Family Feeling

陈姗姗 刘雨欣 任珂 杨津哲

摘要：In The Problem of China， Russell， the great writer， mentioned some controversial points of Chinese traditional family feeling， such as it can be a sin if we remain no children or refuse a high-salary job which can relieve our parents physically and mentally. Therefore， some jump into the conclusion that filial piety in Confucianism is fatuous and feudal， and that in China， family feeling is against public spirit. Actually， it’s hard for me to agree with that.

關键词：Russel；The Problem of China；Confucian；family feeling；public spirit

The concept of filial piety， which is the core of family feeling， is elaborated in the Confucian classics. Master You once said： “ Those who in private life behave well towards their parents and elder brothers， in public life seldom show a disposition to resist the authority of their superior. And as for such men starting a revolution， no instance of it has ever occurred. ” How to understand this sentence? As we all know， it is human nature to be selfish. Complete selflessness does not exist. Chinese sage Mo Tzu once tried to build a society that believes philanthropy but it ended in failure. So did utopia. So， it is impossible to treat every stranger as your family. There is a famous saying recorded in the book of Mencius—— “ Treat your elders as elders， and extend it to the elders of others； treat your youngness as young ones， and extend it to the young ones of others ” ——which exactly embodies the idea that love has its own order and difference， and learning to love your families is the first step for you to learn how to love the strangers. The filial and fraternal affections may be instinctive， and it promotes a nicer family atmosphere and harmonious relationship. We can find benevolence from the real feeling of being filial. That’s why it said that filial piety and fraternal duty forms the roots of benevolence.

Some argue that passionate family feeling will violate social morality and laws， because we may cover up the crime for our family. They take the words of Confucius as evidence， who once said “ A father will shield his son， a son will shield his father. It is thus that uprightness will be found.” Indeed， this sentence in the Analects shows that we should cover up for parents and children， but I don’t think we should deny family feeling because of that. For one thing， on account of the translation of ancient Chinese， the real meaning of this sentence remains to be proven. The original Chinese words of this sentence are “父为子隐，子为父隐，直在其中矣”. Some people hold the opinion that the Chinese character “隐” in that sentence means “correct” but not “shield”. For another， even if its true meaning is “shield”， we don’t have to be totally convinced.  Unlike

religious classics， the Analects doesn’t proclaim every word of itself as truth. It can be controversial and the thoughts of it can advance with the times. Privately， I think coverup is not a part of family feeling， or rather， is not a necessary part. I am inclined to accept the viewpoint that we should help our families to correct their faults， advising them to confess their crimes and make up for the victims. This is also a manifestation of love and responsibility. But then again， what if we don’t have family feeling? What if we denounce our family without any hesitation? I think this behavior goes to another extreme——the pursuit of absolute justice. Affection between family members is the longest and strongest emotion. When you refuse to give consideration to it， when you can completely ignore years of family affection， you are on the way to be an ungrateful and unmerciful man. Nothing is perfectly just. Absolutely justice is more relevant to superficial right and wrong， as a result of which， if someone gives undue importance to that and is indifferent to human feeling， he will ultimately disregard human ethics and does harm to the society， for it is okay for him to hurt others.

Family feeling is not fixed. It changes with the development of society. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period， hundred of schools of thought was created. Among those schools， Confucianism had the most profound influence on Chinese culture， the concept of filial piety it raised was the foundation stone of the subsequent Chinese family feeling. Then， there came the Qin dynasty， which was an important history node in China. It marked the beginning of feudal society and bureaucracy. And in the Han dynasty， after rejecting all kinds of theoretical schools but Confucianism， Confucianism became the sole dominant ideology. However，  the government was actually adopting a policy of “ external Confucianism and internal law” which means the Confucian idea of benevolence and righteousness was essentially the means to consolidate the status of feudal rulers. So in the later stages， as the feudal imperial power became more centralized， Confucianism was also changing. Take filial piety for example. It was carried to the extreme to some degree， like “ the Twenty-four filial piety diagram”. We cannot deny its thought value but some of the ideas are hard to accept， such as sacrifice everything for the benefit of the parents. It was also not conforming to Confucius’ thought. After the death of the Qing dynasty， filial piety was attacked as a symbol of old society so bitterly that the impact lasted until now.

As for public spirit， it seems there were no such words in ancient China. As Daxue says： “ To cultivate the moral self， regulate the family， maintain the state rightly and make the world peaceful.”  Public spirit is more like an extension and development of family feeling.