Piety Essay

564 Words3 Pages
Piety Do We Really Know What Piety Means? When people talk about the word “piety”, some people will often think of “the quality or state of being pious as fidelity to natural obligations or dutifulness in religion”(“Piety”), which means people are “having or showing a dutiful spirit of reverence for god an earnest wish to fulfill religious obligations”(“Pious”). When I ask myself what piety is, the first thought I came across in my mind is the “acts inspired by piety” (“Piety”), the common thing that many Chinese will do, which is “having or showing appropriate respect or regard for parents or others” like giving the best living environment to one’s parents based on one’s ability. (“Pious”). This idea is one of the types of piety, namely “filial piety”. “Filial piety is an expression which everyone should know, yet it is not a common American phrase. Many Americans are very likely to have never even heard of this phrase, though it conveys an universal theme” (Huang Par. 1). The concept filial piety was developed by Confucius; it “basically describes the correct way to act towards one's parents. Filial piety consists of several factors; the main ideas include loving one's parents, being respectful, polite, considerate, loyal, helpful, dutiful, and obedient” (Huang Par. 2). Confucius has written a book called The Classic of Filial Piety, which “was composed sometime between the Qin and Han Dynasties”(Classic of Filial Piety). This concept has lasted for a long period of time. In reality, many people claim that they always perform “acts inspired by piety” for their parents or seniors in the family, but how many of them really understand what piety is? To me, piety cannot be seen easily; the acts people are doing nowadays cannot represent the true meaning of piety. Generally speaking, “filial piety” is the concept that people try to give respect and the best
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