SHOWING respect to elders is an ingrained tradition in China dating back to ancient times and next Saturday is the day set aside for the whole country to pay tribute to the country's senior citizens.

According to the Lunar Calendar, Sunday, October 4 is the date of the annual Chongyang Festival (Double Sun Festival), also known as Elder's Day.

Since the 1980s, the Chinese Government has named a day during the festival as the time to honour China's elders, those over 60 years old. The aged population in China now numbers more than 120 million, according to statistics compiled last year.

It is the day, the government says, when communities and families should try to do more for the country's "old folks".

As usual, on this day, the government and local communities will hold various activities for elders such as free hair-cuts, cultural performances, around-the-city bus trips and health-care consultations. Some of the country's poorer or lonely elders will receive gifts and visits from leaders.

Festival activities

Actually, the origin of this festival originates in the beginning of Han Dynasty (206 BC- AD 220). It is said that in the imperial palace, on September 9 each Lunar Year, people would wear zhuyu (a kind of plant) and drink chrysanthemum wine for a healthy and long life.

One story goes that the imperial concubine, Madame Qi, was killed by the empress and her maid, Jia, was kicked out of the palace. It was the maid who brought this tradition to the ordinary people.

In those days, people - especially the elders - had to climb a hill and drink wine to keep healthy.

Wearing zhuyu was also very popular in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). People thought it could help avoid disaster. They would bind it on their arms or put it in small bag and wear it around the neck. Some also used it as a decoration in their hair.

There are lots of poems describing such activities indicating the importance of the festival in ancient society.

With the passing of time many traditions have been forgotten but one that has survived intact is that of respecting the elders.

However, showing respect for elders is a well-known tradition in Chinese society and not restricted to one special day only.

Archaeologists in Guangzhou of Guangdong Province have uncovered a stick with a turtle dove at the top which was made more than 2000 years ago. It proves that respecting elders was already set in law back then.

According to historical records, a stick with a turtle dove was only awarded to elders by the emperor. Elders over 70 years old - really rare at that time - enjoyed preferential treatment and anyone insulting or humiliating them would be punished.

The turtle dove was thought of as a bird which could never be choked and with this symbol, elders were protected from choking while dining.

More than 2,000 years ago, Mencius, the philosopher regarded as almost the equal of Confucius, said: "People should take care of their own elders as well as other's elders." According to tradition, elders who lacked the ability to work were still thought of as a treasure of the family. People believed that filial piety was the first of all kindnesses.

Filial piety

Respect and filial piety to elders are the focal points of the Chinese moral system.

The character of Chinese society is that it was based on the family headed by its ancestors and elders. Chen Duxiu (1879-1942), one of the founders of Chinese Communist Party, said the family was the base and core of Oriental people and all the family should obey the older generation.

Such a concept of respecting the elders was also strongly promoted by ancient philosophers. Stories of filial piety were spread widely with the help of scholars and governments.

The most famous one is the book, "Er Shi Si Xiao" (24 Stories about Filial Piety) which was written by Guo Jujing during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). It became a model for the younger generation. But today, some of these stories do not read so well.

One story is about a young man named Wang Xiang who lived during the Jin Dynasty (265-420). His stepmother Zhu treated him badly and always slandered him in the front of his father. So both of his parents gave him the cold shoulder.

One day, his stepmother wished to eat fresh fish. But it was a freezing day so Wang took off his clothes and lay on the ice covering a frozen river with the aim of melting the ice. Suddenly, the ice thawed by itself and a pair of fish jumped out.

The story says that the River God was moved by Wang's kindness to his elders and provided the fish.

Another story about Guo Ju is even more horrible. Guo Ju's family was poverty stricken, so Guo's mother saved her food for her three-year-old grandson. Guo discussed this with his wife: "We can have a son again, but my mother is the only one in the world."

The wife dared not say no so the father began to dig a grave to bury his son. While digging he suddenly came upon a jar of money with writing saying the money was "the God's gift for filial piety". In the end, the God had saved the son's life.

Such a story - which today seems to be over-stating the situation - was considered normal in the old days. In ancient times it would have seemed strange to have to call upon people to treat their elders kindly because such a concept had always existed in people's minds - as natural as breathing.