Government 69 



Government 



However this may be, whether the teachings of Con- 

 fucius have succeeded in leavening the inert mass of 

 the people as yet, or are confined in their influence to 

 the high-minded minority, there is no doubt as to the 

 tendency of the teachings themselves. They em- 

 phasize the need of each individual's subordinating 

 his own immediate selfish interests to the general 

 welfare. We see this in the Chinese scheme of govern- 

 ment, which is not a pure despotism as so often sup- 

 posed, but a paternal autocracy founded on moral 

 support. The Emperor is not free to do as he chooses. 

 He is directly amenable to public opinion. He must 

 govern in accordance with custom. The state religion 

 being founded on ancestry worship, fiUal piety being 

 the very basis of their social fabric, he must stand for 

 conservatism, reverence for the past, peace, order, 

 education, the worship of things as they are. Their 

 philosophy of government is thus summed up by a 

 writer already quoted : ^ 



" 1. That the nation must be governed by moral 

 agency in preference to physical force. 



2. That the services of the wisest and ablest men in 

 the nation are indispensable to good government, and 

 are to be secured by public service competitive exam- 

 inations free from any element of unfairness or favor- 

 itism. 



3. That the people have the right to depose a sov- 



1 Meadows. 



