"Filial Piety" And The Pre-Qin Confucian Educational Philosophy

Confucianism plays a decisive role in Chinese culture and has a profound impact on later generations.Throughout the Confucian classics,all of them involve the discussion of "filial piety".Mencius even directly regards "filial piety" as "the doctrines of Yao and Shun".The "The Classic of Filial Piety" further points out that "filial piety is the foundation of ’realizing benevolence’ and is also the source of education" It can be said that "filial piety" is a major feature of Confucianism and even the whole of Chinese culture.It is regarded by Confucian as the foundation of "being benevolent" and is also the birthplace of Confucian tradition.However,today’s education talks about educational methods and educational purposes,but puts "filial piety" in the category of "family education." It’s "attend to trifles and neglect essentials".In today’s restoration of traditional culture and returning to "humanity" education,it is imperative to explore the "filial piety" of Confucianism.On the basis of inheriting the Western Zhou Destiny View,Confucius reformed the Destiny View and proposed the idea of "benevolence".The Confucian idea that heaven and man have the same virtue provides a metaphysical basis for "filial piety".Parents and children have a natural blood relationship because of their blood circulation.Parents give their children life and have a strong affection for their children in the nurturing of the day after tomorrow.The child’s kindness to the parents is also the basis of "filial piety".As people have this "filial piety affection",they must have this "filial piety" actual action,so "filial piety" is a proper behavior that follows the natural ethics.The core connotation of nature is "benevolence",and the use of "benevolence" is "love".Self-love and love for loved ones are human instincts,and people other than loved ones are an extension of this instinct.Therefore,"filial piety" has become the wisdom of Confucianism in dealing with the relationship betweenindividuals and society.The purpose of Confucian education is to make people realize their humanity through practicing benevolence,and The principle of self-discipline and empathy is the most way to realize the principle of benevolence,and the premise of "take your own heart compared to others"(which means treat others the way you wish to be treated)is the true emotion of people."Filial piety",as the most genuine and full of emotions,has become the basis of realizing the principle of benevolence."Filial piety" puts self-realization first,and the child is the continuation of the parent’s life.The child must ensure the existence of self by benevolence and righteousness.The achievement of oneself is also the achievement of parent.Filial offspring serve their parents on the premise of "supporting their parents",with the essence of love and respect.Therefore,"supporting parents" does not lie in fulfilling their material desire with an extravagant life,but in satisfying their emotional need to make them happy.The filial offspring who loves his parents deeply can serve his parents with a happy face.His inner love and sincerity can be expressed as respect for his behavior,and he can achieve the state of "happy" for his parents.The reason for children’s "love and respect" lies in being ethical,humane,and not completely obedient to their parents,so when parents are against humanity,children have an obligation to euphemistically advise,but we must pay attention to the use of appropriate methods to avoid harming the relationship between parents and children.For the deceased parents and ancestors,Confucianism advocated "having respect for the dead,and carrying the memory back to the distant past".On the one hand,the purpose is to perform the funerals and sacrifices to obey people’s grief,on the other hand,it’s to trigger a deep understanding of the origin of life and a reflection on the meaning of life.In the view of pre-Qin Confucianism,education is the realization of the meaning of individual life and the way to develop others to realize the meaning of life,filial piety is the source of education.First of all,the significance of pre-Qin Confucianism is to do everything to be moral,to be a man from the beginning of filial piety,the indoctrination will beginfrom the beginning of filial piety,everyone can become a sage with filial piety as the starting point.Secondly,saints,gentlemen to achieve their own at the same time is to do a model for the world,gentleman practice filial piety,is to set a model for the world,guide the world to filial piety as the starting point into a sage.Finally,"filial piety" can also resolve the human body in the face of the limited life of the body and impermanence produced by the sense of powerlessness and humble feeling.Unlike religion,which attributes the transcendence of life to the other world,filial piety introduces the ancestors of human life to the next generation,so that the meaning of individual life has the infinity of time,and at the same time avoids nihilism with its practicality.