ABSTRACT
Throughout Chinese history, literature has played a major role in defining and perpetuating moral principles. This has been especially true with respect to Confucianism and the ethics of filial piety. China's social structure helped perpetuate the morals of Confucian literature. Lu Xun is the greatest and most influential Chinese writer of the twentieth-century. Lu Xun wrote the short story "Brothers" in 1925, two years after his falling-out with Zhou Zuoren. The story covers a short twenty-four-hour period in the lives of two brothers, Zhang Peijun and Zhang Jingfu. Lao She is one of China's most well known authors. Lao She was born in Beijing during the waning days of the Qing dynasty. "Black Li and White Li" is the story of two brothers seeking to navigate the rapidly changing world of the 1920s. Ironically, China today has implemented a "one-child policy", effectively ending all discussion of brotherly relations.
