Filial Piety and Confucianism

The religion and philosophy of Confucianism has had a deep impact on the Asian way of life from ancient times right up into our present age. The practice of filial piety within Confucianism still influences a vast amount of people today.

Let us first define what filial piety is. Filial piety (xiao shun) is the primary duty to one’s parents - a fundamental virtue for the Chinese way of life. Throughout the Analects, Confucius talks a great deal about the virtues for particular types of human relations, such as the virtue of filial piety (xiao) between parent and child. In classical Confucianism filial piety was commonly understood to consist of three key moral obligations; respect for one's parents, honouring (or not disgracing) them, and supporting them financially.

From this relationship with one’s parents, Confucius states is the Analects, that “When your parents are alive, serve them according to propriety; when they die, bury them according to propriety; sacrifice to them according to propriety” (Liu, p.237).

From the Confucian point of view, familial relations (parents and children, husband and wife, and elder and younger) are more important than the ruler-minister or friend-friend relation. The latter may end voluntarily, but familial relationships can never be deliberately forsaken. Kinship is consequently a crucial prerequisite in the Confucian notion. As Confucius claims, "filial piety and brotherly love are the roots of humanity” (Fan, p.356-357).

There is an interesting example of Confucius’ stance on filial piety and it shows that it should take precedence over everything else. Within the Analects, the Duke of She tells Confucius: "In my country there is an upright man. When his father stole a sheep, he bore witness against him”. Confucius says: "The upright men in my community are different from this. Fathers conceal the misconduct of their sons and sons conceal the misconduct of their fathers. Uprightness is just to be found in such mutual concealment" (Liu, p.234). Placing this example and many others found in the Analects together, we can see that the Confucian ideal was to forfeit all for filial piety and brotherly duty, as if anything else, such as decorum, honesty, righteousness, the empire, people, or even humaneness itself, by contrast, seems to be insignificant.

"Filial piety and brotherly respect are the very root of humaneness” - From this Confucian viewpoint, then, if kinship love can be genuinely ingrained in one's heart, all the other qualities of personal qualities will then spring from it as their source. This is the very reason why filial piety is always held to be a fundamental virtue in Confucian beliefs. Filial piety is simply the basis, not the final destination, of ethical tradition.

Examples of filial piety can also be found in pre-Confucian texts. For instance, there is the famous legend of young Shun (later to become one of the greatest of China's sage kings) in the Classic of Doctrines (Shangshu): "His father was obstinately un-principled; his step-mother was insincere; his half brother Xiang t was arrogant. He has been able, however, by his filial piety to live in harmony with them, and to lead them gradually to self-government, so that they no longer proceeded to great wickedness” (Fan, p.370).

It is filial piety, above all other concerns, that inhabits the dominant place in Confucian belief. It could be safely claimed that filial piety is the essential force flowing through the entire structure of Confucianism.

Bibliography:

Fan, Ruiping (2002) Reconsidering Surrogate Decision Making: Aristotelianism and Confucianism on Ideal Human Relations, Philosophy East and West, University of Hawai’i Press.

Liu, Qingping (2003) Filiality versus Sociality and Individuality: On Confucianism as "Consanguinitism", Philosophy East and West, University of Hawai’i Press.

Secret Sino-Soviet Negotiations on Outer Mongolia, 1918-1925

Politics is always full of secrets the government don’t want us to know about; this has been the case since ancient times and continues right into our present time. It is only years afterwards that the general public are made aware of them.

In May 1924, China and the Soviet Union agreed that “The Government of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics recognises that Outer Mongolia is an integral part of the Republic of China and respects China’s sovereignty there”. The Soviet also agreed to withdraw her troops in a month’s time but by November, Soviet troops had completely dominated Outer Mongolia and helped establish the Mongolian People’s Republic.

The period leading up to this can be divided into five points – Russia’s expansion into Outer Mongolia after 1911, the Soviet government’s unequal treaty with Outer Mongolia in 1921, the Soviet’s attempts to get China to recognise the 1915 tsarist tripartite treaty on Outer Mongolia (with little success), in 1923 – 24 the Soviet promised to abolish tsarist treaties but resorted to secret diplomacy to maintain them, and finally, when the new USSR’s envoy to Peking signed a secret treaty with China where China recognised the tripartite treaties.

