1926 The Sacred 5 Of China by WE Geil Scarce 1st Edition Chinese History Book

1926 The Sacred 5 Of China by WE Geil Scarce 1st Edition Chinese History BookThe Sacred 5 Of China - 355 pagesBy William Edgar GeilPublished by John Murray: London 1926 (First Edition Issued in London)"As Dr. Geil's title-page indicates, he is the author of several books on China, of which "A Yankee on the Yangtzeæ is perhaps the best known. In explanation of his present title he says "5 is a number most remarkable to the man of the Central Kingdom." Here he deals with five sacred mountains, the peaks of East, South, Centre, West, and North—Tai Shan, Nan Yo, Sung Shan, Hua Shan, and Heng Shan—associated with the five elements wood, fire, earth, metal, water, and the colours green, red, yellow, white and black. These mountains are all centres of pilgrimage. Of these sacred sites the importance for the student of Chinese culture lies in the fact that, like similar sites in other lands, they have been regarded as sacred from time immemorial. Like the holy wells of the British Isles, they represent a cult—and preserve survivals of it—which belongs to a stage of development infinitely more primitive than that of the official religion. So, says Dr. Geil, with the sacred mountains of China; beneath the thin rind of Buddhism, and far earlier than Confucianism, is the core with "an immemorial flavour of sanctity, the cult of the mountain spirit."Fading to cover and some wear as shown. Browning to front and rear endpapers with some minor foxing apparent. The majority of pages are clean, crisp and bright. This is the scarce John Murray: London First Edition and comes with the original publishers advertising leaflet. A very nice copy overall. Please study photos to understand condition. Happy to provide more photos on request.Size 23cm x 16cm x 4.5cm - 355 Pages

The Sacred 5 Of China - 355 pages

By William Edgar Geil

Published by John Murray: London 1926 (1st UK Edition)