The Implications of Confucius' Idea of Filial Piety Seen from The Analects and The Book of Filial Piety

The mainstream of the cultural tradition of filial piety in China shows the dominance of the principle of paternal authority,blood ties,and moral action.Seen from the hermeneutic perspectives,filial piety is also an epistemological category whose ethical content must be supplemented by other moral categories.The major function of the category of filial piety consists in the construction of harmonious social and interpersonal relations,and Confucius' instructions for filial piety serve very well this purpose.