Abstract
Filial piety, which has long been held in high esteem in traditional Chinese society, is considered to be the origin of all virtues. It is also thought to be the base of Ren (仁) by Confucian Analects, and held as a ruling principle through dynasties. Alongside the political power, filial piety is promoted and practiced overwhelmingly in every way: family honor, tax break, title confering, punishment exemption, etc., which is recorded in Zhi Guan Zhi (職官志, Officialdom Essays), Xuan Ju Zhi (選舉志, Examination Essays), Xiao Yo Zhuan and Xiao Yi Zhuan (孝友傳及孝義傳, Filial subjects Biographies) since Han. Li (禮, morals or ritual propriety) has become the base of penalty system and legislative principles since Sui and Tang. Male lineal ascendants are endowed with the rights of ruling and educating descendants (教令權). According to the law, as long as the instructions are disobeyed or the maintenance is insufficient, penal punishment is applied to the descendants. The code not only combined Li and penalty, but also promotes the practice of filial piety. However, as time gone by, is filial piety still an eternal idea or an absolute obligation? How do we comprehend this ethic idea essentially and make it correspond with the penal legislation more appropriately? Basing on Tang Code, Ching Code and the historical material of late Ching legal reform, this paper shall discuss the traditional ideas and offenses aforementioned. Moreover, the author would take the legislations of Germany and Japan as study examples in the view of comparative law.
In the end, this article would like to study the transform and rebirth of current legal ethics in the 2010 Amendment of Article 294-1, Criminal Code of Taiwan.
Keywords
Confucianism、Traditional Chinese Legal System、Filial Piety、Maintenance Lack、Abandonment of Lineal Ascendant
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