Han Khan

Chapter 13, Holy Religion

“The ancient sages received inspiration from heaven, created rituals and music, and strictly followed the teachings of respecting heaven and following the ancestors.

To bring stability and peace to God’s people on earth, so that we can understand what it means to be human, how to establish ourselves in the world, how to get along with others, and how to survive in the world created by the gods.

These are the first and greatest kings and teachers of mankind. You know very well that the Lord of Heaven cares for all living beings. Under his inspiration, you created characters to record the sacred history of God's creation of the universe and all things and his continuous revelation to mankind.

That is to say: God gave birth to the people, made them his rulers and teachers. Only by helping God can we show favor to all quarters.

This ancient king and teacher, receiving revelation from God, brought marriage, writing, and nation to mankind, and told the world about the birth of the world and the origin of mankind.

And tell the world that Haotian created the afterlife world of heaven and hell for mankind.

He resides high in heaven, waiting for the soul of every kind believer - the darling of the gods - to return to heaven.

And He sends His messenger Yama to wait in hell for every sinful dead person and give them endless judgment.

This will let humans know that death is not the end, so that they no longer fear death, nor the hell after death. If they are sincere and kind and have faith in God, they will be able to ascend to heaven and enjoy eternal happiness.

Haotian God is the creator and ruler of all things in the universe and mankind. The heaven is the place where the souls of believers and good people live. Good deeds will be rewarded and evil deeds will be punished. Good people can go to heaven and enjoy eternal happiness; evil people will go to hell and suffer torture. All the miracles before were shown by heaven. We should obey the will of heaven and believe in God. "

Everyone was extremely shocked when they heard this. They had so many things they wanted to say, but at this moment they could only remain silent, as if they were thinking, or dreaming.

At this time, Zhang Sheng continued to tell everyone.

“You received the will of the Lord of Heaven and became His agent on earth. You received enlightenment and gained the authority to rule over all people. With the assistance of the Master, you manage the human beings and their descendants created by the loving Creator, the Supreme Being.

People built temples and altars to worship Him, offer sacrifices to Him, sing praises of His great name and deeds, and teach future generations to recite His true name from generation to generation and venerate His great creation.

In order to commemorate His great creation and His benevolent and selfless love for mankind, human beings rapidly multiplied on the earth and the population increased greatly.

And human beings and all things seem so insignificant in front of Him, the Creator.

He is the creator and ruler of mankind and all things. People worship Him and praise Him.

Therefore, people in the eras of Yao, Shun, Yu, Xia, Shang and Zhou called Him "Heaven", "Endless Sky", "Eternal Sky", "Emperor" and "Supreme One". Later, humans gradually used "Haotian God" as the honorific name for Him who is benevolent and supreme.

We are the descendants of the human race created by Haotian God, and the descendants of Haotian’s devout believers. “Haotian God is the ancestor of all things, and all things cannot be born without Haotian God!”

Without Him, there would be no human beings and nothing in the world. We should worship and believe in Him.

"The origin of man lies in Haotian, who is also man's great-grandfather." This shows that the root of mankind lies in Haotian God. Haotian God is the ancestor of mankind, and we should respect Haotian God as we respect our parents and elders.

Zhang Sheng finished his words without looking at anyone else. He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head and continued to speak to everyone:
"The Lord of Heaven enlightens the wise, and the wise guides mankind onto the right path. We should respectfully follow and obey the sacred teachings of His Majesty the Lord of Heaven and explore the truth revealed by the Lord of Heaven.

However, many of us have forgotten Haotian's revelations, forgotten the teachings of the sages, and turned away from Haotian's protection.

What awaits them is that they will have no protection in life, fall into hell and suffer terrible punishment after death, or become lonely ghosts with nowhere to go forever. They will surely bear the punishment of His Majesty the Lord of Heaven. "

Zhang Sheng's face was as gloomy as water. He looked at everyone and spoke slowly.

A series of "bang bang bang" sounds were heard, and all the people in the tent bowed their heads and knelt before Zhang Sheng devoutly, regarding Zhang Sheng as a symbol of God in some sense.

“Now, the Supreme Lord of Heaven has sent down new revelations, ordering me to be the new Son of Heaven and Master of the world, to establish a sacred religion, and to spread and promote God’s sacred will and the correct path to the world.

Now, the time has come. In order to continue the worship of Haotian and the sacred teachings that have lasted for tens of millions of years, heaven and hell have been opened. Are you willing to convert and become believers, warriors, and teachers of the holy religion of Haotian God?"

Zhang Sheng asked loudly to everyone.

"Are you willing to convert to God? Are you willing to convert to the sacred teachings? Are you willing to inherit the rites and music, benevolence and righteousness of the ancient sages? Are you willing to promote the holy way?" It was already late at night, but the lights in the tent were still on, and the atmosphere was very fanatical. Zhang Sheng sat in the center, and more than 20 people knelt in a circle around Zhang Sheng, looking at him devoutly.

