Chapter 2 chapter 2

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 recognized by every body as a force higher than physical force and moral obligation is recognized by every body as something which must be obeyed. 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 e very country a few people, criminals, and in the world, a few savages who will not or are not able to recognize right and justice as a force higher than physical force and moral obligation as something which must be obeyed. Thus a-gainst 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 recognize 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 the power of goodness. But then a-gain 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, that the Nature of man is good. * Now the fundamental unsoundness of the civilization of Europe today, 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. , 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 called priests. 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 tomaintain another class of still more expensive idle persons called policemen 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 maintenance 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. 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 civilization before the people of Europe after this war.

Now after the experience which they have had with the priests, I do not think the people of Europe will want to call back the priests. Bismarck has said, "We will never go back to Canossa." Besides, even if the priests are now called back, they would be useless, for the fear of God is gone from the people of Europe. The only other alternative before the people of Europe therefore, if they want to get rid of the policeman and soldier, is to find something else, which, like the fear of God and the fear of the Law, can help them to maintain civil order. Now this something, I believe, as I have said, the people of Europe will find in the Chinese civilization. have called the Religion of good citizenship. This Religion of good citizenship in China is a religion which can keep the population of a country in order without priest and without policeman or soldier. In fact with this Religion of good citizenship, the population of , China , a population as large, if not la rger than the whole population r of the Continent of Europe, are actually and practically kept in peace and order without priest and without policeman or soldier. In China, as every one who has been in this country knows, the priest and the , policeman or soldier. soldier, play a very subordinate, a very insignificant ( part in helping to maintain public order. Only the most ignorant class in China require the priest and only the worst, .the criminal class in China, require the policeman or soldier to keep them in order. Thus I say if the people of Europe really want to get rid of Religion and Militarism, of the priest and soldier which have caused them so much trouble and bloodshed, they will have to come to China to get this, what I have called the Religion of good citizenship.

In short what I want to call the attention of the people of Europe and America to, just at this moment when civilization seems to be threatened with bankruptcy, is that there is an invalid and hitherto unsuspected asset of civilization here in China. Civilization is not the trade, the railway, the mineral wealth, gold, silver, iron or coal in this country. The asset of civilization of the world today, I want to say here, is the Chinaman,_the unspoilt real Chinaman with his Religion of good citizenship. The real Chinaman, I say, is an invaluable asset of civilization, because he is a person who costs the world little or nothing to keep him in order. Indeed I would like

Here to warn the people of Europe and America not to destroy this invaluable asset of civilization, not to change and spoil the real Chinaman as they are now trying to do with their New Learning. If the people of Europe and America succeed in destroying the real Chinaman, the Chinese type of humanity; succeed in transforming the real Chinaman into a European or American, ie, to say, a person who will require a priest or soldier to keep him in order, then surely they will increase the burden either of Religion or of Militarism of the world, _this last item at this moment already becoming a danger and menace to civilization and humanity. But on the other hand, suppose one could by some means or other change the European or American type of humanity, transform the European or American into a real Chinaman who will then not require a priest or soldier to keep him in order,;_just think what a burden will be taken off from the world.