The Home of Confucius: Küfow
The next morning we were just about to start, when the magistrate of
the city was announced (imagine a ceremonious call at 7 A.M.!), and
he was ushered in, together with his present to us--a tray containing
fine pears, pomegranates, dates, and nuts. We accepted part (in Chinese
etiquette this stands for “gratitude for his generosity”), and returned
part (“humility of the recipient”). He was immediately served with
tea and cakes, and explained to us that, owing to a message from the
Governor of the province, he had been expecting our arrival and had
prepared an inn for us. Understanding that we were just setting out on
our journey, he only stayed a short time after we had thanked him for
his hospitality, so that we were able to do our day’s stage in good
time.
The following day we started at 6 A.M., and managed our thirty-six
miles in twelve hours, as the roads were in good condition. At midday
we halted for lunch at an inn, where we were told that the magistrate
had made preparations for our entertainment. A scarlet curtain was
hung in front of the door; there were mats and carpet on the floor of
the two rooms, coverlets on the _khangs_ (= brick bedsteads), a good
table and European chairs, scrolls on the walls, a white table-cloth,
and, to complete all--a champagne lunch! We declined the champagne,
lager-beer, and most of the “plats,” but enjoyed the chicken and eggs.
The advantage of having the inns cleaned up and fresh mats put down
is great. Our military escort, varying from one to four, is highly
diverting, and they are usually mounted on shaggy ponies, on which they
look quite fine, especially when they have their scarlet or yellow
umbrellas up.
As we approached our destination, Küfow, a man came dashing across the
plain at full gallop, and flung himself off his horse at our feet,
announcing that the magistrate had ordered a private house in the
city to be prepared for our reception, to which he would conduct us.
Just outside the gates we found four soldiers standing at attention:
they gave us a military salute, bobbing down till their right hands
touched the ground and then emitting a startling yell. Accompanied
by them (they remained with us in attendance till we left Küfow) we
soon reached our quarters, a characteristic Chinese gentleman’s house,
very nice and clean, in which a suite of three rooms was placed at our
disposal (the block seen in the sketch). A major-domo received us at
the entrance and led us ceremoniously to the inner courtyard, where
tea was at once served, and we were told that dinner would be ready
shortly, and that the magistrate would call on us as soon as we had
dined.
[Illustration: PRIVATE HOUSE: KÜFOW]
Our interpreter, Mr. Summer, had informed us that he was the son of an
official and knew exactly what ought to be done; so we placed ourselves
in his hands, and our visiting-cards and thanks were at once despatched
to the magistrate. After dinner the chairs were arranged in rows,
and tea and cakes set on the table in readiness for his arrival. He
asked particularly if we had enjoyed our dinner, which he had ordered
to be cooked in European style, and it was quite good and palatable,
especially as we had the best of sauces after our long day’s march. It
appeared that our host had provided three cooks (trained in European
ways), three other servants, four soldiers, and two policemen to look
after us, but our own men undertook all the personal attendance.
