2. Chinese. — While it is true that Confucius himself did not expressly teach the immortality of the soid, nay, that he rather purposely seems to have avoided enter- ing upon this subject at all, taking it most probably like Moses, as we shall see below, simply for granted (comji Miiller, Chips, i, 308), it is nevertheless implied in the worship which the Chinese pay to their ances- tors. Another evidence, it seems to us, is given by the absence of the word death from the writings of Confu- cius (q. v.). When a person dies, the Chinese say " he has returned to his family." " The spirits of the good were, according to him (Confucius), permitted to visit their ancient habitations on earth, or such ancestral halls or places as were appointed by their descendants, to receive homage and confer benefactions. Hence the duty of performing rites in such i>laces, under the pen- alty, in the case of those who, while living, neglect such duty, of their spiritual part being deprived after death of the supreme bliss flowing from the homage of de-
BIMORTALITY
514
IMMORTALITY
scendants" (Legge, Life and Teachings of Confucius, Philadelphia, 18(57, 12mo).
3. Ef/t/ptians.—Verhaps we may say that the idea of immortality assumed a more definite shape among the Egyptians, for they clearly recognised not only a dwell- in(j-i)lace of the dead, but also a future judgment. " Osiris, the beneficent god, judges the dead, and, ' hav- ing weighed their heart in the scales of justice, he sends the wicked to regions of darkness, while the just are sent to dwell with the god of liglit.' The latter, we read on an inscription, ' foimd favor before the great God ; they dwell in glory, where they live a heavenly life; the bodies they have quitted will forever repose in their tombs, while they rejoice in the life of the supreme God.' Immortality was thus plainly taught, although bound up with it was the idea of the preservation of the body, to which they attached great importance, as a condition of the soul's continued life ; and hence they built vast tombs, and embalmed their bodies, as if to last forever."
4. Persians.— In the religion of the Persians, also, at least since, if not previous to the time of Zoroaster, a prominent part is assigned to the existence of a future world, with its governing spirits. "Under Ormuz and Ahriman there are ranged regular hierarchies of spirits engaged in a per]5etual conflict ; and the soul passes into the kingdom of light or of darkness, over which these spirits respectively preside, according as it has lived on the earth well or iU. Whoever has lived in pvuritj', and has not suffered the divs (evil spirits) to have any power over him, passes after death into the realms of liglit."
5. A merican Indians. — The native tribes of the lower part of South America believe in two great powers of good and evil, but likewise in a number of inferior dei- ties. These are supposed to have been the creators and ancestors of different families, and hence, Avhen an In- dian dies, his soul goes to live with the deity who pre- sides over his particular family. These deities have each their separate habitations in vast caverns under the earth, and thither the departed repair to enjoy the happiness of being eternally drunk (compare Tyler, Re- searches into the early Histonj of Manlind, and the De- velopment of Civilization, Lond. 1868). Another Amer- ican tribe of Indians, the Mandans, have with their be- lief in a future state connected this tradition of their origin : " The whole nation resided in one large village mider groimd near a subterraneous lake. A grape-vine extended its roots down to their habitation, and gave them a view of the light. Some of the most adventu- rous climbed up the vine, and were delighted with the sight of the earth, which they found covered with buf- falo, and rich with every kind of fruit. Keturning with the grapes they had gathered, their countrj'men were so pleased with the taste of them that the whole nation resolved to leave their dull residence for the charms of the upper region. Men, women, and children ascended by means of the vine ; but when about half the nation had reached the surface of the earth, a corpulent woman who was clambering up the vine broke it with her weight, and closed upon herself and the rest of the na- tion the light of the sun. Those who were left on earth ex]iect, when they die, to return to the original seats of their forefathers, the good reaching the ancient village by means of the lake, which the burden of the sins of the wicked will not enable them to cross" (Ty- ler). The Choctaw tribe's belief in a future state is equally ciu-ious. " They hold that the spirit lives after death, and that it has a great distance to travel towards the west ; that it has to cross a dreadful, deep, and rapid stream, over which, from hill to hill, there lies a long, slippery pine log, with the bark peeled off. Over this the dead have to pass before they reach the dclightfid hunting-grounds. The good walk on safely, though six people from the other side throw stones at them ; but the wicked, trying to dodge the stones, slip off the log, and fall thousands of feet into the water which is dashing over the rocks" (see Brinton, p. 233 sq.).