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THE CLASSIC OF FILIAL PIETY
Xiao Jing [Hsiao Ching]
I The Scope and Meaning of the Treatise
(Once), when Zhong
Ni
1
was unoccupied, and his
disciple Zeng
2
was
sitting by in attendance on him, the
Master said,
had a perfect virtue and
all-embracing rule of conduct, through which
they were in accord with all under
heaven. By the practice of it the
people were brought to live in peace
and harmony, and there was no
ill-will
between superiors and inferiors. Do you know what
it was?
Zeng rose from his
mat and said,
devoid of intelligence,
be able to know this?
The
Master said,
virtue,
3
and (the
stem) out of which grows (all moral) teaching. Sit
down again, and I will explain the
subject to you. Our
bodies
—
to
every
hair and bit of skin
—
are
received by us from our parents, and
we
must not presume to injure or wound them. This is
the beginning
of filial piety. When we
have established our character by the practice
of the (filial) course, so as to make
our name famous in future ages
and
thereby glorify our parents, this is the end of
filial piety. It
commences with the
service of parents; it proceeds to the service of
the ruler; it is completed by the
establishment of character.
Ever think of
your ancestor,
Cultivating your
virtue.
4
Notes
1
2
This is the zi
or
Zeng Zi speaks in
fourteen sayings in the
Analects
, e.g.,
1.4. He names himself a bit later by
his ming or
name,
the virtue
of filial piety; see, for example,
Analects
1.9 &
19.17 & 18.
3
constituents of
humanity: benevolence, righteousness,
propriety, knowledge, and fidelity.
4
Shi III, i, ode
1, stanza 6, p. 431. Mao 235.
II Filial Piety in the Son
of Heaven
The Master said,
risk of) being hated by any man, and he
who reveres his parents will
not dare
(to incur the risk of) being contemned by any
man.
1
When
the
love and reverence (of the Son of Heaven) are thus
carried to the
utmost in the service of
his parents, the lessons of his virtue affect all
the people, and he becomes a pattern to
(all within) the four seas.
This is the
filial piety of the Son of Heaven.
The One man will
have felicity,
and the millions of the
people will depend on (what
ensures his
happiness).
2
Notes
1
Many translators have
missed the passive force of this
construction.
2
Shu Jing, vol III of
The Chinese Classics
, p.
600.
III Filial
Piety in the Princes of States
peril. Adhering to economy
and carefully observant of the rules and
laws, they are full, without
overflowing. To dwell on high without peril
is the way long to preserve nobility;
to be full without overflowing is
the
way long to preserve riches. When their riches and
nobility do not
leave their persons,
then they are able to preserve the altars of their
land and grain, and to secure the
harmony of their people and men in
office.
1
This is
the filial piety of the princes of states.
Be
apprehensive, be cautious,
As if on the
brink of a deep abyss,
As if treading
on thin ice.
2
Notes
1
The king had a great altar
to the spirit (or spirits)
presiding
over the land. The color of the earth in the
center of it was yellow; that on each
of its four sides
differed according to
the colors assigned to the four
quarters of the sky. A portion of this
earth was cut away
and formed the
nucleus of a corresponding altar in each
feudal state, according to their
position relative to the
capital. The
prince of the state had the prerogative of
sacrificing there. A similar rule
prevailed for the altars to
the spirits
presiding over the grain. So long as a family
ruled in a state, so long its chief
offered those sacrifices;
and the
extinction of the sacrifices was an emphatic way
of describing the ruin and extinction
of the ruling house.
2
Shi,
II, v, ode 1, stanza 6, p. 333. Mao
195. This passage
is cited by Zeng Zi
in
Analects
8.3.
IV Filial Piety in High
Ministers and Great Officers
the laws of the ancient
kings, nor to speak words other than those
sanctioned by their speech, nor to
exhibit conduct other than that
exemplified by their virtuous ways.
Thus none of their words being
contrary
to those sanctions, and none of their actions
contrary to the
(right) way, from their
mouths there comes no exceptionable speech,
and in their conduct there are found no
exceptionable actions. Their
words may
fill all under heaven, and no error of speech will
be found
in them. Their actions may
fill all under heaven, and no dissatisfaction
or dislike will be awakened by them.
When these three
things
—
(their
robes, their words, and their
conduct)
—
are all complete as
they
should be, they can then preserve
their ancestral temples.
1
This is the
filial piety of high
ministers and great officers.
He is never
idle, day or night,
In the service of
the One man.
Notes
1
Their ancestral temples
were to the ministers and grand
officers what the altars of their land
and grain were to the
feudal lords.
Every great officer had three temples or
shrines, in which he sacrificed to the
first chief of his
family or clan, to
his grandfather, and to his father. While
these remained, the family remained,
and its honors were
prepetuated.
2
Shi, III, iii,
ode 6, stanza 4, p. 543. Mao 260.
