Editor's note: On the occasion of the 53rd World Earth Day and the 27th World Book Day, the Beijing Youth Love Education Foundation held a special commemorative event at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, "Nuwa Patching Up the Heavens - Mothers Take Their Children to Read to Save the Earth". Liu Jiaqi, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Ji Di Majia, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and director of the Poetry Committee of the Chinese Writers Association; Zhu Yongxin, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy; and Li Jianchen, a cultural scholar, made key speeches one after another; nearly 30 representatives of mothers and fathers from all walks of life in Beijing attended the forum. Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily Health Client, China Daily, China Net and other news media have reported that advocating that "mothers take their children to read to save the earth" has become a hot topic. Some guest speeches (compiled according to the recordings) are published for the benefit of readers.
Cultural scholar Li Jianchen
Today is a special day. 406 years ago today, two superstars of the world's literary world fell at the same time. One is called Shakespeare and the other is called Cervantes. In order to commemorate the contributions made by these two literary giants to promote the progress of human civilization, and to advocate people to respect knowledge, culture and improve quality, UNESCO proposed in 1995 to designate April 23 as World Book Day. For 27 years, every year on this same day, more than 100 countries around the world have held grand celebrations, commemorations or promotions.
In 1997, the mainland began to propose reading for all and carried out activities in a variety of ways. On April 23, 2007, the first book festival in mainland China was born. In March 2017, the state promulgated the Law on the Guarantee of Public Cultural Services, which involves reading by the whole people, and in June, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on the Promotion of Reading for All.
Not only that, in recent years, the general secretary has advocated reading for all on many occasions. In the video just played, the general secretary said, "My biggest hobby is to like to read, and reading has become a way of life for me." Premier Keqiang not only read a lot of books himself, but also faced the world's camera at the "two sessions" for nine consecutive years and vigorously promoted reading for the whole people. This morning, the first national reading conference was solemnly held, and the general secretary sent a congratulatory letter. It can be said that the flower of reading for the whole people has blossomed all over the land of Shenzhou today.
Why is reading important? Because it is the main way people learn knowledge. Everyone grows and progresses throughout their lives with learning, without exception.
Books are the treasure house of human spiritual culture and a milestone in the development and evolution of culture. All the achievements of mankind's ideological understanding of natural society itself, of the future of historical reality, or of all the achievements of civilization in the history of mankind, are recorded in books. There are other ways of carrying civilizations, but most of them are partial, superficial, and gradually dying. Only books are the most comprehensive, the most accurate, the most profound, and the most enduring. The British philosopher Popper did a thought experiment: if humanity suddenly encounters a disaster at some point, but the library is still there, then the achievements of human civilization will soon be restored; if the library is also gone, then the process of civilization recovery will be very long.
If machines are an extension of human physical ability, then books are an extension of thought and a source of wisdom. Reading is a cross-temporal dialogue with the ancient sages, and it is also a process of absorbing nutrients, broadening our horizons, changing our thinking, increasing our wisdom, and improving our literacy. Therefore, reading is the most precious, precious, noble, and beautiful spiritual activity. Power and money may bring you material satisfaction, while knowledge, culture and thought make us spiritual aristocrats. In Newton's words, it was "standing on the shoulders of giants."
This is true for one person, and it is even more true for a group, a people, a country. To be respected, the scientific and cultural quality of the people is very important, and they must have the ability to create more spiritual wealth for the progress of human civilization.
The reading function is manifested in at least three levels:
The first is to seek truth. What is the natural environment in which human beings live, what is the cosmic space? Why is that? What are the laws of existence and development of human society? What kind of mysteries and meanings are hidden in man himself...
These issues have been explored for thousands of years without interruption. This is based not only on the curious nature of human beings, but also on the needs of survival and development. Everyone wants to see the real world around them, not to be blinded by illusions, and even more to live in lies. Even a habitual liar will ask others to be honest with him. This is because lies and sin are twins; when blinded by illusions, the consequences are mostly disasters. Therefore, everyone wants to clarify the real situation, so it has become the eternal value orientation of human beings to clear the fog and pursue the truth. Human beings grow in the process of constantly seeking truth. A history of human civilization is a history of human truth-seeking.
The second is to seek goodness. Countless writers, artists, thinkers, scientists in history... Created a brilliant spiritual wealth. The general secretary mentioned 108 in his speech at the 2014 literary and art forum. Their ideological achievements shine through time and space, illuminating the voyage of mankind. While these most precious spiritual treasures are recorded in the annals of history, many of the evils that have occurred in human history have also been recorded, and of course they have been nailed to the pillar of historical shame.
