Confucian filial piety is defined by reverence, not material provision.

Evidence

Analects 2.7 and 2.8 are the most revealing for this series. Both passages explicitly contrast mere material provision — food, physical maintenance — with the genuine substance of filial piety. That substance, in 2.7, is jìng: reverence, respect, the quality of attention that distinguishes a relationship with genuine ethical content from one that is merely functional. In 2.8, it is the countenance — the sè, the expression on one’s face — that matters most. You can provide food and labor without jìng. Without jìng, you have not practiced filial piety at all. — , The Rod and the Child, 4043

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that xiào is fundamentally jìng (reverence/attention) rather than obedience or provision — the core concept this chapter builds on.