... If the ruler failed in
his duties, the obligation of the people was at an end, and his
divine right disappeared simultaneously. Of this we have an
example in a portion of the Canon to be examined by and by. Under
the year 558 B.C. we find the following narrative. One of the
feudal princes asked an official, saying, "Have not the people of
the Wei State done very wrong in expelling their ruler?" "Perhaps
the ruler himself," was the reply, "may have done very wrong....
If the life of the people is impoverished, and if the spirits
are deprived of their sacrifices, of what use is the ruler, and
what can the people do but get rid of him?"
This very sensible doctrine has been accepted at all times throughout
Chinese history, and has made rebellions only too frequent.
Filial piety, and the strength of the family generally, are perhaps the
weakest point in Confucian ethics, the only point where the system
departs seriously from common sense. Family feeling has militated
against public spirit, and the authority of the old has increased the
tyranny of ancient custom. In the present day, when China is confronted
with problems requiring a radically new outlook, these features of the
Confucian system have made it a barrier to necessary reconstruction, and
accordingly we find all those foreigners who wish to exploit China
praising the old tradition and deriding the efforts of Young China to
construct something more suited to modern needs.
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