TheEpochTimes
B20 APR 25 – May 8, 2014
9 ARTS & CULTURE
Lessons From Dizi Gui:
Care for Parents Till the End, Without Leaving Behind Regrets
The Epoch Times and PureInsight.org
“Dizi Gui” (Standards for Being a Good Student and Child) is a traditional Chinese textbook for children that teaches children
morals and proper etiquette.
Dizi Gui states that we should take care
of our ill parents, and attend to them day
and night without leaving their bedside.
When our parents have passed on, we should
always remember them with gratitude, and
feel sad for not being able to repay them for
raising us. We should commemorate our
parents’ anniversaries in memorial ceremonies with ulmost sincerity, and serve our
departed parents as if they were still alive.
Such moral exemplars of serving one’s
parents are Emperor Wen of the Western
Han Dynasty, and the teacher Wang Pou
from the Three Kingdom Period.
Emperor Wen Tastes His
Mother’s Medicine
During the Western Han Dynasty in
China, after its founding patriarch Liu Bang
died, the throne was passed down to his
son, Liu Heng or “Liu the Constant”. Liu was
given the name of Han Wendi, “The Learned
Emperor of Han”. As a ruler, he practiced rigorous, just governance, and he loved the citizens, moving and inspiring them to selfimprovement through education.
While managing the extremely complex
and demanding affairs of the state, Emperor
Wen nonetheless still found time to serve
his mother with respect and filial devotion. He was neither careless nor tardy in
his treatment of his mother.
Once, his mother suffered a serious illness. As soon as Han Wendi had completed
his various governmental matters, he would
immediately leave the state chambers and
return to his mother’s bedside to nurse
her with tender care. She was sick for a full
three years, yet his care was constant and
untiring. He waited on her night and day
throughout her illness, without relaxing his
vigilance in the least. He never grumbled or
resented the toil and tedium.
The Emperor’s care of his mother was
thorough to the last detail. He would wait by
her bedside without closing his eyes, often
forgetting to change his robes for long periods out of fear that he might be remiss in
his nursing care. As soon as the servants had
prepared any dose of medicine, the Emperor
would first sample the remedy himself, to
make sure it was neither too hot nor too
weak. When it was fit to drink, the Emperor
would personally spoon-feed the medicine
to his mother.
Many years passed, and the Learned
Emperor nursed his mother throughout,
earning the praises of all the citizens. An
outstanding leader, he was also a most
unusual, filially-devoted son, and he set the
standards of behavior towards parents. The
people of China respected him, and were
deeply influenced and transformed by his
model of virtue. In turn, they practiced filial
respect towards their parents, and treated
them well. The Learned Emperor’s name,
Han Wendi, has been passed down through
a thousand ages to the present—people still
admire his model of virtuous, selfless conduct.
Wang Pou Protects His Mother From
Thunder, Even After Her Death
Wang Pou was a filial son who lived during the Three Kingdoms Period. Wang’s
mother dreaded the sound of thunder, so
whenever the sky filled with dark clouds and
Emperor Han Wendi (Western Han Dynasty) tastes his mother’s herbal medicine
first, to ensure it is not too hot before feeding it to his sick mother.
rain was on the way, Wang Pou would run to
his mother’s side to comfort her and to calm
her fears. If her son was not at her side, the
old woman would feel unbearable alarm.
After his mother passed on, Wang Pou
buried her in a neighbouring graveyard.
Even though the old lady was no longer
alive, everytime a storm approached, Wang
would run to the graveyard and kneel by
his mother’s tombstone with tears running down his cheeks. “Don’t cry Mother,
your son is nearby!”, he would call, just as if
his mother was alive. As long as the storm
lasted, Wang remained near the grave, circling around it countless times to protect
his mother’s spirit and keep her from fear.
Later, when Wang Pou became a teacher,
everytime he read a passage on the emotions felt by devoted sons and daughters
for their departed parents, Wang’s own
feelings would overflow, and he would cry
with deep longing. After seeing this, his students would carefully remove any texts that
talked about the love that children have for
their parents.
Wang Pou always emphasised in his lessons the necessity of repaying the kindness
of one’s parents while they are still alive. He
was considered a model for filial behaviour,
and his constant regard for his departed
mother moved the hearts of all those who
witnessed it.