Nick Hornby

Inspired by the line "They f**k you up, your mum and dad" from the 2005 novel A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby, an unnamed Internet user set up the league and invited the dark comedy's translator Zhang Kun to be group administrator.

Some 20 primary students in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, wash feet for their mothers to celebrate Mother's Day on May 9.

"As we laid out our guidelines, members stated their opposition to the harm brought by pedantic, ignorant and unreasonable parents," Zhang said. "The so-called 'anti-parents' attitude merely aims for a better life."

In a country built on patriarchy where Confucian "filial piety" seems to have been seamlessly incorporated into mainstream Communist values, this kind of group garners little sympathy.

A list of bold assertions by "anti-parents" Douban group members supplied the Guangzhou-based liberal newspaper Southern Weekend with a fun controversy to manage in its July 7 edition.

Whining about your bad parents reflected "distorted social values" among a group of immature youth, said Wan Xiaoyang, an online commentator who often publishes articles on the website of Changsha-based Shian Kian Weekly Review.

"It's inappropriate for children to ask for absolute freedom, which may lead them down dangerous paths," Wan said.

"They don't understand the fact that all the decisions made by their parents came out of love and responsibility.

"Even animals are grateful to their parents. The anti-parents campaign is a heinous treason against good old Chinese spirit."

An "anti-anti-parents" group was founded on Douban.com on August 7 by Yang Mo, an office worker in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong Province. It has 356 members.

"Their animosity is an albatross," she said. "Those anti-parents warriors are driven to invent ever-loopier rationales for denying respect for their parents.

"A few are simply wayward and self-centered. They not only spend their parents' money lavishly but also make harsh judgments.

"We should face the fact that life is what we make of it instead of blaming others, such as our parents, who are also too weak to avoid making mistakes."