Charity is the most important of all great love in the world and filial piety is one of the virtues to be held above all else. There is a gene for charity and filial piety in Chinese people’s blood, a gene that is highly recognized by all descendants of Emperors Yan and Huang at home and abroad. On September 22, 2021, the 7th Chinese Charity and Filial Piety Cultural Festival opened in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
A series of activities were organized to transmit the values of charity and filial piety and provide actual benefits for the citizens, including benefit policy on public transportation, comic exhibition on the theme of charity and filial piety, awards ceremony of charity and filial piety role models, appointment ceremony of charity and filial piety culture ambassadors, academic forums on elderly care, etc.
The Vice Chairperson of the 11th CPPCC National Committee and former first Vice Chairperson of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League Zhang Meiying delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. She said that the Chinese traditional culture will never fade away no matter how the world develops or how science and technology advance. According to Zhang, it is of great importance to promote the culture of charity and filial piety for harmonies and happiness in families and societies.
The former Chairperson of Kuomintang Hung Hsiu-chu also expressed in her video speech at the opening ceremony that charity and filial piety, as a tradition of over one thousand years, represent the everlasting spiritual connotation of the Chinese nation. Today, the virtues of charity and filial piety should still be greatly advocated for altruism in the society.
Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of China News Service Wang Min said at the opening ceremony that China News Service and Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou co-organized the Cultural Festival, aiming to bring more diverse perspectives to the interpretation and transmission of the charity and filial piety culture. The Cultural Festival has become not only a useful medium to transmit the virtues of charity and filial piety and promote traditional Chinese culture, but also an effective means to help unite all Chinese people across the world. It features the Chinese traditional culture, evoking empathy from all Chinese descendants to show great love to the world.
The role models who have won the titles of “Charity and Filial Piety Figures 2021” came to the opening ceremony. Among them were Bai Ma Yang Jin, who was dedicated to the health care of women and children in Tibet; the group from Macao that produced “After Suffering Comes Happiness”, a drama about Chinese inheritance and patriotism; the volunteer group that helped the elderly in the mountain region through a poverty reduction project “Grandma’s Gift”; Master Suquan, who resolutely broke the taboo of the monastery to facilitate the delivery of 108 pregnant women; Wanwan Care Center, which provided the mentally impaired chances to win respect and dignity with hard work; the “Inner Mongolian Mother”, who raised “three thousand orphans” for the country; Guo Gangtang, who spent 24 years travelling around China on a motorbike looking for his son and whose story was the subject of a film called “Lost and Love”; the philanthropic project “Lessons from Grandpas and Grandmas” that provided children with Chinese traditional culture education; Xie Lijuan, who offered help to juvenile offenders, etc.
Since 2015, seven Chinese charity and filial piety cultural festivals have been co-organized by China News Service and Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou and 80 charity and filial piety figures/organizations have been awarded. These role models, regardless of age or social status, use their actions to tell the world what great love is. They truly speak for the Chinese traditional culture and virtues.
The Deputy General-secretary of the Buddhist Association of China and Abbot of Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou Venerable Master Guangquan explained the original aspiration of organizing such an event – “Lingyin Temple resolutely sticks to Buddhism with Chinese characteristics and dedicates itself to the integration of Buddhism and the Chinese traditional culture so as to better serve the general public in the socialist society. In the spirits of benevolence, charity and filial piety, Lingyin Temple is committed to philanthropical activities, such as distributing Laba Congee, making pilgrimages to sacred Buddhist sites and holding charity and filial piety culture activities, etc.”
With the efforts of China News Service and Lingyin Temple, the activities advocating charity and filial piety are becoming more and more influential – from a local forum in a province to elect filial piety figures to an internationally known cultural festival of charity and filial piety. The cultural festival is now a famous brand highly appreciated by all Chinese people at home and abroad, representing the cohesion of the Chinese nation and uniting people regardless of their social status or distances between them.
The 7th Chinese Charity and Filial Piety Cultural Festival was jointly organized by China News Service and Lingyin Temple, undertaken by Zhejiang Chinese Overseas Friendship Association, Zhejiang Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and Zhejiang Minmeng Entrepreneur Association, and supported by China News Weekly, China Philanthropist and Hangzhou Yunlin Charitable Foundation.
