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XIAO/HSIAO. In Confucianism xiao (Chinese, “filial piety”) denotes the attitude of deference and its accompanying attentive care displayed by those occupying lower social stations toward those in more highly esteemed positions. Most prominently this involves the love and honor sons show their parents and the respect and humane treatment older people receive from younger people. However, xiao encompasses a broad range of social relationships, among which are those between father and son, ruler and subject, husband and wife, older brother and younger brother, and one friend and another. In particular Confucianism deems it critical that children render unquestioning obedience to their parents, that subjects demonstrate loyalty to their rulers (zhong), and that wives obey their husbands. Some of the obligations involved in xiao continue even after the death of the one to whom these duties are rendered (i.e., the veneration of ancestors). More generally, xiao is thought to provide the moral basis for family harmony, political stability, and the flourishing of culture. The authoritative source on xiao is the Xiao Jing, or Classic of Xiao, apparently written in 470 BC, which records a conversation between Confucius and Zeng Shen, his student.

See also CONFUCIANISM

Bibliography. A. K. L. Chan and S. Tan, eds., Filial Piety in Chinese Thought and History; N. Kutcher, Mourning in Late Imperial China: Filial Piety and the State; L. G. Thompson, Chinese Religion: An Introduction, 5th ed.

H. W. House