Note 46 — IV. PLANTING A PEAR-TREE.

That is, of the religion of Tao, or, as it is sometimes called, Rationalism. It was founded some six centuries before the Christian era by a man named Lao-tzŭ, “Old boy,” who was said to have been born with white hair and a beard. Originally a pure system of metaphysics, it is now but a shadow of its former self, and is corrupted by the grossest forms of superstition borrowed from Buddhism, which has in its turn adopted many of the forms and beliefs of Taoism, so that the two religions are hardly distinguishable one from the other.

“What seemed to me the most singular circumstance connected with the matter, was the presence of half-a-dozen Taoist priests, who joined in all the ceremonies, doing everything that the Buddhist priests did, and presenting a very odd appearance, with their top-knots and cues, among their closely shaven Buddhist brethren. It seemed strange that the worship of Sakyamuni by celibate Buddhist priests, with shaved heads, into which holes were duly burned at their initiation, should be participated in by married Taoist priests, whose heads are not wholly shaven, and have never been burned.”—Initiation of Buddhist Priests at Kooshan, by S. L. B.

Taoist priests are credited with a knowledge of alchemy and the black art in general. return to footnote anchor 46 return to footnote anchor 83 return to footnote anchor 137 return to footnote anchor 211 return to Vol. II. footnote anchor 66 return to Vol. II. footnote anchor 166