saved, while those who rebel against Him perish," but his reference is
to this life, and not to a future one. He also says that those whom God
destines for some great part, He first chastens by suffering and
toil. But perhaps his most original contribution will be found in the
following paragraph:--

"By exerting his mental powers to the full, man comes to understand his
own nature. When he understands his own nature, he understands God."

In all the above instances the term used for God is _T'ien_. Only in one
single passage does Mencius use _Shang Ti_:--"Though a man be wicked, if
he duly prepares himself by fasting and abstinence and purification by
water, he may sacrifice to God."

Ch'u Yuan.--The statesman-poet Ch'u Yuan, B.C. 332-295, who drowned
himself in despair at his country's outlook, and whose body is still
searched for annually at the Dragon-Boat festival, frequently alludes to
a Supreme Being:--

Almighty God, Thou who art impartial,
And dost appoint the virtuous among men as Thy Assistants.

One of his poems is entitled "God Questions," and consists of a number
of questions on various mysteries in the universe. The meaning of the
title would be better expressed by "Questions put to God," but we are
told that such a phrase was impossible on account of the holiness of
God and the irreverence of questioning Him. One question was, "Who has
handed down to us an account of the beginning of all things, and how
do we know anything about the time when heaven and earth were without
form?" Another question was, "As Nu-ch'i had no husband, how could she