It was a virtue among the Greeks as well as other peoples of the Gentile world; and I wonder not that when the heroes who captured Troy saw Aeneas carrying his aged father Anchises on his shoulders and leading his son, the puer Ascanius, by the hand, out of the burning city, they cheered him and allowed him to escape with his precious burden.

A Chinaman is taught by precept and example to venerate his parents and to give them divine honors after death.
Should a Chinese child be disobedient he would be punished severely by the bamboo or other instrument, and he would bring on himself the wrath of all his family.

This strong sense of filial piety has done more for the stability and perpetuity of the Chinese Empire than ought else.

It is a great element of strength and it leads to respect for customs and to the observance of maxims.

Especially are burial places held in sacred esteem, and as they contain the ashes of the fathers they must not be disturbed or desecrated.