Confucius — Sage and Moralist (i)
by John Lord, LL. D.
ABOUT one hundred years after the great religious
movement in India under Buddha, a man was
born in China who inaugurated a somewhat similar
movement there, and who impressed his character
and principles on three hundred millions of people.
It cannot be said that he was the founder of a new
religion, since he aimed only to revive what was an-
cient. To quote his own words, he was "a transmitter,
and not a maker." But he was nevertheless, a very
extraordinary character; and if greatness is to be
measured by results, I know of no heathen teacher
whose work has been so permanent. In genius, in
creative power, he was inferior to many; but in influ-
ence he has had no equal among the sages of the
world.
"Confucius" is a Latin name given him by Jesuit
missionaries in China; his real name was K'ung-foo-
tseu. He was born about 550 B.C., in the province
of Loo, and was the contemporary of Belshazzar, of
Cyrus, of Crœsus, and of Pisistratus. It is claimed
that Confucius was a descendant of one of the early
emperors of China, of the Chow Dynasty, 1121 B.C.;
but he was simply of an upper-class family of the State
of Loo, one of the provinces of the empire,——his father
and grandfather having been prime ministers to the
reigning princes or dukes of Loo, which State resem-
bled a feudal province of France in the Middle Ages,
acknowledging only a nominal fealty to the Emperor.
We know but little of the early condition of China.
The earliest record of events which can be called
history takes us back to about 2350 B. C., when Yaou
was emperor,——an intelligent and benignant prince,
uniting under his sway the different states of China,
which had even then reached a considerable civiliza-
tion, for the legendary or mythical history of the coun-
try dates back about five thousand years. Yaou's son
Shun was an equally remarkable man, wise and ac-
complished, who lived only to advance the happiness
of his subjects. At that period the religion of China
was probably monotheistic. The supreme being was
called Shang-te, to whom sacrifices were made, a deity
who exercised a superintending care of the universe;
but corruptions rapidly crept in, and a worship of the
powers of Nature and of the spirits of departed an-
cestors, who were supposed to guard the welfare of
their descendants, became the prevailing religion.
During the reigns of these good emperors the stand-
ard of morality was high throughout the empire.
but morals declined,——the old story in all the States
of the ancient world. In addition to the decline in
morals, there were political discords and endless wars
between the petty princes of the empire.
To remedy the political and moral evils of his time
was the great desire and endeavor of Confucius. The
most marked feature in the religion of the Chinese,
before his time, was the worship of ancestors, and
this worship he did not seek to change. "Confucius
taught three thousand disciples, of whom the more
eminent became influential authors. Like Plato and
Xenophon, they recorded the sayings of their master,
and his maxims and arguments preserved in their
works were afterward added to the national collection
of the sacred books called the 'Nim Classes.'"
Confucius was a mere boy when his father died, and
we know next to nothing of his early years. At fif-
teen years of age, however, we are told that he devoted
himself to learning, pursuing his studies under con-
siderable difficulties, his family being poor. He mar-
ried when he was nineteen years of age; and in the
following year was born his son Le, his only child,
of whose descendants eleven thousand males were
living one hundred and fifty years ago, constituting
the only hereditary nobility of China,——a class who for
seventy generations were the recipients of the highest
honors and privileges. On the birth of Le, the duke
Ch'aou of Loo sent Confucius a present of a carp,
which seems to indicate that he was already distin-
guished for his attainments.
At twenty years of age Confucius entered upon po-
litical duties, being the superintendent of cattle, from
which, for his fidelity and ability, he was promoted
to the higher office of distributer of grain, having at-
tracted the attention of his sovereign. At twenty-two
he began his labors as a public teacher, and his house
became the resort of enthusiastic youth who wished to
learn the doctrines of antiquity. These were all that
the sage undertook to teach,——not new and original
doctrines of morality or political economy, but only
such as were established from a remote antiquity,
going back two thousand years before he was born.
There is no improbability in this alleged antiquity
of the Chinese Empire, for Egypt at this time was
a flourishing State.
