CONFUCIANISM
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CONFUCIANISM
of this remarkable religion was K'ung-tze, or K'ung-
fu-tze, latinized by the early Jesuit missionaries into
Confucius. Confucius was born in 551 b. c, in what
was then the feudal state of Lu, now included in the
modern province of Shan-tung. His parents, while
not wealthy, belonged to the superior class. His
father was a warrior, distinguished no less for his
deeds of valour than for his noble ancestry. Confu-
cius was a mere boy when his father died. From
childhood he showed a great aptitude for study, and
though, in order to support himself and his mother,
he had to labour in his early years as a hired servant
in a noble family, he managed to find time to pursue
his favourite studies. He made such progress that at
the age of twenty-two years he opened a school to
which many were attracted by the fame of his learn-
ing. His ability and faithful service merited for him
promotion to the office of minister of justice. Under
his wise administration the State attained to a degree
of prosperity and moral order that it had never seen
before. But through the intrigues of rival states the
Marquis of Lu was led to prefer ignoble pleasures to
the preservation of good government. Confucius
tried by sound advice to bring his liege lord back to
the path of duty, but in vain. He thereupon resigned
his high position at the cost of personal ease and com-
fort, and left the state. For thirteen years, accom-
panied by faithful disciples, he went about from one
state to another, seeking a ruler who would give heed
to his counsels. Many were the privations he suffered.
More than once he ran imminent risk of being waylaid
and killed by his enemies, but his courage and confi-
dence in the providential character of his mission
never deserted him. At last he returned to Lu, where
he spent the last five years of his long life encouraging
others to the study and practice of virtue, and edify-
ing all by his noble example. He died in the year
478 B. c, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. His
lifetime almost exactly coincided with that of Buddha,
who died two years earlier at the age of eighty.
That Confucius possessed a noble, commanding personality, there can be little doubt. It is shown by his recorded traits of character, by his lofty moral teachings, by the high-minded men that he trained to continue his life-work. In their enthusiastic love and admiration, they declared him the greatest of men, the sage without flaw, the perfect man. That he himself did not make any pretension to possess virtue and wisdom in their fullness is shown by his owni recorded sayings. He was conscious of his short- . comings, and this consciousness he made no attempt to keep concealed. But of his love of virtue and wisdom there can be no question. He is described in "Analects", VII, 18, as one "who in the eager pursuit of knowledge, forgot his food, and in the joy of attain- ing to it forgot his sorrow". Whatever in the tradi- tional records of the past, whether history, lyric poems, or rites and ceremonies, was edifying and conducive to virtue, he sought out with untiring zeal and made known to his disciples. He was a man of affectionate nature, sympathetic, and most considerate towards others. He loved his worthy disciples dearly, and won in turn their undying devotion. He was modest and unaffected in his bearing, inclined to gravity, yet possessing a natural cheerfulness that rarely deserted him. Schooled to adversity from childhood, he learned to find contentment and serenity of mind even where ordinary comforts were lacking. He was very fond of vocal and instrumental music, and often sang, accompanying his voice with the lute. His sense of humour is revealed in a criticism he once made of some boLsterous singing. " Why use an ox- knife", he said, "to kill a fowl?"
Confucius is often lu Id up as the type of the virtu- ous man without religion. His teachings, it is alleged, were chiefly ethical, in which one looks in vain for retribution in the next life as a sanction of right con-
duct. Now an acquaintance with the ancient religion
of China and with Confucian texts reveals the empti-
ness of the assertion that Confucius was devoid of
religious thought and feeling. He was religious after
the manner of religious men of his age and land. In
not appealing to rewards and punishments in the life
to come, he was simply following the example of his
illustrious Chinese predecessors, whose religious belief
did not include this element of future retribution.
The Chinese classics that were ancient even in the
time of Confucius have nothing to say of hell, but have
much to say of the rewards and punishments meted
out in the present life by the all-seeing Heaven.
There are numbers of texts that show plainly that he
did not depart from the traditional belief in the
supreme Heaven-god and subordinate spirits, in
Divine providence and retribution, and in the con-
scious existence of souls after death. These religious
convictions on his part found expression in many re-
corded acts of piety and worship.
II. The Confuci.^n Texts. — As Confucianism in its broad sense embraces not only the immediate teaching of Confucius, but also the traditional records, customs, and rites to which he gave the sanction of his approval, and which to-day rest largely upon his authority, there are reckoned among the Confucian texts several that even in his day were venerated as sacred heirlooms of the past. The texts are divided into two categories, known as the "King" (Classics), and the "Shuh" (Books). The texts of the " King", which stand first in importance, are commonly reck- oned as five, but sometimes as six. The first of these is the "Shao-king" (Book of History), a religious and moral work, tracing the hand of Providence in a series of great events of past history, and inculcating the lesson that the Heaven-god gives prosperity and length of days only to the virtuous ruler who has the true welfare of the people at heart. Its unity of composition may well bring its time of publication down to the sixth century B. c, though the sources on which the earlier chapters are based may be almost contemporaneous with the events related. The sec- ond "King" is the so-called "She-king" (Book of Songs), often spoken of as the "Odes". Of its 305 short lyric poems some belong to the time of the Shang djTiasty (1766-1123 b. c), the remaining, and perhaps larger, part to the first five centuries of the dynasty of Chow, that is, down to about 600 B. c. The third " King" is the so-called " Y-king" (Book of Changes), an enigmatic treatise on the art of divining with the stalks of a native plant, which after being thrown give different indications according as they conform to one or another of the si.xty-four hexagrams made up of three broken and three unbroken lines. The short explanations which accompany them, in large measure arbitrary and fantastic, are a.ssigned to the time of Wan and his illustrious son Wu, founders of the Chow dynasty (1122 b. c). Since the time of Confucius, the work has been more than doubled by a series of appendixes, ten in nimiber, of which eight are attributed to Confucius. Only a small portion of these, however, are probably authentic. The fourtli "King" is the "Li-ki" (Book of RitesV In its pres- ent form it dates from the second centiiry of our era, being a compilation from a vast number of documents, most of which date from the earlier part of the Chow dynasty. It gives rules of conduct down to the min- ute details for religious acts of worship, court func- tions, social and family relations, dress — in short, for every sphere of human action. It remains to-day the authoritative guide of correct conduct for every culti- vated Chinese. In the "Li-ki" are many of Confu- cius's reputed sayings and two long treatises composed by disciples, which may be said to reflect with sub- stantial accuracy the sayings and teachings of the master. One of these is the treatise known as the "Chung-yung" (Doctrine of the Mean). It forms
