Even at a time when humanity had attained no definite knowledge of itself, a vague suspicion prevailed as to the existence of disharmonies, and an effort was made to remedy the evil. The following chapters will show what man has done with a view to remedying the natural disharmonies of his constitution. PART II ATTEMPTS TO DIMINISH THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION (RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS) CHAPTER VII RELIGIOUS ATTEMPTS TO COMBAT THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION Animism as the foundation of primitive religions—The Jewish religion in relation to the doctrine of immortality of the soul—The religions of China—Ancestor-worship in Confucianism—The conception of immortality in Taoism—The persistence of the soul in the Buddhist religion—The paradise of the Chinese Buddhists—Ancestors worshipped as gods—Influence of religious faith on the fear of death—Pessimism of the doctrine of Buddha—The meaning of Nirvâna—Resignation as preached by Buddha—Objections to the immortality of the soul—Irritability of the tissues and cells of the body—Religious hygiene—Religious means of controlling the reproductive functions and of preventing diseases—Failure of religions in their attempts to combat the ills arising from the disharmonies of the human constitution Humanity did not await the discovery by science of the existence of disharmonies before trying to find remedies for them. The will to live, to preserve health, to satisfy the instincts and to make them act in unison, have driven mankind, in the very earliest days of reflection, to invent remedies for the imperfection of the human constitution. I have shown that, even in the case of animals, the instinct as to choice of food does not save them from certain harmful substances. Man himself has for long recognised that this instinct of his is no safe guide, and has tried to discover surer methods of distinguishing between substances that are useful as foods and substances that may cause disease or death. The best wisdom of primitive man must have been given to the observation of the effects of substances which had been eaten, and to a consequent framing of dietary rules. The reproductive functions, in the same way, must have attracted the notice of man in very early times, as he must have found the harm that came from a blind following of instinctive desire. Above all other reasons, man must have been impelled by his instinctive love of life and fear of death to find some way out of his dangerous situation. To preserve his life, man must have sought wise choice of food and control of sexuality.