extraction.sayings_of_confucius.filial_piety_reverence
---
record_id: extraction.sayings_of_confucius.filial_piety_reverence
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/confucian/project-gutenberg/sayings-of-confucius-giles.md
passage_locator:
label: Individual Virtue
start: 1170
end: 1245
translation: Lionel Giles, Project Gutenberg eBook
notes: Line numbers refer to the repository markdown source for Giles's selected
translation of the Confucian Analects.
canonical_text:
summary: The Master explains that filial piety is more than material support. It
requires reverence in service, proper rites in burial and sacrifice, gentle remonstrance
toward parents, and a broader life shaped by charity, ritual simplicity, and steady
moral seriousness.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Filial piety is defined as serving parents in the proper spirit, burying them
with the proper rites, and worshipping them with proper sacrifices.
category: teaching
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Filial care is said to involve sparing parents anxiety and not reducing duty
to bare maintenance.
category: teaching
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: obs:3
text: Without reverence, material support is no better than feeding dogs and horses.
category: comparison
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Ritual and mourning are judged by inward simplicity and heartfelt sorrow rather
than display.
category: ritual_teaching
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: The gentleman remains courteous even in rivalry and is marked by charity,
duty, and a stable path of virtue.
category: ethical_teaching
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: obs:6
text: A son may remonstrate gently with parents, continue respectfully if ignored,
and keep their age in mind with both joy and alarm.
category: conduct
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: The Master
description: Confucius as teacher of filial devotion, ritual measure, charity, and
the conduct of the gentleman.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: children and sons
description: Those instructed to serve parents reverently, remonstrate gently, and
remain mindful of familial duty.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: parents and elders
description: Living parents, dead ancestors, and elders who are to be served, buried,
honored, and remonstrated with in the proper spirit.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: the true gentleman
description: Moral exemplar whose conduct joins courtesy, charity, virtue, and ritual
seriousness.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: moral teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Master repeatedly defines the spirit of filial duty and right conduct.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: reverent child
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Children are told to serve, support, remonstrate with, and remain mindful
of parents in a reverent way.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: honored parent-ancestor
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Parents are the objects of living service, burial, sacrifice, and concern.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:4
label: ritual gentleman
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The true gentleman preserves courtesy, charity, and duty even in rivalry.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: proper rites and sacrifices
literal_form: burial with proper rites and worship with proper sacrifices
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: reverence
literal_form: the feeling of reverence without which support is empty
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:3
label: heartfelt mourning
literal_form: heartfelt sorrow better than punctiliousness
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: path of virtue
literal_form: path of virtue and line of duty
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- initiation
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Filial piety beyond maintenance
summary: The Master explains that filial piety lies in reverent service, proper
burial and sacrifice, anxiety on behalf of parents, and more than material provision.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: scene:2
label: Ritual simplicity and the gentleman
summary: Ritual, mourning, rivalry, locality, and duty are all measured by inward
charity and simplicity rather than outward show.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:3
label: Gentle remonstrance toward parents
summary: A son corrects parents softly, increases deference if ignored, and remains
mindful of their age and nearness.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: reverent filial duty
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- sacred_exchange
basis: Filial piety is defined through reverent service, burial, sacrifice, and
sustained concern for parents.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: Sacred_exchange is used broadly for reciprocal ritual obligation and not
for a mythic bargain.
- id: motif:2
label: inward spirit over outward display
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Mourning, ritual, and service are judged by reverence and heartfelt sorrow
rather than external performance alone.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: This is ethical and ritual instruction, not a symbolic initiation scene.
- id: motif:3
label: gentle remonstrance within hierarchy
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Proper family order includes correction, but it must remain deferential and
free of resentment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy does not yet contain a direct hierarchy-correction motif.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: This passage can be compared with traditions that define piety less by raw
obedience or material provision than by reverent relation and ritual care.
claim_level: same_function
target: cross-cultural filial piety, ancestor care, and reverence records
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:7
confidence: medium
limitations: The comparison is functional and does not equate Confucian family ethics
with other ancestor or household traditions.
- id: claim:2
claim: The contrast between heartfelt sorrow and punctilious ritual belongs in comparisons
where inner disposition is treated as the truth of the rite.
claim_level: same_function
target: cross-cultural inner-versus-outer ritual records
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
limitations: The present passage is an ethical teaching, not a mythic narrative
of ritual failure or divine response.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 1170-1177
quote_or_summary: Filial piety means serving parents in the proper spirit, burying
them with proper rites, and worshipping them with proper sacrifices.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/confucian/project-gutenberg/sayings-of-confucius-giles.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 1179-1181
quote_or_summary: Parents should be spared anxiety about their children except in
sickness.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/confucian/project-gutenberg/sayings-of-confucius-giles.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 1183-1187
quote_or_summary: Without the feeling of reverence, what is there to distinguish
filial support from feeding dogs and horses?
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/confucian/project-gutenberg/sayings-of-confucius-giles.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 1203-1209
quote_or_summary: Ceremony without charity is empty, and in rites simplicity and
heartfelt sorrow outrank extravagance or punctiliousness.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/confucian/project-gutenberg/sayings-of-confucius-giles.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 1211-1233
quote_or_summary: The true gentleman remains courteous in rivalry, values charity,
follows duty, and puts duty above money-making.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/confucian/project-gutenberg/sayings-of-confucius-giles.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 1224-1233
quote_or_summary: The princely or nobler man remains on the path of virtue, follows
duty, and differs from the inferior man who pursues profit.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/confucian/project-gutenberg/sayings-of-confucius-giles.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 1234-1245
quote_or_summary: A son may remonstrate gently, remain deferential when ignored,
and keep the age and condition of parents continually in mind.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/confucian/project-gutenberg/sayings-of-confucius-giles.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: high
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is explicit about reverence, duty, and ritual measure; the broad
comparative motifs remain carefully bounded.
reviewer_status:
status: draft
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Supplementary witness from Giles's selected translation; especially useful
for filial piety, ritual feeling, and gentlemanly conduct.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Local extraction for the supplementary Confucius volume, focused on filial
piety as reverent duty rather than mere support.