Page:China- Its State and Prospects.djvu/220

194 maxim was, "Respect the gods, but keep them at a distance;" that is, shew them all due honour, but have as little to do with them as possible. It is customary with the Chinese, to attach a presiding spirit to each dynasty and kingdom, to the land and grain, to hills and rivers, wind and fire; while the four corners of the house, with the shop, parlour, and kitchen, of every dwelling, are supposed to be under the influence of some tutelary divinity. To these the sage considered it necessary to pay the accustomed honours, but was decidedly averse to what he called flattering the gods by constant services. Dr. Milne says, that "the word shin should very rarely, if ever, be rendered god, in translating from Chinese books; but rather aeon, gods, a spirit, an intelligence, &c. How far it can be proper to express the Christian idea of God by the same term, when writing for the Chinese, remains a question, which has long been agitated, and is yet undecided.

With regard to a future state of being, the Chinese are as much in the dark, as in what relates to the deity. They speak of the intellectual principle, as distinct from the animal soul; but do not say anything definitely about its existence after death. The sentence quoted above, shews how the philosopher evaded the question. Some of his followers have talked of three intellectual souls, and seven animal spirits, as attached to each individual; at death, the latter disperse; and of the former, one resides in the grave, the other follows the parental tablet, and the third wanders about like the genii over the mountains; but whether in a state of happiness or misery, the Chinese do not say. In fact, the Confucians do not connect the idea of retribution