, 1879-08-10

have yet to be tfans1ateo. "hat VIC knoW {
| the VcQas leaves US almost rs ignorant OF tt
| oa,i,e ~ ,hn Indian mind a. wa wcra befor,
Thoa oro ar,,na IN their s,mn1;c;t1 h,
lacy Afo ~
ualnstructlVe ID Inc soll1ilon OF TIE great que!
tious which, ii they did not grow out OF then
| followed after them, and perplexed the minds c
.ho,,,o,,i,. ~ c,h+,a thnlara w. have ,n1v
1racnentafr kno"ica@c y, 1ue opau'snaas' an
! the whole OF the Indian theology Is founded O
these. With respect to'~tt1e Iedanta, 2lthoug
/ We have excellent summaries Ct Its doctrine. Jet
until the formidable l'st OF upanlshaos name
| by Coicbrooke at tite bcginhtng OF sec OF III
| work on the "Philosophv OF the Htndas" " b
| translated, we cannot De saio 20 nave thofoug
knoWlrd@e OF IT'S orisan atlo oeFeiopmcns. Alr
Banerjea, indeed seems to think that the We
danta owes vers mueh OF ITS Is aosma, II not t.
yersialists;. and in t}iis many others agree witt
MIN. But IL the rei'glohs ot tnu1a arc yet onl.
hasf known TO Us. Wua1 saai! We say aDou
Chtnat N Whas a 90 a. We Know OF the reliefous Nc
! OF the 3on0oo Uuo human peanGs who tnhab
That moupta,n,eirt Emplret Ne1t to nothing
lated; ont wnat 90 We Know OF tne!r yves: :Anc
! II We 40 not KNOW the cha!acser OF nation:
inner life, .we cannot pretend 20 oe ACQUAINTED
WITH us fciaglon, loE oook-lenelo9 IS one thnG
another:
IN TACT, the very slartlng quest'on mas to oe
answered first, Has China any religion at ala
TINT is, any religion q 'ts our. Il we take the
word religion TO mean tic act OF remembering
(tc. Opposite, in fact, OF ''egiqeFe then undoubs-
edly the Chinese are the most religious people
IL the world, for the'r wnole lie Is quilt up on
this OASIS OF remembering Inc teaenins OF tnelr
ancestors, particularly 1aou and ahun. And, IN
fact, perhaps this IS ne element which connects
them rrliglously With the rest OF the world.
But it is evident that to remember Is only
one factor in the definition OF the oru religion
zrsdf We remember, and WITH tch1t vttw We bring
ourselves to remember, ttese are 1urs''er eie-
me1ss 10 the question, alu II It ne necessary.
in order to cntitle q people to be called re1ig-
their social duties, with view to something be-
yond the present life, then We eau hardly find
out'fron1 their books, at least; that the chinese
IS distinct people have any religious li1e Of
But If the object Of Mr. Johnson's work ap-
pears to us more or less an impossible one to
reach, the method OF the work both for its
originality and wonderful completeness de-
mards the highest commentator. What
may be be know known o. tn, the Gnlness n a:, ean Ger
rangement OF the materials Ia the work before
us. The method is, first Of all, to select certain
leauns m nnodr men tne n9ny
are i've in number. named as follows: III Ella
mcnts, C} STRUCTURES, {3) Sages, III Beliefs, III
Philosophy,-autl then iu the several divisions to
search out fundamental ideas, which in some
way or other teud to illustrate the subject OF
inquiry. It need hardly be remarked that to
follow the author through the field he has
chosen would be impossible iu mere review OF
the work. Suffice 1t to say thut no task
could nave been more CONSCIENTIOUS
~ fulhilel than thas which his
own method exacted from him. Each
diYision might, indeed, be the substance OF
separate treatise, Tie only fear we have Is that
the very tuOrQuT0uGSS OF tlC authors research
may tend rather TO eolbarrass the reader, and
burden his memory with facts and conclusions
too numerous to be carried forward in the cal
culation IN which tic is eugaged. In one OF the
upon ''langusge :" {tlle third i; subdivision under
the heading ':Structure ~, VIC find many re-
marks OF au interesting character. Nothing, we
imagine, 'can tflro" more hghe on tile genesis
and growth OF the rcligious sdea III man than
tie words or symbols used in the earliest ages
OF worship. In this there Is an absolute agree
ment In all the typical races OF mankind. II We
take the earliest AFgan synoot, it viii De found
IN the figure which undouot oted!y stood for the
merely the junction OF three signs which
respectively Indicated the sun, the moon, and the
stars. It is simply this: K In cases too NIL;
~, u,-,,,o,
luelous ~ u'ent! tu!s s5mp IS lonno lor the
purpose oi inalcatnS tne me hlenest," or the OBJ
~t,., Tois
refer Only TO tne ran lnSef1ptloh @ 1onnd In Bur
nou1's - LOUIS. page 10. put what we want to
observe IS if,at this ldea OF something " high ="
OF "exa!teu - Is also contained in the Chincse
symooi +, winch W 1ts Fefy structure (and, We
may add, its acknowledged signftcance) indi-
Gates that which is hiEh or exalted above the
by *'kami,"-i. c., God,-an in the
Chinese itself IS the principal factor in the CON-
position Of the term Shaagti, which is regarded
by the best-iuformed 5inoo1isss as the only
correct rendering Of our word for
The Divinity. And now compare with this
The Semitic word for "Heavcn'' (shanain), /
which, as Goldzther remarks, is derived from
the idea OF "htsht," and even our word
. heaven"-. E.. something t'raised'' or
' heavcd up'''-and We shall see how in the
earliest times there was an agreement amongst
nen that in worship there was an object a5oue
themselves deserving OF loving alteration. kiss
nS tne hana} and 3,,1 INA. ths ooject vas as
he high nud lofty one. This is n common cIe'
nens In the religious ufe OF the racc hut IN
china it was lost at a very early period. and
onren.;on no,g % ~ at icast onIr =, as t,a a.sti
~. 5a,rsaa9 ciH, ~ ~ ,,a+ ~ ~ - ulaee4 ~
9nia Ea es.se 1Au@ ~ ,t,, r1t .c lateuage OF