It is the greatest unfilial to fail to fulfill the responsibility of the younger generation.

Source: Mencius Li Lou: "There are three kinds of unfilial, and the last one is the biggest." ?

There are three kinds of unfilial behavior, and filial piety is the biggest. If you don't tell your parents when you get married, the gentleman thinks you will tell your parents. This sentence means that there are three kinds of unfilial behaviors, among which failure to fulfill the responsibility of the younger generation is the most serious. It is not his responsibility as a junior to marry without telling his parents. This gentleman thinks that although he didn't tell his parents, he actually told them.

Extended data

Morality and Civilization, the journal of the Chinese Ethics Society, published Liu Linying's paper "There are three unfilial, no great afterlife".

Mencius' famous saying, "There are three unfilial, and there is a well-documented definition that" those who marry without telling their parents have no heirs ",that is, those who marry without telling their parents are" no heirs ". Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, scholars have interpreted "Hou" as "Zi" or "descendants", and added the negative word "fear" after "Wuhou" in Shunshi, which reversed the original text to understand the meaning of the sentence.

This destroyed the original text and Mencius' explanation, subverted the orientation of Confucian concept of three filial piety, and Ceng Zi and Mencius regarded the first of three filial piety as a question of respect for parents. In fact, the "Hou" and "Hou" of the Zhou Dynasty can ask for leave, and the "Hou Zi" in the etiquette system of the Zhou Dynasty occupies a unique position among the philosophers, usually the eldest son; Xia Shang Wang called the queen, Zhou Dynasty etiquette called the king the son of heaven, and respected my concubine as the queen, which would lead to taboos.

The ancient "Hou" is the antonym of "Si". Its basic meaning is Lord and monarch, and it refers to respectable people. The word "Hou" and "Jun" both symbolize giving orders. Er Ya said that "the latter is also a monarch", and Shuo Wen Jie Zi explained that "the monarch respects also". Mencius' "nothingness" sometimes means that it is hard to see, such as "no father, no gentleman is an animal"

Therefore, "no queen" should be free from "no queen", which means no owner (no monarch, no respect), that is, no respect for elders. In the family context, it means no owner (no monarch, no respect for the family). This instruction can flexibly explain Shun's example and "being great" in connection with the concept of three filial piety, bypassing the related topics discussed in the Book of Songs and Mencius.