The sun., 1895-01-20

even though they may bear the new nam,
ShiSoku. are Confuclanlsts, 40 far ~ they arr
anything. Chu HI Is termed by the author o.
this book the Calvin Of Asiatic orthodoxy. W.
are told that he reverently adopted the criti
cisms on the Chinese classics made by th'
brothers ChenR, who taught in the eleventh
| century, and that, having brought Confucian.
ism into developed philosophy he became th,
greatest teacher OF the Asiatlo mind IN modern
times. In Chu HIS system we appear to have q
| body OF thought which may be called
| tho product OF Chinese meditation during .
millennium and half II is the ethics of Con-
| fucius transfused with the mystical elements OF
| Taoism and the speculations of Buddhism. As
the common people OF China made an amalgam
| OF the three religions and came to consider
| them as one, so the Chinese philosophers have,
out OF these three systems, made one, and
chosen to call It Confucianism The dominant
philosophy in Japan to-day ia based upon the
writings OF Chu Hi, and called the system Toi-
Shu. which Is tho japanese pronunciation Of
the name Of the Cheng brothers and of Chu. II
Is q medley which Confucius himself could no
more recognize than would Jesus recognize the
Christianity that cast out devils in his name.
What were tho characteristic features of the
developed Confucian philosophy, which. import
ed from China In the seventeenth century,
served tho Japanese Samurai not only as
q scheme of morals but for such religion
az they possessed or professed2 Accord
ing to Or. Grinls, the system was not
agnostic. as many modern and Western writers
assert that 1t Is. and as Confucius, probably
modifying the old religion, had made the body
of his teachings to be agnostio. Indeed, In regard
to many things wherein a Christian has faith,
modern Confucianism, besides being bitterly
polemic and hostile to Buddhism, is pantheistio.
Glancing for an instant, at its political side.
we observe that, during the revival of
puro Shinto in the eighteenth century,
the teachers of that school and those
Of its great rival the new Confucian-
ism Of Chu HI, agreed in making loyalty
take the place which filial duty had occupied In
the old Confucian system. To serve tho cause
of tho Emperor became the paramount duty for
those possessed Of cultivated minds. The newer
Chinese philosophy must have Influenced the
historian, Raj Sanyo, and those Of the Mito
school, whose works, now classic, are deemed to
have been the principal factors in producing the
revolution of 1868. BY creating and setting In
motion the public opinion which finally over
threw the Shogun-ate and feudalism which re-
stored the Emperor to supreme power and
unified the nation, they cooperated with
Western ideas to evolve tho Japan of our own
day The Shinto and the new Confucian teach
ing became enlisted in common cause and
thus tho philosophy Of Chu Hi, mingling with
the nationalism and patriotism inculcated by
the Shintoists, brought about q remarkable re-
suit. This is pointed out by q native scholar
and philosopher: ut certainly Is strange TO sec
tho Tokugawa rule much shaken. II not actually
overthrown. by the very doctrine which genera
tions OF able Shoguns and their Ministers had
earnestly encouraged and protected. 1t is, por-
haps. still more remarkable to see the Mito clan,
under many capable and active chiefs. become
ha of tha In 70 tha nj
movement, which was to culminate in the over
throw Of the Tokugawa family, Of which the
Mito clan was itself branch"
We have said that. according to DR.. Grffiis.
who on this point differs from some students on
tho subject. the philosophy OF modern Confu-
cianism is wholly pantheistic. There Is in 1t, he
says, no such thing or being as God. 1t is ad
mtted that Chu Hi and his Japanese successors
argue finely and discourse volubly about XII or
spirit but 1t is denied that XII is spirit spirit
ual in the sense of him who taught the woman
at the well-curb at sychar. 1t is in the air. It
is in the earth, the trees, the flowers. 1t comes
to consciousness in man. An extract Is made
from q treatise of Ohashi juno. whose book
is termed tho swan song Of dying Japan
ESQ Confucianism: Tho doctrine of the
sages knows and worships heaven, and
without faith in It there Is NO truth.
For men and things, the universe, are born and
nourished Of heaven, and the Way. the : ri that
is in all. is the Way. the ri Of heaven. Dstin-
gushing root from branch, the heart is the root
of heaven, while phenomena such as the rcvolu-
ton Of the sun and moon and the order of the
stars are the branches. The books of tho sages
teach us to conform to the heart Of heaven. and
not to deal with appearances. Tho teaching of
the sages is the original truth, and, once given
to men, forms both their nature and their rela-
tonship. With 1t complete. naught else 10
needed for the perfect following of the way.
Let. then. the child make Of its parents heaven.
the retainer do this with his lord the wife
with her husband, and let each give
up life for righteousness" We are told
that the preacher addressing an audience made
up Of educated Japanese should he speak of
God without describing His personality, char
acter. or attributes wouldhnd that his readers
received the term as compendious expression
for a bundle OF abstract principles. or system
of laws, or some kind of regulated force. They
do indeed, mako some reference to creator"
by using rare word. But the modern Japanese
long ago heard joyfully the words, Honor the
gods, but keep them far from YOU" and they
have obeyed them. To love god would no more
occur to a Japanese gentleman than to have his
child embrace and kiss him. Whether the source
and fountain of life of which they speak has any
connection in their minds with a divine spirit,
or has not, man need not obey, much less worship
him. The universe is one, tho essence Is the
same Man must seek TO know his place in the
universe. He is bet one link in an endless
chain. Let him find his part and fulfil IT. all
else is vanity. For him to inquire into origins
or ultimates is superfuous. Man is moved by a
power greater than himself; he has real in |
dependence OF his own. Everything has its |
rank and place; indeed. It's rank and place con-
stitute its sole title TO separate existence Ifa
man mistakes his place. he is q fool. He de- |
serves punishment. In some paragraphs re- |
lating to tho ideals OF Samurai we |
read; DUTY is moro important than be-
ing. Nearly everything in our life is fixed
by fate; there may seem to be exceptions, be-
cause some wicked men are prosperous and |
some righteous men are wretched. But these
are not real exceptions to tho general rule, that
we are made for our environment and fitted to
it. Our judgment touching such seeming eIcep-