watch over your words. Frequent persons with
right principles, in order to regulate your
conduct by them. If poor, learn to live contented
in your poverty; if rich, take delight in the
practice of social virtues.

An enemy to every form of dispute, Confucius
allows of no disagreement in games in which a
mark is thrown or shot at; he even urges the
victor to yield precedence to his vanquished
adversary, and to go into the public room to
take a cup of tea with him. In this he agrees
to a certain extent with Lao-tseu, who reproved
the legitimate satisfaction which a man feels
when he has gained a victory. To distinguish
the superior man from the vulgar man, Confucius
said that the one is inspired by justice, and
the other by the lore of gain. An attribute of
the superior man is to be slow in his words and
rapid in his actions. The superior man, in a
high position, displays no ostentation or pride;
while the vulgar man manifests them in the
lowest conditions of life. The superior man, if
he utter only a single word, shows that he is
very enlightened respecting the principles of
things; by a single word, if spoken without
circumspection, he might betray his ignorance.
But can he be considered a superior man, who
puts no circumspection in his speech?
Confucius does not approve of the art of speaking
cleverly; he believes that it engenders hatred
between man and man. For his own part, in
his intercourse with others, he listens to what
they say, but pays most attention to what they
do. He profoundly despised men who, arrived
at a certain age, had done nothing but lead a
slothful life; for he did not allow that any one,
whether rich or poor, can dispense with the
duties which he owes to society. One of his
former friends, Youan-iung, older than himself,
sat idly by the roadside with his legs crossed:
Confucius said, "In childhood, to be wanting
in fraternal deference; in manhood, to have
done no praiseworthy action; in old age, not to
die; is to be good for nothing." And he struck
one leg with his stick, in sign of contempt.

Confucius spoke little of supernatural things,
of genii or spirits. By this prudent reserve, if
his disciples are not led to resolve the questions
of the origin, and the end of men and things,
to analyse the nature and the faculties of the
soul, to discover the action of a Superior Power
on the universe, they are kept from disputes
about doubtful questions, they are not tempted
to propagate their creed by fire and sword; and
if they die in ignorance of their destiny after
this life, they are saved from falling victims to
fanaticism and intolerance. He preferred study
to meditation, and avows that he had passed
whole days without food and nights without
sleep, and had derived no advantage whatever
from the infliction; on the contrary, he holds
that study is in itself a happiness.

Confucius married at the early age of nineteen.
History is silent respecting his wife. The
Chinese people practically adopt the maxim of
the Greek philosopher: "the best-conducted
woman is she who is the least talked about."
In this case, the women of China must always
have been particularly virtuous, for the annals
of the country rarely mention them; and
unfortunately, when Chinese writers condescend
to do so, it is only to speak ill of them.

The condition of women in China is exactly
the same at the present day as it has been from
all recorded time—inferior, servile, degraded,
unprotected. Their birth is a misfortune, a
curse of Heaven upon the family. In the eyes
of the Chinese, the female sex hardly belongs
to the human race. M. Hue relates a conversation
he had with a Chinaman, who remarked,
"I have often heard you say that people became
Christians in order to save their souls. Is
that really the case?"

"Yes; that is the object proposed to be
attained."

"But then, why do women turn Christians?"

"For the same reason as the men: to save
their souls."

"But they have no souls!" he exclaimed;
"and consequently you cannot make Christians
of them. When I get home, I will tell my wife
that she has a soul, and she will be not a little
astonished to hear it."

Beyond the culture of cotton and the rearing
of silkworms, there is no employment for female
hands; which makes them a heavy burden to
their parents, and often the cause of poverty.
Hence the number of infanticides committed on
female children, in spite of the severity of the
laws, and the frequent interference of the
authorities. In 1848 the criminal judge of the
province of Canton was obliged to issue an edict,
which contained this remarkable passage:
"Although there are establishments for foundlings
of the female sex, nevertheless we have been
unable to destroy the revolting practice which
is an outrage to morality and civilisation, and
which breaks the harmony of Heaven. Children
of both sexes belong to the harmony of Heaven;
and if a daughter is born to you, you ought to
bring her up, although she be not of the same
value to you as a boy. If you kill her, how can
you hope to have sons? How is it that you are
not afraid of the consequences of your unworthy
conduct, and especially of the justice of Heaven?
You will repent of it after your life, but it will
then be too late. If you abandon your daughters,
when you are discovered you will be punished
according to the laws, for you are unnatural;
and for the crime of murdering your infants, you
are unworthy of any indulgence."

The daughters whom they condescend to rear
have a sad and isolated lot; they remain shut
up in the paternal mansion, solely occupied with
sewing and housewifery. Wealthy parents give
them a slight education, but in general their
instruction is confined to needlework. No public
school is open for girls. When they are old
enough to marry, their parents think much less
about their future happiness than of their own
private interest, and solely endeavour to
conclude a sort of bargain by selling them to the
highest bidder. Their father and mother, or in
default of them their nearest relations, exercise