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P.1033 - §5 This unique century
of spiritual progress was characterized by great religious, moral, and philosophic
teachers all over the civilized world. In China, the two outstanding teachers
were Lao-tse and Confucius.
P.1034 - §4 Confucius (Kung Fu-tze) was a younger
contemporary of Lao in sixth-century China. Confucius based his doctrines
upon the better moral traditions of the long history of the yellow race,
and he was also somewhat influenced by the lingering traditions of the Salem
missionaries. His chief work consisted in the compilation of the wise sayings
of ancient philosophers. He was a rejected teacher during his lifetime,
but his writings and teachings have ever since exerted a great influence
in China and Japan. Confucius set a new pace for the shamans in that he
put morality in the place of magic. But he built too well; he made a new
fetish out of order and established a respect for ancestral conduct that
is still venerated by the Chinese at the time of this writing. |