“中華母親節”定于孟子生日
Scholars call for China's own Mother's Day

China's own Mother's Day is coming

As many people around the world celebrated Mother's Day yesterday, a Chinese scholar has made it his mission to create China's own Mother's Day.

Li Hanqiu, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, suggested that the second day of the fourth lunar month, which falls on May 18 this year, be the day.

It coincides with the birthday of 4th century BC philosopher Mencius, whose mother has long been considered the epitome of maternal devotion and love.

Li has called for the traditional Western gift of carnations for the day to be changed to lilies, which in ancient times were planted by mothers in their courtyards as a sign of sorrow at their children leaving home.

"In a country with a deeply-rooted tradition of filial piety, we should have our own occasion for people to express love for mothers according to Chinese custom," Li said.

He has founded a non-government organization Chinese Mothers' Festival Promotion Society" with the support of around 100 Confucian scholars and lecturers of ethics. It plans to celebrate its first Chinese Mother Festival on May 18.

"This is our first year and the celebration will be held only in Zoucheng city of Shandong Province and Shijiazhuang in Hebei, but we believe it will be accepted by more Chinese people at home and abroad as it is conducive to revitalizing our traditional culture of filial piety," said Li.

He also plans to build a theme park on maternity culture in Zoucheng, the birthplace of Mencius.

According to Li, the society plans to send pamphlets over the next few years to a million students in 100 cities advocating filial piety.

(Reuters)
昨天，當世界各地的人們慶祝母親節之時，一位中國學者提出創立“中華母親節”的倡議。

全國政協委員李漢秋建議將農歷四月的第二天確定為“中華母親節”，這一天在今年是5月18日。

農歷四月初二恰好是生于公元前4世紀的哲學家孟子的生日，孟子的母親歷來被認為是賢母形象的典范。

李漢秋委員倡議用百合花取代西方傳統的康乃馨，作為“中華母親節”的禮物。在中國古代，百合花是母親種在院子里，寄托自己對離家子女思念的植物。

李委員說：“孝順是中國根深蒂固的傳統美德，我們應該擁有自己的向母親表達愛的習慣和方式。”

在李漢秋的倡導下，非政府組織“中國母親節促進會”成立，這一組織的成立得到約100名儒家學者和倫理道德教育方面學者的支持。促進會計劃在5月18日這一天慶祝第一個中國母親節。

李漢秋說：“這是首屆中華母親節，慶祝儀式將在山東省的鄒城和河北省的石家莊市舉行，但我們相信，這一節日會得到海內外華人的認可，因為這有利于復興我國‘孝’的傳統文化。”

李漢秋還提議在孟子的出生地鄒城建一個有關母愛文化的主題公園。

據李漢秋介紹，“中國母親節促進會”計劃在未來幾年內在100個城市向100萬名學生分發小冊子，宣傳“孝”的傳統。