“Filiality to the state is also a form of filial piety,” a man-on-the-street told CCTV reporters last month. He was one of several people interviewed about “showing filial piety to the state” before one’s own family in a segment that aired on the same day that President Xi Jinping inspected the state broadcaster’s headquarters. Political cartoonist Kuang Biao illustrates this form of loyalty by depicting the character “filial piety” (孝) bound and submissive:
Filial piety—or respect for one’s parents, elders, and ancestors—is a core tenet of Confucianism, which Xi’s administration has been touting as an alternative to “Western ideology.”
Kuang Biao’s WeChat account was deleted recently, after he posted a cartoon comparing the public condemnation of Ren Zhiqiang to the “struggle sessions” of the Cultural Revolution.
