Exhibition on the Inheritance and Development of Chinese Ethnic Family Culture and Family Education held in Zhuhai

Attendees observe the Exhibition on the Inheritance and Development of Chinese Ethnic Family Culture and Family Education on July 21, 2023. The event was held at the Zhuhai International Convention and Exhibition Center and ran from July 21 to 23. [Photo by China.org.cn]

From July 21 to 23, the Exhibition on the Inheritance and Development of Chinese Ethnic Family Culture and Family Education was held at the Zhuhai International Convention and Exhibition Center in Guangdong Province. It was themed on “cultivating patriotism, adhering to integrity, and innovation” and featured six sections, namely, “holding the flag high and forging ahead vigorously,” “more than a century of faith and inheritance [of the Communist Party of China values],” “the flames of civilization burning enduringly,” “modern exploration exhibition,” “unity and progress throughout the country,” and “looking forward to the future in accordance with the present.” Highlighting fundamental tasks associated with the cultivation of moral character and promoting and implementing the Family Education Promotion Law and focused on cultivating and implementing core socialist values, the exhibition also covered the historical inheritance, modern creative transformation, and latest innovative theoretical research pertaining to and practical implementation of the Chinese nation’s excellent family education and family culture, achievements made in the development of local Party and family culture, and the spirit of grassroots family education workers.

Qi Xuchun, vice chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Qi Xuchun, vice chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), noted in the event’s opening speech that the concept of “strengthening the development of family, family culture, and family customs” was mentioned in the Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), for the first time in such a report. It clearly emphasized the importance of family, family culture, and family customs by “carrying forward traditional Chinese virtues, strengthening the development of family customs, strengthening and improving ideological and moral construction of minors, promoting public morality, strict personal morality, and improving people’s moral standards and civilization.” He stated that Chinese people should understand the huge significance of strengthening the development of family, family culture, and family customs in the new era and do so with and a strong sense of political responsibility.

Qi observed that family is the smallest unit of a country and that China is made up of hundreds of millions of families and that the children of these families can only amass the magnificent force necessary to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, keep the public and the “great power of the country” in mind, fulfill their responsibilities to the nation, and bravely assume the mission of fulfilling the role of builders and successors of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation if they are educated well. He concluded by indicating that he hoped that the exhibition would be very influential, help enshrine new family education and family culture practices, showcase the Chinese nation’s excellent family education and family culture achievements, play an exemplary role in the inheritance of family education and family culture, be able to provide useful and actionable guidance and reference, and fully promote the high-quality development of family education in the new era.

Yu Muming, former chair of the New Party, delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Yu Muming, former chair of the New Party, noted in his speech that the Chinese nation has a long history and culture of thousands of years and that just as the human body is composed of a multitude of cells, the Chinese nation is composed of a multitude of families and that thousands of years of culture is rooted in its families. He remarked that the Chinese nation strengthening itself with its hundreds of millions of families and continuously inheriting and developing its culture is part of its greatness. Yu concluded by expressing that Chinese people should value the inheritance of family traditions and education from generation to generation and continue to promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Hung Hsiu-chu, former chair of the Chinese Kuomintang Party and chair of the China Qingyan Peace Education Foundation, delivers a speech via prerecorded video. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Hung Hsiu-chu, former chair of the Chinese Kuomintang Party, offered congratulations on the success of the exhibition on behalf of the China Qingyan Peace Education Foundation via prerecorded video. She thought that family education is the most important and core component of Chinese tradition and defined it as consisting of the educational influence of parents and elders on future generations in China’s extended family. Hong pointed out that the values, lifestyle habits, and interpersonal and behavioral norms that have gradually formed over time and are passed down from generation to generation in family life have had a major impact on generations of Chinese people.

Nie Zhenqiang, deputy director of the China National Studies Research Center, delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Nie Zhenqiang, deputy director of the China National Studies Research Center, stated that the exhibition functioned as a demonstration area incorporating modern techniques, new technologies, and new forms that are able to transform traditional family education cognition into a modern method by educating people through scenery and visual space in a pioneering, systematic, technological, and experiential manner in line with the nature of the new era. He also noted that the large-scale event was designed to promote the inheritance and development of “family tradition, family education, and patriotic sentiment” as well as the formation of strong social vitality.

Yang Shuwen, vice president and secretary general of the Chinese Family Education Society, delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Yang Shuwen, vice president and secretary general of the Chinese Family Education Society, proposed that Chinese people should actively draw nourishment and wisdom from excellent traditional Chinese culture, adhere to the standpoint of Chinese culture and inherit it, utilize the guidance that core socialist values provide and build the family into a strong position in which it is able to practice these values, and maintain a focus on cultivating a new era of family values and promoting the formation of a new trend of socialist family culture.

Huang Yujie, director of the Livelihood Affairs Bureau, Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Huang Yujie, director of the Livelihood Affairs Bureau, Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, observed that family plays an important, irreplaceable, and fundamental role in the comprehensive development and healthy growth of children and that the issue of family education is becoming increasingly prominent with the new changes in family structure and lifestyle that are occurring and that strengthening the development of family education and family culture is, therefore, particularly important. Huang concluded by indicating that he hoped that the exhibition can encourage parents to assume primary family education responsibility; establish moral education concepts; inherit good family traditions; help children develop beautiful hearts, healthy personalities, and good behavioral habits; and lay a solid ideological and moral foundation for growth and success.

Chen Zhilin, a second-level research officer at the Zhuhai Education Bureau, delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Chen Zhilin, a secondary research officer at the Zhuhai Education Bureau, remarked that the exhibition provided a platform for enriching new practices in family education and promoting the high-quality development of family education in Zhuhai in the new era and thought that it served as inspiration for high-quality family education in the future and also recognized Zhuhai’s long-standing family education work.

