A Ruler's Filial Duty 孝經, 天子章第二Classic of Filiality

Filial love paves the way to love humanity and the world. Photo by: Kaboompics.com in Pexels

Below is my humble attempt at the translation for Chapter 2 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 said: “A ruler, who approaches their people with love, sees the world as one family. For our Heaven-given nature is caring- it cherishes life and sees the common humanity in everyone. When it sees wrongdoing, it guides with sincerity, hoping the wrongdoer will soon recognize their mistake. Our true nature dares not to use force or violence when its earnest appeals are ignored.  A ruler, who approaches their people with respect, admires the virtues of others. For our Heaven-given nature is sincere, and respect naturally flows from it. Such respect is neither forced nor fake. Our true innate nature dares not to decide who is worthy of respect and who is not."

“A ruler with both love and respect follows their conscience and strives to live out their Heaven-given nature. Not seeing themselves as the only one of worth, they treat the world as one family and serve their people with warmth and care. Over time, the power of their virtue spreads among the people and earns their admiration. This comes from setting filiality as the law and making it the principle of practice: everyone must first cultivate it within themselves. Then they can influence their families and, in time, all of society. When this happens, their virtuous rule will be known throughout the world, and leaders of other nations will follow their example. This is a ruler's filial duty.”

“The Classic of Poetry includes a citation from Book of Documents, in Fu's Penalty: “When a ruler leads with virtue and lives as an example of virtue, their governance will earn the respect and admiration not only of their people, but also people of other lands.”

My humble reflection: I might think that I am not a ruler, so this does not apply to me. But I can still be a leader—in a group, a team, a department, or in any area where I have influence. Even within my own small sphere, I can make a difference. I follow my conscience, and in time, everything else will fall into place.