This chapter explains how early Confucianism can ground a distinctly relational perspective on intergenerational ethics. The Analects of Confucius foregrounds intergenerational relations by rooting ethics in relationships between parents and children and presenting as moral exemplars sage-kings from generations ago. From a Confucian point of view, persons are understood as persons-in-relation, embedded in networks of connection across space and time. Self-cultivation thus involves taking one’s place in a community where one’s own identity and welfare are deeply bound to those of others. In this view, gratitude and reciprocity emerge as central values. A Confucian understanding of gratitude and reciprocity involves not only dyadic relations but broader connections within a temporally extended social web. Thus, Confucian reciprocity might involve honoring one’s parents by nurturing one’s own children in turn or expressing gratitude for what past generations have provided by ensuring that future generations can flourish. Genuine ethical relations between current and future generations reflect care and concern for ongoing human communities; for the triad of heaven, earth, and humanity; and for realization of the Dao in the world.