At twenty-nine years of age Confucius gave his
attention to music, which he studied under a famous
master; and to this art he devoted no small part of
his life, writing books and treatises upon it. Six
years afterward, at thirty-five, he had a great desire
to travel; and the reigning duke, in whose service
he was as a high officer of sate, put at his disposal
a carriage and two horses, to visit the court of the
Emperor, whose sovereignty, however, was only nomi-
nal. It does not appear that Confucius was received
with much distinction, nor did he have much inter-
course with the court or the minsters. He was
a mere seeker of knowledge, an inquirer about the
ceremonies and maxims of the founder of the dy-
nasty of Chow, an observer of customs, like Herod-
otus. He wandered for eight years among the various
provinces of China, teaching as he went, but with-
out making a great impression. Moreover, he was
regarded with jealousy by the different ministers of
princes; one of them, however, struck with his wisdom
and knowledge, wished to retain him in his service.
On the return of Confucius to Loo, he remained
fifteen years without official employment, his native
province being in a state of anarchy. But he was
better employed than in serving princes, prosecuting
his researches into poetry, history, ceremonies, and
music,——a born scholar, with insatiable desire of
knowledge. His great gifts and learning, however,
did not allow him to remain without public employ-
ment. He was made governor of an important city.
As chief magistrate of this city, he made a marvel-
ous change in the manners of the people. The duke,
surprised at what he saw, asked if his rules could
be employed to govern a whole State; and Confucius
told him that they could be applied to the government
of the Empire. On this the duke appointed him
assistant superintendent of Public Works,——a great
office, held only by members of the ducal family. So
many improvements did Confucius make in agriculture
that he was made minister of Justice; and so wonder-
ful was its management, that soon there was no ne-
cessity to put the penal laws in execution, since no
offenders could be found. Confucius held his high
office as minister of Justice for two years longer, and
some suppose he was made prime minister. His au-
thority certainly continued to increase. He exalted
the sovereign, depressed the ministers, and weakened
private families,——just as Richelieu did in France,
strengthening the throne at the expense of the nobil-
ity. It would thus seem that his political reforms were
in the direction of absolute monarchy, a needed force in
times of anarchy and demoralization. So great was his
fame as a statesman that strangers came from other
States to see him.
These reforms in the state of Loo gave annoyance
to the neighboring princes; and to undermine the in-
fluence of Confucius with the dukes, these princes sent
the duke a present of eighty beautiful girls, possessing
musical and dancing accomplishments, and also one
hundred and twenty splendid horses. As the duke
soon came to think more of his girls and horses than
of his reforms, Confucius became disgusted, resigned
his office, and retired to private life. Then followed
thirteen years of homeless wandering. He was now
fifty-six years of age, depressed and melancholy in
view of his failure with princes. He was accompa-
nied in his travels by some of his favorite disciples,
to whom he communicated his wisdom.
But his fame preceded him wherever he journeyed,
and such was the respect for his character and teach-
ings that he was loaded with presents by the people,
and was left unmolested to do as he pleased. The
dissoluteness of courts filled him with indignation and
disgust; and he was heard to exclaim on one occasion,
I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves
beauty,"——meaning the beauty of woman. The love
of the beautiful, in an artistic sense, is a Greek and
not an Oriental idea.
In the meantime Confucius continued his wander-
ings from city to city and State to State, with a chosen
band of disciples, all of whom became famous. He
travelled for the pursuit of knowledge, and to impress
the people with his doctrines. A certain one of his
followers was questioned by a prince as to the merits
and peculiarities of his master, but was afraid to give
a true answer. The sage hearing of it, said, "You
should have told him, He is simply a man who in his
eager pursuit of knowledge forgets his food, who in the
joy of his attainments forgets his sorrows, and who
does not perceive that old age is coming on." How
seldom is it that any man reaches such a height! In
a single sentence the philosopher describes himself
truly and impressively.
