T. W. Pearce

“ The general effect is fraught with complexity and singularity, aptly compared to the impression made on the mind by a group of trees, of outstanding girth, height and lateral extent, giants of the forest, that, during the decades and centuries, have grown and flourished, quickened by the spring rains, warmed into fullest life by the summer suns, strengthened by the blasts of autumn, and hardened by the frosts of winter. ”

“ There is a true sense in which ancestral worship may be said to be both the root and the flower of Chinese religion. It is above and it runs through other forms of faith and worship which derive much of their efficacy from the ancestor-worship with which they are interpenetrated.
The Chinese believe that man has three souls, for which after death the tomb, Hades, and the ancestral tablet are the appointed abodes. As are the needs of men in this life, so are the needs of their disembodied spirits in the after-world. ”

“ Here is seen the pious outgoings, the devout aspirations of the pure soul directed to things not akin to the "dust of this world," and the self-subjugation and self-abandonment that are possible only when the heart is inflamed, and the whole nature enlightened by the presence of a great truth that wholly possesses the soul. ”

“ A Confucian China means a conservative China. To eradicate from the body politic vices that have grown with its growth, and strengthened with its strength, was a grand aim of the system. To accomplish this, ancient customs and practices must be restored in their primitive purity. This idea, blending with those of entire subordination and the utmost attention to family, social and civic usages commended the sage's teachings to the rulers. ”

“ Like all grosser forms of error, it is destined to fall as the forces of truth win their widening way through the land.
Thus far attention has been occupied with the more striking and permanent features of Chinese religion, illustrated by three gigantic growths that overshadow lesser forms of life. It remains to be added that certain of these latter were in existence in the soil before they became what we have seen fit to call undergrowths. Most ancient among these lowlier religious plants is
Fetishism. ”

“ Under the shadow of these trees is undergrowth of many kinds, a veritable forest, so dense as to be wellnigh impenetrable; a closed dank tangle that owes its existence to the fostering shelter of the trees, and could not survive for one moment their uprooting and downfall. ”

“ There, however, the spirits of the dead are clothed with a fearsome power to inflict calamities on their living posterity. From this view it follows that sacrifices to the dead are propitiatory; and, also, that they are the outcome of a faith unfeigned, an ardent hope, and a fervent desire, on the part of the worshipper. Its connection with the family and social life of the nation gives to ancestral worship in China a position which is probably unique in the history of non-Christian religions. ”

“ Live among the Chinese, be in daily touch with their modes of thought and their outlook on life, and the wonder ceases." Adaptation to the genius of the race has been carried to the farthest point, and Confucianism has held its place as a world religion, because on its own finite lines and within a limited sphere, its appeals to humanity are direct, forceful, irresistible. ”

“ No one can point with assurance to a time when China was free from fetish worship. Mountains, stones, plants, and trees are among the objects that have for the present generation of Chinese an awesome potency. In its most intense form this power is centred in the holy mountain, Tai Shan.
Animals are tokens. Among tokenistic animals the dragon holds the first place. ”

“ To revert to our illustration, the growths of religious faith and practice are intermingled root and branch, but Confucianism is everywhere readily traceable by reason of its dominant vitality and vigour. ”

“ The affinities which Taoism, as it exists to-day, has for the mind of man in dark ages is shown by its multitude of willing followers.
The dawn of enlightenment, through the new civilisation and education, must needs have far-reaching results on the future of Taoism. ”

“ Laotzv.
The academic discussion of religions in China, with sharply drawn distinctions derived from the ancient books, canonical or heretical, is often the reverse of convincing to the student of "things Chinese," who has been in a position to verify allusions, to test citations, and to gauge the accuracy of much descriptive writing by daily contact with the people. To study Chinese religion at first hand is to see it everywhere in contact with life. ”

“ By the "law of survivals," working through all movements and changes of the new time, it is seen to be of Chinese religions the fittest. Its advocates in the native Press set forth the advantages that would accrue to the new empire from a Confucian worship-day, analogous to the Christian Sunday and occurring at the same intervals. On the Confucian rest and worship-day, assemblies convened for the purpose in temples and in public halls should, it is urged, join in hymn and prayer not less than in attending to precept and injunction ”

“ The all-pervading presence and potency of Confucianism are without parallel among Oriental religions. There are those who account for its predominant position and its abiding character by denying its claim to be called one of the chief religions of the world. ”

“ To such inquiries the answer, covering long stretches of history, is that Taoism, as interpreted by the disciples of Laotzv, has gathered to itself during the centuries all manner of superstitious beliefs. The "elixir of life," "pills of immortality," and "the philosopher's stone," became, in the course of time, articles of its creed. She Wang Ti, that great emperor who founded a united China on the ruins of the old feudal system (B.C. 259–210) , was an ardent patron of this already debased and degenerate religion. ”

“ Our philosopher would have all things as they were at the beginning, when men could live their lives on the highest plane of virtue, and the "onward march" of the race had not carried it from its proper goal. To attain this, the one means is self-abnegation, a sacrifice on the part of the individual that "puts away" losing, that it may gain; denying, that it may acquire ... itself.
The student of Chinese religions will inquire what the teaching of Laotzv has to do with the magic arts of the present day priests of Tao, their charms and spells and senseless incantations ”

“ Numerous, in most provinces, with surpassing advantages of situation in relation to centres of population, of extensive dimensions, and suitable in structure, it is not to be wondered at that proposals to appropriate Buddist temples and monasteries for the purposes of the new learning met with large favour in high places. ”