CHAPTER II

ORIENTAL EDUCATION. EDUCATION AS RECAPITULATION. THE CHINESE AS A TYPE

CONCEPTION OF EDUCATION HELD BY THE CHINESE. -The fundamental relation of education to the entire scheme of life of the Chinese is revealed in the initial sentence of one of the Confucian texts: "What Heaven has conferred is called nature; an accordance with nature is called the path of duty; the regulation of this path is called instruction." The purpose of education is to train each individual in this path of duty, wherein is most minutely prescribed every detail of life's occupations and relationships. These have not varied for centuries. In reality Heaven has "conferred" merely that which exists that which was established, or, rather, elaborated, explained, certified to, and made authoritative by Confucius; and by him in turn considered authoritative because it had the sanction of the ancestral approval of many generations. The natural state that authoritatively approved by religion, morality, and the government — is the existing state of relationships. The "path of duty" is the maintenance of that which exists, without change or modification. Education has for its function the training of the leaders in the knowledge of all this ancient learning respecting the order of society and the proper relationships in life, and the training of the entire population in the proper modes of conduct respecting every activity, every interest throughout life.

No age or place, either in the past or present, has seen a people that was so thoroughly controlled by the minutiae of cus

tom, that regarded so sacredly its most punctilious observance, or that has persisted so long in this subserviency to the past. Thoroughly interwoven as they are with every aspect of their life, the educational ideals and practices of this people explain the long continuance of their unchanging social structure, their conservative character, their chief moral traits, their strength and weakness, either as individuals or as a nation. For this reason no other type - in fact, no other instance of an educational system gives a clearer example of the close relation between education and the social structure and life as a whole; and nowhere else is education more influential or more successful in accomplishing its aim.

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Relation between Social Life and Education. this close relationship that education bears to life, it possesses a distinctly moral character. While, as we are soon to see, the education of the schools is of a distinctly literary character, and it is often cited as an example of a wholly formal and unpractical education, yet the content of this instruction and this literature relates entirely to conduct, and so gives to the individual thus trained both an ability to shape his own. conduct aright, and a knowledge that will enable him to direct the conduct of others. Rewarded as are the learned men or educated class of no other country, the successful student of this literature becomes the political official, with complete control of the organization and direction of social life. Such government as they have consists in applying these ancient rules of conduct to present life; their governing class is wholly composed of "scholars in politics"; their aristocracy is truly an aristocracy of learning. The aim of the Chinese system of government is to prevent change, and hence they are often represented as having no government. In a remarkable way that is not true of any Western people, the education, the government, the ethical beliefs and practices of the Chinese all are based upon and all find an expression in a religion - that of Confucianism. Confucianism is

embodied in the sacred texts, The Four Books and The Five Classics. These are in part the work of Confucius (551-478 B.C.), in part that of his great disciple, Mencius (372-289 B.C.), and in part that of later disciples. However, Confucius in his time assigned the authority of more than twenty centuries to the teachings that have subsequently borne his name.

Confucianism the Basis of Education. In a remarkable manner Confucianism unites political or social ethics with private morality. Of itself it furnishes rather a system of philosophy than a system of religion or of worship. Its system of conduct receives reënforcement from the other two religions of China — Buddhism and Taoism. All ethical teachings and all social obligations are summed up in those of the "five relationships" that are taught to every child in ten syllables, as an "A B C " of conduct. These are the relation of sovereign and subject, parent and child, husband and wife, brother and brother, friend and friend. As there are five senses, five elements, five planets, five races, five colors, five notes in music, five tastes, five points to the compass, so, too, there are five virtues - benevolence, justice, order, prudence, fidelity.

Strikingly parallel to the teaching of the Greek philosophers, that virtue consists in moderation, in the medium between excess and complete denial, in the mean between two vices, is this teaching of Confucius recognized as his chief principle: Perfect equilibrium of emotions and passions results in virtue, is "the doctrine of the mean." Also strikingly similar to Greek ideas is Mencius's teaching that man is by nature good, not evil, and that ethics and education are to preserve nature and direct him in its ways. "Man," he says, "inclines to virtue, as water does to flow downward, or as the wild beast does to seek the forest." The teachings of Confucian literature have received full recognition and have been given great praise. It has been

said of the Chinese "that they have the loftiest moral code which the human mind unaided by divine revelation has ever produced, and its crystalline precepts have been the rich inheritance of every successive present from every successive past." Especially has this been claimed for the remarkable principle which Confucius puts into the mouth of the master when the pupil asks, "Is there one good word which may serve as a rule for the practice of all one's life?" "Yes," replies the master, "is not reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself do not do to others." It is wholly characteristic of their ethics that this should be in negative rather than in positive form. But while fullest recognition should be given to these principles, it must be admitted that they are few and far between. For the most part these sacred writings are devoted to an exposition of details of conduct which are prescribed for every conceivable relationship and occasion in life. To the great bulk of those who follow the teachings of this literature the principle is seldom discovered on account of the precepts.

The following brief passage from the Li-Ki, or Book of Rites, one of the Five Classics, will better illustrate the content and spirit of these sacred books, as it will illustrate at the same time the aim and content of their education. This passage includes the opening paragraphs of the chapter on "The Pattern of the Family," where one would expect to find the virtues of this people set forth; and is typical of the material that is studied in the school.

Selection from Confucian Text.". The sovereign and king orders the chief minister to send down his (lessons of) virtue to the millions of the people.

2. Sons, in serving their parents, on the first crowing of the cock, should all wash their hands, and rinse their mouths, comb their hair, draw over it the covering of silk, fix this with the hairpin, bind the hair at the roots with the fillet, brush the dust from that which is left free, and then put on

their caps, leaving the ends of the strings hanging down. They should then put on their squarely made black jackets, knee covers, and girdles, fixing in the last their tablets. From the left and right of the girdle they should hang their articles for use: on the left side, the duster and handkerchief, the knife and whetstone, the small spike and the metal speculum for getting fire from the sun; on the right the archer's thimble for the thumb and the armlet, the tube for writing instruments, the knife case, the larger spike, and the borer for getting fire from wood. They should put on their leggings and adjust their shoe strings.

3. (Sons') wives should serve their parents-in-law as they served their own. At the first crowing of the cock, they should wash their hands, and rinse their mouths; comb their hair, draw over it the covering of silk, fix this with the hairpin, and tie the hair at the roots with the fillet. They should then put on the jacket, and over it the sash. On the left side they should hang the duster and handkerchief, the knife and whetstone, the small spike, and the metal speculum to get fire with; and on the right, the needlecase, thread, and floss, all bestowed in the satchel, the great spike, and the borer to get fire with from wood. They will also fasten on their necklaces, and adjust their shoe strings, etc." 1

This continues for many paragraphs devoted to the conduct of younger son, younger daughter, daughter-in-law, etc., and for many chapters upon every possible activity and relationship of individuals in the family. The virtues of family life are those of filial duty, fraternal love, friendship, and the like; the concrete embodiment of these and other virtues can be judged in the light of the passage quoted.

These texts contain no portrayal of immorality of the gods. as in the Greek religious literature, or of those of men as in the Hebrew, nor the extravagances of the mythologies of most peoples; on the other hand, they inculcate the solid virtues of an unchangeable and unprogressive system of society, and of a people destined to a materialistic and, of necessity, sordid view of life. Here are no teachings to inspire the individual 1 Müller, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 37, p. 449.