Chapter on Broadening One's Name

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

3.1

Word count: 136 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Chapter 14, "Making a Name Widely Known," is selected from The Classic of Filial Piety, an ancient Chinese work on ethics. This chapter explains the principle stated in the opening chapter: "one's name is made known to later generations." A gentleman who is filial to his parents and extends that filial piety into loyalty to the ruler will surely make his name shine in later ages.

Editor's review

Chapter 14 of the Classic of Filial Piety, "Broadening the Name" is brief yet focused, centering on "making a name in later generations" and linking personal filial devotion to parents with loyalty to the ruler into a single ethical thread running from the inner to the outer. This Bashu Publishing House edition presents the chapter on its own, helping readers concentrate on the core proposition of "transferring filial piety into loyalty" and appreciate how Confucianism extended family ethics into political order. Its value lies not in literary storytelling but in presenting a typical mode of traditional moral reasoning: the noble person first serves his parents, then serves his ruler with the same heart, and his name naturally becomes illustrious. The text is archaic and terse, suitable as an entry point for studying the Classic of Filial Piety, and also for returning to this chapter after reading the whole classic to understand how the chapters echo one another. When reading, one may combine the pre-Qin ethical context and note that "name" is not personal vanity but the social evaluation that virtue becomes outwardly manifest. Suitable for classroom selected reading, recitation of classics, and self-study of traditional culture.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Traditional culture enthusiasts studying the original Classic of Filial Piety and concerned with Confucian ethics
Chinese or history teachers who need to explain the relationship between filial piety and loyalty to the ruler in class
Readers who wish to encounter ancient classics in short chapters for daily recitation

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern psychological guidance on parent-child relationships
General readers who prefer long narratives or literary reading

Reading tips

First read the opening chapter of the Classic of Filial Piety, then this chapter, noting how "making a name in later generations" echoes the opening.
Read sentence by sentence against the annotations to understand the chain of reasoning in "transferring filial piety into loyalty," and record your own questions.
Consider the ethical meaning of "name" against the background of pre-Qin clan society, and avoid applying modern notions of individual success.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
广扬名章第十四

FAQ

What is the relationship between this chapter and the other chapters of the Classic of Filial Piety?

This is Chapter 14 of the Classic of Filial Piety, devoted to expounding the principle stated in the opening chapter, "making a name in later generations," and thus an elaboration of the classic's programmatic statement. Reading it within the structure of the whole classic makes clearer the progressive relationship among serving parents, serving the ruler, and establishing oneself.

Can "transferring filial piety into loyalty" still be understood this way today?

"Transferring filial piety into loyalty" is an ethical inference under the ancient clan-based political system, extending the respect and obedience of the family to the ruler-minister relationship. Today it is best read as material for intellectual history, understanding its logic and historical limitations rather than applying it directly to modern workplaces or public life.

Can I read this chapter without a foundation in classical Chinese?

Yes. The chapter is very short, and with a reliable annotated translation read sentence by sentence, it is accessible to beginners. It is advisable to first grasp the general meaning from the vernacular translation, then return to the key terms in the original, rather than seeking full philological explanation from the start.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.