DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHINESE 79 



of transition, the sanctions have heen removed and confusion is apt to 

 follow. For the Chinese of this class custom is followed, not because 

 of the meaning that attaches to it, but because it is the established and 

 recognized way of acting. The moral sanctions have grown out of a 

 unique historical setting from which it is very difficult for the Chinese 

 to dissociate themselves. 



Of the earliest period of moral development little or nothing is 

 known except by inference. The ancient past of China is enshrouded 

 in myth and mystery, — a fact which, as is well known by students of 

 history, is typical of all nations. This is the pre-historic period which 

 is present both in the race and, figuratively speaking, in the individual. 

 During this progress was made largely on an organic basis, or with con- 

 scious participation in the realization of certain immediate ends without 

 further thought for the future. 



The historic period begins definitely at 500 B.C., when Confucius 

 collected, compiled and edited the chief literature of China. 



He took the records of remote antiquity, and sifted them, in such wise, 

 however, as to exert in a most effective manner the influence of an editor, 

 giving to the readers of all succeeding ages only that which he wished to pro- 

 duce its effect on the national mind. 1 



He was followed by Mencius (371-287 B.C.) about one hundred and 

 fifty years later, who is known as the author of the " Works of Mencius." 

 These two men and their disciples fixed the classic literature of China 

 — the Six Classics and the Four Books — and by so doing determined the 

 ethical conceptions of their people for over two thousand years. 2 From 

 that time the educational ideal was not the creative production of inde- 

 pendent literature, but the memorization and interpretation of the 

 classic literature. In this way the classic literature of China took the 

 same place in the development of China which the Vedic literature held 

 in India. Serving as a standard, it frustrated that spontaneous devel- 

 opment of thought which is a sine qua non of higher moral progress. 

 Not only was the second class of people in China under the sway of 

 custom, but the educated people -and the leaders were also completely 

 dominated by ideals that had been created centuries before. The en- 

 slavement to custom became complete, when the philosopher Chu Hsi 

 (a.d. 1130-1200) of the Sung Dynasty fixed the interpretation of the 

 classics by his commentaries. It was so thorough that signs of genuine 

 liberation have been present for only about two decades, and even at the 

 present time the majority of Chinese scholars accept the interpretation 

 of the philosopher Chu without further question. 



In addition to the restraining effect of the classic literature, the re- 



1 W. A. P. Martin, ' ' The Lore of Cathay, ' ' Eevell Company, N. Y., p. 170. 



2 The sixth Classic is the ' ' Book of Filial Piety, ' ' which is sometimes 

 omitted in the enumeration. 



