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BIBLE
BIBLE
compilations and selections by him from pre-exist- ing literature, with possibly, to some small extent, later additions. In character they range from extremely dry chronicles to the interpretation of magical formulas, rules of conduct, and sacred songs. The Li-Ki contains laws for domestic and social life at once comprehensive and minute, and by them the life of the whole Chinese Empire has been moulded to the present day. Its fundamental lesson is the inculcation of reverence, and it is full of finely conceived and inspiring thoughts. The tour Shoo, or records of the philosophers, contain much that is of interest, particularly the Memora- bilia of Confucius himself and the writings of Mencius, one of the most powerful and practical of Chinese thinkers. The teaching of the latter as to human nature has been compared with that of Bishop Butler, since it regards human nature in its ideal as a system or constitution in which the rightful ruler of the entire nature is the moral will. The Tao-ti-King is the sacred book of Taoism, which divides with Confucianism and a form of Buddhism the religious homage of the Chinese people. The author of this ' Book of Doctrine and Virtue ' was the philosophic mystic Lao-tsze, who was bom about half a century before Confucius (B.C. 600). Lao-tsze traces the origin of things to an impersonal reason, and directs men to seek the supreme good by way of contemplation and asceti- cism ; at the same time many of his utterances are marked by great beauty and genuine moral insight.
In India we meet with a twofold stream of literature, — thatof Brahmanism and thatof Buddh- ism,— the former being the main factor in the development of modem Hinduism. The Brahmanic literature includes the Vedas proper, consisting of four books or collections of hymns, the Brah- manas, or ritualistic commentary upon these, and the Upanishads or speculative treatises containing the philosophv of tne universe which the Vedic hymns seemea to imply. All these form part of the Veda, or knowledge par excellence, and belong to revelation or 'S'ruti' (hearing), as having been communicated to inspired men from a higher source. A second order of books is simUarly termed 'Smriti' (recollection or tradition), and includes the law books, the great Epic poems, and the Puranas or ancient legends. Of these various works the most important and interesting from our present point of view are the Rigveda, tlie Laws of Menu, and the Epics. The Rigveda is of the greatest antiquity, and reveals much of the life and manner of thinking and feeling of the earliest invaders of India from the north of whom anything is known. The hymns are spirited and intensely national in tone. They were designed for use at the sacrifices, of the ritual of wliicli they formed an essential part. The gods addressed in them are pre-eminently Nature deities, whose power is extolled and whose aid and favour are invoked. The Laws of Menu form one of those codes for the regulation of conduct which have gradually grown into shape. Much of it is believed to belong to prehistoric times, and the main body of the code is undoubtedly very ancient, though in its present form it is probably not older than the 2nd cent. A.D. It has been described as 'a kind of Indian Pentateuch, resting on the funda- mental assumption that every part of life is essentially religious.' It originated either in a particular locality or with a particular school, but gradually extentied its authority over the entire Hindu people. It consecrates the system of Caste, but, while it exalts asceticism, its regulation of ordinary life is touched with a fine spirit and marked by a practical morality. The great Epic poems, the Ramaj i.na and the Mahabharata,
chiefly influenced the transition from tlie ancient Brahmanism to modem Hinduism. With tlieii countless legends and deep personal interest, they appealed to those whom neither speculation nor ritual could move. They are the Bibles of the people, and celebrate the achievements of the ancient heroes, Rama and Krishna. The latter is regarded in the Mahabharata as an incarnation of Vishnu, one of the supreme Hindu deities. The idea of incarnation of deity is indeed the chiei addition made by these poems to the religious thought of India, and was probably developed under the necessity of competing with Buddhism for popular favour. Turning to the sacred litera- ture of Buddhism, it is best represented in what is known as the Southern Canon, the form in which the books are used by the Buddhists of Ceylon. They are written in Pali, while those of the Northern Canon are in Sanskrit. They are other- wise termed the Tripitaka, or three baskets, from the manner of preserving the leaves in each volume, and were accepted as canonical about B.C. 250. The three 'baskets' are the Vinaya Pitaka, which gives the rules of Buddhism as a religious com- munity, and especially of its monastic order ; the Abidharma Pitaka containing the philosophic or speculative doctrine of the faith ; and the Sutta Pitaka consisting of reminiscences of the paraliles and sermons of Buddha, in which the religion is adapted to common life. To the last belong the Dhammapada, ' sentences of religion,' the mos*' popular of all the Buddhist books. The Dhamma- pada and the Sutta-nipata are said to ' rank among the most impressive of the religious books of the world.'