REV. F. STOIIRS TL'R^El!, B.A., ON MEXCIUS. 



257 



was a mystic who made no effort to gain disciples, and he di(? 

 not conceal his contempt for what seemed to liim the vain 

 efforts of Confucius to convert the workl. On In's part, Confu- 

 cius, according to the story, treated Laou-Tsze with ])rofoun(l 

 respect, though he did not understand him. Between the two^ 

 men there was not any hostile feeling. Mencius, on the contrary, 

 was a fighter all his life : and once one of his disciples said to 

 him, Master, the people all speak of you as being fond of 

 disputing ; I venture to ask whether it is so ? " Mencius replied^ 

 " Indeed, I am not fond of disputing, but I am compelled to da 

 it. I am alarmed by the spread of perverse teachings which 

 delude the people."* Of these heretical sects some mention 

 must be made presently. 



Another difference between the two is that next to nothing 

 is known of Mencius' personal appearance and character. The- 

 teachings of Confucius were written down by his disciples- 

 after his death, and these held him in such loving memory that 

 they have described his ways of walking and lying in bed, hi& 

 clothes and his food, going into details, telling us, for instance, 

 that he always ate ginger at every meal. They descend to^ 

 trivialities which provoke a smile. Mencius wrote down liis.- 

 own teachings, or superintended their compilation by his- 

 disciples. So in his case the man is alniost lost sight of ; we- 

 have to be content with ignorance of his personality, with one- 

 exception ; the man who could speak so plainly and faithfully 

 to kings and nobles had the courage of a martyr, althougli, as- 

 it happened, he was never in danger of his life, as Confucius- 

 was, at least once. 



The teaching of Confucius is summed up in the Five Virtues — ■ 

 Love, Justice, Propriety, Knowledge, Fidelity ; and in the Five 

 Relationships, Prince and Minister, Father and Son, Flder and 

 Younger Brother, Husband and AVife, Fiiend and Friend. 

 Mencius, no doubt, accepted all of these. To him, as to all 

 Chinese, they were axiomatic ; so certain that it was quite- 

 unnecessary to assert belief in them. This makes the- 

 difference between the teachings of the master and his; 

 successor the more striking. Mencius hardly ever draws 

 attention to the last three virtues, while he incessantly insists- 

 upon the first two. From the first chapter of his book to the- 

 last. Love and Justice are his watchwords. If we do not fall 

 into the mistake of attributing to him a Christian concept of 

 the Fatherhood of God, we might say that liis life-long mottO' 



* Legge's Chinese Classics, vol. ii, pp. 154-160. 



