Dr. Lo Yuet Keung (National University of Singapore), Prof. Patricia Uberoi (Institute of Chinese Studies Delhi)

Filial devotion has been considered a virtue unique to Chinese culture in pre-modern China and was translated into various cultural and even political practices. In early China, parents were glorified for giving birth and raising children. Children were expected to take good care of their parents and bring honour to the family. Sons were obliged to continue the bloodline of the family. When their parents died, children observed rigorous mourning rituals and continued to pay regular sacrifice thereafter. All this changed when Buddhism was introduced to China. Buddhist converts would serve their living parents differently. How to repay filial debts became a critical concern. In time, Buddhist influence inspired Daoist conceptions of filial devotion to change Chinese filial practices for good. This talk will outline the evolution of filial practices as a case study of cross-fertilization and mutual accommodation between Chinese culture and Buddhist religion in early medieval China.