The evening times., 1900-07-26
RELIGIONS IN CHINA.
Various ISmS Are Prominent There
NeU ns Elsewhere

n Wen nS Elsewhere.
OFrom the Chicago Time- Herald)
Il is a mistaken notion that the attacks
upon the foreigners by the Chinese are
inspired by religious fanaJicism. In
deed, there Is nothing in the three relig-
lens OF China 10 arouse fanatical emotion.
II might be said further that the religions
OF China are less religion and more pbilos-
ophy- Con1usIauIsm is q philosophy with
religion an Incidental The Buddhism
Of China lost in its translation from
India its intense religious fervor and con
yerted its poetry into a cold and unfeel-
ing idolatry. Lao Tacism is about equal
parts Of religion and philosophy. the re-
HgiOus part corresponding to Western
spiritualism; the philosophy is that found
ed and exploited by LaO-tsze who was
born in the fourth century before the
Christian era. There is nothing. as we
have said. in any Of these religio- -phiIoso-
phies to impel the greater portion Of 4JO,-
OOO,CCO people TO commit the brutal ex-
cesses recently recoUEted BY the cables
from China
COnfusianism, considered from its re
ligious side. is as much d worship Of par
ents as ii is Of God. While II admits.
after the fashion of 4 skeptic the exist
ence OF a God, II drops the subject here
and proceeds calmly into q system OF
ethics. COnfucius himself was more OF
philosopher than a religiOnist- When he
discussed the existence Of a Supreme Be
ing it was always with an If" He held
that IL there is a God he is too sublime
and far removed from human beings 10 be
understood; therefore his name should not
be uttered. He believed in immortality,
but this subject, too, he seldom discussed
He taught that man should be COOS and
DO good, and that he would receive his
reward on earth He dealt with today
and not with the future. Live well to-
day, and OmOrTOw will look out for
itself" is the keynote of his philosophy.
He threw his whole strength into incuIcat-
ing into the minds of the young the love
for parents. Filial piety was 20 him the
nOblest attribute Of man. While scme Of
the teachings OF COnfucius may have been
lost during the intervening centuries. his
gospel OF duty and devotion to parents t.
mains the cornerstone Of the Shinese
nation today. The criminal laws Of China
provide that in the failure to capture the
criminal, the next OF kin shall be arrested
and punished for the crime There are
few instances where the calprit was so
lost to his sense Of duty to his parents
that he would allow them 70 suffer for
him. For this reason criminals in China
never attempt to escape justice by flight.
Buddhism is a gigantic collection of Big
and little deities. As far as possible these
have been symbOlized into tiEsel images
Every element OF nature is represented by
an idol. Before sending his cargo-laden
Junk to sea the merchant pays his respects
TO the storm god, whose favor he curries
by liberal contributions OF money. Tee
loss OF his junk in a typhoon does rot share
the merchants faith in the powers OF the
god. To the followers OF Buddha the pres
ent life is but term of exile-a time when
the soul is suffering expiation for crimes
committed in the spiritual world before its
incarnation. To the Buddhist there is
nothing real except the unreal. Man does
not exist till he dies. and then he does not
exist if he has committed any eins in this
life the penalty OF which is reincarnation.
This is the Buddhism of the priesthood AMI
is too abstract for the laymen, who are too
practical to absorb these mystical dogmas
Taoism is both a religion and a philOso-
ply. Spiritism is its predominant feature
LaO-tsZe its father. supplied the philoso-
ply and his disciples the spiritism. Dur
ing the twenty and more centuries this
religion has been in existence it has risen
10 great heights in public favor. and Just
as often tumbled to as low depths. 1t
has been used as a tool by charlatans
who have resorted to tricks and chicanery
for f-aggrandiZement and profit 1t has
mediums who profess to be able to com
municate with the spirit world These are
the priests, who exercise a remarkable
power over their followers. They have
deified LaO-tsze into the Greatest Holy
One" and ''the Highest Holy One" 1t is
only fair to remark that Lao, who was a
good and wise man. would strenuously
object to these blasphemous additions to
his religion. 1t is no uncommon thing for
a Chinaman to profess all three of these
religions, and he does il with no more
enthusiasm than he would do UP q shirt.
He accepts their teachings as a matter of
course. They have been instilled into
him from infancy and into his ancestors
thousands of years before him. It is not
possible, therefore, to excite his religious
emotions TO a fighting point.
The Chinese nature, however, is not