68 EEV. ARTHUR ELWIN ON ANCESTRAL WORSHIP. 



" In every household a shrine, a tablet, an oratory, or a. 

 dumestic temple, according to the position of the family, 

 contains the simple legend of the two ancestral names, written 

 on a slip of paper or carved upon a board. Incense is burned 

 before it daily, or at the new and full moons. Parents and 

 children meet and bow before the tablet, and contract no 

 associations with temples, or idols, monasteries or priests. 

 There is nothing revolting or cruel connected with it ; every- 

 thing is orderly, kind, and simple, calculated to strengthen 

 family relationships. Thus appealing to the noblest sentiments, 

 strengthened by love, and reinforced by fear, this most subtle 

 of all idolatries twines itself around the deepest heart of the 

 people. The highly educated Confucianist teaches his son to 

 place the offerings and perform the rites, just as much as the 

 most ignorant of the common people. He believes, as they do, that> 

 one of the three souls of the departed inhabits the tablet in the 

 ancestral shrine, while another remains in the grave, and 

 the third goes forth into the unknown. He is familiar with 

 the ancient ode, popular in China ever since the days of 

 Samuel, in which the approval of the departed ancestors is 

 expressed : — 



What said the message from your sires ? 



" Vessels and gifts are clean ; 

 And all your friends assisting you, 



Behaved with reverent mien. 



" Most reverently you did your part, 

 A.nd reverent, by your side 

 Your son appeared. On you henceforth 

 Shall ceaseless blessings bide. 



" What shall the ceaseless blessings be ? 

 That in your palace high, 

 For myriad years you dwell in peace, 

 Rich in posterity." 



Before trying to answer the question : What is ancestral 

 worship ? let us consider its antiquity and universality. 



Almost all heathen nations in one form or another worship 

 or care for their ancestors. In Egypt we find that from the 

 earliest times care for the dead was strictly enjoined, indeed 

 did time permit we might visit Europe, Asia, Africa, and 

 America, and in each continent we should find traces of this 

 most ancient of all religious. I say, " religions/' because we 

 should find that in almost every country and in every age the 

 care of the spirits of the dead has gradually degenerated into 

 worship, and those blessings have been earnestly sought from 



