Beginnings (20)—Filial Piety

Click here for the introduction to Round and Square's Beginnings theme.

[a] Filial branches RF

Filial piety. This is not a phrase we use everyday in most American households. One of my students, having heard me talk about the concept for several weeks, wrote a paper on what s/he spelled as "philiopiety." I like that concept, and imagine Plato musing on the ideal family structure (think of the Republic) or Rousseau bringing up little Emile. As I said, neither world is in the top thousand or so we use every day in American life. Look 'em up.  

Filial 

Piety

We will spend most of our time today looking at the first passage in the Classic of Filial Piety (孝經). This iconic text from China's Han dynasty focuses on the central dynamics of both family and polity in China. I will have several more posts dealing with this fundamental text in the coming weeks, but its place in Chinese history is absolutely central. It's about as 中 as you can get. It is often noted that the Classic of Filial Piety is a "later" text that is not a part of the fundamental philosophical changes that took place in China during the Spring and Autumn (722-481 BCE) and Warring States (481-221 BCE) periods.

[b] Parent/child RF

Yup. This is correct. It comes later in the Chinese literary tradition (let's just say circa the beginning of the Common Era). Later. It is also centrally important. Pretty much everyone for the last 2,000 years has memorized it.

Take a look at the opening passage, translated by my friend and teacher, Roger Ames. From here, we'll take the tale beyond beginnings in the coming weeks.

The Classic of Filial Piety 孝經
 
仲尼居．曾子侍．子曰．先王有至德要道．以順天下．民用和睦．上下無怨．汝知之乎．曾子避席曰．參不敏．何足以知之．子曰．夫孝．德之本也．教之所由生 也．復坐．吾語汝．身體髮膚．受之父母．不敢毀傷孝之始也．立身行道．揚名於後世．以顯父母．孝之終也．夫孝．始於事親．中於事君．終於立身．大雅云．無 念爾祖．聿脩厥德。

Confucius was at leisure in his home, and Master Zeng was attending him. The Master said, "Do you understand how the former kings were able to use the model of their consummate excellence (de) and their vital way (dao) to bring the empire into accord (shun), and how the people on this account were able to attain harmony (he) and to live with each other as good neighbors so that those above and below alike did not resent each other?"

Master Zeng rose from his mat to respond, and said, "I am not clever enough to understand such things."

"It is family reverence (xiao)," said the Master, "that is the root of excellence, and whence education (jiao) itself is born. Sit down again and I will explain it to you.

[c] Eggs in a basket RF

"Your physical person with its hair and skin are received from your parents. Vigilance in not allowing anything to do injury to your person is where family reverence begins; distinguishing yourself and walking the proper way (dao) in the world; raising your name for posterity and thereby bringing esteem to your father and mother—it is in these things that family reverence finds its consummation. This family reverence, then, begins in service to your parents, continues in the service of your lord, and culminates in distinguishing yourself in the world.

"In the 'Greater Odes' section of the Book of Songs it says: 'How can you not remember your ancestor, King Wen? You must cultivate yourself and extend its excellence.'"[1]

Notes
[1] Henry Rosemont and Roger Ames, The Classic of Family Reverence: A Philosophical Translation of the Xiaojing (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009), 105.


Bibliography
Rosemont, Henry and Roger Ames. The Classic of Family Reverence: A Philosophical Translation of the Xiaojing. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009.