Understanding the Confucian Principle of Filial Piety Course

Understanding the Confucian Principle of Filial Piety

Course: 7^th Grade World History and Geography Teacher: Scott Broadway

Time Required: 2 50-minute class periods Lipscomb Academy, Nashville, TN

Included Materials: PowerPoint Presentation on Confucius and 24 Exemplars of Filial Piety text

TN Social Science Standard 7.21 reads as follows:

Analyze the role of kinship and Confucianism in maintaining order and hierarchy.

Thinking Focus: Quick-Write (Response to be recorded in student journals) – 5-7 minutes

(1) Margaret Thatcher, a respected Prime Minister of Great Britain, made the following statement in 1988: “… the family is the building block of society. It is a nursery, a school, a hospital, a leisure place, a place of refuge and a place of rest. It encompasses the whole of society. It fashions our beliefs. It is the preparation for the rest of our life.”¹ Based on this quote, explain why Ms. Thatcher was portraying the family as playing such a critical role in the health and welfare of a nation.

(2) Do you think that Hollywood and the American media have the same high view of family? Take a stand and defend your position with examples.

Segue: Briefly discuss student reactions to the writing prompts. Ask students if they think downplaying the importance of family (like is done by Disney) is a mistake. Emphasize, in closing the discussion, that when looking at China, respect for parents and elders was considered a virtue. In fact, the presence of this respect itself was seen as a building block for their society under the teachings of Confucius.

Direct Instruction: PowerPoint Presentation – Confucianism and the Role of Filial Piety in China by Ronnie Littlejohn, Belmont University.

(https://www.dropbox.com/s/6gzucom58upu2gq/confucianismfilialpiety.pptx?dl=0)

Guide students through a brief overview of Confucianism, and introduce the importance of examples (or exemplars) within the Confucian system. An excellent, succinct introduction to each of the twenty-four individuals who are considered exemplars was developed at Rice University and the short biographies may easily be utilized by middle school students who are at or above seventh-grade reading level (http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~asia/24ParagonsFilialPiety.html). The lack of an “inspired text” led to the need for stories that inspired people to pursue the moral way. When introducing the 24 exemplars, teachers should keep in mind that that there is no notion of perfectionism in the Confucian ethic. In each story, the exemplar has only demonstrated that he or she is living at the “highest good” in one way. Personal morality was about progress … and by having stories to remember, they could have reminders of who they wanted to be.

Student Activity: Each student is to be assigned one of the 24 exemplars, then they are to: (1) read the assigned or selected portion of the text; (2) analyze its meaning; (3) explain the text by writing a short summary of the story in his or her own words; and (4) represent their exemplar by creating a visual poster that helps communicate the way their exemplar demonstrated filial piety; and after posters are put up on the wall, all students will (5) tell the story they learned, explaining its meaning and how their poster relates. Warning: The texts are short, and designed to be easily understood, but you may not feel that a couple of them are appropriate for your classroom (#10 and #16 in particular) depending upon maturity level – so consider how you want to assign portions of the text, and how to make it available. print.

1^ Speech to Conservative Women’s Conference, May 25, 1988. http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107248