Directory_and_Chronicle_1850 — Page 116

1850.

Remarks on the Words Shin and Ti.

93

for it is not pretended that the word is applicable to the whole of this class. The whole argument by which it is thought that tiis proved to be the generic name of God, consists in proving the fact that it is applicable to a very limited number of the beings called gods. That is to say, it is applicable only to a small number of the beings worshiped by the Chinese, which all who speak the English language call gods.

The proof that ti is a generic term for god is based upon the fact that it is the designation of the highest objects of worship known to the Chinese, and also of several other beings who are worshiped. But to prove a term generic, it is not enough to show that it is applied to several individuals of the same class. The word hound in English is not a generic term, because it is not applicable to a genus, though it designates a portion of a genus. The arguments which prove that tiis generic for the genus deus, would equally prove that hound is generic for the genus canis. If oue tells me that a greyhound is not a dog, I have a right to know what peculiar qualities exclude it from the genus which it so much resembles, and in which it is com- monly included. So when we are told that a ti (when the word refers to an object of worship) is not a shin Ç, we have a right to know why this class of worshiped beings should not be included in the same genus with other worshiped beings, and whether it is not in point of fact so included by good native writers of the language. But supposing the proof adduced in this case to be conclusive, from what source is it derived? For the most part from books written thousands of years ago. It is proper to consult such books on a question like this, but they are not the court of final appeal. These ancient classics are not the only witnesses whose testimony should be heard when the question relates to the meaning of words in daily use among the people. The Christian missionary certainly will feel bound to inquire of those for whom he writes, and to whom he speaks, what meaning they attach to words which he proposes to use in instructing them. Let him go to the temples. He finds them full of idols. lle exclaims, "These, these, are their gods." Isaiah would have mourned over the worship of many Elohim, and Paul would have told the dc- luded worshipers that their co were worthless and vain. Let him inquire of the worshipers what they call them, and he will be told that they are shin. The tablets and inscriptions give him the same. information. He now tells them that, "There is but one Ti in the universe-that these skin are not ti—that they should cast away their shin, and worship none but Ti." Now the emperor of China is