World Parliament of Religions Scrapbook 003

              #003 World Parliament of Religions Scrapbook, p. 115

every single truth and knowledge, faith and
hope, the mountain of the Lord? There, high
above all the mists of human longings, the in-
finite glory of him dwells whom angels with
covered faces sing as the thrice holy, and whom
all the mortals praise as the God of Truth—El
Emeth, as the rabbis put it; Alpeh, the begin-
ning; Mem, the middle, and Tav, the end—the
Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.
       HON. PUNG KWANG YU.
  Confucianism Treated in an Able Manner by.
       a Distinguished Scholar.
Dr. Barrows introduced Hon. Pung
Kwang Yu, of China. Mr. Yu was received
with great applause and the Chautauquan
salute was given him with a zest. The pa-
per of the distinguished apostle of Confu-
cianism in part was as follows:
All Chinese reformers of ancient and modern
times have either exercised supreme authority
as political head of the nation or filled high posts
as ministers of state. The only notable excep-
tion is Confucius.
"Man," says Confucius in the book of rites, "is
the product of heaven and earth, the union of
the active and passive principles, the conjunc-
tion of the soul and spirit, and the ethereal
essence of the five elements." Again
he says: "Man is the heart of heaven
and earth and the nucleus of the
five elements, formed by assimilating food, by
distinguishing sounds, and by the action of
light." Now, the heaven and earth, the active
and passive principles, and the soul and spirit
are dualisms resulting from unities. The prod-
uct of heaven and earth, the union of the active
and passive principles, the conjunction of the
soul and spirit, are unities resulting from dual-
isms. Man, being the connecting link between
unities and dualisms, is therefore called the 
heart of heaven and earth. By reason of his
being the heart of heaven and earth, humanity
is his natural faculty and love his controlling
emotion. "Humanity," says Confucius, "is the
characteristic of man." On this account human-
ity stands at the head of the five faculties, or in-
nate qualities of the soul; namely, humanity,
rectitude, propriety, understanding and truth-
fulness. Humanity must have the social rela-
tions for its sphere of action. Love must begin
at home.
           The Five Relations.
What are the social relations? They are sov- 
ereign and subject, parent and child, husband and
wife, elder and younger brothers, and friends.
These are called the five relations or natural
relations. As the relation of husband and wife
must have been recognized before that of sov-
ereign and subject, or that of parent and child,
the relation of husband and wife is, therefore,
the first of the social relations. The relation of
husband and wife, bears a certain analogy to that
of "kien" or "kiun." The word kien may be
taken in the sense of heaven, sovereign, parent
or husband. As the earth is subservient to
heaven so is the subject subservient to the sov-
ereign, the child to the parent, and the wife to
the husband. These three mainstays of the
social structure have their origin in the law of
nature, and do not owe their existence to the in-
vention of men.
The emotions are but the manifestations of
the soul's faculties, when acted upon by external
objects. There are seven emotions, namely :
joy, anger, grief, fear, love, hate, and desire.
The faculties of the soul derive their origin
from nature, and are therefore called natural 
faculties; the emotions emanate from man, and
are therefore called human emotions.
Humanity sums up the virtues of the five
natural faculties. Filial duty lies at the founda-
tion of humanity. The sense of propriety serves
to regulate the emotions. The recognition of
the relation of husband and wife is the first step
in the cultivation and development of humanity.
The principles that carry it forward are devotion
and honor. "Do unto others," says Confucius,
"whatsoever ye would not that others should do
unto you."
             Many Imperfections.
As for man, he also has natural imperfections.
This is what Confucianists call essential imper-
fections in the constitution. The reason is that
the organizations which different individuals
have received from the earth are very diverse in
character. It is but natural that the faculties of
different individuals should develop abilities and
capabilities which are equally diverse in degrees
and kinds. It is not that different individuals
have received from nature different measures of
intelligence. Man only can remove the imper-
fections inherent in the substance of his organiza-
tion by directing his mind to intellectual pur-
sults, by abiding in virtue, by following the
dictates of humanity, by subduing anger,
and by restraining the appetites. Lovers of
mankind who have the regeneration of the world
at heart would doubtless consider it desirable to
have some moral panacea which could com-
pletely remove all the imperfections from the
organic substance of the human species so that
the whole race might be reformed with ease and
expedition. But such a method of procedure
does not seem to be the way in which nature
works. She only brings out the innate qualities
of every substance. Still it is worth while to
cherish such a desire on account of its tendency
to elevate human nature, though we know it to
be impossible of fulfillment owing to the limita-
tions of the human organization.
