Abstract
The paper discusses the Confucius’s passage. In the course of the work the passage was analyzed, its idea was described, and conclusions were drawn out.
Keywords: Confucius, passage
Confucius Bk 13 Ch 18
Thesis
Confucius’s passage discusses the conflict between two basic values: obedience to law and protection of a parent. Confucius considers that preservation of the family is more important than legality, and Duke of Sheh states that law is inflexible and the criminal should be punished.
Reasons
Obedience to the law contradicts to the feelings of a son, and brings disharmony to the family;
Confucius points out that reporting a father or a son is incorrect, as it destroys the family’s unity;
The last sentence of the passage confirms that safeguarding of the family’s harmony is the mission of every son.
Analysis
The central issue of Confucius’s statement is the collision between the righteousness and natural duty. Sometimes, it is really difficult to find the consensus between human feelings and legality. Confucius must have considered that desire to safeguard a father is more significant than duty of law, and he was correct. This is an eternal truth. The family is one of the most valuable things in human life, and in some cases, its harmony stays prior over the law. For a son, parents are the closest people, as they have given him a life. And son’s duty is parents’ protection.
References
Confucius. (2006). Confucius: The Essential Analects: Selected Passages with Traditional Commentary. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.
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CONFUCIUS BK13 …