22 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
language are the same as those of Europe ; in other words, that 
the Chinese phonetic roots are those from which the languages of 
Europe, and therefore of India, were originally developed. 
Among the earliest and simplest ideographic symbols in the 
Chinese language is one which resembles precisely our capital 
letter T> without the finial strokes, signifying that which is 
" above,' ' and the converse of this; viz., the T resting on its base 
(JL) signifies equally that which is " below.' ' It is true that 
these symbols are not used in their naked simplicity as expressive 
of these ideas ; but whenever the idea of " above " is to be denoted 
the T is drawn, and underneath it a spot is placed to signify 
coming down from above ; and so also in the symbol for below J_ a 
similar spot is placed to denote going up from below ; but this does 
not affect the original symbolical meaning of the two strokes, any 
more than the value of an ordinary sign-post or directing-post 
would be changed by the presence or absence of the finger carved 
out of the terminal point, or painted on the surface of the arm 
itself. Granting then the force of these two primitive symbols, 
which we shall find recur in every direction, I wish now to 
point you to another equally simple, or even more simple one — I 
mean the dot or tongue which indicates a spark of fire, and which 
occurs not only, though most frequently, in Chinese symbols with 
that significancy, but also in every language and in all nations. 
"We little suspect, I imagine, when we dot our "i's" what that 
dot means, any more than we do when we cross our "t's," or 
when (as on the cover of the Graphic) we place a dot or tongue of 
fire over the angel or divine messenger to signify his more than 
human character. This dot, as signifying fire, is clearly pointed 
out in the symbol for fire itself in the Chinese language, and it is 
this, a piece of wood horing into another piece, and on the opposite 
side a spark issuing, indicating the generation of fire by friction, 
thus -)< Now the dot, as signifying "fire," was placed, as Agui 
was by the Indians, in a place of pre-eminence over the visible 
world; hence, connecting this idea with that of the former, viz., 
the symbol for height or heaven, we have the complete idea repre- 
sented, symbolically, of the supreme power pictured as fire or a 
spark presiding over the lower world, and so placed above it. Now 
this symbolism is visible everywhere. In Egypt we find the well- 
known "key of the Nile" in the hand of Isis — about which there 
has been so much speculation — denoting simply the supreme power 
