The following characteristic epitome of the



A WISE EMPEROR 65

religious ideas in vogue amongst the Chinese in
B.C. 1760, is taken from a proclamation issued
to his people by the Emperor then on the
throne :

" Shang-Ti, the supreme ruler, has given reason
to man, and if he listens to its dictates his spirit
will exist for ever, but if he does not he will revert
to nothingness."

"The ruler of Hia," continues this old-world
proclamation, "extinguished in his soul the light
of reason, and inflicted a thousand ills upon the
people in all the States of the Empire. Oppressed
and unable longer to endure such tyranny, the
people made known to the spirits of high and low
degree, that they were unjustly dealt with. The
eternal reason of Heaven gives happiness to the
virtuous, and misery to the vicious and depraved,
and this is why Heaven has visited Hia with all
manner of calamities to make his crimes manifest
to all.
" As a result of this, all unworthy though I be, I
have felt it my duty to conform to the unmistak-
able and terrible decrees of Heaven. 1 dared not
leave such great crimes unpunished, but I did dare
to take a black bullock to serve as the sacrifice I
felt bound to offer. I ventured to appeal to the
august Heaven and to the divine ruler of the earth.
