父慈子孝

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Chinese[edit]

father
 
compassionate; gentle; merciful
compassionate; gentle; merciful; kind; humane
 
child; son; (noun suffix)
child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight
filial
trad. (父慈子孝)
simp. #(父慈子孝)

Etymology[edit]

From Liji:

[Classical Chinese, trad.]
[Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Book of Rites, c. 4th – 2nd century BCE
Hé wèi rén yì? , xiào, xiōng liáng, dì tì, fū yì, fù tīng, cháng huì, yòu shùn, jūn rén, chén zhōng shí zhě, wèi zhī rén yì. [Pinyin]
What are 'the things which men consider right?' Kindness on the part of the father, and filial duty on that of the son; gentleness on the part of the elder brother, and obedience on that of the younger; righteousness on the part of the husband, and submission on that of the wife; kindness on the part of elders, and deference on that of juniors; with benevolence on the part of the ruler, and loyalty on that of the minister - these ten are the things which men consider to be right.

Pronunciation[edit]


Idiom[edit]

父慈子孝

  1. the father is loving towards his children and the children show filial piety towards their father
  2. (sarcastic, neologism) the father and child are engaging in family quarrel either verbally, financially or physically.

Usage notes[edit]

Even though the traditional meaning of the idiom is still understood in modern day Chinese, the sarcastic usage is becoming more mainstream in Chinese popular culture, this means extra understanding of the context is required when this idiom is used.

See also[edit]