When Te-in, whose heavenly kingdom contained three billion angels, was informed when Osiris and Sudga were gone to Hored, satan said to him: Now is your time, call your Council together; proclaim yourself God of heaven and earth, mighty in all regions, the Central Kingdom of the Eternal Heavens! Choose from among your Council those of the highest grades, and make them Lords under you. After which you shall renew the battles in Jaffeth, on the earth.
Te-in said: Why on the earth? Satan said: Behold, Jaffeth must be subdued to one nation of people, and this shall be your footstool, and your heavenly kingdom‘s headquarters. After which your Lords shall proceed to the lands of Par‘si‘e, and Arabin‘ya, and inspire the inhabitants to another central kingdom, and when mortals are thus subdued to limited numbers of rulers, you shall have only a few to deal with in order to make yourself God of the whole earth.
Te-in said: You are wiser than all Gods. Behold, my way is clear.
So on the same day of De‘yus‘ meeting with Osiris and Sudga, Te-in severed the bonds between his heavenly kingdom and all others, and he chose twelve of his highest grade in the Holy Council, and made them Lords of the earth; but he allotted no portion of the earth to any one alone. He said:
I will not give them kingdoms; this is the strongest way; to keep everything in one‘s own hands. ||
Then Te-in, through his Lords, whom he sent down to the earth, made Kan Kwan mortal king of Jaffeth, with the title, KING OF THE WORLD, SUN, MOON AND STARS! And the Lords caused Kan Kwan to build an oke‘spe [spirit-house or oracle –Ed.], where he could receive the commandments of Te-in, the holiest, all highest ruler of heaven, as to what he should do in order to subdue the earth to himself.
Te-in said: And, my Gods, say to Kan Kwan when the earth is subdued to himself: Behold, I will also come down and dwell in the temples he builds for my Lords. || And when the king goes forth and subdues a place to himself, he shall immediately build a worshipful temple and dedicate it to me and my Lords, whose names you shall give alike in all places. For I will not confuse mortals with a multiplicity of heavenly Lords. And the king shall show to the people that there is only one High Ruler in heaven, whether he is called Ho-Joss or Joss, or Po-tein, or Te-in, and that I am the Person. But in no case shall the king permit the worshippers of the Great Spirit to remain alive upon the earth.
Te-in said: My Lords, each of you shall take with you one million angels who are strong and cunning in war; twelve million are sufficient, for you shall not scatter them about, but keep them in the vicinity of the war and the king. As when a fire burns, beginning from a spark and spreading outward till a city is consumed, likewise keep your forces concentrated and potent. This is the whole art of power. And while mortals sleep, your angels shall come upon them and give them dreams and visions of glorious success; make them see themselves in the heat of battle, rushing through the jaws of death unscathed, while on every side their manly arms slay their enemies by the score in flowing blood. For when these mortals awake and remember their dreams, they will be well prepared for the valorous work. But as to those who are to be conquered, let your angels go to them while they sleep, and give them dreams and visions of horrid deaths; make them see the heat of battle and themselves overpowered on every hand, and, pierced with sword and spear, they fall, dying in great agony. For when such mortals wake up and remember their dreams, they are half conquered already.
Te-in said: My Lords, you shall inspire the king to be merciful and gentle; and when his soldiers come to a place to subdue it, they shall send truce-men before them, inquiring: Who, do you say, shall be the ruler? And if the people answer: We are Kan Kwan‘s slaves, they shall not be slain.
Te-in said: My Lords, among mortals, what is righteousness? Now one Lord said: Rites and ceremonies. Another said: To worship you, O Te-in. Another said: To follow the doctrines of the ancients. Another said: To purify one‘s self. Another said: To do good with all one‘s might. Another said: To practice truth. Another said: To harm no man.
Te-in said: Not one of you knows righteousness. Behold how you stand: The doctrines of the ancients were their own, and they are as dead. To put on a dead man‘s clothes, will they make the wearer like the dead was?
Rites and ceremonies are what showmen train their horses with, to run or leap, or lie down, to please their masters.
To purify one‘s self! What is that? A mortal man‘s body cannot be purified, for it is rotten at best.
