Bulletin of Catholic University of Peking

20 BULLETIN NUMBER FOUR

HE beautiful name culled from

Chinese literature and bestowed upon this University, imports two sublime functions, the one intellectual and the other moral.

On this inaugural day, others will speak to you on the significance of the -cultural function which the University has undertaken in conformity with the glorious traditions of the Benedictine Order. .

I shall confine myself to the scope of setting forth briefly the moral function of the University, a function of supreme importance, because youthful students are not empty vessels to be filled, but braziers to be enkindled; they are not mechanical devices to be improved, but immortal souls to be directed through ways that bloom with virtue.

A great Greek philosopher who flourished about a century after Confucius, summed up his lofty moral teachings in this single precept: ‘‘Know thyself!” And these words, which were subsequently immortalized in the history of human thought, were chosen as a motto by celebrated schools of philosophy.

Over the portals of this University we might inscribe that same sublime motto—" Know thyself!”’

In this Institution you shall learn to discover your true self or ego and to distinguish it from the false ‘ego.

A man’s true self is his immortal soul, the upright, sincere, and loyal spirit in which full confidence may be placed.

Mencius speaks of the rectitude of the soul at dawn, after a night of repose. He tells us that it is dissipation and distraction of mind, attendant upon the pursuit of material things, that alters

this rectitude of the soul during the daytime.

The soul thus distracted believes itself to be something else than it really is; it thinks differently from what it ought to think. This creates a false self in which we may not place any confidence. “The heart, or mind,” says Mencius, “comes and goes at every moment, without our being aware of whence it comes or whither it goes.”’

Hence, to discover the true ego and to distinguish it from the false ego, we must retire within ourselves by means of reflection, entering into a profound solitude of spirit, far removed from external distractions.

After you have found your frwe self, you will learn the moral science of life, that is, the duties which each of us has towards himself, towards others, and towards God.

Man is the masterpiece of creation. He has been made to the image of God, but corrupt human nature and the passions have obscured this image. Each one of us must labor to restore the Divine image within himself by the practice of virtue.

Man is like a patch of ground, which was originally good but upon which noxious plantshave subsequently grown, that is to say, the passions have taken root. We must spare no effort to exterminate these passions, which are weeds, and to plant and cultivate wholesome and fruitful plants.

Man seeks happiness, and strives to attain it outside himself, imagining that it resides in exterior goods, in riches, in honors, in a long life, etc. Happiness resides pre-eminently within us; it is a matter of controling and regulating our desires. The first conquest in the pursuit of happiness is self-con-