732 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



not surprised, then, to read the statement of the Abbe Hue that " the 

 whole nation has proclaimed this famous formula, with which every- 

 body is satisfied the three religions are one. Thus, all the Chinese 

 are at the same time partisans of Confucius, Lao-tze, and Buddha." * 

 The institutions and faith which were handed down by Confucius have 

 been embraced by the Taoists, Buddhists, Mohammedans, and Chris- 

 tians, in turn. And it may reasonably be asserted that any form of 

 religion which hopes to prevail in China must permit the practice and 

 belief of their popular superstitions. In the seventeenth century, the 

 Catholic Church was flourishing in China, and made nominally, at 

 least many converts. As it grew stronger, however, it became less 

 tolerant of these native ceremonies which it had at first allowed. This 

 produced an immediate discussion between the Emperor and the priests. 

 The matter was referred to the Pope, and Clement XI settled the dis- 

 pute, and his cause, by decreeing that the Chinese ceremonies should 

 not be permitted the proselytes. The Emperor thereupon banished the 

 missionaries, and upward of one hundred thousand souls were lost to 

 the Church. 



This remarkable preservation of the most primitive form of gov- 

 ernment and religion, in so vast and ancient a nation, well illustrates 

 the law of heredity that characters which have been long transmitted 

 are more persistent than those of more recent origin. All newer forms 

 have yielded to those ancient institutions and beliefs which originated 

 before their civilization, and, aided by unchanged surroundings, have 

 been developed in a nation composed of a homogeneous people and 

 transmitted by inheritance to the present time. 



The practical arts of the Chinese, which have added to the com- 

 forts and luxuries of the Western nations, from the time of the Greeks 

 to the present day, will appear, upon consideration, to be unchanged 

 in their effects upon our society, either in the event of an entire ex- 

 clusion or an unlimited immigration of the people. It would be diffi- 

 cult to imagine a nation, existing for forty-five centuries, having any 

 claim to being called civilized, which had not made many useful dis- 

 coveries and inventions. This would be still more difficult to under- 

 stand of a people like the Chinese, whose instincts have always directed 

 them in the paths of peace. So we find that, in the course of centu- 

 ries, they have made no mean progress in the useful arts, however slow 

 that progress may have been. The Western nations seem to have de- 

 rived their early knowledge of many useful inventions from the Chi- 

 nese ; among these, not the least important are those mighty engines 

 of civilization gunpowder, paper, and printing. The history of these 

 inventions, however, but adds another illustration to the different 

 characters of the civilizations of China and Christendom. It shows, 

 equally, their continued adherence to old knowledge, with no dispo- 

 sition to improvement ; and our inventive and progressive genius, in 



* " Chinese Empire," vol. ii, p. 98. 