After the October Revolution, the Soviet renounced Russia’s Imperialistic unequal-treaties with China in order to open first diplomatic ties with Peking (Beijing). In July 1918, Georgii Chicherin presented a proposal before the Fifth Congress of the Soviets which would satisfy China’s desire to abolish all former Sino-Russian treaties: “We renounce the conquests of the tsarist government in Manchuria and we restore the sovereign rights of China in this territory … we agree to renounce all land-rights of our citizens in China, Mongolia”.

On the 25^th July 1919, the Soviet government issued a manifesto that promised China that the Soviet government renounced “all annexations of foreign lands, any subjugation of other nations, and indemnities whatever”.

On the 2^nd October 1920, Karakhan met with a Chinese mission under the leadership of General Chang Ssu-lin. Here he presented the Chinese general with the second manifesto which stated that certain conditions must be met before the Soviet government would be willing to open up relations with China. This second manifesto stated that all former Sino-Russian treaties were now null and void. In April 1924, the Soviet government agreed that “The Soviet Government renounces everything seized by the tsarist government in China, Manchuria and in other places”.

Although the treaty signed in May 1924 agreed that the Soviet troops were to leave Outer Mongolia, they in fact stated. “The Soviet Union tightened its hold over Outer Mongolia during September 1924, when a purge organised by the Revolutionary Youth League, an organisation “entirely dominated by Soviet Advisers and more particularly the head of the Secret Police”.

On the 25^th November 194, the Mongolian People’s Republic was officially founded.

Bibliography:

Elleman, Bruce A. (1993 – 1994) Secret Sino-Soviet Negotiations on Outer Mongolia, 1918-1925, Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia.

Hillside Burials in Hong Kong

Burial traditions are an important aspect in any culture. Different societies have different ways of attending and preparing the bodies of their loved ones after they have passed away and internment is also very important. For those who are buried, most bodies are placed in graveyards, where hundreds of people are laid to rest.

In Hong Kong, the indigenous people had an old tradition where they could bury their dead in hillsides. During the imperial period, the native Chinese people were allowed to have their departed family members buried on any chosen hillside. However, when the British came to rule the island, there were regulations imposed on this tradition. Under the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance (Cap 132), indigenous inhabitants were required to obtain burial certificates from District Officers, and interments were restricted to government-assigned burial area.

This, however, has not stopped the native people from carrying on this tradition. One reason for this is that there is no expiry date for these burials. In public cemeteries, human remains are required to be exhumed after six years, to be either cremated or reinterred in an urn cemetery.

Because of this, the non-native Hong Kong people and politicians have campaigned in recent years to abolish the indigenous burial rights. There have been three reasons for this. “First, the government has long maintained a policy that strongly favours cremations for most if not all Hong Kong people, and it is argued that there is thus no real justification for allowing indigenous inhabitants to maintain the tradition of hillside burials, especially when this right is denied to others. Second, hillside graves detract from the green environment and landscape, as many of them occupy scenic sites. Third, the government is required to pay generous compensation –totalling more than HK$17 million from 1997 to 2002 (SCMP 2002) - when it needs to move such graves in order to implement public works. Under these circumstances, there would appear to be clear justification for the abolition of this burial right”.

Despite these reasons, the Hong Kong government has been reluctant to abolish the practice of hillside burials, mainly because it would break Article 40 of the Basic Law. Another reason is because the indigenous people still continue this practice, and cherish the fact that they have, above all, never had to worry about the re-location of the graves, especially those residing in a good fung-shui position that is commonly perceived to bring affluence and offspring to descendants.

It is uncertain as to when this practice was established in Hong Kong but the tradition still continues today. The indigenous people cling to hillside burials as part of spiritual protection and benefits for their families.

Bibliography:

Chan, Kwok Shing (2003) Hillside Burials: Indigenous Rights in the New Territories of Hong Kong, Anthropology Today, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

China's Involvement in Laos during the Vietnam War, 1963-1975

Known as ‘the secret war’ by the Americans, the conflict in Laos during the 1960s and early 1970s was a vital element in Washington’s containment strategy in Southeast Asia in response to communist violations of the Geneva Agreements of 1954 and 1962. Although scholars have studied America’s involvement in Laos, it wasn’t until recently that they have been able to make analysis of China’s involvement. In recent years, scholars have had access to source materials shredding new light of China’s involvement in Laos during the Vietnam War.