At last, in the year 491 B.C., a new sovereign reigned
in Loo, and with costly presents invited Confucius to
return to his native State. The philosopher was now
sixty-nine years of age, and notwithstanding the re-
spect in which he was held, the world cannot be said
to have dealt kindly with him. It is the fate of
prophets and sages to be rejected. The world will not
bear rebukes. Even a friend, if discreet, will rarely
venture to tell another friend his faults. Confucius
told the truth when pressed, but he does not seem to
have courted martyrdom; and his manner and speech
were too bland, too proper, too unobtrusive to give
much offence. Luther was aided in his reforms by
his very roughness and boldness, but he was sur-
rounded by a different class of people from those
whom Confucius sought to influence. Conventional,
polite, considerate, and a great respecter of persons in
authority was the Chinese sage. A rude, abrupt, and
fierce reformer would have had no weight with the
most courteous and polite people of whom history
speaks; whose manners twenty-five hundred years
ago were substantially the same as they are at the
present day,——a people governed by the laws of
propriety alone.
The few remaining years of Confucius' life were
spent in revising his writings; but his latter days
were made melancholy by dwelling on the evils of
the world that he could not remove. Disappoint-
ment also had made him cynical and bitter, like
Solomon of old, although from different causes. He
survived his son and his most beloved disciples.
As he approached the dark valley he uttered no
prayer, and betrayed no apprehension. Death to
him was a rest. He died at the age of seventy-
three.
In the tenth book of his Analects we get a glimpse
of the habits of the philosopher. He was a man of
rule and ceremony. He was particular about his
dress and appearance. He was no ascetic, but mod-
erate and temperate. He lived chiefly on rice, like
the rest of his countrymen, but required to have his
rice cooked nicely, and meat cut properly. He
drank wine freely, but was never known to have ob-
scured his faculties by this indulgence. I do not
read that tea was then in use. He was charitable and
hospitable, but not ostentatious. He generally trav-
elled in a carriage with two horses, driven by one of
his disciples; but a carriage in those days was like
one of our carts. In his village, it is said, he looked
simple and sincere, as if he were one not able to
speak; when waiting at court, or speaking with offi-
cers of an inferior grade, he spoke freely, but in a
straightforward manner; with officers of a higher
grade he spoke blandly, but precisely; with the
prince he was grave, but self-possessed. When eat-
ing he did not converse; when in bed he did not
speak. If his mat were not straight he did not sit
on it. When a friend sent him a present he did not
bow ; the only present for which he bowed was that
of the flesh of sacrifice. He was capable of excessive
grief, with all his placidity. When his favorite pupil
died, he exclaimed, "Heaven is destroying me!" His
disciples on this said, "Sir, your grief is excessive."
"It is excessive," he replied. "If I am not to mourn
bitterly for this man, for whom should I mourn?"
The reigning prince of Loo caused a temple to be
erected over the remains of Confucius, and the number
of his disciples continually increased. The emperors of
the falling dynasty of Chow had neither the intelligence
nor the will to do honor to the departed philosopher,
but the emperors of the succeeding dynasties did all
they could to perpetuate his memory. During his
life Confucius found ready acceptance for his doc-
trines, and was everywhere revered among the people,
though not uniformly appreciated by the rulers, nor
able permanently to establish the reforms he inaugu-
rated. After his death, however, no honor was too
great to be rendered him. The most splendid temple
in China was built over his grave, and he received
a homage little removed from worship. His writings
became a sacred rule of faith and practice; schools
were based upon them, and scholars devoted them-
selves to their interpretation. For two thousand
years Confucius has reigned supreme,——the undis-
puted teacher of a population of three or four hun-
dred millions.
Confucius must be regarded as a man of great hu-
mility, conscious of infirmities and faults, but striving
after virtue and perfection. He said to himself, "I
have striven to become a man of perfect virtue, and
to teach others without weariness; but the charac-
ter of the superior man, carrying out in his conduct
what he professes, is what I have not attained to.
