China has a fine tradition of respecting teachers and teaching since ancient times. There are no less than ten titles for teachers, such as Mr., Master, Master, Master, Teacher, Professor, Teaching Assistant, Doctor, etc. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty in the 11th century BC, it was proposed that "disciples serve as teachers and respect their father." There are many kinds of teachers' festivals in ancient times: specific festivals, school teacher's birthday, Confucius' birthday, etc. China has a long tradition of respecting teachers and valuing education. In ancient times, no matter how big or small the festival was, it could be said to be "Teacher's Day"! So let’s talk about the origin of Teachers’ Day in detail~

1. The earliest Teachers’ Day

Portugal is the first country in the world to establish Teachers’ Day. On April 18, 1899, graduates of the University of Iacomob in Portugal presented ribbons to their teachers in order to thank their teachers for their education. The teachers signed the ribbons and gave them to the students as souvenirs. Later, the Portuguese government designated April 18 as Teachers' Day and held celebrations every year. Portugal's approach was later followed by many countries.

The United States sets Teachers’ Day on September 28th every year, Russia sets the first Sunday in October every year as Teachers’ Day, France sets Teachers’ Day on December 25th every year, and Germany sets Teachers’ Day on June every year. The 12th is designated as Teachers’ Day. India will designate September 5th as Teachers’ Day. Thailand will designate January 16th as Teachers’ Day. Hungary will designate the first Monday of June every year as Teachers’ Day. North Korea will designate September 5th every year as Teachers’ Day. October 5th is designated as Teachers' Day...

UNESCO announced October 5th as "International Teachers' Day" in 1994, with the purpose of expressing the international community's support to all teachers around the world. "Thanks for their hard work, their professionalism, and the tremendous responsibility they bear to educate today's children into tomorrow's citizens."

2. Teachers' Day in the Republic of China

The earliest mention of Teachers' Day in China was in 1931, taught by Tai Shuangqiu, a professor at Shanghai Daxia University, Cheng Qibao, a professor at Nanjing National Central University, etc. Enthusiastic people from the industry contacted people from the education circles in Beijing and Shanghai to gather in Nanjing and decided that June 6th would be Teachers’ Day (also known as “Double-Six Day”) every year. The three goals of improving teacher cultivation have had a certain impact across the country.

In 1939, the Ministry of Education of the National Government decided to designate August 27, the birthday of Confucius, as Teachers’ Day, and issued the “Interim Measures for the Commemoration of Teachers’ Day”. Tai Shuangqiu and others waited for the authorities to recognize Teachers' Day, but they were disappointed by the way the authorities commemorated Teachers' Day, because the focus of the commemoration turned to the Confucian concept of "human ethics." Therefore, Teachers' Day was not implemented nationwide at that time.

3. After the founding of the People's Republic of China

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, June 6 was restored as Teachers' Day. The Ministry of Education notified education workers everywhere You can organize your own celebrations according to actual conditions. In 1951, the Ministry of Education and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions jointly agreed to declare "May 1st International Labor Day" as Teachers' Day at the same time. However, due to the lack of teacher characteristics on this day, the implementation results were not ideal.

In November 1981, at the fourth meeting of the Fifth National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, 17 members of the National Committee for the Promotion of Democracy, including Ye Shengtao and Lei Jieqiong, jointly submitted a A proposal was made to determine the date and activities of National Teachers’ Day. This proposal was compiled as Proposal No. 170 by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

In April 1982, the party group of the Ministry of Education and the branch party group of the National Education Union jointly submitted a request for instructions to the Secretariat of the Central Committee on the restoration of Teachers’ Day. The report recommended that May 5, Marx’s birthday, be designated as Teachers’ Day. .

In March 1983, at the first session of the Sixth National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Fang Ming and 18 members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference for the Democratic Progressive Party jointly proposed the “recommendation for the restoration of Teachers’ Day.”

In December 1984, the report of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Education and the Sub-Party Group of the National Education Union on the establishment of Teachers’ Day was sent to the Secretariat of the Central Committee and reported to the State Council. The report said, “According to the spirit of the instructions of the central leaders, we have conducted research and recommended that September 10th be designated as Teachers’ Day every year. At the beginning of the new school year, as soon as new students enter school, activities to respect teachers will be carried out. ... For example, the Central Committee and the State Council We agree in principle to establish a 'Teachers' Day' and we recommend that the State Council submit it to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for approval and promulgation."

In January 1985, the ninth meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress decided that September 10th each year would be Teachers' Day.

On September 10 of the same year, the State Education Commission held a grand meeting in the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the first Teachers' Day of the People's Republic of China. Wan Li delivered a speech at the meeting, expressing warm congratulations to teachers and education workers across the country on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council for the holiday. The restoration and determination of Teacher's Day marks the inheritance and development of the Chinese nation's tradition of respecting teachers and valuing education.

The culture derived from Teachers’ Day

Since it is a national statutory holiday, of course, a sense of formality is also a must. China's first set of "Teacher's Day" stamps was issued on August 27, 1947. This set contains four stamps. The images include the portrait of Confucius, the apricot altar where Confucius lectured, the tomb of Confucius, and the Dacheng Hall in Confucius' mansion.

On September 10, 1986, the former Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued a set of "Teacher's Day" commemorative stamps, with a full set of 1 stamp and a face value of 8 cents. The perforations are 11 degrees, and the back is painted with glue. The total number of post office sheets is 56. Printed by Beijing Stamp Factory. The ticket size is 40 mm by 27 mm. The circulation is 59.9069 million pieces. The pattern consists of a blackboard, a podium and flowers dedicated to the teacher. The text such as ticket name, inscription and face value are designed in the upper left corner of the blackboard, using yellow and white.

The name "teacher" does give us too many emotions. "Respecting teachers and respecting morality" is also a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation. In China's thousands of years of glorious history, "teachers" have always been respected and loved by others.