FILIAL piety has long been esteemed as a core Chinese virtue and there are numerous stories about ancient Chinese making enormous sacrifices for the comfort and well-being of their parents. “24 Stories of Filial Piety” was compiled by Guo Jujing during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) as a guideline of the virtue. Until the founding of New China, it was a must-read for school children. Around 700 years after Guo compiled the book, a new guideline has been introduced by the government to reinforce this virtue.

In one of Guo’s stories, Zhong You, a pupil of Confucius, ate wild vegetables but walked 50 kilometers to buy rice for his parents. Guo Ju of the Jin Dynasty (266-420) even considered killing his own son because he had no resources to support both his old mother and young child. Guo was rewarded for being filial and found gold buried underground, which enabled him to keep both his mother and son.

To echo the most impressive 24 ancient filial guidelines, China’s Women’s Federation and Senior Citizens’ Office published 24 updated guidelines to promote filial piety last week.

In June, a new law that protects the rights of senior citizens was submitted to Chinese legislators for approval. The draft also urges grown-up children to visit their parents often. As China enters a period when the population of elderly people is on the rise and many have to live by themselves, the well-being of senior citizens has caught the attention of the whole society.

A campaign will be launched in Beijing, Shanghai and 13 other Chinese cities in the next two years to promote the new filial guidelines, Chinese language media said. Free pamphlets will be handed out, and songs promoting the virtue will be created.

Wu Yushao, deputy director of the Senior Citizens’ Office, said the new guidelines, adapted to the new times, were meant to carry on the good Chinese tradition.

The guidelines spark hot debate online.

“I thought being filial meant giving parents enough money and visiting them often. The new guidelines reminded me that listening to their stories and teaching them to use the Internet could bring them more fun,” one netizen said.

Others said the guideline that urges children to support their parents’ decision to remarry is particularly significant.

“Many elderly people meet strong opposition to remarrying, which sometimes gives rise to family tragedies,” a netizen said.

Supporting the new guidelines, many young people, however, find it difficult to conform to all 24 rules. A sina.com poll found that most people acknowledged they followed only some of the guidelines in real life. Some complained that certain rules were very difficult to follow. “The generation gap makes it hard for me to participate in my parents’ activities. We have different tastes and lifestyles,” one netizen said.

“I could do nothing but sigh when reading the guidelines,” another netizen said. “I’m so faraway from my hometown. I don’t have many days off work. I don’t earn much money, and cannot even afford to fly back for holidays.”

Some people also found it difficult to teach their parents to use the Internet. “I cannot teach them to use the computer if they don’t want to learn,” a netizen said.

In response to criticism that the guidelines try to shift the government’s social security responsibilities to families, civil affairs officials said the guidelines were not laws to be enforced, but virtues to be promoted.

“Everyone will grow old. Being filial is not just paying respect to our history, but a guarantee to the future of each individual,” said Gao Youpeng, a Henan University professor.

(Li Dan)

Guidelines to filial piety