Ningbo Emphasizes Family Value

Chinese culture upholds family value in various ways. One essential concept in the family ideology is family love， which is a two-way communication: parental love for children is called 慈 (pronounced Ci) and children’s filial piety toward parents is called 孝 (pronounced Xiao). The mutual love is a key that keeps a Chinese family together and promotes harmony.

Jiangbei District in Ningbo stands out with this tradition. The first model of dutiful son was Dong An who expressed his filial piety toward his mother. He was a native of Jiangbei.

Cicheng City in Ningbo has a range of historical sites which tell stories of this family relation. Bridges and streams are named after some sons who took care of their parents in exemplary ways; dutiful sons’ tombs are historical heritages; temples stand in honor of dutiful sons. The whole city is actually a living dictionary of events and people portraying the core concepts of family love.

In 2008， the district was designated as Home of Chinese Family Value by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and China Folk Artists Association. The first Family Love Festival was held in Ningbo.

Contemporary residents in Jiangbei District do not allow themselves to be outshone by their ancestors in taking care of family members in need. There are touching stories. The 84-year-old Chen Zhaojun lost his eyesight completely when he was 47. His three adult children have taken care of him since then. His elder daughter chose to live nearby so that she can come over every day to take a look. She visits her father twice a day. In the morning， she fetches milk and newspaper and in the afternoon she comes to see him before she comes back to her apartment. She has been doing this for decades. On April 26， 2010， the old man was suddenly unable to walk. The three children accompanied their father to hospital and took great care of him. Everybody said that the old man was fortunate to have three dutiful children.

The ten-year-old Pan Ying is a mentally challenged girl. Her mother Zhang Xiaomei has stayed home to take care of her since the daughter’s birth. Now she rides an e-bike to take the daughter to school in the morning and gets her back in the afternoon. In her eyes， her daughter is smart. The ten-year-old is unable to write. As a matter of fact， she is basically unable to do anything her peers can do with ease. Over years， the mother has taken her daughter to many hospitals in the hope of getting her daughter cured. The daughter has endured a lot of pain. Now the girl goes to a special school， but she does not know the ways around and cannot take a bus to school by herself.

There are many such touching stories in Jiangbei.

The second festival held in 2010 highlighted another important feature. Jiangbei District in Ningbo， Cihu in Taiwan and Putuoshan Island in Zhoushan Archipelago bonded to promote a tour for overseas visitors. Jiangbei District in Ningbo features the tradition of family values and offers a lot of historical sites for the tradition; Cihu in Taiwan allows people to visit a lake where a story about parental love originated; Putuoshan， an island where Guanyin the Goddess of Compassion is worshiped， offers both religion and natural beauty. The three places hope to promote the core value of Chinese culture and promote tourism.

A tour group from Taiwan participated in the festival this year. From now on， three tour groups per week from the island province are expected to tour Jiangbei and Putuoshan.□