Quote image editor
“A father who has a contentious son will not act in ways that lack ritual propriety. A well-bred man who has a contentious friend will not do what is not yi [just; correct]. Thus, if a son simply obeys his father, how would that son be filial? If a minister simply obeys his lord, how would the minister be exercising fidelity? To be careful about the cases in which one obeys another – this is called filial piety, this is called fidelity. (Xunzi “The Way to be a Son,” Hutton p. 326).” — Xunzi
A father who has a contentious son will not act in ways that lack ritual propriety. A well-bred man who has a contentious friend will not do what is not yi [just; correct]. Thus, if a son simply obeys his father, how would that son be filial? If a minister simply obeys his lord, how would the minister be exercising fidelity? To be careful about the cases in which one obeys another – this is called filial piety, this is called fidelity.
(Xunzi “The Way to be a Son,” Hutton p. 326).