teristic of
China.

This attitude implies not only a certain want of conviction but also a
utilitarian view of religion. The Chinese visit a temple much as they
visit a shop or doctor, for definite material purposes, and if it be
asked whether they are a religious people in the better sense of the
word, I am afraid the answer must be in the negative. It is with
regret that I express this opinion and I by no means imply that there
are not many deeply religious persons in China, but whereas in India
the obvious manifestations of superstition are a superficial disease
and the heart of the people is keenly sensitive to questions of
personal salvation and speculative theology, this cannot be said of
the masses in China, where religion, as seen, consists of
superstitious rites and the substratum of thought and feeling is
small.

This struck me forcibly when visiting Siam some years ago. In
Bangkok there is a large Chinese population and several Buddhist
temples have been made over to them. The temples frequented by Siamese
are not unlike catholic churches in Europe: the decoration is roughly
similar, the standard of decorum much the same. The visitors come to
worship, meditate or hear sermons. But in the temples used by the
Chinese, a lower standard is painfully obvious and the atmosphere is
different. Visitors are there in plenty, but their object is to "get
luck," and the business of religion has become transformed into
divination and spiritual gambling. The worshipper, on entering, goes
to a counter where he buys tapers and incense-sticks, together with
some implements of superstition such as rods or inscribed cards. After
burning incense he draws a card or throws the rods up into the air and
takes an augury from the result. Though the contrast presented in Siam
makes the degradation more glaring, yet these temples in Bangkok are
not worse than many which I have seen in China. I gladly set on the
other side of the account some beautiful and reverent halls of worship
in the larger monasteries, but I fear that the ordinary Chinese
temple, whether Taoist or Buddhist, is a ghostly shop where, in return
for ceremonies which involve neither moral nor intellectual effort,
the customer is promised good luck, offspring, and other material
blessings.

It can hardly be denied that the populace in China are grossly
superstitious. Superstition is a common failing and were statistics
available to show the number and status of Europ