Page:Ports of the world - Canton (1920).djvu/48

CANTON

With Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism there is a sharply defined belief in good and evil spirits, and those who embrace the three religions believe it is necessary—for their own good—to propitiate both good and evil spirits for the purpose of keeping a balance between them.

Ancestor worship, which involves the question of appeasing both good and evil spirits, is regarded as being the mainspring of China's religious life, while Confucianism serves as a moral code, and Buddhism and Taoism furnish the "rituals or outward forms of observance."

An interesting base of Buddhism is the standards its devotees must uphold "if they are to live happily in another life." The five great commandments of Buddhism prohibit "killing, stealing, adultery, lying, and drunkenness." Buddhists must also maintain the "right view, right judgment, right language, right purpose, right profession, right application, right memory, and right meditation." Other virtues especially commended by the Buddhist religion are "almsgiving, purity, patience, courage, charity, contemplation, and knowledge."

The progress of Christianity in China was slow for many centuries, but the