Editing Family as a model for the state (section)

==Confucian thought==
{{main|Role ethics}}
[[Confucius]] believed the child should be subordinate to the parent, younger brother to the older, wife to husband, and subject to the sovereign who is to be regarded as the [[father of the nation]]. The state as the family writ large was the most harmonious, orderly, and natural form of government. This was later expanded to cover [[international relations]] (e.g. the [[emperor of China]] is treated as the older brother of the [[list of Korean monarchs|Korean king]]). Confucian family theory is still espoused in [[North Korea]] to justify their method of leadership succession.

The concept of family is important in classical [[Confucianism]]. For Confucius, ''xiào'' or [[filial piety]] was a ''[[De (Chinese)|dé]]'' or [[virtue]]. The character representing ''xiào'', 孝, itself represents a basic family structure, with the upper component representing elders (''lao'', old), and the lower representing children (''zi'', son). Those acting with filial piety, such as through the performances of ''[[Li (Confucian)|lĭ]]'' were therefore acting in accordance with ''[[Yi (Confucianism)|yì]]'' (righteousness, or fulfilling one's proper roles or acting in harmony with one's station). The relationship of this concept to the state is discussed at length in the ''Xiàojīng'', or [[Classic of Filial Piety]]. In politics, ''xiào'' is not simply loyalty on the part of subordinates and citizens, but also an expectation for the king to provide for his subjects with "paternal love"; just as the people were expected to act with respect for the king's law, the king was expected to make those laws out of kindness for the people.<ref>Confucius. (1997). The Analects of Confucius, Chichung Huang (Trans.) Oxford University Press: Oxford, pp. 28–29</ref><ref>Ivanhoe, Philip J. & Van Norden, Bryan W. (Eds.). (2001). Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy. Hackett Publishing: Indianapolis, pp. 389–394</ref><ref>Yu-Lan, Fung. (1960). A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. Derk Bodde, Ed. MacMillan: New York, pp. 41–47</ref>

The American [[Edmund Roberts (diplomat)|diplomat Edmund Roberts]] in his description of [[Guangzhou|Canton City]], which he visited in 1832, included a quote on this for which he gives no source, but it was subsequently include in latter 18th-century publications, again without a source:<blockquote>The sovereign of men, say they, "is heaven's son; nobles and statesmen are the sovereign's children; the people are the children of nobles and statesmen. The sovereign should serve heaven as a father, never forgetting to cherish reverential thoughts, but exciting himself to illustrate his virtues, and looking up to receive from heaven, the vast patrimony which it confers; thus the emperors will daily increase in felicity and glory. Nobles and ministers of state should serve their sovereign as a father, never forgetting to cherish reverential thoughts, not harbouring covetous and sordid desires, nor engaging in wicked and clandestine thoughts, but faithfully and justly exerting themselves; thus their noble rank will be preserved. The people should never forget to cherish reverential thoughts towards the nobles and ministers of state, to obey and keep the laws; to excite no secret or open rebellion; then no great calamity will befall their persons."<ref name = "Roberts">{{cite book
|last= Roberts |first= Edmund |author-link= Edmund Roberts (diplomat)
|title= Embassy to the Eastern courts of Cochin–China, Siam, and Muscat : in the U. S. sloop-of-war Peacock ... during the years 1832–34
|url=  https://books.google.com/books?id=aSgPAAAAYAAJ
|date=  2007
|version=Digitized
|orig-year= 1837
|publisher=   Harper & brothers 
|page=   98
|chapter= Chapter 7 — Description of Canton 
|isbn= 978-0608404066 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aSgPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA98|access-date=  March 18, 2013
|edition=   GoogleBooks
}}</ref></blockquote>