The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-04-15
WHAT CONFUCIUS DID
HE TAUGHT MORALS RATHER THAN A
PARTICULAR RELIGION.

How He United the Warning Principalitics
Of China Jealousy Was the Cause of
His Dnwrfall-Dicd In Poverty, but His
Philosophy is Accepted by Millions.
/ The real rame of Confucius was Kung-
| iu-tsc. According to some authorities he
/ lived five centuries and half and ac-
| tording to Others four centuries and n
half before the Christian era The place of
his birth is now generally stated to have
been the state of Loo, a little TO the cast
ward of the great canal in Shantung PROV
lncc, where he was educated and wherr he
married. His object in acquiring knowl-
rdgc was to turn it practically to the pur-
poses of good government, and he accord
| lngly devoted himself exclusively to moral
and political science. He afterwar di-
vorced his wife, in order, as the .Jcsllts
say, that he might better attend to his
studies. When he thought himself sulfi-
GENTLY qualified to instruct the barbarous
age in which he lived he quit his soil
tudc for the courts of princes. China was
not then united under one emperor. This
union did not take place until two or
three centuries after the philosophers
death But when Confucius began his
mission there seem to have been as many
independent kings in China as there were
In England under the Saxon hcptarchy
He journayed through these various states
in condition of simplicity and poverty
devoting himself to the instruction of all
ranks in his precepts of virtue and social
order. His adhercnts gradually increased
and he as length rcckoncd as many as
5000 disciples, of whom ~ were more par
ticularly distinguished by their devotion
to their master, and 10 were so well
grounded i'll all sorts of knowledge that
they were called by way of excellence "the
ten wise men"
In his visits to the different princes Con-
fucius endeavored to prevail upon them to
establish wise and peaceful administers
ton. After many wanderings and disap-
pontments he became prime minister,
with a recognized authority to carry his
theories into practice in Loo, his native
country. AT this time he was 30 years old
In three years he is said to have effected a
thorough change in the moral condition of
the kingdom. The happiness and prosperi-
ty created by the philosophic prime minis
ter excited the jealousy of the neighboring
kings. The sovereign of Loo was soon in
duced to abandon his benefactor, and Con-
parts of China. He was subsequently, re-
pulsed at three different courts to which
he applied for Office in order that he might
render the people happy, and, after sus-
tanning many other SORROWS he withdrew
to the kingdom of Chin, where he lived in
great poverty. His doctrines, however, had
taken root, and it was at this time of ad-
versity that his disciples were most numer-
Gus. He went again to Loo, his native
country, but yainly solicited to be re-em-
ployed in the government. At length full
of years, If not of honors, he retired from
the world, in company with few of his
closest disciples to write or complete those
works which became the sacred books of
the Chinese, and which have survived %
centuries. He died in his seventy-third
year
1T was the great object of Confucius TO
regulate the manners of the people. He
thought outward decorum the true en-
blcm of excellence in heart. He there
fore digestcd all the various ceremonies
into one general code of rites, which was
called Lc-ke, or Lyking, etc. In this work
every ritual in all the relations of human
life is strictly regulated, so that IL true
Chinaman is II perfect automaton, put in
motion by tho regulations of the Ly-king.
duties toward parents, the respect due to
superiors, the decorum in the behavior of |
common life, etc, speak highly in favor of |
Confucius, but his substituting ceremony
for simplicity and true politeness is unpar-
donable. The Ly-king contains many ex-
cellent maxims and inculcates morality,
hut it has come to us in mutilated state
with many interpretations" says Gutzlaff |
in his "Sketch of Chinese History, Ancient .
and Modern"
In the writings of Confucius the duties
of husbands toward their wives were
slightly dwelt upon. On the other hand,
the duties and implicit submission of chill !
dren to their parents were extended to the .
utmost and most rigidly inculcated. Upon
this wide principle of filial obedience the .
whole of his system, moral and political,
Is founded. Confucius was n teacher of /
morals, but not the founder of religion.
His doctrines constitute rather system of
philosophy IN tho department. of morals
and politics than any particular religious
faith.
The moral doctrines of Confucius in
clude that capital one which, however
neglected in practice, has obtained the
universal assent of mankind-he taught
his disciples ITO treat Others according to
the treatment which they themselves
would desire at their hands. " In his doc
-rines there is an evident leaning to pre-
destination or fatalism, and to predicting
vents by the mystical lines of Fo-s,Iee.
The system Of COnfucius, without making
my pretcnslun to IA divine legation, con
inues to prevail throughout the most ex-
ensive empire in the world. The body Of
lis laws and instructions is still followed
lot only by the Chinese, hut by the Ko-
cans, Cochin Chinese and other people,
who, taken collectively, are estimated at
100, 900 900