There are thousands
of people descended from him, and they are treated with great honor as
the children of Confucius, and one of them is called kong or duke.
There is another religion in China besides the religion of Confucius, and
a much worse religion. About the same time that Confucius lived, there
was a man called La-on-tzee. He was a great deceiver, as you will see. He
pretended that he could make people completely happy. There were three
things he said he would do for them: first, he would make them rich by
turning stone into gold; next, he would prevent their being hurt by
swords or by fire through charms he could give them; and, last of all,
he could save them from death by a drink he knew how to prepare.
[Illustration: THE PRIESTS OF LA-ON-TZEE.]
What an awful liar this man must have been! Yet many people believed in
him, and still believe in him. There are now priests of La-on-tzee, and
once a year they rush through hot cinders and pretend they are not hurt.
You will wonder their tricks are not found out, seeing they cannot give
any one the drink to keep them from dying. It is indeed wonderful that
any one can believe these deceitful priests.
Their religion is called the "_Taou_" sect. Taou means reason. The name
of folly would be a better title for such a religion.
There is a _third_ religion in China. It is the sect of Buddha.[7] This
Buddha was a man who once pretended to be turned into a god called Fo.
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