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Fran Lu

A company in China has set up a special fund to distribute 2,400 yuan (US$340) to the parents of its employees every year, highlighting the tradition of filial piety.
The jewellery firm, Mengjinyuan, from eastern China’s Shandong province, held an annual ceremony on January 12 to mark the event.
A total of 2.6 million yuan (US$366,000) was distributed to more than 1,000 members of staff, who passed the money on to their parents, who were also invited to the ceremony.
For the parents who did not attend the event, the company directly transferred the money into their bank accounts.
One staff member’s father said he was “excited” to receive the money.

The company’s boss, Wang Zhongshan, said the fund was set up 11 years ago in the hope that it would encourage employees to appreciate their parents and inspire filial piety.
The good deed received praise online, with many sharing their own companies’ gestures with the same aim.
A person who works in China’s southwestern Sichuan province said her employer “deducts 10 per cent of our salary to send to our parents’ bank accounts every month”.
“It is an opportunity for parents to be reassured their children have a good job, and for the children to not worry about their parents so they can focus on work,” said another online observer.
“Some bosses exploit their staff, which makes the gesture of giving money to employees’ parents appear even greater,” somebody else wrote.
The Chinese character for filial piety, xiao, stands for a child supporting an elderly person and has been in existence since the oracle bone script, the earliest known form of Chinese writing that is thought to date back 3,600 years.
Filial piety is a central pillar of the Confucian ethical system.
In the traditional system of values, an adult is expected to not only financially and emotionally support their parents at home to be considered filial, but also work hard and continue their parents’ good name in the community.

It is still considered a much-valued virtue today, and people who are in the news for respecting and loving their parents, always win praise and admiration.
In 2021, mainland social media was shocked to hear about a middle-aged man who loaded his luxury Maserati car with waste his mother had collected from rubbish bins for recycling.
A relative said the family did not support her “hobby” but had to respect it after failing to persuade her to stop.


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China firm sets up filial piety fund, gives US$340 to parents of staff every year to encourage respect for elders

A company in China is doing its best to promote traditional family values by gifting US$340 each year to the parents of its staff from a “filial piety fund”. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Douyin 

In total, more than two million yuan was handed out to the parents of company staff this year. Photo: Douyin 

The recipients were delighted to receive the money. The company says it hopes the move will encourage staff to appreciate their parents and inspire filial piety. Photo: Douyin 

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People & Culture

Total of US$366,000 distributed to 1,000 employees every year
Annual practice draws on 3,600-year-old Confucian value system


A jewellery business in China has been giving an annual sum of money to the parents of its employees for 11 years because it believes in the tradition of respecting and caring for elders.


China society

China firm sets up filial piety fund, gives US$340 to parents of staff every year to encourage respect for elders

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Total of US$366,000 distributed to 1,000 employees every year Annual practice draws on 3,600-year-old Confucian value system

Total of US$366,000 distributed to 1,000 employees every year

Annual practice draws on 3,600-year-old Confucian value system