Purpose of Filiality 孝經, 開宗明義章第一
- Xing Shen
- Jul 11, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 5
Below is my humble attempt at the translation for Chapter 1 of Classic of Filiality. This rendition is based on Confucius' annotations, and the pdf at the bottom has both the English and Chinese texts.
Confucius was at home and Zengzi was attending to him.
Confucius said: “The sage kings of the past - Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu - had governed through virtue, a kind of governance in which the ruler must conduct themselves in accordance with Heaven’s principles and human morality. This way, the ruler can enlighten and guide the world on Heaven’s behalf. If the ruler carries themselves in this way, then their citizens will live harmoniously and there will be no blame and resentment between those in higher and lower social roles. Do you know what it is?”
Zengzi stood up from his seat and respectfully said: “I am not sharp. How could I fully understand such profound principle!”
Confucius said: “The past saints had said that filiality was the root of all virtues. Every person comes from their parents, who raise them through the joy and pains of parental love until they get married. That is why parents are the root of every human being and caring for our parents is our repayment of their kindness. For that reason, past saints had established a canon based on this virtue. Please sit down and I will explain.”
“Everything of the body, including hair and skin, is bestowed to us by our parents, so dare not to harm it through indulgence and reckless actions. Instead, honor it by following our conscience and fostering peaceful relationships with others. That is the start of filial love.”
“Aspire to develop a character of moral excellence and carry out Heaven’s moral vision, through which you make a name for yourself and be an exemplar for future generations, which will then bring honor to your parents. That is the perfect result of filial love.”
“Filial love starts with caring for your parents and maintaining a good relationship with your siblings; then, it extends to serving the head of state with the interest of protecting your country; and finally, it results in establishing a moral character as a model for others and future generations. This is the ultimate achievement for every person.”
“In the Collection of Major Odes: Serving as a regent for his nephew, King Cheng of Zhou, who had ascended the throne at age thirteen, Duke of Zhou instilled this in the young king: “As a ruler over many states, you still have to cherish the memories of your ancestors’ moral character and their governance through virtue, and you must emulate Yi Yin’s political ideal of governance. Then you are fulfilling your filial duty.”
What blew me away the first time I read this was Zengzi's humility. For whatever reasons, that spoke volumes to me. For him to stand up to respond to Confucius shows the depth of his respect. Let me see if I could put that into words. First, I got the sense that he was intrigued by what Confucius was trying to introduce to him. Even I was intrigued by it, thinking what could be this powerful? But that fact that Zengzi stood up from his seat to respond and to respectfully ask to be taught surprised me because I would have never thought of getting up and humble myself to learn, if I were Zengzi's shoes. Then, I got the sense that in his heart, he was setting the intention to receive whatever Confucius was going to teach him. So I tried to mimic to see how that kind of humility felt like. Wow! It really changed my experiences. Everything I do in a day, week, and even months is so routine. But being ready to receive Heaven's teachings at any given moment and be willingly to accept it make my routines feel less like routines, but a sense of aliveness and wonder.
