ives.

Next day, November 3, occurred two noted birthdays, those of the Dowager
Empress of China and of the Emperor of Japan. They were both remarkable
for their powerful minds and wisdom, and have made their names immortal
in the extreme East. The Consul-General of Japan held a reception, and
the Governor of Shanghai a brilliant dinner.

We saw much that was curious and interesting, and our time was fully
occupied during our short stay in the largest shipping and commercial
port of China. From the European streets with electric light and
tramways, churches, clubs, merchants' offices, and public buildings,
tidal docks and wharves, we reach in a few minutes the Chinese town,
pure, unadulterated Asia. It swarms with yellow men in blue coats and
black vests with small brass buttons, white stockings, black shoes with
thick, flat soles, a small black skull-cap with a red button on the
head, and a long pigtail behind. There dealers sit in their open shops,
smoking long, small pipes while waiting for customers. The tea-houses
are full. A noise and tumult beyond description, a constant going and
coming, a continual exchange of coin and goods.

The religion of the Chinese is a mixture of different doctrines and
rules of wisdom. China has had more wise men than any other old country
in the world. Foremost among them is Confucius, a contemporary of Buddha
and Socrates. He wrote a book of three hundred odes, and called it
_Purity of Thought_. Twelve disciples gathered round him, and a larger
circle of three thousand. "Do not to others what you would not that they
should do to you" was one of his precepts. When Confucius was asked how
he had contrived to acquire deep knowledge of so many things, he
replied, "Because I was born poor and had to learn." He considered
wealth a misfortune and knowledge power. The Chinese reverence his
memory, and regard him not as a god but as the wisest man of all ages.

Along with Confucianism, Taoism exists in China. The sublime teaching of
the founder has, however, been corrupted and degraded to jugglery and
superstition. At the commencement of our era Buddhism was introduced
into China, and now is spread over almost all the country. There is,
however, no clearness in the religious conceptions of the Chinese. A
Taoist may perform his devotions in the morning in a Buddhist temple and
in the evening be deeply interested in the writings of Confucius. Many
therefore have an equal respect for all three