Respectful Attitude
Serving parents with genuine respect and cheerful demeanor.
True xiao requires serving parents with respect and a pleasant attitude, not grudging or resentful compliance. The difficult part is maintaining a cheerful expression, not just doing tasks.
The difficulty is with the countenance.
Inner attitude matters as much as outer action.
Analects
Written about in
- What Confucianism says about family
The hard part of looking after parents is your face, not your hands. Doing the task while visibly resenting it does not count as xiao.