, 1876-10-15

lowers. He was not the originator OF any
| new doctrine, but the expounder and inter:
prefer OF the teachings of the old sages The
Confucian system is found in the Chinese
classics, comprising what are called the WI
King and the S-shu-s' The Five Classics and
the -Four Books" The Five Classics record
the teachings of the sages who preceded
CoyFuc1us and the -Four Books contain his
own sayings and teachings. These books are
commonly regarded IS expoundns the
religious system Of China, whereas
in reality the religious element is
almost entirely wanting in them. Tie
contents are made up Of ethics, history
political economy, biography, and poetry.
Coxruc1us never discoursed upon the gods
nor upon the future state. When asked
about death he replied: "Impertectly &C
quainted with life, how can I know of
death?" He always professed to teach posi-
tive truth, in opposition to what is vague and
uncertain. Five Relations and Five Virtues
form the bases of his system. The Five
Relations are those between Emperor and
officer, father and son, husband and wife,
older and younger brothers, and friends.
These Relations bring out in the strongest
light the duties of loyalty; of~respect,
obedience, and regard for law in the family as
fitting the individual for being good citizen;
of 6ial piety as the first duty in the category
and one of the most important parts Of
Chinese religion; the duty Of woman to be
to love and the younger to respect. These
are the main relations. They appertain to
human duties alone. There is no mention
Of any relation between God and man. The
Five Virtues are len, II, Ii, Gu, and Sin
-Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety,
knowledge, aud Faith. As in the Christian
system, Benevolence is placed first, and Con-
ruc1us defined it as follows: "What you do
not want done to yourself, do not do to
Others" which, it will be observed, is the
Golden Rule in the negative form, pro-
nounced 500 years before CHRIST. His sec
ond Virtue, Righteousness, he defines as that
which ought to be done, thus appealing to
the conscience, the law Of the heart, rather
than to any written law. In discussing his
third Virtue, that OF Propriety, he contended
that the habitud cultivation of its outward !
forms tended to develop the inner virtues. |
Undoubtedly much of the Chinese habit of |
infexible adhesion to form and ceremony |
grows out of the Confucian ideas of this
Virtue. The fourth Virtue in his system,
that Of knowledge, relates rather to 8
Of men and Of self, and Of prac-
tical wisdom in dealing with others, than to
general intelligence. The Virtues thus far
include the careful culture of the affections,
Tue outward behavior, and the intellect
The last Virtue-that Of Faith-pertains to
sincerity Of heart and truthfolness It is
aot so much Faith as Truth, the ground Of
Faith.
CoSFUc1Us rests the authority Of his sys-
EN- upon the conscience, and the object of
lis teachings is the promotion Of good gov
by pointing out rules and principles
or seH-government and culture. There is
10 idea Of God in these teachings. Like
'ocRATEs, he based his system upon the sug-
.estions and intimations arising from mans
aoral nature, rather than from any written or
iyine law. His great desire Was to benefit
he race. His idea of government Was a
uler swaying his people by illustrating in
lis own person the perfection of virtue.
s DR.. NEv1ss says: "It is perhaps
ot too much to say of him that the
ystem Of ethics and morality which he
anght is the purest which has ever oriei- ,
ated in the history Of the world independent
the Divine revelation in the Bible, and
lat he has e1erted a greater influence for
ood upon our race than any other unin-
oired sage Of antiquity" In future articles {
e propose to take up some extremely inter-
sting topics connected with Buddhism, >
auism, the national religious rites and be- .
eff, the superstitions, and the missionary .
perations, from which good general idea
ay be derived Of the real character Of Chi
ese religious belief. At present We have y
lvanced far enough to see that the Con-
lclan system is confined to certain moral-
es and virtues, without reference to the e1-
tence Of God or my special belief in
ture state.