to get posts (or, though qualified, prefer to live in retirement), and
those who have retired from posts. Of this 'religion' it has been said:

"The name embraces education, letters, ethics, and political
philosophy. Its head was not a religious man, practised few religious
rites, and taught nothing about religion. In its usual acceptation the
term Confucianist means 'a gentleman and a scholar'; he may worship
only once a year, yet he belongs to the Church. Unlike its two sisters,
it has no priesthood, and fundamentally is not a religion at all;
yet with the many rites grafted on the original tree it becomes a
religion, and the one most difficult to deal with. Considered as a
Church, the classics are its scriptures, the schools its churches, the
teachers its priests, ethics its theology, and the written character,
so sacred, its symbol." [13]


Confucius not a God

It should be noted that Confucius himself is not a god, though he
has been and is worshipped (66,000 animals used to be offered to him
every year; probably the number is about the same now). Suggestions
have been made to make him the God of China and Confucianism the
religion of China, so that he and his religion would hold the same
relative positions that Christ and Christianity do in the West. I
was present at the lengthy debate which took place on this subject
in the Chinese Parliament in February 1917, but in spite of many
long, learned, and eloquent speeches, chiefly by scholars of the
old school, the motion was not carried. Nevertheless, the worship
accorded to Confucius was and is (except by 'new' or 'young' China)
of so extreme a nature that he may almost be described as the great