Chinese history

1. Filial Piety (xiao) was a fundamental aspect of Confucius’s Analects. He said that a son is filial if he does not change his father’s ways for 3 years after he dies. This became a foundational value of “ren”, or humaneness. He also believed that uprightness lies in filial piety. According to Confucius, the beginning of filial piety is serving your parents, the middle is serving your ruler, and it ends with establishing yourself. According to Confucius, being filial and fraternal is the root of humaneness. Mozi used filial piety to justify “universal love”. His belief was that if one respects and provides for other’s parents, they will provide for yours in return. Your parents will then have more material benefits than if you were the only one taking care of them. In Mouzi’s Disposing of Error, the Chinese objected to Buddhism because they felt it promoted unfilial behavior. The Confucians held that the body is the gift of one's parents and that to harm it is to be disrespectful toward them. Mouzi defended this argument by saying that we do what is best at the time. He also gives an example of an early king who cut his hair short and tattooed his body, but was still praised by Confucius for being so virtuous. They also criticized the Buddhists for not marrying. They felt that this was unfilial because without marriage, they could not have children and keep their family name alive. Also, an important aspect of Chinese religion was devotion to the ancestors. Without descendents to make these offerings, the tradition cannot be fulfilled. Mouzi argued this by saying that pleasures such as wives, children, and property are the luxuries of the world, but living simply and doing nothing are the wonders of the Way. By practicing the Way, the monks are able to substitute other worldly pleasures for goodness and wisdom. The Yulanpen Sūtra tells the story of Mulian, who was far along the Buddhist path. He dreamt of his mother’s suffering, and was told by the Buddha that he