because they think ill of them.  Our romantic movement, which led people to like vehemence, has, so far as I know, no analogue in their literature.  Their old music, some of which is very beautiful, makes so little noise that one can only just hear it.  In art they aim at being exquisite, and in life at being reasonable.  There is no admiration for the ruthless strong man, or for the unrestrained expression of passion.  After the more blatant life of the West, one misses at first all the effects at which they are aiming; but gradually the beauty and dignity of their existence become visible, so that the foreigners who have lived longest in China are those who love the Chinese best.

The Taoists, though they survive as magicians, were entirely ousted from the favour of the educated classes by Confucianism.  I must confess that I am unable to appreciate the merits of Confucius.  His writings are largely occupied with trivial points of etiquette, and his main concern is to teach people how to behave correctly on various occasions.  When one compares him, however, with the traditional religious teachers of some other ages and races, one must admit that he has great merits, even if they are mainly negative.  His system, as developed by his followers, is one of pure ethics, without religious dogma; it has not given rise to a powerful priesthood, and it has not led to persecution.  It certainly has succeeded in producing a whole nation possessed of exquisite manners and perfect courtesy.  Nor is Chinese courtesy merely conventional; it is quite as reliable in situations for which no precedent has been provided.  And it is not confined to one class; it exists even in the humblest coolie.  It is humiliating to watch the brutal insolence of white men received by the Chinese with a quiet dignity which cannot demean itself to answer rudeness with rudeness.  Europeans often regard this as weakness, but it is really strength, the strength by which the Chinese have hitherto conquered all their conquerors.

There is one, and only one, important foreign element in the traditional civilization of China, and that is Buddhism.  Buddhism came to China from India in the early centuries of the Christian era, and acquired a definite place in the religion of the country.  We, with the intolerant outlook which we have taken over from the Jews, imagine that if a man adopts one religion he cannot adopt another.  The dogmas of Christianity and Mohammedanism, in their orthodox forms, are so framed that no man can accept both.  But in China this incompatibility does not exist; a man may be both a Buddhist and a Confucian, because nothing in either is incompatible with the other.  In Japan, similarly, most people are both Buddhists and Shintoists.  Nevertheless there is a temperamental difference between Buddhism and Confucianism, which will cause any individual to lay stress on one or other even if he accepts both.  Buddhism is a religion in the sense in which we understand the word.