The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-12-12
IN SELF DEFENSE.
Minister wu Refers to His Lecture at
Carnegie Institute.

Minister WI Refers to His Lecture &C
Carnegie Institute
Philadelphia, Dec 12-wu Ting Fang.
who came here to deliver an address be-
fore the Contemporary club, made a
statement in regard to his address be-
fore the Ethical Culture society in New
York last Sunday on Confucius, COM
ments upon which have since been
printed. in which he says:
Il am afraid the scope Of my address
delivered at New York last Sunday at
Carnegie hall is not made clear by the
reports published in the papers. 1t was
far from my intention to make any at
tack ON any religion whatever in the
world, much less on Christianity. My
theme was Confucius. The doctrines or
Confucius are imperfectly understood in
this country by people, and my task
was to make clear in as succinct man
ner as possible, WITHOUT taking too
much time, the cardinal points OF Con-
fucianism. In order to make it clear TO
an American audience, chose the. best
form of religion and that is Christian1-
ty, which was well known in this coun-
try and Which~is considered the highest
form of religion ever known, TO De the
standard by which comparison can be
made, and / tried to compare the doc
trine of Confucianism with the superior
form of religion. 1t was not my inten-
ton to make an attack on Christianity.
Taking that as the standard, instead OF
being considered as an attack, it should
be as a compliment. I wanted to COM
pare on what points Confucius could
come up to the standard of Christianity
and if the full text of my address was
published, this would be clear to the
reader; but unfortunately nave not
seen a full account of it in any of the
papers containing my speech. 1 espe-
cially stated that some of the sent1-
ments of Christ were very noble and
grand, so much so that it was very diff
cult for men to attain to them. and 1
quoted some of the sayings of COnfuciuS
to show that COnfuciuS, though not up
to so high a standard as that of Christi
anity, was a practical man. He was
preaching his doctrine to his country
men and intoxicating in them to follow
his advice in practical way ana ne
himself set an example of his doctrine.
And it is true that said that some of
the Christian people, or people profess
tenets of Christianity. That is not the
fault of Christianity but the fault of
those in not following the tenets of their
religion. That surely can not be con-
sidered an attack on Christianity.
Il have been reading portions OF the
Bible and have the greatest respect for
it, and I appreciate the Bible, and great
ly respect Christianity, and have never
in my life made any attack on Christi
anity. I may have said that some of the
doctrines are too grand and too elevated
for man to follow but that, instead of
an adverse criticism, is in praise of the
high standard of that creed. 1 hope
that the clergymen and missionaries will
not come to any conclusion by reading
the incomplete reports published in the
papers"
The gallaries of the Art club were
crowded last night by invited guests Of
the Contemporary club to hear Min
lister WI deliver an address entitled
THE Chinese View" He was cordially
received. In his address Mr.. WI dwelt
upon the five cardinal relations of man.
kind as seen by the Chinese nation. He
drew many interesting as well as anus
ing comparisons between the customs
of his own and of the American people
After speaking of the great age of the
Chinese nation, Minister WI said:
Let us inquire into the cause or
rather combination of causes, namely,
the five cardinal relations of mankind.
That is to say first, between sovereign
and ministers and subjects; second, be-
tween parent and child; third, between
elder and younger or between superior
and inferior; fourth, the husband and
wife, and last, between friend and
friend. In the first case the attribute
is benevolence on the part Of the SOW
ereign and respect on the part of the
subject. In the second relation the par
ent must be kind and the child obedient.
Between the elder and the younger there
must be respect on the part of the lat
ter. Concerning the fourth relation
righteousness is the husbands attrib-
ute, while submission is the duty of tie
wife. The duty of friends is to be
faithful and truthful"
The speaker expanded on each of the
five relations giving the result of their
special application in China and his
view of corresponding relations in Amer
lea. He spoke particularly Of the Sec
ond relation, saying that in America it
was customary for the son to sit in the
presence of the father. IF my son
should sit in my presence jocularlv de-
clared the minister, II would punch his
head"
In conclusion Mr.. WI said:
although our civilization is not per-
feet, yet it has stood the test of years
well and the nation still exists. OF
course in many respects the-customs and
manners of your country and my coun-
try are different, but there are good
points in each. 1 think if each of us
could learn the others good features
and profit by them it would be wed.
We must understand each other better,
for much of the present trouble has
arisen from misunderstanding. What |
yol think is right we may think " ronS.
Therefore, it is important that we judge
not from our standpoint but from the |
others point Of view. In our country
we are e,ided by duty; in yours love is
the guiding principle. I think we would |
be more happy if we could strike a me- |
dunn"