| The purpose of this thesis is to answer the question, "How is filial piety (xiao 孝) presented in today’s Chinese public schools?" This question is important because filial piety is a core value in Confucian philosophy, and the way it is presented is a bellwether of Confucianism’s status in China today. Filial piety is a core Confucian value with distinguishable characteristics. Its status as a core value is supported by strong textual evidence. In the traditional form, it requires respect and obedience to parents, taking care of them as they age, gently correcting their bad habits, and observing proper mourning rites when they die.The thesis will be divided into three chapters. The first chapter will discuss filial piety before Confucius, and in the early Confucian tradition. Texts such as Classic of Poetry, Analects, Mencius, Classic of Filial Piety, and 24 Exemplars of Filial Piety will be examined, with the goal of providing a clear definition of filial piety. The second chapter will discuss today’s textbooks, and how filial piety is treated in them. The textbooks used for this investigation were published in 2013 and are used in many public schools throughout mainland China. The third chapter will compare and analyze the traditional and current presentations of filial piety. Commentary from both Western and Chinese philosophers who have written on filial piety will be included throughout the chapters.Filial piety is a traditional Chinese value that existed before Confucius. The Book of Odes (诗 经), some of which predates Confucius by hundreds of years, contains references to filial piety and praise for filial sons. In the Analects, filial piety is linked to the root of morality, or to benevolence 仁. (ren), which many Confucian scholars believe to be the core Confucian value. Filial piety is linked to benevolence in that one must be a filial son in order to become benevolent. In other versions, filial piety is the "root of a man’s character." Only the filial son, who is able to recognize the sacrifice of their parents and engages in filial behavior can begin to understand virtues like benevolence.To be a filial son means being obedient, reverent and exercising self-control. Obedience should even continue after the death of one’s parents, as one should "make no changes to his father’s ways," and "comply with the rites in burying them and offering sacrifices to them." One should never fail to comply with the wishes of one’s parents, but one can question or remonstrate them. "The Master said, "In serving his parents, a son may remonstrate with them, but gently..." Being reverent means more than just providing nourishment and support for one’s parents. It means caring for them with the utmost patience and self-control.Children are not meant to be mindless puppets, dominated by their parents, as we find in Mencius. It is even possible for a filial son to be disobedient to his father and filial to him, all at the same time. Mencius tells the story of sage-king Shun, who was unfortunate in that Gu Sou, his father, was a cruel and selfish man. Knowing this, Shun failed to inform his father of his marriage. By preventing his father from sinning against tradition and taking the onus of responsibility on himself, Shun remains a filial son.The 20th century was a time of great upheaval in China. The fall of the Qing dynasty, the rise of the Republican government, eventual Communist revolution, and later reform movements shook the political, cultural, and moral-philosophical foundations of the country. It was during this time that traditional Chinese values such as filial piety, and indeed the whole system of Confucianism, became the target of intense criticism. After the death of Mao Zedong and the 1980s reforms, the official stance towards Confucianism softened. State-sponsored research and the East Asian economic rise contributed to a Confucian revival in China in the late 1980s.The first years of the Republican era was chaotic. Starting with Yi Baisha’s critique published in the 1916 New Youth magazine, Confucianism was blamed for many of China’s problems. Starting in the 1920s, as Chiang Kaishek gained power, Confucius was portrayed as an advocate of democracy. The Republican narrative placed China at the forefront of political philosophy, having developed democratic ideals much earlier than the West, and downplayed the lack of technological and infrastructure development in China.The tide turned against Confucianism during the Cultural Revolution. Confucianism was associated with the exploitation of China’s ruling class, and was seen as contrary to Mao’s communist-socialist ideals. Red Guards "desecrated" Confucius’birthplace and burial ground, and Mao’s "Anti-Lin Biao and Anti-Confucius Campaign" (批林批孔运动) lumped denounced successor Lin Biao in with Confucius, condemning both. However, "Confucianism," Hu Shaohua writes, "survived to outlive Maoism." After Mao’s death in 1976, successor Deng Xiaoping enacted reforms such as the reinstatement of the civil service examination, which indicated a softening stance towards Confucianism. These reforms set the stage for the revival of Confucianism in China in the 1980s.John