THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 63 



earth, so the family must be held together, that no break may occur 

 in the ancestral worship. Whether these benefits are adequate 

 from the broad standpoint of humanity to counterbalance the serious 

 defects of the system, is doubtful indeed. 



Let us next notice what additional elements have been intro- 

 duced into the religious fibre of the nation by the three so-called 

 national religious systems. 



CONFUCIANISM. 



As has already been mentioned, Confucianism is in no way 

 concerned with the supernatural, and indeed lay no claim to such. 

 We noted above, in describing the conception of the Chinese con- 

 cerning their nature god as male and female, the likelihood of 

 religion itself becoming humanized. Confucianism is but the reali- 

 zation of this on the practical or ethical side, and represents an 

 attempt to solve the mystery of life by the use of the intellect alone. 



To say that China does not owe much to Confucianism would 

 be grossly unjust. A system which rests on a belief in the dignity 

 of human nature cannot but appeal to humanity, and perhaps there 

 is no nation among whom outward politeness, love of peace, and a 

 fixed mode of living are so firmly established. But like every human 

 institution, this one also has its inherent defect. From the days of 

 Confucius to the present intellect has ever failed to control habit, 

 unless resting on some higher spiritual ideal. And to-day there is 

 perhaps no nation where is to be found such remarkable combin- 

 ations of external politeness and inner dishonesty as may be found 

 among the modern disciples of Confucius. 



TAOISM. 



If Confucianism is the result of the humanizing of the primitive 

 religion, Taoism may justly be said to represent the same in a 

 materialized form. We have seen how, in the Confucian philosophy, 

 man was made the measure of all things, and social duty the only 

 rule of action. But man, however much you may direct his thoughts 

 to the facts of this life, cannot wholly deny his spiritual nature. The 

 question, "Whence came I?"' will make itself felt, and direct the 

 spirit of man to find some object of worship, some superior being to 

 control its destiny. This craving of the human spirit Taoism under- 

 took to satisfy. The very conditions, however, under which the 