Wang Ping, China University of Political Science and Law trustee and president of the International Investment Association, delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Wang Ping, China University of Political Science and Law trustee and president of the International Investment Association, felt that the exhibition was very significant and observed that thousands of years of the rule of law, fundamental moral education, and family culture and education are the main components of virtuous living.

Lin Qingxian, vice chair of the First Council of the Family-School-Community Education Committee of the Chinese Family Education Society, delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Lin Qingxian, vice chair of the First Council of the Family School Community Education Committee of the Chinese Family Education Society, noted that the exhibition included content related to the inheritance of Chinese family culture and representative maps of well-known Chinese schools, 99 outdoor environmental education sites that are pertinent to Chinese family culture, exploration of indoor environmental education, nearly a thousand original Chinese videos that are available online, and new forms of family education by the Good Family Culture Art Troupe. He hoped that the exhibition would be able to stimulate greater enthusiasm and attention from the public with regard to family education and promote its development.

Fang Shiwu, chair of China Hong Kong Cultural Media Co. Ltd., delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Fang Shiwu, chair of the board of directors of China Hong Kong Culture Media Co. Ltd., noted that the exhibition featured themed display areas covering topics such as “red [Communist] family culture,” development of family culture in the new era, Party members and officials’ quality family customs and traditions, and excellent traditional family culture and that it also featured displays covering ethnic minority family culture, enhanced conscious identification of all ethnic groups within the “extended family” of the Chinese nation, and helped build awareness of the Chinese national sense of community.

Cao Xiguang, founder of International New Standard Education Co. Ltd., delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Cao Xiguang, founder of International New Standard Education Co. Ltd., noted that family culture education facilitates inheritance of the past and helps it spread to other places, thus harnessing Chinese culture’s excellent virtues and that these virtues are some of the country’s important cultural assets. He mentioned that he believes that China has sufficient cultural confidence to spread its family traditions to various parts of the world.

Yuan Xiaoling, chair of the Women’s General Association of Macao, delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Yuan Xiaoling, chair of the Women’s General Association of Macao, stated that family education is a social project that requires cooperation from all sectors of society. Having long regarded family education as an important task, the association has been promoting family development by advocating for family friendly policies, building community service support networks, and promoting collaborative education involving the government, members of the public, and private enterprises.

Kong Xianglin, honorary president of the Confucius Temple Protection Association of China and former vice president of the Confucius Institute, delivers a speech at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Kong Xianglin, honorary president of the Confucian Temple Protection Association of China and former vice president of the Confucius Institute, stated that he values family culture and education that inherits excellent family culture, cultivates family members, enhances family cohesion, promotes family harmony, and creates a beautiful tradition of the Chinese nation by advocating morality, kindness, and self-cultivation; excellent virtues such as benevolence, generosity, filial piety, integrity, propriety, loyalty, and honesty; as well as patriotism, dedication, good neighborliness, and a good social fashion of mutual assistance. He concluded by observing that Chinese sons and daughters, whether staying in China or living in other parts of the world, still maintain an excellent tradition of valuing family culture and education.

Guest speakers pose at the Exhibition on the Inheritance and Development of Chinese Ethnic Family Culture and Family Education launch ceremony. [Photo by China.org.cn]

The exhibition spanned 5,000 sq. m of floor space and unveiled multiple new explorations, breakthroughs, and achievements in family education for the first time, according to organizer China National Studies Research Center. It covered excellent traditional Chinese culture and family culture, research and exploration of family culture in the new era, exploration of the growth of young children in the new era, research and exploration of family culture and family education in universities in the new era, exploration of online family education in the new era, Chinese patriotism, the flower of civilization blooming at the grassroots level, and the idea of looking forward to the future in accordance with the present. The exhibition also featured a section covering family culture stories related to revolutionaries from older generations, revolutionary martyrs, and outstanding Party members; one featuring scrolls and totems corresponding with 400 family names; and one covering the family cultures of 56 different ethnic groups.

Artist Tian Qi (right) presents his calligraphy work “Zhu Zi’s Family Instructions” at the event. [Photo by China.org.cn]

An academic exchange meeting for family educators that was organized in order to summarize the historical wisdom and experience of Chinese family education, facilitate exploration of new Chinese family culture characteristics and new family education ideas and directions and other aspects related to their futures was held during the exhibition as well.

Guests visit an exhibition area themed on the inheritance and development of Chinese national family culture and education. [Photo by China.org.cn]

Cheng Ping, member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee ; Xi Enmin, director of the Zhuhai Municipal Education Bureau; Wang Guilian, chair of the Zhuhai Municipal Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang and director of the Zhuhai Civil Affairs Bureau; Zhai Ming, deputy director of the Zhuhai Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports; Zheng Shengzhe, vice president of the Chinese Academy of National Conditions Development; and Shu Peirong, an alternate member of the 21st Central Committee of Kuomintang from Chinese Taiwan, attended the exhibition. Representatives of family education and family culture guidance and service institutions; leaders of traditional culture promotion institutions; renowned scholars and experts in family education and family culture; family educators and social figures who love traditional culture and are enthusiastic about the development of family education; compatriots from China’s Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan; and overseas Chinese participated in the exhibition.

The event was organized by the Love Nature Vitality Family Education Service Center of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, and the International Investment Association, with academic support from the Chinese Family Education Society. It also received support from the People’s Affairs Bureau of Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin; Zhuhai Education Bureau; Zhuhai Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau; China Market Research Center; China Association for the Promotion of Culture; the Chinese Academy of National Conditions Development; China Educational Channels; Women’s General Association of Macao; Zhuhai Charity Federation; Industrial and Commercial Federation of Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin; and other organizations.