To do good with all one‘s might! Who knows the meaning of that? To cut off a crushed foot to save a man‘s life, gives him pain in the cutting, even while he is suffering. Then it is well that some men‘s heads are cut off for their own good. Yes, even nations extirpated. Let him who does, then, do with all his might. Do you not see in this, that before one attempts to do good, he is his own judge, judging by his own judgment?
To practice truth! What is that? The Jehovihians say: Jehovih is All Truth. But Jehovih is nothing, scattered as the wind. Then truth is nothing. Who has found a man who does not say: To see as I see, is to see the truth; to see as you see, is to see falsely? A man told lies knowingly, and practiced them; and he was all truth to himself, for he was a liar. Therefore, he practiced truth.
To worship me is unrighteousness instead of righteousness. To worship Joss is unrighteousness; to worship the nondescript, Jehovih, is unrighteousness, and to worship Po is unrighteousness also. Behold this matter: The large trees in the forest were smothering out the small ones; and the small ones said: We praise you, giant oaks, for the many blessings we have received; be merciful to us! The large trees laughed at them, and they died. Is this not Jehovih? Is this not the Gods? For all mortals, at best, are only as un-hatched eggs; and when they are dead, their souls are like hatched chickens for the Gods to play with, and to use in their own way.
Te-in‘s Lords and their angels departed out of Che-su-gow, Te-in‘s heavenly place, and descended to the earth on their mission; and the following is what came of it:
Kan Kwan was the son of Kwan Ho, a flat-head; but because Kan Kwan‘s parents became converts to the Brahmin priests, Kan did not have his head flattened. But because su‘is and sar‘gis had been in their family for many generations they descended to Kwan all the same. And he could see and hear the angels and their Lords; hear all the words spoken to him, a most excellent thing in a king, when drujas are restrained from observing him.
The Lords guarded Kan Kwan on every side, day and night, and Kwan being stupid, because of the flat heads of his parents, was well suited to carry out all that was commanded of him. So he announced himself at once with all his titles, and sent heralds here and there to proclaim him and let all peoples and kings know that he was coming to subdue them to himself.
Kwan issued this decree: Kan Kwan, king of the world, and of the sun, moon and stars, I command! I, son of the sun, son of Te-in, behold! There is only one ruler in heaven, Te-in! There shall be only one on earth, Kan Kwan. Bow your heads down! I come! Choose to bow down, or to die. One or the other shall be. When the world is subdued to me, I will war no more!
In those days there were many great kings in Jaffeth, and their kingdoms were in many places, and far apart. Between them, in a sparse region, in the Valley of Lun, lay the city of Ow Tswe, and this was Kan Kwan‘s small kingdom, which had been known for a thousand years.
When other kings heard of Kwan‘s proclamation they laughed. And this is the vanity of mortals, for they disregard the power of the Gods over them.
So Kwan started with an army of four thousand soldiers, men and women, with spears, axes, scythes, swords, slings, and bows and arrows; and he marched against Tzeyot, a city of a hundred thousand people; and here king Cha Ung Chin ruled, with twenty thousand soldiers. Cha Ung Chin laughed. He said to his captain: Send a thousand women soldiers to kill Kwan and his army; they are mad, and do not know what war is.
The captain went forth to battle, but in addition to the thousand women soldiers he took a thousand men soldiers. But lo and behold, Kwan and his soldiers knew no drill, but ran forward so strangely that their enemies did not know how to fight them, and they fled in fear, except the captain and a hundred women who were instantly put to death. But not one of Kwan‘s army was killed.
Cha Ung Chin was angry, and he sent ten thousand soldiers against Kwan‘s ragged army; and when the battle began, the angels cast clouds before the hosts of Cha Ung Chin, and they thought they saw hundreds of thousands of soldiers coming upon them, and they turned and fled also, except five hundred men and women, who were captured and instantly slain.
Cha Ung Chin said: It is time I go myself. My laziness has cost me dearly. Tomorrow I will lead thirty thousand pressed men and women, and make it a day of sport to slaughter Kwan‘s army. So the king sent his marshals to select and summon his soldiers during the night. Many were too frightened to sleep; and those who slept had such visions and dreams that when they awoke they were as persons nearly dead.
