Zengzi was one of Confucius’ most outstanding students. The following story is a demonstration of his high moral conduct, and conviction of how important it is to teach young children truthfulness.
When Zengzi’s wife was on her way to the market, her young son fussed and wanted to accompany her. To get him to stop fussing she told him, “If you stop carrying on I will slaughter a pig when I return and prepare you an excellent meal.”
At her return from the market, Zengzi tied up a hog and prepared to slaughter it. His wife stopped and said she had only kidded their son.
Zengzi immediately said in a somber tone, “It is wrong to deceive children like this, because they are too young to comprehend underlying principles. They depend on their parents to teach them right from wrong, and learn from their parents by example. If you lie to him today, you are in effect teaching him to lie. If a mother lies to her son, it could be quite possible that the son no longer believes anything his mother says; you cannot raise him properly this way.”
Then he killed the hog.
When Zengzi’s wife was on her way to the market, her young son fussed and wanted to accompany her. To get him to stop fussing she told him, “If you stop carrying on I will slaughter a pig when I return and prepare you an excellent meal.”
At her return from the market, Zengzi tied up a hog and prepared to slaughter it. His wife stopped and said she had only kidded their son.
Zengzi immediately said in a somber tone, “It is wrong to deceive children like this, because they are too young to comprehend underlying principles. They depend on their parents to teach them right from wrong, and learn from their parents by example. If you lie to him today, you are in effect teaching him to lie. If a mother lies to her son, it could be quite possible that the son no longer believes anything his mother says; you cannot raise him properly this way.”
Then he killed the hog.
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