Filial piety courses in Chinese schools has sparked public debate(2)

Filial piety has long been regarded as a cornerstone of traditional Chinese values. Photo: Li Hao/GT

In November last year, China's first "filial piety museum" was opened in Qionglai, Sichuan Province. Funded by more than 500 local residents and enterprises, the museum features photographs, videos and selected objects that give testimony to the stories of dutiful children in ancient and modern China, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Ineffective methods

Xiong Bingqi, an education expert and vice president of 21st Century Education Research Institute, said that while kowtowing ceremonies may please parents, they were completely ineffective as a way of promoting filial piety in daily life.

"Students and parents are certainly moved due to all the contrived elements [of such ceremonies], from the sentimental music to the heart-tugging speeches," Xiong said. "A one-time lecture might make some students do some housework and 'respect' their parents more, but after a while, they'll fall back into old habits."

Xiong went as far as to say that making children kowtow to parents was counterproductive to cultivating independent citizens.

"Education in filial piety requires long-term edification," said Xiong. "If education of traditional culture is limited to just reading the classics, wearing traditional costumes, and prostration, it actually damages traditional culture instead of preserving it, because it separates traditional culture from the reality of modern citizens."

Sun echoed Xiong's sentiments in describing the filial piety workshops he participated in. He recalled that during one such class, students were asked to list their parents' birthdays. Many were unable to. Afterwards, the teacher read an article about filial devotion, which reduced much of the class to tears. "But [the effect of these workshops] only lasted two weeks," said Sun. "These methods are touching, but the effects don't last long. With nobody there to remind me, I quickly lost this mentality."

Huang Feilong, a lecturer who has given hundreds of speeches at primary and middle schools about traditional Chinese values and filial piety, disagreed.

"We deliver positive energy to the parents and students," said Huang. "[To ensure the long-term effects,] we carry out comprehensive interactions, and follow-up services including house visits and counseling."

Huang said it was important to educate children about the value of filial piety, especially by using emotionally charged speeches and stories about dutiful, obedient children. Many of the students he visited would be moved to tears. Kowtowing before one's parents, or washing their feet, said Huang, were important formalities that reinforced filial devotion. "The reason why Chinese civilization has been preserved for so long is due to honouring and respecting the parents and teachers."

Changing views on filial piety

Zhu Jia, the manager of a cultural exchange company in Beijing and father to a 5-year-old girl, said that although there were shortcomings to the approaches taken by schools, he fully endorsed the initiative to promote filial piety. "I think the idea of recovering our traditions is good, but their methods are perhaps a bit too formulaic and narrow," said Zhu, who professed that he was a strong advocate of Confucian values.

Zhu said that he would prefer that filial piety be taught as part of a broader course in the classical thought and texts. He said that the sense of belonging and responsibility to one's family denoted by filial piety had been lost in contemporary society.

"I think that efforts should be made in daily life, instead of through formalized means," said Zhu. "Parents should set a good example by meeting their filial duties themselves, by calling and visiting the child's grandparents often."

Nevertheless, Zhu said that he did not completely oppose activities like kowtowing ceremonies in schools. "Although it's like putting on a show, it's a way of reinforcing positive values," he said.

In a dissertation on filial piety published in the Journal of Nanchang University, Xiao Qunzhong, a professor at the Renmin University of China, argued that the concept of filial piety had changed in modern times. While in the past, filial piety demanded absolute obedience to parents, contemporary concepts of filial piety must acknowledge the importance of equality in parent-child relationships, and should be built on love and sentimental attachment rather than submission to authority.

Reflecting these changing attitudes, in August 2012, a modern revise of Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) scholar Guo Jujing's classic Confucian text, The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety, was issued, instructing readers to carry out 24 modern time filial duties including supporting the parents' hobbies, teaching them to use computers, and supporting a single parent to remarry.

Sun said that he had witnessed these changing views of filial piety within his own family. While his grandmother still thought of filial piety as absolute obedience to one's parents, said Sun, his mother considers filial piety as learning to respect, understand and forgive one's parents.

"Each generation is different," said Sun. "It was much stricter in ancient times!"