Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/388

 368 EEUGION. eastern people have yet attempted to solve for themselves even an approximation to an idea of the nature of that disembodied state. It is very evident from the above Burial Ritual, that death is regarded as an eternal separation between the dearest of friends and the best of men. The bitter wailing of survivors, to whom the departed was very dear, is the necessary accom- paniment of that black despair, which says to the departed, that he must go hence "for ever;" and what a contrast this, "We shall never see your face again," of eastern philosophy and religion, compared to "Not dead, but gone before," of the Christian. Even supposing it could be false, the belief that death is but a temporary separation of those dear to us as life, is one full of soothing comfort to the living one, for which we owe deep gratitude to Him who has "brought life and immortality to light," if even He had done no more for mankind. The condition of Corea, as of all eastern lands, proves that the most ordinary morality has no foothold, apart from the belief in an endless existence hereafter, whose character is to be decided by the " deeds done in the body." The following is again a translation from a Corean treatise on Religion : — There are four sects in Corea — 1st, The Religion of Reason. Its teaching is summed up in the two words : " Clean " * and " Empty." "f- It teaches its disciples to be humble and not arrogant But if a man join them who is of a disreputable character, he ceases prayers and music (which can restore a man), and forsakes benevolence and uprightness. 2nd, GeomancY, originated with Hii and Ho, two ministers of Yao Wang.J If a man joins them who is of some mental f Void of thought and desire of any kind, either good or evil; for i>erfection is the absolute serenity of mind consequent on the total absence of all thought. Eigo, the man who did not waste his talent but kept it in a napkin, should have been a good man. And therefore ceasing to exist as a sefiarate individual is the perfection of happiness. Though called Too here, the name and description really belong to Buddhism. t This gives Geomancy a much more recent date than the Fuhi of the Chinese.
 * " Clean " in heart, in x>er8on, in temple.