The Student's Mythology Part 24

_Ans._ It appears that for several centuries it was, and that it extended to Ceylon, and the Eastern peninsula.

_Ques._ What are the doctrines of the Buddhists?

_Ans._ They reject the Vedas altogether, and the religious observances prescribed in them. They allow animal food, and acknowledge no distinction of castes. b.l.o.o.d.y sacrifices are prohibited. One of the duties of a priest of Buddha is to study the medicinal properties of plants in order to benefit his fellow men. We may see, therefore, that Buddha had more reasonable and humane ideas than those who composed the Vedas, and that he was probably a true sage among his people.

_Ques._ Is Buddhism common in India?

_Ans._ No; after being tolerated for a long time, a fierce and continued persecution was raised against it. This had the effect of suppressing the sect almost entirely in India, and of spreading it in the adjacent countries.

_Ques._ When was the wors.h.i.+p of Buddha first introduced into China?

_Ans._ About the year 65 of our era. From China it spread to Corea, j.a.pan and Java.

In j.a.pan, Buddhism has, to a great extent, supplanted the Sinto religion, the ancient faith of j.a.pan. The word Sinto signifies spirit wors.h.i.+p; the priests of this sect teach that the world is governed by an infinite number of spirits. The chief of these animates the sun; others rule the moon, stars, and different elements.

The wors.h.i.+p of the sun is the most important exterior part of their religion, and the j.a.panese were so much attached to this form of idolatry, that the Buddhists have incorporated it with their own rites.

CHAPTER V.

CHINA.

_Ques._ Is Buddhism universally followed in China?

_Ans._ There is, strictly speaking, no state or national religion in China, but all forms of wors.h.i.+p are tolerated, unless they are considered politically dangerous. Among the pagan Chinese three princ.i.p.al religions are admitted, which are now considered equally good, although there were formerly bitter wars between their followers.

_Ques._ What are these?

_Ans._ The first, of which Confucius is in some sort the founder, is called the "Doctrine of the Lettered;" the second is regarded by its professors as the primitive religion of the ancient inhabitants of China. The priests are called Tao-sse, or Doctors of Reason, from the princ.i.p.al doctrine of their great teacher, Lao-tze, who considered primordial reason as the creator of all things. The third religion is Buddhism, which, as we have seen, was introduced into China in the first century of our era.

_Ques._ Who was Confucius?

_Ans._ Confucius is the Latinized name of a philosopher whom the Chinese call Kung-fu-tse, (Reverend Master Kung). He was born in the year 551 B. C., and died in 479; eleven years before Socrates was born. Confucius was carefully educated in virtue and learning by his widowed mother. At her death he retired, according to Chinese custom, for the appointed three years of mourning. During this time, he devoted himself to the study of ancient writers, and noticing how completely the morality of the old sages was forgotten in China, he determined to restore their usages and doctrines. After careful preparation, he set himself up as a teacher, and his disciples were soon numbered by tens of thousands. Confucius travelled through the neighboring countries, preaching wherever he went; he was at one time prime minister of the empire, but his last years were spent in retirement with some chosen disciples. We read that he paid a visit to Lao-tze, and was so confounded by the sublime wisdom of that philosopher, that on his return home he remained three days buried in profound thought, refusing to speak, or answer any of the questions put to him by his disciples. Confucius enjoyed unbounded popularity during life, but the honors paid to him after death, have no parallel in history. His tablet is in every school in China and both master and pupils are required to prostrate themselves before it at the beginning and end of each cla.s.s. Every town has a temple erected in his honor, and his statue is to be found in every literary inst.i.tution. Confucius left one grandson, Tse-tse, whose descendants const.i.tute the only hereditary n.o.bility in China. In the seventeenth century, they numbered eleven thousand males.

_Ques._ What were the doctrines of Confucius?

_Ans._ This philosopher did not originate any religious creed: he was simply a teacher of morality. It is thought, from many pa.s.sages in his writings, that he believed in one Omnipotent G.o.d. He does not, however, inculcate any such doctrine, nor does he ever speak of any future reward as a motive for virtuous actions. Filial piety and other social and domestic virtues are strongly inculcated. It would be well for the Chinese of the present day, if their conduct corresponded to the maxims of their great teacher, whose morality, though often defective, contains much that is to be admired. It is a proof, if any were needed, that human motives are too weak to have any lasting influence on the pa.s.sions of men; and the Chinese, particularly the followers of Confucius, seem to have lost even the last traces of natural religion.

_Ques._ Why then do they persevere in his wors.h.i.+p?

_Ans._ The honors paid to Confucius, as well as to the souls of their ancestors, const.i.tute an external religion for official persons and literary men. There seems to be no sort of belief connected with these observances.

_Ques._ What difficulties did this cause among the Christian missionaries?

