When My Grandfather Stole Persimmons... Reflections on Confucian Filial Love

摘要

Confucians posit filial love at a very high place and let it trump virtually all other values.nThere is a famous passage in the Analects:nThe governor of She said to Confucius, “in our village there is an upright man. Whennhis father stole a sheep, he gave evidence against him.” Confucius answered, “In ournvillage those upright are quite different. Fathers conceal for their sons, and sonsnconceal for their fathers. Upright is to be found in such behavior.” (Analects 13.18)nIn this passage, Confucius makes the point that the father-son relationship is to be preservedneven though this requires the son not to report on his father’s immoral act. Mencius makes ansimilar point in Mencius 7A35.