



Produced by John Bickers; and Dagny





RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT CHINA

by Herbert A. Giles




Professor of Chinese at the University of Cambridge,
Author of "Historic China," "A History of Chinese
Literature," "China and the Chinese," etc., etc.


First Published 1906 by Constable and Company Ltd., London.



     PREPARER'S NOTE

     This book was published as part of the series Religions: Ancient
     and Modern.

     The Psychological Origin and Nature of Religion, by J. H. Leuba.
     Judaism, by Israel Abraham.
     Celtic Religion, by Professor E. Anwye.
     Shinto: The Ancient Religion of Japan, by W. G. Aston, C.M.G.
     The Religion of Ancient Rome, by Cyril Bailey, M.A.
     Hinduism, by Dr. L. D. Barnett.
     The Religion of Ancient Palestine, by Stanley A. Cook.
     Animism, by Edward Clodd.
     Scandinavian Religion, by William A. Craigie.
     Early Buddhism, by Prof. T. W. Rhys Davids, LL.D.
     The Religions of Ancient China, by Prof. Giles, LL.D.
     Magic and Fetishism, by Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S.
     The Religion of Ancient Greece, by Jane Harrison.
     The Religion of Ancient Egypt, by W. M. Flinders Petrie, F.R.S.
     Pantheism, by James Allanson Picton.
     The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Theophilus G. Pinches.
     Early Christianity (Paul to Origen), by S. B. Slack.
     The Mythologies of Ancient Mexico and Peru, by Lewis Spence, M.A.
     The Mythology of Ancient Britain and Island, by Charles Squire.
     Islam, by Ameer Ali, Syed, M.A., C.I.E.
     Mithraism, by W. G. Pythian-Adams.

     The publishers were: Constable and Company Ltd, London; Open Court
     Company, Chicago. The 1918 edition was printed in Great Britain by
     Butler & Tanner, Frome and London.




RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT CHINA



CHAPTER I -- THE ANCIENT FAITH

Philosophical Theory of the Universe.--The problem of the universe has
never offered the slightest difficulty to Chinese philosophers. Before
the beginning of all things, there was Nothing. In the lapse of ages
Nothing coalesced into Unity, the Great Monad. After more ages, the
Great Monad separated into Duality, the Male and Female Principles in
nature; and then, by a process of biogenesis, the visible universe was
produced.

Popular Cosmogeny.--An addition, however, to this simple system had to
be made, in deference to, and on a plane with, the intelligence of the
masses. According to this, the Male and Female Principles were each
subdivided into Greater and Lesser, and then from the interaction of
these four agencies a being, named P'an Ku, came into existence. He
seems to have come into life endowed with perfect knowledge, and his
function was to set the economy of the universe in order. He is often
depicted as wielding a huge adze, and engaged in constructing the world.
With his death the details of creation began. His breath became the
wind; his voice, the thunder; his left eye, the sun; his right eye, the
moon; his blood flowed in rivers; his hair grew into trees and plants;
his flesh became the soil; his sweat descended as rain; while the
parasites which infested his body were the origin of the human race.

Recognition and Worship of Spirits.--Early Chinese writers tell us that
Fu Hsi, B.C. 2953-2838, was the first Emperor to organize sacrifices to,
and worship of, spirits. In this he was followed by the Yellow Emperor,
B.C. 2698-2598, who built a temple for the worship of God, in which
incense was used, and first sacrificed to the Mountains and Rivers. He
is also said to have established the worship of the sun, moon, and five
planets, and to have elaborated the ceremonial of ancestral worship.

