According to Chinese ethics, filial piety represents a critical virtue generally for one’s parents, his/her elders, and their ancestors. Filial petty helps in setting up a good society, with it also being mainly central to the Confucian role ethics. Generally, Filial piety is primarily concerned with the taking care and protection of one’s parents, being kind to them, engaging in ethical conduct with the parents as well as outsiders to bring a right name to the parents as well as ancestors, as well as also showing love to them. Further, it entails the show of respect and support, displaying courtesy, offering advice to the parents, upholding of fraternity amongst each other, as well as offering any moral ethics necessary for the individuals such as showing sorrow for them when in trouble, burying them as well as undertaking sacrifices to them if needed (Rosemont et al. 7). The thesis statement of this paper is to explore how family reverence (Filial piety) has affected lives in the twentieth and twenty-first-century China.
In Chinese and other Asian cultures, Filial piety is generally a vital virtue, depicting how children in the past have encompassed. In the twentieth and twenty-first century china, Filial piety has positively affected lives within China. First, it has mostly contributed to the creation of respect among the citizens. This has generally helped in the creation of peace and harmony, with this helping in the reduction of conflict and any disputes that may result in a lack of respect amongst the citizens (Rosemont et al. 27). Further, this has enhanced the togetherness and caring, bringing up support for each other while also encouraging a nation that does not divide upon matters about nation-building. Besides, affection helps promote social development since respect is amongst the individuals.
Filial piety has also had a positive impact on religion. Generally, China has several religious beliefs that exist within the nation. These include Hinduism, Islamic, Christianity, and Buddhism, among others. Through Filial piety, commonality has been brought to all these religious groups. Despite the diversity of these religious beliefs, Filial piety has created a joint base that has primarily helped reduce any religious conflicts that might result (Rosemont et al. 46-48). On the other hand, this has helped to create togetherness amongst the groups, with this helping bring a central belief or arguments that pertain matters concerning national development.
Filial piety has also impacted lives in china through the enhancement of one’s character. Through the different stories encompassed in Filial piety, people’s character, primarily women, have always been shaped. This has helped in enhancing morals amongst children and adults, creating a pleasant living atmosphere. Further, this has increased the code of conduct as well as improving the behavior of individuals through the way they talk, how they act as well as how they present themselves. Generally, this helps in leading to a society with responsible individuals.
The ethics of filial piety have also affected lives within the Chinese community. Such ethics include Feeding, obeying, and sacrificing. The concept underlying filial piety postulates that since parents gave life to children, fed them, gave those clothes, provided education among other needs, children have an eternal obligation to the parents for all this care and support which they received from the parents. This helps ensure that the young take care of and protect the elderly and adults by providing for their needs (Rosemont et al. 60). Filial piety has also been evident among East Asian immigrants. Chinese who immigrate to the United States generally continue to send money to their parents as a result of filial piety.
Generally, Xiao notes that the same paramount devotion and selflessness that one commits in serving his/her parents should also be applied to the nation. Due to this, Filial piety plays an essential role in how one treats his/her immediate family, the elders, and superiors in general. Further, Filial piety plays a vital role in how any individual serves the state at large. On the other hand, Confucianism has primarily contributed to a strong foundation of cultural education. Since early 1949, which represents a period of the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese government promoted Confucianism mainly in the Revival Chinese Culture Movement. This was mostly done to legitimate the Confucian orthodoxy of the Cultural Revolution (O’Brien et al. 189). Cultural education has been helpful to the lives of Chinese since it has helped enhance understanding of culture and other essential knowledge within the society. Confucianism has further improved in establishing social values, institutions, and transcendent ideals of traditional Chinese society. Confucianism has also been crucial in the formation of the Chinese character, the behavior, and the way of living, helping achieve harmony, a significant social value.
The concept of filial piety is considered a vital aspect of individual development majorly among the Chinese and other Asian cultures. Filial piety has a significant influence on several human development aspects such as interaction, personality, socialization, as well as parent-child partnership. Further, Filial piety has had a substantial impact on the strengthening of familial bonds, which act as a foundation on which past, as well as present societies, highly depend on.
Besides, Filial piety has alleviated the need for parents to have a reliance on social security or even government welfare programs. As a result, society works better since the elderly, parents, and superiors are taken care of. This further helps in lessening the burden on the government or even other security programs. On the other hand, the practice of filial piety on good leadership generally has six factors (O’Brien et al. 188). These factors are being a good leader, treating supporters with respect, leading by ongoing responsive relationships, understanding the environment, being ethical in all practices, and embracing peace and harmony.
However, Filial piety also has its shortcomings. When people get older, their earning power is reduced. This makes them more dependent on their children. As a result of filial piety, the children might give all they have in their availability, making them spend more of their resources on their parents than they spend on themselves. This might provide them low chances of developing themselves financially and economically, creating a financial burden to the children while also putting into jeopardy some activities they might be involved in, such as studies, careers, and their families (O’Brien et al. 182-184). Filial piety does not necessarily come with expectations but instead runs on the aspect of social responsibility. Another shortcoming is the negative effect of the government whereby it places a unique emphasis on ‘the filial child’ while, on the contrary, ignoring ‘the benevolent parent’ which cannot be underestimated.
As a result of Filial piety, china authorities legislated civil rights that have majorly the focus on individuals rather than families. The legislation postulates that children, daughters, and sons share equal responsibility when it comes to supporting and taking care of their birth parents, elders, and superiors. Authoritarian filial piety beliefs are generally positively associated with less education as well as lower socioeconomic status. Men usually tend to score higher than women in Authoritarian filial piety, which correlates positively with the traditional conservative attitudes, which include male superiority and submission to authority. In contrast, Reciprocal filial piety tends to have a positive association with a higher level of education and higher socioeconomic status (O’Brien et al. 180). Women usually have the aspect of scoring higher on Reciprocal Filial Piety than men.
Other shortcomings of filial piety include generational conflicts that are usually associated with differences occurring in attitudes and also values generally between the younger and older generations. This is because change is inevitable amongst culture and society, implying that older generations often express more support for traditional values than the young age of family members.
In conclusion, Filial piety generally provides the moral underpinning for Chinese patterns, with the foundations being of intergenerational relations and socialization for millennia. Filial piety has positively impacted the lives of chines within the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. However, it also has its shortcomings. Further, filial piety serves as a vital tool in leadership, social relationships as well as relations. It has further positively contributed to cultural education within China.
Works cited
O’Brien, Kevin J., and Yanhua Deng. “Preventing protest one person at a time: Psychological coercion and relational repression in China.” China Review 17.2 (2017): 179-201.
Rosemont, Henry, and Roger T. Ames. The Chinese classic of family reverence: A philosophical translation of the Xiaojing. University of Hawaii Press, 2009.