        Endowed with Faculties.
There are certain scholars who hold that the
difference in intelligence between man and ani-
mals lies in the fact that animals are
only endowed with power to eat wood,
to drink water, and move upon the earth, but
man only can turn the elements of fire and metal
to his own use. He is thus possessed of the
essence of the five elements in their complete-
ness. Hence comes his intelligence. This is
one theory. It must be said, however, that man
has made use of the violent properties of metal
and fire to his own hurt, as well as the useful
properties of metal and fire to his own advan-
tage. It would seem that a limit in either direc-
tion might soon be reached.
Man is then endowed with faculties of the
highest dignity. Yet there are those who so far
degrade their manhood fis to give themselves up
to the unlimited indulgence of these appetites
which they have in common with birds, beasts,
fishes and every soft-bodied creature that flies
in the air or moves upon the earth; to the utter
loss of their moral sense without being sensible
of their degradation, perhaps. In case they
have really become insensible then even heaven
can not possibly do anything with them. But if
they at any time become sensible of their con-
dition how they must be stricken with a sense of
shame, not unmingled, perhaps, with fear and
trembling. If, after experiencing a sense of
shame mingled with fear and trembling, they re-
pent of their evil doings then they become men
again with their humanity retored. This is a
doctrine maintained by all the schools of Con-
fucianists.
         Law of the Spiritual World.
"Reason," says Confucius in his notes to the
Book of Changes, "consists in the proper union
of the active and passive principles of nature."
Again he says, "What is called spirit is the in-
scrutable state of 'yin' and 'yang,' or the passive
and active principles of nature." Now "yang"
is heaven, or ether. Whenever ether by con-
densation assumes a substantive form and re-
mains suspended in the heavens, there is an ad-
mixture of the active and passive principles of
nature, with the active principles predominat-
ing. "Yin," or the passive principle of nature,
is earth or substance. Whenever a substance
which has the property of absorbing ether is
attracted to the earth, there is an admixture of
the active and passive principles of nature, with
the passive principle predominating.
The element of fire, when coming in contact
with the sun, is externally active and internally
passive. The element of water, on the other
hand, when coming in contact with the earth, is
externally passive and internally active. The
spirits of birds, quadrupeds, insects and fishes
are invisible; we see only the manifestations of
their power in flying, running, burrowing and
swimming. The spirits of terrestrial and
aquatic plants are invisible; we see only
the manifestations of their power in
flowers, fruits and the various tis-
sues. The spirit of man is invisible.
In the case of man, the spirit is in a more con-
centrated and better disciplined state than the
spirits of the rest of the created things. On this
account the spirit of man after death, though
separated from the body, is still able to retain
its essential virtues, and does not become easily
dissipated; this is the ghost or disembodied spirit.
Why is it that Confucianists apply the word "ti"
to heaven and not to spirits? The reason is that
there is but one "ti," or supreme ruler, the gov-
ernor of all subordinate spirits, who cannot be
said to be propitious or unpropitious,
beneficient or maleficient. In-
ferior spirits, on the other hand, owe their
existence to material substances. Human af-
fairs are made up of thousands of acts of indi-
viduals. A disinterested action is good and may
be called beneficial. What is done for one's self
is selfish, and a selfish action is bad and springs
from averice.
A man who never entertained a good thought
cannot by means of prayer attain the blessings
of life. A man who never harbored a bad
thought, does it stand to reason there is no es-
cape for such a man from adverse fortune except
through prayers and sacrifices? That is what
Confucius means when he says that even spirits
have no power to bestow blessings on those who
have sinned against the decrees of heaven.
       JAPAN AND CHRISTIANITY.
