Children's Filial Obligation

Chenyang Li discusses grown children’s filial obligation to take care of their parents. I agree to Li’s beginning points about the importance of the relationship between adult children and their elderly parents and how that importance is based off of morality.  However, I disagree with the Confucian view about taking care of the old over the rest of the family. In the Confucian view “a person’s filial duty is not only to serve his or her aged parents, but also to do the best to serve them well. (pg 343)”.  Li used the Confucian example about the child serving his parents the best possible options, even though they did not have those options for himself and his family. For example, the child would serve his parents meat and wine. Also, to ensure the parents got enough food they were served before the rest of the family. I do not think anyone can disagree with the point that parents should be cared for, however I do not think they should be put before the rest of the family including children.  A child’s early years are very important for proper development, which means they need proper diet, exercise, etc. I think the children should be put first. Children will not develop and live long prosperous lives without proper development.  I do not think that an elderly person’s life is meaningless; however, for the most part they have lived long prosperous lives and have developed to their maximum capacity. Overall, I agree with the idea that parents should be cared for by their kin, however I do not think all the logistics are well-thought out enough.