China, from the earliest historical times, the worship of other
spiritual beings,-- especially, and to every individual, the
worship of departed ancestors. Confucius recognised this as an
institution to be devoutly observed. 'He sacrificed to the dead as
if they were present; he sacrificed to the spirits as if the spirits
were present. He said. "I consider my not being present at the
sacrifice as if I did not sacrifice [2]."' The custom must have
originated from a belief in the continued existence of the dead.
We cannot suppose that they who instituted it thought that with
the cessation of this life on earth there was a cessation also of
all conscious being. But Confucius never spoke explicitly on this
subject. He tried to evade it. 'Chi Lu asked about serving the
spirits of the dead, and the master said, "While you are not able
to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?" The disciple
added, "I venture to ask about death," and he was answered, "While
you do not know life, how can you know about death [3]."' Still
more striking is a conversation with another disciple, recorded in
the 'Narratives of the School.' Tsze-kung asked him, saying, 'Do
the dead have knowledge (of our services, that is), or are they
without knowledge?' The master replied, 'If I were to say that the
dead have such knowledge, I am afraid that filial sons and dutiful
grandsons would injure their substance in paying the last offices
to the departed; and if I were to say that the dead have not such
knowledge, I am afraid lest unfilial sons should leave their
parents unburied. You need not wish, Tsze, to know whether the
dead have knowledge or not. There is no present urgency about the
point. Hereafter you will know it for yourself [4].' Surely this was
not the teaching proper to a sage.

1 Ana. XIV. xxxvii.