Living in this world, many people will lament why people are alive. The answers are confusing. In more people's lives, there must be the shadow of family affecting their own lives. Everyone has feelings and can't live alone in this world. Family is a warm harbor and spiritual sustenance for many people.
In the family, we have to talk about the filial piety culture passed down by everyone. Filial piety to parents and elders has always been a virtue passed down by everyone. After all, everyone has an old age, and it is also necessary to be filial to the elderly. When it comes to filial piety, many people will say, "There are three unfilial things, and there is no future." But do you really understand what this sentence means?
In many families, everyone thinks that the purpose of marriage is to continue the descendants, so some people say that "there are three unfilial sons, and there is no filial son" as the greatest filial piety to parents. Mencius, who is regarded as a saint by many people, will blush for a long time and be very angry when he hears this.
The word "no offspring" may be the correct explanation, but it is not quite right in this sentence; What did such an ambiguous word mean in ancient times? In Zuo Zhuan, it is said that "Xuanmeng's loyalty has no future, and he is afraid of the good." , "The Theory of Reason and Confusion" said, "Mou Zi said:' The words of the Tao guide you. Lead people to inaction, lead them to inaction, lead them to inaction, lead them to inaction, raise them to the utmost, and restrain them from doing anything. " From the sentences in these two documents, it can be seen that "no posterity" has both the explanation of future generations and the meaning of backwardness.
There is a reason why "there are three kinds of unfilial, and no posterity is great" is finally misunderstood. When talking about Mencius, the ancients often said the way of Confucius and Mencius, and tied two people together. They were also called two saints of Confucianism. The book Mencius quoted Confucius as saying, "The initiator has no posterity!" There is no queen here, that is to say, is the person who started doing bad things first a person who has no descendants?
They are all from Mencius, and many people are connected with the ancient exquisite filial piety. Naturally, they understand that "there are three unfilial things, and there are no descendants", which is a misinterpretation that is very inconsistent with the original meaning.
In the era when Mencius and Confucius lived, the marriage of men and women was very free, and there was no such thing as the so-called chastity memorial arch later, but it was very encouraging for those who were loyal, and there was no special respect for everyone to do so; In fact, in modern society, everyone has great respect for those who are lonely all their lives for the people they love. Is that a chastity archway? It was a pure love.
It's just that many people later misinterpreted the things advocated by Neo-Confucianism to Confucius. Just as Gu Hongming said, "Confucius two thousand years ago was not guilty of today's people", some languages may have some limitations. However, social development tells us that we should learn to take the essence and discard the dross to face life, and don't put the blame on the ancients when facing some things, and also say that what the ancients taught was wrong.
When learning the language of the ancients, it is necessary to dialectically understand how the ancients thought. Sometimes it is the biggest problem to take it out of context. You should learn to learn the culture of the ancients with a developmental vision and your own wisdom. Then what is the real meaning of this sentence "There are three unfilial things, and nothing is great"?
There are three kinds of unfilial
In fact, when learning the wisdom of the ancients, it is nothing more than figuring out the context of the speech at that time and what the status of the ancients was, so as to truly understand the true meaning of the sentence. What do people think of filial piety in Mencius' era?
In the Book of Rites, it is said that "there are three kinds of filial piety: great respect for parents, followed by humiliation, which can be raised below", and the Book of Rites says that "it is not against the will of a dutiful son to raise his heart." Mencius said that "filial piety is the most important thing, and it is more important to respect one's relatives". From all kinds of records here, it can be seen that the greatest filial piety at that time had nothing to do with having children. The greatest filial piety was to respect teachers, and even supporting teachers was not important.
Mencius, as a world-famous celebrity during the Warring States Period, can't say that the greatest filial piety to parents is to have offspring. Of course, it is also a kind of filial piety to let the elderly enjoy the happiness of children and grandchildren around their knees, which is far from the great filial piety in Mencius' mind. Judging from Mencius' words and deeds, the greatest filial piety to parents is to respect their parents.
Mencius said, "There are three kinds of unfilial, and the last is the greatest. Marry without telling, for there is no future. The gentleman thought he was still suing. " Nothing here should mean to report afterwards. Shun, as a generation of emperors, took the initiative to marry a daughter-in-law without telling his parents. This is disrespect for his parents, and disrespect for his parents is the greatest unfilial. If he reports his parents in advance, that is what a gentleman does.
A person's disrespect for his parents is reflected in the degree of respect for his parents. Just as the old saying goes, "A dutiful son is happy and doesn't go against his will." If you make your parents happy, such filial piety is meaningful. Everything is decided by yourself, especially marriage, which is a lifelong event. If you don't even say hello, there is no need to be filial to your parents!
Even in modern society, parents should be told about marriage, which is a kind of respect. After all, marriage is a matter for two families. Ugly daughter-in-law always has to meet her in-laws, and poor son-in-law always has to meet her mother-in-law. It is impossible to live alone all her life. She still has to visit relatives and friends on holidays. When she gets married, she still has to do her parents' work well and get their blessings. Only a perfect marriage and a beautiful family can be formed.
Conclusion
It is a well-known saying among many people to take the essence and discard the dross. However, many traditional virtues left by the ancients have changed their meaning in their eulogy, which will have the opposite effect. When one is studying, it is best to fully understand them and have sufficient understanding and independent thinking ability to better absorb those truths.
It is most undesirable to take words out of context. It is a bad example to misinterpret the meaning and then spread it. Many ancient ideas are very good summaries. If you don't want to be biased by some misunderstandings, you need to master enough knowledge yourself. Don't be misled by those misinterpretations. Let those famous sayings in ancient times become another wisdom in your life.