Confucianism (Ju Chiao) is said to be the religion of the learned, and the learned were the officials and the literati or lettered class, which includes scholars waiting for posts, those who have failed to get posts (or, though qualified, prefer to live in retirement), and those who have retired from posts. Of this ‘religion’ it has been said:

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · “The name embraces education, letters, ethics, and political philosophy. Its head was not a religious man, practised few religious rites, an Note 2 · It should be noted that Confucius himself is not a god, though he has been and is worshipped (66,000 animals used to be offered to him every

← Worship of the Living Confucius not a God →