The past does not forget the teacher of the future. Future generations should understand history through reading, distinguish between right and wrong through comparison, suppress evil and promote good, carry forward those excellent ideological and cultural achievements that are beneficial to promoting the progress of human civilization, choose the correct direction, and take those histories that have brought deep disasters to mankind as negative teaching materials.
The third is to seek beauty. Goodness is to make people discern between right and wrong, and not to bring chaos and disaster to society for one's own selfishness, which is the bottom line. Beauty is pursued at a higher level on the basis of goodness. Just like Yan Fu's Xindaya, Da is not enough, but also elegant, but also has color, taste, style, and realm.
In the treasure house of human knowledge, most scenes you can never visit, and most experiences you do not have the opportunity to feel. However, when you look up at the sky facing the sea, in the breeze, a bamboo chair, a cup of tea, a book, you can let your mind soar in the past 5,000 years, across the ninety thousand miles, to see all kinds of sages, to appreciate a variety of ideas, experience the vigorous life, and bring life perception and mental improvement, falling flowers and flowing water, autumn moon and spring breeze I forget twice, what a wonderful and comfortable thing!
To read effectively, pay attention to at least three points.
One is deep reading. All valuable thoughts are profound. The more valuable those great works and works passed down from generation to generation, the more their ideas are hidden in the depths and do not float on the surface of the text. If you want to know and understand those ideas that have insight into the essential meaning of society and human nature, you must study and excavate with your heart. Reading without thinking is a waste of time. Pretending to be absent-minded to do reading is difficult to have results. Rather than remembering it or forgetting it quickly, it is better to say that it has not been read at all. Especially in the era of digital civilization, all human beings live in the global village, and a message circles the earth seven and a half times a second. From the surface, everyone is immersed in the ocean of information every day, brushing vibrato all the time to see WeChat and accept overwhelming information. In fact, it is accompanied by a loss of depth: the depth of thought, the depth of cognition, the depth of emotion, the depth of interpersonal relationships, and the depth of work-learning. It is possible to get information at a glance and ten lines, but it is difficult to learn knowledge.
The second is independent reading. Autonomy is to have an opinion, have the ability to think and judge independently, be able to get rid of external interference, and not preconceived. Only by independent thinking and judgment and not being led by others can we understand the problem relatively objectively and have a clearer insight into ourselves. Stereotypes and prejudices can cast a shadow over our minds in advance.
Independence and autonomy will make our thinking gradually mature, neither self-righteous nor arrogant, neither imposed on others nor clouded. Therefore, having independent judgment is a sign of a sound personality. Otherwise, the mind will remain at the level of the giant baby forever. A person's reading history is his spiritual growth history.
With independent thinking in the shadows is loneliness. True reading is bound to have a sense of loneliness. Loneliness means freedom of the soul, and freedom of the soul is the core essence of reading. With a free soul, what is the noisy noise around you? Noh! Loneliness is the background of life. Those who can control and enjoy loneliness must be able-bodied thinkers.
The third is rational reading. An important feature of rationality is questioning, asking questions. One valuable question is worth 100 answers. Most people who have learned in the past and the present have the habit of making eyebrow criticisms. Eyebrow criticism is a process of "asking questions- researching- understanding- and understanding". Due to various limitations, every author cannot be perfect. Looking at the problem from a certain point of view, only a part of the truth can be revealed, or some part of the truth. True reading should be the collision of knowledge, culture and ideas on both sides of the subject and object, and the confrontation of vision, ability and cultivation. Reading works seems to be reading the author, but in fact it is reading oneself, examining one's mind, emotions, memories, and even soul. So it's often said that a thousand readers have a thousand Hamlets. Socrates said", "Man shall know himself", and Nietzsche said "Man shall be yourself". It can be seen that the exploration of the self is the constant pursuit of human beings for thousands of years. Only by going out of the "cave" can we know that the light exists. The significance of questioning lies in obtaining the nutrition and value of the work by stripping away the cocoon, extracting the essence, removing the false and storing the truth, and awakening one's life. A logical view reveals the essence of the truth in the voice of doubt, and leads to the truth; a view that is illogical or illogical is not far from a fallacy.
Questioning ability and critical thinking are signs of personality independence.
Finally, I would like to use a quote from Descartes to encourage you:
I think, therefore I am.
Green love heart language
Love is the soul of education,
There is no education without love.
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