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Religions of Ancient China
Paperback
Religion General General Eastern Religions
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Publisher: Singbooks
Pages: 48
Weight: 0.17
Height: 0.10 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
hilosophical 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, theMale 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
3 HERBERT ALLEN GILES
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 wor-
ship 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 theMountains and Rivers. He is also said to have estab-
lished 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 intro-
duced 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
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