In Confucian ideals, filial piety is a virtue of respect for one's parents and
ancestors. According to the Classic of Filial Piety, Confucius
once said: "In serving his parents, a filial son reveres them in daily
life; he makes them happy while he nourishes them; he takes anxious care of
them in sickness; he shows great sorrow over their death; and he sacrifices to
them with solemnity. For Confucius, filial piety was not merely blind
loyalty to one's parents. More important than the norms of xiào were the norms of benevolence and righteousness.
For Confucius and Mencius, Xiao was a display of rén, which was ideally applied in
one's dealings with all elders, thus making it a general norm of
intergenerational relations. In reality, however, xiàowas usually reserved for one's own parents and grandparents,
and was often elevated above the notions of rén and yì.
Now, for
a Buddhist point, Hinayana Buddhism did
not have a strong notion of filial piety. Buddhism in India involved many men leaving or abandoning their
families, parents, wives, and children to become monks (Buddha himself was said
to have done so). The true Buddhist had to reject all family ties, just as they
had to reject social and class ties if they were to pursue Nirvana. Family was viewed as
just another encumbrance of mortal life that had to be dealt with. Sorrow and
grief were said to be "born of those who are dear. Buddhist monks
were obligated to sever all ties with their family and to forget their
ancestors. Theravada Buddhism stressed individual salvation, and had little room for the
interdependent society that Confucianism had created in China, which stressed
the good of the community more
than the good of the individual.
In India, Buddhism also advocated celibacy among its monks,
which was unacceptable in the Confucian worldview, given that it was viewed as
the child's duty to continue the parental line.
Judeo-Christian thought stresses following the Ten Commandments, which are
recognized as the moral foundation in Judaism and Christianity. Lee et al argues
that it is rarely practiced in the West and most children
from a Judeo-Christian background do not honor and care for parents to the
extent of those from Eastern backgrounds. This is, they argue, because in the
West, the individual is more important than the family and when an elderly
parent becomes a burden to the adult child, the needs of the adult child to be
burden-free supersedes any feeling of obligation to care for the elderly
parent.
In summary, Filial Piety is an attitude that is
common amongst any race, religion or creed. Respect for one’s parents is
universal!
