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CHAPTER II
SPIRITISM IN CHINA
a. Sources of Knowledge in Regard to Chinese An-
cestor-worship. --Our earliest sources of information in
regard to the religion of China are the five Classics and
the four Canonical Books. The first of the Classics
is the Shu-king, 1 or Book of Historical Documents.
It is a collection of incidents, addresses, counsels and
decrees beginning with Yao (traditional date 2356 B.C.),
and extending down through the Hsia dynasty ( 2205-
1766), Shang dynasty ( 1766-1122), Chou dynasty
( 1122-249). The Shi-king, or Book of Poetry, contains
poems that date from the same early period as the Shu-
king. It is one of the most ancient and most precious
treasures of the world's literature. The Yih-king, or
Book of Permutations, is originally a collection of sixty-
four hexagrams, which in their turn are combinations of
eight trigrams, and of parallel lines partly whole and partly
broken. It was intended for purposes of divination; but
the manner of its use has been lost, although it has given
rise to much ingenious speculation. The Li-ki, or Rites
and Ceremonies, is a compilation of ritual texts, partly of
high antiquity, and partly of later origin, that was not
completed in its present form before the second century
of our era. K'ung Fu Tzŭ (Confucius) ( 551-478 B.C.)
is traditionally regarded as the compiler of three of
these works, and there is no reason to doubt the substan-
tial correctness of this belief. To Confucius himself
is ascribed the writing of the fifth Classic, the
____________________
1 In the transliteration of Chinese words an effort has been made to con-
form to the usage of H. A. Giles' Chinese-English Dictionary, London, 1912.

-16-

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Publication Information: Book Title: Spiritism and the Cult of the Dead in Antiquity. Contributors: Lewis Bayles Paton - author. Publisher: Macmillan. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1921. Page Number: 16.
    
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