Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-12
NOT AMTI-CHR|ST
WI TING FANG DOES NOT ATTACK
CHRISTIANITY.
MERELY PRAISED C0NFUCIUS.
Able Lecture on the Differences of
Chinese and Christian Religion
and Civilization.

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 before
the Ethical Culture Society in New York
last Sunday on Confucius.
upon which have since been printed. in
which he says:
II 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 of
Confucius are imperfectly understood in
this country by the people and my task
was to make clear, in as succinct a man
ner as possible. without taking too much
time. the cardinal points of Confucian-
ism. In order to make it clear to an
American audience. l chose the best
form of religion and that is Christianity.
which was we'll known in the country
and which is considered the highest form
of religion ever known. to be the stand
ard by which comparison can be made,
and l tried to conpar the doctrine of
Confucianism with the higher form of
religion. 1t was not my intention to
make any attack on Christianity. TAX
ing that as the standard, instend of be-
ing considered as an attack, it hould
be as a compliment. / wanted to COM
pare on what points Confucius agreed
with Christian standard. Unfortunately I
nave not seen a full account of my adj
dress in any of the papers which men-
toned the speech. l have been reading
,xo,t;,,. nf tb, pilja ovid ba 1-a thu or,aot-
est respect for it. and I appreciate the
Bible. and greatly respect Christianity,
and l have never in my life made an at
tack on Christianity. l may have said
that some of the doctrines are too ele-
waited for man to follow. but that, in
stead of an diverse criticism, is in praise
of the high standard of the creed. |
hope that the clergymen and mission
aries will not have ground for complaint
10y reading the incomplete reports pub
lished in the papers,"
The galleries of the Art club were
crowded last night by invited guests of
the Contemporary club to hear Mr.. WI
deliver an address entitled: The Chi
'neses View He was cordially received.
In his address Mr.. WI dwelt upon the
five cardinal relations of mankind, as
seen by the Chinese nation. He drew
q SoNhiS Go l 'S
comparisons between the customs OF
his own and of the American people.
After speaking of the great age of the
Chinese nation. Mr.. WI said: LET US
inquire into the cause, or rather car-
dinal origin of mankind. That is to say,
first. between sovereign and ministers
and SUBJECTS; secondly, between parent
and child; third, between elder and
n or between superior and infer
Tor: fourth. the" husband and wife. and
last but not least. friend and friend.
In the second relation the parent must
be kind and the child oDedient. Be
tween the. elder and the younger there
must be respect on the part Of the latter.
Concerning the fourth relation, right
eousness is the. husbands attribute,
while submission is the duty of the Wifi.
The duty of the friends is to be faithful
and truthful"
The speaker expanded on each of the
five relations. giving the result of their
application in china and his view of
corresponding relations in America. He
spoke particularly of the second rela-
ton. saying that in America it Was Gus
tomary for the son to sit in the presehce
of the father. "If my son should sit in
my presence." jocularly declared the
minister, Il would punch his head
In conclusion Mr.. WI said: although
our civilization is not perfect, yet it has
stood the test of years we'll and the ma
ton still exists. Of course in many re-
spects the ccstoms and manners of Eyhur
country and my country are different,
but there are good points in each. l
think if each of us could learn s1he
others good points and profit by them
it would be well. We must understand
each other better, for much of the pres
ent trouble has arisen from misunder-
standing. What you thing is right. we
may think wrong. Therefore, it is i'm
portant that we judge not from our
standpoint but from the other point
of view. In our cocntry we are guided
by duty; in yours, love is the guiding
principle. I think we would be more
happy if we could strike a medium"