"Benevolence" is the core of Confucius' ethical thought. "When you ask Ren, Confucius says' love'." "Benevolent people love others" is Confucius' concise summary of benevolence. He believes that "filial piety" is the basis of "benevolence". "Who is filial to his younger brother?" Since the concept of filial piety is the highest moral standard of Confucius' ethical thought, there must be some most specific and direct behavior requirements to realize this concept value.
The founders of Confucianism attached great importance to the emotional communication between parents and children, and emphasized that children respected, loved and supported their parents. It is true that the most basic requirement of filial piety is the material support of children to their parents, but Confucius did not stop at material support. He thinks that only material support is not enough, and he must show sincere respect and love to his parents emotionally. So he added, "Today's filial piety is to support. As for dogs and horses, they can be supported. Disrespect, why not? " If you don't respect and love your parents emotionally, it's only material support. What's the difference between dogs and horses? Confucius' highest exposition of "filial piety" requires children to act according to their parents' wishes before their parents die, and inherit their parents' wishes after their parents die. Therefore, Confucius said: "The father is observing his will, but the father is not observing his actions. Three years later, he has not changed from his father's road, which can be described as filial piety. " Zhou Wuwang and Zhou Gongdan inherited the will of King Wen to destroy Shang Zhouwang. Confucius praised them and said, "Duke Zhou and I are both very filial! People who are filial are good at inheriting people's ambitions and telling people things. " Sima Qian's Historical Records and Ban Gu's Hanshu are all determined to complete the unfinished business left by his father, and they are the embodiment of the highest requirements of Confucius' filial piety.
Confucius asked his children to honor their parents. There are some records in the ancient books as follows:
Confucius said, "People are born with courtesy; When you die, you will be buried and sacrificed. " When parents are alive, they should serve with courtesy; When you die, you should be buried with ceremony and sacrificed according to etiquette.
When Meng asked about filial piety, Confucius said, "Parents only worry about their illness." Caring for parents' diseases is the key to filial piety.
Confucius said, "If you don't travel far, you will travel easily." It is to ask children to be filial in front of their parents.