RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Children's Bibles China
Geneva; nor the catechism of Heidelberg, nor the articles of the Church of England; no, nor the harmony of Protestant confessions; but that wherein they all agree, and which they all subscribe with a greater harmony as a perfect rule of their faith and actions, that is, the Bible. The Bible, I say, the Bible only 'is the religion of Protestants " (part i., chap, vi., sec. 56). He argues strongly for free inquiry, and denies that any church is infaUible. Concerning the Church of England he declares that he believes its doctrine " so pure and orthodox that whosoever believes it, and lives according to it, undoubtedly he shall be saved; and that there is no error in it which may necessitate or warrant any man to disturb the peace or renounce the communion of it. This, in my opinion, is all intended by subscription " (preface, sec. 40). This being acceptable to the bishops, in 1638 Chillingworth was made chancellor of Salisbury with the prebend of Brixworth in Northamptonshire annexed. He took the royalist side in the contest between king and parliament, and wrote against "rebels"; became chaplain in the royal army and was taken prisoner at Arundel Castle in Dec, 1643; being ill at the time, he was taken to Chichester, where his death was hastened, as was believed by his friends, by the injudicious efforts of the Puritan Francis Cheynell (q.v.) to convert bim.
Bibliography: Chillingworth 's minor writings were pubhshed in 1687 under the title Additional Discovrses; the best edition of his Works is that of Oxford, 1838, 3 vols.; a Historical and Critical Account of the Life and Writings of William Chillingworth by P. Des Maizeaux appeared in London, 1725; and his Life by Thomas Birch was prefixed to the tenth folio edition of his Works (1742), reprinted in the edition of 1838. Cf. DNB, x. 252-257.
CHIMERE. See Vestments and Insignia, Ecclesiastical.
CHINA.
I. Native Religions
1. Confucianism. Confucius (§ 1).
The Teaching of Confucius (§ 2). Its Defects (§ 3).
2. Taoism.
Origin and Characteristics (§ ]).
Superstition of the Chinese (§ 2).
3. Buddhism.
4. Mohammedanism.
5. Chinese Sects.
II. Christian Missions.
1 . Nestorian Missions.
2. Roman Catholic
sions.
Mis-
The Earliest Period (§ 1). The Second Period (§ 2). The Modern Period (§ 3). 3. Protestant Missions. The First Period, to 1842 (§ 1).
The Second Period, 1842- 1860 (§ 3)
The Third Period, 1860- 1895 (§ 3).
The Fourth Period, from 1895 (§ 4).
General Features. Christian Literature (§ 5).
Various Forms of Work (§ 6).
Statistics (§ 7).
China forms the southeastern part of the Chinese empire, is from 1,300,000 to 1,500,000 square miles in extent, and has a population of perhaps 375,000,000. Its capital is Peking. The name "China " is often loosely used for the entire empire, which includes, besides China proper, Manchuria, Mongolia, East Turkestan, and Tibet. The governmental authority in large districts is purely nominal, and for this reason and owing to the encroachments of European powers, the boundaries and area are uncertain and fluctuating. The extent IS given as about 4,200,000 square miles, and
a late estimate of the population (admittedly very uncertain) is 425,000,000.
I. Native Religions: In speaking of the "religions " of the Chinese it is always necessary to point out that not only does the Chinese language contain no such word as " religion " in the sense of a relation between God and man, but there has never been any equivalent to this idea in the minds of the Chinese people. The teaching of the Sages, which are ethical as distinguished from religious, are grouped under the term "instruction." To " worship the gods " means also to pay one's respects.
1. Confucianism: Confucius (q.v.) was a teacher and a philosopher who wished to reform his native state by a return to the past. At the 1. Con- age of fifty-five he became an official, fucius. but his morals were too pure and his aims too lofty to make him successful and he retired in disgust to private life. His great work was the instruction of his pupils, who are said to have numbered 3,000, seventy-two of whom are enrolled among the Sages of the empire. They gathered up his sayings in a kind of Memorabilia which for ages has been a text-book in every Chinese school. Confucius edited the books already reckoned as classical, but added comparatively little of his own, his most important work being a bald compendium of Chinese history covering about 240 years, including his own lifetime. Through the use of them as text-books his comments on the Book of Rites, the Book of Poetry, the Book of History, and the Book of Changes, together with the Memorabilia, have probably exerted more influence upon a greater number of human beings than any other writings in the history of mankind. The Book of History should be especially mentioned, which, as Dr. Williams remarks, " contains the seeds of all things that are valuable in the estimation of the Chinese — it is at once the foundation of their political system, their history, and their reUgious rites, the basis of their tactics, music, and astronomy."
Although while he lived his precepts were neglected, Confucius began to be appreciated after he was dead, and has long been regarded by the Chinese as a perfect Sage (otherwise called " Holy Man "), to whom there is a temple in every city, where there are annual offerings of animals and of silk. The ornamental portals inform the passer-by that his " Virtue Equaled Heaven and Earth," which is tantamount to his deification. In the words of Dr. Legge; " The homage which is offered to the Master could not be more complete were he Shang Ti himself." In striking contrast with this universal estimate of the Chinese people is that of Confucius himself in such modest sentences as the following: " The Sage and the man of perfect virtue — how dare I rank myself with them? It may simply be said of me that I strive to become such without satiety, and to teach others without weariness. In letters I am perhaps equal to other men; but the character of the Superior Man, carrying out in his conduct what he professes, is what I have not attained to. The leaving virtue without proper cultivation; the not thoroughly
China