Religions of Ancient China

by Herbert Allen Giles

Contents

• Chapter I — The Ancient Faith
• Chapter II — Confucianism
• Chapter III — Taoism
• Chapter IV — Materialism
• Chapter V — Buddhism And Other Religions

Chronological Syllabus

Legendary Period (Twenty-ninth Century to Tenth Century B.C.)—P'an Ku and Creation—First Worship of Spirits—Worship of God, with incense—Sacrifices to Mountains and Rivers—Worship of Sun, Moon, and Stars—Institution of Ancestral Worship—God enjoys music, dancing, and burnt offerings—God resents bad government—Revelation in a Dream—Anthropomorphism—Fetishism—No Devil—No Hell—Terms for God—The Character for "God" is a picture of a Man—God and Jehovah—God in the Odes—Hou Chi and Parthenogenesis—Superstitions and Supernatural Manifestations—Sacrifice—Ancestral Worship—Filial Piety.

Feudal Age (Tenth Century to Third Century B.C.)—The Influence of Confucianism—His Agnosticism—Weakening of Supernatural Beliefs—Consolidation of Confucianism—Human Sacrifices—Prayers for Rain—The Philosophy of Taoism—A Rival to Confucianism—But uniting to weaken the old Monotheistic Faith—Its Theory of Spirits—Modifications of Taoism—The Elixir of Life—Evidences of a Spiritual World—Mysticism.

The Empire (Third Century B.C. to modern times)—Arguments against a Spiritual World—Attributes of God—Good and Evil—Buddhism appears—Conflict of Faiths—Struggle between Buddhism and Taoism—Taoism borrows from Buddhism and becomes a Religion—Mazdeism appears—Followed closely by Mahometanism, Nestorian Christianity, and Manichaeism—Mahometanism alone survived—Jews arrived about Eleventh Century A.D.—Chu Hsi materialised the Confucian Canon—Henceforward Agnosticism the rule for literati—Buddhism and Taoism (both debased) for the Masses—The Jesuits arrive in the Sixteenth Century—Protestant Missionaries date from 1799.

Selected Works Bearing on the Religions of China

• Religion in China. Joseph Edkins, D.D.
• The Religions of China. James Legge, D.D.
• The Dragon, Image and Demon, or the three Religions of China. Rev. H. C. du Bose.
• Les Religions de la Chine. C. de Harbez.
• The Religious System of China: Its ancient forms, evolution, history, etc. J. J. de Groot, Ph.D.
• The Sacred Books of China. James Legge, D.D.
• Chinese Buddhism. Joseph Edkins, D.D.
• Le Shinntoisme. Michel Revon.