Not Respecting One’s Parents Is a Crime (Part 1)

(Minghui.org) I recently heard about three children who did not respect their parents. 

The first was a high school boy who was doing poorly in school. His mother saw him playing on his phone all day every day during the winter break, and she told him she disapproved. That upset the boy and made him angry, and he slapped his mother in the face. He then walked out and has refused to see his mother or answer her calls. 

The second was a young woman. Although her parents had retired, they found other jobs so that they could support their daughter financially. She was spoiled, and her parents did everything for her. After graduating from college, the daughter found a job in southern China. When she returned home before the Chinese New Year several months ago, her mother was struggling with severe depression due to long COVID-19. But the girl still expected her parents to do everything for her. When her parents criticized her for not helping out, she walked out and returned to her place in southern China, leaving her elderly parents to spend the Chinese New Year by themselves. 

Another young woman was raised by her mother after her parents divorced. During her high school years, her mother overcame all kinds of difficulties to send her overseas for a better education. The daughter later went to a renowned college. She met a young man and decided to marry him. The mother said she was too young and suggested that she wait until she finished graduate school. The daughter ignored her and married anyway, without telling her mother. 

A Major Crime

Respecting one’s parents, or filial piety, was a basic moral standard in ancient China. Violating this was considered a major crime. In the Xia Dynasty, the first dynasty in China, it was recorded, “There are over 3,000 crimes, but the worst one is a lack filial piety.” 

It was the same in other dynasties. In the following dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, it was believed that “lacking filial piety is worse than all the other 300 crimes.” In Shang Shu (Book of Documents), it was written, “The worst crime is not respecting parents or befriending siblings... I urge the king to punish these people with laws since their crime is unpardonable.”

Even those who told others to mistreat their parents would be severely punished. In the bamboo texts from the Han Dynasty, unearthed in Zhangjiashan, Hubei Province, it it written, “When a person tells others to disrespect their parents, the punishment is hard labor and a brand on the face identifying his or her crime.” This was the worst punishment, other than the death penalty. 

In the Tang Dynasty, there were 10 major crimes, of which three were related to lacking filial piety. They were: beating parents or grandparents, not respecting parents, and not respecting family members. More specifically, anyone who verbally abused their parents or grandparents would be hanged; anyone who beat their parents or grandparents would also be executed. 

An Example from the Qing Dynasty

Later dynasties followed suit. That is, humiliating or beating one’s parents would incur the death penalty. The following is an example from the Qing Dynasty. 

In 1866, martial artist Zheng Hanzhen of Hanchuan (in today’s Hubei Province) and his wife Huang beat his mother, which their neighbors reported to the authorities. At that time, the governor of Huguang was inspecting Hanchuan. He arrested the couple and reported them to Emperor Tongzhi, who issued a decree to both the couple and the others involved:

- Zheng and his wife Huang were to be executed, after which their skin was to be removed, their bodies burned, and their ashes spread. - Zheng’s uncle and three cousins were to be hanged. - The head of the village was to be hanged. - Neighbors who knew what had happened but did not report it were to be struck 80 times each with a wooden staff and sent to remote Wulong River as soldiers.- Zheng’s martial arts instructor was to be beaten with a wooden staff 80 times. - The leaders of the county and Hanchuan were to be removed from office because they failed to educate their people. - Huang’s mother was to be have branded on her skin “I raised a daughter but did not educate her” and publicly paraded in seven provinces. - Huang’s father was to be beaten with a wooden staff 80 times and sent to a remote place 1,500 kilometers away. - Zheng’s nine-month-old son was to be raised by the Hanchuan government and his name was changed to “Xue Shan” (learning to be good). - Hubei officials were to support Zheng’s mother, giving her one liter of rice and one-tenth tael of silver each day. - Zheng’s land was to be deserted. 

The governor of Huguang printed this decree and circulated it throughout the region, vowing that anyone who mistreated their parents would be punished the same way. As a result, people throughout the nation heard about this incident, heeded the warning, and behaved accordingly. 

(To be continued)