May I add something, resp. iuxtapose two texts dealing with filial piety?
The first is by Zhu Xi /Chu Hsi, from a commentary on Mencius:
"Li Tong said: 'That Shun could peace the mind of his [criminal] father
Gusou was only due to the fact, that he consequently followed the Tao of
filial piety, and did not care for his parents' wrongs.' Luo Zhongsu
hereto adds: 'It was due to the fact that in the whole wide world do not
exist any parents able to do something wrong.' When Chen Guan heard this,
he found it perfectly true and said: 'If this opinion [of Luo] will be
accepted, the roles of father and son will be perfectly established. For
that small people kill their sovereign and sons kill their father has
always started with the fact, that they found a fault in them.'" (Sishu
jizhu, Comm. on Mencius 4A28)
Keep in mind, it was Zhu Xi speaking here in the multi-mirrored way of
confucian commentaries. Now the second quote, this time Pound speaking in
the beautiful Kungtse-Canto XIII (really the one I got hooked on by...):
"And Kung raised his cane against Yuan Jang,
Yuan Jang being his elder,
For Yuan Jang sat by the roadside pretending to
be receiving wisdom.
And Kung said
"You old fool, come out of it,
Get up and do something useful."
And Kung said
"Respect a child's faculties
"From the moment it inhales the clean air,
"But a man of fifty who knows nothing
Is worthy of no respect."
Two quite different concepts of filial piety - piety and learning being
two main poles of confucian ethics, one could at least speak of a long way
the Ezra Pound of 1913 had to go to reach the neoconfucian rigidity of Zhu
Xi.
Love
Martin
---
Who, a-gathering mouse-ear fungus,
Gathers it on Shan-yang's crest?
Peoples stories are but fiction,
And on no foundation rest.
The Book of Odes,
1st Book, Odes of T'ang; 12
K Stevens schrieb:
> I am also interested in comparing Pound to Zhu Xi. Zhu Xi appears to
> me to be an "epic poet" of Chinese culture. I think Pound would have
> appreciated Zhu Xi's interest in the classics, memorization of the
> text, reciting the text, meditation of the text, and continuing (or
> re-creating) the tradition. Are you familiar with Zhu Xi? He's as
> controversial as Pound. I haven't even begun, but how would you
> compare the two?
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