IV. SECTS AND SKEPTICS IN CHINA.
China, though characterized by less mental activity than most other religious nations, has had her sects and her skeptics, and not a very small number of the former, though less in proportion to her religious population than either Egypt, India, Persia, Chaldea, or Arabia. Some of her sects manifested a disposition to borrow dogmas from other religions; while others attempted an improvement on the ancient faith established by Confucius, although in its moral aspects it was the best system of religion extant. The oldest sect known was founded by Laotse, and was known as Taotse. His religion differed more from that of Confucius with respect to its ceremonies than its doctrines. On the whole, there has not been sufficient intellectual growth in China to produce any very marked changes in the long-established religion of the country. Innovation and religious improvement in China are checked and almost prevented by a sort of ecclesiastical tribunal, which has existed from time immemorial, known as "the Court of Rites," which is invested with authority to suppress religious innovation, and thus put an extinguisher on infidelity.