Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 3.djvu/83

where the living worshipped the dead and the dead blessed the living." In short, the people, since they might not worship God for themselves, worshipped their ancestors, and thus found a channel for the flow of religious sentiment, ancestors being regarded ultimately as tutelary spirits. There was also the worship of the departed great or good, without any reference to the relationship in which they stood to the worshipper, and beyond all doubt many an illustrious Chinese found comfort and encouragement in the thought that his memory would surely be kept green in the hearts of the people.

During the feudal age of China when the sovereign, the feudal chiefs, and the great dignitaries of State had temples of their own, ancestral worship could be appropriately conducted. But after the fall of feudalism (255 B. C.), facilities for performing such rites became fewer, and the rites themselves suffered some neglect. At all times, too, the mass of the people were without suitable places and paraphernalia for ceremonial purposes, and since, on the other hand, they attached not less value than their superiors to the guardianship of tutelary spirits, it resulted finally that they sought the aid of Taoism as a vehicle of worship, and Taoism grafted on the cult superstitions which greatly changed its character. That phase, however, being of comparatively late consummation, may be more conveniently discussed hereafter.