CONFUCIANISM. Confucianism, one of the three religions of China, owes its name to the great teacher Confucius (551-479 B.C.), but in a measure it existed before Confucius, just as Taoism (q.v.) did before Lao tsze (Gth century B.C.), its reputed founder. At the time of the birth of Confucius the power of the Emperor of China had almost disappeared. The appanage states of the vassal princes had become almost independent. Prof. Parker compares the condition of China to the state of France before the power of the vassal dukes and counts had been broken by Louis XI. " Not only were the vassal principalities, dukedoms, and counties insubordinate in relation to the king, but their own counts, barons, and squires were equally presumptuous towards themselves; and it was into this chaotic con dition of society and policy, where each clever man was fighting for his own hand alone, that Confucius was ushered at his birth." According to later legend, his birth was accompanied by a number of marvels, but little is really known about his early years. He soon displayed an interest in ritualistic ceremonies; and at the age of fifteen he became devoted to study. At the age of nineteen he married. Soon afterwards he ac cepted a post as grain distributor. At the age of twenty-one he was promoted to be an estate-agent or a farm-overseer. When he was twenty-two he was al ready surrounded by a band of earnest students and disciples. He now earned his living by teaching philo sophy. For years he taught others, and at the same time continued his own studies. He took lessons in music from a celebrated music-master. On a visit to the Imperial capital, whither he went particularly to obtain more exact information about the ancient rites and ceremonies, he met and consulted the Taoist philosopher Lao-tsze. According to one account Lao-tsze addressed him thus: " The bones of the people you speak of have all rotted away, and only their words remain. When a man of first rate qualities finds his opportunity, he makes his career; if he finds no oppor tunity, he betakes himself off like the grass carried away by the storm. I have always understood that a good trader keeps back his best wares: in the same way a man of first-rate qualities hides his potential virtues behind an expressionless face. Get rid of your superior airs and your multitudinous requirements, of your mannerisms, and your inordinate desires, none of which can be of any advantage to your body. This is all I have to say to you." Confucius is reported to have said to his disciples: " I know the capacity of a bird to fly, of a fish to swim, of a beast to get along; the last you can trap, the others take with a rod or an arrow; but when it comes to dragons, I am ignorant of how they ride the winds and clouds up to heaven. Lao tsze, whom I have seen to-day, would seem to be of the dragon kind." In spite of Lao-tsze's reproof, Con fucius' disciples soon numbered three thousand. When Confucius was thirty-six he was forced by the outbreak of a civil war to remove from Lu to the land of Ts'i. He returned after six years, and devoted himself for a time to the compilation and editing of the " Book of Odes " (q.v.) and the " Book of History " (q.v.). At the age of forty-seven, he was made Magistrate or Governor of one of the towns of Lu. This gave him an opportunity of putting his own principles of government into practice, and he met with such success that in course of time he was made :Minister of Works. When the Duke, his master, had asked him whether his rule of government was adapted to the whole State he had replied: " Certainly, and not only to the State of Lu, but to the whole Empire." But enemies soon rose up to frustrate his work. " Honesty, morality and funeral etiquette advanced with such strides under the premiership of Confucius that neighbouring states began to grow uneasy. It was first thought advisable to con ciliate the rising power by a cession of territory; but wilier counsels prevailed, and a successful effort was made to corrupt the new duke's heart with presents of beautiful singing-girls and This moral col lapse so distressed the philosopher that he left the country " (Parker). This happened in 49t; B.C. Con
fucius went forth with his disciples to wander for thir teen years through the various feudal states, seeking, as Prof. Legge says, a ruler who would heed his in structions and had the goodness and the wisdom to follow them. A long and fruitless quest. The philo sopher was sixty-eight years old when the Duke of Lu invited him to return. He accepted the invitation, but devoted the remaining five years of his life to the completion of his literary labours. His history of his own State (see SPRING AND AUTUMN ANNALS) begins with the year 722 B.C. and covers about two hundred and fifty years. His work as a historian marks a turning-point in the study of Chinese history. " All Chinese history previous -to this date," says Prof. Parker, " is as vague and unsatisfactory as is our own European history previous to the founding of Rome in 753 B.C." When Confucius felt that he had not much longer to live he said : " No intelligent monarch arises; there is no ruler in the kingdom who will make me his master; my time has come to die." The philosopher only claimed to be a man with a divine mission. He was first described as " holy " by Mencius (372-289 B.C.) two hundred years later. Naturally it was reported in course of time that he possessed exceptional and extra ordinary knowledge, but he said of himself : " I am never tired of learning myself, and never weary of teaching others." His mission was to teach men the way of perfection. " Self-control, modesty, forbearance, patience, kindness, orderliness, absence of effusiveness and passion, studiousness, industry, mildness. dutiful ness, neighbourliness, fidelity, uprightness, moderation, politeness, ceremoniousness—these were the qualities which Confucius consistently practised and taught " (Parker). One of his rules was an anticipation of the Golden Rule. He said : " What you do not wish others to do to you, do not to them." Lao-tsze (see TAOISM) went even farther than this, for he said that good should be returned for evil. Confucius could not rise to this height. •' What do you say," asked oue of his disciples, " concerning the principle that injury should be recompensed with kindness? " The philosopher re plied : " With what then will you recompense kindness? Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kind ness with kindness." Prof. Parker suggests that as a practical man interested in good government Confucius could not approve of Lao-tsze's maxim. This indeed was the great difference between the two men. The one was a philosophical radical like Carlyle or Tolstoy; the other was a practical ruler and reformer. Confucius " probably did in common with the received traditions, more or less vaguely believe in a Supreme Maker. but he did not attempt to define or dogmatize as to what that Maker was, or how that Maker created. He pre ferred to discuss the practical character of things before his eyes, and was indifferent to the causes of those things. He says nothing about the future state, but holds that man continues, after what we call death, to live on " (Parker). Prof. Giles notes that in the one original work by Confucius, the •' Spring and Autumn Annals " (q.v.) there is no allusion whatever to any interposition on the part of God in human affairs. It has been pointed out also that in the whole of the Confucian literature there is no purgatory or hell. Confucius shares the sacrifice that is made in China to the great men who have departed. Twice a year, in Spring and in Autumn, it is the duty of the reigning emperor to go to Peking and present offerings before the spirit tablets of Confucius. But according to Prof. Legge it is only the homage of gratitude that is given, and not the worship of adoration. See J. Edkins. Re ligion in China, 1S7S; James Legge, The Religions of China, ISSO; R. K. Douglas, Confucianism and Taouism: H. A. Giles, Religions of Ancient China, 1905: James Legge. " Confucius the Sage and the Religion of China," in R.S.W.; E. H. Parker, Studies in Chinese Religion, 1910; cp. H. A. Giles. " Confucianism in the Nineteenth Century." in Great Religions of the World, 1902.