Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-07-05
THE CHINESE DlVINlHlES.

The new scrisis in the East, which
has suddenly arrayed all the great
Christian nations against China, hav-
ing been precipitated by the appeal of
tho Boxers to pative religious preju-
dices, glance AZ the religious and
social characteristics Of the Chinese
10 Of timely interest.
Oonfucianism Is now we'll understood.
and both Buddhism and Taoism have |
been SO thoroughly explored that it ID
hard to believe that anything OF i'm
portance relating thereto is to be dis
covered. AT least one more book upon
this topic, however. remains to be com..
piled namely, a Chinese Astrological
Dictionary. Such work should con-
tain an account Of all the principal
diyinitiss actually worsbipped by the
Chinese, with authentic details of such
as are historical, together with record
Of the steps by. which many Of them
have been promoted IN the Chinese
pantheon. until like Kunn-Ti, the god
Of war, from very humble beginnings
they have become "adiuvant OF
beayep.n The number of these divini
ties is very large and includes many
that have been continuously worshipped
for over thousand years.
Whether the Chinese have ever at
any time In their long history had
perception or conception of one true
God, Father and Creator OF all
things is n question that has been
long and learnedly discussed by schol-
arly students of their aYical writings.
1t is still an oren question. But there
| is no doubt at all that for many GEN.
| tuiie past they have worshipped the
sun, the moon, the stare and q host OF
ancestral deities All the gods of China
may be said to have been dead men,
| and, by the right of ancestral worship,
it may be afr med that in q sense all
| the dead men of China are gods. Tenn
ples are CONSTANTLY erected. by the con-
sent Of the Emperor, to men who, while
| living, have in various ways distin-
guished themselves. 1t is impossible to
say that any one of these men may not
in the slow evolution of ages, rise 10
the highest place among the national
diyinities. There can, therefore, be no
doubt whatever that as nation the
Chinese are polytheistic.
That there was a tendency among
primitive manlsind toward the worship
Of nature is well known. The recog-
niticn of irresistible and unknown
forces led to their personification and
tol external acts of alteration, based
upon the supposition that these forces
are sentiment. Hence many pagan
peoples erected temples to the gods of
wind, thunder and fire. In China the
moi th star is an object of constant
worship. There are temples to the sun
and 10 the moon 10 Pekin 10 CEN
neotion with the imperial Worship
But IN some regions the the Worship
of the sun is regular act of routine
on the part of the people generally. on
day in the second month, which they
are pleased to designate his birth
day.D Early in the morning the
villagers 20 to the east to meet tho sur
and in the evening thsy go about
toward the west &c escort him On his
way. This ends the worship OF the sur
for year. An exceedingly common
manifestation Of this nature worship u
in the reverence; for trees, which II
some provinces las, for example, II
Northwestern Honanl is so exceedingl,
common that one may pass hundreds o
: trees of all sizes, each of them hum
: with bannerets, indicating that 1t j
. the abode Of some spirit. Even whe'
, there Is no external symbol of WORSHIP
the superstition exists in full force
!. If a fine old tree is seen standing il
! front Of wretched hovel it is morall
: certain that the owner Of the tree dai
! not cut it down on account of tn
. divinity within.
II has been popularity understoc
L that the Emperor is the only in
j. diyidual 10 the Empire who has tn
prerogative OF worshippine heaven
Q The very singular and interesting cere
= monies which are performed in th
y Temple OF Heaven by the Emperor j
person are no doubt unique. But
u would be news to the people Of Chin
y as a whole that they do not and mu!
y not worship heaven and earth each Il
10 themselves. The houses often have
. small shrine in the front wall faoin
- the south and 10 some regions this
g called "the shrine, to heaven an
% earth. /" Multitudes Of Chinese wi
= testify that the only act of religio,
d d worship which they ever perfor
~ taside from ancestral ritesl is
y prostitution and an Offering ''to heavt
~ and earth" on the first and fifteenth
o. each moon, or in some cases on the b
y, ginning OF each new year. No pray
"a is uttered. and after time the offe
.. ing is removed and, as in other case
n, eaten.
~ What is 1t that at such times Il
60 Chinese people worship? Sometim
DIS they affirm that the object Of worsh
ne is "aeayen aud earth." Snmetim
~ they say that II Is heaven" a,
~ again they call 1t ''the Old Man of I
ne Sky" tlato t'ien yeh). The latter tel
~ has led to an Inference that the Chine
~ do have real perception of a person
60 deity. But when 1t is asoertained th
ah this supposed 'fperson" Is frequent
as matched by another called Gran
on mother Earth III mu mai nail the On
~ rectness Of the inference is open to se
wo GUS question. The word Heaven"
IL it is true, often used in the Chint
classics in such way as to convey
ng idea Of personality and will. But it
YES likewise employed in manner viii
t suggests very littls of either, and wh
,hs we read In the commentary Il
M Heaven is principle" the vaguen'
ner of the term Is obvious To this q
~ biguity in classical use corresponds
as looseness Of meaning given to it
lne every day life. The Chinaman who
rn' been worshipping heaven upon bel
~ ~ pressed to know what he means
~. .h Heaven" will frequently reply that
1ho is the blue expanse above. His worsl
", is, therefore, In harmony with that
tne him who worships the powers Of natu
huh either individually or collective
'rs. His creed may be described in Emers
~ ian phrase as zone with the blow
gu clover and the falling rain :" In OF
'..a. words, he is pantheist.
;u t Turning to their social character
AZ, " tics We find that the one thing after
w, possession Of the 10 classics on VIII
Vi the Chinese specially pride themsel