New Forces in Old China: An Inevitable AwakeningBrown, Arthur Judson
History
New Forces in Old China: An Inevitable Awakening
Brown, Arthur Judson
China -- Commerce; China -- Foreign relations; China -- Politics and government; Missions -- China
A feeling of awe came over me as I remembered that, with the
possible exception of Buddha, the man whose dust lay before
me had probably influenced more human beings than any other
man whom the world has seen. Even Christ Himself has thus
far not been known to so many people as Confucius, nor has
any nation in which Christ is known so thoroughly accepted
His teachings as China has accepted those of Confucius. Dr.
Legge indeed declares that ``after long study of his character
and opinions, I am unable to regard him as a great man,''
while Dr. Gibson ``seeks in vain in his recorded life and words
for the secret of his power,'' and can only conjecture in explanation
that ``he is for all time the typical Chinaman; but
his greatness lies in his displaying the type on a grand scale,
not in creating it.'' But it is difficult even for the non-Chinese
mind to look at such a man with unbiassed eyes. Surely we
need not begrudge the meed of greatness to one who has
moulded so many hundreds of millions of human beings for
2,400 years and who is more influential at the end of that period
than at its beginning. Grant that ``he is for all time the
typical Chinaman.'' Could a small man have incarnated ``for
all time'' the spirit of one-third of the human race? All over
China the evidences of Confucius' power can be seen. Temples
rise on every hand. Ancestral tablets adorn every house.
The writings of the sage are diligently studied by the whole
population. When, centuries ago, a jealous Emperor ruthlessly
burned the Confucian books, patient scholars reproduced
them, and to prevent a recurrence of such iconoclastic fury, the
Great Confucian Temple and the Hall of Classics in Peking
were erected and the books were inscribed on long rows of stone
monuments so that they could never be destroyed again. As a
token of the present attitude of the Imperial family, the Emperor
once in a decade proceeds in solemn state to this temple
and enthroned there expounds a passage of the sacred writings.
For more than two millenniums, the boys of the most numerous
people in the world have committed to memory the Confucian
primer which declares that ``affection between father and son,
concord between husband and wife, kindness on the part of the
elder brother and deference on the part of the younger, order
between seniors and juniors, sincerity between friends and associates,
respect on the part of the ruler and loyalty on that of
the minister--these are the ten righteous courses equally binding
on all men;'' that ``the five regular constituents of our
moral nature are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, knowledge,
and truth;'' and that ``the five blessings are long life
wealth, tranquillity, desire for virtue and a natural death.''
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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