Recently, Han Yongjin, Director of the National Library of China (NLC), gave a lecture, “The Splendidness of Chinese Culture” at Tianjin University (TJU), sharing his views on reading with staff and students.

Before the lecture, Zhong Denghua, president of Tianjin University, met with Han Yongjin and his colleagues. Lei Ming, deputy party secretary and leaders of other departments and offices of TJU were also presented. Professor Zhong showed them around the Peiyang Park Campus and introduced the Zheng Dong Library. He thanked the Director Han for the support of the cultural construction at TJU, and said he expected more help from the NLC. The Director Han said he was familiar with TJU, and was happy to share his views on reading as well as Chinese traditional culture with TJU staff and students.

During the lecture “The Splendidness of Chinese Culture”, Han reviewed the development of the time-honored culture, emphasizing the significance of its carriers: Chinese characters and more than fifty million ancient Chinese books kept in public institutions all over the country, where the Chinese people could find the reason and the source for realizing the rejuvenation of the nation. 

In his lecture, Han traced ancient and modern eras, showing the wisdom of the books to the students and teachers. It shows that the prosperity and development of a country influences culture and prosperity. He recommended four key points for reading: read great works, read the classics, read the histories and find delight in books. The NLC has donated sets of classic texts of ancient Chinese literature to TJU.

Han’s lecture was the opening of a newly-launched forum at TJU, namely the “Yinghua Lectures”, which have been designed as a series of high-level humanity lectures with great masters sharing their intelligence and inspirations. The “Yinghua Lectures” are bound to play a significant role in the construction of campus culture.

Editors: Sun Xiaofang and Ross Colquhoun