2 14 The National Geographic Magazine 



missing reference to such comparison it 

 is interesting to remember the words of 

 one distinguished savant, Dr. 'hegge. 

 He says: " The teaching of Confucian- 

 ism on human duty is wonderful and 

 admirable. In the last three of the four 

 things which Confucius delighted to 

 teach — letters, ethics, devotion of soul, 

 and truthfulness — his utterances are in 

 harmony with both the law and the 

 gospel." 



Possibly the remarkable honesty of the 

 Chinese as business men and merchants 

 in dealing with foreigners, which has 

 been a marked national trait in their 

 commercial relations during the last 

 sixty years, should be attributed to Con- 

 fucius. Possibly it is due to native 

 shrewdness; but it is so surprising to 

 the average foreigner that it is worth 

 recording here. 



Mr. Thomas Whitehead, the distin- 

 guished manager of the great chartered 

 bank of India, Australia, and China, 

 which is the second largest banking 

 house in Asia, says that his institution 

 has never directly lost a penny through 

 Chinese dishonesty in transactions rep- 

 resenting many millions of sterling. 

 The famous Asiatic foreign house or 

 hong of Jardine, Matheson & Co. de- 

 clare that they have lost more money to 

 8 per cent of foreigners than to 92 per 

 cent of Chinese, in a total trade of 100 

 per cent, covering a period of nearly 

 sixty years and representing one hun- 

 dred millions sterling ! 



Mencius was a scholar, thinker, and 

 philosopher second only to Confucius. 

 His time is placed about 300 B. C. His 

 teachings, moral deductions and pre- 

 cepts, epigrams, and wise sayings are 

 studied and committed today by every 

 native in China, and, next to Confucius, 

 he has exerted a mighty influence on 

 Chinese development. 



Of the personal lyaotze we know but 

 little. He was a man of profound learn- 

 ing, but there has been handed down no 

 such historical record or collection of his 



writings as we have of his colleagues, 

 Confucius and Mencius. His religion, 

 Taoism, has at all times exerted a pro- 

 found influence on China's history, but 

 has never stood with the continuous 

 strength of Confucianism. Some mon- 

 archs were entirely under its sway, while 

 others decreed death to all who followed 

 it. The original Taoism was perverted 

 and changed, it was even assimilated by ' 

 the Buddhism of China, for this variety 

 is a corrupted branch of the old Indian 

 stock. There was much in the early 

 Taoism that suggested thoughts and 

 ideas akin to Christianity. The immor- 

 tality of the soul was partially pictured , 

 though in a material, rather than in a 

 spiritual, sense. In later days Taoism 

 became the superstitious theory of ma- 

 gicians and of kings who would seek 

 perpetual life through extraordinary 

 elixirs and decoctions. Today it has 

 many astute and devoted followers, but 

 it is decadent as a religion and has passed 

 long ago the day of its influence and 

 power among the great religions of the 

 world. 



THE IMPORTATION OF BUDDHISM 

 FROM INDIA 



Buddhism in China is a transplanted 

 product. It was brought from India as 

 a sprig of one fruit might be grafted 

 on the tree of another Buddhism was 

 grafted, in a measure, on Confucianism. 

 It would never have thrived in China if 

 Confucianism had been an actual reli- 

 gion like Christianity or if Confucius 

 had been an inspired being like Christ. 



Sixty years after the crucifixion- of 

 Jesus Christ the Emperor Ming-ti, of 

 the Han dynasty, dreaming of a gigantic 

 image of gold, dispatched an embassy 

 to India to find a new religion. They 

 returned with B uddhism . The doctrine 

 of the transmigration of souls delighted 

 the mighty Ming-ti. The rewards and 

 punishments it outlined seemed reason- 

 able, and the possibilities it pictured of 



