GRBIME), oF the Bureau of Rites and Ceromonies, the object is not merely to issue a new system of Fites amd ceremonies Yor the eobn-
Gey, Te alma primarily at aogal and social reforma, It is. the be-Net of the Government, and also of the iajerity of Chinese" scholars, thie "social and politi stability Ean be secured. through. the, good Jnanners and proper personal conduct of the people, to whom a well~ Fewuinted system of, rites. and] ceremonies ts a necessary guidance their life, Thos the li Chih Kuan will have a far greater moral influence on the country than a mere institution to" promulgate a system of rites and ceremonies, No English Equivalent There is probably no equivalent in English for the Chinese character (#R), from which the Li Chih Kuan derives its name, Neither Hrito," mor "ceremony," nor both, are adequate words to convey the exact meaning represented by Li certainly deals chiefly with rites and ceremonies but its underlying meaning is not found in such outyward observances. It goes far deeper than that, 'The {i advocated by the ancients was not merely for' outward show but to provide a code: of personal conduct for every individual of the community, to, gulate his private and public' life, to define his rights and obligations to his fellow-men and, ultimately, to ancient sovereigns in China, in conducting the Government, laid Much emphasis on the li Whenever a new dynasty was founded, a new system of li was promulgated for the people. Indeed, the ancients lived, moved, and had their being in tthe fi. he importance of the li to the ant community may be illustrate a few instances. The ti or ceremony observed in celebrating boy coming of age was to remind him of his duty to his parents; the) oust ceremony was observed to) remind the officials of their duty fo their sovereign master; the wedding ceremony to remind the man and his wife of their conjugal Wuty; the ceremony at the village festivities to remind the youngsters bf their duty to the elders, and the ceremony at social yemind man of his duty to Erionds, a generation or a Ponded entirely on the ti,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.