New-York tribune., 1900-08-12

battle Western statesmen, merchants who out
class our best business men. produces also men
who paint eyes on their boats. saying In ex-
PLANTATION. mo have eye, no can see
HAzY IDEAS OF CAUSE AND EFFECT.
A Chinese boy. if asked why his sister did not
come to school viii answer. My sister did not
come to school," and consider it fun reply to
the question. Ask why the Chinese build pa
godas thirteen stories high. and the answer win
come '"The Chinese built them So" The idea OF
cause and effect Is extremely hazy in the Celes-
tiaI mind
The nearest approach to reasoning Of which
! the Chinese mind is capable viii BE- found II
their expOsitions OF religious doctrines Here
naturally there is much wisdom displayed but
little reasoning; compared with other religions
In one characteristic passage writer speaks OF
the fables of mythology and goes on TO say:
why since the ancient books that described
thosa times were burnt by Tsin. should we mis-
| represent those remote ages and satisfy our
| selves with vague fables2 However as every
thing except heaven and earth must have had a
cause, it is clear that they have always existed
and that cause produced all sorts Of men and
beings and endowed them with various quail
ties Observe the promising beginning and the
| absolutely Illogical tcrTainatiOnl Such non
| sequiturs as these are common enough. The
-lr
dual powers, the yin and yang representing the
masculine and the feminine principles This Is
developed into an ingenious philosophy and IS
intelligible TO the Western mind But. although
| in this idea Chinese philosophy bears a re-
semblance to that OF the Egyptians and the
HindOos, the likeness cannot be carried far. and
1t is safe to say that among civilized races there
is no more illogical. more unirlaginative,
philosophy than that Of the Chinese
DEGENERATE BUDDHISM
One would naturally suppose that the rapid
growth of Buddhism. on its introduction into
China, showed a love of speculation The CeIes-
tial Empire received with open arms a highly
speculative religion, and one founded in al
probability, on a knowledge Of logic: for there
is every reason for believing that the HIndoos
early analyzed the process OF reasoning. Bat
1t Is significant that Buddhism adapted Itself
Immediately to the Chinese way of thinking
or Of not thinking for it is now a religion OF
ancestor worship, and il is safe to say that its
more philosophical side is better known in
Europe than in a country where the mass Of
the people profess belief in its tenets The
priests are often unable to read the books OF
their temples. and under such circumstances
the degeneration of the faith from a phi,oscphl-
cal religion to an incense burning, ancestor
worshipping cult was certain The educated
occupy themselves with the exposition Of the
doctrine Of the yin and the yang, hinted at
by Confucius and elaborated by his successors
This state religion is a thing quite apart from
the ordinary life of China, and is professed bE
many who make no secret of the fact that they
| are also Taoists Buddhists.
| But deficient as the Chinaman is in the power
of reason he deserves praise for the purity OF
his so-calIed religion. On the one hand one sees
the Hindoos. delighting in speculation a people
in whom the philosophical tendency is Overde-
| veloped. given over TO the worship OF vice n
many forms. On the other hand We see the
Chinese, phIegmatic. Illogical essentially nom
religious, but wOrshipping his ancestors in all
purity, not TO be Iured into thinking that i'm
| morality of any kind should be coUatenanced
under the name of religion. Truly, there are
| worse states than tha1 OF illogical apathy to-
ward the philosophy of life and the hereafter!