312 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF EDUCATION. 
meat which have been bought on the street, because he is afraid that they 
might be unclean; and as in drinking, so in eating, he is always tem- 
perate.” 
How scrupulous he was about these things the following may show : Ki- 
hao-tseu had sent medicine to him, and Confucius had accepted it grate- 
fully, but had not taken it, because he did not know exactly the contents. 
In general, the educational method of Confucius did not consist only in 
giving his pupils theoretical explanations, but also and especially in teach- 
ing them by his own actions and examples. 
Thus the customs of Confucius, mentioned before, had also the effect 
to commend to his pupils the care of their diet. That he laid stress upon 
this, can be read in Hiao-king, where Confucius is said to have declared : 
“The body with skin and hairs we have received from our parents ; to 
preserve it is therefore a duty of piety.” In the same sense he is said 
to have told Men-wu-pe: “To be pious means to keep one’s body healthy, 
in order that the parents, growing old, may not be consumed by sorrow 
for the life of sick children.” 
Concerning real gymnastics, shooting with bow and arrows, and chariot- 
eering, which belonged also among the objects of education according to 
Confucius, might have had still another purpose, but they served espe- 
cially for strengthening the body. 
EDUCATION OF GIRLS. 
Before I treat of the method of education of Confucius, I will add some- 
ching about his views of the education of girls. It seems to me that 
Confucius taught about the female virtues, ‘“ coyness, taciturnity, obedi- 
ence, lack of jealousy,” but nothing about the method and the depart- 
ments of instruction appropriate for girls. 
He once says to Ngai-kung: ‘“ The woman must follow the word of man, 
and work for men ; she has no right to work in an independent way ; on 
she contrary, there are three kinds of dependency for women : when she 
s a girl, she must follow her father or her elder brother; when she is 
married, she must obey her husband ; and when the husband has died, she 
must follow her son. Woman, therefore, never has to act independently, 
and her sphere is restricted to her room, and in that to prepare good 
‘ood and beverages.” 
From this is to be seen that Confucius estimates obedience as the first 
Juty of woman, but lays little stress upon her talents and knowledge. He 
even seems to doubt her vocation as an educator of children. Aft least he 
once says: ‘ Tseu-tschan is like a mother, who is able to nourish children, 
but not to educate them.” 
After this low estimate of girls and mothers, we do not wonder that he 
said nothing about female education. There is a legend that Ta-yam, the 
mother of the old King Wan, had begun the education already with the