A son said, "People seldom show filial piety to their parents, obey their brothers and like to offend the upper rulers." . I don't like to offend the upper rulers, but there are no people who like to rebel. When a gentleman is committed to the fundamental things, the truth of governing the country and being a man is established. Filial piety is the essence of benevolence! "
original text
Youzi (1) said, "He is also filial to his younger brother (2), while people who like to make mistakes (3) are thick-skinned (4); It is not easy to make mistakes, but it is easy to make a mess, and it is not there (5). Gentleman's Business Book (6) is based on Tao (7). Filial piety is also the foundation of a person and (8)? "
To annotate ...
(1) Youzi: Confucius' student, surnamed You, whose name is Ruo, is 13 years younger than Confucius and 33 years younger. The latter is more credible. In the Analects of Confucius, the recorded Confucius students are generally called "Zi", but only Zeng Shen and You Ruo are called "Zi". So many people think that The Analects of Confucius was written by Zeng Shen and You Ruo.
(2) Filial piety: filial piety is the correct attitude of children towards their parents during the slave society; Brother, the pronunciaTion and meaning are the same as "ti", which is the correct attitude of brother to brother. Filial piety and younger brother are two basic moral norms specially advocated by Confucius and Confucianism. The old note says: parents are filial when they do good, and brothers are brothers when they do good.
(3) Attack: attack, attack, attack. Up, refers to the person in the upper position.
(4) fresh: sound Xi m: n, less meaning. This is how the word "fresh" is used in The Analects of Confucius.
(5) Nothing is also: This is the inverted sentence type of "Nothing is also". There is a rule in the syntax of ancient Chinese. If the object of a negative sentence is a pronoun, it usually comes before the verb.
(6) Service: service, dedication and commitment. Ben is not at all.
(7) Tao: In China's ancient thoughts, Tao has many meanings. The Tao here refers to the benevolence advocated by Confucius, that is, the whole moral thought system with benevolence as the core and its embodiment in real life. Simply put, it is the basic principle of governing the country and being a man.
(8) Benevolence: Benevolence is the highest category of Confucius' philosophy and a moral principle. Being the foundation of benevolence is the foundation of filial piety. Another explanation is that the word "benevolence" in ancient times is the word "human", and the foundation of benevolence is the basis of being a man.
Comment and analysis
Some people think that people can be filial to their parents and brothers at home, so they can serve the country faithfully outside, with filial piety as the premise and filial piety as the purpose. Confucianism believes that filial piety at home, there will be no "offence and insurrection" within the rulers; If filial piety is extended to the working people, the people will absolutely obey, not rebel, thus maintaining the stability of the country and society.
Filial piety mentioned here is the foundation of benevolence, which is very important for readers to understand Confucius' philosophy and ethical thought with benevolence as the core. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Zhou Emperor adopted the eldest son inheritance system, and the other concubines were enfeoffed as princes, and so were the subsequent princes. The political structure of the whole society, from emperors to princes to doctors, is based on the feudal patriarchal blood relationship, and the theory of filial piety and filial piety reflects the moral requirements of the patriarchal society at that time.
Filial piety is directly related to social stability. Confucius saw this, so all his thoughts were based on it. He explained that filial piety is the fundamental truth of benevolence from the point that filial piety will not happen. Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, feudal rulers and scholars of all dynasties have inherited Confucius' theory of filial piety and advocated "ruling the world with filial piety". The Han Dynasty is an obvious example. They regarded moral education as an important means to implement feudal rule, and imprisoned the common people in the shackles of Confucian orthodoxy and ethics, which had a great influence on the common people's moral concepts and behaviors, and also had a far-reaching impact on the whole traditional culture of China. The theory of filial piety serves feudal rule and patriarchal clan system. We should have a clear understanding, analysis and judgment, abandon feudal toxin, inherit its reasonable content, and give full play to the due role of morality in social stability.