The Discovery of Genesis (6 page)

If we are to understand and appreciate how certain primitive Chinese characters were conceived, we must first allow our imaginations to paint an ancient scene. Envision a hardy, intelligent, and industrious people newly settling into a rugged environment of lovely valleys with serene, meandering streams and surrounding lofty mountains. These were not uncivilized barbarians, but a wise people who possessed skills in the use of metals, architecture, mathematics, and various sciences. The beauty of their natural surroundings also stimulated an inborn latent artistry. Their diversified knowledge had doubtless been acquired under the influence of their former homeland in the region of ancient Babel. The seven-day week which they used
¹
could well have stemmed from their acquaintance with the history of the original creation week.

From earliest times their activities were faithfully recorded. Perhaps one of the most venerated and important manuscripts of ancient China is the
Shu Ching (Shoo King)
, the
Book of History.
This was found secreted in the wall of Confucius’ house when it was pulled down in 140 B.C. Its contents, amazingly, date back nearly to the time of Noah and consist of a number of records of the first three dynasties, Hsia, Shang, and Chou, and several of their predecessors, embracing the period from the middle of the 24th century B.C. to 721 B.C.

Ancient writings had attracted the attention of Confucius when he was at the court of Chou, and selecting those things he considered valuable, he compiled the
Book of History.
It contains seeds of all things that are deemed important in the estimation of the Chinese—the foundation of their political system, their history, religious rites, basis of their tactics, music and astronomy.
²
Apparently, as these manuscripts would testify, the Chinese had an early written means of logging their annals. When and how did their writing methods come into existence?

Legends differ as to who the inventor of the written language was; however, this honor is popularly credited to Ts’ang Chieh, a minister and historian for the “yellow emperor,” Hwang Ti, third ruler in the so-called legendary period of China. It is generally agreed that the rudiments of the written language came very early in the history of the Chinese as a distinct people, and by tradition this first effort at devising a pictographic and ideographic system has been assigned to about 2500 B.C.
³

The keeping of accurate annals naturally followed in the wake of being able to chronicle events in writing. An unfailing record of successive reigning emperors has been accurately kept from the beginning of the Hsia Dynasty in 2205 B.C. Since it is the prevailing religious climate at various periods which mainly concerns us, our brief excursion into history will center on this aspect of their culture.

For more than the past 2,000 years China has nurtured three religions: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The Chinese, with good reason, assert that these teachings, originally three, have become one. They have temples of the Three Religions in which images of Confucius and Lao-tze (founder of Taoism) stand to the right and left of Buddha, forming a triad of sages.

The brilliant Confucius, born in 551 B.C., was a contemporary of both Lao-tze (also Lao-tse, Lao-tsze, Lao-tzu) and Gautama, the latter being the unwitting founder of Buddhism in far-off India. Confucius sifted through the records of remote antiquity and drew out those principles which he felt worthy of promotion. His models of virtue were Yao and Shun, emperors of the so-called early legendary period. He was a great reformer and moralist, became a premier of his state, and demonstrated in his own life the principles he taught. He is especially known for his pithy, wise proverbs.

Taoism is also indigenous to China. Nearly all of the gods regarded by the Chinese as overseeing their material interests originated with this sect. Theirs is a system of myths, magic, and superstition. Buddhism, which entered China about 67 B.C., is a strange paradox of religious atheism. Adherents admit to no Supreme Being but believe that the human soul is subject to endless misfortune and transmigration into different animal or human forms with the only final escape being complete extinction. The mind is withdrawn from thought and feeling by ascetic exercise, with the goal of Nirvana, a negative state of exemption from pain.
⁴

But what was the religious belief in ancient China before 500 B.C. — before the age of Confucius, Laotze and Gautama? This intriguing history is little known or appreciated by either the Chinese or the Westerner. It was during this primeval period that the Chinese culture, as well as the language, including the beautiful and unique calligraphy, developed. As noted, court historians kept careful records, preserved from one dynasty to the next. During the first three dynasties of Hsia, Shang, and Chou, from c. 2205 to 255 B.C., the Supreme Heavenly Ruler,
ShangTi
,
also designated as
T’ien
(Heaven),
, and occasionally
Shen
(God, a spirit),
, was venerated. In fact, the Chinese were
monotheists
in an ancient world of polytheistic worship.

The earliest account of religious worship, found in the
Shu Ching
(the
Book of History
compiled by Confucius), records of Emperor Shun in 2230 B.C., “He sacrificed to Shang Ti.” This ceremony had reference to what became known as the “border sacrifices” because at the summer solstice the emperor took part in ceremonies to the earth on the
northern border
of the country, while at the winter solstice he offered a sacrifice to heaven on the
southern border.
Wrote Confucius in the
Chung Yung
, “The ceremonies of the celestial and terrestrial sacrifices are those by which men serve
Shang Ti.
”
⁵

But can
ShangTi
be identified as the same Supreme Being of Genesis? Let us examine portions of the recitation script from the annual border rituals in which the emperor, as high priest, alone participated in the sacrificial service:

Of old in the beginning, there was the great chaos, without form and dark. The five elements [planets] had not begun to revolve, nor the sun and the moon to shine. In the midst thereof there existed neither forms nor sound. Thou, O spiritual Sovereign [
], camest forth in Thy presidency, and first didst divide the grosser parts from the purer. Thou madest heaven; Thou madest earth; Thou madest man. All things with their reproducing power got their being.
⁶

This recitation extolling
ShangTi
as Creator of heaven and earth sounds surprisingly like the first chapter of Genesis. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep …” (Genesis 1:1, 2. Read the entire first chapter). Furthermore, the Chinese must have had a sense of love, kinship, and filial feeling for
ShangTi
as the Emperor continued: