Xi Jinping's Cultural Footprint, Yuelu Academy of Hunan University: Continued Context Mission but New Cultural Confidence | Yuelu Academy

Changsha, June 30th, Xinhua News Agency - Question: Yuelu Academy of Hunan University: Continuation of Cultural Context, Mission, and Innovation

Xinhua News Agency reporters Chen Jun and Xie Ying

On the banks of the Xiangjiang River, at the foot of the Yuelu Mountain, there is a thousand year old school, with endless string songs.

On September 17, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping, who was on an inspection tour in Hunan, came to the Yuelu Academy of Hunan University to learn about talent training and cultural heritage.

Yuelu Academy, one of the four ancient academies in China, has nurtured the profound Hunan culture and attracted generations of literati and scholars to come here to give lectures, read and write books, collect and carve books, dedicated to cultural inheritance and development.

We must adhere to upholding integrity and innovation, with the spirit and sharpness of upholding integrity and innovation, continue the historical context, and compose a contemporary chapter.

In recent years, Yuelu Academy, as a shining business card of excellent traditional Chinese culture, has made efforts to promote the academy culture of preaching and benefiting the people, research and promote the localization of truth, and cultivate practical talents. It has strengthened cultural confidence and continued the millennium old cultural heritage.

Gathering Historical Context and Spreading the Light of Truth

At the foot of Yuelu Mountain, between the green pines and cypresses, in the quaint and elegant courtyard of Yuelu Academy, tourists and students come to visit and learn in an endless stream.

"how could the communist party succeed? in those days, there was a boat in shikumen, on the south lake, and there were more than a dozen people. until now, we must figure out the way and localize the truth." During the investigation and investigation of Yuelu Academy, General Secretary Xi Jinping looked at the plaque of "seeking truth from facts" on the eaves and thought for a long time.

In 1917, the principal of Hunan Public Industrial Specialized School, Bin Bucheng, who had a dream of serving the country through industry, hung a handwritten "seeking truth from facts" in the lecture hall of Yuelu Academy, using it as a school motto to guide students to start from facts, advocate science, and pursue truth. Later, young Mao Zedong stayed in the semi study of Yuelu Academy and was deeply influenced by the school motto.

At the forum on cultural inheritance and development, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that it is the only way to open up and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics on the basis of more than five thousand years of Chinese civilization and to combine the basic principles of Marxism with China's specific reality and with China's excellent traditional culture.

In recent years, Yuelu Academy has served as an important window to showcase the combination of basic principles of Marxism and excellent traditional Chinese culture, continuously providing people with ideological enlightenment.

"Many tourists, as soon as they enter Yuelu Academy, start asking about the location of the 'Seeking Truth from Facts' plaque, hoping to experience firsthand the profound connection between the Party's ideological line and the millennium old school." Liu Feng, a tour guide at Yuelu Academy, said that the academy has reorganized its explanations, making the content about' Seeking Truth from Facts' more comprehensive.

Yuelu Academy is also a teaching site for mobile ideological and political courses at Hunan University. Live teaching under the plaque of "seeking truth from facts" always ignites the climax of classroom interaction. "I discussed the source of 'seeking truth from facts' with my students, and they were all particularly interested and touched," said Professor Long Bing, Dean of the School of Marxism at Hunan University.

Since March this year, the mobile ideological and political course promotion team of Hunan University has delivered over 100000 lectures to research teams, party and government leaders at all levels, and training classes in primary, secondary, and tertiary schools both inside and outside the province.

Hunan University also delves into the close connection, historical origins, and contemporary value between excellent traditional Chinese culture and party building. It organizes teams to conduct special research around the "two combinations" and is committed to elevating Chinese experience into Chinese theory.

Jigu Runjin Firms Cultural Confidence

On the Hexi Terrace, people walk through the Yuelu Academy, carefully reflecting on the wisdom of the ancients, with the words "nostalgic and heroic aspirations, worrying about the hearts of the gentlemen of the times", the "seeking truth from facts" plaque on the eaves of the lecture hall, and the "understanding of current affairs and physics" in the "Yuelu Academy Learning Regulations"... every gate, every couplet, and every plaque.

When inspecting Yuelu Academy, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must strengthen road self-confidence, theoretical self-confidence, institutional self-confidence, and cultural self-confidence. Among them, cultural self-confidence is more basic, broader, and deeper self-confidence. Contemporary students are inheriting the excellent traditional Chinese culture. In the process, we must further strengthen our cultural self-confidence!"

Yuelu Academy was founded in the ninth year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty. From the Song Dynasty's "300 Daolin and 1000 academies" to the Qing Dynasty's "Zhongxing Generals, Shijiuhu Xiang", and now Hunan University, after a thousand years of continuous academic development, Yuelu Academy still functions as a teaching, book collection, and education institution. The academic atmosphere, the exchange of ideas, and the fragrance of culture, intertwined with time, are both profound and youthful.

