Respecting and taking care of the elders, specifically one's parents, is 
regarded as a legacy through China's 5,000 years of civilization. The concept 
of filial piety goes back to 400 BC when it was mentioned in the early works by 
renowned ancient philosophers. 

Chongyang, or Double Ninth Festival, is celebrated on the 9th day of the ninth 
month on lunar Chinese calendar, which falls on October 14 this year. It has 
long been a day for Chinese to show care and love to the elderly. 

Busy working children would spend the day at home catching up with older 
relatives, with Chinese President Xi Jinping leading the way.

Xi, the filial son

Despite a tight schedule, Xi would take a walk with his mother, holding her 
hands, whenever he has time.

According to CMG, there are two photos on his bookshelf: one of him taking a 
walk alongside his father in a wheelchair and other family members, and another 
of him walking with his mother.

Deference to seniors has become one of Xi's traits, not just to the elderly in 
his family, but the entire society at large.

Xi calls for respect for veterans

Back in 1984, Xi, then secretary of the Zhengding County Committee of the 
Communist Party of China (CPC) in north China's Hebei Province, wrote in an 
article that "young and middle-aged officials should respect the veterans in 
building a sincere relationship of cooperation, and thus work side by side and 
push forward the work of the Party."

At that time, he called for more care for seniors. He emptied a meeting room 
and changed it to a recreation space for the elderly. In addition, he 
prioritized their hospitalization and solved many difficulties for seniors.

Throughout his political career, the Chinese president has always championed 
the cause of elderly care. Moments demonstrating his care and respect for the 
elderly are quite popular.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Xi has given a series of 
instructions and adopted relevant plans and arrangements to develop the 
country's elderly-care services and the pension system.

During his domestic inspections, Xi would regularly visit elderly care 
facilities to check if support policies have been well implemented and the 
residents are given proper care.

The development of an aged care system was included in the 13th Five-Year Plan 
and received 13.4 billion yuan (nearly $2 billion) from the central budget 
between 2015 and 2020.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), China will further improve the 
infrastructure that helps support elderly care services and improve their 
quality. According to the plan, the country's basic old-age insurance coverage 
will reach 95 percent by 2025, up from 90 percent in 2020.

According to the newly released China's seventh population census, the country 
has 264 million people aged 60 and above and 191 million aged 65 and above, 
comprising 18.7 percent and 13.5 percent of the total population, respectively.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-10-13/-Chongyang-Festival-The-Chinese-legacy-of-filial-piety-14k7hkl3tS0/index.html


Source: CGTN