The Spirit of the Chinese People

PREFACE

THE object of this book is an attempt to interpret the spirit and show the value of the Chinese civilisation．Now in order to estimate the value of a civilisation，it seems to me，the question we must finally ask is not what great cities，what magnificent houses，what fine roads it has built and is able to build；what beautiful and comfortable furniture，what clever and useful implements，tools and instruments it has made and is able to make；no，not even what institutions，what arts and sciences it has invented：the question we must ask，in order to estimate the value of a civilisation，—is，what type of humanity，what kind of men and women it has been able to produce．In fact，the man and woman，—the type of human beings—which a civilisation produces，it is this which shows the essence，the personality，so to speak，the soul of that civilisation．Now if the men and women of a civilisation show the essence，the personality and soul of that civilisation，the language which a man and woman speak，shows the essence，the personality，the soul of the man and woman．The French say of literary composition，”Le style，c’est l’homme.” I have therefore taken these three things，the Real Chinaman，the Chinese woman and the Chinese language，—as the subjects of the first three essays in this volume to illustrate the spirit and show the value of the Chinese civilisation.

I have added to these，two essays in which I have tried to show how and why men，foreigners who are looked upon as authorities on the subject，do not really understand the real Chinaman and the Chinese language．The Rev．Arthur Smith，who wrote the Chinese Characteristics，I have tried to show，does not understand the real Chinaman，because，being an American，—he is not deep enough to understand the real Chinaman．Dr．Giles again，who is considered a great sinologue，I have tried to show，does not really understand the Chinese language，because，being an Englishman，he is not broad enough，—he has not the philosophic insight and the broadness which that insight gives，I have wanted to include in this volume and essay I wrote on J．B．Bland and Backhouse’ s book on the famous late Empress Dowager，but unfortunately I have not been able to find a copy of that essay which was published in the “National Review” in Shanghai some four years ago．In that essay，I have tried to show that，such men as J．B．Bland and Backhouse do not and cannot understand the real Chinese woman，—the highest type of woman produced by the Chinese civilisation viz the late Empress Dowager，because such men as J．B．Bland and Backhouse are not simple，—have not the simplicity of mind，being too clever and having，like all modern men，a distorted intellect.[1] In fact，in order to understand the real Chinaman and the Chinese civilisation，a man must be deep，broad and simple，for the three characteristics of the Chinese character and the Chinese civilisation are：depth，broadness and simplicity.

The American people，I may be permitted to say here，find it difficult to understand the real Chinaman and the Chinese civilisation，because the American people，as a rule，are broad，simple，but not deep．The English cannot understand the real Chinaman and Chinese civilisation because the English，as a rule，are deep，simple，but not broad．The Germans again cannot understand the real Chinaman and the Chinese civilisation because the Germans，especially the educated Germans，as a rule，are deep，broad，but not simple．The French，—well the French are the people，it seems to me，who can understand and has understood the real Chinaman and the Chinese civilisation best.[2] The French，it is true，have not the depth of nature of the Germans nor the broadness of mind of the Americans nor the simplicity of mind of the English，—but the French，the French people have to a preeminent degree a quality of mind such as all the people I have mentioned above as a rule，have not，—a quality of mind which，above all things，is necessary in order to understand the real Chinaman and the Chinese civilisation；a quality of mind viz：delicacy，For，in addition to the three characteristics of the real Chinaman and Chinese civilisation which I have already mentioned，I must here add one more，and that the chief characteristic，namely delicacy；delicacy to a preeminent degree such as you will find nowhere else except perhaps among the ancient Greeks and their civilisation.

It will be seen from what I have said above that the American people if they will study the Chinese civilisation，will get depth；the English，broadness；and the Germans，simplicity；and all of them，Americans，English and Germans by the study of the Chinese civilisation，of Chinese books and literature，will get a quality of mind which，I take the liberty of saying here that it seems to me，they all of them，as a rule，have not to a preeminent degree，namely，delicacy．The French people finally，by the study of the Chinese civilisation，will get all，—depth，broadness，simplicity and a still finer delicacy than the delicacy which they now have．Thus the study of the Chinese civilisation，of Chinese books and literature will，I believe，be of benefit to all the people of Europe and America．I have therefore added to this volume an essay on Chinese scholarship，—the sketch of a programme how to study Chinese，which I made for myself when I made up my mind and began，after my return from Europe，to study the civilisation of my own country，exactly now thirty years ago；this sketch of a programme how to study Chinese which I hope will be of help to those who want to study Chinese and the Chinese civilisation.