In September 1963, there was a secret meeting held between the communist party leaders from China, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), Laos, and Indonesia. The meeting was located at Conghua, near Guangzhou, and was regarding the serious situation created by the Americans in Southeast Asia. Zhou Enlai alleged that the likelihood of direct American interference in Vietnam and Laos was escalating, and that the insurgency in these countries had become a vital front for the struggle against imperialism, feudalism, and capitalism.

Zhou recommended that the leaders devise a three part strategy; “first, expand a united front by winning their people's support; second, build rural revolutionary bases for an armed struggle; and third, enhance the party's strength and leadership. He predicted that as long as the people and leaders had confidence, they could defeat the Americans. Zhou assured the communist leaders present that China would serve as a reliable rear echelon for their revolution and would help them drive the Americans out of Southeast Asia”.

In October 1963, Kaysone Phomviha travelled to Beijing to ask the Chinese for assistance in establishing a revolutionary base for the LPRP. However, Zhou was unsure of the situation in Laos and Kaysone suggested that the Chinese send a mission there to fully understand.

Since the 1930s the North Vietnamese had been a dominant force over the Lao revolutionary movement. “When the Chinese ambassador in Hanoi informed Vietnamese leaders of the new agreement between China and the LPRP, Hanoi's ini-tial response was negative. The DRVs leaders felt that China should con-tinue providing assistance to Laos through Hanoi. Hanoi's leadership, however, agreed to China's direct assistance to the LPRP and its Pathet Lao movement because China was Hanoi's source of substantial assis-tance in the form of arms, ammunition, food, and transportation equip-ment. Negativity by Hanoi's leaders on this issue might compromise their own stated commitment to the national liberation movement in South-east Asia. In their formal reply to Beijing, North Vietnamese leaders praised Beijing's internationalism and generous assistance to their revo-lutionary cause, which they claimed they "should never forget." As for China's aid to Laos, they believed that it would be "equally appreciated and welcomed." Hanoi further stated that China's aid to Laos would be regarded as support to the DRV”. This meant that the Hanoi endorsed the Chinese involvement in Laos.

As the American military became more involved in Southeast Asia, the Chinese adopted a more aggressive strategy in Laos. In the early part of 1964, General Duan and his associates left China and stayed in Laos for five years. The main goals of the Chinese operation in Laos, both military and political, was to “improve the effectiveness of Lao operations, and to determine the types and quantities of Chinese aid”.

The Chinese government did not make military decisions but did follow the military situation in Laos. They were kept informed by the LPLA headquarters and the Vietnamese Advisory Group so that the Chinese could give them advice. Beijing would send them updated intelligence reports every few days and Chinese military officers would often with the LPLA troops to offer assistance and advice.

During the war, the Chinese military supplies totalled 115,000 guns and machine guns, 2,780 artillery pieces, 34 tanks and armoured vehicles, 170 million bullets, 2.67 million shells, 920,000 grenades, 254,000 mines, 2,530 transceivers, 2,654 telephone sets, 773 trucks, 958 tons of explosives, 2.57 million items of military clothing, and 770 tons of food. However, it is uncertain as to whether Laos received them all as the supplies came way via North Vietnam.

Bibliography:

Zhang, Xiaoming (2002) China's Involvement in Laos during the Vietnam War, 1963-1975, The Journal of Military History, Society for Military History.

Who Are the A’ou?

China can be classed as one of the richest countries in the world due to the amazing wealth of ethnicities it holds. There are 56 officially recognised ethnic groups in China including the Gelao. Within this ethnicity is the A’ou sub-group.
Although the A’ou are considered to be part of the Gelao group, they do not share the same cultural identity. In addition to this, the A’ou speak a language which does not correspond to any of the many languages and varieties of languages that the Gelao speak.

The history of the A’ou can be found in Guizhou Province. According to Jacob Lee, there were numerous tribes living in the southwest of China who were each ruled by their own ruler and lived according to their own customs. The largest tribe were the Gelao, who were known then as the Liao, and called their kingdom Yelang. During the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), armies and ambassadors were sent to Yelang Kingdom and the king peacefully submitted. Because of this, most of the tribal leaders lost their power save the Yelang king.

