al and terrestrial spirits." [166] This is ample evidence to
prove moon-worship. True, these celestial beings were "but
ministering spirits," and the "monotheism remained." There was no
_henotheism_, no worship of several _single_ supreme deities:
_One only_ was supreme. So among the Hebrews, Persians,
Hindoos, there was one only God; and yet they offered prayers and
sacrifices to heaven's visible and innumerable host. When we come
to modern China we shall find some very remarkable celebrations
taking place, which throw sunlight upon these ancient mists.
Meanwhile to strengthen our position, we may draw additional
support from each of the three great stages reached in the progress
of Chinese religion: namely, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
Dr. Edkins describes them as the moral, materialistic, and
metaphysical systems, standing at the three corners of a great
triangle. [167] The god of Confucianism is _Shang-ti_ or _Shang-te_.
And with the universal anthropomorphism "Shang-te is the
great father of gods and men: Shang-te is a gigantic man." [168]
Again "Heaven is a great man, and man is a little heaven." [169]
And now what does Confucianism say of moon-worship? "The sun
and moon being the chief objects of veneration to the most ancient
ancestors of the Chinese, they translated the soul of their great father
heaven or the first man (Shang-te) to the sun, and the soul of their
great mother earth or the first woman (the female half of the first
man) to the moon." [170] In Taoism there is no room for question.
Dr. Legge says that it had its Chang and Liu, and "many more gods,
supreme gods, celestial gods, great gods, and divine rulers." [171]
And Dr. Edkins writes: "The Taouist mythology resembles, in
several points, that of many heathen nations. Some of its divinities
personate those beings that are supposed to reside in the various
departments of nature. Many of the stars are worshipped as gods."
[172] Buddhism not only supplies further evidence, it also furnishes
a noteworthy instance of mythic transformation. Sakchi or Sasi, the
moon, is literally one who made a sacrifice. This refers to the legend
of the hare who gave himself to feed the god. The wife of Indra
adopted the hare's name, and was herself called Sasi. "The Tantra
school gave every deity its Sakti or consort, and speculation
enlarged the meaning of the term still further, making it designate
female energy or the female principle." [173] Buddhism, then,