_Ans._ Some of these missionaries believed that the honors paid to Confucius were purely civil observances; and that the wors.h.i.+p of the souls of deceased relations, the oblations made at their tombs, etc., were simply national customs to which no superst.i.tious idea was attached. As they were a.s.sured of this by the most learned men of the Empire, they permitted the newly converted Chinese to continue these observances. Others, however, considered that, among the ignorant, these rites always degenerated into superst.i.tion, and often into idolatry. The dispute was referred to Rome, and after a careful inquiry, the latter opinion prevailed; the rites in honor of Confucius, together with the wors.h.i.+p of ancestors, were forbidden to the Chinese Christians.

_Ques._ Who was Lao-tze?

_Ans._ He was a Chinese philosopher, contemporary with Confucius. With regard to his life and actions, many absurd and impossible things are related. His name, Lao-tze, means 'Old Child;' and the Chinese say this appellation was given him because he was born already old, and with gray hair. The followers of Lao-tze believe in a spiritual world, in spiritual manifestations, and in the transmigration of souls. This doctrine is called the religion of Tao, or Reason. The priests are now only cheats and jugglers, living on the superst.i.tion of the people, to whom they sell charms and spells.

Notwithstanding the degraded character of his followers, the writings of Lao-tze prove that he was a true sage, a man of n.o.ble and elevated ideas. He has been compared favorably with Plato, and some have claimed that the Chinese philosopher travelled as far west as Athens.

Be this as it may, it is certain Lao-tze spent some time in Persia and Syria. The Ten Tribes had just been dispersed over Asia by the conquests of Salmanasar; and it is not possible that a sage so eager in the pursuit of religious knowledge, should have failed to learn something of the ancient prophecies and the Mosaic law.

_Ques._ What did Lao-tze teach with regard to G.o.d?

_Ans._ In his writings he declares plainly that the world was erected by a threefold divinity. His followers, however, like the rest of the Chinese, have no definite idea of G.o.d.

_Ques._ What cla.s.s of Chinese follow the doctrines of Buddha, or Fo?

_Ans._ At present the Chinese Buddhists belong princ.i.p.ally to the lower cla.s.ses. Formerly this religion was in higher repute, but the magnificent temples of Buddha are now going gradually to decay, and there seems no prospect that any attempt will be made to restore them.

The Bonzes, or Buddhist priests, are ignorant and degraded, and are allowed to live in the greatest poverty. They are not permitted to marry; to keep up their numbers they buy young children, who may be had in China for a few sapecks, and these are trained for the service of Buddha. These Bonzes have sunk so low in public estimation, that they are often hired to perform inferior parts on the stage.

_Ques._ Where is the most celebrated temple of Buddha?

_Ans._ In Pou-tou, an island in the Archipelago of Chusan. This temple retains many traces of its former magnificence, and is particularly remarkable for a triple statue of Buddha. There are three gigantic figures, richly gilt, which represent the divinity in the past, the present and the future. In this temple is a hall dedicated to the G.o.ddess of Porcelain, and every part of the edifice is crowded with hideous idols of the lesser divinities.

_Ques._ What is the general feeling of the Chinese on religious subjects?

_Ans._ They are entirely indifferent, and have but a vague idea of the existence of anything beyond the present life. This indifference is the greatest obstacle with which the Christian missionaries have to contend in China.

_Ques._ Do the Chinese ever argue among themselves on points of belief?

_Ans._ Never. When Chinese, who are strangers to each other, meet, a polite formula is to ask "To what sublime religion do you belong?"

Then one will call himself a Buddhist, another a follower of Confucius, etc., upon which politeness requires that each one should speak slightingly of his own religion, and praise the sect to which he does not belong. These compliments end by all repeating in chorus a proverbial phrase to the effect that all men are brothers, and religions are of no consequence.

_Ques._ If such total indifference prevails in China, on the subject of religion, how does it happen that Christianity should be so severely persecuted?

_Ans._ This arises partly from the political fears of the Chinese government, and its jealousy of strangers. The missionaries are, of course, foreigners, and it is natural that the emperors should imagine them to be working in the interest of the great western nations whose power they so much fear. There are other reasons; the purity of Christian morals has been always a reproach to pagan society, and the spirit of darkness never fails to rouse the prejudices and pa.s.sions of men against the progress of the faith. In ancient Rome, where the idols and superst.i.tions of every conquered nation found a ready welcome, Christianity obtained a foothold only after three centuries of persecution.

CHAPTER VI.

Thibet.

THE GRAND LAMA.

_Ques._ What is the prevailing religion of Thibet?

_Ans._ Buddhism prevails in Thibet and Tartary. The people of these countries are more thoughtful than the Chinese, and more earnest with regard to religious matters. Their priests, called Lamas, live together in large communities. They are given to study, and their dwellings, or Lamaseries, often contain large and valuable libraries.

Many of the Lamas are addicted to demon wors.h.i.+p and sorcery, but these are generally looked upon with aversion by the more virtuous among their brethren.

_Ques._ Who is the Grand Lama?