the chief of their wise men, and as the author of their whole civil constitution. He endeavoured to restore the ancient system, and to improve the conduct of his countrymen, by exhorting them to obey the commands of heaven, to love their neighbours, and to restrain their passions. Some of his philosophical principles are, that out of nothing there cannot any thing be produced; that material bodies must have existed from all eternity; that the cause or principle of things must have had a co-existence with the things themselves; that this cause, therefore, must also be eternal, infinite, and indestructible; and that the central point of influence, from which this cause chiefly acts, is the blue firmament (tien), whence its emanations are spread over the universe; but neither he nor his disciples ascribe to the Deity any personal existence, or represent the First Cause under any distinct image; while the sun, moon, stars, and elements, are considered also as composing the firmament, or Teen, as the immediate agents of the Deity, and as the productive powers in creation. The universe, in short, according to this philosopher, is one animated system, made up of one material substance, and of one spiritual being, of which every living thing is an emanation, and to which, when separated by death from its particular material part, every living thing again returns; hence the term death is never used by his followers, but they say of a person, at his decease, that he has returned to his family. Thus he taught, that the human body is composed of two principles, the one light, invisible, and ascending, the other gross, palpable, and descending; that the separation of these two principles causes the death of human beings; and that, at this period, the light and spiritual part ascends into the air, while the gross and corporeal matter sinks into the earth. With these tenets was naturally connected a belief of good and evil genii, and of tutelary spirits presiding over families, towns, mountains, and other places; and while the system of Confucius was little better than atheism in the mind of the philosopher, it became a source of gross idolatry among the people, who could not comprehend the more refined notions, but, needing some palpable object upon which to fix their attention, represented the tutelary spirits by images, and worshipped them by sacrifices. Confucius himself was much addicted to a species of divination or fortunetelling, and says expressly in one of his works, that the wise man ought to know future events before they happen, and that this may be done by means of lots. His tenets, in short, instead of overcoming the old errors, gave rise to new superstitions; and the chief difference between the proper followers of Confucius and those of Lao-tse, is this, that the former inculcate the duty of living among men, and endeavouring to improve them, and the latter avoid every kind of society and occupation, and lead a frugal retired life, as their only felicity.

Fo.] During the reign of the emperor Ming-tee, of the Han dynasty, A.D. 63-81, a new superstition was introduced into China, whose influence is perhaps still more extensive and pernicious in that country, than any of those by which it was preceded. One of the Tao-tse doctors had promised to a brother of the emperor's, that he would open to him a communication with the spirits; and this superstitious prince having heard of a spirit in Tien-tso, or Hindostan, named Fo, or Foe, prevailed upon the emperor, by his importunities, to send an embassy for this foreign divinity. When the officer, who was entrusted with this mission, arrived at the place of his destination, he found only two Buddhists, or priests of Fo, whom he carried to China, with some of their canonical books, and several images of the idol painted on linen. The followers of Fo describe him as the son

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of a prince of one of the kingdoms of India, near the line; and affirm, that as soon as he was born he stood upright, walked seven steps without assistance, and, pointing to the heavens with one hand, and to the earth with the other, cried aloud, "In the heavens and the earth there is no one but myself who deserves to be honoured." At the age of seventeen, he married three wives, by one of whom he had a son, named by the Chinese Mo-heoolo; but at the age of nineteen, he abandoned his house and family, with all the cares of life, and committed himself to the care of four philosophers, with whom he retired to a vast desert. Being filled with the divinity at the age of thirty, he was metamorphosed into the Fo, or Pagod, as the Indians term it, and immediately thought of establishing his doctrines by miracles, which attracted numerous disciples, and spread his fame over every part of India. When he had attained his seventy-ninth year, and perceived from his infirmities that his borrowed divinity could not exempt him from mortality, he is said to have called his disciples together, and to have declared to them, that hitherto he had spoken to them by figurative expressions, but that now he would discover his real sentiments, and unveil the whole mystery of his wisdom, namely, that there is no other principle of things but a vacuum, or nothing that from this nothing all things at first sprung; that to nothing they shall again return; and that thus ends all our hopes and fears at once. After his decease, a multitude of fables were propagated concerning him by his followers, such as, that he was still alive, and had been born 8000 times, appearing successively under the figure of an ape, a lion, a dragon, an elephant, &c. His last words excited much dissension among his disciples, some of them resolving to adhere to his original tenets, others adopting his concluding atheistical view of things, and a third class attempting to reconcile both systems together, by making a distinction between the external and internal doctrine. The internal doctrine, to which the disciples of the idol are exhorted to aspire, is a system of the most absurd atheism; of which some of the principal tenets are, that nothing is the beginning and the end of all things; that all beings are the same, differing only in figure and qualities; that the supreme happiness of man consists in acquiring a resemblance to this principle of nothing, in accustoming himself to do nothing, to will nothing, to feel nothing, to desire nothing; that the sum of virtue and happiness is to be found in indolence and immobility, in the cessation of bodily motion, the suspension of all mental faculties, the obliteration of all feelings and desires; that when men have attained this divine insensibility, they have nothing to do with virtue or vice, rewards or punishments, providence or immortality, no changes, transmigrations, or futurities to fear, but have ceased to exist, and become perfectly like the god Fo. This state of annihilation is completely identical with the Nerawana of the Ceylonese Boodhists, with the Nigban of the Burman Boodhists, and the Neereupan or the Siamese Boodhists, and those of Laos. The external doctrine has the greatest number of followers. It teaches a great distinction between good and evil, and a state of rewards for the good, and of punishment for the wicked after death, in places suited to the spirits of each. It acknowledges the transmigration of the soul through different bodies, till it is at length completely purified and prepared for annihilation, which, with the Boodhists, is the perfection of bliss. It affirms, that the god Fo came upon this earth to expiate men's sins, and to secure them a happy regeneration in the life to Its practical injunctions are simply these: To pray to the god Fo, and to provide his priests with temples and other necessaries, that by their

