The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars

The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars, also translated as The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety (Chinese: ; pinyin: Èrshísì Xiào), is a classic text of Confucian filial piety written by Guo Jujing (郭居敬) during the Yuan dynasty (1260–1368). The text was extremely influential in the mediaeval Far East and was used to teach Confucian moral values.

The text is generally attributed to Guo Jujing (郭居敬) but other sources suggested two other possible authors or editors: Guo Shouzheng (郭守正) and Guo Juye (郭居業).

Some of the stories in The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars were taken from other texts such as the Xiaozi Zhuan (孝子傳), Yiwen Leiju, Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era and In Search of the Supernatural.

There were earlier precedents of The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars. A Buddhist bianwen titled Ershisi Xiao Yazuowen (二十四孝押座文), which was among the manuscripts discovered in Dunhuang's Mogao Caves, is the oldest extant text related to The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars. During the Southern Song dynasty, the artist Zhao Zigu (趙子固) drew a painting, Ershisi Xiao Shuhua Hebi (二十四孝書畫合璧), about The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars. During the Yuan dynasty, the scholar Xie Yingfang (謝應芳) mentioned in Gui Chao Ji (龜巢集) that a certain Wang Dashan (王達善) once praised The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars and the Classic of Filial Piety. During the Qing dynasty, Wu Zhengxiu (吳正修) mentioned in Ershisi Xiao Gu Ci (二十四孝鼓詞) that the Twenty-four Filial Exemplars were very well known.

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