C H 
went fucceffively to offer up facrifice upon each of thefe 
mountains, and thence took occafjon to fliew himfelf to 
his people, and to inform himfelf of their wants, that he 
might endeavour to relieve them. 
Since the emperors Yao and Chun, different notions 
have been entertained refpefting thefe facrifices. We read 
in the Chou-king, and other fragments of the ancient Chi- 
nefc h'utpry, that Chun ordained, ilt. That at the fecond 
moon, in which the vernal equinox fell, the fovereign 
ihould repair to the mountain Tai-chan, in the eaftern 
part of China, and there offer facrifices on a tan, with¬ 
in tjte fence of tUe kiao, to beg that Heaven would 
deign to watch over the feed of the earth, then begin¬ 
ning to fpring up. adly, That at the fifth moon, in 
which the fummer folftice happened, the fovereign Ihould 
perform the fame ceremonies on the fouthern mount, and 
implore Heaven to diffufe warmth through the bowels of 
the earth, to add vigour to its foftering power, and give 
effeft to its nutritive qualities. 3dly, That at the eighth 
moon, at which time the autumnal equinox fell, facrifice 
Ihould be offered oh the weftern mountain to procure an 
abundant crop, and to prevent infedb or deftru&ive ver¬ 
min, drought, or exceflive moifture, winds, and all inju¬ 
ries of the air, from deftroying the riling hopes of the 
labourer. And laftiyi That at the twelfth moon, after 
the winter folftice, facrifice Ihould be offered up on the 
northern mountain, to thank Heaven for all the blellings 
received in the courie of the year, and to folicit a con¬ 
tinuance of them through that which was about to com¬ 
mence. This cuftom lubiifteda long time after Koang-ti. 
The emperors of the dynafty of Tcheou added fome 
other ceremonies, and a filth mountain, which was fup- 
pofed to form a centre to the other four. Since that 
time they have been called the five Yo, or mountains of 
facrifice. 
This inftitution, which fubjeftedthe emperor to regu¬ 
lar journies, was however found to be attended with 
certain inconveniences, to obviate which, a fpot was 
confecrated in the neighbourhood of his palace, and fub- 
ffituted for the Yo on all occafions, when it was incon¬ 
venient for the fovereign to repair to either of the moun¬ 
tains of facrifice. At this place an edifice was eredled, 
which at once reprefented the kiao, thetan, and the hall of 
anceltors, and in this the emperor offered the accuftomed 
facrifice. The hall of anceftors made part of this edifice, 
becaufe it was neceffary for thofe who offered facrifice to 
the Chang-ti, to repair fir It to this hall, and acquaint their 
anceftors what they were about to perform. Thither alio 
they returned after lacrificing, to thank them for thepro- 
tedftion they had procured from the Chaug-ti, who had not 
difdained to receive the homage of their vows. They 
then offered up a facrifice of thankfgiving, and perform¬ 
ed certain ceremonies, to fhew their refpedt. This edi¬ 
fice received a different name and a new form under each 
of the three firft dynafties. The Hya called it Cheche, 
the Hcufe of Generations and Ages —or, according to the in¬ 
terpretation of Father Amiot, a fetnple in honour of him 
who made generations .and ages. It contained within its 
circumference five feparate halls appropriated for differ¬ 
ent purpofes. Thele halls had neither paintings nor or¬ 
naments of any kind 5 they prefented only four bare 
walls in which windows were conftrufted for the admif- 
fion of light. The fiair-cafe that condudted to the prin¬ 
cipal entrance confifted of nine fteps. The offerings 
from the Levitical law of Moles, of the firlflings of the 
•flocks and herds, and likewife of fowls, of oil, fait, flour, 
and incenfe, which fir George Staunton allures us are 
known and obferved by the Chinefe at the prefent day, 
together with their patriarchal mode of life, offers a freih 
proof that their religion mull have been that of the early 
patriarchs, thotigh now fo much debaled. 
Pekin contains at prefent two principal temples, the • 
Tien-tan, or temple of the heavens, and the Ti-tan, or 
temple of the earth, in the conftruftion of both Which, 
the Chinefe have difplayed all the elegance and magnifi- 
VOL. IV. No. 211. 
