父慈子孝

Chinese

		father	compassionate; gentle; merciful compassionate; gentle; merciful; kind; humane	child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight	filial
trad. (父慈子孝)		父	慈	子	孝
simp. #(父慈子孝)		父	慈	子	孝

Etymology

From Liji:

何謂人義？父慈、子孝、兄良、弟弟、夫義、婦聽、長惠、幼順、君仁、臣忠十者，謂之人義。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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何谓人义？父慈、子孝、兄良、弟弟、夫义、妇听、长惠、幼顺、君仁、臣忠十者，谓之人义。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

Hé wèi rén yì? Fù cí, zǐ xiào, xiōng liáng, dì tì, fū yì, fù tīng, cháng huì, yòu shùn, jūn rén, chén zhōng shí zhě, wèi zhī rén yì. [Pinyin]

What are 'the things which men consider right?' Kindness on the part of the father, and filial duty on that of the son; gentleness on the part of the elder brother, and obedience on that of the younger; righteousness on the part of the husband, and submission on that of the wife; kindness on the part of elders, and deference on that of juniors; with benevolence on the part of the ruler, and loyalty on that of the minister - these ten are the things which men consider to be right.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fùcízǐxiào

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄨˋ ㄘˊ ㄗˇ ㄒㄧㄠˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fu⁶ ci⁴ zi² haau³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fùcízǐxiào
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄨˋ ㄘˊ ㄗˇ ㄒㄧㄠˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fùcíhzǐhsiào
    • Wade–Giles: fu⁴-tzʻŭ²-tzŭ³-hsiao⁴
    • Yale: fù-tsź-dž-syàu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fuhtsyrtzyyshiaw
    • Palladius: фуцыцзысяо (fucyczysjao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fu⁵¹ t͡sʰz̩³⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fu⁶ ci⁴ zi² haau³
    • Yale: fuh chìh jí haau
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fu⁶ tsi⁴ dzi² haau³
    • Guangdong Romanization: fu⁶ qi⁴ ji² hao³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fuː²² t͡sʰiː²¹ t͡siː³⁵ haːu̯³³/

Idiom

父慈子孝

1. the father is loving towards his children and the children show filial piety towards their father
2. (sarcastic, neologism) the father and child are engaging in family quarrel either verbally, financially or physically.

Usage notes

Even though the traditional meaning of the idiom is still understood in modern day Chinese, the sarcastic usage is becoming more mainstream in Chinese popular culture, this means extra understanding of the context is required when this idiom is used.

See also

• 帶孝子／带孝子, "filial child" but used entirely sarcastically to denote unfilial child