Student Corner Filial piety

By Go Won

The younger generation is struggling to make their future. They are striving to cultivate careers, find a good job, make money and to start their own family.

It is safe to say that modern development and technology have made their lives complex. These take up their time and it is a shame that as a result parents cannot spend much time with their sons and daughters.

The youth of today have become more independent. Parents of older generations were very strict and their children were under strict parental control, but nowadays the situation is very different.

Now children make decisions by themselves, and they are no longer under such strict control. It is sad to say that this has weakened filial piety among the younger generation.

Recently, materialism and modernization have made younger people have little respect for their parents and ancestors.

Filial piety, which is called “hyodo” in Korean, is one of the traditional values in Korean society. It is a core virtue of Confucianism which has been preserved here for many centuries.

Filial piety is the virtue of showing respect and love for one’s parents and ancestors. In simple words, it means to be good with one’s parents and ancestors, to take care of them, to support them and to serve them.

Only keeping love and respect in one’s heart is not enough _ the important aspect of filial piety is that one must show love, respect and serve them through verbal and non-verbal expressions such as body-language.

That’s why May 8 is observed as Parents’ Day, which was previously called Mothers’ Day. In South Korea, May is considered the month of the family. May 5 is celebrated as Children’s Day.

On Parents’ Day all sons and daughters should especially practice filial piety.

Filial piety has played a pivotal role in Korea and that’s why Koreans are taught from the very beginning to show this trait. In Korea, many institutions offer special educational programs on it.

Westerners have recognized the culture of filial piety in Korea as in the West the concept of filial piety is based on individualism in which parents are regarded as honorable individuals.

Many historians have admired the Korean family system which is based on the moral principal of the parent-child relationship. Historians have considered filial piety as a great heritage in human history.

Korean history is also full of time-honored customs and tales. Some people lived in a hut built next to their parents’ grave for three years after they were buried in order to fulfill their filial duty.

In the Story of Simcheong, the heroin Simcheong offered 300 packs of rice to Buddha to open her blind father’s eyes. To purchase the rice, she had to sell herself to seafarers who offered her as a sacrifice to the Dragon King of the Sea for a safe voyage.

Now we are living in a modern society in which filial piety is disappearing. Therefore, parents need to teach their children the practice so that this heritage remains alive in Korean society.

Go Won is a freshman of Bupyong Girls High School.