I am not one born in the possession of knowledge, but
I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in
seeking it there. I am a transmitter, and not a
maker." If he did not lay claim to divine illumina-
tion, he felt that he was born into the world for a
special purpose; not to declare new truths, not to
initiate any new ceremony, but to confirm what he
felt in danger of being lost,——the most con-
servative of all known reformers.
Confucius left behind voluminous writings, of which
his Analects, his book of Poetry, his book of History,
and his Rules of Propriety are the most important.
It is these which are now taught, and have been
taught for two thousand years, in the schools and
colleges of China. The Chinese think that no man
so great and perfect as he has ever lived. His writ-
ings are held in the same veneration that Christians
attach to their own sacred literature. There is this
one fundamental difference between the authors of
the Bible and the Chinese sage,——that he did not
like to talk of spiritual things; indeed, of them he
was ignorant, professing no interest in relation to the
working out of abstruse questions, either of philosophy
or theology. He had no taste or capacity for such
inquiries. Hence, he did not aspire to throw any
new light on the great problems of human condition
and destiny; nor did he speculate, like the Ionian
philosophers, on the creation or end of things. He
was not troubled about the origin or destiny of
man. He meddled neither with physics nor meta-
physics, but he earnestly and consistently strove to
bring to light and to enforce those principles which
confined his attention to outward phenomena,——to
the world of sense and matter; to forms, precedents,
ceremonies, proprieties, rules of conduct, filial duties
and duties to the State; enjoining temperance, hon-
esty, and sincerity as the cardinal and fundamental
laws of private and national prosperity. He was no
prophet of wrath, though living in a corrupt age. He
utters no anathemas on princes, and no woes on peo-
ples. Nor does he glow with exalted hopes of a mil-
lennium of bliss, or of the beatitudes of a future state.
He was not stern and indignant like Elijah, but more
like the courtier and counsellor Elisha. He was a man
of the world, and all his teachings have reference to
respectability in the world's regard. He doubted more
than he believed.
And yet in so many of his sayings Confucius rises to an
exalted height, considering his age and circumstances.
Some of them remind us of some of the best Proverbs
of Solomon. In general, we should say that to his
mind filial piety and fraternal submission were the
foundation of all virtuous practices, and absolute obedi-
ence to rulers the primal principle of government. He
was eminently a peace man, discouraging wars and vio-
lence. He was liberal and tolerant in his views. He
said that the "superior man is catholic and no partisan."
Duke Gae asked, "What should be done to secure the
submission of the people?" The sage replied, "Advance
the upright, and set aside the crooked; then the people
will submit. But advance the crooked, and set aside
the upright, and the people will not submit." Again
he said, "It is virtuous manners which constitute the
excellence of a neighborhood; therefore fix your resi-
dence where virtuous manner prevail." The follow-
ing sayings remind me of Epictetus: "A scholar whose
mind is set on truth, and who is ashamed of bad
clothes and bad food, is not fit to be discoursed with.
A man should say, 'I am not concerned that I have
no place,——I am concerned how I may fit myself for
one. I am not concerned that I am not known;
I seek to be worthy to be known.'" Here Confu-
cius looks to the essence of things, not to popular
desires. In the following, on the other hand, he
shows his prudence and policy: "In serving a prince,
frequent remonstrances lead to disgrace; between
friends, frequent reproofs make the friendship dis-
tant." Thus he talks like Solomon. "Tsae-yu, one
of his disciples, being asleep in the day-time, the
master said, 'Rotten wood cannot be carved. This
Yu——what is the use of my reproving him?'" Of a
virtuous prince, he said: "In his conduct of him-
self, he was humble; in serving his superiors, he was
respectful; in nourishing the people, he was kind; in
ordering the people, he was just."
It was discussed among his followers what it is to be
distinguished. One said: "It is to be heard of through
the family and State." The master replied: "That is
notoriety, not distinction." Again he said: "Though
a man may be able to recite three hundred odes, yet if
when intrusted with office he does not know how to
act, of what practical use is his poetical knowledge?"
