Classic of Filial Piety

The Classic of Filial Piety is believed to have been written in the early Han Dynasty, and purports to record a series of conversations between Confucius and his direct disciple Zengzi. It speaks of the virtue and importance of filial piety, and ties it into virtuous behavior in political relationships, i.e. metaphorically rendering a son's devotion to his parents comparable to a subject's devotion to the Emperor.

References

• Patricia Ebrey, Chinese Civilization, Second Edition, New York: The Free Press (1993), 64.