1. Filial piety moves heaven
Shun, the legendary ancient emperor and one of the Five Emperors, had a surname of Yao and a given name of Chonghua. His nickname was Yu, and he was known as Yushun in history. According to legend, his father Gusou, stepmother, and half-brother Xiang tried to kill him many times: when they asked Shun to repair the roof of the barn, they set fire under the barn, but Shun jumped down and escaped with two bamboo hats in hand; when they asked Shun to dig a well, Gusou Sou and Xiang went down to fill the well, while Shun dug a tunnel to escape.
Afterwards, Shun showed no resentment. He was still respectful to his father and loving to his younger brother. His filial piety moved the Emperor of Heaven. When Shun was farming in Mount Li, elephants plowed the land for him and birds weeded for him. Emperor Yao heard that Shun was very filial and capable of handling political affairs, so he married his two daughters Ehuang and Nvying to him. After years of observation and testing, Emperor Yao selected Shun as his successor. After Shun ascended the throne as emperor, he went to visit his father. He was still respectful and made Xiang a prince.
2. Taste the decoction personally
Emperor Liu Heng of Han Dynasty, the third son of Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, was born to Empress Dowager Bo. He became emperor in the eighth year of his reign (180 BC). He was known all over the world for his benevolence and filial piety, and he never slacked off in serving his mother. His mother had been ill for three years, and he often couldn't sleep without blinking an eye or taking off his clothes. He personally tasted the decoctions his mother took before letting her take them with confidence.
He reigned for 24 years, focusing on moral governance, promoting etiquette, and paying attention to the development of agriculture, which stabilized the Western Han Dynasty society, prospered the population, and restored and developed the economy. His reign with Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty was known as " The rule of Wenjing".
3. Meng’s mother moved three times
Once upon a time when Mencius was a child, his father died early, and his mother did not remarry as a festival. Once, they lived next to a cemetery. Mencius and his neighbor's children imitated the way adults kneeled down and cried, and played the game of funeral arrangements.
When Mencius’ mother saw it, she frowned: No! I can't let my kids live here anymore! Mencius's mother took Mencius to live next to the market. When he arrived at the market, Mencius and the neighbor's children began to learn how merchants did business.
Now he bows to welcome the guests, now entertains the guests, and now bargains with the guests, the performance is very similar! Mencius's mother knew this and frowned again: This place is not suitable for my children to live either! So, they moved again. This time, they moved near the school.
Mencius began to become orderly, polite, and like to read. At this time, Mencius's mother nodded with satisfaction and said: This is where my son should live!
4. Huang Xiang warms the table
During the Han Dynasty, there was a person named Huang Xiang who was from Jiangxia (now Hubei). When he was only nine years old, he already understood the principle of filial piety to his elders. Whenever the hot summer comes, (Huang Xiang) uses a fan to fan her parents' tent to keep the pillows and mats cooler and keep mosquitoes away so that her parents can sleep more comfortably.
In the cold winter, (Huang Xiang) used her body to warm her parents' quilt, so that her parents would feel warm when they slept. Therefore, Huang Xiang's deeds spread to the capital, and he was known as "Unparalleled in the world, Huang Xiang in Jiangxia".
5. Lying on the ice to ask for carp
In ancient times, there was a child named Wang Xiang. His biological mother passed away, and his father married another wife, who was Wang Xiang’s stepmother. . The stepmother didn't like Wang Xiang, but Wang Xiang listened to his stepmother very much and tried his best to do whatever the stepmother asked him to do.
One cold winter day, the stepmother fell ill and wanted to eat live fish, so she asked Wang Xiang to go to the river to catch fish. It's snowing heavily, the north wind is blowing, and the river has frozen. Where are the fish?
Wang Xiang thought: I can use my body temperature to melt ice cubes! He took off his clothes and lay on the ice. The biting cold made his teeth chatter and his whole body trembled, but he still endured and endured... Suddenly, the ice under his body cracked and two carps jumped. Come up. Wang Xiang was so happy that he ran home with the carp in his arms and cooked fish soup for his stepmother.