Yang Xingming, a 93-year-old woman from a family of five generations, looks at their family motto, along with her family members. [Women Voice]

A family of five generations from Wulong County in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has attracted much attention for their positive family virtues at a conference to honor model families across the country in Beijing on December 12.

Huang Chunhong revealed that there are a total of 121 members in her family and all have carefully observed their family motto made up of around 128 Chinese characters.

Meanwhile, Huang explained that her family motto involved different aspects including the education of young children; the management of the family; the cultivation of moral character; and, getting along with those around them.

Huang said that her 93-year-old great-grandmother Yang Xingming urged all members of the family to bear the motto in mind from childhood. The family motto was composed by her great-great-grandfather and her great-grandfather has made consistent efforts to inherit it completely, Huang added.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Huang stated that her grandfather resolutely signed up to the army after the breakout of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression due to the deep influence of the family motto "Only when the country becomes powerful can the individual family lead a happy life," Huang concluded.

During the war, Huang's grandfather wrote two family letters to tell his younger sisters and brothers to fulfill the responsibility of taking care of the elderly at home for him and urged them to do something positive to serve the country.

Huang's grandfather never returned home and died on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Huang's great-grandmother adopted a neighboring child at the age of 3 during a tough period of time when she had difficulty feeding her own six young children. From then on, the adopted child was treated like a family member and she also gave her full support for him access education until he became a soldier when he was 18 years old.

In addition, Huang's grandpa Huang Jicai resided in a remote mountainous region for some 53 years, as he was engaged in the treatment of disease for local villagers after he began studying medicine at the age of 18.

For those impoverished villagers, Huang's grandpa was very generous with them and did not charge them medical fees while also giving them money to help support them financially.

"I was inspired by the elderly members in my family to understand that the family motto is the core of family tradition and is also the specific expression of socialist core values. Only when we keep it well in mind can we put it into practice in our lives," Huang maintained.

Respecting the elderly is a basic requirement listed in her family motto, Huang said. As time goes on, her great-grandmother has become the one that all family members want to spend more time with. Hence, all of her descendants would come back home to celebrate each festival or holiday with the elderly woman, Huang stated. At the same time, each family member would cook a special dish for each family reunion dinner.

When in conflicts with neighbors, Huang said that her family members are often self-reflective and actively look to solve problems.

Due to her family motto being widely praised in the local region, multiple villagers have also used it to educate their descendants. Meanwhile, others have even made their own family mottos under the influence of Huang's positive family tradition.

"A good family motto is like a light guiding me to find the right direction during the course of my growth," Huang said. "My family members and I will continue to pass down positive family virtues to the next generation and make our joint efforts to advance the development of civilized society," Huang claimed.

Four young children of Yang's descendants read the family motto. [Women Voice]

A group of policemen look at the family motto. [Women Voice]

Yang's family members make dumplings together. [Women Voice]

Young children learn the family motto. [Women Voice]

(Source: Women Voice/Translated and edited by Women of China)

Editor: Jane Wang