The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-05-22

V, e. China n doingP But the real power
q q rsss LEE In IL religion; and our author
n not one u thoss who believe that be-
cause tho temples are ds-ertsl OF turned
into schools the Chinese have no other
motive than self-iulsregt On the con-
tEary. he whole q Chinese hfe turns
around the relation of man 10 the Spirits
81 his ancestors and 20 the spiritual world.
SAN. the dina0ulty Of clearly understand
inR pFoOissly what this race believes h In
Ofsaaed By tho nature Oi the belief and
tn characteristics al the Chinese Of mixing
al religions tOgsthsg regardless q their
nAtnEal iRcongriity. Our authors at
tauspt 70 QusstiOo learned pundits On Bud
dhism and Taoinm resulted In maaGro IN
formation and thu conclusion that they
are q nswligihls quantity.
On tho other hand. the ESSENTIAL doc
tEins q COnguOianism. which carries inn
msnse weight In China. must be rsckOned
with. Il 10 that the spirits Of men who
are dead live and have innnsnos over the
livSs Of -thulr descendants. The mis-
Nionariss End this doctrine the hardest
Of eli for Christianity 10 ANaAil: and there
are not . feW who. despairing Of success.
suggest that the position must be turned
and ancestor worship must bs Christian
lied and aOCepted a. an essential part Of
mans belief. Indeed. some compromise
10 favored by the author, though this par.
tiesilAF worship tends 10 disappear where
western knowledge b taught. The
question Of policy that needs solving
he says. IA Whistler Il h WiSsin the face
Of this great Western unbelisvinG move
ment The has heea apeAking Of the malign
influence which Western matsriallam has
besn spraadiRg over Japan and % ex-
tending over ChlnAl 10 treat respect
for ancestors too draatioally. Western
education must remOvs ita ObiSctionable
features and Christianity might accept
the modified form Of this belief, which N
not Inconsistent with the doctrine a tho
TeslFreCsiOn Of the dead COnf,ioianism
considered by itself 10 not unfavOrabls
70 Western civilization Though IL doc
trims Of the dignity Of government which
lles af the bottom .Of the curious doctrine
Of face by which q man viii do any
thing rather than confess that be IN wrong.
presents another stumbling blOckl: but
the education in Western IDEAS whiCh its
philosophy and literature encourage may
be fatal 10 that mighty system Of ethics
that has kept China tOgsthsr and has
enabled her 20 conquer her cOnquerOrs 20
many tines. Therefore IL Christianity
ConqneEs China one Of her arst actions
win be 70 rslnstaie Confucius In ths posi-
ton from which Western materialism has
dstrOned him: and the sooner that ia done
the easier will tho task be.
When the Row. Lord Cecil undertook
his rnission on behalf Of universities for
Western learning In China and before
he set out he had a couple Of interviews
with the director Of the Chinese students
In LODd0R. To hia surprise he found
that the ChinamAn did not regard the
Christian character Of the projected uni
veTsity ~ deterrent hut ASKED ons qnss-
tioA 90 which he laid the very greatest
streaa: 'if q university Il started In China
On such lines az yOu propose will you guar
antes that ths taachsrs are eficiantps
n vas smphatically treasured on this
score. When the subject was bFoaehed
10 the distinguished pSEuonages in China
10 whom our author carried ecommen-.
datiGns they gladly discussed all aspects
Of h with him, showed him the schools
and indulscd IN the most Interesting
pOlsmiOs On dlHsFent pOintS The Chinese
schools he found sxosllsnt Tor their aims
and the scholars. b0th boys and girls.
extremely Intelligent IN his study Of
eiuoAiiOnal methods there h a Chaptsr
on ROmaA Catholic Missions In China
which In one % the most Interesting.
fair minded and impOrtant IN the bock
1t 10 only inst says the author. 10 p'si
in the forefront % tho infinencss that
arc Christianizing and changing China
TIN French. Italian and other missions
% the Roman Catholic Church. Il ap-
psars that during a certain period these
thought Il Foanible 20 tolerate
ancestor Wornhip and the alteration u
COnfucins. and Whsfhsr they were right
OF wrong WhlIe they Did 20 Christianity
md maay educated adhsrents. More
over. tho wonderful a1iantino wOrk Of
the lsarncd Jemiiis IN the eighteenth cen
tury gave the religion thsy preached
high Standing with the knowledge loving
Chinese, aud tho tradition In maintained
BY the learned 'brsthreu at the Biccavsi
az the present time
One o. the factors which influence the
a,Oop.a Of Protestant missions is the vide
Of Roman Catholic work; but the
author despairs Of making his Protestant
friends believe t. a. hs despairn Of con
vinoihg the Roman Catholics that the
splendid educational establishments Of
American Professionalism offer one Of the
reasons why their numbers are increasing
by leaps and bOuRda; but the Chinaman
EOuld probably think the remaPk self
obvious. AZ the Shanghai conferences
he members alwaysspOke Of the Church
n China implying that there was
10 be- one Christian body In the empire
This ideal IL lofty but not impossible. In
this subject tho reverend
,uthOr says that the ornate and diRnified
services Of the Roman Church must be
most attractive 10 q race whose national
philosophy puts preemiRsnt weight on
dignity and decOFum in dress and de-
meanOr. n the Roman Church could
give up her Latin services. could frankly
become a national Church which owed no
obsdiencs 70 any PontiR outside China.
one would regret tho possibility but one
would have 20 allow the probability Of her
complete domination over the Chinese
Empire. Again onea eyes tRm to thu
northern frontier. and Ons asks oneself