RELIGIOUS SECTS AMONG THE CHINESE, 
13 
Tea-Drinking among the Chinese. 
The Chinese method of drinking tea is not like that of other 
nations. A small quantity of Bohea, sufficient to tinge the water and 
render it palatable, for they drink no green, is taken in the morning, 
and thrown into a vessel adapted to the number in the family. This 
stands till milk-warm ; in which state it is kept the whole day, and 
a cup drank now and then without sugar or milk, to exhilarate their 
spirits when exhausted ; and if a stranger call by accident, on a 
visit, or by appointment, the first thing presented is a small pipe, 
filled with tobacco of their own growth, and a cup of the tea, with 
sweatmeats, &c. Tea is the daily beverage in China, and is drank by 
all ranks of people. 
Religious Sects among the Chinese. 
The purity of the ancient Chinese religion has been long contami- 
nated by many idolatrous and fanatical sects. That of Tao-Sse was 
founded by a philosopher called Lao-Kiun. His morality consists 
principally in banishing all vehement desires and passions. Accord- 
ing to him, the care of every wise man ought to be only to endeavour 
to live free from grief and pain, and to glide gently down the stream 
of life devoid of care and anxiety. To arrive at this happy state, he 
advises his followers to banish all thoughts of the past, and all anx- 
iety for the future, arising from ambition, avarice, &c. His disciples, 
however, found that all their endeavours to obtain a perfect tranquillity 
of mind were vain, so long as the thoughts of death intervened ; they 
therefore declared it possible to discover a a composition, from which 
a drink might be made, that w'ould render mankind immortal. Hence 
they were led to the study of chemistry ; and, like the western 
alchymists, wearied themselves in search of the philosopher’s stone, 
until at last they gave themselves up to all the extravagancies of 
magic. The desire of avoiding death, together with the credulity 
natural to unenlightened minds, quickly produced a number of con- 
verts to the sect of Tao-Sse, Magical practices, the invocations of 
spirits, and the art of foretelling events by divination, were quickly 
diffused over the empire, and the imbecility of the emperors contri- 
buted to propagate the folly. Temples consecrated to spirits were 
quickly reared, and two of the most celebrated of the sect were 
authorized to maintain public worship after the form which had 
been prescribed by their master. At the same time they made, and 
sold at a high price, images of those ideal spirits with which they 
had peopled the heavens and the earth. These were worshipped as 
so many deities independent of the supreme Being; and, in like man- 
ner, several of the ancient emperors are invoked as gods. 
Being patronized hy the eniperois of several dynasties, this sect 
became more and more powerful. At last they had the impudence 
to affix during the night to one of the gates of the imperial city, a 
book filled with mystic characters and magical figures. At day- 
break, they informed the emperor of the sudden appearance of this 
