Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 3.djvu/105
PROPAGANDA AND RELIGIONS
for them; he is disrespectful to persons in authority, and contemns the words of wisdom of holy men.
Without religion a man cannot be good and wise; without knowledge of the arts and of the principles of art a man cannot form his judgment; without knowledge of the use of language a man cannot judge of and know the character of men.
ART AND MUSIC
In the practice of art what is valuable is natural spontaneity. According to the rules of art held by the ancient kings, it was this quality in a work of art which constituted its excellence (i.e. the subjective element).
If a man is without moral character, what good can the use of the fine arts do him? If a man is without moral character, what good can the use of music do him?
In painting decoration and colour are matters of secondary importance compared with the groundwork.
It has all the excellence of the physical beauty of harmony, and it has also all the excellence of moral grandeur. (Speaking of a piece of music.)
These extracts, though they convey a tolerably accurate idea of the spirit of Confucian ethics and philosophy, necessarily cover only a small part of the ground. They do not show the importance attached by the sage to the nurture and education of children; nor do they show the minute instructions he formulated on that subject; nor do they indicate the detailed rules he compiled as to etiquette and conduct in society. To truth and
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