Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-10-19
cOSFUCIUs AND THE CHINESE.


lhe pearl of patience is the fruit of pain,
CONFUCIUS AND THE CHINESE.
The history of the Chinese is as ex..
.raordinary as their physiognomy.i
They claim that two million two hum
dred and sixty-seven thousand and some
odd years intervene between their estab-
llshment in the earthly kingdom and
the birth of their great teacher Con-
fucius, SOL B. G. In curious volume
called the Bamboo Book are found no
end oflegends of the three Dynasties-
OF Pwanku the Celestial, Fohi the Ter
restial, and Hwantge the Solar. In
these traditions gigantic and grotesque
creatures, half spiritual and half brute.
unite with comets, stars, clouds, earth
quakes, thunderbolts, lightnings, fiery
dragons, and forest and sea monsters, to
teach the earliest settlers how to make
hats, produce fire, cook food, weave and
spin cloth, to hold the pillow, to SOW, reap,
and harvest. The extraordinary feats
OF strength, valor, and skill employed in
developing the animal, vegetable, and
mineral resources Of the country and es-
tablishing order out of chaos, are incom-
parably marvellous. One thing, how
ever, stands out clear amid this mass of
NEUROLOGICAL history, and that is that
the Chinese account of their develop
ment is based on the Darwinian idea OF
evolution. In some of their Oldest
books their teachers and reformers are
represented as half-ape and half-man;
creatures little removed from the gorilla,
who spend their energies in laboring
for the material rather than the spirit
ual welfare of their fellows.
Confucius was born in the State of
Loo, now called Shang Tang, in the
reign of the twenty third emperor of the
Tcheou dynasty, His father, Shuh-
Liangg-Heih, and his noble mother
Ching Tsai, one of the most remarkable
OF Asiatic women, claimed their descent
from the prehistoric Hwangte, and
though renowned for their purity Of
life, were so poor that at his fathers
death Confucius was obliged, while yet
child, to gain a scanty support as
herdsman for himself and his mother.
Little or nothing is recorded of his
boyhood, save his passion for initiating
the rites and ceremonials observed by
his elders. His mother, to whose
memory he was always tenderly at
tached, had him instructed in mechani-
cal occupations, such as farming, car
pentering, painting, house-building.
At fifteen his mind became set on learn
ing, and at nineteen he had made him
self master Of all the knowledge of his
day. Having established his reputation
as o scholar, he next married and be-
came the father of one son and two
daughters. At twenty-one, the igno-
rance OF his fellow-men SO distressed
him that he assumed the Office of a
public teacher of morals, retaining and
teaching as he himself has said, "only
such pupils as had that natural insight
and love of truth which enabled them
from hearing about one corner of sub
ject to divine without further explanation
the other three" If any, rich or poor,
noble or prince, appeared Indifferent in
the study and practice Of the most rigid
morals, he rejected them at once, with.
out anger, but with frmness.
Being appointed Chief Magistrate of
Chungtoo, Confucius then and there
effected reformation in the conduct Of
the people, which resulted in his being
placed at the" head of the department
for the suppression of crime at Tsi.
Here he exhibited his great moral force
in such an extraordinary manner that
he brought the feudal chiefs under per-
feet control, and punished the greatest
i'll the land with the same sense Of I'M
hinching justice as the poorest slave.
The coming Of Confucius made afete-
day for the poor; he dispensed warmth
and light everywhere; whoever had need
of anything was shown his humble dwell
ing, and when it was out Of his own
power to help, he forced the rich to
open their purses and provide the
means. His example was followed; a
new influence seemed to urge the heads
OF all the other departments; crime and
vice were almost stamped out of the
land, purity and good faith prevailed;
Confucius became the idol Of his coun-
trymen, and his name was breathed in
reverence from every lip.
| FIXING DATES.
There is quite o number of Indians
located at the Thousand Islands, in the
st. Lawrence River, who work on
baskets and trinkets, their numerical
strength in summer being augmented
by others from Canada. Yesterday
number landed here and We're met by
n delegation OF the resident redskins
In the pleasure of meeting, their traps
We're forgotten till the boats lines had
been cast loose and she was about to