"WORSHIP OF HEAVEN,"

Timaru Herald, Volume C, Issue 15334, 30 April 1914, Page 4

"WORSHIP OF HEAVEN,"

AN IMPERIAL RITE. RESTORED BY YUAN SHI KAI. By his deeisiou to perform the timehonoured sacrifice on tho "Winter Solstice to the Most High at the Altarof Heaven tlio President has practically proclaimed himself an autocratic ruler who i.-J responsible, not to the nation, but to the Almighty alone (st,ite.s aChinese correspondent of ''TheTimes.") T\ hen inaugurated President, he swore to observe the provisional Constitution; that oath .lie proceeded to break by dissolving Parliament- without the sanction of the Legislature. In a few day.?, •another decree will appear dissolving the Provincial Assemblies, the Cabinet system is to be abolished, and the Pre-

sident proposes to reign alone with the nominal aid of <a Council which will perform the part of a. meek auxilinrv to himself. But none of Yuan Shi I\;u's actions is so calculate! to impress the national mind'as His lair«t decision to worship at file Circular AHar in the southern suburb of the. capital, for that sacrifice has been associated with the Son of God ("often less accuratelv rendered Son of Heaven") a« the vicegerent of the Almifhty. He who performs such a sacrifice becomes to the vast majority of the people Hie Sovereign -of China. The act. possesses extraordinary significance and restores to tb<--. Government the religious saileiion which it has seemed to tho literati to lack since the Revolution.

A 2,000 YEARS'" PRECEDENT. It is tTue that during illo debate in the Administrative Council regarding the revival -of this rite nil attempt was made to argue that the .sacrifice was originally Republican in spirit, because the Great A u (2200 li .C. I was raised to tlio Til rone by the Emperor Slum owing to his pre-eminent- virtue and may thus be said to have anticipated a Republican regime. Chinese scholars are fond of finding precedents' in thenown history lor every European institution, but in this ease the argument i>singularly feeble, as the Great Yu reigned us Emperor and founded a dynasty oF his own which ruled China lor several centuries. Pe-rhn ns some ot' the Council had in their mind the obvious parallel between the President | ll ud tile Great A n —namely, the fact , that \uan owed his nomination as Plenipotentiary to arrango for the I establishment of a Republic to the last | IVlaiichu 'Sovereign ami ifiny thus claim Ito govern by the mandate" of the ex- ■ dynasty, iust as An was Emperor by decree of Shun, as it is written in the CtXnon of History:—'' It is on your I person tlio mandate of Heaven rests. | and you must ascend the throne a.s EmI peror. At any rale, the object of reviving the worship is intended to glorify Yuan Xh; Ivai. and part of the liturgy which be. will perform consists in boning a record of the main events of the previous vear. including -—as -was oxpre-sly stated during the debate in the Council— statistics -of the latest Budget, presumably in order to impress the Almighty with the parlous condition ot China's finances. In addition the President will follow the precedent set by every Emperor for more than 2.000 years in burning a schedule of al! persons executed in "the past 12 months. It political offenders are in- i eluded, as presumably they will be. the roll will be -a long one. THE. COUNCIL AND THE CERE--A lON Y. In discussing the question of robes for the ceremony, a minoritv of the Council urged that the Presidentshould wear the Alien, or Cap of State, which was in use in the Chou Dynasty and resembles the academic cap, except that the tassels .are longer and are adorned with jade and jewelled pendants. Some also advocated the adoption of tlio luin, or dragon robes,, but the majority found both these suggestions too monarchical and preferred* to leave the choice of apparel to the President himself. The following is the text of the decree:—

---•'The Administrative Council ilias memorialised in© as follows:—'l{efpectmg the Bill 011 iho AYorship of Heaven recently referred to u.v, this Council lias come to the conclusion lhat of all ceremonies sni-rifie-o is x>aramomit and that ol all sacrifices none jm.s tlie sijLmiiLi.-ii.nce oi the AA orship of Heaven at the Circular Altar. It is Titling that this worship I\. n.ndo universal, so that not only the President, hut any citizen ol the country shall he at liberty to perform it. The' President should perforin the sacrifice a-; the repicsentative ol tlie nation, while the lorai officials shall act as 1 ho representatives <>(_ their respective districts. Every citizen should he at liberty to worship in Ins own family, .so as to ensure homogeneity. The nlaco of sacrifice in tlie metropolis shall he the -Altar of Heaven; the date shall he the Winter Solstice ; the method of worship fhall he hy genuflexion and the burntoilciiug shall he of bullocks. Regarding the choice of costume for the ceremony. flic officials in char so of rites •should be commanded to determine a. suitable £orm. The various details of t'io liturgy and of the offering-: should also be referred to them. that "choice be made- from the various sugeesl iot! "With regard to the selection of an assessor to the Most Hisrh (under the Monarchy the Emperor's predecessors occupied this x'osition)., none is deserv-

ing of ill is honour unless lie be an object of worship to the whole nation. Whether the Yellow Emperor (tho semi-mythical ancestor of tho Chinese, people) is actually the progenitor or the majority of the Fire Races cannot be determined, wherefore we deem it best that the question, of an assessor at the sacrifice be dropped.' "I, tho entertain 110 doubt that 'tho sacrifice to Heaven has been held in paramount honour from time immemorial and none has ventured to abandon its observance. Furthermore, there is no enactment to forbid citizens of the Five Races from fast and worship of God in fear and trembliii.tr. I do hereby signify assent to the proposal's, and declare the worship as universal. • The remaining suggestions arc likewise approved. Regarding choice of costume and liturgy the Minis'ry of the Interior shall duly report. to me and request my decree, that it may he promulgated as ail observance for ever." The order that the worship he made universal is intended to divest the act of too Imperial a character, but inimeir.or al tradition cannot be done away with bv one stroke of the pen. Th'- rite ha- always been regarded as- an Imperial function, and it- is mere ca-Miistry. h".;hly characteristic of the Chinese mind, to pretend otherwise. THE SACRIFICES TO CONFUCIUS. In a. further decree the President announced his intention of performing in person the seasonal sacriliecv to Confucius which, were, jilso an. Imperial duty. Fearful lest this lionojir to tho sage might provoke a storm of opposition among Buddhists, Taoists, 31 :/s-

Jems, and Christians, he issued another decree to explain that he was not establishing a. State religion, but remained faithful to the pi inciple of religious liberty enunciated in the provisional Con.-titut.ion. Apart from tinfact that Yuan lias already violated most of the provisions of thai instrument. it is impossible to regard this argument as valid. By re-establishing the worship of Heaven and the sacrifices to Confucius lie is to all intents and purposes constituting a State religion, and tile decision is certain to be severely criticised. The truth is that reaction is paramount and. as usual in China, i.s even more violent than the reform movement which preceded it. The- latest act of.the President is a significant:' commentary on the intercessions called for last year by tlie Government from the Christian Churches throughout the world on behalf of the young Republic.