Relations.”  These are:  Sovereign and Minister; Father and Son; Husband and Wife; Elder Brother and Younger Brother; and Friends.  The relation being stated, the correlative duty arises at once.  It may perhaps be truly said by Christians that Confucius might have made a religion of his system of ethics, by adding a sixth and supreme relation—­that between God and man.  This he declined to do, and so left his people without any aspiration toward the Infinite.  By setting before them only a finite goal he sapped the principles of progress.[6]

Vicissitudes of Confucianism.

After the death of Confucius (478 B.C.) the teachings of the great master were neglected, but still later they were re-enforced and expounded in the time (372-289 B.C.) of Meng Ko, or Mencius (as the name has been Latinized) who was likewise a native of the State of Lu.  At one time a Chinese Emperor attempted in vain to destroy not only the writings of Confucius but also the ancient classics.  Taoism increased as a power in the religion of China, especially after the fall of its feudal system.  The doctrine of ancestral worship as commended by the sage had in it much of good, both for kings and nobles.  The common people, however, found that Taoism was more satisfying.  About the beginning of the Christian era Buddhism entered the Middle Kingdom, and, rapidly becoming popular, supplied needs for which simple Confucianism was not adequate.  It may be said that in the sixth century—­which concerns us especially—­although Confucianism continued to be highly esteemed, Buddhism had become supreme in China—­that venerable State which is the mother of civilization in all Asia cast of the Ganges, and the Middle Kingdom among pupil nations.

Confucianism overflowed from China into Korea, where to this day it is predominant even over Buddhism.  Thence, it was carried beyond sea to the Japanese Archipelago, where for possibly fifteen hundred years it has shaped and moulded the character of a brave and chivalrous people.  Let us now turn from China and trace its influence and modifications in the Land of the Rising Sun.

It must be remembered that in the sixth century of the Christian Era, Confucianism was by no means the fully developed philosophy that it is now and has been for five hundred years.  In former times, the system of Confucius had been received in China not only as a praiseworthy compendium of ceremonial observances, but also as an inheritance from the ancients, illumined by the discourses of the great sage and illustrated by his life and example.  It was, however, very far from being what it is at present—­the religion of the educated men of the nation, and, by excellence, the religion of Chinese Asia.  But in those early centuries it did not fully satisfy the Chinese mind, which turned to the philosophy of Taoism and to the teachings of the Buddhist for intellectual food, for comfort and for inspiration.