hers gained a peaceful
victory over the mythologists.

CHAPTER IV

The Gods of China

The Birth of the Soul

The dualism noted in the last chapter is well illustrated by the
Chinese pantheon. Whether as the result of the co-operation of the
_yin_ and the _yang_ or of the final dissolution of P'an Ku, human
beings came into existence. To the primitive mind the body and its
shadow, an object and its reflection in water, real life and dream
life, sensibility and insensibility (as in fainting, etc.), suggest the
idea of another life parallel with this life and of the doings of the
'other self' in it. This 'other self,' this spirit, which leaves the
body for longer or shorter intervals in dreams, swoons, death, may
return or be brought back, and the body revive. Spirits which do not
return or are not brought back may cause mischief, either alone, or by
entry into another human or animal body or even an inanimate object,
and should therefore be propitiated. Hence worship and deification.

The Populous Otherworld

The Chinese pantheon has gradually become so multitudinous that there
is scarcely a being or thing which is not, or has not been at some time
or other, propitiated or worshipped. As there are good and evil people
in this world, so there are gods and demons in the Otherworld: we find
a polytheism limited only by a polydemonism. The dualistic hierarchy is
almost all-embracing. To get a clear idea of this populous Otherworld,
of the supernal and infernal hosts and their organizations, it needs
but to imagine the social structure in its main features as it existed
throughout the greater part of Chinese history, and to make certain
additions. The social structure consisted of the ruler, his court,
his civil, military, and ecclesiastical officials, and his subjects
(classed as Scholars--officials and gentry--Agriculturists, Artisans,
and Merchants, in that order).

Worship of Shang Ti

When these died, their other selves continued to exist and to hold
the same rank in the spirit world as they did in this one. The _ti_,
emperor, became the _Shang Ti_, Emperor on High, who dwelt in _T'ien_,
Heaven (originally the great dome). [11] And Shang Ti, the Emperor
on High, was worshipped by _ti_, the emperor here below, in order to
pacify or please him--to ensure a continuance of his benevolence on
his behalf in the world of spirits. Confusion of ideas and paucity
of primitive language lead to personification an