Last of all，I have included as an appendix an essay on practical politics，—an essay on “The War and the Way out.” Knowing full well the danger of entering into the arena of practical politics，I nevertheless do it，because in order to prove the value of the Chinese civilisation，I want to show how the study of the Chinese civilisation can help to solve the problem facing the world to－day，—the problem of saving the civilisation of Europe from bankruptcy，In fact I want to show that the study of Chinese，of Chinese books and Chinese literature is not only a hobby for sinologues.

In this essay，I have tried to show the moral causes which have brought on this war；for until the true moral causes of this war are understood and remedied，there can be no hope of finding a way out of it．The moral causes of this war，I have tried in my essay to show，are theworship of the mob in Great Britain and theworship of might in Germany．I have，in my essay，laid emphasis more upon the worship of the mob in Great Britain，than the worship of might in Germany，because looking impartially upon the question，it seems to me that it is the worship of the mob in Great Britain，which is responsible for the worship of might in Germany；in fact，the worship of the mob in all European countries and especially in Great Britain，it was this which has created the enormous German Millitarism which everybody now hates and denounces.

Now let me first of all say here that it is themoral fibre in the German nation，their intense love of righteousness and，as a consequence，their equally intense hatred of unrighteousness，hatred of all untidiness and disorder（Unzucht und Unordnung），which makes the German people believe in and worship might．All men who intensely love righteousness，who intensely hate unrighteousness are inclined to believe in and worship might．The Scotch Carlyle，for instance，believed in and worshipped might．Why？Because Carlyle with the German moral fibre in him intensely hated unrighteousness．Now the reason why I say that it is the worship of the mob in Great Britain which is responsible for the worship of might in Germany，is because，themoral fibre—the intense hatred of unrighteousness，of untidiness and disorder in the German nation makes them hate the mob，the worship of the mob and the mob worshippers in Great Britain.After the German nation saw how the mob and the mob－worshipping politicians of Great Britain made the Boer War in Africa，theirinstinctive intense hatred[3]for the mob，the mob－worship and the mob－worshippers in Great Britain made the German nation willing to make heavy sacrifices，made thewhole German nation ready to starve themselves to create a Navy with the hope to put down the mob，the mob－worship and the mob－worshippers in Great Britain.In fact，the German nation，I may say，found themselves surrounded on all sides by the mob，mob－worship and mobworshippers encouraged by Great Britain in all Europe and this made the German nation believe more and more in might，made the German nation worship might as the only salvation for mankind.This worship of might in Germany created by the hatred for the Religion of mob worship in Great Britain，thus created the enormous monstrous German Militarism which everybody now hates and denounces.

Thus，I say again，it is the worship of the mob，the Religion of the worship of the mob in all European countries，especially in Great Britain，which is responsible for the worship of might in Germany；which has created the abnormous enormity and monstrosity of German Militarism in Europe to－day．If therefore the people in Great Britain and the people in all European countries and America want to put down German Militarism，—they must try first to put down the mob，the mob－worshippers and the Religion of mob－worship in their own countries.[4] To the people of Europe and America，and in Japan and China too，to－day who speak of and want liberty，I will venture here to say that the only way，it seems to me，to get liberty，true liberty is to behave themselves；to learn to behave themselves properly．Look at China before this Revolution．There was more liberty among the Chinese people，—no priest，no policeman，no Municipal tax，no income tax to bother them—more liberty among the Chinese than among any other people in the world；and why？Because the Chinese people before this Revolution behaved themselves；knew how to behave themselves；knew how to behave themselves asgood citizens．But now after this Revolution—there is less liberty in China，and why？Because the modern queueless，up－to－date Chinamen，the returned students have learnt from the people of Europe and America，—learnt from the European mob in Shanghai how tomisbehave themselves；to behave themselves not as good citizens，but as amob—a mob encouraged，coddled and worshipped by the British diplomats and the British Inspector General of Customs in Peking.[5] In fact，what I want to say here is，that if the people in Europe，the people in Great Britain want to put down German Militarism，Prussian Militarism，they must keep the mob in their own countries in order；they must make the mob in their own countries behave themselves properly；in fact they must put down the Religion of mob－worship，and the mob－worshippers in their own countries.

