Chapter 11 chapter 11

In fact, a society without the sense of honor in men, and without morality in its politics, cannot, I say, be held together, or at any rate, cannot last. For in such a society the policeman, upon whom the lawyer, politician, magistrate and president of a republic depend to carry out their fraud, will thus argue with himself. He is told that he must do his duty for the good of society. But he, the poor policeman, is also a part of that society_to himself and his family, at least, the most important part of that society. Now if by some other way than by being a policeman, perhaps by being an anti-policeman, he can get better pay to improve the condition of himself and his family , that also means the good of society. In that way the policeman must sooner or later come to the conclusion that, as there is .no such thing as a sense of honor and morality in politics, there is then no earthly reason why, if he can get better pay, which means also the good of society_no reason why, instead ofBeing a policeman, he should not become a revolutionist or anarchist- In a society when the policeman once comes to the conclusion that there is no reason why, if he can get better pay, he should not become a revolutionist or anarchist_that society is doomed. Mencius said:_"When Confucius completed his Spring and Autumn Annals"_the book in which he taught the State religion of his _and in which he showed that the society of his time_in which there was then, as in the world to-day, no sense of honor in public men and no morality in politics_was doomed; when Confucius wrote that book, "the Jesuits and anarchists (lit. bandits) of his time, became afraid."

But to return from the distress, I say, a society without the sense of honor cannot be held together, cannot last. For if, as we have seen, even in the relation between men connected with matters of little or no vital importance such as gambling and trading in human society, the recognition of the sense of honor is so important and necessary, how much more so it must be in the relations between men in human society, which establish the two most essential institutions in that society, the Family and the State. Now, as you all know, the rise of civil society in the history of all nations begins always with the institution of marriage. The Church religion in Europe makes marriage a sacrament, ie, something sacred and inviolable. Sacrament of marriage in Europe is given by the Church and the authority for the sanction is God. But that is only an outward, formal, or so to speak, legal sanction. The true, inner, the really binding sanction for the inviolability of mar riage_as we see it in countries where there is no church religion, is the sense of honor, the law of the gentleman in the man and woman. Confucius says, "The recognition of the law of the gentleman begins with the recognition of the relation between husband and wife. "** In other words, the recognition of the sense of honor_the law of the gentleman_in all countries where there is civil society, establishes the institution of marriage. The institution of marriage establishes the Family.

I said that the State religion which Confucius taught is a Code of Honor, and I told you that Confucius made this Code out of the law of the gentleman. But now I must tell you that long before Confucius time there existed already in China an undefined and unwritten code of the law of the gentleman. This undefined and unwritten code of the law of the gentleman in China before Confucius time was known as li (U) the law of propriety, good taste or good manners. Later on in history before Confucius time a great statesman arose in China_the man known as the great Law-giver of China, generally spoken of as the Duke of Chou (^^_) (BC )_who first defined, fixed, and made a written code of the law of the gentleman, known then in China as li, the law of propriety, good taste or good manners. This first written code of the gentleman in China, made by the Duke of Chou, became known as Chou li_the laws of good manners of the Duke of Chou. This Code of the laws of good manners of the Duke of Chou m ay be considered as the pre-Confucian religion in China, or, as the Mosaic law of the Jewish nation before Christianity is called, the Religion of the Old Dispensation of the Chinese people. It was this religion of the old dispensation_the first written code of the law of the gentleman called the Laws of good manners of the Duke of Chou_which first gave the sanction for the sacrament and inviolability of marriage in China. The Chinese to this day therefore speak of the sacrament of marriage as Chou Kung Chih Li (J^ ^-^l^L)_the law of good manners of the Duke of Chou. By the institution of the sacrament of marriage, the pre-Confucian or Religion of the Old Dispensation in China established the Family. It secured once for all the stability and permanence of the family in China. This pre-Confucian or Religion of the Old Dispensation known as the laws of good manners of the Duke of Chou in China might thus be called a Family religion as distinguished from the State religion which Confucius afterwards taught.

Now Confucius in the State religion which he taught, gave a new Dispensation, so to speak, to what I have called the Family religion which existed before his time. In other words, Confucius gave a new, wider and more comprehensive application to the law of the gentleman in the State religion which he taught; and as the Family religion, or Religion of the Old Dispensation in China before his time instituted the sacrament of marriage, Confucius, in giving this new, wider, and more comprehensive application to the law of the gentleman in the State religion which he taught, instituted a new sacrament. This new sacrament which Confucius instituted, instead of calling it li_the Law of good manners, he called it ming fen to. yi, which I have translated as the Great Principle of Honor and Duty or Code of Honor. By the institution of this ming fen to. yi or Code of Honor Confucius gave the Chinese people, instead of a Family religion, which they had before_a State religion.

Confucius, in the State religion which he now gave, taught that, as under the old dispensation of what I have called the Family religion before his time, the wife and husband in a family are bound by the sacrament of marriage, called Chou Kung Chih Li, the Law of good manners of the Duke of Chou_to hold their contract of marriage inviolable and to absolutely abide by it, so under the new dispensation of the State religion which he now gave, the people and their sovereign in every Slate, the Chinese people and their Emperor in China, are bound by this new sacrament called ming fen to. yi_ the Great Principle of Honor and Duty or Code of Honor established by this State religion_to hold the contract of allegiance between them as something sacred and inviolable and absolutely to abide by it. In short, this new sacrament called ming fen to. yi, or Code of Honor which Confucius instituted, is a Sacrament of the Contract of Allegiance, as the old sacrament called Chou Kung Chih Li, the Lawof Good Manners of the Duke of Chou which was instituted before his time, is a sacrament of marriage. In this way Confucius, as I said, gave a new, wider, and more comprehensive application to the law of the gentleman, and thus gave a new dispensation to what I have called the Family religion in China before his time, and made it a State religion.