for religious uses at different times, in almost every part of the
world, might have been introduced, as Lord Kames supposes, from the
custom among savage nations to mark with a great stone the place where
their worthies were interred: that such worthies being at length
deified, in the superstitious notions of their votaries, the stones that
were dedicated to their memory became essential in every act of
religious worship performed in honour of their new deities. The very
particular homage, that for time immemorial has been paid to the memory
of the dead by the Chinese, renders the above explanation extremely
probable as to the origin of their altar of four stones which in their
language are called _Tan_, and which in former times were erected on
most of their high mountains; and it is singular enough that, at the
present day, the _tan_ should be represented, upon many of the altars
erected in their temples, by four loose stones placed on the four
corners of the altar, as the horns were in the corners of the Jewish
altars. When population increased, and the people were spread wide over
the empire, the inconvenience of ascending any particular mountain must
necessarily be felt, and the _tan_ was then transferred to places that
were better suited for general accommodation. The same idea indeed is
still retained in our churches, the _altar_ and _high place_ being
synonimous words. In the city of Pekin, which stands on a sandy plain,
the _tien-tan_, or altar of Heaven; the _tee-tan_ or altar of earth; and
the _sien-nong-tan_ or altar of ancient agriculturists, are erected upon
artificial mounts within the walls of the palace; and here the Emperor
continues, to this day, to sacrifice at appointed times, exclusively, as
the son of Heaven, and the only being on earth worthy to intercede for
his people. The same doctrine prevailed in the time of Confucius, who
observes, that the distance between the all-creative power, or cause of
all things, and the people is so immeasurably great, that the king or
ruler, as high priest, can alone offer such a sacrifice; and that this
power is best satisfied when man performs the moral duties of life; the
principal of which he makes to consist in filial piety, and unlimited
obedience to the will of the prince.
His religious notions and morals do him great credit, but his
metaphysics are so obscure as not to be intelligible which, however, may
partly be owing to the nature of the language. In his writings appears a
strong predilection for a kind of fortune-telling, or predicting events
by the mystical lines of _Fo-shee_. By the help of these lines, and the
prevailing element at the commencement of the reign of a prince, he
pretended to foretel the events that would take place and the length of
its continuance; but, at the same time, he was cautious enough to wrap
them up in such ambiguous and mysterious expressions that, like most
prophecies of the kind, they might admit of a variety of
interpretations. This manner of expounding the lines of Fo-shee by
Confucius, the supposed system of binary arithmetic by Leibnitz, laid
the foundation of consulting future destiny, at this day universally
sought after by the Chinese[43].
[43] The government even grants licences to certain persons, under the
abused name of astronomers, who pretend to predict events, and cast out
evil spirits by a charm, consisting of some character written by them,
according to the supposed prevailing planet. The national almanack, not
less minute in its predictions than those of Francis Moore or Vincent
Wing, or even Partridge, points out the changes of the weather in every
month, with the lucky and unlucky days for undertaking most of the
important concerns of life. And that the fallacy of these is not
detected, may afford less matter for surprize, on recollection that, in
the wise and enlightened countries of Europe, and among very intelligent
people, the state of the weather is pretended to be predicted by the
phases of the moon, that is to say, they will prognosticate a change of
weather to happen at the new moon, or the first quarter, or the full, or
the last quarter, or, at all events, three days before, or three days
after one or other of these periods; so that the predictor has, at the
least, eight and twenty days out of a lunar revolution, in favour of his
prediction being right, and the whole lunation is only twenty-nine and a
half. He has also another great advantage: the accidental coincidence of
one single prophecy with the event, establishes his fame for ever,
whilst his blunders are either overlooked, or considered only as those
of the person, and not the defect of the science.