"In ancient times, the academy was the spiritual home for scholars to settle down. To this day, the academy, as a representative of China's excellent traditional culture, is still the cultural foundation and emotional roots of the Chinese people." Xiao Yongming, Dean of Yuelu Academy, said, "We keep in mind the entrustment of General Secretary Xi Jinping, deeply rooted in China's cultural fertile soil, and strengthen cultural confidence."

Yuelu Mountain is famous all over the world, and the academy is famous all over the world. To promote the dissemination of excellent traditional Chinese culture, Yuelu Academy has made frequent efforts. A large number of scholars have deeply explored the essence of China's excellent traditional culture, and academic achievements such as the History of Chinese Rites, the History of Chinese Confucian Classics, the History of Chinese Confucian Classics, the History of Chinese Academy of Classical Learning, and the study of ethical thoughts of Neo Confucianism in the Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties have emerged. Undertaking the compilation work of the national major academic project "General History of China", Hunan University has been selected as one of the first batch of collaborative research and innovation platforms for the "Ancient Writing and Chinese Civilization Inheritance and Development Project", contributing to the promotion of excellent traditional Chinese culture and the inheritance and development of Chinese civilization.

The excellent traditional Chinese culture constantly infiltrates and nourishes the vast number of students. On the campus of Hunan University, Professor Jiang Guanghui, an expert in the history of classical studies in his seventies, delivered a fascinating lecture on the Book of Changes; Dr. Chen Xian, who is young and handsome, vividly and easily compares various life scenes in modern and ancient societies in his study course "Spring and Autumn"; After class, the classmates gathered together to discuss and exchange ideas, and they stayed together for a long time

"Cultural confidence is a more fundamental, broader, and profound confidence. Yuelu Academy has abundant resources of excellent traditional Chinese culture and should make greater contributions to further strengthening cultural confidence," said Chen Yuxiang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Yuelu Academy.

The mission of a thousand year old university is only new

In Yuelu Academy, facing the students, General Secretary Xi Jinping said affectionately: "I hope that students will live up to their youth, youth, and times, cherish time, study hard, master knowledge and skills, and establish a correct world outlook, outlook on life, Values, tie the first button of life, take a good life path, and contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."

From "practical application" to "seeking truth from facts", Yuelu Academy has cultivated and nurtured generation after generation of talents who "take the world as their own responsibility" to govern and benefit the people. Educators and literary and philosophical masters Zhang Shi, Zhu Xi, and Wang Yangming give lectures here; Master Confucian scholars Wang Wenqing and Wang Xianqian engage in educational and cultural academic activities here; Modern celebrities such as Tao Shu, Wei Yuan, Zeng Guofan, and Zuo Zongtang studied here; A large number of proletarian revolutionaries such as Mao Zedong, He Shuheng, and Cai Hesen emerged from here.

The source is dredged and the flow is long, while the root is deep and the leaves are lush. The topic that Hunan University is exploring is how to deeply integrate traditional culture and the spirit of ancient academy education with modern education, spanning thousands of years of time and space, and cultivate new generations who shoulder the great responsibility of national rejuvenation.

In recent years, every September when the school season begins, the lecture hall of Yuelu Academy is full of seats, and the solemn "teacher worship ceremony" is the first lesson for new students. Bowing deeply towards the statue of Confucius is a tribute to ancient sages and sages; Recite the "Regulations of Yuelu Academy" together, drawing wisdom from traditional classics; Gather under the plaque of "seeking truth from facts" to study the history of the Party and gather the strength to advance in the new era.

Continuing to study in the Holy and Open Schools, spreading the Way and benefiting the people. "Drawing nutrients from excellent ancient ideas and educational concepts, and cultivating talents for the needs of our country," said Tang Zhenming, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Hunan University. "We have conducted a series of explorations from ancient academies to modern universities.". For example, emphasis is placed on cultivating moral character and emphasizing the unity of "learning for oneself" and "being a good person"; Emphasize the importance of cultivating people through the practice of etiquette, and inherit excellent traditional Chinese culture and values through the practice of etiquette; Integrating "knowledge" and "action" requires the integration of knowledge and action.

"The new era is an era where heroes emerge one after another."

"You are at the right age, between the ages of 20 and 30. From our second century to 2050, there are still 30 years left. You should be the backbone of this era to take over the baton."

"Emotions should be deep, cultivating a group of young people with patriotism."

……

At the Yuelu Academy of Hunan University, General Secretary Xi Jinping earnestly instructed and was full of deep feelings.

"Yuelu Academy embodies the original intention and spirit of generations of literati and patriots to protect their roots and inherit culture." said Duan Xianzhong, the president of Hunan University, "Chinese excellent traditional culture continuously nourishes the spirit of young students. A large number of graduates actively respond to the needs of the times, go to the grassroots and the people to make achievements, and bloom the flower of youth in the places where the motherland needs it the most."