Filial Piety in China Redux

Abstract

Broadcast Transcript: "The 24 Paragons of Filial Piety" is a sort of extreme parent-care manual. Written 600 years ago, the book features tales like the one of the son who sat awake all night without his shirt to draw mosquitoes away from his sleeping father and the one of the daughter who cut out her own liver to feed her sick mother and the one of the son who sold himself into slavery to pay for his father's funeral. Though the tales themselves may seem a bit out of date, the Chinese government is behind the general message particularly because of China's growing grey population. And so it has issued an updated edition Teach Mom to use the internet, it says. Take Dad to a film. Find a new mate for a widowed parent. Wait. What? Filial piety maybe a tradition in China, but acting as matchmaker for the parents? Awkward! Today's filially pious would probably prefer to cut out their livers than give away an elderly parent at the altar. #ceas #hacker #china