Obedience and Filial Piety

During the COVID-19 “lock-down,” I spent almost all of my waking hours watching movies. Ever since I was a child, I am fond of watching what we nowadays call as Chinese “costume drama.” I have no other choice because these are the only TV series during Sunday mornings in the only channel that our TV can receive, the now defunct RPN 9. Of course, it is Chinese and I do not understand what they were saying at all. So I will just imagine what the story is all about.

My love for this genre of movies never waned. At present, movies already have subtitles or dubbing; thus, I can appreciate their plot better.

Many of these movies have similar themes that are derived from Confucian ideals like filial piety, righteousness, service to country, fidelity, among many other values. How these ideals are translated into action is, of course, debatable. Taking for granted that we are treating the story as it is without analyzing its connections with the present, I would like to present some of my realizations.

The Rule of Heaven

I would often hear this term in the conversations of characters, mainly when they are referring to the order of society from the emperor down to the lowly slave. It means that under Heaven, there are rules to follow and rites to be observed so that there will be peace and prosperity.

I think this is not an alien theme for us Christians because we also believed that everything is under the power of God. Genesis, for example, showed to us that God, when he created the “World,” he established order.

Related to this idea of the Rule of Heaven is filial piety. Again, filial piety is not only about respect and obedience to one’s parents but also about the parents of the kingdom, that is, the Emperor and the Empress Mother. So, the son respects the father, and the people respect the emperor. Without filial piety, there is disorder, and the Heaven is angered.

How about if it is the father and the emperor who violates the Rule of Heaven? The answer is obvious; Heaven will destroy the kingdom because when those who are in power do not follow Heaven’s order, there is chaos, and the people suffer. This is the reason why in the home and the imperial court, there are rites or formalities to be followed to show that order is present and that Heaven will not be angered.

Order and Orders

When there is no order, orders (commands) are disobeyed, and chaos happens. When a father cannot control his children, the latter will just ignore their father without heeding his advice or mandates.

The problem is the hypocrisy comes when these children will become parents themselves. As parents, these hypocrites would demand that their children will have to follow them when they as children did not follow their own parents and did not have filial piety towards them.

On the other hand, a father needs to show that he has no favoritism, or else he will create disorder.

When the father favors only those that pleased him with sweets words and fake affections, children will lose their filial piety.

When children see that some of their siblings are favored, because they know how to twist stories to suit the blind-spots of their parents, they will be frustrated and will either ignore or do play the same game. Doing things as they deemed it appropriate without the need to follow orders from their father or mother. Everyone is just on his or her own.

Thus, the order of the family is reduced to plots and plotting. There is no harmony, and the rule of Heaven is disobeyed.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees as hypocrites because they created a lot of restrictions and ordinances for others to follow. Yet, they do not follow the rules they established by creating ways out that only they can understand.

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