Next morning we went in procession to the temple--the Holy of Holies
of Confucianism--for all the establishment seemed to think they should
accompany us. We decided to make a détour in order to approach it from
the most picturesque side, and the view was certainly charming as we
walked along the moat outside the city wall, where lotus leaves floated
on the still water, and tall rushes and flags rustled under the leafy
trees. Nothing was needed to enhance the beauty of the spot, and a few
minutes’ walk brought us to the celebrated avenue of cypresses leading
to the south gate of the city, within which is the fine entrance to the
temples. They are enclosed in a park which occupies a whole quarter
of the town, and has plenty of trees to form a worthy setting for the
large groups of buildings connected with Confucianism, temples not
only to Confucius but to his parents, followers, and to the other great
sages, Mencius and Yentzu. The buildings are some of the finest in
the Empire, and very lofty, with their double-storied roofs covered
with orange and green tiles. The eaves are heavily decorated with fine
coloured woodwork, protected with netting from the vast flocks of
birds and bats that hover round them, and the pillars of the Hall of
Perfection are magnificently carved monoliths. In the first courtyard
are many interesting stone tablets, eight or ten feet high, standing
on the backs of stone tortoises or mythical beasts of similar shape in
picturesque little temples with yellow-tiled roofs and Venetian red
woodwork. Hoary cypresses towered above them. In the next courtyard was
a preaching hall (not in use for that purpose, however), from which we
ascended by a long steep flight of stairs, with folding gates half-way
up, to a dark upper chamber. Another flight of steps took us to a room
surrounded by a balcony, from which we had a splendid view over the
many temples clustered round a great central one, which appears above
the orange and green tiled temple in the sketch which I took from this
point of view. It is the most imposing of the group of buildings,
and is entirely tiled with orange, none but Confucian temples being
allowed to have this colour. Flocks of crows, pigeons, and other birds
were circling round it; indeed, we had been awakened by the deafening
noise they made in the early morning. In the courtyard as well as in
the temples were fine old bronzes; carved marble steps led up to the
principal hall, a lofty building with pillars and red painted woodwork.
Here Confucius sits under a canopy, with handsomely embroidered
curtains partly shrouding him, and an altar bearing bronze incense
bowls in front. On either side, at right angles, are the figures of two
other great Chinese sages, Mencius and Tze-Sze, seated in shrines, and
behind them again are six disciples seated against the walls on either
side.
[Illustration: CONFUCIAN TEMPLE]
The sacrifices to Confucius were formally established by an emperor
(A.D. 59), who also ordered that the teaching of Confucius should
be studied in all schools throughout the Empire. This is still
done everywhere, even in the new universities, but the actual
sacrifices--pigs, sheep, and cattle--are reserved for temple worship.
These take place before dawn in the second and eighth month. There is
plenty of room in the grounds belonging to the temple for pasturage,
even for the vast number of animals required, as it is about 8000 acres
in extent. More than 500 years elapsed after the death of Confucius
before he was universally worshipped, but the worship had the royal
sanction, for his teaching is aristocratic in character, whereas that
of the yet greater but less noted sage, Mencius, was as thoroughly
democratic.
Confucianism is rather a system of ethics than a religion. Confucius
merely accepted (and that only to a limited extent) the religion of the
age and country in which he lived, and he added to it a code of morals
dealing largely with the government of the State. He said, “I am not an
originator, but a transmitter.” Confucius lived contemporaneously with
the Buddha, but no two great teachers of mankind could have differed
more widely from one another than did these, both in character and in
teaching. In the Buddha, love and pity for the sorrows of humanity
drowned every other feeling, and he resolutely refused to use his
powerful intellectual faculties for any other purpose than to lessen
suffering, and eventually to rid the world of it. Confucius, on the
other hand, allowed his intellect free play, and it appears to have
led him to look with tolerance, and a certain measure of acquiescence,
on the religious beliefs of the age. There is a famous saying of his,
“Respect the spirits, but keep them at a distance.” At the same time,
he was conscious of his mission as a teacher sent by God; he says,
when threatened by the people of K’uang: “After the death of King
Wen, was not wisdom lodged in me? If God were to destroy this wisdom,
future generations could not possess it. So long as God does not
destroy this wisdom, what can the people of K’uang do to me?” Confucius
seems to have been a superstitious man; he was apt to turn pale at a
thunderclap, and he sanctioned the practices of the village folk for
driving away evil spirits.
The most important features of his teaching are the high ideals which
he inculcated for the ruling of the State, and the stress he laid on
the obligations of men to their fellow-men, even more than on their
obligations towards God. One of his fundamental doctrines was that
all men are born radically good. This doctrine is not accepted--at all
events, at the present day--with regard to women; the Chinese would be
more inclined to say, “All women are born radically stupid,” or, as
the women themselves frequently put it, “We are only wooden-heads.”
