50 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



In them are such high moral, social, and religious ideals and teachings 

 that Confucianism has been for centuries the main source, or at least 

 one of the main sources, of high ideals and teachings in China, Korea, 

 and Japan. It is also a fact that during recent centuries Confucianism 

 has inspired democratic movements in Europe, especially in France, 

 and in the United States (ibid., pp. 254-278). 



From the beginning, Confucianism has had rivals. Among these 

 were the Moists, the Taoists, and the Legalists. By the time of the 

 Han dynasty Moism had practically disappeared, but before that and 

 afterward the Taoists and the Legalists were very powerful and in- 

 fluential. Confucianism influenced its rivals, and in turn was influ- 

 enced by them. From Taoism as a religion came mysticism, divina- 

 tion, and superstition. Through the influence of the Legalists Con- 

 fucius and Confucianism were sometimes made out to be supporters 

 of despotic rulers and of despotic governments. Even the popular 

 religion of the common people has infiltrated into Confucianism. 



The writer has read and studied the Confucian Classics in the 

 Chinese language and in English translations. He has also consulted 

 some Confucian scholars and many of the common Chinese people. 

 It seems to him that many educated Chinese, in T'ien, Shang Ti, and 

 other terms, had high conceptions of a supreme god, and that some 

 of the common people had similar ideals expressed in the terms T'ien, 

 Shang Ti, and T'ien-lao-yeh, or the Aged One in Heaven. Never 

 have the Chinese made images of this deity. About the year 1916 a 

 Chinese scholar, Mr. T'ien, joined the church at I-pin of which I was 

 then pastor. Mr. T'ien asserted that he first acquired the idea of a 

 Supreme God from the study of the Confucian Classics. Rev. Frank 

 Rawlinson, D.D., for many years the editor of the Chinese Recorder, 

 conducted researches for more than 25 years and embodied the results 

 in a book, "Chinese Ideas of the Supreme Being." He found evidence 

 that for centuries some of the choicest souls in China have had a high 

 conception of the Supreme Being, who is a spirit, a moral being, 

 omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, eternal, compassionate, and 

 loving, and is a personality. The worship of this being he found to 

 be both private and public. At Peking the emperors of China wor- 

 shiped Heaven on the Altar of Heaven on behalf of the Chinese 

 people (Rawlinson, 1927). Confucianism is probably the main source 

 of this conception. 



It has already been noted that in the Confucian Classics the supreme 

 ruler is T'ien and Shang Ti. These two terms are interchangeable 

 and refer to the highest deity. He is majestic, righteous, just, intel- 



