Explore "Religions of Ancient China" by Herbert A. Giles on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Attitude of Confucius. -- Under the influence of Confucius, B. C. 551-479, / the old order of things began to undergo a change. The Sage's attitude / of mind towards religion was one of a benevolent agnosticism, as summed / up in his famous utterance, "Respect the spirits, but keep them at a / distance. " That he fully recognised the existence of a spirit world, / though admitting that he knew nothing about it, is manifest from the / following remarks of his: --
"How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers that belong to / them! We look for, but do not see them; we listen for, but do not hear / them; yet they enter into all things, and there is nothing without them. / They cause all the people in the empire to fast and purify themselves, / and array themselves in their richest dresses, in order to attend at / their sacrifices. Then, like overflowing water, they seem to be over the / heads, and on the right and left, of their worshippers."