range of subjects with which an acquaintance is required,-- have
obtained for more than twelve centuries. The classical works are
the text books. It is from them almost exclusively that the
themes proposed to determine the knowledge and ability of the
students are chosen. The whole of the magistracy of China is thus
versed in all that is recorded of the sage, and in the ancient
literature which he preserved. His thoughts are familiar to every
man in authority, and his character is more or less reproduced in
him.
The official civilians of China, numerous as they are, are
but a fraction of its students, and the students, or those who
make literature a profession, are again but a fraction of those
who attend school for a shorter or longer period. Yet so far as the
studies have gone, they have been occupied with the Confucian
writings. In the schoolrooms there is a tablet or inscription on
the wall, sacred to the sage, and every pupil is required, on
coming to school on the morning of the first and fifteenth of
every month, to bow before it, the first thing, as an act of
reverence [1]. Thus all in China who receive the slightest tincture
of learning do so at the fountain of Confucius. They learn of him
and do homage to him at once. I have repeatedly quoted the
statement that during his life-time he had three thousand
disciples. Hundreds of millions are his disciples now. It is hardly
necessary to make any allowance in this statement for the
followers of Taoism and Buddhism, for, as Sir John Davis has
observed, 'whatever the other opinions or faith of a Chinese may
be, he takes good care to treat Confucius with respect [2].' For
two thousand years he has reigned supreme, the undisputed
teacher of this most populous land.
3. This position and influence of Confucius are to be