they represent.[1812] From an
early time, long before Confucius, the headship of the divine Powers, it
would seem, was assigned to Heaven--not the physical sky, but, at least
in the thinking circles of the nation, the Power therein residing. Thus
arose the conception of an imperial divine government in which Heaven,
though it does not stand alone, is recognized as supreme. The larger
theistic conception is embodied in the annual sacrifices conducted by
the emperor,[1813] especially at the winter and summer solstices when
sacrifices are offered to Heaven and Earth, Sun and Moon, the Four
Quarters and the mountains and rivers of the empire and to his
ancestors, whose worship includes the interests of the whole State. Thus
with a vast number of objects of worship (spirits of all departments of
life, and a few gods proper) the Chinese religion has attained and
maintained a general unitary conception of the divine government of the
world.[1814]

+993+. Some resemblance to the Chinese system appears in the religion of
Peru, so far as this can be understood from the accounts that have come
down to us.[1815] The supreme position given to the Sun in Peru and to
the Inca as child of the Sun is parallel to the supremacy of Heaven in
China and the headship of the emperor as the son of Heaven. The Peruvian
cult appears not to have reached the distinctness of the Chinese. There
were, in fact, in Peru a considerable number of tolerably well-formed
divinities along with a vast crowd of spirits. Yet it appears that the
sun was regarded, at least by the Inca and his circle, as supreme ruler
of the world. The Sun, as god, has no proper name in Peru, as in China
Heaven, as god, has no proper name. In both countries, it would seem,
the imagination of the people was overpowered by the spectacle of the
majesty of a great natural object. The two religions differ in their
ritual development: while the Inca, like the Chinese emperor, was the
religious head of the nation, the Peruvians created an elaborate system
of worship, with temples and ministrants, which is wanting in
China.[1816] The remarkable character of the Peruvian system makes it
all the more regrettable that the data available do not enable us to
trace its growth from the simplest beginnings.

+994+. Still another line of theistic development is furnished by the
Hebrew system. The Hebrews are remarkable among ancient peoples as
having had, so far as our information goes, only one