V Filial Piety in Inferior
Officers
love
them equally. As they serve their fathers, so they
serve their
rulers, and they reverence
them equally. Hence love is what is chiefly
rendered to the mother, and reverence
is what is chiefly rendered to
the
ruler, while both of these things are given to the
father. Therefore
when they serve their
ruler with filial piety, they are loyal; when they
serve their superiors with reverence,
they are obedient. Not failing in
this
loyalty and obedience in serving those above them,
they are then
able to preserve their
emoluments and positions, and to maintain
their
sacrifices.
1
This is the
filial piety of inferior
officers.
2
Rising early and
going to sleep late,
Do not disgrace
those who gave you birth.
3
Notes
1
These officers had their
'positions' or places, and their
pay.
They had also their sacrifices, but such as were
private or personal to themselves.
2
not 'scholar,'
a more modern meaning of shi. The shi of
feudal China were the younger sons of
the higher classes,
and men that by
their ability were rising out of the lower,
and who were all in inferior situations
and looking forward
to offices of trust
in the service of the royal court or of
their several states. When the feudal
system had passed
away, the class of
'scholars' gradually took their place.
3
Shi, II, v, ode 2, stanza
4, p. 335. Mao 196.
VI Filial Piety in the Common People
distinguish the
advantages afforded by (different) soils; they are
careful of their conduct and economical
in their expenditure
—
in
order
to nourish their parents. This is
the filial piety of the common people.
there never has been one
whose filial piety was without its beginning
and end on whom calamity did not
come.
1
Notes
1
This chapter is the end of
what Zhu Xi regarded as the
only
portion of the Xiao that came directly from
Confucius.
The chapters that follow
lack the sequence of the
foregoing.
VII Filial
Piety in Relation to the Three
Powers
1
The disciple Zeng said,
piety!
The Master
replied,
2
Heaven,
the righteousness of Earth, and the practical duty
of Man.
Heaven and earth invariably
pursue the course (that may be thus
described), and the people take it as
their pattern. (The ancient kings)
imitated the brilliant luminaries of
heaven and acted in accordance
with the
(varying) advantages afforded by earth, so that
they were in
accord with all under
heaven, and in consequence their teachings,
without being severe, were successful,
and their government, without
being
rigorous, secured perfect order.
people, set before them
therefore an example of the most extended
love, and none of the people neglected
their parents. They set forth to
them
(the nature of) virtue and righteousness, and the
people roused
themselves to the
practice of them. They went before them with
reverence and yielding courtesy, and
the people had no contentions.
They led
them on by the rules of propriety and by music,
and the
people were harmonious and
benignant. They showed them what
they
loved and what they disliked, and the people
understood their
prohibitions.
Awe-
inspiring are you, O Grand-Master Yin,
And the people all look up to
you.
3
Notes
1
2
i.e., Heaven,
Earth, Man
The first part
of Confucius' reply is found in the
Zuo
Zhuan
(Legge, vol. V, p.
708)
3
Shi, II,
iv, ode 7, stanza 1, p. 309. Mao 191.
VIII Filial Piety in
Government
The Master said,
filial piety ruled all under heaven,
they did not dare to receive with
disrespect the ministers of small
states. How much less would they do
so
to the dukes, marquises, counts, and barons! Thus
it was that they
got (the princes of)
the myriad states with joyful hearts (to assist
them) in the (sacrificial) services to
their royal predecessors.
How much less would they
slight their officers and the people! Thus it
was that they got all their people with
joyful hearts (to assist them) in
serving the rulers, their predecessors.
concubines. How
much less would they slight their wives and sons!
Thus it was that they got their men
with joyful hearts (to assist them)
in
the service of their parents.
their sons, and, when
sacrificed to, their disembodied spirits enjoyed
their offerings. Therefore for all
under heaven peace and harmony
prevailed; disasters and calamities did
not occur; misfortunes and
rebellions
did not arise.
To an upright, virtuous conduct
All in the four quarters of the state
render obedient
homage.
Notes
1
Shi Jing, III, iii, ode 2,
stanza 2, p. 511. Mao 256.
IX The Government of the
Sages
1
The disciple Zeng said,
sages there was not something greater
than filial piety.
The
Master replied,
produced by Heaven and
Earth, man is the noblest. Of all the actions
of man there is none greater than
filial piety. In
filial
piety there is nothing greater than the
reverential awe of one's
father. In the
reverential awe shown to one's father there is
nothing
greater than the making him the
correlate of Heaven.
2
The
duke of
Zhou was the man who (first)
did this.
the
correlate of Heaven, and in the Brilliant Hall he
honored king Wen
and sacrificed to him
as the correlate of God. The consequence was
that from (all the states) within the
four seas, every (prince) came in
the
discharge of his duty to (assist in those)
sacrifices. In the virtue of
the sages
what besides was there greater than filial piety?