Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1886 — Something of Confucius. [ARTICLE]

Something of Confucius.

His discrimination of character is amply illustrated in the many wise and witty sayings which he has bequeathed to us on the subject, a few of which we have grouped together, as combining his ideal of how man should behave in different positions of life. Thus he tells us how “a poor man who does not flatter, aDd a rich man who is not proud, are passable characters; bat they are not equal to the poor who vet are cheerful, and the rich who yet love the rules of propriety.” “A good man in his conduct of himself is humble, in serving his superiors he is respectful, in nourishing the people he is kind, in ordering the people he is just. ” Again, a man “is to think of virtue, not comfort; of the sanctions of law, not of gratification.” And “what the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man thinks is in others.” He was firmly convinced of its beiDg more or less in the power of every man to acquire knowledge and thereby wisdom. Hence, as Dr. Legge tells us in his “Life of Confucius” (1867, p. 60), “his house became a resort for young and inquiring spirits who wished to learn the doctrines of antiquity. However small the fee his pupils were able to afiord, he never refused his instructions. All that he required was an ardent desire for improvement and some degree of capacity.” Thus, to quote his own words, “I do not open up truths to one who is not eager to get knowledge, nor keep out one who is anxious to explain himself.” By stimulating youth to study, he endeavored to create an instructed public opinion which should display an admiration for truth and goodness. That the same love of truth pervaded all his sentiments is exemplified by a remark he one day made: “Shall I teach you what knowledge is ?” said he. “When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it; this is knowledge.” His definition of hypocrites reminds us of their comparison to whited sepulchers in the New Testament namely—- “ There may be fair words and a humble countenance when there is little virtue.” But lastly, it has often been urged that Confucius, in spite of his wisdom and the loftiness of his teaching, had nothing to say about Cod or a future life. He preferred, however to speak of heaven as in the following instance : “He who offends against heaven has none to whom he can pray, ” and “Alas!” said he, “there is no one that knows me.” But his friend replied, “What do you mean by thus saying that no o:e knows you?” He answered, “I do not murmur against heaven. Ido not grumble against men. But there is heaven that knows me.” Indeed it has been truly said that he was unreligious rather than irreligious. And if he had not a knowledge of a divine ruler it was his misfortune, and arose from no desire to disparage religious belief of any kind. In short, as Mr. Clodd remarks, his omitting to speak about God “was not because he was an unbeliever—for he, of all men, had reverence for the sacred, unknown power that underlies all things—but because his nature was so beautifully simple and sincere that he would not pretend to knowledge of that which he felt xvas beyond human reach and thought.” But nevertheless, one cannot but regret that his teaching was not more distinctive in this respect, especially as it was destined to be such a mighty power in molding the Chinese character for untold generations.— Quiver.