In the Wine Shop — Ali Zandani

Describe an instance of filial piety in the story. What is its significance?

An instance that depicts filial piety in this short story is when WeiFu went back to the country looking for his little brother’s grave because his cousin wrote him and his mother a letter that saying that the ground besides his little brother’s grave have been swamped “ This spring an elder cousin wrote to tell us that the ground beside his grave was gradually being swamped, and he was afraid before long it would slip into the river” . Due to his mother request, WeiFu went to his hometown to rebury his little brother’s body. Soon after he went and digged the grave and found out that his little brother’s gave has  sunk in and the only thing that was left over was a “heap of splinters and small fragments of wood”. However, WeiFu did stop there, he took the new empty coffin that he bought and buried it next his father. This is a great example of of filial piety because WeiFu did this whole thing in respect to his mother. Not just that, he buried an empty coffin which he thought is “futile”. I believe this is beyond filial piety. He could have just left the graveyard and could have told his mother that he reburied the body.

Weifu recalls when he and the narrator used to pull the beards off religious statues in the Temple when they were younger.  What is the significance of this memory?

The significance of this memory is to show how WeiFu and the narrator was like in the past and how they have change. The act of pulling the beards off religious status in the temple signifies their stand against the teachings of Confucianism and their traditional value. However, WeiFe have changed and he let go of his intolerance which hell also mentioned that “if my old friends were to see me now, probably they would no longer acknowledge me as a friend.’ But this is what I am like now.” This shows that Wei-fu have changed to the point where his old friends won’t acknowledge him as friends because he let go of his beliefs. Not just that,  Wei-Fu mentions that “ When I have muddled through New Year I shall go back to teaching the Confucian classics as before”. Wei-fu  didn’t just let go of his revolutionary attitude but also started teaching Confucianism which only adds to the fact that WeiFu is pro the teachings of Confucianism.