The culture of filial piety is an important part of the treasure house of traditional culture in my country. Throughout the ages, the culture of filial piety has played a very important role in promoting the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, maintaining family harmony, enhancing national unity, and stabilizing society. The following is the filial piety in Confucianism that I have carefully compiled. You are welcome to read it. I hope you will like it.

Filial piety in Confucianism

“Filial piety comes first among all good deeds.” Filial piety is a kind of goodness advocated by Chinese culture since ancient times, and it is also one of the core ideas of Confucian culture. Let's find out together!

Confucian religion is rooted in gratitude and awe for the creator of life. "Filial piety" is an important content of Confucian religion. The Analects contains many remarks about filial piety. Confucius said: "Disciples should be filial when they enter and become younger brothers when they leave. They should be sincere and trustworthy. They should love others and be benevolent. If they have the spare capacity to do, they should study literature. ("The Analects of Confucius·Xueer")" Confucianism emphasizes "to be knowledgeable in literature", Known for its emphasis on education. Confucius pointed out, "If quality is superior to literature, then you will be wild; if literature is superior to quality, you will be history. If literature and quality are gentle, then you will be a gentleman. ("The Analects of Confucius·Yong Ye")" In Confucius' view, if you want to become a "gentleman", "literacy" (acquired cultural education) It is indispensable to "quality" (simple good nature). Therefore, "learning literature" is an indispensable content of life for Confucian scholars. However, Confucius, a diligent and self-taught Confucian, believed that in terms of the fundamentals of life, what is more important than "learning literature" is "filial piety" and "brother", that is, being filial to parents and respecting elders.

"Benevolence and righteousness" are the basic moral values ??of Confucianism, and "filial piety" is "the foundation of benevolence." Among the two items of "filial piety" and "brother", the more fundamental one is "filial piety". In this regard, Confucianism is very different from Christianity. Christ also advocates honoring parents and loving brothers, but more importantly, loving God and loving Christ. The Bible records that Christ requires believers to love Heavenly Father and Christ more than their biological parents. Confucius believed that anyone who cannot regard loving parents as the first priority in life has not yet established the fundamentals of being a human being.

Why is there such a difference? Because Confucian culture has a different view on the source of human life than Christ. Judaism and Christianity believe that a male heavenly father—God—created everything. Like all things in the world, humans are also God’s creations. Therefore, what humans should love and be grateful for most is not their parents but the Creator. Heavenly Father. Confucian culture believes that heaven and earth breed all things, and parents give birth to children. We are born between heaven and earth. We should not only revere and be grateful to the great parents of heaven and earth who created everything including human beings, but also be filial and grateful to our biological parents who raised us. In the wedding ceremony of Christians, gratitude and obedience to God are important contents. In traditional Chinese weddings, one worships Heaven and Earth (the parents of mankind and all things), the other two worships Gaotang (one's biological parents), and finally the husband and wife bow to each other. Men and women are virtuous.

Precisely because Chinese Confucian culture believes that biological parents are the source of individual life, we are extremely grateful to our parents. Parents have a sacred status in the family, and "filial piety" is an important content of Confucian religion. Confucian culture advocates that parents should be treated with "propriety when they are alive; when they are dead, sacrifices should be done with propriety", and "when things die, just as things live, and when things die, like things exist." Parents should do their best to provide for them in terms of material when they are alive, and in terms of attitude. Be respectful and obedient. After your parents pass away, you still have to offer sacrifices as they did when they were alive.

Confucian culture emphasizes benevolence, sympathy, and forgiveness. It advocates respecting oneself and others, benevolent people and loving things. "One wants to establish others, and one wants to reach others." At the same time, he affirms that "there are differences in love." The reason why there are differences in "love" is determined by the distance of blood relationship. The most important thing to love is your parents (the source of your life), followed by your brothers (your brothers and sisters). Therefore, "filial piety" and "brother" are the most important family ethics, which determine whether a person can be kind to others and love things. The foundation is also the foundation of being a human being. Confucianism also promotes the morality of fraternity and is committed to cultivating the realm and sentiments of "harmony between people and things". However, Confucianism believes that it is unnatural and unnatural to require a person to "love without distinction", that is, to love others as much as he loves his parents and brothers. It is unreasonable and impersonal, because blood relationship is the most fundamental interpersonal relationship, and "my" love extends from people who are related to "me" by blood.

