13. "Warn against sheltering deserters, in order to avoid being involved in their punishments." 14. "Promptly and fully pay your taxes, in order to avoid the urgent requisition of your quota." "Combine in hundreds and tithings, in order to 15. 16. " put an end to thefts and robbery." Study to remove resentments and angry feelings, in order to show the importance due to the person and life.” "1 But it will naturally be asked, Wherein lay the secret of the vast influence which has been exercised by Confucius? And to this we answer, first, that being a Chinaman of Chinamen, his teachings were specially suited to the nature of those he taught. The Mongolian mind being eminently phlegmatic and unspeculative, naturally rebels against the idea of investigating matters which are beyond its experiences, and its calm, placid habit forbids its being the instigator of fiery tempers and hot-headed crimes. With the idea, therefore, of a future life still unawakened, a plain, matter-of-fact system of morality, such as that enunciated by Confucius, was sufficient for all the wants of the Chinese. Secondly, it was to the } interest of both the rulers and the ruled to support his doctrines. The de facto ruler found in him a tower of strength; for if the throne was the reward vouchsafed by Heaven for eminent virtue, then he who occupied it in peace must necessarily have an unassailable right to it; and the constant exhortations to loyalty to be found on every page of the Confucian 1 Legge's "Imperial Confucianism," lecture J. writings cannot but have been grateful to the ears of sovereigns. The ruled, on the other hand, felt that they were supreme in the estimation of the Sage. The promotion of their interests and material well-being was the first duty of the sovereign, and the extent of their loyalty was to be measured by his success in this direction. He recognised no ranks or titles but those won by merit, and thus every office in the State was open to every one alike. The people were to be well cared for, and in case of neglect or oppression they had the right of rebellion. The sovereign was the vice-regent of Heaven, but only as long as he walked in the heavenly way were the unswerving loyalty and devotion of his subjects due to him. / And thirdly, the possession of so highly-prized a literature at so early a date having suggested its adoption as the curriculum in schools and the test of scholarship at all examinations, the people, ignorant of all else, have learned to look upon it as containing the quintessence of wisdom, and its author as the wisest of mankind. It might be considered impossible to calculate the effects of the concentration of a nation's mind century after century on the study of any given text book; but in China we have the result worked out before us, and we find that it has amounted to the absolute subjection of upwards of forty generations of Chinamen to the dicta of one man. TAOUISM. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. IN the condition of China under the Chow Dynasty we have traced the motives which drew Confucius from his study, and impelled him to grapple with the times. The disorder, lust, and violence which he saw rampant about him were so many irresistible goads to him to warn and exhort his countrymen and their rulers in season and out of season. His study of history had taught him how much may be done by one man. He had learnt that Yaou and Shun and Woo and Wăn had at different times restored the empire from a state of anarchy to a condition of peace and tranquillity by the force of their examples and the influence of their teachings, and believing himself to have a heaven-sent mission to repeat their reforms, he laboured day and night to impress on his hardened contemporaries the evils of their ways. We have seen how completely unsuccessful he was in his crusade against the iniquities of the time, although it must be admitted that he had many of the qualities of a reformer. His moral character was beyond reproach, he had great persistency, his mental powers |