Classic of Filial Piety
Confucian role ethics centers around filial piety or "xiao", a respect for family members. The concept is elaborated in the Confucian text "Classic of Filial Piety": "In serving his parents, a filial son reveres them in daily life; he makes them happy while he nourishes them; he takes anxious care of them in sickness; he shows great sorrow over their death; and he sacrifices to them with solemnity." Filial duty requires the desire to be filial, and not just the act of filial piety. In Confucian societies, filial piety determines the "moral worth" of an individual in a community and acts as a form of social capital.