“中华母亲节”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，当世界各地的人们庆祝母亲节之时，一位中国学者提出创立“中华母亲节”的倡议。

全国政协委员李汉秋建议将农历四月的第二天确定为“中华母亲节”，这一天在今年是5月18日。

农历四月初二恰好是生于公元前4世纪的哲学家孟子的生日，孟子的母亲历来被认为是贤母形象的典范。

李汉秋委员倡议用百合花取代西方传统的康乃馨，作为“中华母亲节”的礼物。在中国古代，百合花是母亲种在院子里，寄托自己对离家子女思念的植物。

李委员说：“孝顺是中国根深蒂固的传统美德，我们应该拥有自己的向母亲表达爱的习惯和方式。”

在李汉秋的倡导下，非政府组织“中国母亲节促进会”成立，这一组织的成立得到约100名儒家学者和伦理道德教育方面学者的支持。促进会计划在5月18日这一天庆祝第一个中国母亲节。

李汉秋说：“这是首届中华母亲节，庆祝仪式将在山东省的邹城和河北省的石家庄市举行，但我们相信，这一节日会得到海内外华人的认可，因为这有利于复兴我国‘孝’的传统文化。”

李汉秋还提议在孟子的出生地邹城建一个有关母爱文化的主题公园。

据李汉秋介绍，“中国母亲节促进会”计划在未来几年内在100个城市向100万名学生分发小册子，宣传“孝”的传统。