Good Confucianism book (pdf) - Department of Physics

144 The Han Dynasty, 206 BCE–220 CEfamily. To do this, they found the ideas of filial piety very useful. Just as aminister is loyal to a ruler, so, too, a child must be loyal to parents; just asa servant must be obedient to a master, so, too, a child must be obedient toparents. The ideas of filial piety coming out of the Confucian tradition andthe yin - yang theory ’ s paired opposites fit into this very well. Loyalty andobedience on the part of children were as natural as the movement fromspring to summer and just as ordained by Heaven. 29 A common motif inthese stories was the filial child, who, when his parent was very ill, wouldslice off a part of his flesh in order to make a medicine to cure them. It wasconsidered a sovereign remedy.An example of these filial piety stories is one about Han Boyu, whowould grow up to become one of Confucius ’ students.Han Boyu made a mistake. His mother beat him. When he began weeping,she said, “ On other days I have beaten you, you have never wept. Why doyou weep today? ” He answered, “ On other days when I have committed anerror, your beating always hurt, but today, because of your failing strength,you are no longer able to cause me pain. This is the reason I weep. ”Therefore it is said, “ The highest form of conduct is that, when yourparents become angry, resentment does not even register in your thoughts,nor does it show in your appearance. Also you deeply accept your guilt to theextent that it causes your parents to feel sorry for you. The medium form ofconduct is that, when your parents become angry, resentment does not evenregister in your thoughts, nor does it show in your appearance. The lowestform of conduct is that, when your parents become angry, resentment registersin your thoughts and shows in your appearance. ” 30As Keith Knapp points out, Confucian notions of filial piety allowedthe primary male to have authority over the children, no matter what age,and Confucian rituals made for a formalized relationship between parentand child in which the parent held the authority. The result was a familyhierarchy based on generation, age, and gender. The Confucian traditiondid not invent large patriarchal families; instead, large patriarchal familiesneeded certain Confucian ideas to be able to function. 31SummaryThe political and economic success of the Han dynasty meant that Chinawas a stable and unified country. The status of Confucian texts and ideasbegan to rise with the establishment of five seats of learning in the fiveConfucian classics and an academy for the study of these classics.Dong Zhongshu of the New Text School believed he had found thekey to understanding Confucius ’ thought and texts in the yin - yang and