An Association for the Promotion of China's Mother's Day has
been set up and the association held it's first plenary session in
Zoucheng City, Shandong Province in December. Zoucheng is the
birthplace of Mencius (372-289 BC), a revered Chinese philosopher
and one of the greatest Confucian scholars. National renowned
scholars attending the meeting included CPPCC member Li Hanqiu,
Honorary Director of Beijing Oriental Ethics Institute Wang
Dianqing, former Vice Director of State Council Councilors' Office
Wang Chuguang and others. They have advocated nominating April 2nd
in the Chinese lunar calendar, also Mencius' birthday, to be
China's Mother's Day. The Day is to offer Chinese people an
opportunity to express their gratitude to their mothers.
The scholars said maternal love and love for one's mother are
natural instincts. In May 1907, Anna M. Jarvis held a memorial
service at the Andrews church in Philadelphia on the second
anniversary of her mother's death. This event and a series of
ensuing activities hosted by Anna Jarvis finally caused the launch
of Mother's Day. It has now become a national custom in the US and
across the Western world.
During the construction of a harmonious society in China,
according to the scholars, setting aside a Chinese Mother's Day
will have a greatly positive impact on several aspects. It will
help inherit Chinese virtues, enhance education towards youngsters,
promote happy families, and raise the moral standard of the whole
society, they agreed unanimously. A China's Mother's Day
demonstrating China's fine cultural connotation and national spirit
is important for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese national
identity, they noted.
Mencius's mother, Mrs Zhang, is a paragon for many great and
influential mothers in Chinese history. When Mencius was three
years old, his father died. Mencius' mother took on all the
responsibilities in bringing up and educating her son. She paid
close attention to the external environment Mencius grew up in and
his studying methods, which helped Mencius to become a famous
Confucian master. "Mencius's Mother, Three Moves" and "Cutting Warp
to Educate Mencius" are two famous legends that have passed down
through the centuries. The first one tells of how Mencius' mother
moved her home three times to avoid bad influence from the
neighbors; the latter tells of how his mother used the knife to cut
warp on her loom when she found her son playing truant and told
him, "The cut warp could no longer be woven into cloth and your
studying is like the cut warp. How could you become an outstanding
talent if you often plays truant?"
Mencius' mother is therefore considered to be a highly suitable
figure to promote China's Mother's Day. In Chinese traditional
culture, a birthday is called "a catastrophe day for mother,"
reminding people of a mother's constant kindness. Setting the
birthday of Mencius as China's Mother's Day reflects a feeling of
appreciation for mother's love.
It is a convention dating back to ancient China in Zoucheng City
to commemorate Mencius on the second day of the fourth lunar month
each year.
The scholars attending the session and local governmental
officials of Zoucheng were unanimous in holding a cultural festival
on the birthday of Mencius next year to promote an earlier
establishment of China's Mother's Day.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, January 5, 2007)