The junzi and filial piety
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Question
The junzi?
Answer
The exemplary 'noble' person — Confucius' moral ideal, noble by cultivated character rather than by birth.
Question
Confucius' rewrite of 'noble'?
Answer
Once junzi meant a nobleman by birth; Confucius makes it noble by character, so it's earned and open to anyone.
Question
Junzi vs the 'small person'?
Answer
The junzi asks 'what is right?'; the small person asks 'what's in it for me?' — steady and fair vs grasping.
Question
Xiao?
Answer
Filial piety — deep respect and care for one's parents and elders.
Question
Why is xiao the 'root' of ren?
Answer
The family is where you first learn to care for someone other than yourself; that care then grows outward to everyone.
Question
How does virtue grow outward for Confucius?
Answer
From family (xiao) → community → society: learn to love your family well and you've begun learning to love everyone.
Question
Is the junzi ideal elitist?
Answer
No — Confucius takes nobility away from birth and hands it to effort; anyone who cultivates ren and li can become one.
Question
What does the junzi care about most?
Answer
Doing what is right rather than looking good — hard on themselves, slow to blame others.
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Topic 10.2 hub
The Analects — Confucius
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