Chinese Law Requiring Children to Visit Elderly Parents
By Dr. Ying “Sunny” Sun,

Professor, East China University of political Science and Law, Shanghai, PRC
sunying@ecupl.edu.cn


Secretary General, Sino-American Research Center for an Aging Population
Visiting Scholar, 2013-2014 academic year, The John Marshall Law School, Chicago,
USA, ysun@jmls.edu
Presentation at the 2013 Governor’s Conference on Aging and Disability, Chicago, Dec. 11, 2013
1、What is the rule “often go home”
----The revised Law of the People's Republic of China on Protection of the Rights and Interests of
the Elderly, adopted at the 30th Session of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National
People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 28, 2012, was promulgated and
entered into force as of July 1, 2013.
----Article 18
The family members of the elderly shall be concerned about the spiritual needs of the elderly and
shall not ignore or desolate the elderly.
The family members of the elderly who do not live together with the elderly shall visit or greet the
elderly frequently.
The employers of the supporters shall guarantee the right of the supporters to take vacation and
home leave according to relevant provisions of the State.
2、The negative views before the rule was made
----how to execute
----fix up the bounds between law and morals
----without supporting rules of holiday
3、Cases about the rule
-----case before the rule
-----case after the rule
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4、The background of the rule: Chinese family culture
“Xiao Culture” ( 孝, 老, 子）
-----Chinese concept about “public” and “private” ： 公 私
-----Chinese traditional ethic logic： personal-- family--nation—world
family
nation
world
person
------The basic prove of the ethic logic：love for parents and from parents
------The mode of the thinking： Tao\ Li （道、理） which is not philosophy、not religion ，
but is a theory that man is an integral part of the nature.
5、Conclusion
The rule of “often go home” complies with the Chinese traditional value， and will be helpful
to solve the modern social questions in China, although it will still be disputed .
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