Yeh points out that ever since the May Fourth Movement of 1919, the traditional principle of filial piety was deemed to be dogmatism. The principle of filial piety was connected to loyalty to the emperor and was thus authoritarian. In modern society, everybody is an independent individual, and so today we talk about relative filial piety.
葉光輝指出，五四以來，傳統孝道被視為「教條主義」，是因為過去孝道結合了忠君思想後被權威化的結果；現代社會中每個人的自主性被凸顯，人人都是獨立自主的個體，今天應該談的是「相對性的孝道觀」。