百善以孝为先
Had dinner with a friend last night. Was thinking of crashing out at her site office to do some reading. Then she reminded me to spend more time at home with my parents instead of being outside. Personally would prefer to spend time with her but the Chinese saying “ 百善以孝为先” came into my mind. In the end, I parted ways with her and went home to watch TV with my parents.
The topic for discussion is "百善以孝为先"
First? The reason for this is because once you are born, you are already indebted to your parents. The genetic materials from both parents and the 9 months of child bearing are owned by you to your parents. Although technically speaking, you have no choice in the matter. Even if you do regret coming into existent, it is too late. The first 2 persons that you have to repay first are your parents. Lovers, best friends, even pets are secondary.
In the online Wikipedia encyclopedia, besides the definition of 孝, the later half was the following :
“孝 for Confucius was, however, not blind loyalty to one's parents. Above the norm of 孝 were the norms of 仁 (benevolence) and 仪 (righteousness). For Confucius and Mencius, 孝 was in fact foremost a display of rén and should ideally be applied in one's dealings with all elders, thus making it a general norm of intergenerational relations. In reality, however, 孝 was usually reserved for one's own parents and grandparents and was often elevated above the notions of 仁 and 仪.”
So what if “孝” conflicts with “己” or any other atirbutes like 忠 or 仪? Stories of such are common, i.e Liang Zhu（梁祝）, Xu Shu (徐庶) or even Young and Dangerous. Blind loyalties do not serve any purpose as everyone are fallible at some points in time.
The important thing for anyone, when they are confused, is to ask themselves this : “in the bottom line, who am I and what did I set out to accomplish here ?”. If they can answer this question honestly to themselves, most of the above mentioned conflicts can be resolved. No matter how painful the decision personally or otherwise, one have to do what one have to do.
To quote from a korean comic that i read yesterday :
千万不要迷之自己.
只要你的信念根深蒂固，
真理自然会照亮大地。
The topic for discussion is "百善以孝为先"
First? The reason for this is because once you are born, you are already indebted to your parents. The genetic materials from both parents and the 9 months of child bearing are owned by you to your parents. Although technically speaking, you have no choice in the matter. Even if you do regret coming into existent, it is too late. The first 2 persons that you have to repay first are your parents. Lovers, best friends, even pets are secondary.
In the online Wikipedia encyclopedia, besides the definition of 孝, the later half was the following :
“孝 for Confucius was, however, not blind loyalty to one's parents. Above the norm of 孝 were the norms of 仁 (benevolence) and 仪 (righteousness). For Confucius and Mencius, 孝 was in fact foremost a display of rén and should ideally be applied in one's dealings with all elders, thus making it a general norm of intergenerational relations. In reality, however, 孝 was usually reserved for one's own parents and grandparents and was often elevated above the notions of 仁 and 仪.”
So what if “孝” conflicts with “己” or any other atirbutes like 忠 or 仪? Stories of such are common, i.e Liang Zhu（梁祝）, Xu Shu (徐庶) or even Young and Dangerous. Blind loyalties do not serve any purpose as everyone are fallible at some points in time.
The important thing for anyone, when they are confused, is to ask themselves this : “in the bottom line, who am I and what did I set out to accomplish here ?”. If they can answer this question honestly to themselves, most of the above mentioned conflicts can be resolved. No matter how painful the decision personally or otherwise, one have to do what one have to do.
To quote from a korean comic that i read yesterday :
千万不要迷之自己.
只要你的信念根深蒂固，
真理自然会照亮大地。
posted by 逍遥老头 at 10:11 PM
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