The writer then goes on to point out the way in which idolatry sprang up in China. From the earliest antiquity, he says, down to the close of the three dynasties (B. C. 220) both princes and people generally wor shipped God. Some innovations had, however, spr ung up two thousand years previously, when the Kew Le believed in evil spirits, and corrupted the tribes of Meaou, who are accounted the aborigines of China.‖ Corruptions had crept in, also, about a thousand years afterwards, when men were employed to represent the ghost of the departed; but during all this period, according to this writer, the mass of the people continued to be monotheists, as at the first. As we approach the Christian era, a superstitious regard for ghosts and hobgoblins increased, and the sea was looked to as the abode of the genii. This led to an interference with the previous monotheistic practice, and one of the rulers of the. Han dynasty erred egregiously, in supposing that the four quarters with the centre of the world were each under the dominion of a separate Deity. Corruptions speedily increased, and soon after the rise of the Christian era, the emperor Ming, hearing that a holy man had arisen in the west, sent men to look for him, who instead of penetrating to Judea, stopped short at India, from whence they introduced the religion of Buddha, with its numerous images and superstitious rites. The founder of the Taou sect, also, came in for his share of religious honours and one of the emperors thence gave himself up to be a priest in one of the monasteries, from whence his ministers had to redeem him, at a large sum. Things went on from bad to worse, according to our author, when Hwuy, one of the emperors of the Sung dynasty, changed the name which had been used for God into one used to designate an imaginary deity. This alteration of the venerable name of God is looked upon by our author as displaying a great want of reverence towards him,¶ and he proceeds to trace the subesquent misfortunes which came upon the emperor Hwuy, and his son, to this source. In consequence of all these corruptions having crept in,our author says it is not to be wondered at that the Chinese should be now so ignorant of God, and destitute of his fear.
‖ The circumstance here alluded to is detailed in the Shoo-king, when "Shun directed his officers to cut off the connection between earth and heaven, and prevent the pretended descents of spirits." The Commentators say "that having been subject to oppression, the people, ignorant of its cause, had recourse to spirits, and sacrificed to demons. From this arose marvellous and lying stories, and men lapsed into error. According to the records of the country it appears, that in the decline of Shaou-haou's reign, the Kew Le threw the constant virtues into confusion, and thus men and spirits were mingled together; every family had its conjuror, and the people made profane use of sacrificial implements. In consequence of this men and spirits were thrown into confusion. History declares, that when a country is about to flourish, attention is paid to the people, and when it is about to perish, attention is paid to the spirits. On this account Shun prohibited the people from using magical arts in order to bring down the spirits. One says, that in a well-regulated age, spirits and elves do not appear, and people do not pray to the spirits; but in times of confusion people are much given up to spirits and elves they talk of necromancy and fourtune telling without end. The officers of Shun displayed the principles of enlightened virtue, that men might avoid being perverted by idle and superstitious fancies, and no longer seek for happiness from spirits For men are apt to err from correct principles when they become deluded by spiritual beings; but when they attend to the invariable principles of goodness, they seek for happiness in the way of constant virtue, and not in that of monstrous appearances." In the above remarks of the commentators, wherever the experession spirit, sprite, or spiritual being occurs, the word in the original is Shin.
¶ This change in the name of God, which excites so much the wrath of our author, is simply an alteration from the usual form Shang-te to Yuh-te: the former designation had been the name which was applied to God by the Chinese from time immemorial, and the latter was a name invented by the Taou sect, and used several hundred years before the time of Hwuy to designate an idol. After having spoken of changing the appellation, ching, or the great God. our author, in recurring to the subject, and in order to show his reverence for the Deity, says, that his honourable name (tsun haou) was changed. The phrase tsun haou in certain connections may perhaps be rendered a title of honour. But here the meaning evidently is "honorable name.'' We have a similar expression in the Three Character Classic of the Insurgents, where the phrase is inverted, but conveys the same meaning; "haou tsun tsung, his name is most honourable." It is not correct therefore to say, that the insurgents have indicated the fact that they use Hwang Shang-te as a title of honour. They have indicated no such fact: but they have used Hwang Shang-te, Shang-te and Te, precisely in the same way in which we use the word God. In Gutzlaff's version of Genesis, a portion of which they have reprinted, Shang-te is used as a translation of Elohim; in their version of the ten commandments, the insurgents have employed the same term where Elohim stands in the original; and no one, who had not some fond theory to carry out, would ever dream of the insurgents having used Shang-te in those cases as a title of honour.
