Page:China- Its State and Prospects.djvu/245

Rh that they can find the doctrine of a trinity in all religious creeds, and who suppose, that the idea was derived by traditions from the early progenitors of mankind.

Another circumstance, in which the three religions of China resemble each other, is their atheism. The Confucians derive their diagrams, or mystic numbers, from the extreme point, or nullity; the Taouists talk of myriads of concretions, producing emptiness; and the Buddhist system is founded in nonentity. "No first cause" characterizes all the sects; and the Supreme, self-existent God is scarcely traceable through the entire range of their metaphysics; and yet, the Chinese manage to combine, the apparently irreconcileable principles of atheism and polytheism. "Gods many, and lords many," are adopted by every sect, and it is more easy to find a god than a man in China. Though they account no divinity to be eternal, yet they discover a god in every thing. Their temples, houses, streets, roads, hills, rivers, carriages, and ships are full of idols: every room, niche, corner, door, and window, is plastered with charms, amulets, and emblems of idolatry: so that while they acknowledge no god, they are overrun with gods; and find it their greatest burthen to support and worship their numerous pantheon.