Next morning, Cha Ung Chin sallied forth out of the city to battle, going before his army. When he saw the pitiful army of Kwan, he said: In truth, the world is going mad! That such fools have courage is because they do not know what a battle is. With that he rushed forward, faster and faster, calling to his soldiers. But they stretched out in a line behind him, for they trembled from head to foot, remembering their dreams.
Presently Kwan and his army started for them, not with orderly commands, but screaming and howling. Cha Ung Chin‘s soldiers took panic, broke ranks and fled in all directions, except one thousand, including King Cha Ung Chin, who were captured and instantly slain.
And on the same day Kan Kwan took possession of the city, Tzeyot, commanding obedience and allegiance from the people. And on the following day he put twenty thousand men to work building a temple to Te-in, pulling down other edifices for their material. Nor did Kwan have a learned man in all his army; but the Lords with him showed him how to build the temple, east and west, and north and south, and how to make the archways and the pillars to support the roof; and the sacred chambers and altars of sacrifice. Out of brick, mortar and wood he built it, and when it was completed it was large enough for twelve thousand people to do sacrifice in. And it took forty days to build.
Besides this, Kwan put another ten thousand men and women to work clearing away houses and walls, and making new streets in many directions; so that at the time of the first sacrifice the city of Tzeyot did not look like itself; and Kwan gave it a new name, Lu An, and commanded all people to call it by that name, or suffer death.
Kan Kwan made the people go and do sacrifice to Te-in in the temple every morning; enforced a day of rest for each quarter of the moon; enforced worship on the part of children to their fathers and mothers, the father taking first rank.
Then Kwan made them pray for those who were slain in battle. And these are the words he commanded them to use: Te-in! Father of Life and Death! Who feeds on suns and stars! Whose refuse is mortals. In your praise I bow my head. For your glory I lie on my belly before your altar. I am the filthiest of things; my breath and my flesh and my blood are rotten. Death would be sweet to me if you or your soldiers would slay me. For my soul would come to you to be your slave forever.
Behold, my brothers and sisters who fought against you are dead, and I glorify you because of that. We have buried their rotten carcasses deep in the ground; good enough for them.
But their spirits are howling about, lost and wild on the battlefield. O Te-in, Father, send your spirits from Che-su-gow, your heavenly place, to them, to help them out of darkness. And we will always praise you, our mightiest, all highest ruler! ||
When they made the sacrifice they laid down on their bellies, while certain ones prompted them with the words that Kwan received from the Lords.
After this, Kwan appointed to them a governor, Ding Jow, who was the first governor of a province in Jaffeth, in the order of governors as they exist to this day [1882]. Which is to say: As a Lord is to a God, so is a governor to a king. And this was the first of that order established by the Gods of hada. Prior to this, Jehovih had given a similar government to the Faithists; even as it had been given in its purity to the pure, so now it was given in its crudity to the crude.
Kan Kwan again went forth to conquer and subdue, going southward, to Ho-tsze, a large city having five tributary cities, ruled over by Oo-long, a king with two hundred wives and a well disciplined army of thirty thousand men and women.
Kwan‘s army was now seven thousand strong, but without discipline; and with no head except himself. And on his march through the country he compelled the farmers to embrace the Te-in religion, under penalty of death.
Now when he had come near Ho-tsze, he, even as he had for the previous city, sent an order for the king to surrender.
Oo-long laughed when told of the kind of company that had come against him, and he sent only eight thousand women soldiers to give Kwan battle. When the armies were near each other, the Lords said to Kwan: Send a truce, and call on your enemy to surrender under penalty of death; for the angels of Te-in will deliver them into your hand, and not one shall die.
A truce was sent, and lo and behold, the whole of Oo-long‘s battlefield army surrendered, and made oaths of allegiance to Kwan, and not one was slain. Oo-long, when informed of it, said: Now I will go with all my army and slay this ragged king and all his people, and also my eight thousand who have surrendered. So he marched to battle with twenty-two thousand soldiers. Kwan‘s army was scattered about the fields. Oo-long said to his captain: Go, tell this foolish king to set his army in line of battle; I have no desire to take advantage of a flock of sheep.
The captain started to go, but before he reached the place, he fell down in a swoon, for the angels overpowered him. The king saw his captain fall, and he cried out to his army: It is enough! My army has never seen such fools, and do not know how to battle with them. Come, I will lead!
