstrys.
work
by monks in middle ages
There were lots and lots of monks in the Middle Ages. Nuns, too. Roger Bacon was a famous monk of the period, and Hildegard of Bingen was a famous nun.
the monks brought it over to china
It was used in the middle ages by monks!
They lived in monasteries
The monks prayed for long periods of time and visited the church for almost the whole day.