Again, "If a minister cannot rectify himself, what
has he to do with rectifying others?" There is great
force in this saying: "The superior man is easy to
serve and difficult to please, since you cannot please
him in any way which is not accordant with right;
but the mean man is difficult to serve and easy to
please. The superior man has a dignified ease without
pride; the mean man has pride without a dignified
ease." A disciple asked him what qualities a man
must possess to entitle him to be called a scholar.
The master said: "He must be earnest, urgent, and
bland,——among his friends earnest and urgent, among
his brethren bland." And, "The scholar who cherishes
a love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar."
"If a man," he said, "take no thought about what is
distant, he will find sorrow near at hand." And again,
"He who requires much from himself and little from
others, he will keep himself from being an object of
resentment." These proverbs remind us of Bacon:
"Specious words confound virtue." "Want of for-
bearance in small matters confound great plans."
"Virtue," the master said, "is more to man than
either fire or water. I have seen men die from tread-
ing on water or fire, but I have never seen a man die
from treading the course of virtue." This is a lofty
sentiment, but I think it is not in accordance with the
records of martyrdom. "There are three things," he
continued, "which the superior man guards against:
In youth he guards against his passions, in man-
hood against quarrelsomeness, in old age against
covetousness."
I do not find anything in the sayings of Confucius
that can be called cynical, such as we find in some of
the Proverbs of Solomon, even in reference to women,
where women were, as in most Oriental countries, de-
spised. The most that approaches cynicism is in such
a remark as this: "I have not yet seen one who could
perceive his faults and inwardly accuse himself." His
definition of perfect virtue is above that of Paley:
"The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be over-
come his first business, and success only a secondary
consideration." Throughout his writings there is no
praise of success with virtue. Nor have I found in
his saying a sentiment which may be called demoral-
izing. He always takes the higher ground, and with
all his ceremony ever exalts inward purity above all
external appearances. There is a quaint common-sense
in some of his writings which reminds one of the say-
ings of Abraham Lincoln. For instance: One of his
disciples asked, "If you had the conduct of armies,
whom would you have to act with you?" The master
replied: "I would not have him to act with me who
will unarmed attack a tiger, or cross a river without a
boat." Here something like wit and irony break out:
"A man of the village said, 'Great is K'ung the phi-
losopher; his learning is extensive, and yet he does
not render his name famous by any particular thing.'
The master heard this observation, and said to his dis-
ciples: 'What shall I practise, charioteering or arch-
ery? I will practise charioteering.'"
When the Duke of Loo asked about the government,
the master said: "Good government exists when those
who are near are made happy, and when those who
are far off are attracted." When the Duke ques-
tioned him again on the same subject, he replied:
"Go before the people with your example, and be
laborious in their affairs. . . . Pardon small faults,
and raise to office men of virtue and talents." "But
how shall I know the men of virtue?" asked the
duke. "Raise to office those whom you do know."
The key to this political philosophy seems to be
this: "A man who knows how to govern himself,
knows how to govern others; and he who knows how
to govern other men, knows how to govern an empire."
"The art of government," he said, "is to keep its affairs
before the mind without weariness, and to practise
them with undeviating constancy. . . . To govern
means to rectify. If you lead on the people with
correctness, who will not dare to be correct?" This
is one of his favorite principles; namely, the force
of a good example,——as when the reigning prince
asked him how to do away with thieves, he re-
plied: "If you, Sir, were not covetous, although you
should reward them to do it, they would not steal."
This was not intended as a rebuke to the prince, but
an illustration of the force of a great example. Con-
fucius rarely openly rebuked any one, especially a
prince, whom it was his duty to venerate for his
office. He contented himself with enforcing prin-
ciples. Here his moderation and great courtesy are
seen.
from Beacon Lights of History, by John Lord, LL. D.,
Volume I, Part I: The Old Pagan Civilizations, pp. 144 - 162
©1883, 1888, by John Lord.
©1921, By Wm. H. Wise & Co., New York
Posted Jun 15, 2019, 10:18 PM UTC · edited
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