[Illustration: TRADITIONAL LIKENESS OF CONFUCIUS.] Anciently there was an Emperor Yaou, all-informed, intelligent, accomplished and thoughtful; and if we are to accept the received account of his reign, this description does not do more than justice to his character. His first care, we are told, was to advance the able and virtuous to offices in the State, and finally he united and harmonized the myriad States of the Empire; and, lo! the black-haired people were transformed. He appointed astronomers to calculate and delineate the movements and appearances of the sun, the moon, the stars and the zodiacal spaces; and he then determined the four seasons and the length of the year. He adopted intercalary months, and the calendar he arranged is that which is still in use in China. On the death of Yaou, Shun who had shared his throne for some years, succeeded as sole emperor. Like his predecessor, he was profound, wise, accomplished and intelligent. He was mild, respectful and quite sincere. The report of his mysterious virtue was heard on high, and he was appointed to take the throne. One of his first public acts, after having still further perfected the astronomical calculations of Yaou, was to sacrifice to Shang-te, the Supreme Ruler or God. “Thereafter,” we are told, “he sacrificed specially, but with the ordinary forms, to Shang-te; sacrificed with purity and reverence to the six Honored Ones; offered appropriate sacrifice to the hills and rivers; and extended his worship to the hosts of spirits.” This is the first mention we have in Chinese history of religious worship, though the expressions used plainly imply that the worship of Shang-te at least, had previously existed. It is to this Supreme Being that all the highest forms of adoration have been offered in all ages. By His decree kings were made and rulers executed judgment. In His hands were the issues of life and death, and he whom He blessed was blessed, and he whom He cursed, was cursed. In all probability there was a time when the worship of Shang-te was the expression of the pure monotheistic faith of the Chinese. By degrees, however, corruptions crept in, and though Shang-te always remained the supreme object of veneration, they saw no disloyalty to Him in rendering homage to the powers of nature which they learnt to personify, and to the spirits of their departed ancestors, who were supposed to guard and watch over, in a subordinate manner, the welfare of their descendants. [Illustration: MONUMENTAL GATEWAY ERECTED IN HONOR OF CONFUCIUS.]