But now while I say that the British people with their mob worship and encouragement of mob－worship are responsible for the worship of might in Germany，for German Militarism，I must at the same time say here that，looking again impartially upon the question，it seems to me that thedirect responsibility for this war rests more heavily upon the German people，upon the German nation，than upon anybody else.

In order to understand this，let me first of all here give the history of German Militarism in Europe.After the Reformation and the Thirty Years War，the Germanic nations，the people of the Germanic race with theirmoral fibre，with their intense love of righteousness and their intense hatred of unrighteousness，hatred of all untidiness and disorder，the German people，with Militarism as a sword in their hand，became the rightful guardian of civilisation in Europe．In other words，the responsibility for putting order and tidiness（Zucht und Ordnung）in Europe；in fact，themoral hegemony so to speak of Europe came into the hands of the German people.After the Reformation，Frederick the Great，like Cromwell in England，had to take up and use the sword of German Militarism to put order and tidiness in Europe and he succeeded in putting order and tidiness at any rate in the Northern part of Europe．Now see what happened after Frederick the Great’ s death．His successor did not know how to use the sword of German Militarism in order to guard and protect the civilisation of Europe；in fact，he was unfit to hold the moral hegemony of Europe．The result was，the whole of Europe，even the courts in Germany became a bottomless pit of abominations covered up only with the veneer of civilisation；so much so that at last the suffering population，the plain men and women in France rose up with pikes to protest against the abominations．The plain men and women in France who rose up to protest against the abominations very soon became amob，and this mob finally found a great and able leader，Napoleon Bonaparte，[6] who led them to rob，murder，kill and ravage all Europe until the nations in Europe rallying round the small nucleus ofsound German Militarism left in Europe，put an end to the career of the great leader of the mob at Waterloo．After this the moral hegemony of Europe should have returned to the people of the Germanic race，to the Prussians，the back bone of the German nations．But the jealousy of the other races which formed the Austrian Empire prevented this.The result was that without the German nation with its moral fibre and the sword of German Militarism to keep down the mob，the mob in 1848 again rose up furiously to break the civilisation，of Europe.Then again the German nation—the backbone of the Germanic nations，the Prussians with their moral fibre and the sword of German Militarism，saved Europe，—saved Kingship，（Bismarck called it the dynasty），saved civilisation in Europe from the mob.

But now the Austrians，—the other races forming the Austrian Empire again became jealous and would not allow the German nation，—the backbone of the Germanic nations，Prussia to take over the moral hegemony of Europe until 1866 when the Prussian King Wilhelm with Bismarck and Moltke had to put down the Austrian jealousy by force and took over the hegemony into their hands．After this，Louis Napoleon，not like his great uncle a leader，but a swindler of the mob or，as Emerson calls him，a successful thief，tried with the mob of Paris behind him，to dispute and wrest the moral hegemony of Europe from the German nation.The result was that the Emperor Wilhelm with the sharp sword of German militarism in his hand had to march to Sedan and put down the poor successful thief and swindler of the mob.The plain men and women of Paris who put their trust in the mob and the swindler of the mob had their houses sacked and burntnot by the German Militarism，not by the Germans and Prussians，but by the very mob in whom they put their trust．After 1872，—not only the moral，but the actual political hegemony of Europe passed finally into the hands of the German nation with the moral fibre of the Germanic race in their soul and the sword of German Militarism in their hand，to hold down the mob and keep the peace in Europe and thanks to the moral fibre in the German nation and the sword of German Militarism，Europe since 1872 has now enjoyed peace for 43 years.Thus people who abuse and denounce German Militarism and Prussian Militarism should remember how much Europe owes to this very German，this Prussian Militarism which they now abuse and denounce.

