Excerpt from The Original Religion of China

The purity of the monotheism of the most ancient recorded times of China (when there were altars, but neither image nor temple), and the noble ideals set forth in primitive Chinese ethics, are of so remarkable a character that they demand more thorough and special study than they have received. This book has therefore been written with the design of clearly exhibiting that form of Religion in China which preceded Confucius by as many centuries as Confucius is removed from us.

The title "The Original Religion of China" has been adopted because this is the most ancient form of which we have any trace, and because it should be particularly differentiated from the more mixed forms of Religion which were subsequently developed.

In the very brief historical references to that remotest period that exist, details are wanting both as to the material of the sacrifices and of their ritual. These defects can be fairly well supplied from the more recent forms of Religion.

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