Among people who are related to "me" by blood, love for biological parents is the most important. In the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, a high school teacher who was in class ignored his students and fled alone at the moment of the earthquake. He published the incident on his blog, which sparked intense condemnation and earned him the nickname "Running Man." Afterwards, Mr. "Paopao" publicly claimed that if his mother and daughter were present at the same time, he would probably save his daughter instead of his mother. According to traditional Confucian moral concepts, in times of crisis, a son should undoubtedly save his mother first, and the mother's gift of childbirth and life value are higher than those of her daughter. This kind of statement that puts the value of a mother's life after that of her daughter and herself will undoubtedly be regarded as disobedient and unfilial in traditional Chinese society. It is as abominable as when someone dared to openly declare that they did not believe in God during the period when Christ ruled the world.

Precisely because individual life comes from parents, in the Confucian tradition, it is legitimate and reasonable for parents to use corporal punishment on their children. "Hitting is pain, scolding is love. If you don't hit or scold, you will become bad." "Good people come out of the stick." Since parents have given birth to children, they certainly have the right to punish them.

Children should regret their parents' punishment and accept it without complaint. The Old Testament records Abraham's unconditional obedience to God. Abraham had no doubt about God's absolute authority and the reasonableness of his requirements, and obeyed God's command to sacrifice his only son as a burnt offering. Similarly, in the minds of traditional Chinese filial sons, their biological parents are their gods, the creators and absolute authorities of their lives. Any demands and punishments from their parents are reasonable and should be complied with.

Hu Shi became famous in the radical New Culture Movement that completely opposed Confucian culture in the early part of the last century. When he passed away, Chiang Kai-shek called him in an elegiac couplet "a model of old morality in the new culture, a model of new ideas in the old ethics." "Teacher's example". This New Culture Movement general was a filial son who was deeply influenced and assimilated by the traditional Confucian filial piety religion. In the book "Autobiography at Forty", Hu Shi vividly described the "preaching" of filial piety given to him by his widowed mother for ten years in his childhood, as well as the strict supervision of his life and study, including the reprimands and punishments he received when he made mistakes. corporal punishment. The middle-aged Hu Shi was deeply grateful to his mother. He praised his widowed mother as both a "strict father" and a "loving mother." He attributed his achievements as a person and a scholar to his mother's ability to teach his children. In his youth, Hu Shi once became drunk and debauched due to frustration. After getting drunk, he got into a fight with a policeman and was detained for a night. After he woke up, he looked at himself in the mirror and thought of his mother who had longed for his success in his hometown. Change your past. Soon, he was admitted to study in the United States on official scholarship. After a few years, he returned to China and quickly became famous in the academic and cultural circles. Hu Shi was widely favored by the opposite sex, but he obeyed his mother's orders when it came to marriage, and he always loved and cared for the first wife arranged by his mother. Hu Shi, who lost his father at the age of three, had no emotional impression of his father, but devoted himself to tracing the trajectory of his thoughts from the writings left behind by his father. In "Autobiography at Forty", he said that his learning path of understanding rationality and emphasizing experience was following in the footsteps of his father. Not only did he become famous after completing his studies, he also compiled and published all of his father's posthumous works. In his later years, he went on to add a large number of major events in his father's life in his "Oral Autobiography". A comprehensive review of Hu Shi's life shows that his parents played an almost divine role in his life. His mother's "preaching" was internalized as the driving force of his life. His life can be said to be a life of fulfilling his parents' expectations. Hu Shi's actions are the concrete practice of Confucianism's proposition that a gentleman should be "good at telling his father's affairs and good at carrying out his father's ambitions."

Because of "filial piety", a filial son will definitely cherish his own life and cherish his own honor. "A filial son should not stand under a dangerous wall." Confucianism believes that life is given by parents, and body, hair and skin are given by parents and should not be damaged and should be cherished. Throughout your life, you should be a good person, work hard, fulfill your filial piety at home, be loyal outsiders, strive for honor for your parents, and bring glory to your ancestors. I remember once watching a TV interview show by Ms. Elaine Chao, the Chinese-American Secretary of Labor in the United States. Ms. Zhao said that whether she was studying in school or working in society, she had a strong psychological motivation, that is, to bring glory to her parents. Zhao Xiaolan is the eldest among the sisters, and her younger sisters are also very good. In her family education, traditional Chinese "filial piety" still plays a role.

It should be noted that based on the tradition of patrilineal family ethics, Confucian filial piety has a major conflict with the universal values ??of the modern world that advocate individual freedom, human rights, and equality for all. The rupture of the traditional Confucian "Three Cardinal Guidelines" ("Father is the guideline for sons, the monarch is the guideline for ministers, and the husband is the guideline for wives") of unequal interpersonal relationships is inevitable. It is not a historical accident that the New Culture Movement put forward the arbitrary slogan "Down with the Confucian Family Store" . The revival of Confucian culture after the Great Break must go through major transformation and transformation. However, the essence of Confucian benevolence and filial piety, such as respecting, being grateful, being kind and repaying the parents who gave birth to us, cherishing life, harmonious families, and extending from family ethics to society, establishing ourselves and others, being loyal and fulfilling our responsibilities, and being benevolent. Loving things, and even "governing the country and bringing peace to the world", establishing a harmonious society, so showing up to be famous, honoring our parents, etc., should undoubtedly continue to exist in personal life within a cultural framework that fully respects individual freedom, human rights and everyone's political equality. Play a role and make important contributions to the moral reconstruction of Chinese society and world peace.

