Sacred Text · The Analects

The Analects 2:7

Book 2, chapter 7 · the sayings of Confucius

“Tsze-yu asked what filial piety was. The Master said, 'The filial piety of now-a-days means the support of one's parents. But dogs and horses likewise are able to do something in the way of support;-- without reverence, what is there to distinguish the one support given from the other?'”
Analects 2:7 · Legge

Translation: James Legge, The Chinese Classics: Confucian Analects (1861, revised 1893), public domain, via Project Gutenberg (ebook 3330). Reproduced in full and in context; the sayings 15:23 (the negative Golden Rule), 6:28 (ren), 4:15 (the one thread) and 2:4 (the stages of life) were validated against the source before publishing. References follow Legge’s standard book:chapter numbering.

Christian comparison

How this connects to Jesus

Confucius warned that merely supporting one’s parents is not yet filial piety; without reverence, what sets it apart from feeding an animal? Jesus honoured father and mother as God commanded, and rebuked those who used religion to dodge that duty (Mark 7:9-13); even from the cross he provided for his mother (John 19:26-27). Both call us past mere duty to an honour that comes from the heart.

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