Textual Research on Filial Piety in Anecdote of “Zengzi Cultivates Melons” and Its Historical Introspection

Abstract

The filial piety’s conception of “Examine one’s obedience (shen qi suo cong)” in The Family Sayings of Confucius is in the same vein as that of The Analects. The anecdote of “Zengzi (505–435 BCE) Cultivates Melons” is a further elaboration of this conception of filial piety. Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626–649) once quoted this anecdote to refute Kong Yingda (574–648) and other Confucian scholars. Prince Zhanghuai (655–684) quoted it to annotate The Book of the Later Han Dynasty and Cheng Yi (1033–1107) quoted it in his invention of the doctrine of righteousness. The anecdote of “Zengzi Cultivates Melons” can be said to be everlasting, and the ideological and cultural value contained in The Family Sayings of Confucius should not be underestimated.