Analects of Confucius

One of the most important themes throughout the whole of the Analects is the idea of filiality, or filial piety. For Confucius filiality is something more than simply a child taking care of parents and obeying their guidance; filiality involves the cultivation of the feelings of respect, love, and affection for one’s immediate family elders (i.e., parents) as well as elders and authority figures in general. As Confucius remarks, “Tze-Yu asked about filiality. He said: Present-day filial piety consists in feeding the parents, as one would a dog or a horse; unless there is reverence, what difference is there?” (18). 

Additionally, the reason filiality is identified as one of the key elements needed on the part of the people within society is that, from a governing perspective, it is much easier to govern and create a just and harmonious society when the people themselves uphold the law and the order of society and its traditions. Thus, for Confucius, the function of cultivating filiality on the part of people as a whole satisfies the two-fold necessity of constructing a harmonious and just society while also instilling in people the inherently virtuous behavior of love and respect for those who came before them and helped create the world they now inhabit.