The book of filial duty

Chapter 38: CHAPTER XIV

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About This Book

The work offers a Confucian guide to filial piety, combining doctrinal instruction on respect, ritual care for ancestors, and the family's role as the basis of moral order with twenty-four short exempla and commentaries that model practical devotion. It emphasizes reciprocal duties between generations, the cultivation of reverence in daily conduct, and the idea that domestic harmony underpins wider social and political harmony. Framed as pedagogical material, the text aims to shape personal character and public behavior by teaching youth and families how ritual observance, respect for elders, and familial responsibility foster social cohesion.

CHAPTER XIV

AMPLIFICATION OF “RAISING THE REPUTATION”

Confucius said: “A true gentleman is always filial to his parents, and in order to fulfil his duty to them to the fullest extent, he also serves his August Master with patriotism. He always shows reverence to his elder brothers, and in order to fulfil his duty to them to the fullest extent, he does the same towards every one who is older than he.

“As he can maintain order in his family affairs, so he can do the same in the government. He bases the principle of the government of a State upon that of a ruling family, and the consequent success will make his name to be remembered throughout generations to come.”