Expansion: Famous sayings about filial piety in Confucianism

1. The most important thing for a filial son is to respect his relatives. ——Mencius

2. Having no father and no king is like a beast. ——Mencius

3. The good and the bad cannot be separated. If fate cannot be changed, if good and evil cannot be moved. ——"Lu Shi Chun Qiu"

4. A filial son does not flatter his relatives, and a loyal minister does not flatter his emperor. This is the prosperity of ministers. ——Zhuangzi

5. For those who care for their relatives, they should make peace with them regardless of the location, which is the utmost filial piety. ——Zhuangzi

6. Only being filial to your parents can relieve worries. ——Mencius

7. Father and son have relatives, monarch and ministers have righteousness, husband and wife have differences, elders and children have relationships, and friends have trust. ——Mencius

8. The true meaning of benevolence is to serve relatives; the true meaning of righteousness is to obey elder brothers. ——Mencius

9. The nurturing of a filial son means being happy with one’s heart and not violating one’s aspirations. ——"Book of Rites"

10. There are three types of filial piety: first, respecting relatives, secondly, not being humiliated, and secondly, being able to support. ——"Book of Rites"

11. It is important to know the age of your parents. One is for joy, the other is for fear. ——"The Analects of Confucius"

12. When Meng Wubo asked about filial piety, Confucius said: "Parents only worry about their illness.

”——“The Analects of Confucius·Wei Zheng”

13. Love what your parents love, and respect what your parents respect. ——Confucius

14. There is order between elder and younger. ——Mencius

15. The old and the old are like the old; the young and the young are like the young. The world can be carried in the palm of the hand. If you are not close to someone, you cannot be a son. ——Mencius

17. A gentleman has three kinds of happiness, but the king of the world cannot live with him. To look up to Heaven and not to bow down to others is two kinds of happiness; to win the world's talents and educate them is three kinds of happiness. A gentleman has three kinds of happiness, but the king of the world does not care about them. ——

Mencius

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18. What is the greatest thing? Serving one's relatives is the greatest thing; protecting one's body is the greatest thing. One can serve one's relatives without losing one's body. I have heard that one can serve one's relatives without losing one's body. I have never heard of those who do not serve their relatives. What is not done is to serve one's relatives. What is not done is to protect one's own body. - Mencius

< p> 19. Great filial piety means lifelong admiration for parents. Only being filial to parents can relieve worries. - Meng Ke

20. Honoring parents can often replace the noblest feelings - Meng Ke

21. Use the way of heaven to divide the benefits of earth; use your body and soul to support your parents. This is the filial piety of common people.

22. The nature of heaven and earth is that people are precious. There is nothing greater than filial piety. - "The Classic of Filial Piety"

23. Always talk about filial piety, and think about filial piety. - "Mencius"

24. Confucius said: Disciple. Be filial when you are in, be cynical when you are out, be sincere and trustworthy, love others and be kind, and if you have enough energy to do it, study literature. Look at his behavior. He has not changed his ways for three years, which can be called filial piety.

26. Meng Yizi asked about filial piety. "Fan Chiyu, his son told him, "Meng Sun asked if he was filial to me, and I said nothing against him. Fan Chi said: "What do you mean?" Confucius said: "In life, things should be done with propriety; in death, burials should be done with propriety, and sacrifices should be done with propriety." "

27. Uncle Meng Wu asked about filial piety. Confucius said: "Parents only worry about their illness. "

28. Ziyou asked about filial piety. The Master said: "Today's filial piety refers to being able to raise dogs and horses. As for dogs and horses, they can be raised. How can they be different if they are disrespectful?"

29. Zixia asked about filial piety. Confucius said: "Color is difficult. When something happens, a disciple will do his work, he will be given wine and food, and the teacher will give him a meal. Is that considered filial?"

30. The Master said: "If you have not changed your father's ways for three years, you can be called filial. "

31. Confucius said: "One must not know the age of one's parents. One is for joy, the other is for fear. "

32. Confucius said: "How filial, Min Ziqian. People do not listen to the words of their parents and brothers. "

33. Mencius said: "Everyone will love his relatives and grow up with them, and the world will be peaceful. " ——From "Mencius Lis Lou Shang" (Spring and Autumn Period).

34. Mencius said: "As long as everyone loves his parents and respects his elders, then the world will naturally be fine. So peaceful.

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