Confucius also strongly advocated the duty of reverence and sincerity,
and “protested against any attempt to impose on God.” He rose from his
seat in the presence of any one dressed in mourning. The five cardinal
virtues taught by Confucius are righteousness, benevolence, politeness,
discernment of good, and sincerity.
It will be readily understood from the above brief account of
Confucianism that it is quite possible to combine it as a religion
either with Buddhism or Taoism, and in point of fact it is not unusual
for a Chinaman to profess all three religions at the same time, or
by turns. I was told in Shansi that sometimes a village would feel
aggrieved at their gods not having protected them from some disaster,
or given them sufficiently good crops, so they would decide to try
another religion for a time. The transformation in a village temple is
easily effected.
Not only were divine honours paid to Confucius, but his family also
were promoted to places of honour in the cult, and had adjoining
temples raised to them, though only his father was granted a statue. In
one of the temples is a fine series of stones engraved like brasses,
descriptive of the life of Confucius. These are so greatly admired
that it has been found necessary for their preservation to have papers
pasted across them intimating that rubbings are not to be taken from
them. Some of these tablets are fine specimens of writing--for Küfow is
above all places the home of Chinese literature--and the inscriptions
aim at being brief, telling, and enigmatic. Their value depends also on
beauty of style and calligraphy.
The temples are only about two hundred years old, as they have twice
been destroyed by lightning. The first time it happened, a thrill of
terror ran through the whole Empire: nothing further happened, so the
next time the nation took it quite calmly. There are no priests to look
after the place, and, to judge by its neglected appearance, the five
families exempted from taxation by some bygone emperor, in order that
they might devote themselves to the care of it, have become extinct.
The emperor used formerly to come at stated times in order to offer
sacrifices, as being the visible head of Confucianism, but now he
contents himself with sending every two or three years to decorate the
temple and keep it in repair.
As we were leaving it began to rain a little, so the soldiers and
police put on their hats, till then slung on their backs: when it rains
heavily they put up the scarlet umbrella as well!
[Illustration: CEMETERY OF CONFUCIUS]
After lunch we called on the magistrate to thank him for his
hospitality and to take leave of him, attended by all our retinue, plus
the rag-tag and bobtail of the town, with our card-case (measuring
11½ inches by 6½ inches) carried in front by the servant; then came
“Mr. Summers,” who had managed to raise a horse for the occasion.
Tea and cigarettes were handed round, and we were placed in seats of
honour on a sort of platform. We did not linger, as we were anxious to
complete our pilgrimage by visiting the grave of Confucius, situated
in a park a short distance outside the town. It is approached through
a series of gateways of varying sizes and importance. Long avenues
of cypresses lead from one gateway to another, and at last a spot is
reached from which every one is commanded to approach the grave on
foot. This is simple and dignified, as befits a sage--nothing but a
tablet bearing an inscription, set up on a plain low pedestal, shaded
by trees. Near it are the graves of other members of the family of
Confucius, which are much less modest. His grandson’s tablet has two
curious tall stone figures of servants on each side. This descendant
wrote a celebrated treatise called the “Doctrine of the Mean.”
In the evening the ladies of the family of the official to whom the
house in which we were staying belonged asked permission to call on us.
We entertained them and asked all the polite questions we could think
of, such as their names, where they came from (Chinese officials always
seem to be moving about the country), number of children, their age,
&c., and we were asked similar questions in return. Suddenly a hitherto
silent member of the party asked in a shrill tone, “What is your rank?”
a most difficult question to answer so that they could understand,
except in an ambiguous way. They were much pleased to drink “English”
tea, which is quite different from what is prepared for the Chinese
market, and to eat English cakes, some of which they carried away in
their handkerchiefs.
