From January 11 to 12, Zhang Yinjun, President of Beijing Changier Education Foundation—a special consultative organization to the United Nations, President of the General Academy of Maternal Love Academies at Home and Abroad, and President of Nishan Maternal Love Academy in Jining—attended a series of celebration activities marking the 10th anniversary of Nishan Maternal Love Academy in Jining, Shandong, and delivered a keynote speech. The event was also attended by Zheng Yucong, a philanthropic entrepreneur and former General Manager of Guangxi Yuan An Tang; Du Mei, Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of Beijing Changier Education Foundation and Deputy Dean of the Maternal Love Academy; Wang Lingling, Deputy Secretary-General of Beijing Changier Education Foundation and Deputy Dean of the Maternal Love Academy; and Xu Tong, Staff Member of the Secretariat of Beijing Changier Education Foundation.

On the afternoon of the 11th, the 10th anniversary celebration of the Nishan Maternal Love Academy was grandly held at Jining Polytechnic, where President Zhang Yinjun delivered an important speech. She first reflected on her original aspiration and the challenging journey of founding the Nishan Maternal Love Academy ten years ago. She said that in the blink of an eye, ten years have passed, and the Nishan Maternal Love Academy has gone through a decade of development. At this moment, she first and foremost wanted to express her gratitude to the leaders of the local Party committees and governments at all levels, as well as to colleagues from all sectors both at home and abroad, for their long-term care and strong support for the Academy's growth. Revisiting this cherished place and immersing myself in the birthplace of Confucian culture, she experienced firsthand the flow and nourishment of a millennia-old cultural legacy. Like a gentle spring breeze, it filled her with an irrepressible surge of patriotic fervor.

She said that looking back to that autumn ten years ago, when she led a few sisters along the muddy mountain path, through cornfields taller than a person, and finally found the Mother Yan's Shrine, her heart was filled with profound sorrow at that moment. The mother who raised Confucius, a great thinker and educator revered throughout the world, had her memorial shrine in such a desolate state, nearly buried in dust and forgotten. She asked the local villagers, and only a handful knew there was a Niangniang Temple here, but almost none were aware that this was the only sacred site dedicated to Yan Zhengzai, the mother of Confucius. She also consulted local Confucian scholars from Shandong, surprisingly, most of them knew very little about it either. Moved by such profound shock and heartache, she made a solemn vow: to establish a maternal love academy in the birthplace of Confucius, commemorating this great Eastern Holy Mother and ensuring that her spirit would be seen and revered once again. This is how the Nishan Maternal Love Academy originally came to be.

She then reviewed and summarized several major initiatives undertaken by the academy over the past decade. She said, "The first thing we need to do is to rectify the name of Confucius's mother." Many people have asked her, "Why is Mencius's mother referred to as 'Mother Meng,' while Confucius's mother is not called 'Mother Kong'?" At first, this question left her at a loss for words. Later, as she delved deeper into research, she discovered that this issue is rooted in a profound historical reality of ancient China: the long-standing cultural tradition of "male superiority and female inferiority". In international exchanges, many foreign friends have explicitly raised this point with her: if even in Confucius's hometown the basic national policy of gender equality cannot be truly embodied, then it is hard to claim that Chinese culture has fully embraced the concept of gender equality. The most crucial point is to rectify the name of Confucius's mother.

As Confucius said, "Names must first be rectified." Therefore, after discussions with her sisters, she decided to use the title "Mother of Confucius" in all activities of the Nishan Maternal Love Academy, and to place it alongside "Mother of Mencius" as joint symbols of Chinese maternal love culture. To this end, she launched an initiative called the "Confucius' Mother Early Childhood Education Conference", which sparked considerable public response, though it naturally drew mixed reactions. In all international settings, including at the United Nations, she consistently refer to Confucius's mother, Yan Zhengzai (historically known as Mother Yan), as "Mother Kong" to demonstrate scholarly rigor. It is gratifying that, through our persistent efforts, the practice of referring to "Confucius's mother" and "Mencius's mother" in tandem is gradually gaining popularity, with an increasing number of people embracing this formulation. Of course, the cultural debate is far from over, but we have already taken a solid first step.

The second major undertaking of the academy is to promote the great educational philosophy embodied in the stories of Confucius's mother educating Confucius and Mencius's mother educating Mencius. She said that we make an important distinction in culture and educational philosophy: Mencius's mother represents "a mother teaching one person," while Confucius's mother represents "maternal love for one person." This viewpoint has been endorsed and supported by Confucian scholars. In practice, we have also come to deeply understand that the outcomes differ greatly depending on whether a mother nurtures her child from a foundation of "love" or simply disciplines the child with "teaching" as the objective.