Guizhou is one of the poorest provinces in China and the A’ou scratch a meagre living from cultivating rice. Because of this many young A’ou have now moved to larger cities to search for work. There are 2,500 A’ou who live in three counties across Guizhou Province, these include Longjiazhai District of Zhijin County; in the Shawo, Lannigou, and Xinkaitian districts of Qianxi County; and in and around the town of Pudi in Dafang County.

The A’ou are polytheists although around 15% claim no religious affiliation. Most A’ou, especially the older generation, worships a number of gods and spirits and makes regular sacrifices to them. Honouring ones ancestors is equally important to the A’ou.

The A’ou are just one of the hundreds of minority groups which makes up the larger ethnicities in China. Because of this, their history, culture and identity are mostly unknown to foreigners and even the Chinese themselves.

Who Are the A Che?

The A Che are one of the hundreds of minority groups which make up the Yi ethnic group in China. With a population numbering 39,000 they are often confused with the Azhe people, who also make up the Yi people. Dispute the similarity of their names, the A Che people are a distinctly separate group.

The A Che and the Azhe people share a common ancestry. Both groups migrated to Jianshui County in Yunnan Province during the Sui and Tang Dynasties (581 – 907 CE) where they enrolled in the Luodian kingdom’s armies. After a period of time, a group moved into Yimen and Shuangbai counties where they eventually settled and became known as the A Che.

The A Che are polytheists and have always been so. Worshipping their creator god, they claim that the relationship between their creator and themselves was once much closer, but over the years they have become separated and they cannot communicate with the creator, thus they cannot enter heaven.

Like most groups belonging to the Yi ethnic group, the A Che celebrates the Dragon Festival which is held on the second day of the second lunar month. In Shuangbai County, the other great important festival is the Open Street Festival. Held on the eighth day of the first lunar month in Damaidi District, the entire community comes together is a blaze of colour and gaiety.

The A Che lives in the southern province of Yunnan, most of who live in the eastern counties of Chuxiong Prefecture with others in Yuxi Prefecture. Those who live in Shuangbai County live in rural and extremely isolated villages, which is perhaps why most foreigners have not heard of them before.

A History of Ancestral Worship in Asia

Religions have shaped the lives of people for countless centuries; not only have they explained the natural occurrences that happened around us, but they have comforted us in our darkest times and given us hope. Religion has also played a dramatic role in art, literature and politics.

Throughout history, a vast array of religious beliefs have emerged to affect people and nations; some of these religions have disappeared entirely, some have disappeared only to be re-introduced with some variations, and some have stood the test of times. Today, the main religions are Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Paganism.

In Asia, a number of religions have emerged in her long history. One of the earliest belief systems was that of ancestral worship. In countries such as Korea, China and Japan, ritual services for ancestor worship have been practiced for centuries and still play an important role in traditional village life. It was not only in the family home that this belief system had influence; the reverence of one’s ancestors had considerable repercussions on political forms. Although ancestral worship was practiced throughout Asia, there were several differences on how each country worshipped.

In China, ancestor worship was modelled on Confucian ideals; the philosophy of Confucianism consists of an exceptionally organized, hierarchical establishment within the social order in which the family was the basis of social stability. The reverence for one’s ancestors and propitiation of their spirits had been practiced before the Shang Dynasty, although it was not believed that many ancestors were thought to survive into the spirit world. It was most likely thought that only the spirits of important people would be lucky enough to survive.

After the Warring States Period (475 – 221 BCE), Chinese society became more complex and there were distinct differences between how the common people was treated from the nobility. For instance, the nobility were not subject to punishments such as mutilation that were inflicted on commoners. In addition, it was only the nobly born that could participate in the cults which were the heart of the Chinese notion of kinship. Only the nobility belonged to a family, which meant that only they had ancestors.

The patriarchal heads of the families were considered to be the intermediaries between the mortal world and that of the spirit world as they held the authority over the household. A family was a ritually constructed social unit and was in itself a moral act, and the ability to do so successfully was a demonstration of the moral superiority of the family member. In time, these practices came to identify those people who were entitled to hold offices or possess land, especially those who led and ruled clans, as religious superiority was the heart of the ruling house’s claim to power.

