1. JEHOVIH suffered the self-Gods to prosper for more than four hundred years; and Te-in, and Sudga, and Osiris became the mightiest Gods that ever ruled on the earth. Know, then, these things of them, in heaven and earth, whereof the libraries of Jehovih's kingdoms relate more fully that of which the following is a synopsis, to wit:
2. First of Te-in, then Sudga, then Osiris. And of Te-in's heavenly kingdom, two vice-Gods, Noe Jon and Wang-tse-Yot. Chief high marshal, Kolotzka, and under him thirty thousand marshals. Chief general, Ha-e Giang, and under him one hundred thousand generals and high captains. Of these, twenty thousand were allotted to the dominion of mortals in Jaffeth; the others served in heaven, mostly about the throne of Te-in. Chiefly distinguished p. 436 as Gods on the earth were Te-in's fourteen chief generals: Kaoan-cat, Yam-yam, Tochin-woh, Ho-jon-yo, Wah-ka, Oke-ya-nos, Haing-le, Lutz-rom, Le-Wiang, Thu-wowtch, Eurga-roth, I-sa-ah, To Gow and Ah Shung.
3. These generals were divided into two parts, seven each; and they were allotted equally, of the twenty thousand rank generals deputed to the earth; and these again were allotted each thirty thousand angel warriors.
4. Te-in had said to these fourteen chief generals: When ye come to the earth, and finding two cities near together, both of which worship other Gods than me, ye shall divide yourselves into two parts; and one army shall go to one mortal city and the other to the other, and by inspiration and otherwise ye shall bring the two cities to war against each other, until both are broken down, or destroyed. After which ye shall inspire another city, that worshippeth me, to come and possess both of those that are destroyed. Better is it to make our enemies kill each other than to kill them ourselves.
5. And such was the mode of warfare by Te-in in that all the land of Jaffeth was subdued unto himself in less than a hundred years. Save the matter of a million Faithists, scattered here and there; and of the Listians who were in the mountains and wildernesses. And great and costly temples were built in all the cities of Jaffeth, and dedicated to TE-IN, CREATOR AND RULER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.
6. Now, as to the worshippers of Joss and Ho-Joss, they were not converted but subdued, and they worshipped their God in secret, and made rites and ceremonies whereby they might know one another and the better escape persecution. Many of these rites partook after the manner of the ancient rite of
7. Of the great cities destroyed in these wars were: Hong We, Chow Go and Sheing-tdo. For Hong We the wars lasted twenty years; and there were slain within the city five hundred thousand men, women and children.
8. The wars of Chow Go lasted forty years, and within her walls were slain three hundred thousand men, women and children. For Sheing-tdo the wars lasted twenty-five years, and there were slain within her walls three hundred thousand men, women and children.
9. In the destruction of Hong-We there were consigned to ashes four hundred houses of philosophy; two thousand four hundred colleges, and twelve thousand public schools. All of which had been made glorious in the reign of Hong, the king of the city. Because he worshipped Ho-Joss, his great city was destroyed.
10. In Chow Go there were destroyed six hundred houses of philosophy and two hundred colleges of Great Learning. Here was the Temple of Jonk, which was dedicated to worship of Joss (God), and which, in building, required twenty thousand men twelve years. It had two thousand pillars of Awana stone, polished; and at the blood altar it had twelve thousand skulls, of which the great king Bak Ho was slaughterer in the name of Ho-Joss. The throne of worship for the king was set with diamonds and pearls; and it had a thousand candlesticks of gold and silver. And the fine silk drapery and fine wool drapery within the temple were sufficient, if spread out, for five hundred thousand men to lie down on and yet not cover up the half of it. And the drapery was painted and embroidered with pictures of battles and wars; and of scenes in heaven. For the ornamentation of which drapery twenty thousand men and women had labored for forty years. All of which were destroyed, together with all the great city and all its riches and magnificence.