I have in the above taken the trouble to give this rough short sketch of the German Militarism in Europe in order to make the German people see that I am not prejudiced against them in saying what I am going to say to show that the actualdirect responsibility for this war rests more heavily upon them，upon the German people and German nation than upon anybody else．I say that the actualdirect responsibility for this war rests more heavily upon the German people and German nation than upon anybody else；and why？—Becausepower means responsibility.[7]

I say that it is the intense love of righteousness，the intense hatred of unrighteousness，intense hatred of all untidiness and disorder（Unzucht und Unordnung）in the German people which makes them believe in and worship might.Now I want to say here that this hatred of unrighteousness，hatred of untidiness and disorder，when it becomes over－intense，when it is carried to excess becomes also anunrighteousness，becomes a frightful and terrible unrighteousness，something more sinful and wrong even than untidiness and disorder.It was this over intense hatred of unrighteousness which came from their intense love of righteousness，the intense，narrow，hard，rigid hatred of unrighteousness carried to excess in the old Hebrew people—the Hebrew people to whom the people of Europe owe their knowledge and love of righteousness，it was this which destroyed the Jewish nation.It was from this over－intense narrow，hard，rigid hatred of unrighteousness that Jesus Christ came to save His people.Christ，with what Matthew Arnold calls his unspeakable sweet reasonableness said to his own people：”Learn of me，that I ammild and lowly and yet shall have peace in your souls.” But the Jews—his own people would not listen to him；they，instead of listening to him，crucified him and the consequence was—the Jewish nation perished.To the Romans who were then the guardians of civilisation in Europe，Christ said，”All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword！”[8] But the Romans would not listen，but instead，all owed the Jews to crucify him.The consquence was—the Roman Empire and the old civilisation of Europe perished and passed away.Goethe says：”What a long way mankind must have travelled before they came to know how to deal gently even with sinners，to be merciful to law－breakers，and to be human even to the inhuman.Truly they were men of Divine nature who first taught this and who gave their lives for it in order to make the realisation of this possible and to hasten the practice of it.”（Welchen Weg musste nicht die Menschheit machen，bis sie dahin gelangte，auch gegen Seluldige gelind，gegen Verbrecher schonend，gegen auch Unmenschliche menschlich zu sein．Gewiss waren as Manner göttlicher Natur，die dies zuerst lehrten，die ihr Leben damit zubrachten，die Ausübung möglich zu machen und zu beschleunigen.）”

With those words of their great Goethe I will endure here to appeal to the German people，to the German nation and say to them that，unless they find a way to put down their narrow，hard，rigid，excessive hatred of unrighteousness which makes them believe so absolutely in and worship might，unless they put away their absolute belief in and worship of might—they，the German nation，like the Jewish nation，will perish and what is more，the modern civilisation of Europe for want of a strong guardian，will collapse and pass away just as the ancient civilisation of Europe passed away.For it is this over－intense，narrow hard，rigid hatred of unrighteousness which makes the German people，the German nation believe in and worship might；and it is this absolute belief in and worship of might which makes the German nation，the German diplomats，German officials and the German people so inconsiderate and tactless in their behaviour towards other people.When my German friends have asked me to show them a proof of the German worship of might，of German tactlessness，I have simply pointed the Kettler memorial in Peking to them.The Kettler memorial in Peking is a standing monument of the German worship of might，of the tactlessness of the German diplomacy，thetactlessness of the German nation in their international dealings with other nations.[9] It was this worship of might of the German nation，this tactlessness of the German diplomacy of which the Kettler memorial is a standing monument，which made the Emperor of Russia say：”We have stood this for seven years；now it must finish；” this tactlessness of the German diplomacy which made the really peaceloving Emperor of Russia and the best people in Europe，the soundest，most loveable，kindest and most generous－hearted people in Europe the Russians take the side of the mob and mob－worshippers in Great Britain and in France，which created the Triple－Entente；which made the Russians finally take the side even of the anarchic mob in Servia and thus brought on this war．In one word it is this tactlessness of the German diplomacy，of the German people，of the German nation which isdirectly reponsible for this war.

