Filial Piety: Is It An Obligation?
What are the responsibilities of children towards their parents? Are they even OBLIGATED to return some sort of unspoken favor? It is strange that this point is harped upon by the chinese culture and while the western culture exhibits some form of filial piety, they are nonetheless less critical on it.
A point to consider: Is it appropriate for a working adult to ask money from the parents if the person is in dire straits? At what point do the children 'pay back' the parents? And when they DO start paying back, can they ask for additional favors from their parents?
Some people have the perspective that the children should take care of their elders at their old age. And even more so if they have retired and have no source of income. What do you think of that?
The parent's roles would have been fleshed out before you are set out into the world on your own. Their unspoken efforts at sheltering you, sweating blood and tears, imparting good advice while protecting you from the bad elements has made you what you are today. Granted, not everybody have the chance in obtaining the full spectrum of what they have to offer. Life is such that you do not know what tomorrow brings.
Which brings me back to our first question. Are we obligated to repay our parents for some unspoken favor? I personally have no real answer to all this. However, I believe in any kind of relationship, there should be give and take. You know the conditions your parents are in so you act appropriately. And you also have your own values to fall back on. If your actions fall within your values, why not? Here's to hoping the values taught by your parents are sufficient to carry you through life admirably. And for that, I believe they deserve some form of respect.
1 other thoughts:
It is always appropriate for anyone to ask for help from anyone in dire straits. The first person to consider would usually be better if it is from the same family or having close friendship with.
Filial Piety is just another good virtues to pursue out of the 8s. Let's not take it as an obligation or "Is it an obligation that you try to be a good person?" Therefore there isnt obligations, but there is a choice to be how you like to be someone in others mind/memory, and justifying in between how much you are willing give.
I used to be a naive daughter and sister. Now I try to be a good one from now on :P
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