Editor's note: Wang Yan is an associate research fellow at Beijing Foreign Studies University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. 

Mid-Autumn Festival is the most significant festival in China, as people get together with their family to moon gaze, eat moon cakes and enjoy shared joy under the light of the fullest moon of the year. 

Thanks to China's success in combating COVID-19, people can celebrate the festival in delight. China has the lowest number of cases in treatment and the highest recovery rate compared with many other countries. 

Behind such success are effective and strict screening, social distancing and quarantining protocols that the Chinese people have observed since the outbreak of the COVID-19. 

People of all ages have their health QR codes scanned and temperature checked wherever they go. If someone does not have their cell phone with them at the checkpoint, their home address, ID number and cell phone number will be collected for further tracking in case of necessity. 

Willingly, people give up certain freedoms in exchange for the health and safety of their family and community. 

Deep down in such conscience is the ethos of family unity and loyalty in the Chinese culture, an essential element in crisis resolution. In Chinese culture, family bonds and mutual help motivate people to work hard and empowers them to be stronger and better. 

The same mindset and sentiment bring people home for a reunion during the Mid-Autumn Festival, no matter how far from their family or homeland they are. Their longing for reunion is represented in a circle, a prominent yet simple symbol – the moon. 

Likewise, the willingness to cooperate and sacrifice oneself, rather than just protecting one's interest, is helpful to the prosperity of one's home and community. 

This is why when the Delta variant emerged in Fujian Province, everyone, including children, observed the quarantine protocol. 

In Fujian Province, children as young as four years old walked into quarantine rooms on their own, wearing hazmat suits and carrying heavy suitcases. To them, they're observing the norm, just like everyone else. The people around the kids have set an example for them, making them aware that this is the right way to guarantee a safe living community. 

Realistically, the conscience related to family unity and loyalty is realized through self-discipline that has been cultivated through education and fostered in the Chinese culture. 

The cultivation of the ethical self is a principal objective of education as per Chinese culture, expressed as "a man won't be well-educated until an ethical self is accomplished." Chinese education emphasizes self-discipline, which is regarded as an integral part of character building and an essential foundation of grit that determines one's success. 

In Chinese culture, there is an old saying, "Xiushen qijia zhiguo pingtianxia." It means a peaceful world is premised on a well-governed country or nation, which starts with cultivating the ethical self and having one's family organized. It is also the ideal that every intellectual pursues. All great aspiration starts with cultivating oneself in concert with others through diligence, discipline and collaboration.

While individualism teaches one to care about oneself first and care about others as much as one pleases, collectivism in Chinese families means that one should sacrifice oneself for the good of the entire family. Indeed, social order and well-being are built upon the moral conduct of individual members. 

This will be a special Mid-Autumn Festival for the children and adults separated from their families. But in the end, they will all reunite with their family. As the Chinese saying goes, "Despite being thousands of miles apart, we are still united under one moon." 

Despite the physical distance due to quarantine, familial bonds will still be strengthened. Years later, when the children grow up, they will recall, like many others, that they once walked into quarantine rooms with courage and love during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and they will dedicate themselves to building a prosperous nation and a beautiful world. 

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