Mother's Day in China

Mother's Day in China comes on the 2nd day of the 4th month in the lunar calendar each year; however, it is normally celebrated on the 2nd Sunday in the month of May. Earlier this day was regionally celebrated only in Macau and Hong Kong. After 1979’s Chinese economic reform, the holiday was also embraced by Chinese mainland. According to the Chinese calendar, Mother's Day is not an official holiday.

The Mencius's mother’s philosophy

Unlike other countries, Chinese people find the basic premise behind the mother's day in Mencius's mother’s legend. Mencius's mother is regarded as an ideal female role model in Chinese culture. A famous traditional Chinese idiom - 孟母三遷 exhibits the significance behind this premise. The idiom ‘mèngmǔ-sānqiān’ means "Mencius's mother’s, three moves” this represents how Mencius's mother had to move her house 3 times before she could find a place that she felt was fit for her son's upbringing. The idiom aims to highlight the importance of providing an appropriate environment for educating and raising children. To follow the footsteps of this exemplary philosophy many mothers are exploring options like homeschooling in China with accredited online schooling programs like International Schooling.

How we celebrate Mother's Day in China

Mother's Day in China is celebrated by children presenting hemerocallis flowers or carnations to their mothers, aunts and grandmothers. These lovely blooms represent the purity, fortitude and sweetness of a mother’s love. Even though Mother’s day started off in the US, the Chinese are also gladly accepting this special occasion as part of their customs. Many cultural celebrations are held in colleges and schools to celebrate Mother's Day in China. The trend of initiating projects that help illiterate mothers to gain basic education are also observed at this time.