Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/750

* CHINESE EMPIRE. 652 CHINESE EMPIRE. Tao Teh Ki':g (tuo meiins reason), contains neither superstition nor religion, but a system of rationalism. A vast, intan<;il)le, impersonal first principle is regarded there as the parent of all things, and man must attempt to realize this principle by escaping from all mental dis- traction. Lao-tse's speculations payed the way for Buddhism. In its subsequent development, or degradation, it has become little more than A fanta!-.(ie system of spirit-worship, of which alchemy, incantation, and intercourse with the dead are the chief characteristics. As a religion it is not as ancient as Buddhism, and there is little or no connection between Lao-tse's teach- ings and the Taoism of to-day. Buddhism entered China " shortly after the opening of the Christian era, and in its develop- ment has taken the Northern, or expanded form, with its paradise, goddess of mercy, scriptures, voluminous and imposing ritual, passionate rhetoric, and a thousand .stimulating influences which satisfied a mental craving not provided for in the simple materialism of Confucius. Be- sides monasteries and images, the Buddhist tem- ples are found all over China, but in decay. The priests are illiterate, and despised by the edu- cated. The monks and nuns are usually beg- gars, the former recognizable by their yellow robe. Only in a few places caii Buddhism be said to be vigorous. The language of the sacred canon is Sanskrit, now known to few in China. Mohammedanism was introduced directly from Arabia, and. as is believed, by the maternal imcle of Jlohanimed. Arriving in caravans from cen- tral Asia, or in ship? by sea, the missionaries preached the faith industriously, and there are now about 20,000.000 Moslems" in the empire. They have obtained State recognition. The three provinces Yunnan, Kan-su, and Shen-si contain nine-tenths of these believers in one God, there being 10.000.000 north of the Yang-tse-kiang and 200.000 in Peking. Mosques are numerous, each contiiining a tablet in gold letters and read- ing "May the Emperor live ten thousand years." There is a large native literature on the subject of the faith of Islam in China. The progress of Christianity has been slow. A tablet found in 1620, at Changan, Shen-si, in- dicates that the Xestorians introduced Christian- ity into China early in the Sixth Century. The Jesuits Ku:,'gi:'ro and Kioci went to China in l.iTO and 1581. Protestant missions were led by Robert Jlorrison in 1807. The latest estimates attribute to the Roman Catholics somewhat more than a million adherents, and to the Protestants about 100.000. Most of the men in the reform party have been pupils of the missionaries. Confucianism has enjoyed State patronage and protection for about 2100 years. There have heen severe struggles among the various adher- ents of 'the three reliirions' for supremacy: but the Chinese mind, indifl'erent to things abstract, is in its way tolerant, and there is outward peace. Millions of natives, scarcely knowing 'the three religions' as separate, accept (hem in n mechanical unity, each meeting a ditfcrent want in human nature. Confucianism su])plies the need of a moral code. Taoism ministers to the superstitious mind, and Buddhism, with its metaphysics and vague aspirations, appeals to the mystic element in man. There is also a State ritual, with the Temple of Heaven in Peking, at which sacrifices of the first class, to heaven and earth, are made, the Emperor acting for his people: but he does not minister as a priest, nor is there any such thing as a priest- hood in China. The second class of oflerings is to the sun, moon, gods of the land, spirits, and sages, and the third class to deceased statesmen and scholars. On a smaller scale, these ritual ceremonies are observed by the magistrates: for, above all, the Chinaman in every rank is a pantheist. Practically the Chinese are religious- ly inclined, having deep veneration for the idea of a soul and of inunortality. Hence their great respect for the dead, love of funeral ceremonies, readiness to spend money over graves, desire to propitiate the ghosts of ancestors, yearning for sons, the strong family sentiment of unity, and the strict subordination of the younger to the elder. They are tolerant and non-militant. Except that there is no day of rest, and that the idea of 'praise' never entered the Chinaman's mind, a good man in China is. in natural religion, very much what a good man is in Christendom. In faith, doctrine, and dogma, it is very dilTerent. for the average Chinaman is uninterested in metaphysics. In the propagation of religion by foreigners, true and simple Christianity exer- cises a lasting elVect for good on the Chinese mind. Jlost of the so-called 'religious' troubles come from the clashing of militant alien doc- trine with the village customs and social habits so dear to the rustic mind. Toward the ques- tions of liquor, slavery, and concubinage, and in social customs generally, the entire mental atti- ttides of European and native differ. EorcA^Tiox. Differing as the Chinese people do so greatly in local peculiarities, their system of education has made them a nation, binding together the distant parts of the empire and holding them in close unity during the various conquests which they have undergone. Their system of education has l)een their chief defense, for by it they have conquered their conquerors and made tliem like themselves. Education means less personal development than the means of obtaining office, and consequently it is sought eagerly by all classes. The system of appoint- ment to office by competitive literary examina- tion has existed for nearly seventeen centuries: but as only a small fraction of aspirants can enter even the lower grades of salaried office, there exists necessarily a body of many millions of so-called literati. In China proper not more than fi per cent, of the men and 2 per cent, of the women can read an ordinary book, although traders and mechanics may be able to write lluently the characters needed for ordinary let- ters and hookki^ping. using especially those which describe the articles used in their business, the technical terms, etc. The literary men. re- jected in the examinations, are foimd all over the empire, employed as tetichers and in other clerical occupations, fonning a class intensely conservative, which, for the most part, keeps alive the ancient traditions and opposes every- thim.' foreign. In every town or village there is a school, taught by one or more masters. The worship of letters is like a religion, and great reverence is shown for what is written or print- ed. Education is almost entirely a matter of memory and the skillful use of the brush-pen; the mass of people, inchiding many so-called edueuted men, have little notion of science. The Christian missionaries have succeeded in scat-