Evening journal., 1908-12-26
NOTES ON THE TOPIC.
(5y Charles W. Bush.)

The aim OF this lesson on China should
be to realize the imperative call OF China
millions for Christian uplift "China open.
China awake. China's millions waiting to
be christianlzed." Let us keep this in
mind
What are the people themselves likei
They are hearty, full OF physical vitality.
OF great endurance and endless patience
and Of great composure. apparently lack
ing in nerves. Though not inventive, they
are adaptive and resourceful industrious.
economical and contented. with a great
reverence for the past and the established
order Of things Perhaps their most re-
markable pecuiiarity IS their talent for
continuance their self sufhcency. Think
Of III Their history starts thirty centuries
before the Christian era. though It en-
erges from the mythical perhaps only ten
or fifteen centuries before. Since then.
they have remained within their bound
aries. a world apart, giving nothing and
taking nothing from the outside world.
All invaders have been absorbed and the
talents Of these people have been wrap
ped in a napkin" so far as we are con-
eerned. all this time Centuries ago,
China placed her hand on the wheel Of
progress and stopped Il. What viii hap
pen when she starts It again7"
But with all their admirable character.
lstics. there is much on the other side &c
be said. The patrlarchial form OF govern.
ment where the head OF each family 4.
lord with even the law Of life and death
IN his hands: the worship Of ancestors
the clan life, and the responsibility OF
the clan and the family for the misdee6
Of any member thereof; these bring manS
evils Progress. initiative and Individual
ity are crushed The woman. besides the
torture Of bound feet. which Is now belnr
given up by a few, is a chattel DespiseC
from birth. she is never paid any con.
sideration with no voice I'm her mar.
riage she is swallowed up I'm her hus.
bands family. And the condition OF the
children IS worse. The clan and family
life. and the necessity for reverence foi
ancestors. leaves them with no will oi
choice Of their own. Persstently snubbed
they lose affection. sympathy. gratitude
all the good impulses. and must becom,
shrinking and unobtrusivo.
What do their religions offer the Chimes,
people7 Leaving out Mohammedanlsm ir
which there are perhaps twenty millior
believers there are three main religions
Confucianism Taoism and Buddhism. th,
two former indigenous to the country and
the latter coming from India The first
Confucianism, is not a religion but a sys
TEN, a code OF ethics and morals CORES.
pondinginsomepoint
ponding in some points with Christian
ethics but with no vital principle beneath
It. II includes the worship OF nature and
OF ancestors. the latter especially exer
cising great influence over the lives OF
the Chinese. But as a religion it fails. foi
while telling how TO live rightly it offers
no help to carry these principles out
Taoism is a superstition. Dragons and
serpents are worshiped, evil spirits are
appeased and ignorant priests, desplset
but supposedly indispensable evils, ar,
employed to drive out demons. II Is a low
beastly religion. with nothing elevatinl
IN It and II keeps its hold by fear instead
Of love. Buddhism is much the same as II
India. from whence II came to China IN
the first century Of the Christian era
except that the belief I'm Nirvana or the
end Of all personal existence as held il
India is replaced by tho expectation of
paradise after death. Which is to be at
tanned by innumerable fepettions of tn
words "omito Fo." Bul the observance
of Buddhism is a mere f,rm, "a shell, AM