Note 278 — Chapter XIII · CONFUCIANISM—I

Prof. Legge evidently took the view that truthfulness belonged only to Christians. He states that a love of truth can only be maintained, and a lie shrunk from with shame, through "the living recognition of a God of truth, and all the sanctions of revealed religion." (Chinese Classics, vol. i. p. 101.) By "revealed religion" Legge means, of course, Christianity. It would be interesting to know how he would have accounted for truthfulness among numerous non-Christian races of our own time or among such people as the ancient Persians. Perhaps as regards the latter case he would have done it by denying the capacity of a Greek (especially of a Greek who has been described as the "father of lies") to judge of truthfulness! Prof. Martin in The Lore of Cathay (p. 177) says that while Confucius's writings (presumably he means his recorded sayings) "abound in the praise of virtue, not a line can be found inculcating the pursuit of truth." This is an amazing misstatement: let us hope it was written inadvertently. A third missionary, Dr. Wells Williams, makes statements regarding the character and morals of the Chinese people that are so grossly unfair as to be almost unreadable [Middle Kingdom, vol. i. pp. 833-6 (1883 edition)]. Mr. Arthur Davenport in his China from Within (T. Fisher Unwin, 1904) quotes from a missionary's letter which appeared in China's Millions (a missionary publication) in February 1903. "What a mass of evil the missionary in China has to contend with!... Certainly there are more souls being lost every day in China than in any country in the world ... the Bible declares that no liar or idolater can ever reach heaven, and all these masses of people are idolaters and liars; for 'China is a nation of liars,' consequently there must be among the lost, among those going to eternal death, a greater number from the Chinese than from any nation on earth.... For though they be all liars and idolaters, they are the most industrious of people, and of such intellectual capacity as to be able to compete for the highest scholarships in the Universities of Europe and America.... We thank God with all our heart that there are now so many different Protestant Missions at work in Chehkiang, each having godly, earnest, and faithful men representing them." No wonder Mr. Davenport, after quoting this astonishing effusion, remarks that "this rendering of thanks to God that there are now so many 'godly, earnest, and faithful' foreign missionaries amongst this 'nation of liars' forcibly reminds us of the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican." It is pitiful to think that missionaries of the class to which the writer of this letter belongs are still at work in China, "converting the heathen." Let us hope that the day may come when the generous-hearted people who support Foreign Missions with their money and services will feel justified in insisting that educated gentlemen, and no others, are selected for work in the Mission field. Fortunately the Mission Boards appear to be exercising much greater care in their selection of missionaries for China than they did formerly; but how can they undo the harm that has already been done?