She stated that over the years, Beijing Changier Education Foundation has consistently upheld the philosophy of "Education of Love," and the Education of Love project has been honored with the China Charity Awards—the highest government award in China's charitable sector. We are committed to nurturing children around the world with love, a philosophy rooted in the thoughts and methods by which Confucius's mother raised her son. To further promote this great spirit of maternal love rooted in the depths of Chinese culture, Beijing Changier Education Foundation has proposed the "Family and Nation Heritage—Maternal Love Education Innovation System Construction Project", abbreviated as the "Maternal Love Project", which will be advanced in parallel with APEPCY, a program with a twenty-year foundation. We are committed to vigorously developing the Maternal Love Academy globally and spreading an education philosophy centered on love. Following the end of the pandemic, the Maternal Love Academy experienced rapid growth. As of the end of 2025, a total of 219 Maternal Love Academies have been established nationwide, with one located in Taiwan and one in Indonesia. Although most of these academies are still in their early stages, they are all important fruits that have grown from the fertile cultural soil of the Nishan Maternal Love Academy.

Under the leadership of the Beijing Changier Education Foundation, the Nishan Maternal Love Academy has consistently and conscientiously upheld its vital mission of preserving the World Heritage site associated with Confucius and Mencius. They not only maintain monthly memorial ceremonies at the Mothe Yan's Shrine and organize a series of activities, but have also pioneered the "Grand Ceremony for the Birthday of Confucius's Mother" in collaboration with descendants of the Kong and Yan clans. Today in Confucius's hometown, we hold commemorative activities in various forms every year on May 18, the birthday of Confucius's mother. This has become a landmark achievement of the Nishan Maternal Love Academy in its participation in cultural development. In 2025, the "Maternal Love Academy Project for Safeguarding the Confucian-Mencian World Heritage through Innovation" submitted by Beijing Changier Education Foundation was successfully shortlisted for UNESCO's "Global World Heritage Education Innovation Case Award" and advanced through the interview stage.

President Zhang Yinjun summarized the hospital management experience with "three essentials: strategic visions, solid foundations, and human touch".

First, it must have strategic visions. This means upholding the great banner of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech during his 2013 inspection of Qufu, following the overall strategic deployment of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee to build a culturally strong province, and actively participating in the development of "the Sacred Land of Confucius and Mencius, a Cultural Homeland".

Second, it must have solid foundations. It means remaining rooted in Confucius's hometown, deepening the development of maternal love education, and taking as our mission the exploration and promotion of the cultural and educational philosophy of this sacred Confucian land. To defend the culture of home and family is to defend the dignity of our national culture; to defend the cultural standing of the mothers of Confucius and Mencius is to defend the cultural dignity of all mothers. This belief permeates everything we do.

Third, it must have a human touch. The goal is to transform "Confucius's mother" and "Mencius's mother" from mere historical symbols into warm, tangible presences, making Confucius's hometown a place imbued with warmth, and ultimately extending this sentiment to every Chinese family nationwide and across the globe."

She concluded by asking, what is maternal love? Maternal love is love with warmth, a love that allows people to tangibly feel its tenderness. A mother's warm embrace embodies the core value championed by the Nishan Maternal Love Academy. This philosophy has spread from Nishan to Maternal Love Academies nationwide, becoming integrated into all project units of the Beijing Changier Education Foundation. She hopes to reshape a culture through this—a culture born from the warm embrace of mothers, a culture rooted in the love with which mothers nurture their children—thereby dissolving coldness and alienation, and even dissolving war. We firmly believe that the warm power of mothers and maternal love will ultimately save this world. Though we harbor grand aspirations, we are acutely aware that the academy's endeavor has only just begun; though we have achieved some modest success, the peaks we must scale remain towering, and the road ahead stretches long before us.

During the visit to Jining, President Zhang Yinjun and his delegation paid their respects at the Mother Yan's Shrine and attended the unveiling ceremony of the "Confucius School" hosted by the China Confucius Foundation at the Mother Yan's Shrine; attended the "Lecture on Women's Happiness"; presided over the working meeting of the Nishan Maternal Love Academy; and visited the Yanzi Culture Research Association of the Chinese Cultural Promotion Society.

The 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Nishan Maternal Love Academy and Lecture on Women's Happiness was hosted by the Jining Nishan Maternal Love Academy, under the guidance of the Beijing Changier Education Foundation, and with support from the Jining Cultural and Tourism Bureau, Jining Charity Federation, Jining Polytechnic, and other organizations. Over 200 attendees participated in the event, including leaders, experts, and volunteers from Shandong Province and Jining.