Flamboyant Peking University president Zhou Qifeng has sparked a public debate over filial piety after returning to his ancestral home in Hunan province for his mother's 90th birthday.
Pictures of the professor kneeling in front of his mother before they locked in an emotional embrace have circulated widely on the internet on the mainland. Some people hailed Zhou as a role model for filial piety while others dismissed the whole episode as a show.
'He is a true role model because filial piety is at the top of the 100 benevolent virtues,' one person said in a comment posted on the Web.
'A birthday celebration is rather a private matter; why should he make it so high-profile?' asked Jin Manlou , a Shanghai-based writer.
Zhou, 65, has been no stranger to controversy since becoming the university president in November 2008. He led a large university delegation to Chongqing in November last year to pay tribute to 'creative reforms' launched by Bo Xilai , the municipality's now- disgraced former party secretary.
He has also helped shield controversial Professor Kong Qingdong from fallout over comments he made during an internet television talk show in January, when he called Hong Kong people 'running dogs of the British government'.
