Chapter X. An Orderly Description of the Acts of Filial Piety

Chapter X. An Orderly Description of the Acts of Filial Piety

CHAPTER X. AN ORDERLY DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTS OF FILIAL PIETY.

The Master said, 'The service which a filial son does to his parents is as follows:--In his general conduct to them, he manifests the utmost reverence; in his nourishing of them, his endeavour is to give them the utmost pleasure; when they are ill, he feels the greatest anxiety; in mourning for them (dead), he exhibits every demonstration of grief; in sacrificing to them, he displays the utmost solemnity. When a son is complete in these five things (he may be pronounced) able to serve his parents.

p. 481

'He who (thus) serves his parents, in a high situation, will be free from pride; in a low situation, will be free from insubordination; and among his equals, will not be quarrelsome. In a high situation pride leads to ruin; in a low situation insubordination leads to punishment; among equals quarrelsomeness leads to the wielding of weapons.

'If those three things be not put away, though a son every day contribute beef, mutton, and pork 1 to nourish his parents, he is not filial.'


Footnotes

  1. 481:1

    Compare with this the Confucian Analects, II, vii.

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