Who is the greatest act of gratitude in history?

Out-of-print Pictures of the Twenty-Four Filial Piety

You Zi Yin

The thread in the hands of the loving mother, the clothes on the body of the wanderer.

Before leaving, I am worried that I will return later.

Whoever speaks an inch of grass will be rewarded with three rays of spring.

01 Filial piety moves heaven

Shun, the legendary ancient emperor and one of the Five Emperors, had a surname of Yao and a given name of Chonghua. His nickname was Yu, and he was known as Yushun in history. According to legend, his father Gusou, stepmother, and half-brother Xiang tried to kill him many times: when they asked Shun to repair the roof of the barn, they set fire under the barn, but Shun jumped down and escaped with two bamboo hats in hand; when they asked Shun to dig a well, Gusou Sou and Xiang went down to fill the well, while Shun dug a tunnel to escape. Afterwards, Shun showed no resentment and was still respectful to his father and loving to his younger brother. His filial piety moved the Emperor of Heaven. When Shun was farming in Mount Li, elephants plowed the land for him and birds weeded for him. Emperor Yao heard that Shun was very filial and capable of handling political affairs, so he married his two daughters Ehuang and Nvying to him. After years of observation and testing, Emperor Yao selected Shun as his successor. After Shun ascended the throne as emperor, he went to visit his father. He was still respectful and made Xiang a prince.

02 Taste the decoction for yourself

Emperor Liu Heng of the Han Dynasty,

the third son of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, was born to Empress Dowager Bo. He became emperor in the eighth year of his reign (180 BC). He was known all over the world for his benevolence and filial piety, and he never slacked off in serving his mother. His mother had been ill for three years, and he often couldn't sleep without blinking an eye or taking off his clothes. He personally tasted the decoctions his mother took before letting her take them with confidence. He reigned for 24 years, focusing on moral governance, promoting etiquette, and paying attention to the development of agriculture, which made the Western Han Dynasty stable, the population prosperous, and the economy recovered and developed. His reign with Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty is known as the "Government of Wen and Jing".

03 Biting fingers hurts

Zeng Shen, also known as Ziyu, was a native of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. He was a proud disciple of Confucius. He was known as "Zengzi" and was famous for his filial piety. When he was young, his family was poor and he often went into the mountains to collect firewood. One day, a guest came to the house, and my mother was at a loss, so she bit her finger with her teeth. Zeng Shen suddenly felt distressed. Knowing that his mother was calling him, he quickly returned home carrying firewood and knelt down to ask why. His mother said, "A guest came unexpectedly. I am biting my fingers in hope that you will come back." Zeng Shen then received the guest and treated him with courtesy. Zeng Shen was a man of profound knowledge and once proposed the self-cultivation method of "I should examine myself three times in a day" ("The Analects of Confucius·Xueer"). It is said that he wrote Confucian classics such as "Great Learning" and "The Classic of Filial Piety". Later Confucians respected him as "Zongsheng" .

04 A Hundred Miles Away

Zhong Yuan,

Zi Lu, Ji Lu, was a native of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period and a proud disciple of Confucius. He had a straightforward and courageous personality and was very Filial piety. In his early years, his family was poor, so he often picked wild vegetables to make meals, but he carried rice home from hundreds of miles away to serve his parents. After the death of his parents, he became a high official and was ordered to go to the state of Chu. He was accompanied by hundreds of chariots and horses, and he had as much grain as ten thousand bells. Sitting on the folded brocade mattress and eating a sumptuous feast, he often missed his parents and sighed: "Even if I want to eat wild vegetables and carry rice for my parents, where can I get it again?" Confucius praised: "You Serving your parents can be said to be doing your best while you are alive, but you will miss them after you die." ("Confucius' Family Sayings: Thoughts")

05 Lu Yi Shunmu

Min Sun,

Zi Qian, born in the state of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period, was a disciple of Confucius. Among Confucius, he was known for his virtues as well as Yan Yuan. Confucius once praised him and said: "How filial, Min Ziqian!" ("The Analects of Confucius·Advanced"). His biological mother died early, and his father married a second wife and gave birth to two more sons. His stepmother often abused him. In winter, his two younger brothers wore winter clothes made of cotton, but they gave him "cotton clothes" made of reed catkins. One day, when his father went out, Min Sun shivered due to the cold while pulling the cart and dropped the rope. He was scolded and whipped by his father. The reed flowers flew out along with the broken seams of his clothes. Only then did his father know that Min Sun was being abused. The father returned home and wanted to divorce his second wife. Min Sun knelt down and begged his father to forgive his stepmother, saying, "I am the only one who will suffer the cold if I leave my mother. If I divorce my mother, the three children will suffer the cold." His father was very moved and agreed to his request. When the stepmother heard about it, she regretted her mistake and treated him like her own son from then on

