Chapter 31 Section 31: Chinese Studies

This is what Matthew Arold calls the way of Christ in his teaching.When a poor widow gave him a small eighth, Christ reminded his disciple not what she had given, but how she had given it.The moralists said, "You shall not commit adultery," but Christ said, "I would like to say that whoever, when his mind is full of desire to spy on a woman, has in fact committed the crime of rape." In the same way, the moralists of the time of Confucius believed that this is filial piety, that is, children must cut materials and carry water for their parents, and leave the best things in the family to their parents.But Confucius disagreed: "No, that's not filial piety." True filial piety is not only reflected in the fulfillment of obligations to parents, but also in the way, attitude, and mental state to fulfill these obligations.Confucius said, what is difficult?What method and attitude to use to fulfill is the most difficult (sexual difficulty).I will conclude by saying that what made Confucius a great religious teacher, and not a mere moralist, as some Christian missionaries have claimed, was through this force in the teachings, which saw man's moral conduct as inner strength.

I will take the reforms currently under way in China as a further explanation of the teachings of Confucius.Those progressive officials who have been affirmed by foreign newspapers, they are very busy.They even want to go to Europe and the United States, trying to find some good medicine for reforms that China should adopt from the other side.But very unfortunately, not the reforms promoted by these progressive officials, but how the reforms are implemented will save China.Unfortunately, I cannot organize these progressive officials to study the Constitution in Europe and America, nor can I force them to stay at home and study Confucius.In China, to prevent the current reform movement from causing chaos, disaster, and suffering, it is necessary for these officials to truly understand the teachings of Confucius and pay attention to how to replace this reform. (z-69)

Another essay I will briefly examine in Dr. Gillis' Notes of Zhai Shan is: "The Four Stratas". At a reception, the Japanese Baron Suematsu said that the Japanese divided their citizens into four classes - scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants.Dr. Gilles said: "It is wrong to translate soldiers into soldiers. That is the meaning later." Dr. Gilles further said, "The earliest meaning of soldiers is to refer to ordinary people as opposed to the police." However, the reality is just the opposite. The earliest usage of the word "shi" refers to the gentlemen in ancient China, just like those European nobles who wear uniforms-swords.Since then, officers and soldiers in the army have been called soldiers.

The civilian bureaucratic class in ancient China was called "history".The rise of the civilian bureaucratic class, becoming the ruler, was when China's feudal system was abolished (2nd century BC). Since then, fighting wars has not been the only occupation for scholars.Since then, the civilian bureaucratic class has formed a robed aristocracy that is different from the original sword aristocrats. His Excellency Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Wuchang, once asked me, saying that foreign consuls are civilians, but why do they wear swords when they wear uniforms.I replied: because they are "shi".They are different from the civilian bureaucrats or officials in ancient China, but the kind of scholar-bureaucrats, or warriors.Your Excellency the Governor accepted my statement and ordered all the students in Wuchang Academy to wear military uniforms the next day. (z-59-2)

Therefore, the question raised by Dr. Gillis whether the "shi" in China refers to civilians or warriors is still of great practical significance today.Because whether China will be independent or controlled by others in the future depends on whether China has a strong and well-trained army, and also depends on whether the enlightened ruling class in China will always return to the ancient meaning of the word "shi", that is, not Writers are warriors with weapons on their shoulders who can defend their homeland from foreign invasion. Chinese Studies (1) Not long ago, in order to catch up with the fashion, a missionary called himself "Su Confucianism" on the cover of some of his articles, which caused a lot of jokes.There is no doubt that the idea is, of course, rather absurd.In the entire Chinese Empire, it is safe to say that there is not a single person who still loudly declares himself a Confucian. The word "Su" in China means the highest state that a literati can achieve.However, we often hear that a European is called a Chinese scientist.In the advertisement of "China Review", it said, "Among the missionaries, advanced Chinese studies are being cultivated hard." Then, it listed a bunch of names of contributors, and said that we believe that all the research of these scholars is Be credible and dependable. (z-62)

Now, if we are trying to understand the profound knowledge of the so-called hard-working missionaries in China, we don't need to compare the German Fichte in his "Literati" speech, or the American Emerson's "Literary Ethics" Measured against the high standards raised.Mr. Taylor, the former US ambassador to Germany, is recognized as a great German scholar.In fact, he is only an Englishman who has read several Schiller plays and published translations of Heine's poems in magazines.In his social circle he was hailed as a Germanologist, but he himself would never openly claim to be in print.Among the Europeans in China, immediately after publishing some dialogues in some provincial dialects or collecting a hundred Chinese proverbs, the title of Chinese scholar is given to this person.Of course, taking a name is irrelevant, and under the extraterritorial clause of the treaty an Englishman in China may call himself Confucius with impunity if it pleases him.

We are led to consider this question because some people think that Sinology has surpassed the early pioneering period and is about to enter a new stage.In the new stage, Chinese researchers will not be satisfied with compiling dictionaries or such simple work, they want to write monographs and translate the most perfect works in Chinese national literature.They not only judge them very rationally and with sufficient arguments, but also decide the most respected names in the hall of Chinese literature.Next, I will conduct investigations in the following aspects.First, examine the Europeans who have undergone the above-mentioned changes, and examine what level of Chinese knowledge they possess; second, what work did Chinese scholars in the past do; third, examine the actual situation of Chinese studies today; finally, point out what kind of China studies should be our development direction.As the saying goes, a dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant can easily imagine himself greater than the giant.However, it must be admitted that the dwarf has a positional advantage and will have a broader vision.Therefore, we will stand on the shoulders of our ancestors and examine the past, present and future of Sinology.If we put forward opinions that are different from those of our predecessors in the process, we hope that it will not be considered showing off.We thought we were just taking advantage of where we were.