I say therefore，if the German nation at this moment the true，rightful and legitimate guardian of the modern civilisation of Europe to－day，is not to perish and the modern European civilisation is to be saved，—the German nation，the German people must find a way to put down their over－intense，narrow，hard，rigid hatred of unrighteousness which makes them believe so absolutely in and worship might；in fact they must find a way to put down their absolute belief in and worship of might which makes them so inconsiderate and tactless．But then，where are the German nation，the German people to find a way to put down their absolute belief in and worship of might？The German nation，the German people，I say，will find this in these words of their great Goethe．Goethe says：”There are two peaceful powers in this world：Right and Tact.”（Es gibt zwei friedliche Gewalten auf der Welt：Das Recht und die Schicklichkeit.）

Now this Right and Tact，das Recht und die Schicklichkeit，is the essence of the Religion of good citizenship which Confucius gave to us Chinese here in China；this Tact，thisSchicklichkeit，especially，is the essence of the Chinese civilisation．The Religion in the civilisation of the Hebrew people taught the people of Europe the knowledge of Right，but it did not teach Tact．The civilisation of Greece taught the people of Europe the knowledge of Tact but it did not teach Right．But the Religion in the civilisation of China teaches us Chinese both Right and Tact，—das Recht und die Schicklichkeit．The Hebrew Bible，the plan of civilisation according to which the people of Europe have built their present modern civilisation，teaches the people of Europe to love righteousness，to be righteous men，to do right．But the Chinese Bible—the Five Canons and Four Books in China，the plan of civilisation which Confucius saved for us the Chinese nation，teaches us Chinese also to love righteousness；to be righteous men；to do right，but it adds：”Love righteousness，be righteous men，do right—butwith good taste.” In short，Religion in Europe says：”Be a good man.” But the Religion in China says：”Be a good manwith good taste.” Christianity sys：”Love Mankind.” But Confucius says：”Love Mankindwith good taste.” This Religion of righteousness with good taste，which I have called the Religion of good citizenship，is the new religion I believe，which the people of Europe，especially the people of the countries now at war，want at this moment not only to put an end to this war，but to save the civilisation of Europe，to save the civilisation of the world．This new Religion，the people of Europe will find here in China，—in the Chinese civilisation．I have therefore in this little book made the attempt to interpret and show the value of this，—the Chinese civilisation．I do this with the hope that all educated serious thinking people，who read this book of mine will，by reading this book，better understand the moral causes of this war and understanding the moral causes of this war，will all help to put an end to this cruel，inhuman，useless and most monstrous war which the world has ever seen.

Now if we want to help to put an end to this war，we must，all of us，try to put down first the worship of the mob and then the worship of might in the world to－day，which，as I have said，are the cause of this war．We can put down the worship of the mob，only when in our daily life，in everything we say and do，every one of us will think，not of interests，of expediency—of what will pay，but think of that word in Goethe’ s saying—Right．Confucius says：”The gentleman understandsright；thecad understandsinterests，—what will pay.” Further we can only put down the worship of the mob in the world when we have the courage，even if it does not pay to do so，to refuse to join and go in with the crowd—with themob．Voltaire says：”C’ est le malheur des gens honnêtes qu’ ils sont des laches．It is the misfortune of so－called good people that they are cowards.” For it is the selfishness and cowardice in all of us，I want to say here，selfishness which makes us think of interests，of expediency，of what will pay，instead of right，and cowardice which makes us afraid to stand up alone against the crowd，against the mob，—it is this selfishness and cowardice in all of us which has given rise and created the mob and the worship of the mob in the world to－day．People say German Militarism is the enemy and danger of the world to－day．But I say it is the selfishness and cowardice in all of us which is the real enemy of the world to－day：selfishness and cowardice in all of us，which，when combined，becomes Commercialism．It is this spirit of Commercialism，in all countries of the world，especially in Great Britain and America，which is the real enemy of the world to－day．It is，I say，this spirit of Commercialism in all of us and not Prussian Militarism which is the real，the greatest enemy of the world to－day．For it is this Commercialism，a combination of selfishness and cowardice which has created the Religion of the worship of the mob and it is this Religion of the worship of the mob in Great Britain which has created the Religion of the worship of might in Germany，created the German Militarism which，as I said，finally brought on this war.The fons et origo of this war，I say，therefore is not militarism，butCommercialism，which，as I said，is a combination of selfishness and cowardice in all of us．Thus，if we want to help to put an end to this war，we must，all of us，first put down the spirit of Commercialism，the combination of selfishness and cowardice in us；in short，we must first of all，think ofright and not of interests and then have the courage to stand up against the crowd，against the mob．In this way，I say，andonly in this way we can help to put down the worship of the mob，the Religion of the worship of the mob and in putting down this worship of the mob，this Religion of the worship of the mob，we can help to put an end to this war.

