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)