APPENDIX B.
Commencing at the farthest East we shall find the ancient religion of China the same as that which was universal in all quarters of the globe, viz., an adoration of the Sun, Moon, Stars and elements.[544:1] That the Chinese religion was in one respect the same as that of India, is seen from the fact that they named successive days for the same seven planets that the Hindoos did.[544:2] The ancient books of the Chinese show that astronomy was not only understood by them at a very early period, but that it formed an important branch of state policy, and the basis of public ceremonies. Eclipses are accurately recorded which occurred twenty centuries before Jesus; and the Confucian books refer continually to observations of the heavenly bodies and the rectification of the calendar. The ancient Chinese astronomers seem to have known precisely the excess of the solar year beyond 365 days. The religion of China, under the emperors who preceded the first dynasty, is an enigma. The notices in the only authentic works, the King, are on this point scanty, vague, and obscure. It is difficult to separate what is spoken with reference to the science of astronomy from that which may relate to religion, properly so called. The terms of reverence and respect, with which the heavenly bodies are spoken of in the Shoo-King, seem to warrant the inference that those terms have more than a mere astronomical meaning, and that the ancient religion of China partook of star-worship, one of the oldest heresies in the world.[545:1]
In India the Sun, Moon, Stars and the powers of Nature were worshiped and personified, and each quality, mental and physical, had its emblem, which the Brahmans taught the ignorant to regard as realities, till the Pantheon became crowded.
"Our Aryan ancestors learned to look up to the sky, the Sun, and the dawn, and there to see the presence of a living power, half-revealed, and half-hidden from their senses, those senses which were always postulating something beyond what they could grasp. They went further still. In the bright sky they perceived an Illuminator, in the all-encircling firmament an Embracer, in the roar of the thunder or in the voice of the storm they felt the presence of a Shouter and of furious Strikers, and out of the rain they created an Indra, or giver of rain."[545:2]
Prof. Monier Williams, speaking of "the hymns of the Veda," says:
"To what deities, it will be asked, were the prayers and hymns of these collections addressed? The answer is: They worshiped those physical forces before which all nations, if guided solely by the light of nature, have in the early period of their life, instinctively bowed down, and before which even the most civilized and enlightened have always been compelled to bend in awe and reverence, if not in adoration."[545:3]
The following sublime description of Night is an extract from the Vedas, made by Sir William Jones:
"Night approaches, illumined with stars and planets, and, looking on all sides with numberless eyes, overpowers all meaner lights. The immortal goddess pervades the firmament, covering the low valleys and shrubs, the lofty mountains and trees, but soon she disturbs the gloom with celestial effulgence. Advancing with brightness, at length she recalls her sister Morning; and the nightly shade gradually melts away. May she at this time be propitious! She, in whose early watch we may calmly recline in our mansions, as birds repose upon the trees. Mankind now sleep in their towns; now herds and flocks peacefully slumber, and the winged creatures, swift falcons, and vultures. O Night! avert from us the she-wolf and the wolf; and, oh! suffer us to pass thee in soothing rest! Oh, morn! remove in due time this black, yet visible overwhelming darkness, which at present enfolds me, as thou enablest me to remove the cloud of their dells. Daughter of Heaven, I approach thee with praise, as the cow approaches her milker; accept, O Night! not the hymn only, but the oblation of thy suppliant, who prays that his foes may be subdued."
Some of the principal gods of the Hindoo Pantheon are, Dyaus (the Sky), Indra (the Rain-giver), Sûrya (the Sun), the Maruts (Winds), Aditi, (the Dawn), Parvati (the Earth),[546:1] and Siva, her consort. The worship of the Sun is expressed in a variety of ways, and by a multitude of fanciful names. One of the principal of these is Crishna. The following is a prayer addressed to him:
"Be auspicious to my lay, O Chrishna, thou only God of the seven heavens, who swayest the universe through the immensity of space and matter. O universal and resplendent Sun! Thou mighty governor of the heavens; thou sovereign regulator of the connected whole; thou sole and universal deity of mankind; thou gracious and Supreme Spirit; my noblest and most happy inspiration is thy praise and glory. Thy power I will praise, for thou art my sovereign Lord, whose bright image continually forces itself on my attention, eager imagination. Thou art the Being to whom heroes pray in perils of war; nor are their supplications vain, when thus they pray; whether it be when thou illuminest the eastern region with thy orient light, when in thy meridian splendor, or when thou majestically descendest in the West."