the universe has
never offered the slightest difficulty to Chinese philosophers. Before
the beginning of all things, there was Nothing. In the lapse of ages
Nothing coalesced into Unity, the Great Monad. After more ages, the
Great Monad separated into Duality, the Male and Female Principles in
nature; and then, by a process of biogenesis, the visible universe was
produced.

Popular Cosmogeny.--An addition, however, to this simple system had to
be made, in deference to, and on a plane with, the intelligence of the
masses. According to this, the Male and Female Principles were each
subdivided into Greater and Lesser, and then from the interaction of
these four agencies a being, named P'an Ku, came into existence. He
seems to have come into life endowed with perfect knowledge, and his
function was to set the economy of the universe in order. He is often
depicted as wielding a huge adze, and engaged in constructing the world.
With his death the details of creation began. His breath became the
wind; his voice, the thunder; his left eye, the sun; his right eye, the
moon; his blood flowed in rivers; his hair grew into trees and plants;
his flesh became the soil; his sweat descended as rain; while the
parasites which infested his body were the origin of the human race.

Recognition and Worship of Spirits.--Early Chinese writers tell us that
Fu Hsi, B.C. 2953-2838, was the first Emperor to organize sacrifices to,
and worship of, spirits. In this he was followed by the Yellow Emperor,
B.C. 2698-2598, who built a temple for the worship of God, in which
incense was used, and first sacrificed to the Mountains and Rivers. He
is also said to have established the worship of the sun, moon, and five
planets, and to have elaborated the ceremonial of ancestral worship.

God the Father, Earth the Mother.--The Yellow Emperor was followed by
the Emperor Shao Hao, B.C. 2598-2514, "who instituted the music of the
Great Abyss in order to bring spirits and men into harmony." Then
came the Emperor Chuan Hsu, B.C. 2514-2436, of whom it is said that he
appointed an officer "to preside over the worship of God and Earth,
in order to form a link between the spirits and man," and also "caused
music to be played for the enjoyment of God." Music, by the way, is said
to have been introduced into worship in imitation of thunder, and was
therefore supposed to be pleasing to the Almighty. After him followed
the Emperor Ti K'u, B.C. 2436-2366, who dabbled in