孝的普适性与宗教性  谭明冉

孝是在子女对父母依恋和爱慕的基础上发展起来的一种道德意识。它不仅加强了子女对父母的依恋和爱慕这种自然情感，而且还强调子女赡养父母和实现父母的志愿的义务。这种对赡养和承志的强调使人类超越于动物对父母的本能性依恋，奠定了人之所以为人的基础。在自然状态中，“子女对自己的子女之爱”常常大于“子女对父母之爱”，孝的高明之处就在于，用“人为”平衡“自然”，使人类超越于动物之上。不仅如此，孝还通过祭祀祖先、养育子孙和“三不朽”，完成了个人对生死的超越。通过这些举措，个人的生命被深远地植根于过去,并通向未来，使个人通过基因的延续和对人类的贡献达到永生。可以说，孝架起了神和人、宗教与伦理之间的桥梁，达到了生与死的统一，完成了佛教的轮回和基督教的天堂的功能。它具有养生送死，且使人乐生安死的功能，这可以说就是儒家孝道的宗教性。

The Universal and Religious Character of Confucian Filial Piety                                  Tan Mingran

As the essence of Confucianism, filial piety is a kind of moral consciousness which arises from children’s affection and dependence upon their parents but is enhanced by education. However, when Confucius promoted filial piety, he asked people to do more than the spontaneously-rising affection. He urged people to support their aging parents and help them fulfill their hopes because he realized the fact that people naturally and biologically love their own children more than their parents. From this point of view, Confucian filial piety raises human beings above animals who abandon their parents while caring for their offspring alone. Moreover, filial piety helps people achieve their transcendence of life and death. Through their ancestral worship, reproduction and altruism, they deeply plant their life in the past and point to the future, and achieve the eternity of human lives. It thus can be said that filial piety bridges the gap between spirit and human beings, religion and ethics, and life and death; it acts as the alternative to the Buddhist cycle of life and death and Christian heavenly kingdom. It demonstrates the Confucian religiosity of not only nurturing and enjoying life but also peacefully accepting death.