Doves Have The Courtesy Of Three Branches, Crows Have The Filial Piety Of Feeding In Return: Japanese Proverb Meaning

How to Read “Doves have the courtesy of three branches, crows have the filial piety of feeding in return”

Hato ni sanshi no rei ari, karasu ni hanpo no kō ari

Meaning of “Doves have the courtesy of three branches, crows have the filial piety of feeding in return”

This proverb teaches that even birds like doves and crows show courtesy and devotion to their parents. If birds can do this, humans should certainly practice filial piety.

Doves perch on branches lower than their parents to show respect. Crows bring food to their aging parents to repay their care.

These two examples highlight courtesy and filial piety as fundamental virtues in human society.

People use this proverb when emphasizing the importance of gratitude and devotion to parents. It works especially well when reminding someone who has forgotten to cherish their parents.

By showing that even animals respect their parents, it awakens our sense of duty as humans. The proverb appeals to the heart through nature rather than through logic.

Even today, people use it when discussing parent-child relationships and family bonds. It teaches that what animals do instinctively, humans must practice consciously as moral beings.

Origin and Etymology

This proverb likely originates from ancient Chinese philosophical thought. It contains the wisdom of ancestors who observed familiar birds and found moral lessons in their behavior.

“The courtesy of three branches” refers to the habit of doves perching three branches below where their parents perch. This was interpreted as showing respect and humility by taking a lower position.

While this specific behavior hasn’t been scientifically confirmed in actual dove ecology, ancient people projected their ideals of courtesy onto bird behavior.

“The filial piety of feeding in return” describes how crows bring food to their elderly parents after growing up. “Feeding in return” means repaying the care received during childhood.

Crows actually do have cooperative family living habits. This observation became a symbol of filial devotion passed down through generations.

This proverb found the two Confucian virtues of courtesy and filial piety in the animal world. It spread to Japan and became widely used to teach respect and gratitude toward parents.

The message is powerful: if even animals practice these virtues, rational humans must not neglect them.

Interesting Facts

Crows are actually highly social birds with strong family bonds, scientifically confirmed. Young crows help their parents raise younger siblings in “helper behavior.”

The filial piety described in this proverb wasn’t just a story. It was based on actual ecological observation. The sharp observational skills of ancient people are truly impressive.

Doves are symbols of peace because of their gentle nature. But in this proverb, they represent courtesy.

Finding multiple virtues in a single bird reflects the tradition of nature observation common throughout East Asia.

Usage Examples

• Doves have the courtesy of three branches, crows have the filial piety of feeding in return, so we too must cherish our parents
• Even animals practice filial piety, so we shouldn’t forget the teaching that doves have the courtesy of three branches, crows have the filial piety of feeding in return

Universal Wisdom

This proverb has been passed down for so long perhaps because humans tend to forget the gratitude we should naturally feel toward our parents.

Animals respect their parents and repay their care by pure instinct. But humans, with our intelligence and self-awareness, sometimes put gratitude to parents on the back burner.

We think it’s natural for parents to raise children. We find caring for parents troublesome. These feelings can sprout somewhere in our hearts.

In our busy daily lives, we postpone even a simple phone call or visit to our parents. Our ancestors saw through this human weakness.

That’s why they used familiar birds as examples to ask us a question. Can you do what even animals can do?

The cleverness of this question lies in making us realize rather than scolding us. By showing nature’s example rather than preaching, it quietly resonates in our hearts.

Gratitude to parents isn’t something we understand with our heads. It’s something we feel with our hearts.

This proverb has the power to awaken the essential human affection that transcends logic. That’s why it continues to touch people’s hearts across the ages.

When AI Hears This

The behavior of doves perching three branches lower or crows bringing food to parents turns out to be the result of cold genetic calculation.

Biologist Hamilton’s “kin selection theory” explains that behaviors helping blood relatives evolve to preserve copies of one’s own genes.

Specifically, siblings share 50 percent of your genes. If you help two or more siblings survive, you break even genetically.

Crow filial piety fits this perfectly. Parents who raised you carry 50 percent of your genes and might produce more siblings in the future. Helping parents is a rational gene-spreading strategy.

Even more interesting is that reciprocal altruism works between unrelated individuals. Doves maintaining hierarchy in flocks represents a gene-level transaction: yield today, get help tomorrow.

Computer simulations prove that groups with many cooperators have higher long-term survival rates than groups full of cheaters.

In other words, the courtesy and filial piety this proverb praises were built-in survival strategies before they were morals.

Many things humans call virtues are actually clever mechanisms genes devised for self-replication. This fact raises fundamental questions about the origins of morality.

Lessons for Today

This proverb teaches modern people not to postpone gratitude to parents. Are you putting off time with your parents because work is busy or your own life is overwhelming?

Even animals instinctively show consideration for their parents. We humans must consciously choose to do the same.

Filial piety isn’t something special. It’s an accumulation of small actions: making a phone call, showing your face, listening to their stories.

Like doves choosing their branch or crows carrying food, you can start with what comes naturally in daily life.

What matters is expressing gratitude while your parents are still healthy. Regret cannot be undone.

This proverb teaches the importance of acting right now, in this moment. Why not start some small act of devotion today?

It’s not just for your parents. It’s an action that enriches your own heart as well.