God the Father, Earth the Mother.--The Yellow Emperor was followed by
the Emperor Shao Hao, B.C. 2598-2514, "who instituted the music of the
Great Abyss in order to bring spirits and men into harmony." Then
came the Emperor Chuan Hsu, B.C. 2514-2436, of whom it is said that he
appointed an officer "to preside over the worship of God and Earth,
in order to form a link between the spirits and man," and also "caused
music to be played for the enjoyment of God." Music, by the way, is said
to have been introduced into worship in imitation of thunder, and was
therefore supposed to be pleasing to the Almighty. After him followed
the Emperor Ti K'u, B.C. 2436-2366, who dabbled in astronomy, and "came
to a knowledge of spiritual beings, which he respectfully worshipped."
The Emperor Yao, B.C. 2357-2255, built a temple for the worship of
God, and also caused dances to be performed for the enjoyment of God
on occasions of special sacrifice and communication with the spiritual
world. After him, we reach the Emperor Shun, B.C. 2255-2205, in whose
favour Yao abdicated.

Additional Deities.--Before, however, Shun ventured to mount the throne,
he consulted the stars, in order to find out if the unseen Powers were
favourable to his elevation; and on receiving a satisfactory reply, "he
proceeded to sacrifice to God, to the Six Honoured Ones (unknown), to
the Mountains and Rivers, and to Spirits in general.... In the second
month of the year, he made a tour of inspection eastwards, as far as
Mount T'ai (in modern Shantung), where he presented a burnt offering to
God, and sacrificed to the Mountains and Rivers."

God punishes the wicked and rewards the good.--The Great Yu, who drained
the empire, and came to the throne in B.C. 2205 as first Emperor of the
Hsia dynasty, followed in the lines of his pious predecessors. But the
Emperor K'ung Chia, B.C. 1879-1848, who at first had treated the Spirits
with all due reverence, fell into evil ways, and was abandoned by God.
This was the beginning of the end. In B.C. 1766 T'ang the Completer,
founder of the Shang dynasty, set to work to overthrow Chieh Kuei, the
last ruler of the Hsia dynasty. He began by sacrificing to Almighty
God, and asked for a blessing on his undertaking. And in his subsequent
proclamation to the empire, he spoke of that God as follows: "God has
given to every man a conscience; and if all men acted in accordance with
its dictates, they would not stray from the right path.... The way of
God is to bless the good and punish the bad. He has sent down calamities
on the House of Hsia, to make manifest its crimes."

God manifests displeasure.--In B.C. 1637 the Emperor T'ai Mou succeeded.
His reign was marked by the supernatural appearance in the palace of two
mulberry-trees, which in a single night grew to such a size that
they could hardly be spanned by two hands. The Emperor was terrified;
whereupon a Minister said, "No prodigy is a match for virtue. Your
Majesty's government is no doubt at fault, and some reform of conduct
is necessary." Accordingly, the Emperor began to act more circumspectly;
after which the mulberry-trees soon withered and died.

Revelation in a dream.--The Emperor Wu Ting, B.C. 1324-1264, began his
reign by not speaking for three years, leaving all State affairs to be
decided by his Prime Minister, while he himself gained experience.
Later on, the features of a sage were revealed to him in a dream; and
on waking, he caused a portrait of the apparition to be prepared and
circulated throughout the empire. The sage was found, and for a long
time aided the Emperor in the right administration of government. On the
occasion of a sacrifice, a pheasant perched upon the handle of the great
sacrificial tripod, and crowed, at which the Emperor was much alarmed.
"Be not afraid," cried a Minister; "but begin by reforming your
government. God looks down upon mortals, and in accordance with their
deserts grants them many years or few. God does not shorten men's
lives; they do that themselves. Some are wanting in virtue, and will not
acknowledge their transgressions; only when God chastens them do they
cry, What are we to do?"

Anthropomorphism and Fetishism.--One of the last Emperors of the Shang
dynasty, Wu I, who reigned B.C. 1198-1194, even went so far as "to make
an image in human form, which he called God. With this image he used
to play at dice, causing some one to throw for the image; and if 'God'
lost, he would overwhelm the image with insult. He also made a bag of
leather, which he filled with blood and hung up. Then he would shoot at
it, saying that he was shooting God. By and by, when he was out hunting,
he was struck down by a violent thunderclap, and killed."

God indignant.--Finally