Abstract:“Filial piety” is the most prominent feature of Chinese culture.Based on the historical change of “filial piety” as the vertical axis and the social structure as the abscissa in different times,this paper analyzes the origin,evolution and contemporary transformation of “filial piety”.Filial piety originated from ancestor worship in Shang Dynasty,and Zhou Dynasty converted the ancestor worship into the order of human relations in order to facilitate the patriarchal rule.Confucius combined the filial piety with the respect,the support and the ritual and finally completed the ethical transformation of filial piety.After the development of “shift filial piety as loyal” in the Han Dynasty,the meaning of “filial piety” has been expanded and changed from the ethical order of natural affection to the universal morality of political education and religious belief.Since then,filial piety has been respected by the ancient rulers and civil recognition until the late Qing Dynasty and early Republicans.In the face of the impact of modern social changes,the “filial piety”,which played a great role in history,had to conform to the changes of the times and transform.This paper proposes that filial piety ethics should conform to the changing requirements of the times,from the traditional filial piety to modern filial piety of the individualist society.