Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1897-03-23
WHAT CQNFUCIUS DID
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HE TAUGHT MORALS RATHER THAN A
PARTICULAR RELIGION.

How He United the Warning Principalities
of China-JeaIousy Was tho Cause of
ais DownfaII-Died In Poverty, but His
Philosophy Is Accepted by Millions.
The real name of Confucius was Kung-
fu-tse. According to some authorities he
lived five centuries and half and nc
cording to others four centuries and
half before the Christian era. The place Of
his birth is now generally stated to have
been the state Of Loo, little to the cast
ward of the great canal in Shantung PROV
ince, where he was educated and where he
married. His object in acquiring knowl
edge was to turn it practically to the pur
poses of good government, and he accord
ingly devoted himself exclusively to moral
and political science. He afterward di-
vorced his wife, in order, as the Jesuits
say, that he might better attend to his
studies When he thought himself suffi-
GENTLY qualified to instruct the barbarous
age in which he lived, he quit his soli-
tude 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 heptarchy.
He journeyed through these various states
in a condition of simplicity and poverty,
devoting himself TO the instruction of all
ranks in his prcccpts of virtue and social
order His adherents gradually increased
and he at length reckoned as many as
1900 disciples, of whom 72 were more par
ticularly distinguished by their devotion
to their master, and 10 were go well
grounded In all sorts of knowledge that
they were called by way of excellence "tho
ten wise men,
In his visits to the different princes Con-
fucius endeavored to prevail upon them to
establish q wise and peaceful administrt-
ton. After many wanderings and disap-
pointments he became prime minister,
with recognized authority to carry his
theories into practice in Loo, his native
country. At this time he was 55 years old.
In three years he is said to have effected n
thorough cbangein 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-
fucius was Obliged to flee to the northern
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 Sis
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 nd
versity that his disciples were most numer-
Gus. He went again to Loo, his native
country, but vainly solicited to be re-em-
-, ftt11
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 90
centuries He died in his seventy third
year.
ut was the great object Of Confucius to
regulate the manners of the people. He
thought outward decorum the true en-
blem of excellence in heart. He there
fore digested ell the various ceremonies
into one general code of rites, which was
called Le-ke, or Ly viking, etc. In this work
every ritual in oil the relations of human
life is strictly regulated, SO that true
Chinaman is perfect atltoniaton, put in
motion by the regulations Of the Ly-k king.
Some of the rites are most excellent. The
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,
but it has come to us in mutilated state
with many interpretations, - says Gutzlaff
in his "Sketoh of Chinese History, Ancient
and Modern"
In the writings of Confucius the duties
of husbands toward their wives wero
slightly dwelt upon. On the other hand,
the duties and implicit submission of chill
dren to their parents were extended TO tho
utmost and most rigidly inculcated. Upon
this wide principle Of filial obedience the
whole of his system, moral and POLITICAL
is founded. Confucius was q teacher of
morals, but not the founder of q religion.
His doctrines constitute rather system of
philosophy in the department of morals
and poliics 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 "to treat others according to
the treatment which they themselves
would desire at their hands" In his doc
trines there is an evident leaning to pre-
destination or fatalism, and to predicting
events by the mystical lines of Fo-shee.
The system Of Confucius, without making
any pretension to a divine legation, con-
tinues to prevail throughout the most ex-
tensive empire in the world. The body of
his laws and instructions is still followed,
not only by the Chinese, but by the Ko-
reans, Cochin Chinese and other people,
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