Page:The Spirit of the Chinese People.djvu/115

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Piety." Confucius, further says:—"By cultivating respect for the dead, and carrying the memory back to the distant past, the good in the people will grow deep." Cogitavi dies antiquos, et annos eternos in menti habui That is how the State Religion in China, Confucianism, awakens and kindles in men, the inspiration or living emotion necessary to enable and make them obey the rules of moral conduct, the highest and most important of all these rules being the absolute Duty of Loyalty to the Emperor, just as the higest and most important rules of moral conduct in all the Great Religions of the world is fear of God. In other words, the Church Religion, Christianity, says:—"Fear God and obey Him." But the State Religion of Confucius, or Confucianism, says:—" Honour the Emperor and be loyal to him." The Church Religion, Christianity, says:—"If you want to fear God and obey Him, you must first love Christ." The State Religion of Confucius, or Confucianism, says:—"If you want to honour the Emperor and be loyal to him, you must first love your father and mother."

Now I have shown you why it is that there is no conflict between the heart and the head in the Chinese civilization for these last 2,500 years since Confucius' time. The reason why there is no such conflict is because the Chinese people, even the mass of the population in China, do not feel the need of Religion—I mean Religion in the European sense of the word; and the reason why the Chinese people