The Classic of Filial Piety

The Classic of Filial Piety is a Confucian text dating from the late Warring States period and early Han Dynasty in China, between 350 and 200 BCE. Told as a dialogue between Confucius and his student Zengzi, the treatise reinforces respect for one’s elders, be they family or the state. It was used to teach children reading and morality. Li Gonglin, an 11th century scholar, painter, and politician, illustrated it using a simple style without decorative color. The style would have evoked, to educated readers, the archaic past – and thus it was an appeal to traditional values.