06 Deer Ru Bongqin

Tanzi, a native of the Spring and Autumn Period. My parents are old and suffer from eye diseases, so they need to drink deer milk to treat them. So he put on deer skin and went into the mountains, got into the deer herd, squeezed the deer milk, and offered it to his parents. One time when he was collecting milk, he saw a hunter about to shoot a muntjac deer. Tan Zi hurriedly lifted up the deer skin and walked out. He told the hunter about the fact that he had squeezed deer milk to treat his parents' illness. The hunter respected him as a filial piety and gave him deer milk as a gift. , Escort him out of the mountain

07 Playing with Colors and Entertainment

Lao Laizi, a hermit of the Chu State during the Spring and Autumn Period, farmed in Mengshan Mountain to avoid the chaos of the world. Nanlu. He was filial to his parents and served them all the delicacies he could. He was still young at the age of 70. He often wore colorful clothes and played with a rattle like a child to make his parents happy. Once when he was delivering water to his parents, he fell when he entered the house. He was afraid that his parents would be sad, so he simply lay on the floor to study. The child cried while the elders laughed.

08 Sold his body to bury his father

Dong Yong,

According to legend, he was a native of Qiancheng (now north of Gaoqing County, Shandong Province) during the Eastern Han Dynasty. He lost his mother when he was young. After the war, he moved to Anlu (now part of Hubei). Later, his father died, and Dong Yong sold himself as a slave to a wealthy family in exchange for funeral expenses. On the way to work, I met a woman under the shade of a locust tree and said she was homeless. The two got married. The woman spent one month weaving three hundred pieces of brocade to pay off Dong Yong's debts. On her way home, she walked to Huaiyin and told Dong Yong that she was the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven and was ordered to help Dong Yong pay off his debts. After speaking, he flew away in the air. Therefore, Huaiyin was renamed Xiaogan.

09 Carving wood for marriage

Ding Lan,

According to legend, he was a native of Hanoi (now north of Henan and Yellow River) during the Eastern Han Dynasty. His parents died when he was young, and he often misses him. Because of his parents’ upbringing, he carved statues of his parents out of wood. Everything was discussed with the wooden statues as if they were real. He served three meals a day to his parents before eating them. He must inform his parents before going out and meet them when he returns home. , never slack off. Over time, his wife lost respect for the wooden statue and curiously pricked the wooden statue's fingers with a needle, and blood flowed from the wooden statue's fingers. When Ding Lan came home and saw tears in the eyes of the wooden statue, he asked about the truth, so he divorced his wife

10 and worked as a servant to support his mother

Jiang Ge, a young man from Linzi, Qi State in the Eastern Han Dynasty After losing his father, he served his mother extremely filially. During the war, Jiang Ge fled with his mother on his back. He encountered bandits several times. The thieves wanted to kill him. Jiang Ge cried: his mother was old and had no one to support him. Seeing his filial piety, the thieves could not bear to kill him. Later, he moved to Xiapi, Jiangsu Province and worked as a hired worker to support his mother. He was poor and barefoot, but his mother had many needs. During the reign of Emperor Ming, he was promoted to be filial and honest, and during the reign of Emperor Zhang, he was promoted to be virtuous and upright, and he was appointed as a lieutenant general with five sense organs.

11 The deceased relative of Huaiju

Lu Ji,

a scientist from Huating (now Songjiang, Shanghai), Wu County, Wu State during the Three Kingdoms period. When he was six years old, he followed his father Lu Kang to Jiujiang to visit Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu entertained him with oranges, but Lu Ji hid two oranges in his arms. Before leaving, the oranges rolled to the ground. Yuan Shu laughed and said, "Lu Lang came to my house as a guest. Do you want to carry the owner's oranges when you leave?" Lu Ji replied, "My mother likes to eat oranges. I want to take them back and give them to her." Mother, try it." Yuan Shu was very surprised to see that he knew how to be filial to his mother at a young age. When Lu Ji came of age, he became erudite and knowledgeable, and was proficient in astronomy and calendar calculation. He once wrote the Map of the Huntian, annotated the Book of Changes, and wrote the Commentary on the Taixuan Jing.