Predestination in all ages, and in all nations, has formed one of the
leading features of religion; and, in consideration perhaps of popular
opinion, has been foisted into the articles of the Christian faith,
though unwarranted by any passage in the holy scriptures. It is a
doctrine little calculated for the promotion of good morals, and still
less so for conveying spiritual consolation. The Chinese, however,
confine the influence of lots to the events of this life. It would
perhaps be doing injustice to the understanding of Confucius to suppose,
that he really believed in the doctrine of fatality. Being prime
minister of one of the kings of China, it was necessary for him to act
the politician as well as the philosopher; and he could not fail to
know, that the superstitions of the people were among the best supports
of the government. He might have been aware of the folly and absurdity
of such a doctrine, and yet found it prudent to enforce the observance
of it; just as the Greeks thought proper to continue their _Lots_.
These, instead of sticks, as used by the Chinese, were three stones
that, according to some, were first discovered and presented to Pallas
by the nymphs, the daughters of Jupiter, who rejected an offering that
rather belonged to Apollo, and threw them away;--an excellent moral,
observes Doctor Tytler, the learned translator of the hymns and epigrams
of Callimachus, shewing that those persons who are guided by Pallas, or
Wisdom, will improve the present time, without being too anxious to pry
into futurity. The Greek poet, however, like the Chinese philosopher,
ascribed to the possessor of the Lots, the talent of reading future
destiny.
"By him the sure events of Lots are given;
By him the prophet speaks the will of Heaven."
Tytler.
The Romans had also their lots to determine future events, which were a
kind of wooden dice, and their priests examined the marks and
interpreted the signification of the throw. And the ancient Germans,
according to Tacitus, made use of little sticks, notched at the ends
which, like the Chinese, they threw three times in case they did not
approve of the first throw. Herodotus traces the custom of predicting
future events to the ancient Egyptians, and seems to think the Greeks
had it from them. But is not the desire of prying into futurity to be
ascribed rather to a weakness in human nature, than as a custom borrowed
by one nation from another? Are we entirely free from it in modern
Europe? However humiliating the reflection may be, yet it is certainly
true, that men of the strongest minds and soundest judgments have
sometimes, towards the close of an useful life, devoted their time to
the exposition of old prophecies without meaning, or applicable only to
events that were already in train to be accomplished when the prediction
was made. Among many others, the great _Napier_, the inventor of
logarithms, might be produced as an instance of this remark. From the
Apocalypse of Saint John he predicted the day of judgment; but his
calculations in this instance not being founded on _data_ equally solid
with those on which he constructed his tables, he unfortunately survived
the day he had named to blush at his own weakness.
Other parts of the doctrine of Confucius were well calculated to keep
alive the superstitious notions that still prevail among the multitude.
He taught them to believe that the human body was composed of two
principles, the one light, invisible, and ascending; the other gross,
palpable, and descending; that the separation of these two principles
cause the death of man; that at this awful period the light and
spiritual part of the human body ascends into the air, whilst the gross
and corporeal matter sinks into the earth. The word _death_, in fact,
never enters into the philosophy of Confucius; nor, indeed, on common
occasions is it employed by the Chinese at the present day. When a
person departs this life, the common expression is, _he has returned to
his family_. And although the body resolves itself in the course of
time into its primitive elements, and becomes a part of the universe;
yet, he contended, the spirits of such as had performed their duty in
life were permitted to visit their ancient habitations, or such places
as might be appointed for receiving the homage of their descendants, on
whom they had the power of conferring benefactions. On this ground it
became the indispensable duty of every good man to observe a strict
obedience of the performance of sacred rites in the temple consecrated
to the memory of ancestors. He maintained that all such as neglected
this great branch of moral duty would be punished for their neglect,
after death, by their spiritual part being deprived of the privilege of
visiting the hall of ancestors; and, consequently, of the pleasure
arising from the homage bestowed by their descendants. Such a system
could not fail to establish a belief in good and evil genii, and of
tutelar spirits presiding over families, towns, cities, houses,
mountains, and other particular places. It afterwards required no great
stretch of the imagination to give to these "airy nothings a local
habitation and a name."
