"Respecting the elderly" is a fine tradition of the Chinese nation. As early as more than 2,000 years ago, when Mencius answered the way of King Qi Xuan's governance, he once proposed: "The old and the old." He raised "respecting the elderly" to the height of governing the country and leveling the world. In the feudal ruling class of previous dynasties, it is not uncommon for power to be tilted, and the blood of father and son is not uncommon. The so-called "respect for the elderly" is nothing more than a means for them to whitewash the peace and win the hearts of the people. However, generations of working people have always regarded "respecting the elderly" as a great virtue in the world, and they have become accustomed to doing so. Today, the traditional virtue of "respecting the elderly" has abandoned its feudal elements, added new social contents, and become an integral part of socialist spiritual civilization. Middle-aged and young cadres should all the more practice and set an example.

——Signed article in People's Daily, "Young and Middle-aged Cadres Should 'Respect the Elderly'" (December 7, 1984)

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The Chinese nation is a nation that pays attention to prudence and pursuit of the future, and "respect for the elderly" is an emotional symbol that reaches the hearts of the people, and it is also a value orientation that can resonate with society. In 1984, Xi Jinping, who was only 31 years old, published a signed article in the People's Daily entitled "Young and Middle-aged Cadres Should "Respect the Elderly"", quoting Zheng Banqiao's poem "The new bamboo is higher than the old bamboo branches, and it is all up to the old cadres for support" to praise the value of the old cadres. He pointed out that within the ranks of our cadres, the replacement of the old and the new is not a transfer of power between individuals or opposing groups, nor is it a struggle for power, but for the same goal and the same cause.

Xi Jinping has special respect for veteran comrades. When he was in office in Zhengding, he himself rode a bicycle as long as he did not leave the city, but he allocated the only "212" jeep of the Zhengding County Party Committee to the old cadres to use. There was no place for the veteran cadres to carry out their activities, so he vacated the large conference room shared by the county party committee and the county government and turned it into a recreation room for the veteran cadres. When he was about to leave, some old cadres' eyes were red. An old cadre named Qi Yong said: "Secretary Xi, we don't want you to be transferred. On February 4, 2013, Xi Jinping personally delivered food to the 72-year-old retired worker Yang Lintai at the Hongruiyuan store, a virtual pension restaurant in Chengguan District, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province. On November 3, 2013, Xi Jinping came to Shi Qiwen's house, a particularly poor household in Shibadong Village, Huayuan County, Xiangxi, held the old man's hand and asked about his age, and heard that the old man was 64 years old, he said: "You are the eldest sister." On December 28, 2013, in the Sijiqing Nursing Home in Beijing, Xi Jinping patiently listened to the elderly who were carrying out newspaper reading activities reciting "Health Song".

Xi Jinping's advocacy of "respecting the elderly" is also reflected in the emphasis on family style and family education. On October 15, 2001, the family held an 88th birthday banquet for Xi Zhongxun in Shenzhen, where three generations of the Xi family and relatives and friends gathered together to celebrate the old man's birthday, except for Xi Jinping, who was the governor of Fujian Province at the time. Xi Jinping did not want to attend his father's birthday banquet, but as the governor of a province, he was really busy with official duties and it was difficult to get out, so he wrote a birthday letter to his father with shame. In the letter, Xi Jinping affectionately wrote that his understanding of his parents is the same as his feelings for them, and he hopes to inherit and absorb his father's precious and noble qualities.

Just like a dialogue across time, Xi Jinping left Beijing to go to Zhengding, emphasizing respect for the old and loving the old, "young and middle-aged cadres should practice more and set an example"; Decades later, when he returned to work in Beijing, he still retained his feelings of respect for the elderly. He stressed on many occasions that "a good social atmosphere of respecting, cherishing, and learning from veteran comrades should be widely formed in the whole society," and he demanded that "party committees and governments at all levels should conscientiously do a good job in the work of veteran cadres under the new situation from the high plane of inheriting the party's fine work style and carrying forward the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation." In the period of social transition, with the advent of an aging society, along with the risk of "growing old before getting rich", reaffirming the traditional virtue of respecting and loving the elderly is also conducive to coping with the risks and challenges of an aging society. Xi Jinping's emphasis on "respecting the elderly" has a distinct significance of the times, which is not only a cultural inheritance, but also involves complex reform and development issues.

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