uicide upon any attempt at coercion. At
one time this society became such a serious menace that the authorities
were compelled to adopt severe measures of repression.

Another old-established society is that of the Vegetarians, who eat no
meat and neither smoke nor drink. From their seemingly harmless ranks it
is said that the Boxers of 1900 were largely recruited.

For nearly twenty-five centuries the Chinese have looked to Confucius
for their morals. Various religions have appealed to the spiritual side
of the Chinese mind, and Buddhism has obtained an ascendancy which will
not be easily displaced; but through all this long lapse of time the
morality of China has been under the guidance of their great teacher,
Confucius (551-479 B.C.), affectionately known to them as the "uncrowned
king," and recently raised to the rank of a god.

His doctrines, in the form sometimes of maxims, sometimes of answers to
eager inquirers, were brought together after his death--we do not
know exactly how soon--and have influenced first and last an enormous
proportion of the human race. Confucius taught man's duty to his
neighbour; he taught virtue for virtue's sake, and not for the hope of
reward or fear of punishment; he taught loyalty to the sovereign as the
foundation stone of national prosperity, and filial piety as the basis
of all happiness in the life of the people. As a simple human moralist
he saw clearly the limitations of humanity, and refused to teach his
disciples to return good for evil, as suggested by the Old Philosopher,
declaring without hesitation that evil should be met by justice. The
first systematic writer of Chinese history, who died about 80 B.C.,
expressed himself on the position and influence of Confucius in
terms which have been accepted as accurate for twenty centuries past:
"Countless are the princes and prophets that the world has seen in its
time--glorious in life, forgotten in death. But Confucius, though only
a humble member of the cotton-clothed masses, remains with us after
numerous generations. He is the model for such as would be wise. By all,
from the Son of Heaven down to the meanest student, the supremacy of his
principles is freely and fully admitted. He may indeed be pronounced the
divinest of men."

The Son of Heaven is of course the Emperor, who is supposed to be God's
chosen representative on earth, and responsible for the right conduct
and well-being of all committed to his care. Once every