"The surname of the Emperor, who is the Son of Heaven, is Liu," replied
Ch'in; "and that is how I know it."

These answers, we are told, came as quickly as echo after sound. A
writer of the ninth century A.D., when reverence for the one God of
ancient China had been to a great extent weakened by the multiplication
of inferior deities, tells a story how this God, whose name was Liu, had
been displaced by another God whose name was Chang.

The _Hsing ying tsa lu_ has the following story. There was once a very
poor scholar, who made it his nightly practice to burn incense and pray
to God. One evening he heard a voice from above, saying, "God has been
touched by your earnestness, and has sent me to ask what you require."
"I wish," replied the scholar, "for clothes and food, coarse if you
will, sufficient for my necessities in this life, and to be able to
roam, free from care, among the mountains and streams, until I complete
my allotted span; that is all." "All!" cried the voice, amid peals of
laughter from the clouds. "Why, that is the happiness enjoyed by the
spirits in heaven; you can't have that. Ask rather for wealth and rank."

Good and Evil.--It has already been stated that the Chinese imagination
has never conceived of an Evil One, deliverance from whom might be
secured by prayer. The existence of evil in the abstract has however
received some attention.

Wei Tao Tzu asked Yu Li Tzu, saying, "Is it true that God loves good and
hates evil?"

"It is," replied Yu.