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penances and supplications they may procure for his worshippers the forgiveness of their sins; and to observe five precepts, viz. to kill no living creature, to take nothing that belongs to another,-to commit no act of impurity, to utter no falsehood,—and to drink no wine. The practice of these duties is enforced by threatenings of future punishment, especially of transmigration into the bodies of dogs, horses, rats, serpents, &c. The number of temples dedicated to Fo is altogether incalculable, and they exhibit great variety, in respect of sacredness, magnificence, &c. They are open night and day for the reception of the votaries of the god, before whose image is placed a table furnished with flowers and perfumes; he is also accommodated with a fire fed constantly with odoriferous wood. They also contain images of birds, beasts, and creeping things, to symbolize the various transmigrations of this supposed deity. It need hardly be added that Fo is the Buddha of the Hindoos.

None of these different systems can be said to be the prevailing creed in China; or, what is more remarkable, can be found pure and distinct from the rest. The greater part of the Chinese have no decided opinion on the subject, and are either complete atheists, or, if they acknowledge a Supreme Being, utterly ignorant in what view he ought to be regarded; while they all combine with their peculiar sentiments the multifarious superstitions of the more popular sects. Of all these tolerated and established religious persuasions, the emperor is the supreme head: without whose permission not one of them can enjoy a single privilege or point of pre-eminence; and who can diminish or increase, at his pleasure, the number of their respective temples and priests.

The existing worship of China, then, is a confused mixture of superstitions, of which individuals receive and observe just as much as they please; and those parts of it, which the government seem to uphold, may be viewed rather as political than religious institutions. The emperors reserve to themselves the privilege of adoring the Tien, but they equally sacrifice to the spirit of the earth, the sun, or the moon, and attach themselves more or less to the notions of the Tao-tse or of Fo. While the reigning Tartar family acknowledge more particularly the faith of the Grand Lama, they nevertheless perform the established sacred rites of their predecessors, and repair to the festivals which the kalendar prescribes. And, while the literati study the doctrine of the Tien, they are as superstitious as unbelieving, and are found with others in the temples praying to the idols.

There is only one temple consecrated to the Tien in the whole empire, called Tien-tan, or the eminence of heaven, and it is situated in the Chinese division of the city of Pekin, where the emperor offers a sacrifice at the winter solstice, consisting of oxen, hogs, goats, and sheep. The Tee-tan, or eminence of the earth, is also situated in the Chinese city, and is covered with green tiles; where the emperor, in like manner, sacrifices to the earth at the summer solstice. On the Ge-tan, the altar of the sun, he sacrifices at the vernal equinox; and on the Yue-tan, the altar of the moon, he sacrifices at the autumnal equinox. These rites are performed with the greatest solemnity, the tribunals and every public office are shut, and business of every kind suspended.

Besides the temples to Fo, whose immense numbers we have already noticed, numerous small chapels are to be seen in the country and villages, dedicated to the different spirits that preside over the land, the water, the mountains, &c. The dragon is held to preside over the air and the moun

tains, his figure is one of the imperial insignia, and the emperor alone has the privilege of wearing a dragon with five claws embroidered on his robes. The temples contain a vast number of different idols, some of which are of a colossal size, and these are generally placed at the entrance. They represent various genii, or guardian spirits, whose respective attributes are expressed by certain emblems. Some of these are 30, 50, 60, and even 80 feet in height: some of them with four heads, and a multitude of hands and arms. The divinities in the interior of the temples are of smaller proportions, and in various postures; some with the heads of animals, others with horns on their foreheads; some reclining, others sitting crosslegged upon flowers or cars; but all are represented as very corpulent, which the Chinese regard as a very honourable quality. In short, they have divinities of all possible shapes, and so numerous, that some of the temples contain five hundred of them.

Besides those places of public resort, the Chinese have always an altar in their private dwellings, and a few small idols, before which they burn gilded papers, especially at the new and full moon; and there is generally placed upon their door the name or figure of the idol Men-shin, who is a kind of household god, and who is represented with a club in one hand, and a key in the other.

