l
reticence on the subject of spirits and an unseen universe.

Spirits must exist.--Mo Tzu, a philosopher of the fourth and fifth
centuries B.C., was arguing one day for the existence of spirits with a
disbelieving opponent. "All you have to do," he said, "is to go into
any village and make enquiries. From of old until now the people have
constantly seen and heard spiritual beings; how then can you say they do
not exist? If they had never seen nor heard them, could people say that
they existed?" "Of course," replied the disbeliever, "many people have
seen and heard spirits; but is there any instance of a properly verified
appearance?" Mo Tzu then told a long story of how King Hsuan, B.C.
827-781, unjustly put to death a Minister, and how the latter had said
to the King, "If there is no consciousness after death, this matter will
be at an end; but if there is, then within three years you will hear
from me." Three years later, at a grand durbar, the Minister descended
from heaven on a white horse, and shot the King dead before the eyes of
all.

Traces of Mysticism.--Chuang Tzu, the famous philosopher of the third
and fourth centuries B.C., and exponent of the Tao of Lao Tzu, has the
following allusions to God, of course as seen through Taoist glasses:--

"God is a principle which exists by virtue of its own intrinsicality,
and operates spontaneously without self-manifestation.

"He who knows what God is, and what Man is, has attained. Knowing what
God is, he knows that he himself proceeded therefrom. Knowing what Man
is, he rests in the knowledge of the known, waiting for the knowledge of
the unknown.

"The ultimate end is God. He is manifested in the laws of nature. He is
the hidden spring. At the beginning of all things, He was."

Taoism, however, does not seem to have succeeded altogether, any more
than Confucianism, in altogether estranging the Chinese people from
their traditions of a God, more or less personal, whose power was the
real determining factor in human events. The great general Hsiang Yu,
B.C. 233-202, said to his charioteer at the battle which proved fatal
to his fortunes, "I have fought no fewer than seventy fights, and have
gained dominion over the empire. That I am now brought to this pass is
because God has deserted me."

CHAPTER IV -- MATERIALISM

Yang Hsiung.--Yang Hsiung was a philosopher who flourished
B.C. 53 - A.D. 18. He taught that the nature of man at birth is neither
good nor