A CASE Otf RITUALISM 143 



to try and suppress it in religious services. It is suitable 

 and essential to a type of mind. And the type of mind is 

 a relic; now a relic of what it is difficult to determine. It is 

 a branch of the wider function of symbolism in art; indeed 

 symbolism in art is associated with ritual in religion, and 

 all bear a strong likeness to the desire to find correspondences 

 between the artificial and real. To take an example the 

 altar to Heaven had to be on high ground that to earth in 

 low ground or a pit. Again the shape of the altar, the 

 number of terraces, colours and so on have the same signi- 

 ficance. The king rode in the grand coach with the great 

 flag with the twelve streamers emblazoned with the sun 

 and moon. Every detail in the whole parapharnalia had 

 some meaning; every article of dress worn by the officiating 

 people — the King's especially, — had a profound significance. 

 The artificial was in imitation of something real. The art 

 of the whole proceedings was in imitation of same natural 

 phenomena. The tailoring of ecclesiastic vestments is deep 

 rooted in animistic conceptions of the universe. Painting 

 and tailoring lend themselves perfectly to these matters. 



We ma}'' even go further and say that ritual is very 

 akin to animism. In the discharge of certain sacred func- 

 tions such as the sacrifice to Heaven and Ancestors it would 

 be impious for any one but the King to discharge them. On 

 the same lines we see the development of the kingly idea. 

 The King was the direct representative of Heaven, he had 

 the divine fire in him. He was the embodiment of the 

 divinity in some star. So "receiving the appointment" was 

 a term of deep significance. The title of divine rights of 

 the king had substance behind it in China. We in the 

 West have played with the term. Fortunately this ritual 

 compound of an animistic conception has been shattered 

 in part. Would it were wholly so. 



