Confucian Filial Piety Thought

Filial piety plays an important part in traditional Chinese culture, and it is also the most basic concept 1 Confucianism. In recent times, China's traditional culture has received a severe shock of western culture and experienced a lot of change. However, the concept of filial piety is still recognized by Chinese people all over the world, and filial piety has become one of the important features peculiar to Chinese civilization in comparison with other civilizations.The concept of filial piety was produced when human society developed into acertain stage. It formed in the times of patrilineal clan commune, and was advocated inthe Yin Dynasty and developed in the West Zhou Dynasty. Through inheriting andsummarizing previous ideas of filial piety, the Confucian school with Confucius as itsrepresentative upheld filial piety as the essence of morality and the source of education.They set up norms of filial behavior based on humanistic care, and put forward acomparatively complete thought and theory of filial piety, hence the formal birth ofConfucian filial piety. The scholar Zeng Cu further developed the basic meanings offilial piety and raised it to the position of philosophical noumenon. Mencius did ametaphysical construction of filial piety and recognized filial piety as the basis of aharmonious monarchical reign. From the perspective of "human nature is evil", thescholar Xun Kuang criticized that filial piety should emphasize propriety, righteousnessand education, and advocated that on should " be obedient to righteousness in stead ofhis father." The Book of Filial Piety systemized and theorized the thought of filial piety,and praised it as the highest moral and ethic standard. It interpreted filial piety as loyaltyto the emperor and preached a reign based on filial piety. Thereafter, filial piety wasenriched and extended, and gradually became the basic behavior norm and moralprinciple of Chinese people in all walks of life. It left a profound impact on the politicsand family life of the traditional Chinese society.The Confucian thought of filial piety in pre-Qin days is essentially a product of blood relationship and patriarchal ideology. It then turned to vindicate the patriarchal society since its formation. In the political marriage of filial piety and loyalty to the emperor, the negative factors in filial piety were developed into their extremes. The interpretation of filial piety as loyalty to the emperor, and the pan-filial doctrine both gave profound negative influences, hence the severe criticism of filial piety. In modern society, the natural and social basis of filial piety still exists, so showing the positive factors of filial piety has an irreplaceable significance to the construction of modern family ethics and public morals. The practice of modern filial piety should be performed in a way that is different from that of the traditional society. Filial piety should go back to its position as family ethic, and the positive parts which are essential to the construction of modern family ethics should be separated from the traditional moral system and endowed with the connotation of the times. After that, filial piety will play a positive role in the construction of a harmonious society.