“STILL THE EAST.”

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20311, 22 May 1934, Page 1

“STILL THE EAST.”

China Fears Menace of Modernism. That the ritual of the Chou Dynasty —the “ Golden Age ” of China, which lasted from B.C. 1122 to B.C. 249 was selected for use at the enthronement of the new Emperor Kangteh of Manchukuo is probably due to the influence of the Premier, Cheng HsiaoChu, poet and philosopher, who, by his recently-announced doctrine of “ V\ angtao ” seeks the. salvation of the new State by a return to the simplicity and benevolence of old. “ Wangtao ” means the “ Way of the King,” and it appears to be a modem re casting of the ancient classical doctrine of virtue, both in ruler and people, which Confucius himself 2500 years ago derived from still more ancient models, and set before the Chinese people as the ideal of Government. According to the Confucian doctrine —which Premier Cheng declares is the only antidote to the gross materialism of to-day, pointing to the present chaos of China as an example—the king is the embodiment of “ jen ” or love for fellow man, and “ wangtao ” will therefore be government based on humanitarianism. Confucius declared that the king was the supreme patriarch of his people, the veritable “ Son of Heaven,” which itself is the benevolent controller of the destinies of mankind. But the system also provided that if by any of his actions a ruler should incur the wrath of Heaven he was held to have “ exhausted his mandate,” and revolt against him by the people was justified. The elaborate ancient ritual for the enthronement of a Chinese ruler, therefore. centred in sacrifices, which he alone was allowed to make, and reports to “ Shang-ti,” the “ Lord of Heaven ” that a new successor has been appointed. In old Peking the focus of the Imperial ritual was the annual sacrifice of the Emperor on the Altar of Heaven, a vast triple platform of white marble open to the sky, and so constructed that from its top the heavens alone were visible. It still exists, although in great disrepair. In the days of the Chou Dynasy possession of the Imperial power was denoted by nine huge bronze vases, said to have been cast by the mythical emperor Yu in the dawn of Chinese history. This tendency to return to the past—a sort of Oriental “ back to Methuselah ” movement—is characteristic of a large section of influential conservative thought in the Far East to-day. The idea is observable in the Japanese doctrine of “ Kodo,” which w’ord is an almost literal translation of the Chinese “ wangtao.” The objective seems to be to endeavour to preserve the distinctive mode of thought of both countries against the invasion of the philosophy of the West.