49. On Filial Piety：There are no great parents, only great children.

We often assume parental love is profound and that filial piety is our duty. In truth, this perspective is entirely mistaken. Parental love cannot be called profound, for a parent's affection for their child stems from an instinct to love themselves. Children carry their parents' genes, perpetuate their existence, and are extensions of their parents. Loving one's child is, at its core, loving oneself. Since it is self-love, it cannot be deemed profound.

Conversely, humans possess no innate need to honor their parents. Though nurtured by parental love in childhood, adults in turn raise their own children and bestow love upon them. Within this cycle of perpetuation, each individual receives and gives love—a process inherently equitable for all. Thus, even if one fails to honor their parents, this stems from biological self-interest and is not inherently wrong. Human greatness, however, lies in our capacity to transcend self-serving instincts in certain areas—filial piety being one such example. When an act defies self-interest yet embodies kindness, it is inherently noble. Thus, filial piety deserves to be called great.

Based on this reasoning, we may update our understanding: parental love is a given, while filial devotion is a virtue of greatness.

Loyalty and filial piety represent the two most fundamental pursuits in Chinese life. One who embodies both can be considered a complete person. This concept of loyalty and filial piety appears to mean loyalty to the state and filial devotion to parents. In reality, however, the object of loyalty is the sovereign, as the sovereign represents the state, and the object of filial piety is also the sovereign, as the sovereign is the father-ruler. Not only is the monarch fatherly, but his legitimate consort embodies maternal virtue for the realm. Even ordinary officials are termed "parental officials." Thus, every commoner has three categories of parents: biological parents, parental officials, and the monarch-father and empress-mother. For the commoner, filial piety entails reverence for all three. This precisely aligns with the rulers' needs. Simultaneously, rulers could leverage the people's biological parents to instill filial piety, as these parents themselves benefited from such devotion. Naturally, they would willingly propagate this concept aligned with the rulers' interests. Consequently, regardless of dynastic changes in ancient China, every ascending monarch vigorously promoted loyalty and filial piety—a doctrine essential for governing the populace. Looking back at history, we find that whatever the ruling class vigorously promoted was fundamentally detrimental to the common people.

When China's monarchs were swept into history and nominally ceased to exist, the autocratic ruling class did not abandon their inherent values of loyalty and filial piety. This time, they portrayed the nation as a motherly figure, compelling the people to call the state their Motherland. They demanded gratitude toward the Motherland, love for the Motherland, loyalty to the Motherland, defense of the Motherland, and the sacrifice of everything for the Motherland. Because the motherland nurtured you—without it, you would not exist—you must repay her. But who represents the motherland? The autocratic ruling class and the government they established. It is not the motherland that requires the people's loyalty and filial piety, but the rulers themselves. They dare not stand before the people and voice their true intentions, so they hide behind the veil of the motherland.

When we lift this veil of the motherland, we see clearly: it is the people who nurture the people; the state owes no nurturing debt to its citizens. It is the people who constitute the nation; without the people, there is no nation. The people are the masters of the state, whose very existence is to serve the people's betterment—not to demand their selfless sacrifice.

When a nation embraces democracy, is loyalty and filial piety still necessary? Yes, but not the loyalty and filial piety demanded by autocratic rule. A citizen's loyalty to the nation equates to loyalty to all its people. Loyalty to all people means refraining from actions that harm any citizen. A citizen's filial devotion to their parents, ensuring their devotion accompanies parents through their remaining years, is also a manifestation of greatness worthy of every citizen. Thus, loyalty in a democratic nation means not harming the interests of other citizens, and filial piety in a democratic nation means honoring one's true parents.