Abstract
The notion of xiao (filial piety) in Chinese has a long history, and its original meanings include ‘respecting ancestors’ and ‘worshiping gods’. Its denotative meanings have been broadened since Xizhou Dynasty, approximately 1046-771 BC, to include taking care of and being obedient to parents. Hence xiao (filial piety) in Chinese has been inherited, schematised and re-schematised throughout generations until now. In this chapter, we explore the Chinese culturally constructed concept of xiao through the lenses of Cultural Linguistics and World Englishes. In particular, we trace how cultural conceptualisations of Chinese xiao and its closest Chinese English translation ‘filial piety’ travel across cultural boundaries from ancient China to Chinese diasporas overseas and across generations. We collect data from classical Chinese texts on xiao, contemporary fiction works by second-generation migrant writers with Chinese heritage, and Internet chatrooms and forums with themes surrounding Chinese xiao (filial piety) to deconstruct how the concept has been schematised and re-schematised across time and space.
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