Ruler of the Imperial Heavens," and regard as the nearest approach
to pure Theism of which there is any indication in Chinese worship (See
_Doolittle_, pp. 170, 625; and _Lockhart_ in _J. R. G. S._, xxxvi. 142).
This worship is mentioned by the Mahomedan narrator of Shah Rukh's embassy
(1421): "Every year there are some days on which the Emperor eats no
animal food.... He spends his time in an apartment which contains no idol,
and says that he is worshipping the God of Heaven."[1] (_Ind. Antiquary_,
II. 81.)

[Illustration: Great Temple of Heaven, Peking.]

The charge of irreligion against the Chinese is an old one, and is made by
Hayton in nearly the same terms as it often is by modern missionaries:
"And though these people have the acutest intelligence in all matters
wherein material things are concerned, yet you shall never find among them
any knowledge or perception of spiritual things." Yet it is a mistake to
suppose that this insensibility has been so universal as it is often
represented. To say nothing of the considerable numbers who have adhered
faithfully to the Roman Catholic Church, the large number of Mahomedans in
China, of whom many must have been proselytes, indicates an interest in
religion; and that Buddhism itself was in China once a spiritual power of
no small energy will, I think, be plain to any one who reads the very
interesting extracts in Schott's essay on Buddhism in Upper Asia and
China. (_Berlin Acad. of Sciences_, 1846.) These seem to be so little
known that I will translate two or three of them. "In the years _Yuan-yeu_
of the Sung (A.D. 1086-1093), a pious matron with her two servants lived
entirely to the Land of Enlightenment. One of the maids said one day to
her companion: 'To-night I shall pass over to the Realm of Amita.' The
same night a balsamic odour filled the house, and the maid died without
any preceding illness. On the following day the surviving maid said to the
lady: 'Yesterday my deceased companion appeared to me in a dream, and said
to me: "Thanks to the persevering exhortations of our mistress, I am
become a partaker of Paradise, and my blessedness is past all expression
in words."' The matron replied: 'If she will appear to me also then I will
believe what you say.' Next night the deceased really appeared to her, and
saluted her with respect. The lady asked: 'May I, for once, visit the Land
of Enlightenment?' 'Yea,' answered the Blessed Soul, 'thou hast but to
follow thy h