11. Sheing-tdo was a city of fashion and splendor, inhabited by the richest men in the world. She had a temple called Cha-oke-king, dedicated to learning, but in fact appropriated to the display of wealth and pageantry. It was round, with a high projecting roof, the eaves of which rested on ten thousand pillars of polished stone. There were four hundred door-ways to enter the temple; but, within each door-way, one came against the square columns of precious stones that supported the roof inside; and to either side of the columns were passage-ways that led into the four hundred chambers within. In the centre of the temple, artificial stalactites, twenty thousand, hung from the roof; these were made of silk and wool and fine linen and painted, and of colors so bright that mortal eye could scarce look upon them, and they were as ice with the sun shining thereon, forming rainbows in every direction. Here came kings and queens and governors of great learning; for here were deposited copies of the greatest books in all the world.
12. Besides the temple of Cha-oke-king, there were seven great temples built to Joss, either of which was large enough for ten thousand men to do sacrifice in at one time. For five and p. 437 twenty years the people of Sheing-tdo fought to save their great city from destruction, but it fell, and was destroyed, and all the temples with it; by king Bingh it was laid low.
13. Next to these were the following great cities that were destroyed: Gwoo-gee, which had one hundred houses of philosophy and forty colleges for great learning; one temple, with eight hundred polished pillars and two thousand arches; thirty temples of wheat and corn sacrifice; one feed-house, where was stored food for one hundred thousand people in case of famine, sufficient for eight years; and all these, and the libraries of the records of the Gods and Lords of earth, and all things whatever in the city were burnt to ashes.
14. The city of Young-ooh, of two hundred thousand inhabitants, which had seventy houses of philosophy, and thirty-five colleges of great learning, besides many schools; one TEMPLE OF THE STARS, where lectures were given daily to the people to teach them the names and places of the stars and their wondrous size and motion; forty temples of sacrifice, seven of which were large enough to hold all the inhabitants of Young-ooh, the great city. By king Shaing it was laid in ashes, and nothing but heaps of stones remained to tell where the city had been.
15. The city, Gwan-she, which had thirty houses of philosophy, and seventy temples of sacrifice, two Temples of the Stars dedicated to Joss; eighty-five colleges of Great Learning, and also a feed-house, stored sufficiently to feed the city seven years; and there were two hundred thousand inhabitants within the city walls. Twelve years the people of this city fought against the incited plunderers, the warriors under the God Te-in, but were conquered at last, and their city laid low.
16. And the great cities, Ghi, and Owan, and Chong, and Goon, and Ca-On and Jong-wong, and Sow, and Wowtch-gan, and Sem-Sin, and Gee, and Tiang, and Choe, and Doth, and Ah-mai, and Conc Shu, and Guh, and Haingtsgay, and Ghi-oo-yong, and Boy-gonk, all of which had houses of philosophy and colleges of great learning, and public schools, and temples of sacrifice, and feed-houses, and hundreds of thousands of inhabitants. And all these cities were destroyed, and only heaps of stones left to tell where they had been.
17. Besides these, there were more than two thousand cities of less prominence destroyed. And yet, of villages and small cities, so great were they in number which were destroyed, that no man ever counted them.
18. City against city; king against king; man against man; for the inhabitants of Jaffeth were obsessed to madness and war and destruction; almost without cause would they fall upon one another to destroy; for so had Te-in sent his hundreds of millions of warring angels to inspire mortals to destroy all knowledge, and instruction, and learning, and philosophy, and to destroy all trace of all other Gods and Lords, that he alone might reign supreme.
19. And these angels taught mortals how to make explosive powder, and guns to shoot with, more deadly than the bow and arrow; and taught the secret of under-digging a city and blowing it up with explosive powder.
20. So, the fair land of Jaffeth, with its wisdom and great learning, was made as a distracted and broken-up country. In all directions the bones of mortals were scattered over the lands; nor could the land be tilled without digging amongst the skulls and bones of the great giant race of I'huans that once had peopled it.
21. And of those who were not destroyed, one might say: They were a poor, half-starved, sickly breed, discouraged and helpless, badly whipped.
22. And the spirits of the dead were on all the battle-fields, lighting up the dark nights by their spirit-fires, and in the morning and the twilight of evening they could be seen by hundreds and thousands, walking about, shy and wild! But an abundance of familiar spirits dwelt with mortals; took on sar'gis forms, and ate and drank with them, and even did things of which it is unlawful to mention.
23. Thus was Jaffeth won to the God Te-in. Now of Sudga, know ye.