gin to happen
until our own day.

Whatever may be said against filial piety carried to excess, it is
certainly less harmful than its Western counterpart, patriotism. Both,
of course, err in inculcating duties to a certain portion of mankind to
the practical exclusion of the rest. But patriotism directs one's
loyalty to a fighting unit, which filial piety does not (except in a
very primitive society). Therefore patriotism leads much more easily to
militarism and imperialism. The principal method of advancing the
interests of one's nation is homicide; the principal method of advancing
the interest of one's family is corruption and intrigue. Therefore
family feeling is less harmful than patriotism. This view is borne out
by the history and present condition of China as compared to Europe.

Apart from filial piety, Confucianism was, in practice, mainly a code
of civilized behaviour, degenerating at times into an etiquette book. It
taught self-restraint, moderation, and above all courtesy. Its moral
code was not, like those of Buddhism and Christianity, so severe that
only a few saints could hope to live up to it, or so much concerned with
personal salvation as to be incompatible with political institutions. It
was not difficult for a man of the world to live up to the more
imperative parts of the Confucian teaching. But in order to do this he
must exercise at all times a certain kind of self-control--an extension
of the kind which children learn when they are taught to "behave." He
must not break into violent passions; he must not be arrogant; he must
"save face," and never inflict humiliations upon defeated adversaries;
he must be moderate in all things, never carried away by excessive love
or hate; in a word, he must keep calm reason always in control of all
his actions. This attitude existed in Europe in the eighteenth century,
but perished in the French Revolution: romanticism, Rousseau, and the
guillotine put an end to it. In China, though wars and revolutions have
occurred constantly, Confucian calm has survived them all, making them
less terrible for the participants, and making all who were not
immediately involved hold aloof. It is bad manners in China to attack
your adversary in wet weather. Wu-Pei-Fu, I am told, once did it, and
won a victory; the beaten general complained of the breach of etiquette;
so Wu-Pei-Fu went back to the position he held before the battle, and
fought all over again on a fine day. (It sh