In the evening of September 24th, the reading ceremony of the 12th National Reading Festival in Liaoning Province was held at Liaoning University. Yu Miaojie, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Liaoning University, attended and delivered a speech, with the theme of "Reading for  the Revival of the Nation" as a message to young people, encouraging the younger generation to work hard to study for the revitalization of Liaoning and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Dear teachers, students, and friends online:

    Good evening everyone! Tonight, by aid of our reading festival platform, I would like to share a topic with everyone: why do we need to read.

    Over 100 years ago,the answer has given by our beloved Premier Zhou Enlai to us , which is "To study for the rise of China!" We also see that over the past 100 years, it is under the guidance of this spirit that countless people with lofty ideals have been continuously striving hard for the rise of China. Today,   the Chinese nation has stood like a giant among the nations of the world, achieving a new era from standing up to becoming rich, and then to becoming strong.

    Why do we read books in the new era and new journey? General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that realize the second centennial goal to comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese path to modernization. So, why are we reading today? The answer is simple, reading for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. This reminds me of six months ago, during the opening ceremony of this reading festival, I had the privilege of sharing with everyone the three enjoyments and benefits of our reading. The first one is to dispel doubts and confusion. Since no one is  born omniscient, who can claim to have no doubts? without dispelling, the doubts will never be resolved. But the benefits that reading brings to us are not only to dispel doubts, but also to help us understand the general principles and directions of life, establish the correct direction, ideals and beliefs, which is the second benefit. The third benefit of reading is that it allows us to learn from the ancient sages whose ideas have been around for 5000 years. In this way,   you will never be alone, never feel lonely, learn from them to ordain conscience for Heaven and Earth. To secure life and fortune for the people. To continue lost teachings for past sages. To establish peace for all future generations.

    One goes far little by little. How can we achieve the teachings of the sages? I think there are three stages: the first stage is that we need to acquire the knowledge by knowing different things. When you learning science, we should have the spirit of "No pretending to know what you actually don't know". We should adopt a single approach, one approach at a time, without any falsehood. With this spirit of aquiring knowledge from facts, we should sit on the cold bench seriously, and study hard for twenty or thirty years, so that we may continue lost teachings for past sages. In the second stage, we need to be sincere and upright. The meaning of Xincheng is that we should constantly learn and aquire knowledge with a modest and open-minded attitude, like a sponge. The meaning of Yizheng is that we should have the correct thoughts and life goals, which is actually the most important point. If we have the spirit of aquiring knowledge from facts and the attitude of integrity, we may be able to ordain conscience for Heaven and Earth. The third stage is that on the basis of seeking knowledge and sincerity, we can do self-cultivation, family Regulation, state governance,then  bring peace to all. In this way, we achieve the goal of ordain conscience for Heaven and Earth; to secure life and fortune for the people; to continue lost teachings for past sages;to establish peace for all future generations.

    Students and friends, we are currently in the best of times, and we have never been so close to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Today, we are fortunate enough to live in the greatest new era. Only by studying for a lifetime, studying hard, and reading well can we contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Success does not necessarily belong to me, but there must be me in the success. Let's study hard, work hard, and contribute everything to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!

Thank you!