22 HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



maintaining that one could not know about this since he did not 

 understand what constitutes life. 



Buddhism was introduced into China as early as the 2nd 

 Century B.C. It spread rapidly, even during the beginning of the 

 Christian period, and no violence of persecution, individual or 

 en masse, could neutralize it. The basis of its popularity was its 

 doctrine of retribution, i.e., how one behaved during life was 

 highly important in a hereafter. Its aim was not only the salva- 

 tion of all mankind but of all sentient beings. This could be at- 

 tained only by becoming perfect through Buddhahood. Prior to 

 this time, the Chinese believed that the souls of the dead con- 

 tinued to exist, with no essential differences between them. The 

 Buddhist teachers described in great detail the state of the de- 

 parted, the blessedness of the good in heaven and the torments 

 of the bad in hell. A great spirit, by name of T'ai-Shan, residing 

 in a tall mountain, was the one who served as a judge of the 

 Chinese dead. There, he had seventy-five hells, each one designed 

 to promote the maximum in suffering for the ghosts of the con- 

 demned dead (Moore, '13). 



B. Japan 



The historical period of Japan began about the year 660 B.C. 

 At this time, primitive Shintoism existed. It largely represented 

 a survival of earlier times, especially in respect to myths which 

 were abundant. The Shinto deities, which still exist in the minds 

 of many modern Japanese people, stemmed from nature and na- 

 tural forces. Heading the list of the pantheon was the sun goddess 

 with a moon and star god on either side of her. Other important 

 ones were the following: rain, storm, thunder, sea, rivers, waters 

 in general, earth, food crops, mountains, trees and fire; in other 

 words, all the constitutents of a natural polytheism. Besides these, 

 were some who were once men; they were deified without any al- 

 teration of bodily form. All of the deities of nature were regarded 

 as gods possessing human intelligence, form and passions. 



These people developed a marked reaction to their dead; 

 contact with a corpse made a person automatically unclean and 

 it was necessary for him to undergo purification rites by ablution. 

 Such contamination might infect a whole community, including 



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