We can see this when the Chou (otherwise known as Zhou) displaced the Shang – the idea was introduced that a god superior to the ancestral god of the dynasty and that from him there was derived a mandate to rule. Now, it was decreed by Chou, that the mandate was required to pass into other hands.

The Four Rituals (sili) of capping, marriage, funerals and ancestral sacrifice were the rituals that were practiced within the family. It was the last ritual that was of great importance. These sacrifices were made at the ancestral altar or temple (zongsi) at which these ancestral rites were conducted. As one scholar states, “Requiting one's progenitors for giving one birth is the first precondition for proper human conduct (rendao); collecting together as a lineage to worship one's founding ancestor is the usual and proper way to honour one's roots”.

However, since only the nobly born were considered to have ancestors, the common people turned to the worship of nature deities; the worship of the personifications of mountains and rivers were highly popular with commoners, although it should be stated that they received some attention from the nobility as well.

In Korea, ancestral worship had great influence on the lives of the everyday people and many performed rituals in order to pay respect to one’s ancestors. For example, a direct descendant must carry out such rituals eight times each year on the death remembrance days of all his ancestors from the fourth generation beyond that of his parents, as well as four other annually rituals performed on seasonal festivals and several rituals which are carried out at the graveyard.

In the Korean ancestral belief system, there are two types of spirits, namely the good or benign ancestor and the evil spirit or ghost. A spirit becomes either one of these spirits by the manner of their deaths. Evil spirits or ghosts are created when a person dies either by suicide or by an accident, usually outside the home, who then go on to haunt the world and perform malicious acts. A benevolent spirit was produced when someone died of natural causes in the home after a long life; the spirits of these individuals would then become the ancestor spirits who would protect their descendants and families.

Funerary rites are an important aspect in Korean ancestral worship. When a person is about to die in their homes, his family brings him to the warmer part of the home and placed on his deathbed. He is dressed in a clean cloth named ch'ongo chongch'im. The children of the person are required to watch their parents at the end and if they speak any last words, to write them down at the head of the deathbed.

Once the individual’s death is confirmed, all ornaments are removed from their heads and hands, then their hair is loosened and tears are shed. After this, a member of the family would take the cloth and go outside and climb onto the roof. Facing north, they call out the name of the deceased repeating the word ‘pok’ (which means ‘return’) and pulls up the garment onto the roof. This ritual is named kop ok, calling back the spirit of the dead.

Looking at the worship of one’s ancestors in Japan, there are some similarities and differences to that of China and Japan. In one village in Okinawa, it is believed that the patrilineal descent group (munchuu) should not die out or, if it does, that the house should not be demolished. If the house does fall down then the site should not be built upon by another family as it is taboo for anyone but patrilineal descendants to build a house on it.

Ancestor spirits (gwansu) who have no descendants to pay them homage are given extra ancestral tablets in the ancestral table often separated by a board from the tablets of the proper ancestors of the household. They are considered to be unhappy and restless spirits, known as the ‘cold ancestors’ (hijuru gwansu). An heir is often looked for them if possible as ancestors who lack a suitable heir are believed to be pitiful and dangerous, as well as abnormal and inappropriate.

For the Japanese, to revere one’s ancestors he is supposed to honour them by offering them prayers, incense, foods, etc. In return, his ancestors are expected to protect him. When an unmarried woman dies, she is worshipped by the patrilineal descendants of her family, but her ancestral status in her maternal household is nonessential. For a married woman, her bones are placed in the same urn as her husband’s, thus nearly obliterating her own identity. Her ancestral significance is totally dependent on that of her husband’s. After her thirty-third death anniversary is celebrated, she is only worshipped as the wife of her husband.

Ancestor worship has given Asia a religious belief system that has been individually adopted and adapted by each country and given it their own colourful stamp. When looking at this belief system in Asia, it is surprising to see the similarities between each country as well as the universal meaning and message behind the faith – that family is the most important thing in the world.

Bibliography:

Lee, Kwang Kyu (1984) The Concept of Ancestors and Ancestral worship in Korea, Asian Folklore Studies, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.

Masako, Tanaka (1977) Categories of Okinawan “Ancestors” and the Kinship System, Asian Folklore Studies, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.

Rowe, William T. (1998) Ancestral Rites and Political Authority in Late Imperial China: Chen Hongmou in Jiangxi, Modern China, Sage Publications Inc.