Now as soon as we have put down the worship of the mob，it will then be very easy to put down the worship of might，easy to put down German Militarism，put down Prussian Militarism．The only thing we will have to do，in order to put down the worship of might，to put down German，Prussian or any Militarism in the world，is to think of the other word in that saying of Goethe—Schicklichkeit，Tact，Good Taste and，in thinking of that，to behave with tact and good taste，in short to behave properly；for might，Militarism，even Prussian Militarism can do nothing and will soon find itself useless and unnescessary against people who know how to behave themselves properly．This then is the essence of the Religion of good citizenship；this is the secret of the Chinese civilisation．This is also the secret of the new civilisation of Europe which the German Goethe gave to the people of Europe and the secret of this civilisation is：to put down force，not by force，but byright and tact；in fact to put down force and everything that is evil in this world，not by force，but by ordering our conversation aright and behaving ourselves properly；and ordering our conversation aright and behaving properly meansto do right and to behave with tact and good taste.[10]This is the secret，the soul of the Chinese civilisation，the essence of the spirit of the Chinese people，which I have tried in this book to interpret and explain.

Finally I will here conclude with the words with which I concluded the book “Papers from a Viceroy’ s Yamen” which I wrote after the Boxer trouble in China．They are the words of the French poet Béranger and I think they are very appropriate at the present moment.

J’ai vu la Paix descendre sur la terre，

Semant de l’or des fleurs et des épis；

L’air était calme et du Dieu de la guerre

Elle étouffait les foudres assoupis.

Ah！disait－elle，egaux par la vaillance.

Anglais，Français，Belge，Russe ou Germain，

Peuples，formez une sainte alliance

Et donnez vous la main！[11]

KU HUNG－MING

Peking，20th April，1915.

[1] Mencius says， “What I hate in your clever men is that they always distort things．所恶于智者为其凿也” Bk IV．Part II.26.

[2] The best book written in any European Language on the spirit of the Chinese civilisation is a book called “La Cité Chinoise” by G．—Eug.Simon who was once French Consul in China．It was from this book that Prof．Lowes Dickinson of Cambridge，as he himself told me，drew his inspiration in writing his famous “Letters from John Chinaman.”

[3] The famous telegram of the German Emperor to President Kruger was aninstinctive outsburst of indignation of the true Gernamic soul with its moral fibre against Joseph Chamberlain and his Cockney class in England，who manipulated the Boer War.

[4] Confucius said to a disciple “when outside nations are dissatisfied with you，you should cultivatecivil orCivic virtues（远人不服则修文德）．” The British aristocracy，however，like the Manchu aristocracy in China，are now helpless against the mob and mob worshippers in England．But it is，I must say，a great credit to the British aristocracy that not one of them as far as I know，has joined the mob in England in their shout，howl and yell in this war.

[5] To show what a mob the Chinese returned students have become，I may mention here that some of these students in Peking last year actually wrote letters to the “Peking Gazette，” a newspaper conducted by a clever Chinese “Babu” by the name of Eugene Chen，openly threatening to organise and carry out a public assault upon me for criticising the new Chinese woman in my essay on “the Chinese woman.” This clever Chinese “Babu” Eugene Chen the instigator of the contemplated piece of rowdyism now is a respected member of the Committee of the Anglo－Chinese Friendship Bureau under the patronage of the British Minister and the I．G．of the Chinese Customs！

[6] Emerson with great insight，says， “What sent Napoleon to St．Helena，was not loss of battles，but theparvenu，the vulgar ambition in him—the vulgar ambition to marry a real Princess，to found a dynasty.”