12 Burying children to serve their mothers

Guo Ju,

a native of Longli (now Linxian County, Henan Province) in the Jin Dynasty. It is said that he was born in Wenxian County, Hanoi (now Wenxian County, Henan Province). Southwest of the county), originally from a well-to-do family. After his father died, he divided the family property into two shares and gave them to his two younger brothers. He was solely supported by his mother and was extremely filial to her. Later, the family gradually became poor and his wife gave birth to a boy. Guo Ju was worried that raising this child would inevitably affect the support of his mother, so he discussed with his wife: "We can have another son, but the mother cannot be resurrected after death, so it is better to bury the son and save some food to support the mother." ." When they were digging a hole, they suddenly saw a jar of gold two feet underground, and wrote: "God has given Guo Ju, officials cannot take it, and the people cannot take it." The couple received gold, returned home to honor their mother, and were able to raise their children.

13 Fan Pillow and Warm Quilt

Huang Xiang,

a native of Xia'an, Jiangxi Province of the Eastern Han Dynasty, lost her mother at the age of nine and was extremely filial to her father. In the hot summer, she fanned her father's pillow and mat to cool down; in the cold winter, she used her body to warm her father's bedding. When he was young, he was well versed in classics and his literary talent was so high that it was widely spread in the capital that "he is unparalleled in the world, the yellow boy of Jiangxia". Emperor An (107-125) was the governor of Wei County (now part of Hebei Province). Wei County suffered from floods, and Huang Xiang did everything he could to help the victims. He is the author of "Ode to the Nine Palaces", "Ode to the Emperor's Crown", etc.

14 Collecting Strange Weapons

Cai Shun,

a native of Runan (now part of Henan) in the Han Dynasty, lost his father when he was young and was very filial to his mother. At that time, Wang Mang was in chaos and there was famine. Firewood and rice were expensive, so they had to pick mulberries and their children to satisfy their hunger. One day, he met the Red Eyebrow Army by chance. The rebel soldier asked sharply: "Why are the red mulberries and black mulberries put in two baskets separately?" Cai Shun replied: "The black mulberries are for my mother to eat, and the red mulberries are left for me." Eat it yourself." The Red Eyebrow Army took pity on his filial piety and gave him three measures of white rice and a cow to take back to his mother as a show of respect.

15 Emerging Spring and Jumping Carp

Jiang Shi,

a native of Guanghan, Sichuan in the Eastern Han Dynasty, married Pang. The husband and wife were filial, and their home was six or seven miles away from the Yangtze River. Pang often went to the river to get the Yangtze River water that her mother-in-law liked to drink. The mother-in-law loved to eat fish, so the couple often cooked fish for her to eat. The mother-in-law didn't want to eat it alone, so they invited the neighbor's old lady to eat with them. Once, due to strong winds, Pang returned late from fetching water. Jiang Shi suspected that she was neglecting her mother and kicked her out of the house. Pang lived in his neighbor's house, worked hard day and night spinning and weaving, and entrusted his neighbor with his savings to send home to honor his mother-in-law. Later, her mother-in-law learned about Pang's expulsion and ordered Jiang Shi to invite him back. On the day Pang came home, spring water suddenly spewed out of the courtyard. The taste was the same as that of the Yangtze River water, and two carps jumped out every day. From then on, Pang used these to worship his mother-in-law, so he no longer had to go far to the riverside.

16 Wen Lei Crying Tomb

Wang Pei,

a native of Yingling (now southeast of Changle, Shandong) during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, was erudite and versatile. His father Wang Yi was killed by Sima Zhao. He lived in seclusion and devoted himself to teaching. He never sat facing the west throughout his life, indicating that he would never become a minister of the Jin Dynasty. His mother was afraid of thunder when she was alive and was buried in the mountains and forests after her death. Whenever he heard thunder in windy and rainy weather, he would run to his mother's grave, kneel down and comfort her, saying: "Pei'er is here, mother, don't be afraid." When he was teaching, whenever he read the chapter "Polygonium", he would often Tears streaming down my face, missing my parents.

