Proper Decorum is Paramount

Confucius ethical concepts and perceptions were widely shown in the legend, The Soul of the Great Bell. In Confucianism, it is stated that filial piety is considered to be one of the greatest virtues that must be shown. The Chinese legend, the Soul of the Great Bell focuses mainly on this righteousness. Ko Ngai, the daughter of Kouan Yu sacrificed her life just to save her father from being beheaded. Filial piety is characterized by the virtue of respect that must be shown by a child to his parents. We have read from the story this heroic lines: All heard the voice of Ko-Ngai sounding sharply sweet as a birds song above the great thunder of the firesFor thy sake, O my father! And even as she cried, she leaped into the white flood of metal; and the lava of the furnace roared to receive her. Ko Ngai had shown deep love, care and affection for her father by risking her own life and dying for saving another. Thats how the thought of Confucianism works. For the sake of your family, for the importance of upholding cultural values and morality, if necessary, a person must be ready to give his own life. Filial piety is not only concerned with relationships between families, but it also extends to the bond between a ruler and ruled. Therefore the worthy mandarin Kouan-Yu assembled the master-moulders and the renowned bellsmiths of the empire, And they laboured exceedingly, like giants neglecting only rest and sleep and the comforts of life; toiling both night and day in obedience to Kouan-Yu, and striving in all things to do the behest of the Son of Heaven.

And the serving-woman of Ko-Ngai, dizzy and speechless for pain, stood before the furnace, still holding in her hands a shoe, a tiny, dainty shoe, with embroidery of pearls and flowersthe shoe of her beautiful mistress that was.

For Confucius, a ruled person or subordinate must obey, respect and give utmost importance to his master. The workers of the bell had labored extensively, exceedingly with all their efforts, just to show their obedience to Kouan Yu and Yung lo, The Son of Heaven. The two most important virtues of Confucianism, Ren (humanness) and Yi (righteousness) was also widely shown. For individuals are humane and are good by nature. For them to continue in being one, cultivation and self-improvement is necessary. They can be teachable, improvable and perfectible through personal or group effort. Thats why even though the master molders and bell smiths always failed to create the great bell they continue to try for they want to bring success to this communal endeavor. The serving woman of Ko Ngai was so speechless in pain because her mistress jumped on the surface of lava. She even kept the dainty shoe of Ko Ngai and treasured it deeply which means that she greatly respects her master. But in spite of all these things, the command of the Celestial and August had to be obeyed, and the work of the moulders to be finished, hopeless as the result might be. This line from the legend shows the concept of Zhong (loyalty) In spite of what happened to the Soul of the Great Bell, Ko Ngai, the molders showed loyalty and obedience to their superior because of his moral rectitude. These are the Confucianism thoughts present in the legend retold by Lafcadio Hearn.