"I am willing to convert to the Most High God of Heaven, promote the holy way and teachings bestowed by God of Heaven, and protect God's believers. My Son of Heaven, what should we do?" Zhang Zhongxian asked first. Having heard his words for a long time, he asked anxiously.

He is a doctor of Confucian classics. He has been well-read since childhood and is proficient in the Confucian "Five Classics" and Buddhist thoughts.

From Zhang Shengzhi's narration, he knew deeply that his decades of hard study of scriptures would eventually be put to good use, and this might be the will of the God of Heaven.

He also understood Zhang Sheng's thoughts. It was unknown how many years it would take for the remnants of the Jinshan Kingdom to migrate, and how much hardship they would have to endure. Without common beliefs and faith, sooner or later they would forget the teachings of the saints, the Taoist traditions of the Han people, and eventually forget that they were Han people, and become barbarians.

Shintoism is a religion that uses the power of the gods to make the remaining people of the Jinshan Kingdom believe that Your Highness has received divine revelation.

To make the people of the tribe obedient, to make the Han and Hu people become one family, to ensure that the Han culture, the traditions of the various Chinese people, and the teachings of the sages can be passed on, this is the act of a sage.

Your Highness's move is almost the same as the theories of Dong Zhongshu, Zhang Jiao, and Zhang Daoling of the Han Dynasty, and the theology that was inherited from the Han Dynasty and was prominent at the time.

Zhang Zhongxian was even more familiar with the "Baihutong De Lun" and felt a sense of familiarity with Zhang Sheng's apparent holy teaching, which was actually a theological Confucian tradition.

Moreover, the Holy Teaching combines the traditional customs, beliefs and rituals of the various Chinese religions with Confucian ideas, and incorporates the rituals and systems of Taoism and Buddhism.

It's just that the divine light of the leader's identity has changed from Confucius to His Highness. This is nothing. A living leader should be more conducive to ruling the current chaotic tribes and maintaining the unity of the remnants of the Jinshan Kingdom.

In this Western Region, the atmosphere of faith is strong, and great achievements will surely be made! The teaching of Shintoism has enabled the culture of the Xia and Han families to be passed down and the way of the saints to be inherited.

Perhaps His Majesty the God of Heaven will bless the believers in the world, Zhang Zhongxian thought to himself.

No one in the tent said a word, but just looked at Zhang Sheng with a stern expression.

Zhang Zhongxian gently pushed them, and they came back to their senses. They felt that they had experienced too much and were unable to react for a while.
But then he said devoutly and respectfully: "We, the ministers, wish to honor the Lord of Heaven as the supreme and unique God, to be His believers, to be believers of the Holy Religion, to promote the Holy Way, and to defend the Holy Religion."

Zhang Sheng stood up suddenly, his eyes full of solemnity. He reached out and picked up the pen, and started writing without hesitation on a piece of blue cloth in front of him.

Every stroke contains endless power, and the ink flows out from the tip of the pen like flowing water.

As his brush moved, a huge and eye-catching seal-style character "T" gradually appeared before his eyes.

This word is like a heavy hammer, revealing an invincible momentum.

Its lines are strong and powerful, as if they can break through all obstacles; its shape is steady and solid, as unshakable as the earth that carries all things.

The seal script and bronze inscription of the character 示 (礻) are very interesting. The horizontal stroke on top refers to the sky, and the three strokes on the bottom represent the sun, moon and stars. It can also be omitted. In ancient times, the whole character was a symbol of God and a general name for deceased ancestors and kings. The character "示" has always referred to gods and ancestors from ancient times to the present.

If "示" is used as a radical, the characters that appear are mostly related to sacrifice, worship, and prayer. For example, during the Spring Festival, every household will post the word "Fu" on their posts. The oracle bone script of the character "Fu" looks like holding a wine jar in both hands to sacrifice to gods and ancestors and pray for their protection. This custom has continued from ancient times to this day.

"This is the symbol of Lord Haotian and also the sacred symbol of the Holy Religion. From today on, this will be the symbol of our firm faith." Zhang Sheng stood up, pointed at the characters on the cloth and said seriously to everyone.

He hung the cloth with the character "丅" on the north side of the tent, then moved the table under the character and placed an incense burner on the table.

"What we have to do is to swear devoutly to the sacred flag of His Majesty the Supreme Haotian and tell the great gods that we are devout and respectful believers who desire to become honored believers. As your Son of Heaven and Holy Teacher, I will now lead you to convert to the Holy Religion." Zhang Sheng said to everyone.

Zhang Sheng turned around and knelt in front of the holy flag, and everyone followed and knelt behind Zhang Sheng. Everyone faced the sacred "T" character and bowed their heads in worship.

At this time, Zhang Sheng said, "I swear that the Supreme Lord Haotian is the only God, the creator of all things in the universe and the truth."

Everyone followed Zhang Sheng to perform this sacred conversion ceremony.

(End of this chapter)