On Filial Piety And Method From The Traditional To The Modern Connection

The big family have been separated during the modernization process in China. Everyone and every family is aware of equality and right. The culture of filial piety, the firm basis of the social status, is released slowly. Many young people are indifferent to the old. They think the old need material life, but not the love in spirit. Even, there are many extreme cases, such as, the parents are hurt or murdered by their son or daughter. The excellent culture tradition of filial piety to the elder, respect and love parents, meets the crisis, which didn't appear years ago. For example, the love in the family have grown dim, the parents and their son or daughter have become more and more estranged, many old people haven't been cared lovely. In fact, they need to be treated carefully. Undoubtedly, it is disadvantageous to the further development in China, which will have more old people and less young people in the following years. In the introduction, the author utters the initial problem and the writing thinking. The study method is also raised slightly in the last of the introduction.In the first part of the paper, the author puts the traditional culture of Filial Piety in order historically. First, the producing course and the first meaning of the Finial Piety in the Zhou Dynasty is discussed. Secondary, In the Spring and Autumn Annals, and in the Zhanguo Dynasty, the meaning of the Finial Piety changed from"giving respectation to ancestors, giving birth to the family"to"providing for parents" which was more appropriate to human nature. During this period, the Confucianists paid attention to the norm of the Finial Piety, and from then on, Finial Piety culture became morals and family ethics from religion and clan ethics. Third, from the Han Dynasty and the following period, the Finial Piety culture was attached much importance on politics. In the same time, the method of the Finial Piety became extreme and cruel. Forth, from the last period of the Qing Dynasty, the Finial Piety lived between being criticized and protected. At the beginning of the May 4^th movement, revolution party considered the Finial Piety grains, and it lost its position in family ethics, the Finial Piety was also impossible to be used for ruling. However, the new Confucianists considered the Finial Piety reasonably to be used nowadays. They evaluated the Finial Piety highly and so did in Marxism theory. Marxism theory treated the Finial Piety as new morals in the new country.In the second part of the paper, the author appoints the three functions of family, including"giving birth,economy, and teaching", which decides the three norms of the Finial Piety. The consistent between family functions and the three norms of the Finial Piety, constitutes the harmonious family order, which is the base of the whole society. Secondary, the author appoints that the Finial Piety went far from its nature spirit to be the tool of ruling states. Every ruler in every dynasty changed a simple ethics system into a political and law system for his ruling. So the Finial Piety was quite different from its nature. In this part the author analyses the influence on the law consciousness and system in tradition by the Finial Piety. First, the Finial Piety brought bright human feelings into the traditional law in China. So, the tradional law was changed by human feelings frequently, and the authority of law was cut down. However it made the law be full of tender feelings. In the traditional society which emphasized etiquette and human feelings. In the tradition, the law protected grade and inequality. So rights and duties were not on balance. People preferred joining mediation to lawsuit when there was a dispute. The Finial Piety also had much influence on traditional law system, such as, shielding criminal if he/she was your relative, pronouncing your judgment according relationship with the victim of mischief, the special rule for the victim between relative in the ten most server victims system, taking the place of criminal to receive the punishment or carrying out the punishment in a suitable time but not at present and so on. The law systems with "family culture"feature constitute the important content of the traditional system in China In the last of this part, the author appoints that, human feelings and etiquette were two important rules in tradition society, which also were the features of the tradition in China.In the beginning of the third part of the paper, the author summarizes the features of the relationship between parents and son or daughter in modern. There are several cases in the following, through which we can see the hard situation the Finial Piety meets. The Finial Piety are lighted in modern, because people have few finial piety consciousness. The rights of many old people can't be protected. The author analyses the change of the family system in modern, including function and structure. It results that parents have little authority in family and son or daughter also has few respect to their parents. The conclusion is also the reason of difficult situation the Finial Piety meets in modern.In the forth part of the paper, the author puts forward the Finial Piety norms in nowadays, "providing for parents, love and give respect to parents, give right advice to parents, give respect to all the aged" that will be carried out by law. First, "showing filial respect to parents" should be put into law, and it would be used as the basic law principle, but not only a moral norm. Secondary," providing for parents spirit" will be put into law. Third, law should not enforce the son or daughter offers evidence to prove their parents are in blame. Forth, "showing filial respect to parents" wll be a standard to be a staff in government, and this advice also should be put into law for government staff. The method of law may help the whole society to show filial respect to the aged. Fifth, son or daughter murders or injures parents, and parents murder or injure their child should be dealt differently in law. By taking these measures, the public order will be more and more gentle and harmonious in modern. At last in the part, the author appoints that there are still some defects in the paper.The author supplies some views to fill the logic defects. In the second part, the author appoints the relation between law and human feelings in the traditional law. At the same time, law should consider human feelings in modern law, even the love between the parents and son or daughter needs to be protected. However, we don't mean the judge should deal with the case beyond law, we just hope that some human feelings should be considered during the law making to achieve the goal that law and human feelings can be mixed together. Just like this, law will satisfy the basic knowledge, truth and human feelings, and family ethics will be fully defended in modern society.