The publisher of the Biblical Repertory takes the liberty to THE PRINCETON REVIEW. APRIL, 186 2. No. II. ART. I.-Remarks on the Ethical Philosophy of the Chinese. WIDELY as the Chinese have departed from the meagre outline of a religious system, left them by Confucius, they have generally adhered to his moral teachings. Developed by his followers, received by the suffrages of the whole people, and enforced by the sanctions of the "Three Religions," the principles which he inculcated may be said to have moulded the social life of one-third of the human family. These are no where to be found digested into a scientific form; but diffused through the mingled masses of physics and metaphysics which compose the Sing-li Ta-tseuen, or sparkling in the detached apophthegms of "The Sages"; happily for our convenience, we have them brought to a focus, in the chart, a translation of which is given below. We shall confine ourselves to the task of explaining this important document, as the best method of exhibiting the system in its practical influence; though an independent view would afford freer scope for developing its principles. This chart is anonymous; but the want of a name detracts nothing from its value. The author has no merit beyond the idea of presenting the subject in a tabular view, and the pictorial taste with which he has executed the design. Of the ethical system so exhibited he originated nothing; and the popularity of his work is due mainly to the fact, that it is regarded as a faithful synopsis of the Confucian morals. In this view it is highly esteemed by the Seen-sangs of Ningpo, a city which ranks among the foremost in the Chinese empire in point of literary culture. Note. The half-illuminated sphere prefixed to the chart has scarcely more connection with its subject matter, than the royal coat-of-arms stamped on the title-page of some editions has with the contents of King James' Bible. It represents the mundane egg, or mass of chaotic matter, containing Yin and Yang, the seminal principles from whose action and reaction all things were evolved. Woo-keih produced Tai-keih; Tai-keih produced Yin and Yang; and these dual principles generated all things. This is the lucid cosmogony of the Chinese; and it adds little to its clearness to render the above terms, as they are usually translated by the "great extreme," the "male and female powers," &c. The primitive signification of Yang and Yin, is light and darkness, a meaning exhibited in the shading of the diagram. Tai-keih may be rendered the Great Finite, and Woo-keih, the Indefinite or Infinite. We have then the following statement as the starting point of their philosophy and history. The Infinite produced the Great Finite, and the Great Finite (the universe) evolved light and darkness. The passage, thus given, is equally rational and beautiful. It admits a creative power anterior to chaos, makes the production of light one of the earliest of creative acts, and, with at least poetical truth, ascribes the generation of all things to the action of light and darkness, or the succession of days and seasons. It is so far consonant with the Genesis of the Christian Scriptures; and may have originated in some indistinct tradition. Whether it was ever so understood, it is impossible to affirm; though it is certain that no such meaning is attached to it at the present day. The dual principles of the Chinese, as explained by themselves, are not light and darkness; neither are they, like those of the ancient Persians, the antagonistic powers of good and evil. The creation and preservation of the universe are ascribed to them; and yet they are not regarded as deities, but as unconscious impersonal agents. Popularly they are understood, in a phallic sense, as the energies of the universal sexual system; and philosophically, as certain forces, positive and negative, to which, automatic and uncontrolled by any intelligence, are referable all the changes in the universe. They are the pillars of a materialistic atheism. A CHART OF CHINESE ETHICS. IN FOUR PARTS. Part I.-CHART OF THE GREAT STUDY. Heaven having given existence to man, the doctrine of the Restricted in its sphere, it produces the perfection ¿ This contains the True Tradition of the Holy Sages. Great Study succeeded, and established order in society. From the Son of Heaven down to the private man, every one must begin with the Cultivation of Personal Virtue. Fidelity and Truth. With free scope for its exercise, it makes a Reformer of the World-a True King. Suavity and Respect. Dignity of Carriage. Precision of Words and Actions. 3. Correctness of Purpose. Religious Reverence. 4. Intelligence of Mind. Fear of Self-deception. Rejection of Error. The Great Study stops only at Perfection. His aim is, SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT. The means to its attainment are- Fraternal Love. Conjugal Fidelity. Care in Choice of Associates. Strictness in Intercourse of the Sexes. Instruction to Children. Caution against Partiality. Harmony with Neighbours. Regard for Frugality. Science of Government. Power of Combination. Reverence for Heaven and Ancestors. Zeal for Education. Strictness in Executing the Laws. Righteousness in Rewards and Punishments. Frugality in Expenditures. |