The following morning we took our leave, hoping that our guide would
prove his official skill by correctly tipping the various members of
the establishment, and the same ceremonies were gone through as on
our arrival. The guide sent the cook to “buy cash,” which was carried
after him, as he felt far too important to carry it himself. The
money worry was beginning to grow acute, as its value varies every
day, and at Küfow we found two complete systems of coinage in use,
one reckoning only half as much as the other; the 100 cash meaning
anything between 80 and 97, but never by any chance meaning 100. The
Government, not to mention banks and officials, reckons to get a
“squeeze” out of everything, so it is lucky that money is subdivided
into infinitesimally small values; 100 cash being worth about
twopence-halfpenny.
On leaving Küfow we took a somewhat different route from what we did in
coming, as we wished to visit a Buddhist monastery, and again we were
entertained by hospitable magistrates on the road. Evidently they have
found former travellers thirsty for something else than the national
beverage, so Münchenes Bier was provided. On the second day we had a
long stage--38 miles--to do, so we got up at 4.30. Alas! No sooner were
we ready than down came the rain, in a most uncompromising way, and
the men refused to set out. After waiting a couple of hours it seemed
to be clearing; we made a feeble start, but the men crept along like
snails, and their steps were so uncertain on the slippery ground as
to make us quite nervous. We got safely across the ferry, though the
water had risen a good deal considering how little rain had fallen. Our
soldier escort galloped away under his red umbrella, and we saw him no
more. The men set us down in an inn doorway on the farther side of the
river, provided themselves with hot sweet potatoes from an itinerant
vendor who happened to be passing, and refused to go any farther in
the rain. By dint of persuasion and the promise of sixpence each
extra (exorbitant sum!) if they would do the stage that day, we got
them to make a fresh start. We plodded slowly on for five hours, and
found we had done twenty miles by the time we reached our midday rest;
we halted for an hour, and the rain stopped, so that we got on much
better afterwards. During the rain there was not a creature to be seen
except ourselves in all the wide landscape, but the minute it stopped
the people appeared in every direction as if by magic. In the village
streets we found great difficulty, as the rain had converted them into
one big puddle, and the men tried to hop about from stone to stone.
When it grew dark we were terrified, and I clutched a large eider-down
pillow in readiness to cover my face when I should take the seemingly
inevitable plunge into the morass. However, we escaped all disaster,
and the men walked without stumbling through dry water-courses and
over rough boulders, and the cart jogged along over impossible places.
When the moon rose it was like fairyland; and at eight o’clock we
triumphantly trudged into our inn.
The following morning we started at six o’clock for the celebrated
Buddhist monastery of Lu, and reached it about 11.30. This monastery
is situated up a solitary valley about six miles from the high-road,
and the situation was splendid. It nestled in a hollow of lofty hills,
its tall pagoda standing out sharply from the trees. There was a pylon
part way up, and two stone bridges with yew-trees overarching them. The
buildings round the temple are not at all imposing, but the entrance
gate has a gilt Buddha seated in the centre, surrounded by four huge
statues, each of a different colour, representing tutelary deities
belonging to the Taoist religion; and back to back with Buddha was
another god.
[Illustration: MOUNTED MILITARY ESCORT]
The first temple we came to contained three seated Buddhas with a
curious rockwork background, but beyond it and up a flight of steps
was a much more imposing temple, of which both design and colouring
were a facsimile of what we had just seen at Küfow, only on a smaller
scale. It was impossible, judging by the exterior, to tell that it
was Buddhist and not Taoist or Confucian, but inside there was no
mistake. Buddha sat enthroned on a large lotus blossom, with a halo
behind him and a thousand little seated gilt Buddhas on shelves all
round the hall. Life-size figures of the 42 Lo Han were seated against
the walls, and amongst them were the two emperors, pointed out to us by
one of the monks. We discovered for ourselves a figure who we felt sure
was Marco Polo: he had the face of an Arab and wore a drapery over his
head, unlike any of the other figures; the monk could only tell us that
he was a man from the West. What would Marco Polo have said if he could
have foreseen that he would be placed among the Buddhist “holy ones”?
The rest of our journey back to Tsinan was accomplished safely in two
and a half days.