436
Defense of an Essay, &c.
AUG.
is widely extended over all, without any private feeling, &c., &c." Ib. p. 494. On the next page, explaining the sentence, which is from Káng- hí's Dictionary, he says, A name is that by which a thing is called, the appellation of the being referred to: that being is Tien ✯, the Divinity in the estimation of the Chinese, and Ti being one of his names, it is equivalent to God in western languages." Dr. Medhurst here certainly regards T'ien as the proper name of this being, and ti as one of his appellative names, which appellative, Dr. Legge contends, is a name of dignity, or office, a relative term.
pose.
That "the Supreine Ruler ” is, in the opinion of the Chinese, “ Heav- en," is so universally admitted, that I can not suppose this is the very rash statement that Dr. Legge feels called upon so indignantly to ex- We must then next consider what the Chinese understand by the word t'ien. In answer to the question, what is the meaning of the character in the king and classics generally (KI), Chú fútsz' replies, "Men must see and distinguish for themselves; some- times it means the material heavens (); sometimes it means the ruling power (*) and sometimes merely destiny, fate." In my Essay, I gave the following explanation of the meanings of t'ien :— "From the earliest antiquity to the present times, the two highest objects of veneration in the national rites of China have been called Tien Heaven, and Earth; and to the worship of these two objects, a sacrifice called kiáu, offered at the winter and summer solstices, has, from time imbiemo- rial, been appropriated.
"The question that occurs to every one upon learning this fact is, Do the Chinese understand by these words the visible heavens and earth upon which they tread, or are the words used by metonymy, for the invisible beings who preside over heaven and earth respectively? To this, we answer, it is con- ceded on all hands, we believe, that the material objects are not the objects of worship; and that the words, when used as the names of objects of wor- ship, are employed metaphorically. What then is the object definitely desig nated by the word l'ien heaven, the highest of the objects worshiped in
the national rites?
"To this question two different answers may be given, according as re- gard is had to one or the other of two opinions held by Chinese of different sects, on this point. During the Sung dynasty (about A.D. 1100) there sprung up a sect of philosophers to whom the Romish missionaries have given the name of atheo-politique, and to whose views great prominence has been given in all the editions of the classical works published during the present dynasty. This sect would answer the question, what is meant by Tien? as follows:
Tien is Shányli, £, the Ruler on high; aud Shảngti is li,
the rule of order, destiny, fate.
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