EDITOR'S TABLE. 



27] 



Now, this universal Chinese educa- 

 tion differs widely from ours. It is not 

 a smattering of acquisitions of all kinds; 

 it is an able, well-tried system of train- 

 ing, narrow but thorough, and directed 

 to the practical end of fitting men for 

 the discharge of their moral duties in 

 domestic and social life. Williams re- 

 marks : " The great end of education, 

 therefore, among the ancient Cninese, 

 was not so much to fill the head with 

 knowledge as to discipline the heart 

 and purify the affections. One of their 

 writers says: 'Those who respect the 

 virtuous, and put away unlawful plea- 

 sures, serve their parents and prince to 

 tlie utmost of their ability, and are 

 faithful to their word — these, though 

 they should be considered unlearned, we 

 must pronounce to be educated men.' " 



Five hundred years before the Chris- 

 tian era China produced one of the most 

 eminent moral teachers that the world 

 has seen — the philosopher Confucius. 

 The simple, pure, and sublime morality 

 of that old master forms the staple of 

 Chinese education. His ethical inculca- 

 tions constitute the chief element of the 

 old Chinese classics, which are drilled 

 with such tedious minuteness into the 

 minds of Chinese youth. They are 

 trained in his maxims with an assiduity 

 that is unparalleled. Rational or scien- 

 tific morality is taught nowhere. It is 

 everywhere a matter of dogmatic, em- 

 pirical lesson-learning, and from this 

 point of view the moral education of 

 the Chinese is superior to that of any 

 other country. And here has been the 

 stumbling-block of the missionaries. 

 They have not been successful with this 

 people, and acknowledge that they have 

 nothing to encourage them to keep on 

 save " Scripture promises." What else 

 could be expected? When they tell 

 those persons that " their righteousness 

 is all as filthy rags," and that they want 

 a theological system as a basis of morals, 

 it is not surprising that they make but 

 very little impression. 



The authorities we have quoted at- 



test that this extensive moral teaching 

 has not been without practical influence 

 upon the national character. The va- 

 riety and minuteness of the instructions 

 of Confucius for the nurture and educa- 

 tion of children, and the stress he lays 

 upon filial duty, tell powerfully upon 

 Chinese social life. The " Encyclopfe- 

 dia Britannica " says (article " China ") : 

 " There is a vast deal of quiet, happy 

 domestic life in China. . . . In the or- 

 dering of a Chinese household there is 

 much that might be imitated with ad- 

 vantage hy European families. The 

 duty of filial piety, which is the first 

 object of Chinese religious teaching, 

 represents much more than the cere- 

 monial observances which outwardly 

 mark its performance. The reverence 

 with which children are taught to re- 

 gard their parents fosters the affection 

 of which that reverence is the outward 

 and visible sign ; and the peace of each 

 household is assured by the presence of 

 a supreme authority against whose dicta 

 there is no appeal." Such principles 

 pervading the household can not be re- 

 stricted in their influence, and accord- 

 ingly we are told that in China " the 

 whole theory of government is the em- 

 bodiment of parental and filial piety." 



In regard to the common virtues, 

 the same authority says : " In daily life 

 the Chinese are frugal, sober, and in- 

 dustrious. Their wants are few, and 

 they are easily satisfied. . . . Spirits — 

 they have no wine— appear to have no 

 great attraction for Chinamen. They 

 drink them occasionally, and sometimes 

 to excess, but a reeling Chinaman is 

 rarely to be seen upon the streets." 



The "American Cyclopedia" (arti- 

 cle " China") says: "As to the moral 

 and intellectual characteristics of the 

 Chinese, great injustice has been done 

 to them. . . . The Chinese, so far as 

 they have come in contact with Euro- 

 peans and Americans, are industrious, 

 skillful, polite, and provident. ... In 

 the use of food and drink they are re- 

 markably temperate. . . . Cookery is 



