Research On Mencius' Filial Piety

The Confucian concept of filial piety had a long history,and since the founding of Confucianism,through the inheritance and development of Zengzi,Mencius and other thinkers,it had gradually become more and more mature and perfect.In particular,during the process of its development,Mencius had showed his own characteristics on Confucian filial piety.So for the sake of this,this thesis attempts to discuss Mencius' view of filial piety in a systematical way,and we will take the origin of filial piety,its connotation and characteristics,theoretical contribution and influence,into our general consideration.Furthermore,the thesis will also revealwhat Mencius' innovation on Confucian filial piety is and the significance of his filial piety in intellectual history.Chapter One discusses the origin of Mencius' view of filial piety from two aspects: thought and reality.In the ideological level,Mencius' thought of filial piety directly came from Confucius' view,which had established the spirit of filial piety in inner respect and etiquette compliance.In addition,from Zengzi to Guo Dian's Confucian Bamboo slips of ZiSi,this growth and develepment had stipulated the basic overview and direction of Mencius' idea.Love and respect of Zengzi's filial piety,and the relationship between filial piety and politics as well as the idea that declined emperor for father or refused father but not for the emperor in Guo Dian's Confucian Bamboo slips,these two aspects had great influence on the formation of Mencius' view of filial piety.Besides,in the practical perspective,the formation of Mencius' filial piety was also affected by his life experience in his childhood and his behaviors of respecting his mother in his adulthood.Chapter Two mainly analyzes the connotation and characteristics of Mencius' view of filial piety.First of all,the main content level of it had a distinct dimension and a rich sense of hierarchy.Mencius started with the discussion of Kuang Zhang and combined with the behavior of unfilial piety in society to propose the basic principle of filial piety between father and son.Then,he took the stories of Shizi and Zengzi as examples to explain the filial piety in a general sense,which means that people should obey the etiquette,and filial piety should be carried through the whole life process of one's parents,and one should focus on filial piety from the perspective of his/her heart.Finally,Mencius continued the creative ideas of Confucius and Zeng's "great filial piety",and deliberately shaped the image of Shun's " admiring his parents for life " for the world." admiring his parents for life " is the highest level of Mencius' thought on filial piety,A sincere heart is the a priori basic of " admiring his parents for life "," admiring his parents for life " is reflected in the innocence of emotions,and he still attached to his parents at the age of fifty.Shun's longning for his parents is also reflected in his filial piety with blame for himself,not being tempted by foreign objects.Secondly,Mencius' theory of good nature provided a metaphysical basis for his filial piety.Supported by his theory of human nature,Mencius' view of filial piety presented a clear dimension.For the theory of filial piety,the best thing of the importance of human goodness is that it initially sought the support of innate ontology for the filial piety.It should be manifested as the following: First of all,from the point of view of the connection between human nature and filial piety,Mencius demonstrated that filial piety was the unique characteristic of human being,different from other things.Discussing “filial piety” and “conscience” and “energy”,the distinction between “nature” and “fate” proved a moral impetus for filial piety.Second,nature is the root of great filial piety.Shun practiced great filial piety by nature,who was not only a perfect person of good nature,but also a model of great filial piety.And in order to manifest the filial piety,the source of this filial piety could be traced back to the heart of four beginnings,which contained benevolence,righteousness,etiquette and wisdom and was advocated by Mencius.Throughout the process of filial piety,it was also a guarantee of filial piety.Third,Mencius advocated a way of filial piety that obeyed his parents and won the favor of them,but it was not foolish."Marrying without telling " and "fleeing with privacy",Shun's behaviors reflected the flexibility and great justice protecting of filial piety.Chapter Three discusses the significance of intellectual history of Mencius' view on filial piety.First,it explained Mencius' innovative promotion of Confucian filial piety.On the basis of inheriting the thought of filial piety and virtue,Mencius gave a comprehensive interpretation of filial piety in Confucianism.The promoting development of his view of filial piety before Qin Dynasty could be illustrated from three aspects: Finding ontological support for human filial piety;advocating to do filial piety according to the righteousness and exercising the power to maintain the filial piety if necessary.Finally,strengthening the connection between filial piety and politics,and considering economic factors which had become more and more important for people to carry out filial piety,the monarch should provide livelihood security for being filial piety.Secondly,Mencius' concept of filial piety,with its unique theoretical innovation,promoted the development of Confucian filial piety before the Qin dynasty,which had a profound influence on the traditional society of more than two thousand years.This thesis briefly discusses two key points : Xunzi's theory and the period of May 4th movement.