Page 36 - Chinese Porcelain Vol I, Galland

8 CHINESE PORCELAIN.
life very much given to superstitious practices, and at death
is surrounded with the ceremonies of Buddhism.
In of these three as
speaking religions merely philosophical
the Chinese
systems, say they spring from the same source,
and their the of the three
express meaning by drawing figures
supposed founders standing round the mouth of a well. In
some temples representations of Buddha, Lao Tsze (Laou Keun),
and Confucius are exposed for adoration, which trinity is
designated as Seng-Tao-Ju, Sing being the Buddhist, or vege-
tarian ; Tao the Taoist, who follows the right way ; Ju the
Confucianist, or man of letters. It is, however, a mistake to
class Confucius among the founders of a religion, as the old
State existed before his time, and he, as well as
religion long
his disciples, never did more than recommend a strict ob-
servance of its rites, their
teaching being simply philosophical.
Here it is not the dogmas of the three religions of China,
to serve as
but their outward forms and ceremonies, likely
motives for the artist, that we have to do with, and it is with
a view to between their and
distinguishing deities, priests,
other as well as to the better of their
figures, understanding
symbols, that the following particulars, taken from the earlier
writers on China, are necessarily of interest.

State Keligion.
This consists of certain rites and ceremonies which are laid
down in the code of the There is no
Empire. priesthood ; the
"
emperor, as Son of Heaven," alone officiates with offerings
and his nobles and
(chiefly silks) incense, surrounded by
officials in their court dresses. The altar to heaven is round,
that to earth is square. When the emperor worships heaven,
he wears robes of an azure colour in allusion to the sky ; when
the earth, then his robes are ; when the sun, he wears
yellow
red ; when the moon, his dress is white. Women are not
allowed to be at the ceremonies in honour of
present except
the of and her ladies of
patroness silk, when the empress
certain rank take The in his corre-
part. Emperor Kang-he,
spondence with the pope, stated that it was not the visible
heaven he sacrificed to, but the true creator of the universe.
As the emperor worships heaven, so the people worship the