Makeham points to four factors which brought about the revival of Confucianism in China in the 1980s. The increasing interest in the efficacy of "rujia capitalism," the "sinicization of sociology" (中国化) movement in Hong Kong and Taiwan, state-sponsored research into "New Confucianism," and an increase in the number of non-government organizations organizing conferences, publishing documents, and hosting lectures on the significance of Confucianism all contributed to its revival. With these factors came increased collaboration with overseas scholars, which encouraged a kind of "cross-fertilization" of ideas about Confucianism.The textbooks will be divided into two categories and discussed separately. The first are texts meant to teach the Chinese language, which are composed of essays and stories that are intended to teach children proper grammar and vocabulary. They are the subject of rigorous examination and testing, which can include reciting an entire text from memory. The second are texts that are meant to teach moral values to students. The texts are not tested as rigorously, and the moral character-building class (品德育社会) is not held as often as the Chinese language classes.The texts oriented towards teaching the Chinese language use logical reasoning and an emotional appeal to encourage filial behavior. The character孝 appears in the second-grade reader, and a likeness of Confucius is found in the third grade reader, surrounded by sagely-looking men. Filial themes of obedience and self-control play a major role in the fifth grade reader. Later readers contain fewer filial-piety-related stories. They portray adult children who look back at their fathers’sacrifices and realize how much they have done for them. These stories encourage reverence through an emotional appeal.While there is a morality text for every grade, the eighth grade morality text focuses on filial piety. The readings and short stories encourage filial behavior by arguing that children are indebted to the parent. The fact that the parents gave life to the child is repeated several times, suggesting a debt that should be repaid. Filial piety is defined by the text as respecting one’s parents, not shaming them, and providing proper care for them as they age. These duties are presented not only as a moral and ethical requirement, but a legal one as well. However, unlike traditional filial piety, the child is not expected to cover up for the sins of the father.Traditional filial piety is characterized by the qualities of obedience, reverence, and self control. Children are expected to be filial when their parents are alive, during their funeral, and for the three years following their passing. Filial sons are expected to cover up for their fathers, and fathers for their sons. However, if one is able to prevent one’s father from committing a crime, this is of course the most desirable outcome, even if it means committing a crime against tradition in order to do so. Filial piety is the basis of morality and is a prerequisite for all other virtues.In today’s textbooks, the same character is used to refer to filial piety as it is in traditional texts. Confucius’ name and likeness appear in several locations, as do references to traditional texts. Moral children are expected to be obedient, reverent, and to exercise self-control. They are not, however, expected to cover up for their parents’immoral or illegal behavior. Instead, they should try to stop their parents from doing wrong. Filial piety is now a legal requirement, as well as an ethical and moral one. Learning how to give and receive love that is the root of all morality, but as the love in question is clearly in the context of the parent-child relationship, it is similar to the traditional version.Filial piety was a traditional Chinese value before Confucius was born, and because of his influence, it became the core moral value of Confucian philosophy. Confucianism and filial piety came under fire in the 20th century, but both survived and are alive and well in China today. Filial piety in today’s public school textbooks closely resembles traditional filial piety, which indicates that the Confucian revival has done much to repair the damage done in the 20th century. The presence of the character晓, Confucius’name and likeness, as well as references to traditional texts, indicate that Confucianism has been restored to its place of honor as one of China’s oldest and most venerated traditions.Filial piety’s amended form seems to fit well with John Makeham’s theory, that the Confucian revival was encouraged in order to provide an alternative narrative of modernity and pave the way for socialism with Chinese characteristics. It also offers hope for an increasingly open dialogue with traditional values, which can be preserved, although they can be amended to better suit current needs. Although there is no indication of whether or not these lessons actually result in filial behaviors, it seems clear that the encouragement of these behaviors indicates that Confucianism will continue to play an influential role in China for many generations to come. |
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