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 b

Attitude of Confucius.—Under the influence of Confucius, B.C. 551-479, the old order of things began to undergo a change. The Sage's attitude of mind towards religion was one of a benevolent agnosticism, as summed up in his famous utterance, "Respect the spirits, but keep them at a distance." That he fully recognised the existence of a spirit world, though admitting that he knew nothing about it, is manifest from the following remarks of his:— "How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powe

Lao Tzu.—Meanwhile, other influences had been helping to divert the attention of the Chinese people from the simple worship of God and of the powers of nature. The philosophy associated with the name of Lao Tzu, who lived nobody knows when,—probably about B.C. 600—which is popularly known as Taoism, from Tao, the omnipresent, omnipotent, and unthinkable principle on which it is based, operated with Confucianism, though in an opposite direction, in dislimning the old faith while putting nothing s

Yang Hsiung.—Yang Hsiung was a philosopher who flourished B.C. 53 - A.D. 18. He taught that the nature of man at birth is neither good nor evil, but a mixture of both, and that development in either direction depends wholly upon environment. To one who asked about God, he replied, "What have I to do with God? Watch how without doing anything He does all things." To another who said, "Surely it is God who fashions and adorns all earthly forms," he replied, "Not so; if God in an earthly sense were

So early as the third century B.C., Buddhism seems to have appeared in China, though it was not until the latter part of the first century A.D. that a regular propaganda was established, and not until a century or two later still that this religion began to take a firm hold of the Chinese people. It was bitterly opposed by the Taoists, and only after the lapse of many centuries were the two doctrines able to exist side by side in peace. Each religion began early to borrow from the other. In the

Legendary Period (Twenty-ninth Century to Tenth Century B.C.)—P'an Ku and Creation—First Worship of Spirits—Worship of God, with incense—Sacrifices to Mountains and Rivers—Worship of Sun, Moon, and Stars—Institution of Ancestral Worship—God enjoys music, dancing, and burnt offerings—God resents bad government—Revelation in a Dream—Anthropomorphism—Fetishism—No Devil—No Hell—Terms for God—The Character for "God" is a picture of a Man—God and Jehovah—God in the Odes —Hou Chi and Parthenogenesis—Su

The Religions of China. James Legge, D.D. The Dragon, Image and Demon, or the three Religions of China. Rev. H. C. du Bose. Les Religions de la Chine. C. de Harbez. The Religious System of China: Its ancient forms, evolution, history, etc. J. J. de Groot, Ph.D. The Sacred Books of China. James Legge, D.D. Chinese Buddhism. Joseph Edkins, D.D. Le Shinntoisme. Michel Revon....