CHAPTER XI.

Personal characteristics.

IN person, Confucius was considerably above the middle height, so that he was frequently spoken of as "the tall man." His bearing was dignified and commanding, and his voice full and sonorous. He had a dark complexion; a flat large nose; small but piercing eyes; and an expression of gravity and decision, which at times bordered on sternness, though it was more frequently combined with an air of mildness and benevolence.

Portraits of him are in existence, which are supposed, on a kind of traditionary evidence, to give a faithful delineation of his features; but there are just grounds for scepticism upon this point, and, in any case, it is one best left to the decision of Chinese

savants.

Some of the details related in connection with his everyday life are almost absurdly minute, but they are, at the same time, so thoroughly characteristic

HIS TASTES IN DRESS.

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that they cannot well be omitted, if we would gain a clear idea of the great philosopher's tastes and mode of life.

For instance, with regard to dress; and it would be as well to note here, that the dress worn by the Chinese in his time was very different from that of the present day, which dates from the Tartar conquest. The ancient dress was more like that worn by the Japanese, who had early adopted the modes of their then more civilized neighbours; the hair, too, was worn in a similar fashion. We find that the ordinary summer wear of Confucius was a robe made of linen; linen, it seems, being in his day more highly esteemed than silk. It is said that, had he consulted his own taste, he would have worn a cap made of the same material, but, unfortunately, it had been a longestablished custom for a silken one to be worn, and Confucius was not a man to depart from ancient usages; besides which, a silken cap had the advantage of being more economical.

His winter robes were lined with fur-the yellow robes with that of the fox; the white with deer-skin; and the dark ones with black lamb-skin.

He had a dislike to particular colours, above all to red and brown, so that, in the choice of his clothes, he was somewhat restricted; and he would not allow the collars of his robes to be trimmed with either green or crimson.

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It seems that, then, as now, it was the custom to wear the sleeves very long and wide, the hands being completely covered; but Confucius, who found this law of etiquette particularly irksome and inconvenient, allowed himself to depart from it on ordinary occasions to the extent of turning up the sleeve of the right arm.

He never went to court or paid a formal visit without putting on his ceremonial robes; neither did he make a visit of condolence without being clothed in white, which was, as it still is, the garb of mourning.

So careful indeed was he to show the importance which he attached to these outward forms that, when prostrate from sickness, if he received a visit from the prince he had his court robe thrown round him, and he put on his girdle.

This punctiliousness in small matters, did not proceed from mere fancy or caprice, but from principle, for it was one of his maxims that there is nothing so trivial as to be beneath the notice of a wellregulated mind. Thus, as dress has its æsthetics, in common with other, it may be more favoured, creative arts, he would have been acting in contradiction to the spirit of his teaching, had he treated it as a subject unworthy of his attention. "Yes, truly "— we can imagine him to have said-"an indifference to dress indicates, rather, a perverted or uncultivated

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taste than an exalted understanding, for these are no mere body coverings, these silken and linen robes, but intelligible external types of the inner being of the wearer; and so the dress adopted by us on the sudden promptings of an idle fancy, may be, after all, a traitor, betraying to the world our hidden weakness."

The "philosophy of clothes" may indeed be said to belong to all ages. In "Sartor Resartus we find perhaps its latest expression, but for a truly practical illustration of it we must visit China. There every minute detail of dress is clearly indicated, and a departure from regulated forms is not only regarded as a breach of propriety, but as something which borders on profanity. With us this feeling of reverence for particular patterns, hallowed by some association, or through long-continued use, is not unknown, and asserts itself from time to time in earnest controversies with respect to the cut or colour of some sacerdotal garment.

Though naturally abstemious, Confucius was very particular in the choice and preparation of his food. "Sir, I like to dine," was the emphatic declaration. of our great lexicographer, and we have only to turn to the pages of the "Dialogues" to see that the Chinese philosopher was in perfect sympathy with him in this matter. He differed from him, however,

in possessing a larger share of fastidiousness. Quality was with him a matter of no small moment, and it is evident that he must have held a bad cook in detestation, for he would not eat of a dish which was badly cooked, or over-done, or out of season. Neither would he partake of anything which was not served up with its appropriate sauce. He had, too, a great dislike to bad carving.

He held ginger in high esteem, eating it with everything, and he is said to have been very careful in the choice of his wine. Of this he drank sparingly, though he did not limit himself to any fixed quantity. At the commencement of each meal he poured out a libation to the celestial powers, and, whilst at table, he was particularly careful to avoid any subject of conversation likely to provoke discussion.

Although fond of good living, he had a great horror of gluttony or gross feeding, for he held that nothing so marred the higher qualities of man's nature, as an undue indulgence in sensuality.

In China, the stomach, not the heart, is looked upon as the seat of the softer emotions. It is only reasonable, then, that more than ordinary care should be taken of the digestive organs. Perhaps, if we paid a little more attention to them ourselves, there would be less misery and unhappiness found in our midst.