a host of native Kami, besides many Buddhas and saints out of its own history and mythology. Among these Sakyamuni occupies a somewhat inconspicuous place, though images of him, alone or with groups of his disciples, are not infrequent. The imaginary-or, if you please, ideal-Buddha Amitabha (Amida) is a much greater figure in Japanese Buddhism, and not solely through the influence of the Pure Land sects; there are few temples in which a statue of Amida is not found either as the principal or a subordinate figure. The goddess of mercy, Kwannon, is a hardly less conspicuous figure. Binzuru, the divine healer, is also a very popular deity; his idols are polished by the hands of suppliants who believe that they can get rid of all sorts of ailments by rubbing the images of the god. One of the commonest idols is Fudo, represented as enveloped in flames with a sword in his right hand and a rope in his left; this terrifying figure destroys or binds evil-doers. The king of hell, Emma-sama, before whom all souls must stand in judgment, is also frequently represented, a warning to men to think upon their ways. A friendlier figure is Jizo, the special protector of children, whose statues are often almost buried under heaps of pebbles, a vicarious service for the little souls in hell whom an old hag compels to heap up pebbles on the river bank. The seven gods of good fortune are peculiarly venerated, and have a place on the Buddha-shelf in many homes: foremost among them the god of riches, oftentimes the god of abundant food, the gods who give comfort, long life, wisdom, the valiant protector from dangers, and the goddess of beauty.

The Buddhist temples are much more splendid affairs than the Shinto shrines, and the worship in them far more imposing. The gorgeous vestments of the priests, the solemn intonation of the service, the clouds of incense in the dimly lighted sanctuary, have reminded many observers of the services in a Christian cathedral. Such services are held in the great temples every day, and with augmented splendour on the high days of the calendar. Many of the temples,

however, are hardly used for worship at all. The laity do not participate in these rites even as a worshipping congregation, but go singly to the temples to offer their petitions and drop an offering into the contribution-box, or buy from the priests amulets and talismans, holy water, ashes, and the like, for protection against disease and other ills.

In all Japanese homes, except those of adherents of the most reactionary Shinto sects, there is a Buddha-shelf, on which stand little shrines, often richly ornamented in lacquer, for Buddhist gods; the tablets bearing the posthumous names of the deceased members of the family stand on the same shelf; offerings of food and incense are made before them. The funeral rites are conducted, as has already been observed, by Buddhist priests; there are minor differences in , the practice of the several sects. They are in part at the house, where a soul tablet bearing the posthumous or Buddha name of the deceased is set up, lights are kept burning, food and incense offered, partly in the temple, where prayers are recited and a kind of eulogy pronounced. The body is then removed to the burning-place.

From the 13th to the 15th of July an All-Souls feast is kept, at which time it is believed that the souls are permitted to return to their kindred and be entertained by them. A staging of bamboo canes is erected in one of the rooms of the house, on which food and lanterns are placed for the spirits, and a Buddhist priest reads a mass before them. On the first evening fires of hemp leaves are lighted before the entrance of the house, and incense strewed on the coals, as an invitation to the spirits. At the end of the three days the food that has been set out for the spirits is wrapped up in mats and thrown into a river. Dances of a peculiar kind are a conspicuous feature of the celebration, which is evidently an old Japanese custom; the Buddhist elements are adscititious. At this season the graves are decorated, and frequent visits are paid by the kinsfolk. For those who have no relatives living a mass is said in all the temples for "the hungry devils."

In the political restoration of 1868 Shinto was at first proclaimed the religion of the state, and the ministry to which it was committed took precedence of all others. Buddhism was no longer recognised by the government; the payments for the support of its temples were cut off, the temples of the mixed cult (Ryobu Shinto) were purged of Buddhist images and emblems, and as far as possible Shinto simplicity was restored; for a while even the burning of the dead was forbidden. This excess of zeal soon passed, and in the next stage both Shinto and Buddhist priests, in the quality of religious teachers, were put under the supervision of a ministry of religion, which was later reduced to a mere bureau for Shinto-Buddhist temples. The constitution of 1889 acknowledges no state religion, and guarantees complete religious liberty. Shinto continues to be, however, the re-. ligion of the imperial house and of the court; and on high festivals the emperor himself officiates in the ceremonies for himself and his people. Thus Shinto enjoys the prestige, though not the legal status, of a national religion.

The history of religion in Japan would not be complete without at least a few words about the influence of Confucianism. This influence was chiefly in the field of ethics. Shinto, as we have seen, gave its sanction to the ancient customs, including the customary morality, but it had no moral teaching of its own; Buddhism brought its own double standard of morality, for monks and for laymen, the latter not unaffected by Chinese notions, but it made no attempt to systematise or rationalise ethics. The Japanese had some acquaintance with Confucian teaching before the advent of Buddhism, and in the period of active communication with China, especially in the ninth century, when the zeal for Chinese learning and literature was at its height and the study of the Chinese classics was regularly pursued in the higher schools, this influence was greatly increased. Even Buddhist sects recast their teaching in the mould of the Five Relations. The feudal period created its own chivalric ideals; loyalty to the feudal superior became the supreme

virtue, and was pushed to romantic excesses in which all other ethical ideals were overridden.

With the restoration of unity and order under the Tokugawa shoguns there began a new epoch of Chinese influence. The Neoconfucianism of Chu Hi was fostered by the state, even to the extent of punishing such as had the audacity to criticise or attack the school which the government had declared orthodox. This philosophy spread especially among the Samurai, and led many to turn away from Buddhism as a superstition unworthy of thinking men. Japanese exponents of Chu Hi's philosophy, such as Muro Kyuso, developed not only its ethics but its religious possibilities, so that it answered spiritual needs as well as offered elevated moral principles. More decidedly religious, with a mystical turn, is the contemporary philosophy of Nakae Toju, better known as the Wise Man of Omi, which likewise had a large influence in the eighteenth century.

CHAPTER VIII

EGYPT

THE RELIGION OF THE OLD KINGDOM

The Nomes and Their Gods-Divine Beasts-The Old KingdomCelestial Deities, Temples, Priests, Worship-Tombs-Conservation of the Body-Souls-Abodes of the Dead-Heaven and the Nether World-Morals and Magic.

EGYPT and Babylonia are the oldest seats of civilisation. The investigations of Eduard Meyer have led him to believe that the Egyptian calendar was established in the year 4241 B. C., on the basis of observations that must have taken centuries to accumulate. Whether this precise date be confirmed or not, there is no doubt that the accession of Menes, the first king in Manetho's catalogue of dynasties, falls before 3000 B. C.,1 and that the kingdom of all Egypt which he founded was preceded by the two kingdoms of Upper and of Lower Egypt through a period so long that the dualism was indelibly impressed on the institutions of the country. The rulers before Menes, who were for Manetho semi-mythical (vékves, npwes), turn out to be real men of flesh and blood; and before them the stage of culture at which the Egyptians had arrived in the age of its first monuments demands for its development centuries which we have no means of counting.

1 Meyer, 3315; Sethe, 3360; Breasted, 3400. The dates of the great epochs of Egyptian history, according to Breasted, History of Egypt, are as follows: (Old Kingdom) Fourth Dynasty, 2900-2750 B. C.; Fifth Dynasty, 2750-2625; (Middle Kingdom) Twelfth Dynasty, 2000-1788; (New Empire) Eighteenth Dynasty, 1580-1350; Nineteenth Dynasty, 1350-1205; Twenty-second Dynasty, 945-745; (Saite Restoration) Twenty-sixth Dynasty, 663-525.