It does not appear, however, that either Confucius or any of his
disciples attached the least idea of a _personal being_ to the deity;
nor does it seem ever to have entered into their minds to represent the
_great first cause_ under any image or personification. They considered
the sun, moon, stars and the elements, with the azure firmament, as the
creative and productive powers, the immediate agents of the Deity and
inseparably connected with him, and they offered adoration to these
agents, united in one word _tien_ (Heaven). It cannot be supposed, after
what has already been observed in the sixth chapter, that I should lay
any stress on the similarity of words in different languages, or on the
analogy of their signification, in order to prove a common origin; but
if the conjecture of the learned Bos be right, that [Greek: Theos] may
be derived from [Greek: Theein] to move forward, in allusion to the
motion of the heavenly bodies which the ancient Greeks, as well as the
Persians, worshipped, _tien_ certainly comes very near the Greek both in
sound and signification; nearer it could not come in sound, as the
Chinese by no effort could pronounce the [Greek: Theta] _th_. The word
_tien_ not only signifies _heaven_, but a revolution of the heavenly
bodies, and is in common use both in writing and conversation for _day_,
as _ye, ul, san tien_, one, two, three days.
The Confucionists, like the Stoics, seem to have considered the whole
universe as one animated system, made up of one material substance and
one spirit, of which every living thing was an emanation, and to which,
when separated by death from the material part it had animated, every
living thing again returned. In a word, their conceptions of the Deity
might be summed up in those two beautiful and expressive lines of Pope,
"All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body nature is, and God the soul."
But that which is most surprizing is, that the enthusiastic followers of
Confucius have never erected any statue to his memory, nor paid him
divine honours as erroneously has been supposed. In every city is a
public building, a kind of college, wherein examinations are held for
degrees of office, and this building is called the house of Confucius.
Here, on certain appointed days, the men of letters assemble to pay
respect to the memory of their esteemed philosopher. In the great hall
appropriated for this ceremony a plain tablet is erected, on which is
painted an inscription, in gilt characters, to this effect: "O
_Cong-foo-tse_, our revered master, let thy spiritual part descend and
be pleased with this our respect which we now humbly offer to thee!"
Fruit and wine, flowers, perfumes and other articles are then placed
before the tablet, during which are also burning various kinds of
scented gums, frankincense, tapers of sandal wood and gilt paper. This
ceremony, which in every respect is the same to that which he taught as
an observance towards the manes of departed relations, they are
persuaded is agreeable to the invisible spirits of those to whom it is
offered, who delight in hovering over the grateful odour of flowers, of
fruit, and the smoke of incense. Thus, in like manner, did the Romans on
their birth-days offer flowers and fruit and wine, and burn incense to
invisible spirits, whom they called the _genii_,
"Funde merum genio."
"Fill a glass to Genius."
But the priests, who, in all ages and in most nations, have been crafty
enough to turn to their own account the credulity and superstitions of
the people, having once established as a religious duty the offering of
sweet-smelling herbs and other perfumes, found little difficulty in
persuading the multitude, that that the tutelar spirits could eat as
well as smell, and that sacrifices and meat-offerings would be
acceptable to the gods. The priests of China lost no time in introducing
sacrifices, even of living creatures, and offerings of corn and rice and
wine and precious metals upon their altars, not however to that extent
which was practised in the temples of Greece and Rome, whose gods were
the most mercenary of all nations, being rarely induced to grant a
favour without a fee. Nor in modern days have the monks and priests of
the Catholic faith been backward in this respect particularly in
sanctioning the doctrine of _composition for sins_, for the absolution
of which the rate was not even fixed in proportion to the magnitude; and
what is still more astonishing, this impious practice of bargaining with
the Almighty has survived the dark ages, and exists to a certain degree
at this moment.
