Filial piety is a major feature of traditional Chinese culture, and its high degree of attention, deep influence on society, and long duration are rare in other ethnic cultures.
"Good parents are filial piety, and good brothers are friends." Filial piety in the narrow sense refers to the moral behavior of parents, while filial piety in the broad sense extends to relatives who are superiors other than parents. The Confucius disciple Youruo said that filial piety is "the foundation of benevolence", and among many ethics, filial piety is the most basic. Confucianism believes that filial piety can make people love each other. And the mutually dear ethnic groups, the moral bottom line is clear, the ruler is easy to control: "He is also filial piety, and those who are good offenders are rare; It is not easy to commit crimes, and those who are good at troublemakers have not yet been committed. "Filial piety in general is conducive to social and national stability. Whether it is the crisis of the country or the peace of the world, the path for rulers to choose good ministers and good generals is mostly to "seek loyalty to the door of filial piety".
Filial piety does not differ according to one's status, but all the people of the world share this virtue. The emperors of the Han Dynasty, starting with Emperor Hui, added the word "filial piety" in front of their titles, such as Emperor Xiaohui and Emperor Xiaowu. According to the Tang Dynasty Yan Shigu, the reason for this is that "filial piety is good at telling the father's aspirations". During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was the purpose of "filial piety" in the examination subjects. Successive emperors have attached great importance to respecting the elderly and providing for the elderly, and have all been known as "ruling the world with filial piety". The emperor often personally taught the "Filial Piety Classic", and Tang Xuanzong Li Longji personally annotated the "Filial Piety Classic". In the "Twenty-Five Histories", there are many officials, scholars, military generals, and squires who have become famous and entered the world because of "filial piety". In the folk, filial piety has become customary, and by the Yuan Dynasty, Guo Jujing selected the famous filial piety stories of the previous generation and compiled them into the famous "Twenty-Four Filial Pieties", and later generations illustrated on this basis to form the "Twenty-Four Filial Pieties". It has had a particularly profound impact on Chinese civil society over the past seven hundred years.
Around filial piety, the traditional Chinese Confucian ethics, etiquette norms and legal system form a complete system of mutual support. If it is said that the acts of respecting the elderly and filial piety in the ceremonial system come from ancient folk customs and from the moral promotion of Confucianism, then the relevant legal provisions are rigid constraints and cannot be violated, and it is a compulsory guarantee for the implementation of filial piety. Today, take the punishment of "filial piety" crimes in the laws of the Han and Tang Dynasties as an example to illustrate this.
In fact, as early as the pre-Qin period, there was the sin of "filial piety". At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, when Uncle Kang was enfeoffed with Wei, the Duke of Zhou said to his younger brother Uncle Kang: "Yuan evil is great, but is it not filial piety or friendship?" Confucius also once said: "The five punishments belong to three thousand, and the sin is greater than filial piety." Those who want kings are supreme, those who are not saints cannot, and those who are not filial piety have no relatives. This great mess of the way also. For the "way of great chaos" of filial piety, of course, it must be attributed to sin and punished. Therefore, in the "eight punishments" of "correcting the people with the eight punishments of the township" contained in the Zhou Li Da Situ, the first punishment is the "punishment of filial piety".
Mencius once listed some specific manifestations of "filial piety" in the Warring States period, "The so-called filial piety of the world is five: laziness in its limbs, regardless of the support of parents, and filial piety; Game good drinking, regardless of the parents' support, two filial piety; Good goods, private wives, regardless of the support of parents, three filial piety; From the desire of the eyes and ears, thinking that the parents are killed, the four are not filial piety; Good courage and fierceness, to endanger parents, five filial piety also." After the fall of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the national legislation concretized and codified these "filial piety" contents. In the Brief Texts of the Laws of the Qin Dynasty unearthed in Hubei Province, there are many convictions for "filial piety", which shows the protection of filial piety by the law at that time. For example, in the Sleeping Tiger Di Qin Jian's "Sealing Diagnosis Style" (case compilation), there is a special case of "telling the son", which is the case of ordinary Shi Wu accusing his son of "filial piety":
Book of The Lord: A certain Li Shi Wu Jia admonished: "A's parents and Li Shi Wu Bing are not filial, they kill each other, and they dare to sue." Even if shi is ordered to be persistent. Ling Shi Ji Shu: With a prisoner of a certain C, get a certain room. Cheng Mouxun C, resigned: "Parent-child A, sincerely do not filial piety to Jia, there is no sin for it."
Accusing the parents of being "filial to themselves", the government must send someone to arrest them ("to hold on"), and after interrogation and conviction, they must be executed ("gurudwara"). So which ones are "filial piety"? Zhangjiashan Hanjian 'Two-Year Law of Thieves':
The child thief kills and injures the parents, and the slave thief kills and injures the master and the wife of the master's parents, and all of them are ownsts in their first city.