At that, he rushed on, followed by his thousands. Instantly, Kwan‘s army set up their screams and howls, and ran forward in every direction; and lo and behold, Oo-long‘s army broke and fled, except for twelve hundred who were captured, Oo-long among them; and they were instantly slain. But of Kwan‘s army, only one man was killed.
The Lords sent messengers to Te-in in his heavenly place, informing him of Kwan‘s success. Te-in returned this commandment: In what has been done I am well pleased; but do not let your mortal king, Kan Kwan, win so easily from now on; but let him have losses, so that he will not forget me and my Lords and my hosts of angels. Place him in straits, and cause him to pray to me; and his army shall pray also. And when they have thus sacrificed, deliver him and his army from their straits, and make him victorious for a season. ||
Kwan entered the city of Ho-tsze without further opposition, and possessed it. Immediately he put thirty thousand laborers to work building a temple to Te-in. Another twenty thousand he told to pull down houses and make other streets, more beautiful than before. In twenty-eight days the temple and the streets were completed; and on the twenty-ninth day the sacrifices (worship) commenced, and all the people were obliged to swear allegiance to Kwan and to Te-in, or be slain. And on the first day there were slain four thousand men and women (worshippers of different Gods, but for the main part the Great Spirit) who would not take the oath.
After that, none refused, and so Kwan gave the city a new name, Tue Shon; and he appointed So‘wo‘tse governor, and commanded the tributary cities to come under the yoke.
Then Kan Kwan went forward again to conquer and subdue; and the Lords of heaven and their twelve million angels went with him and in advance of him, preparing the way. And the news of his success, well exaggerated, was spread abroad among mortals, so that the inhabitants of cities far and near feared him.
The Lords made it possible for Kwan to conquer and subdue three more large cities without loss to his army; and lo and behold, Kwan began to think it was he himself who possessed the power, and not Te-in.
The next city, Che-gau, was a small one, of fifty thousand inhabitants. Kwan did not ask Te-in (through the Lords) how to make the attack, but he went forward on his own judgment. Now over the city there ruled a woman, Lon Gwie, a tyrant little loved, and she had only four thousand soldiers, while Kwan had seven thousand.
Kwan, arriving near, demanded the place; but the queen did not answer him with words; but had her soldiers in ambush, who then fell upon Kwan‘s army, and put one-half of them to death; and yet the queen suffered small loss. Kwan, not finding his Lords with him, fled with his remaining army. But the Lords urged the queen to pursue him, and she again fell upon them and slew half while crippling hundreds more. But again the queen suffered small loss.
The Lords then spoke to Kwan, where he had escaped to, and said to him: Because you were vain and did not remember me, your heavenly ruler, Te-in, I have labored to show you that of yourself you are nothing. Then Kwan prayed to Te-in, saying: Most mighty ruler of heaven and earth, you have justly punished me. I pray to you now, with good repentance, in the bitterness of my shame. What shall I do, O Te-in? I am far from home, in a strange country, and my army is well-nigh destroyed. All nations are against me; a sheep is safer in a forest with wolves than I am in these regions.
The Lord said to Kwan: Now that you have repented, behold I, Te-in, will show you my power. For you shall gather together the remnant of your army and turn about and destroy the queen and her army, or put them to flight and possess the city.
So the next morning, Kwan, being inspired by his Lords, prepared for battle, though he had only seven hundred men. On the other hand, the Lords and their angels appeared in the dreams and visions of the queen‘s army, saying to them: The queen is deceived and has led her army into a trap. In the morning fifty thousand men will join Kwan. Prepare, therefore, to die tomorrow.
The next day, then, the queen‘s soldiers related their fearful dreams to one another; hardly had they finished when Kwan‘s army came upon them. And the angels, more than fifty thousand, took on sar‘gis, seeming like mortals. At sight of this, the queen‘s army were so frightened they could not flee, except a few, but nearly the whole army surrendered, throwing away their arms and lying down.
Kwan and his army fell upon them and slew them, more than four thousand, who were rendered powerless by the angel hosts with them. Kwan then went into the city, doing as previously in other cities, establishing himself and Te-in.