VIII.] THE NORTHERN MONGOLS. 313 



treasures, have more than ever become the resort of pleasure- 

 seekers rather than of pious worshippers. "To all the larger 

 temples are attached regular spectacles, playhouses, panoramas, . 

 besides lotteries, games of various sorts, including the famous 

 'fan-throwing,' and shooting-galleries, where the bow and arrow 

 and the blow-pipe take the place of the rifle. The accumulated 

 wealth of the priests has been confiscated, the monks driven from 

 their monasteries, and many of these buildings converted into 

 profane uses. Countless temple bells have already found their 

 way to America, or have been sold for old metal 1 ." 



Besides these forms of belief, there is a third religious, or 

 rather philosophic system, the so-called Siza, based on the ethical 

 teachings of Confucius, a sort of refined materialism, such as 

 underlies the whole religious thought of the nation. Siza, always 

 confined to the literati, has in recent years found a formidable 

 rival in the "English Philosophy," represented by such writers 

 as Buckle, Mill, Herbert Spencer, Darwin, and Huxley, most of 

 whose works have already been translated into Japanese. 



Thus this highly gifted people, whose best qualities may perhaps 

 be traced back to the Caucasic substratum dating from the Stone 

 Ages, are being rapidly some fear too rapidly assimilated to the 

 western world in their social and religious, as well as their political 

 institutions. Their intellectual powers, already tested in the fields of 

 war, science, diplomacy, and self-government, are certainly superior 

 to those of all other Asiatic peoples, and this is perhaps the best 

 guarantee for the stability of the stupendous transformation that 

 a single generation has witnessed from an exaggerated form of 

 mediaeval feudalism to a political and social system in harmony 

 with the most advanced phases of modern thought. The system 

 has doubtless not yet penetrated to the lower strata, especially 

 amongst the rural populations. But their natural receptivity, 

 combined with a singular freedom from "insular prejudice," must 

 ensure the ultimate acceptance of the new order by all classes of 

 the community. 



1 Keane's Asia, 1. p. 487. 