The priests, officiating in these different temples, are either the followers of Tao-tse, or of Fo, the latter of whom are called Ho-shang; but both are generally denominated by the name of Bonzes; and indeed they resemble each other so nearly in their appearance and functions, that they are scarcely distinguishable. The bonzes of Tao-tse are generally devoted to celibacy, and associated in convents like the Romish monks. They wear a long robe, with large sleeves, and without a neck. They never shave their heads, but collect their hair upon the crown. In performing their worship, they move in procession round the altar, on which the sacred flame is kept burning, chaunting in recitative, and bowing their bodies as they come in front of the altar, while gongs and musical plates are sounded at certain intervals. In their dresses, altars, images, incense, bells, candles, chaunting, &c. they bear a striking resemblance to the Catholic exhibitions; and one of the missionaries, much hurt at the similarity, makes the following observations on the subject; "There is no country where the devil has so successfully counterfeited the true worship of the Holy Church. These priests of the infernal spirit wear long loose gowns, exactly resembling those of some of the fathers; they live in temples, like so many monasteries; and chaunt in the same manner with us." They sacrifice to their idols a hog, a fowl, and a fish; and then observe a multitude of ceremonies, incantations, mystical rites, and magical practices, which frequently vary according to the fancy or skill of the actors. They act also the part of fortunetellers, in which they are sufficiently expert, representing the figure of their chief in the air, causing the pencil to write the oracular responses of itself, showing the figures of persons in a basin of water, &c. They attend at funerals, to drive away evil spirits; profess to cure the sick by their incantations or intercessions; and pronounce a benediction upon the ships, when first launched into the sea. They run about the streets lashing themselves, as an expiation for the sins of their votaries, and collecting money as the price of their services. The priests of Fo live in a state of celibacy, and in large convents, which the Chinese call Poo-tala, which is the mode in which they pronounce the word Boodha-alaya, that is, the habitation of Buddha.

The bonzes are generally regarded with contempt, as persons who deprive their country of that personal labour, which is counted in China as a sacred duty; and it is only persons advanced in life, or of the lowest class of people, who join in their society. Hence it is their practice to purchase young children to learn and to perpetuate their system; and to attract the greater respect and confidence, they employ every possible mode of acquiring riches, and securing reverence. When consulted with respect to the most fortunate spot for building a house or erecting a sepulchre, they have generally a secret understanding with the proprietor of the ground, which they pronounce to be the most desirable, and share with him the price of the purchase. To secure the protection of the emperor or chief mandarins, they place them among the number of their divinities; and to draw the populace to their temples, they announce prodigies of various kinds, and threaten dreadful transmigrations to those who neglect to bring offerings, and to secure the benefit of their prayers. In these offerings, animal victims are now rarely seen, on account of the great scarcity of sheep and the value of hogs; but fruits and roasted fowls are the principal gifts. Even these, however, are seldom left for the idol or the priests, but are carried away by the worshipper, after the invocation has been performed ; and, in their stead, a sum of money is given to the bonzes of the temple. In these acts of devotion, it has been remarked that the Chinese appear to be actuated rather by a dread of some evil in this life, than the fear of punishment in another; that they perform their sacred rites more with a view to appease an angry deity, and to avert impending calamities, than from any hope of obtaining a positive good; that they rather consult or inquire of their gods what may happen, than petition them to accomplish or avert it; that a Chinese can scarcely be said to pray, but while he may be grateful when the event proves favourable, is petulant and peevish when it is adverse. They hold the different idols in more or less estimation, according to the favours which they are supposed to have conferred upon their votaries; and when, after repeated applications, their suit is not granted, they abandon the spirit of that temple as a god without power, or perhaps pull down the edifice, and leave the statues exposed in the open air. Numbers of temples are thus seen in ruins, their bells lying on the ground, their monstrous idols standing unsheltered, and their bonzes wandering in quest of alms or a more fortunate asylum. Sometimes the fallen deity is treated with the utmost outrage and contempt. "Thou dog of a spirit," the enraged votaries will say, we lodge thee in a commodious temple; thou art well gilt, well fed, and receivest abundance of incense; and yet, after all the care bestowed upon thee, thou art ungrateful enough to refuse us necessary things!" Then, tying the idol with cords, they drag it through the kennels, and bespatter it with filth. But should they happen, during this scene of vengeance, to obtain, or to fancy that they have obtained, their object, then they carry back the insulted divinity to its place with great ceremony, wash it with care, prostrate themselves before it, acknowledge their rashness, supplicate forgiveness, and promise to gild it again, upon condition that what is past be forgotten. Sometimes those, who have found all their gifts and worship unavailing, have brought the idol and its bonzes to a solemn trial before the mandarins, and procured the divinity to be dismissed as useless, and its priests to be punished as impostors.

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Every trouble in China is attributed to the influence of some evil spi rit, which every one's imagination frames to himself, and which he places,