The moral and religious opinions of Confucius were, in fact, too sublime
and too metaphysical to preserve their purity among a people so
unprepared, as his countrymen were, to receive and cherish them. The
attention of the multitude would seem, indeed, in all nations to require
being fixed on something gross and material. How difficult was it for
the priest and the leader of the Jews, to restrain their people from
practices of idolatry. In the short absence even of Moses on Mount
Sinai, they made for themselves a molten calf of gold as an object of
divine worship, in imitation, probably, of what they had beheld in the
temples of Egypt. The invisible god made little impression on their
gross and untutored understandings. Nor was Numa more successful than
Moses or Confucius, in his attempt to establish among the people the
worship of an ideal or mental object of adoration. Thus also it happened
with the Chinese. The sublime conceptions of their great philosopher,
too refined indeed for untutored human nature, they could not
comprehend. They required some visible object on which they might fix
their attention. It was not enough merely to imagine that the spirits of
men, who had done their duty in this life, were permitted to haunt the
places where their bodies were interred, or where their surviving
friends should assemble to do them honour: it was necessary to give them
a form and substance. In the same manner was the purity of the Christian
religion contaminated by the multitude of images that were invented in
the monkish ages, when every city, town, and church, and even
individuals, provided they could pay for them, had their particular
patron, or tutelar saint.
Like the temples of Confucius, those of the ancient Egyptians are
supposed to have been entirely free from statues; and Herodotus seems to
be of opinion, that Hesiod and Homer were the first who introduced the
genealogy of the gods among the Greeks; imposed names upon each,
assigned their functions and their honours, and clothed them in their
several forms. And we learn from Silius Italicus, that the ancient
temple of Hercules at Gades had no visible type of the Deity.
"Sed nulla effigies, simulacrave nota deorum,
Majestate locum, et sacro implevere timore."
"No statues of the gods appear within,
Nor images; but rev'rend horror round,
And gloom majestic guard the sacred ground."
Tytler's MS.
The missionaries in their writings have endeavoured to impress the world
with an idea that the Chinese, and particularly the Confucionists, are
atheists; that they disbelieve in a future state of existence; and that
they are the victims of a senseless superstition. Nothing can be more
unjust than such an accusation. Could _Caung-shee_ be an atheist, when
he inscribed with his own hands the Jesuit church in Pekin,
"To the only true principle of all things," &c.
And can a people be justly accused of a disbelief in a state of future
existence, when the whole nation, of what sect soever, presents its
offerings at stated seasons to the _spirits_ of its departed ancestors?
Does the ejaculation, "Let thy spiritual part descend and be pleased
with this our respect which we now humbly offer to thee!" convey any
such supposition? And of all others, the missionaries ought to have been
the last to accuse the Chinese of senseless superstitions. Surely it is
not more repugnant to reason, nor less consonant with human feelings, to
offer grateful gifts to the manes of deceased parents and friends, than
to fall down before the Virgin Mary and the thousand saints whom caprice
or cabal have foisted into their calendar, and of whose history and
actions even their votaries are totally ignorant? Chinese superstition,
in this respect is, to say the worst of it, an amiable weakness. If the
supposition be allowed that beings who have departed this life may
possess an influence over remaining mortals, it is surely more natural
to address those whose care and kindness had already been felt, than
those of whom we have no further knowledge than the name. There is
perhaps no stronger incentive to virtuous actions, nor a more effectual
check against vicious pursuits, than the idea that the departed spirit
of a beloved parent may continue to watch over and direct our conduct.
The Chinese, at all events, are not illiberal in their superstitions:
they made not the least difficulty in allowing the corpse of one of our
artists, who died at _Tong-tchoo_, though a Christian and consequently
in their opinion a heretic, to be deposited in the midst of their public
burying ground. With as little reason does an angry missionary complain
of the dresses and ceremonies of their priests, as they certainly
borrowed nothing from the Catholics, who, on their part, are much
indebted to the heathen Greeks for a great part of the paraphernalia of
their own religion. "There is no country," says he, "where the devil has
so successfully counterfeited the true worship of the holy church. These
priests of the infernal spirit wear long loose gowns, exactly resembling
those of some of the fathers of the church; they live in temples like so
many monasteries, and they chaunt in the same manner as with us."
