Why an Upright Son Does Not Disclose His Father Stealing a Sheep: A Neglected Aspect of the Confucian Conception of Filial Piety
In the Analects, Confucius recommends to not disclose one's father stealing a sheep, claiming that zhi Zhi lies within it. This passage has become the focus of a heated and prolonged debate among Chinese scholars in the last decade. A proper understanding of zhi which is central to understanding this whole passage, is to straighten the crooked, or uprighten the non upright. So what Confucius means is that the upright son ought to make his non upright father upright; the best way to do so is to remonstrate his father against his wrongdoing, and the best environment for the successful remonstration can be provided by non disclosure of his father's wrongdoing.