17 Nanny is not lazy

Cui Shannan,

name, was born in Boling (now part of Hebei) in the Tang Dynasty. He was an official and the envoy of Shannan West Road. "Shannan". At that time, Cui Shannan's great-grandmother, Mrs. Changsun, was old and lost her teeth. Her grandmother, Mrs. Tang, was very filial. After washing every day, she would go to the hall to feed her mother-in-law with her own milk. After several years, Mrs. Changsun no longer ate other meals, and her body remained healthy. healthy.

When Mrs. Changsun was seriously ill, she called the whole family together and said, "I can't repay the bride's kindness. I hope that the bride's descendants and daughters-in-law will respect her as she respects me." Later, Cui Shannan became a high-ranking official, and he was indeed like the eldest grandson. Madam's instructions, honor your grandmother, Mrs. Tang.

18 Lying on the Ice Seeking Carp

Wang Xiang,

from Langya, his biological mother died early, and his stepmother Zhu said bad things about him in front of his father many times. Make him lose his father's love. When his parents were sick, he took off his clothes to serve him. His stepmother wanted to eat live carps. It was freezing cold, so he took off his clothes and lay on the ice. The ice suddenly melted and two carps jumped out. After the stepmother ate it, she recovered from her illness. Wang Xiang lived in seclusion for more than 20 years, and later rose from the position of magistrate of Wen County to Grand Sinong, Sikong and Taiwei.

19 The mosquitoes are full of blood

Wu Meng,

a native of Puyang in the Jin Dynasty, knew how to honor his parents when he was eight years old. The family was poor and had no mosquito net. Mosquito bites prevented my father from sleeping peacefully. Every summer night, Wu Meng would always sit naked in front of his father's bed, letting mosquitoes bite him without driving them away, fearing that the mosquitoes would leave him and bite his father.

20 Choking the tiger to save his father

Yang Xiang,

a native of the Jin Dynasty. When she was fourteen years old, she went to the fields to harvest rice with her father. Suddenly, a fierce tiger ran up and knocked her father down. Yang Xiang was unarmed. In order to save her father, she completely ignored her own safety. She hurriedly jumped forward and strangled her with all her strength. The tiger's throat. The tiger finally put down his father and ran away.

21 Weeping Bamboo Shoots

Meng Zong,

was a native of Jiangxia during the Three Kingdoms period. His father died when he was young, and his mother was old and seriously ill. The doctor ordered him to make soup with fresh bamboo shoots. . It was a severe winter, and there were no fresh bamboo shoots. Meng Zong had no choice but to run into the bamboo forest alone, holding the bamboo and crying. After a while, he suddenly heard the sound of the ground cracking and saw several young shoots growing on the ground. Meng Zong was overjoyed and took it back to make soup. After drinking it, his mother recovered from her illness. Later he was promoted to Sikong.

22 Tasting excrement and worrying

Yu Qianlou,

a scholar in the Southern Qi Dynasty, served as the magistrate of Chiling County. Less than ten days after taking office, I suddenly felt frightened and sweating. I had a premonition that something was going on at home, so I immediately resigned and returned home. When I got home, I found out that my father had been seriously ill for two days. The doctor said: "To know whether the patient's condition is good or bad, just taste the patient's feces. It will taste bitter." So Qian Lou tasted his father's feces and found that it tasted sweet. He was very worried and knelt down to worship the Big Dipper at night, begging for his body. Die on behalf of my father. His father died a few days later. Qian Lou buried his father and stayed there for three years.

23 Abandoned his official position to find his mother

Zhu Shouchang,

Tianchang of the Song Dynasty, when he was seven years old, his biological mother Liu was jealous of her aunt (father's first wife) and had to He remarried someone else, and there was no contact between mother and son for fifty years. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong, Zhu Shouchang was an official in the court. He wrote the Diamond Sutra with blood and traveled far and wide to search for his biological mother. After getting clues, he decided to abandon his official position and go to Shaanxi to look for his biological mother. He vowed to never return unless he saw her mother. Finally, I met my biological mother and two younger brothers in Shaanzhou. Mother and son reunited happily and returned together. At this time, my mother was already over 70 years old.

24 Diqin drowning device

Huang Tingjian,

a native of Fenning (now Xiushui, Jiangxi) in the Northern Song Dynasty, a famous poet and calligrapher. Although he held a high position, he served his mother with utmost filial piety. Every night, he personally washed the toilet bowl for his mother. He never forgot his son's duties.