Confucianism & Filial Virtue

Confucianism and filial virtue

Confucianism is a complex philosophy invented by Confucius during the 5th century BCE, which includes social, moral, philosophical, political and religious thoughts that dominated the culture of East Asia. Confucianism does not advocate specific religious practices or rituals in its teachings but teaches the people to adopt ethics behaviors to live in harmony.
The most important of its virtues is probably the filial virtue that characterizes, still nowadays, the Chinese culture and the main differences between Asia’s people behaviors and the rest of the world.
“The Confucian Project is learning to be human; it is not accepting fate. It is the recognition of primordial ties and the recognition that these ties can be transforming.” -Tu Wei-Ming

Confucius (孔夫子 Kǒng Fūzǐ, or K'ung-fu-tzu “Master Kong”) was a Chinese great thinker, teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period.
He was born in the state of Lu (Shantung Province), he gained mastery in the six arts of music, ritual, calligraphy, charioteering, arithmetic and archery. Equipped with a good knowledge of classical poetry and history, he began teaching in his thirties.
Confucius did not intend to found a new religion, but to interpret and revive the legalistic religion of the Zhou dynasty, under which many people thought the ancient system of religious rule was bankrupt. That is why Confucius could create this new ideology, just after the collapse of the Zhou dynasty, against the legalistic mind set of his day and to go with the end the slavery system to make a more harmonious and humane society.

Confucianism finds its origin in China but has spread widely to Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Macao and Vietnam. Territories such as Singapore that have a huge number of Chinese people also predominantly follow Confucianism. In fact, Confucianism is recorded to have nearly 1.5 billion followers all over the world. The people who believe in the teachings of Confucius generally follow the Chinese traditional religion, which is a blend of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and the local beliefs and practices.
Strictly speaking, there is no term in Chinese that directly corresponds to "Confucianism." In the Chinese language, the character Rú 儒 meaning "scholar," is generally used both in the past and the present to refer to things related to Confucianism. Several different terms are used in different situations:
"School of the scholars" (儒家; pinyin: Rújiā)
"Teaching of the scholars" (儒教; pinyin: Rújiào)
"Study of the scholars" (儒学 pinyin: Rúxué)
"Teaching of Confucius" (孔教; pinyin: Kǒngjiào)
"Kong Family's Business" (孔家店; pinyin: Kǒngjiādiàn)

Historically, Confucianism emerged during the Spring & Autumn period (771-476 BC) following the official abandonment of Legalism in China after the Qin Dynasty; Confucianism became the official state ideology of the Han. From that time the imperial state promoted Confucian values to maintain law, order, and the status quo. Then Confucian revival began during the Tang dynasty. In the late Tang, Confucianism absorbed some aspects of Buddhism and Daoism and was reformulated as (Neo-Confucianism). This reinvigorated form was adopted as the basis of the imperial exams and the core philosophy of the scholar official class in the Song dynasty.

The abolition of the examination system in 1905 marked the end of official Confucianism. The New Culture intellectuals of the early twentieth century blamed Confucianism for China's weaknesses and later it was hardly criticized by president Mao.
They searched for imported doctrines to adapt to the general nature of their own culture, such adaptations include the "Three Principles of the People" with the establishment of the Republic of China, and then Communism under the People's Republic of China. In the late twentieth century, some people credited Confucianism with the rise of the East Asian economy and it enjoyed a rise in popularity both in the People's Republic and abroad, in particular after the death of Mao Zedong.

