The Filial Course

Filial Piety and Confucianism

For Confucius, xiào was not merely blind loyalty to one’s parents. More important than the norms of xiào were the norms of rén (仁) (benevolence) and yì (義) (righteousness). In fact, for Confucius and Mencius, xiào was a display of rén which was ideally applied in one’s dealings with all elders, thus making it a general norm of intergenerational relations. In reality, however, xiào was usually reserved for one’s own parents and grandparents, and was often elevated above the notions of rén and yì.

One of the important texts about filial piety in Confucianism is Xiao Jing (孝經); alternative transliteration: Hsiao Ching), the Book of Filial Piety.

–Filial piety [Filial Piety and Confucianism, New World Encyclopedia]

The Classic on Filial Piety 1

According to the Classic of Filial Piety, a Confucian classic treatise, the fact that we would not exist in this world were it not for our parents is reason enough to care for them in their old age: “Our bodies — to every hair and bit of skin — are received by us from our parents, and we must not presume to injure or wound them: this is the beginning of filial piety.”

The next phrase in the Classic of Filial Piety describes the goal of filial piety: “When we have established our character by the practice of the filial course, so as to make our name famous in future ages, and thereby glorify our parents: this is the end of filial piety.” This describes our growth from children to adults who by our own good character, good name and accomplishments, add luster to our parents, who can be praised for having such children as we have become. In other words, to be filial children of God and True Parents, we should become people of whom God and True Parents can be proud.

The Classic of Filial Piety continues, “It commences with the service of parents; it proceeds to the service of the ruler.” This means that filial piety is the foundational virtue for leading a public life. Loyalty to the ruler and filial devotion to God are the natural expansions of filial piety to higher levels of responsibility….

It’s one thing to be filial to good parents, but what if our parents are bad people who don’t deserve respect? In the Asian tradition, filial piety should overcome even the resentment we might feel towards parents who don’t treat us well. That is because we still owe them our existence, regardless of whether they are good or bad.

–Andrew Wilson [Filial Piety to God and True Parents, April 23, 2018]

Parents and Children

In a family, parents are responsible for the welfare of the children and offer the children an embracing, unconditional love that overlooks and compensates for their weaknesses. Through their example, they teach their children the basic values and attitudes which they will carry throughout life. The children, in turn, respect their parents as the source of their very being, as their teachers, and as the ones who have labored and sacrificed for their sakes. When they are grown, they should be responsible to care for their parents in their old age. These relative responsibilities should not be undertaken as a matter of duty, but rather emerge from the spontaneous promptings of parental love and the children’s gratitude and respect. This is the vertical axis defining relations of love and respect between people of unequal status and different responsibilities.

–Andrew Wilson, editor [World Scripture – a Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts]