Confucian Filiality is a wide-ranging work of scholarship on the role of filial piety in the Confucian value system. Gao approaches this core element of Confucian ethics with a fresh approach, synthesizing the classical Chinese research model and modern methodologies. Gao's analysis of Confucian filial piety from historical, societal, and philosophical perspectives enables a deeper understanding of this key Chinese moral value. At the core of Confucian Filiality, Gao provides the first English translation of the old script text ofXiaojing, or theClassic of Filial Piety.

Wang Z. Gao received a degree in Western Languages from Tsinghua University in 1951. At Beijing University, Gao researched the history of interaction between China and the West, and religious history. During a thirty year period at the World Religion Research Department of the Sociology Institute of China, and at various US universities, he created the discipline of Chinese Interfaith Studies. He died in 2007.