The son slaughtered his parents, beat up Tai's parents, parents, false grandmothers, master mothers, stepmothers, and parents who sued their sons for filial piety, and abandoned the city.
Thieves kill and injure their parents, shepherd their parents, beat their parents, and the parents sue their sons for filial piety, and their wives are the recipients, and they are all imprisoned, so that they cannot be knighted, exonerated, or redeemed.
It can be seen that killing, "pastoral killing" (attempted), beating, and insulting elders (including parents, grandparents, step-grandmothers, and mistresses) are all "unfilial", and any parent who accuses their son of "unfilial piety" must be punished with a capital crime ("abandoning the city"). The wife and son of the criminal are seated together and cannot be redeemed by knighthood, money, etc.
The Second Year Law and Household Law records the punishment clause for the grandson's filial piety when he or she lives with his grandparents after the separation of the family:
The grandson is a household, and he lives with the eldest parents, and he is not well raised, so that the grandson lives outside, and the eldest parent lives in his room, eats his land, makes him slave and does not trade and sell. When the grandson dies, his mother takes the place of the household, so that he does not dare to (expel) his husband's parents and enter the house, and take the wealth of his son outside the road.
If a grandson does not provide for his grandparents well, he will be forcibly evicted and his grandparents will have his farmhouse and slaves. Some scholars believe that this is the source of the crime of "filial piety" in the Tang Law and other laws of the descendants that define the "lack of support" for grandparents and parents.
There are also some details about the elderly accusing their children of "filial piety". For example, Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger Di Qin Jian's "Legal Answers" stipulates:
Lest the old man accuse people of filial piety and kill them. When the three rings (宥) are not? Improper ring (宥), do not lose it.
This means that an elderly person who has reached the age of 60 or over accuses his or her children of filial piety must be dealt with immediately and detain the son of filial piety. In the early Han Dynasty, there were different provisions on whether or not to immediately accept the same accusation. Zhangjiashan Hanjian's "Two-Year Law and Thief's Law" stipulates: "If you are not filial to your son after seventy years old, you will have three rings." The three rings are told on different days, but they are listened to. "In other words, three repeated indictments on different dates are required before the case is granted.
Zhangjiashan Hanjian also has punishment provisions for instigators of the crime of "filial piety.": "Teaching people not to be filial piety is a city for the sake of being a city." (The Law of Thieves) The Book of Sonatas gives a more detailed explanation of the work: "Teach people the law of filial piety, and the law of filial piety." Those who are not filial piety abandon the city, and the second time they abandon the city, they are the city of Dan. ”
After the Six Dynasties of Wei and Jin, to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the pattern of traditional Chinese law was basically fixed and became the standard of the legal code of later generations. Among them, the punishment for the crime of "filial piety" inherited and developed the Qin and Han laws, while directly continuing the ancient ritual system. According to the Outline of the Four Libraries, the Tang Law is "a quasi-ceremony". There are "ten evils" (conspiracy against rebellion, great rebellion, rebellion, evil rebellion, dishonesty, great disrespect, filial piety, dishonor, injustice, and civil strife) in the Tang Law, of which "evil rebellion", "filial piety", and "disharmony" all involve the issue of filial piety. For example:
Evil. It is said to beat and murder grandparents and parents, to kill uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, maternal grandparents, husbands, husbands, grandparents, parents.
unfilial. To say that the grandparents are there, the grandparents and the grandparents are there, the other nationality, the different wealth, if there is a gap in the offering; When one's parents are bereaved, if one marries oneself, if one is happy, one is relieved; Hearing of the death of grandparents and parents, he did not mourn, and falsely claimed that his grandparents and parents were dead.
Discord. It is said to murder and sell hemp above the relatives, and to beat up the husband and the superior and minor meritorious subordinates above the great merit.
Murder, beating, cursing, cursing, accusation, etc. of a relative within the five servicing periods are regarded as unforgivable capital offenses and severely punished.
The "Tang Law" stipulates that descendants who "violate the religious decree" and "provide for the que" shall be sentenced to two years' imprisonment: "All descendants who violate the religious decree and provide for the que shall be sentenced to two years' imprisonment." The explanation is that "it can be violated, and it can be offered and denied", that is, when the parents' orders can be enforced but not enforced, and the family conditions allow them not to provide for the parents, the grandparents and parents can file a complaint of "filial piety" to convict them. The ShuYi refers to "offerings" to those in the Book of Rites and The Inner Rules as "seventy, two meals; The connection between "Eighty, Chang Zhen" and the like shows that the legal compulsion of filial piety in the Tang Laws has a relationship with the etiquette regulations of the ancient period, and is integrated into one. If the grandparents and parents are "old and sick and have no servants", the children and grandchildren entrust others to take care of them, and they go to other places to become officials, they will also be sentenced to one year in prison. As for beating and abusing grandparents and parents, it is even more serious:
Grandparents, parents, hanging; Beaters, choppers; Manslaughter, flowing three thousand miles; Wounded, three years in prison. ...... Grandparents and parents of wives and concubines, three years' imprisonment; Uncle and aunt admonished, but sit. Beaters, hangers; Wounded, all beheaded; The manslaughter is punished for three years, and the wounded are punished for two and a half years. ...... Wives and concubines beat, grandparents and parents of deceased husbands, each reduced beating, uncles and aunts, etc.; Wounded, forced to serve; The dead, beheaded; Negligent killers, according to mortality.
