On the second Sunday of every May, it is customary to wish your mother a “Happy Mother’s Day”. For one Foshan man named Li X Wen *, however, such a greeting was forced with litigation and a court order.

Li X Wen has not visited his 80 year-old mother for a full seven years, and that’s a problem. Although Li has seven siblings, he alone has refused to visit her since he relocated to Foshan in 2007.

Li’s mother, Su, lives in Dongfang, Hainan Province. Her husband died in 2006, and her health has been deteriorating since she underwent surgery to repair a blood clot in her brain.

All that Su wants now is to see her eldest son, Li X Wen, and if a guilt trip isn’t able to do the trick, then a hearing in court will do just as well.

Another son, Li X Qiang, represented her in court and made the following submission:

“Our parents suffered bitter hardship in order to educate and cultivate him into the established man he is now. At present, he has become a success, but cares not for his elderly mother. He has neither come home to celebrate the passing of the holidays, nor just to come home once.”

For his part, Li X Wen argued that he was too busy to make the trip, and that his gifts of money to Su have been ignored.

Given that Judge Judy was unavailable, the People’s Middle Court of Foshan stepped in to order Li X Wen to visit his mother at least once a year and to provide her with a monthly living allowance of RMB 300. Li was also ordered to visit his father’s grave and light a ceremonial incense offering.

The presiding judge, Liang Han, observed that,

“Every child has a legal obligation to care for the welfare of their own parents. This not only includes children by natural birth, but also adopted children and stepchildren under special circumstances.”

Like being a “good samaritan“, “filial behaviour” is required by law in China, so you know that people all do it for the right reasons.

The “Elderly Rights Law” came into effect in July 2013, prompting online support and criticism from netizens . Almost a year later, it remains unclear if such a law is the embodiment of Chinese societal values, or if it is a punishment on children who failed to learn the definition of “filial” as it applied to their interactions with family.

* The “X” denotes information withheld from publication.

Photo: WSJ