Confucian thoughts have been diffused in many ways, even after the end of imperial examinations, by the Confucian Academy (NGO) founded in 1930 by Dr. Chen Huanzhang. The works of Confucius were translated into European languages through the agency of Jesuit scholars stationed in China. Matteo Ricci started to report on the thoughts of Confucius, and father Prospero Intorcetta published the life and works of Confucius into Latin in 1687. It is thought that such works had considerable importance on European thinkers of the period, particularly among the Deists and other philosophical groups of the Enlightenment who were interested by the integration of the system of morality of Confucius into Western civilization.
The French philosopher Voltaire was also influenced by Confucius, seeing the concept of Confucian rationalism as an alternative to Christian dogma. He praised Confucian ethics and politics, portraying the sociopolitical hierarchy of China as a model for Europe.
Also important military and political figures in modern Chinese history continued to be influenced by Confucianism, like the Muslim warlord Ma Fuxiang. It also influenced the New Life Movement in the early 20th century.

Today, this philosophy is still diffused, furthermore since the revival of Confucianism in China with new schools, eighty Confucius Centers in the United States and more throughout the world are partially funded by the People’s Republic of China. A statue of Confucius was also built in 2011 on Tiananmen square and at least, classical Confucian texts are currently re-appropriated.

One of the deepest teachings of Confucius may have been the superiority of personal exemplification over explicit rules of behavior. His moral teachings emphasized self-cultivation, emulation of moral exemplars, and the attainment of skilled judgment rather than knowledge of rules.
“Human beings are teachable, improvable, and perfectible”
The key concepts of Confucian ideas are supported by the 5 main virtues:
Rén (仁, Humaneness): It is the Confucian virtue denoting the good feeling virtuous human experiences when being altruistic. 仁 is exemplified by a normal adult's protective feelings for children. It is goodness, benevolence, love, a sense of the dignity of human life and it is considered the outward expression of Confucian ideals.
Yì (義, Righteousness or Justice): The ability to recognize, feel what is right and good. The value in the act is the rightness of the action regardless of the intention or the consequences of the act.
Lǐ (禮, Propriety or Etiquette): It is all the rules for people to have a proper behavior. It included,
Rituals
Propriety (positive)
“The Doctrine of the Mean,” The proper way is middle way between extremes
“The Five Constant Relationships”
The 5 constant relationships can represent every people and their position in the society, it gives them implicit duties:
- Father/Son => Father gives love and the son is filial.
- Husband/Wife => Husband is righteous and wife obedient.
- Elder brother/Younger brother => The elder is good and the younger respectful
- Elder Friend/Junior Friend => The elder is kind and the younger humble.
- Monarch/Officials => The monarch is benevolent and officials are loyal.
Zhì (智, Wisdom): That means, "To know,” to grasp the significance of, to appreciate (in the senses of perceiving the value of something and understanding its legitimacy).
Xìn (信, Integrity): It is to keep one’s word and be faithful, it includes the rules of courtesy with the hope of mitigating conflicts in the ruling class and between opposing classes. It is the key virtue for administrators.

己所不欲，勿施於人:
"What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others."

But Ren and Yi take their origin in the Filial Piety virtue…

In Confucian philosophy, filial piety (Chinese: 孝, xiào) is a virtue of respect for one's parents and ancestors. The Confucian classic Xiao Jing or Classic of Xiào, thought to be written around the Qin-Han period, has historically been the authoritative source on the Confucian tenet of xiào / "filial piety". The book, a conversation between Confucius and his student Zeng Shen (曾參, also known as Zengzi 曾子), is about how to set up a good society using the principle of xiào (filial piety).

In more general terms, filial piety means to be good to one's parents, to take care of them, to engage in good conduct not just towards parents but also outside the home so as to bring a good name to one's parents and ancestors, to perform the duties of one's job well so as to obtain the material means to support parents as well as carry out sacrifices to the ancestors. It is not being rebellious, show love, respect and support; display courtesy, ensure male heirs, uphold fraternity among brothers, wisely advise one's parents, including dissuading them from moral unrighteousness; display sorrow for their sickness and death, and carry out sacrifices after their death.
For Confucius, filial piety was not merely blind loyalty to one's parents. More important than the norms of Xiào were the norms of Rén (Chinese (仁)) (benevolence) and yì (義) (righteousness). For Confucius and Mencius, Xiào was a display of Rén, which was ideally applied in one's dealings with all elders, thus making it a general norm of intergenerational relations. However in practice, Xiào was usually reserved for one's own parents and grandparents, and from time to time, was elevated above the notions of Rén and Yì.
According to Chinese tradition Filial Piety has certain features. After the death of the parents the eldest child is required to perform all the rituals. One basic thing about filial piety is that the child has to ensure that the family line is continued. If the marriage turns out to a barren one the son can take another wife or adopt a child.

