China yesterday was a land of mourners, its sadness overflowing every corner of its vast stretches. National flags were flown at half-mast throughout the country and citizens observed three minutes of silence nationwide at 2:28 pm, exactly the time when the ferocious earthquake took thousands of lives in a matter of minutes a week ago.

It was the first national mourning of its kind ever decreed by the central government for the victims of a natural disaster since the People's Republic was founded in 1949. The mourning will last for three days when all public entertainments will remain suspended.

Yesterday was the seventh day after the quake, exactly the date when the Chinese tradition requires a ceremony to mourn the dead. Following this tradition with a national ceremony, we expressed our sorrow for the death of our fellow citizens in the quake.

According to Chinese sage Confucius, holding a solemn ceremony to mourn the dead and organize sacrificial rituals to remember those who have long gone is an important way to cultivate virtues of the people.

By deciding to call for such a ceremony and to designate national mourning days, the central government sends a message to the people that it is a responsible government, and that it is responsible for the life of every citizen.

All that the central government has done in mobilizing human resources and materials for rescuing survivors and providing disaster relief has already spoken volumes for its responsiveness. The national mourning days are one more affirmation of the conviction that every citizen, however ordinary he or she is, must be held in reverence as far as human dignity is concerned.

Never before have the Chinese people from different walks of life demonstrated their grave concern for victims of a natural disaster in such concerted actions.

As many volunteers rushed to the affected areas on their own to rescue survivors, many offered to adopt the orphans and many donated money for the victims, it became obvious that the process of the country's economic reform and opening-up in the past three decades also inspired a spirit of good citizenship among the people.

In that sense, the national mourning days and the ceremonies reflect the mind of the entire nation.

By observing a national mourning ceremony, every citizen is reminded that the destiny of every individual is closely linked to the destiny of the nation. Only when the government of a state cares about the lives of its citizens will the strong sense of citizenship among the people constitute a force that makes the nation unconquerable in the face of a natural disaster of such magnitude.

This national mourning therefore epitomizes the cohesion among people from all ethnicities, that is reflected in the disaster relief efforts. This will also be the guiding spirit for all the endeavors ahead to help survivors rebuild their homes.

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