以孝治天下

yǐ xiào zhì tiānxià

quotation

Meanings

1 to govern all under heaven with filial piety
2 a Confucian political ideal: filial virtue as the basis of rule
3 using filial piety to govern the world

Characters

by means of / using

to govern / rule

below (天下 = the realm / all under heaven)

Examples

HSK 7-9

汉代标榜以孝治天下，选拔官员也看重孝行。

Hàndài biāobǎng yǐ xiào zhì tiānxià, xuǎnbá guānyuán yě kànzhòng xiàoxíng.

The Han dynasty held up 'governing the realm with filial piety' as its ideal, and selected officials partly for their filial conduct.

HSK 7-9

他引用以孝治天下来谈家庭伦理的社会价值。

Tā yǐnyòng yǐ xiào zhì tiānxià lái tán jiātíng lúnlǐ de shèhuì jiàzhí.

He cited 'governing the realm with filial piety' to discuss the social value of family ethics.

Tips

history

From 《孝经·孝治章》: 昔者明王之以孝治天下也 (In ancient times, enlightened kings governed all under heaven through filial piety). The Han dynasty adopted this Confucian doctrine as state ideology - posthumous emperor titles even prefixed 孝 (e.g. 孝文帝, 孝武帝). The saying 以孝治天下 became a defining slogan of Confucian monarchy.

culture

Pairs conceptually with 忠 (loyalty to ruler) - filial piety at home trained subjects for loyalty to the emperor, making family ethics continuous with political ethics.

Stroke Order

以 yǐ

孝 xiào

治 zhì

天 tiān

下 xià