e to
him superhuman attributes. But in spite of all this the fact remains
that Confucius has not been appointed a god and holds no _exequatur_
entitling him to that rank.

If we inquire into the reason of this we find that, astonishing
though it may seem, Confucius is classed by the Chinese not as a god
(_shen_), but as a demon (_kuei_). A short historical statement will
make the matter clear.

In the classical _Li chi, Book of Ceremonial_, we find the categorical
assignment of the worship of certain objects to certain subjective
beings: the emperor worshipped Heaven and earth, the feudal princes the
mountains and rivers, the officials the hearth, and the _literati_
their ancestors. Heaven, earth, mountains, rivers, and hearth
were called _shen_ (gods), and ancestors _kuei_ (demons). This
distinction is due to Heaven being regarded as the god and the
people as demons--the upper is the god, the lower the evil spirit or
demon. Though _kuei_ were usually bad, the term in Chinese includes
both good and evil spirits. In ancient times those who had by their
meritorious virtue while in the world averted calamities from the
people were posthumously worshipped and called gods, but those who were
worshipped by their descendants only were called spirits or demons.

In the worship of Confucius by emperors of various dynasties (details
of which need not be given here) the highest titles conferred on him
were _Hsien Sheng_, 'Former or Ancestral Saint,' and even _Win Hsuean
Wang_, 'Accomplished and Illustrious Prince,' and others containing
like epithets. When for his image or idol there was (in the eleventh
year--A.D. 1307--of the reign-period Ta Te of the Emperor Ch'eng
Tsung of the Yuean dynasty) substituted the tablet now seen in the
Confucian temples, these were the inscriptions engraved on it. In the
inscriptions authoritatively placed on the tablets the word _shen_
does not occur; in those cases where it does occur it has been
placed there (as by the Taoists) illegally and without authority
by too ardent devotees. Confucius may not be called a _shen_, since
there is no record showing that the great ethical teacher was ever
apotheosized, or that any order was given that the character _shen_
was to be applied to him.

The God of Literature

In addition to the ancestors of whose worship it really consists,
Confucianism has in its pantheon the specialized gods worshipped by
the _literati_. Naturally the chief of these is W