  Kinza Riuge Hirai Delivers a Comprehen-
        sive Discourse on the Subject.
Z. Zenoguchi read an interesting paper
on "The Religion of the World," and then
Kinza Riuge Hirai spoke on "The Real
Position of Japan Toward Christianity."
His paper was extremely interresting and
able, and was exceedingly well received
by the audience, which tendered him the
Chautauquan salute upon the completion
of it.
This Parliament of Religions is the realization
of a long-cherished dream, and its aim is to es-
tablish religious affinity all over the world. As
I believe it is my duty to try to remove any
obstacle that might prevent the completion of
this ultimate purpose, and to caution against an
impediment toward the fulfillment of this grand
desire, I wish to show to this assembly a vigor-
ous obstacle, which is ignored generally, but
which really is in the way and prevents our
progress toward this destiny, or at least offers a
great hindrance to the promulgation of Christi-
anity. 
There are very few countries in the world so
misunderstood as Japan. Among innumerable
unfair judgments, the religious thought of our
countrymen is especially misrepresented, and
the whole nation is condemned as heathen. Be
they heathen, pagan, or something else, it is a
fact that from the beginning of our history, Japan
has received all teachings with open mind, and
also that the instructions which came from out-
side have comingled with the native religion
in entire harmony, as is seen by so many temples
built in the name of truth with a mixed
appellation of Buddhism and Shintooism; as is
seen by the affinity among the teachings of Con-
fucianism and Taoism or other isms and the
Buddhist and Shintoo priests; as is seen by an
individual Japanese who pays his or her re-
spects to all teachings mentioned above; as is
seen by the peculiar construction of the Jap-
anese houses, which have generally two rooms,
one for a miniature Buddhist temple, and the
other for a small Shintoo shrine, before which
the family study the respective scriptures.
          Not Cordially Received. 
But you will protest and say. Why, then, is
Christianity not so warmly accepted by your na-
tion as other religions? This is the point which
I especially wish to present before you.
There are two causes why Christianity is not
so cordially received. This great religion was
widely spread in my country, but in 1637 the
Christian missionaries combined with the con-
verts caused a tragic and bloody rebellion
against the country; and it is under-
stood that those missionaries intended
to subjugate Japan to their own mother
country. This shocked all Japan and the gov-
ernment of Shogun took a year to suppress this
terrible and intrusive commotion. To those
who accuse us that our country prohibited Chris-
tianity, not now, but in an historical age, I will
reply that it was not from religious or radical
antipathy but to prevent another such insur-
rection; and to protect our independence we
were obliged to prohibit the promulgation of the
the gospels. If our history had no such record
of foreign devastation, under the disguise
of religion, and if our people had
had no hereditary horror and preju-
dice against the name of Christianity, it
might have been eagerly embraced by the whole
nation. But this incident has passed and we may
forget it. Yet it is not entirely unreasonable
that the terrified suspicion or you may say su-
perstition that Christianity is the instrument of
depredation is avowedly or unavowedly aroused
in the Oriental mind when it is an admitted fact
that some of the powerful nations of Christen-
dom are gradually encroaching upon the Orient,
and when the following circumstance is daily
impressed upon our minds, reviving a vivid
memory of the past historical occurrence.
        Commodore Perry's Work.
Since 1853 when Commodore Perry came to
Japan as the ambassador of the United States of
America, our country began to be better known
by all Western nations, and the new ports were
widely opened and the prohibitions of the gos-
pels were abolished, as it was before the Chris-
tian rebellion. By the convention of Yedo, pres-
ent Tokyo, in 1858; the treaty was stipulated be-
tween America and Japan and also with
the European powers. It was the time
when our country was yet under the
feudal government; and on account of having had
but little intercourse with other nations for over
two centuries since the Christian rebellion of
1637, diplomacy was quite a new experience to
the feudal officers, who put their full confidence
upon Western nations, and without any altera-
tion accepted every article of the treaty
presented from the foreign governments.
According to this treaty we are in
a very disadvantageous situation, and
among the others there are two prominent
articles which deprive us of our rights and ad-
vantages : One is the exterritoriality of West-