Another religion, much better calculated to gain popularity, sprung up
about the time of, or very shortly after, the death of Confucius. A man
of the name of _Lao-Kung_, having travelled into Thibet, became in part
acquainted with the worship of the priests of Lama, which he thought
would suit his countrymen, and might also be the means of raising his
own reputation. He accordingly established a sect, under the name of
_Tao-tze_, or "Sons of Immortals." He maintained, like Epicurus, that to
live at his ease and to make himself happy were the chief concerns of
man: that, to seize the present moment, regardless of the past and of
that to come, was the business of life,
"Carpe diem, quàm minimum credula postero."
"----Swift the fleeting pleasure seize,
Nor trust to-morrow's doubtful light."
But as ills would come, and disease and death seemed to be the common
lot of mankind, the beverage of immortal life was a glorious idea to
hold out to mortal man. In fact, immortality was one of the attributes
of the _Delai Lama_, who is supposed never to die; the soul of the
reigning Lama passing immediately into the person of his successor. This
doctrine, a branch of the Metempsycosis, was converted by _Lao-Kung_
into the art of producing a renovation of the faculties in the same
body, by the means of certain preparations taken from the three kingdoms
of nature. The infatuated people flew with avidity to the fountain of
life. Princes even sought after the draughts that should render them
immortal, but which, in fact, brought on premature death. Numerous
instances are said to be on record, wherein the eunuchs have prevailed
on the sovereign to swallow the immortal liquor which seldom failed to
dispatch him. Father Trigault, who was in Pekin when the Tartars took
possession of it, speaking of the propensity of the upper classes for
the beverage of life, observes, "Even in this city, there are few of the
magistrates or eunuchs or others in office free from this insanity; and
as there are plenty who wish to learn the secret, there is no want of
professors." This seems to be the only species of alchemy to which the
Jesuits have said the Chinese are addicted. The preparation of the
liquor of life is their philosopher's stone; and, in all probability, is
composed of opium and other drugs which, by encreasing the stimulus,
gives a momentary exhilaration to the spirits; and the succeeding
languor requiring another and another draught till at length, the
excitability being entirely exhausted, the patient "puts on
immortality."
How much soever we may find ourselves disposed to censure the absurdity
of the Chinese beverage of life, we are not a great way behind them in
this respect, or the _Perkinses_, the _Solomons_, the _Velnos_, and the
_Brodums_, with an innumerable host of quacks, whose indecent
advertisements disgrace our daily prints, would not derive their
subsistence, much less rise to affluence, by the credulity of
Englishmen; for many of these pests of society are foreigners, too
contemptible in their own country to meet with encouragement. What
conclusion would a Chinese be apt to draw of our national character, if
he had only a smattering of our language, just sufficient to enable him
to read these daily effusions that are forced upon public notice[44]?
And what must he think of the reveries of Condorcet, and of his English
disciples, whose monstrous doctrines (under the abused name of
philosophy) would persuade him that sleep was a disease! That
"Sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care,
The death of each day's life, fore labour's bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast"----
was a bodily infirmity, which the _perfectibility of the human mind_
(so happily commenced by the French subversion) would completely
eradicate! Let us not altogether condemn the ignorant, perhaps
designing, priests of _Tao-tse_, and the still more ignorant multitude,
when the strong and enlightened mind of a _Descartes_ could amuse itself
with the fanciful hope of being able to discover the secret of
prolonging the life of man far beyond the usual limits which seem to be
assigned to the human species.
[44] And which, together with their pernicious practices and infamous
pamphlets, addressed chiefly to youth of both sexes, it may be added,
have done more mischief than "plague, pestilence, or famine." Among the
numerous societies that have been formed for the amendment of public
morals and the suppression of vice, it is surprizing that no plan has
been thought of for the suppression of impudent quacks.