Although Confucianism and its teachings, as well as the idea of filial virtue are more than 2000 years old, it has still currently a huge impact on the Chinese society, and more globally on East Asia. It has the same aim, that is to say, bring harmony and peace in the society, these are implicit rules that frame the people’s behaviors. We can note:
East Asia’s social emphasis
Visible Social Effectiveness, each other help.
Almost seamless religious syncretism
Importance of the Family
Respect for the elderly and rituals for ancestors
Preference for negotiation and mediation
Learning arts, key to human transformation. ( For Confucius, someone who don’t likes art is only a half human.)

Still nowadays, a half of the grand-parents are living with their children, but they are getting more and more lonely because of the globalization and urbanization of the work, and the influence of the occidental countries, more individualists, so we can now see implicit rules becoming explicit.
Recently, the Chinese government enacted a law aimed at compelling adult children to visit their aging parents. The law, called “Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People,” has nine clauses that lay out the duties of children and their obligation to tend to the “spiritual needs of the elderly.”
Children should go home “often” to visit their parents, the laws said, and occasionally send them greetings. Companies and work units should give employees enough time off so they can make parental visits.
The law was passed by the standing committee of the National People’s Congress. It does not stipulate any punishments for people who neglect their parents. Nevertheless, that officials felt the need to make filial duty a legal matter is a reflection of the monumental changes taking place throughout Chinese society.

Many aging parents in China, as in other industrialized nations, complain these days about not seeing their children enough. And the children say the stresses of daily life, especially in the rapidly expanding cities, prevent them from carving out time for their parents.
“China’s economy is flourishing, and lots of young people have moved away to the cities and away from their aging parents in villages,” Dang Janwu, vice director of the China Research Center on Aging, said “This is one of the consequences of China’s urbanization. The social welfare system can answer to material needs of the elders, but when it comes to the spiritual needs, a law like this becomes very necessary.”

We can even note that the classic text that has been used for six centuries to teach the importance of respecting and pampering one’s parents has been “The 24 Paragons of Filial Piety,” a collection of folk tales written by Guo Jujing. But in 2012, the Chinese government issued a new version, supposedly updated for modern times, so today’s youth would find it relevant. The new text told children to buy health insurance for their parents and to teach them how to use the Internet…

To conclude, we can say that the relevance of Confucian ideas to modern China is obvious. Confucianism and filial virtue emphasize order, balance and harmony. It teaches respect for authority and concern for others.
For ordinary Chinese, such ideas must seem like an antidote to the downside of growth, such as widening regional disparities, wealth differentials, corruption and rising social tension. For the government, too, Confucianism seems like a blessing. The party is struggling to maintain its authority without much ideological underpinning (Deng Xiaoping questioned the utility of ideology itself when he said that it doesn't matter if a cat is black or white so long as it catches mice). Confucianism seems to provide a ready-made ideology that teaches people to accept their place and does not challenge party rule.

As an additional advantage, Confucianism is homegrown, unlike communism. It even provides the party with a tool for advancing soft power abroad. By calling China's overseas cultural and linguistic study centres “Confucius Institutes”, the party can present itself as something more than just an ideologically bankrupt administrator of the world's workshop.

Confucianism and filial virtue are indissociable from one each other and directly characterize East Asia’s people behaviors despite the changes in the society. As a pillar of the culture, this ideas are not passing away but clearly adapting and modernizing to its time, following the Asian countries’ fast evolution of nowadays.