Page:China- Its State and Prospects.djvu/219

Rh can be no doubt that they mean, thereby, to place their favourite sage on a level with the powers of nature, and, in fact, to deify him. They even go the length of paying him divine honours; for it appears, by reference to a native work, that there are upwards of 1560 temples dedicated to Confucius; and, at the spring and autumnal sacrifices, there are offered to him, six bullocks, 27,000 pigs, 5,800 sheep, 2,800 deer, and 27,000 rabbits; making a total of 62,606 animals, immolated annually to the manes of Confucius, besides 27,600 pieces of silk; all provided by the government; in addition to the numerous offerings presented to him by private individuals. Thus, have these atheistical people deified the man, who taught them that matter was eternal, and that all existences originated in a mere principle.

But it may be asked, have the Confucians no idea of a spirit, and do they not pay divine honours to invisible beings? To this we may reply, that the learned in China talk largely of spirits and demons, but assign them a very inferior place in the scale of existence. Instead of teaching that the Great Spirit was the former of all things; they hold that spirits are far inferior to the visible and material heavens, and even rank below ancient sages, and modern rulers. Confucius confessed he did not know much about them, and therefore preferred speaking on other subjects. When one of his disciples asked him how he was to serve spiritual beings, he replied," not being able to serve men, how can you serve spirits?" And when the disciple continued to enquire about the dead, the sage replied," not knowing the state of the living, how can you know the state of the dead?" His