82 



EEV. ARTHQK ELWIN ON ANCESTRAL WORSHIP. 



what we at least would call religious worship. People were prayed 

 to. Thanks were given to them. I remember that an ode written 

 at the time of great famine and drought over the land, speaks of 

 offerings made to the spirits. The living ruler says, " I have 

 made my prayer to God, and He does not hear. I have worshipped 

 in the proper way all the former rulers and ministers of state, 

 and they do not help." But when we study those ancient books 

 what we find is this, that there are different kinds of worship; 

 but above all there is the one heaven and one God, alone,, 

 unapproachable. 



Now there is no measuring the gulf between spirits and God. 

 The ancient religion of China certainly is not based on the worship 

 of spirits, and to find any connection whatever between the worship 

 of those spirits and the worship of God is impossible. The more 

 you study the subject the more you will see that to regard one as 

 the result of the other would be a great mistake. 



But when we come down to the time of Confucius then we find a 

 different state of things. We find then, in the Confucian writings, 

 no alteration of rites and ceremonies. He says, " I am one who> 

 hands down ; I am not an inventor." Everything that was done in 

 the old dynasty had to be done in the same way. You cannot find 

 anything like a trace of worship of spirits as gods. On the. 

 contrary you find all that Confucius cared about was the homage 

 paid to the ancestors as a token of filial piety. 



It seems to me we should find this subject well worth study ; but 

 as regards the present day belief of China all I can say is I found it 

 extremely difficult to discover what a Chinaman does believe. It is 

 a mixture of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taouism. He believes 

 everything in a way, but hardly anything in reality. He has a 

 vague belief that something may come after this life that may be 

 judgment, and no doubt they believe in ghosts and in the mischief 

 they do, and their power to do evil. All these things are confused 

 in his mind, which is pervaded by a superstition from which he 

 cannot get himself freed. 



Colonel Hendley, C.S.I. — I would ask how this worship was^ 

 arrived at, which seems so old, and how long has the need for 

 offerings extended ? Has it extended from father to grandfather^ 

 and so on to remote degrees 1 I should also like to ask whether the 

 Chinese regard their ancestors in the same light as protecting spirits 



