In Confucianism, a boy is enjoined from killing the mosquitoes that pester him because this is a way to show respect.
Question: how is respect shown by not killing mosquitoes?
Mosquitoes: A Riddle
Opinions, art, debate
Opinions, art, debate
In Confucianism, a boy is enjoined from killing the mosquitoes that pester him because this is a way to show respect.
Question: how is respect shown by not killing mosquitoes?
Clarissa's Blog 
Show respect to whom?
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That’s the question in the riddle. 🙂
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I remember this from school. I forget exactly why some (very whitebread) teacher decided to tell us this, but she did. Not sure why I remember it either, but there you are….
I won’t give away the answer though (and would encourage others who already know to refrain as well).
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respect for a real enemy. except the mozzie is one if it harbors maleria
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Respecting all of creation. The idea that all living things have a purpose and a certain nobility. Or maybe respect for suffering.
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See, my first thought was that the mosquitoes could have been the reincarnated souls of the boy’s ancestors and therefore out of respect the boy refuses to kill them, but that’s more of a Jain/Buddhist thing, not a Confucian thing. I know filial piety is supposed to be a virtue so perhaps it has to do with the boy’s parents, grandparents or ancestors?
In the genre of “perform absurd actions in order to uphold a virtue” the impetus for doing so doesn’t come from the outside for the character in the tale. Rather the character is upheld as an example of the virtue one should strive for.
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If the answer is what I think it is, then you’re on the right track.
For an extra clue: think of a short story by Unamuno that Clarissa has referred to a couple of times.
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“For an extra clue: think of a short story by Unamuno that Clarissa has referred to a couple of times.”
– Exactly, exactly. 🙂 I have a one-track mind. 🙂
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“I know filial piety is supposed to be a virtue so perhaps it has to do with the boy’s parents”
– We are going in the right direction. 🙂
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A case can be made against killing your ancestors, but I would think a case could also be made against tormenting your descendants.
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I too thought it had to do with parents. May be, not to wake up a sleeping parent with the sound of slapping to kill the insects?
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“May be, not to wake up a sleeping parent with the sound of slapping to kill the insects?”
– Almost. 🙂 The mosquitoes should feed on his body so that they are not tempted to feed on his parents’ bodies.
And one more tidbit: in a year of a famine, a good son should cut off a part of his body and use it to make soup for his father.
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I feel like I’m missing something. If the mosquito is dead, it can’t feed on anybody’s body. How is killing the mosquito showing a lack of respect for his parents?
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This is obviously a metaphor. You need to subject your body to silent suffering as a show of respect for your parents. If there is no suffering involved, there is no respect.
Patriarchal cultures are like that.
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Respect for the enjoiner, of course.
I know my answer is right because I say so!
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In the version I heard it was just some poor East Asian boy being bitten by mosquitos and not shooing them away for fear they might go feed on his parents instead.
I won’t pretend to remember if this was presented as “just different from us” or “something you little ingrates should aspire to” though I do think it was probably closer to the latter.
I also remember that being in a part of the country where huge black clouds of mosquitos were commonplace (where in family lore an uncle was once bitten over a hundred times in a 5 yard sprint from his car to his house) it seemed fairly insane and not something to aspire to at all.
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