[ N A. ' 457 
cence of their architefture. Thefe temples are both de¬ 
dicated 10 the Chang-ti; in the firft, he is adored as the 
Eternal Spirit; in the fecond, as the Spirit that created 
and preferves the world. The ceremonies with which 
modern facrifices are accompanied, are however greatly 
multiplied, and nothing can equal the fplendour and 
magnificence with which the emperor is furrounded, 
when he performs this folenm and facred duty. He 
alone, in quality of high prieft, and head of the great 
family of the nation, has a right to oiler up facrifice to 
the Chang-ti j and it is in the name of all the people 
that he prays and facrifices. Some time before the day 
fixed for this important ceremony, the monarch, the 
grandees of his court, the mandarins, and all thofe who 
by their employments are qualified to affift, prepare 
tiiemfelves by retirement, falling, and continence. Du¬ 
ring that time the emperor gives no audience, and the 
tribunals are entirely flnut. The mandarins of the Tri¬ 
bunal of Crimes, and every perfon who has been dii- 
graced, is incapacitated from performing any office in 
thefe grand ceremonies. Marriages, funerals, rejoicings, 
entertainments, and feftivalsof every kind, are then for¬ 
bidden. On the day appointed for the facrifice, the em¬ 
peror appears with all the pomp and magnificence of 
power. His train is compofed of ah innumerable crov’d, 
a multitude of princes, lords, and officers, furroundhim, 
and his march towards the Tien-tan refembles a triumph ; 
the magnificence of every thing in the temple corref- 
ponds to that of the fovereign ; the vafes and all the 
uteniiis employed in facrificing are of gold, and even the 
inftrwments of mufic are of enormous magnitude, and are 
never ufed any where elfe. If the emperor however ne¬ 
ver difplays more pomp and grandeur than when he 
walks in proceffien to the Tien-tan. he on the other hand 
never appears more humbled and dejedled than durinr 
the time he is facrificing. By the manner in which he per¬ 
forms his proftrations, roils in the duft, and fpeaks of 
himfelf to the Chang-ci, it Ihould feem that he sffumes 
this pomp and fplendour only for the purpofe of declar¬ 
ing, in a fenlible and ftriking manner, ti\e infinite di(- 
tance which is between the Supreme Being, and man. 
This remains of the ancient patriarchal faith, or confi¬ 
dent belief in one only Supreme Being, feems now prin¬ 
cipally confined to the royal race, to the nobility, man¬ 
darins of letters, and thole whole minds are better in¬ 
formed than the untaught multitude. Yet it is a moft 
unaccountable fa£t, that every idea of a fabbath, or day 
of reft, is loft among them; no fabbath-day being ob¬ 
ferved throughout this vaft empire ! 
The left of the Tao-fte, was founded by an enthufiaft 
named Lao-kiun , or Lao-tfe, who came into the world 603 
years before the Chriftian era. His father is reprefented 
as a poor peafant, who from his infancy lived in a rich 
•family as an inferior domeftic; he attained to the age of 
feventy without having made choice of a wife, but at 
length united himfelf to a woman of the fame rank, who 
was then in her fortieth year. The wonderful deftinyof 
the fon was foretold, according to oral tradition, by ma¬ 
ny remarkable circutnftanees which attended his birth. 
His mother, who happened to be in a retired place, con¬ 
ceived on a Hidden, being imprefied by the vivifying vir¬ 
tue of heaven and earth. She carried the fruits of her 
W'omb for the fpace of eighty years, but the mafter fne 
ferved, enraged at her going with child fo long, drove 
her from his houfe, and reduced her to the neceffity of 
wandering about the country. At length file brought 
forth a Ion,'whole hair and eye-brows were entirely 
white. The people, ftruck with the whitenefs of his 
hair, named him the grey-haired child Lao-tfe. 
We have little account of this enthufiaft during his 
infancy; he was appointed librarian to one of the em¬ 
perors of the dynafty of Tcheou, and afterwards railed 
to the rank of an inferior mandarin. His firft employ¬ 
ment, which placed him amidft books, infpired him with 
an ardent deiire for iludy, and to this he entirely gaye 
6 A 1 himfelf 
