1850.
Defense of an Essay, &c.
381
grand sacrifices, are also worshiped apart. The lines or columns of Chinese characters being read from top to bottom, dignity is always denoted by the height of the title, which corresponds in some degree to our use of capital letters. Inferiority of rank or dignity is marked by the title being placed one or more characters lower. Heaven, earth and ancestors, as objects of worship of equal dignity, are placed on a level, and one or more characters higher than other objects, as the sun, moon, stars, &c. An idea of this may be conveyed to the reader by the position of the words in lines, thus;—
Heaven, Earth, Ancestors,
Sun, moon, stars, &c.
4. Shié tsih, the gods of the land and grain; these are the special patrona of each existing dynasty, and generally located in the fourth place.
K. Jih, the sun, called also tá ming, the great light.
6. Yuch, the moon, called also yé ming, the night light.
7. Tsien tai tí wáng, the manes of the emperors and kings of former ages. 8. Sien er' K'ungtsz', the ancient master, Confucius, &c., &c.
“From this specimen it is apparent that in the Chinese state religion, the material universe, as a whole, and in detail, is worshiped ; and that subordin- ate thereto, they have gods celestial and terrestrial, and ghosts infernal; that they worship the work of their own hands, not only as images of persone or things divine, but human workmanship for earthly purposes, as in flags and banners, and destructive cannon. That the material universe is the object of worship, appears not only from the names of those several parte which have been given above, but also from other circumstances. Thus, the imperial high priest, when he worships heaven, wears robes of azure color, in allusion to the sky. When he worships the earth, his robes are yellow to represent the clay of this earthly clod. When the sun is the object, his dress is red, and fer the moon, he wears a pale white. The kings, nobles, and cen- tenary of official hierophants, wear their court dresses. The altar on which to sacrifice to heaven is round, to represent heaven; this is expressly said. The altar on which the sacrifices to the earth are laid, is square; whether for the same wise reason or not, is not affirmed. The "prayer boards,” chuh pán, are of various colors, for the same reason as the emperor's robes. In the worship of the heavens, an azure ground with vermilion letters is used ; in the worship of earth, a yellow ground is used with black characters; for the wor- ship of ancestors, a white ground is required with black characters; for the sun, a carnation, with vermilion characters; and for the moon, a white ground with black characters,” &c., &c.
"The times of sacrifice are specified as follows: Those to heaven are offered on the day of the winter solstice; those to earth on the day of the summer solstice; and the others at regular appointed times which it is not important to detail in this sketch.”
p
"The ceremonies of this grand worship of nature, this natural religion, consist in bowing, kneeling and knocking the head against the ground, or in Chinese pai, kwei'au In those sacrifices in which the emperor officiates in propria persona, he never knocks his head against the ground. What he requires of the greatest monarch on earth, he will not give to the greatest, supremest' thing that he worships. The three kneelings and nine knockings of the head against the ground, he turns into three kneel- ings and nine bows. The kau or the pái, i. e. the knocking or the bowing, seems to make a material, or rather a feeling difference in the estimation of his Majesty." See Chinese Repository, Vol. III, p. 49.
To show that the view expressed by Dr. Morrison is not peculiar to him, we shall quote again from M. Visdelou. "The Chinese philoso phers," he says, "speak of revering Heaven, but they understand by