[7] Confucius says， “Possession of power without leniency and generosity is a thing which I never can bear to see.（居上不宽吾何以观之）Shakespeare says： “Oh，it is glorious to have a giant’s strength：but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.”

[8] That is to say，all who depend and put their faith solely upon material brute force or as Emerson says，who believe in the vulgar musket worship.

[9] The German Minister Baron Kettler during the fanatic Boxer outbreak in China was accidentally killed by a madman from the fanatic soldiery．As a punishment for this act of a mad man，the German diplomats insisted upon branding the whole Chinese nation on the forehead with an indelible mark of humiliation，by having this Kettler memorial erected in the principal street of the Chinese Capital．See note on Page 12．The late Count Cassini，Russian Minister in Peking just before the Boxer outbreak，said in an interview with an American journalist， “The Chinese are apolite people，but the impoliteness of the British and German Ministers，—especially of the German Minister in Peking is something outrageous.”

[10] Confucius says， “The moral man，the gentleman by living a life of simple truth and earnestness can bring peace to the world.

书摘

Sage，thun wir nicht recht？Wir müssen den Pöbel betrügen，Scih nur，wie ungeschickt，sich nur wie wild er sich zeigt！Ungeschick und wild sind alle rohen Betrogenen；Seid nur redlich und führt ihn zum Menschlichen an.

Goethe

THE great war at the present moment is absorbing all the attention of the world exclusive of everything else.But then I think this war itself must make serious thinking people turn their attention to the great problem of civilisation．All civilisation begins by the conquest of Nature，i.e.by subduing and controlling the terrific physical forces in Nature so that they can do no harm to men．The modern civilisation of Europe to－day has succeeded in the conquest of Nature with a success，it must be admitted，hitherto not attained by any other civilisation.But there is in this world a force more terrible even than the terrific physical forces in Nature and that is the passions in the heart of man.The harm which the physical forces of Nature can do to mankind，is nothing compared with the harm which human passions can do.Until therefore this terrible force，—the human passions—is properly regulated and controlled，there can be，it is evident，not only no civilisation，but even no life possible for human beings.

In the first early and rude stage of society，mankind had to use physical force to subdue and subjugate human passions．Thus hordes of savages had to be subjugated by sheer physical force．But as civilisation advances，mankind discovers a force more potent and more effective for subduing and controlling human passions than physical force and this force is calledmoral force．The moral force which in the past has been effective in subduing and controlling the human passions in the population of Europe，is Christianity．But now this war with the armament preceding it，seems to show that Christianity has become ineffective as a moral force．Without an effective moral force to control and restrain human passions，the people of Europe have had again to employ physical force to keep civil order．As Carlyle truly says，”Europe is Anarchy plus a constable.” The use of physical force to maintain civil order leads to militarism．In fact militarism is necessary in Europe to－day because of the want of an effective moral force．But militarism leads to war and war means destruction and waste．Thus the people of Europe are on the horns of a dilemma．If they do away with militarism，anarchy will destroy their civilisation，but if they keep up militarism，their civilisation will collapse through the waste and destruction of war．But Englishmen say that they are determined to put down Prussian militarism and Lord Kitchner believes that he will be able to stamp out Prussian militarism with three million drilled and armed Englishmen．But then it seems to me when Prussian militarism is thus stamped out，there will then arise another militarism，—the British militarism which again will have to be stamped out．Thus there seems to be no way of escape out of this vicious circle.

