The other king has not been lifted into the fierce light that beats
upon a throne by anything so tragic as a burning palace; but his
name is coupled with that of the former as a synonym of all that
is weak and contemptible.
The story of the House of Chou is not to be disposed of in a few
paragraphs, like the accounts of the preceding dynasties, because
it was preeminently the formative period of ancient China; the age
of her greatest sages, and the birthday of poetry and philosophy.
I shall therefore devote a chapter to the sages and another to the
reign of anarchy before closing the Book of Chou.
[Page 89]
CHAPTER XVII
THE SAGES OF CHINA
_Confucius--Describes Himself as Editor, not Author--"Model Teacher
of All Ages"--Mencius--More Eloquent than his Great Master--Lao-tse,
the Founder of Taoism_
I shall not introduce the reader to all who justly bear the august
title of sage; for China has had more and wiser sages than any other
ancient country. Some of them may be referred to in the sequel; but
this chapter I shall devote chiefly to the two who by universal
consent have no equals in the history of the Empire--Confucius and
Mencius. These great men owe much of their fame to the learned
Jesuits who first brought them on the stage, clad in the Roman toga,
and made them citizens of the world by giving them the euphonious
names by which they are popularly known. Stripped of their disguise
they appear respectively as K'ung Fu-tse and Meng-tse.
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