Compared with the same crimes in the Qin and Han dynasties quoted above, these provisions are more detailed. It is generally believed that this is the result of the comprehensive application of the five-service system in ancient law. In particular, it is mentioned in the Vinaya that the "negligent killing" of relatives who are relatives who are relatively distant by blood should be dealt with "according to the theory of mortals", that is, "according to the law of mortals". This is enough to show that the conviction for the "filial piety" of parents and parents is obviously heavier than the crime of others, which is the result of the strengthening of Confucian morality in the law.
As Confucius and Zengzi said, in addition to filial piety to the living parents, "funeral ceremony, sacrifice to the elder relatives after death" is also the great end of filial piety. Therefore, ancient laws paid special attention to the observance of the funeral of parents. All of the following situations are punishable by law:
1. "Hide without mourning". If one hears of the death of one's parents in a foreign country and does not mourn, he shall be sentenced to exile for two thousand miles. Accordingly, to hear of the mourning of the patriarch and not to mourn, shall be sentenced to one year in prison; The mourning of the honorable elders below the level of great merit and do not mourn is reduced by the second degree.
2. "Release obedience" and "Forget mourning and make fun". Before the end of the bereavement of their parents, they change to wearing a gown or "forget the mourning and making fun", and are sentenced to three years in prison; Participation in acrobatic entertainment activities (such as "acrobatics" such as Pu pu, shuanglu, and chess) is punishable by one year; When encountering music and feasting, but not avoiding, ask for a hundred flogging sticks.
3. "Asking for help". Officials who encounter the funeral of their parents or grandparents and other direct-line dignitaries, and want to go to the official to return to their hometown to serve the funeral, which is called "Ding Worry", and if he becomes an official during the period of Ding Worry, he is called "risking to plead for a wife", which is not only criticized by morality, but also sentenced to imprisonment: "The number of the governments and the officials call themselves offenders the name of their father and ancestors, and they risk honor to live in it." ...... The One Who Threatens to Plead: One year in vain. ”
4. "Marriage within the service" and "child within the service". In the event of the death of a parent, marriage cannot be married, and "the marriage of the parents and husbands shall be three years", and the marriage shall be invalid ("renunciation"). If the object of mourning is a mourning ceremony, a flogging stick is punished with a hundred flogging sticks. When a child is born at the time of the death of a parent, it is called "a child born within the service" and is sentenced to one year in prison.
In addition, according to the Confucian principle of etiquette of intimacy, suing the relatives of the honorable elders is also a crime of "filial piety", and the government will not accept it. During the Qin and Han dynasties, it was already incorporated into the law, for example, the Sleeping Tiger Di Qin Jian's "Legal Answers":
"The Son sues his parents, the concubine sues the Lord, and the non-public office sues, don't listen." What is a "non-public complaint"? The Lord's unauthorized killing, punishment, and murder of his sons and concubines is called "non-public accusation", do not listen. And to do the accusation, the confessor is guilty. The accuser has done his sin, and the others have attacked him and told him, and it is not appropriate to listen.
Zhangjiashan Hanjian's "Two-Year Law and Law" inherits this law: "The son sues his parents, the woman sues the prince, the slave sues the lord, the master's parents and wife, do not listen and abandon the city of the accuser." The Tang Law stipulates this more strictly, except for the major crimes of "conspiracy" or above that must be exposed, and anyone who "tells grandparents and parents" is sentenced to hanging. In addition to the immediate family, the prosecution of other relatives and elders is also punishable, for example, "the time of the complaint is that the relatives and elders, the maternal grandparents, the husband, the husband's grandparents, although they have been truthful, they are punished for two years." ...... Tell the elders of great merit, and each shall be reduced by one grade; Small work, hemp, minus two".
The reason why filial piety has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in ancient China, and the reason why filial piety has been passed down from generation to generation and has become the cultural tradition of the Chinese nation is not only due to the advocacy and promotion of Confucianism, but also the result of the joint action of society and the state. This includes the ritual constraints of the family, clan, and township, the compulsory punishment of the state law and edict, and the positive guidance achieved through the erection of tree monuments, the construction of hanging plaques, and the sealing of rewards and watches, thus constituting a "systematic project". These measures to safeguard filial piety cannot be said to have no negative effect, but in general, it can be coordinated with the social soil and cultural traditions of ancient China, and there is no lack of reference significance for the promotion of filial piety and the reconstruction of people's hearts in today's Chinese society.
(Guangming Network)
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