But is there really no way of escape？Yes，I believe there is．The American Emerson long ago said，”I can easily see the bankruptcy of the vulgar musket worship，—though great men be musket worshippers；and ‘ tis certain，as God liveth，the gun that does need another gun，the law of love and justice alone can effect a clean revolution.” Now if the people of Europe really want to put down militarism，there is only one way of doing it and that is，to use what Emerson calls the gun that does not need another gun，the law of love and justice，—in fact，moral force，With an effective moral force，militarism will become unnecesary and disappear of itself．But now，that Christianity has become ineffective as a moral force the problem is where are the people of Europe to find this new effective moral force which will make militarism unnecessary？

I believe the people of Europe will find this new moral force in China，—in the Chinese civilisation．The moral force in the Chinese civilisation which can make militarism unnecessary is the Religion of good citizenship．But people will say to me，”There have also been wars in China.” It is true there have been wars in China；but，since the time of Confucius 2，500 years ago，we Chinese have had no militarism such as that we see in Europe to－day．In China war is an accident，whereas in Europe war has become a necessity．We Chinese are liable to have wars，but we do not live in constant expectation of war．In fact the one thing intolerable in the state of Europe，it seems to me，is not so much war as the fact that every body is constantly afraid that his neighbour as soon as he gets strong enough to be able to do it，will come to rob and murder him and he has therefore to arm himself or pay for an armed policeman to protect him．Thus what weighs upon the people of Europe is not so much the accident of War，but the constant necessity to arm themselves，the absolute neccessity to use physical force to protect themselves.

Now in China because we Chinese have the Religion of good citizenship a man does not feel the need of using physical force to protect himself；he has seldom the need even to call in and use the physical force of the policeman，of the State to protect him．A man in China is protected by the sense of justice of his neighbour；he is protected by the readiness of his fellow men to obey the sense of moral obligation．In fact，a man in China does not feel the need of using physical force to protect himself because he is sure that right and justice is recognised by every body as a force higher than physical force and moral obligation is recognised by every body as something which must be obeyed．Now if you can get all mankind to agree to recognise right and justice，as a force higher than physical force，and moral obligation as something which must be obeyed，then the use of physical force will become unnecessary；then there will be no militarism in the world．But of course there will be in every country a few people，criminals，and in the world，a few savages who will not or are not able to recognise right and justice as a force higher than physical force and moral obligation as something which must be obeyed．Thus against criminals and savages a certain amount of physical or police force and militarism will always be necessary in every country and in the world.

But people will say to me how are you to make mankind recognise right and justice as a force higher than physical force．I answer the first thing you will have to do is to convince mankind of the efficacy of right and justice，convince them that right and justice is a power；in fact，convince them of thepower of goodness．But then again how are you to do this？Well，—in order to do this，the Religion of good citizenship in China teaches every child as soon as he is able to understand the meaning of words，thatthe Nature of man is good.

Now the fundamental unsoundness of the civilisation of Europe to－day，it seems to me，lies in its wrong conception of human nature；its conception that human nature is evil and because of this wrong conception，the whole structure of society in Europe has always rested upon force．The two things which the people of Europe have depended upon to maintain civil order are Religion and Law．In other words，the population of Europe have been kept in order by the fear of God and the fear of the Law．Fear implies the use of force．Therefore in order to keep up the fear of God，the people of Europe had at first to maintain a large number of expensive idle persons calledpriests．That，to speak of nothing else，meant so much expense，that it at last became an unbearable burden upon the people．In fact in the thirty years war of the Reformation，the people of Europe tried to get rid of the priest．After having got rid of the priests who kept the population in order by the fear of God，the people of Europe tried to maintain civil order by the fear of the Law．But to keep up the fear of the Law，the people of Europe have had to maintain another class of still more expensive idle persons calledpolicemen and soldiers．Now the people of Europe are beginning to find out that the maintainence of policemen and soldiers to keep civil order，is still more ruinously expensive than even the maintainence of priests．In fact，as in the thirty years war of the Reformation，the people of Europe wanted to get rid of the priest，so in this present war，what the people of Europe really want，is to get rid of the soldier．But the alternatives before the people of Europe if they want to get rid of the policeman and soldier，is either to call back the priest to keep up the fear of God or to find something else which，like the fear of God and the fear of the Law，will help them to maintain civil order．That，to put the question broadly，I think，everybody will admit，is the great problem of civilisation before the people of Europe after this war.