Taoism was formerly a pure system of philosophy, but it by degrees sadly degenerated into a sect which borrowed its doctrines from Buddhism and Confucianism and has had engrafted upon it from time to time innumerable superstitions. The priests of this sect are men whose business is to impose on the people, and who make a living out of their superstitious fears. Thus, if a person falls sick, or is supposed to be possessed by an evil spirit, a Taoist priest is summoned to intercede for him and to offer up vows for his recovery. So also when a person dies, one of them rings a bell in front of the corpse, and, by mumbling a lot of gibberish, pretends to open the gate of the lower world for the departed soul to enter. A piece of silver is previously put in the mouth of the dead person to pay toll with. Almost everything imaginable is worshiped by the Taoists and those who believe in the efficacy of their intercessions. Everything has a spirit or spiritual counterpart in the next world; and this spirit, according as it is propitiated by offerings, or offended by lack thereof will work good or evil to the man. There are the gods of war, literature, wealth, and medicine; and there are the goddesses of married women and of seamen. These are a few of the nobler specimens of the idols which are worshiped. The fertile imagination of the Chinese fills every lake and river with spirits, every street and house with ghosts, and every wood and mountain with deities. They believe the next world to be a shadow of this; that the dead have everything in the world below which they had on earth—only these premises exist as shadows instead of substance. Buddhism entered China about the time of Christ. One of the Emperors of the Han dynasty, having heard of the rise of a great sage in the West, sent an embassy to see him and to bring back his teachings. Doubtless the reputation of the marvelous Nazarene had been spread in the northern part of China by European and Arabian traders and had reached the ears of the Chinese monarch. The embassy set out on their long, tedious and perilous journey. But while passing near India, they heard of Buddha and his sublime teachings. They supposed him to be the sage they were seeking, and they turned aside into India. Buddha had by that time been absorbed in Nirvâna—he was dead; and the embassadors contented themselves with carrying back his books to China. Under the lead of the emperor, Buddhism was accorded a cordial reception in the empire. But modern Buddhism is not what Buddha intended it to be. For instance, idolatry which he never taught, is practised.