Canadian Solar: Reading the "Book of Uselessness" has accompanied me through the most painful times

Read with an open mind, and see both the trees and the forest.

Text: "Chinese Entrepreneur" reporter Kong Yuexin

Edited by Ma Jiying

Image source|video screenshot

As the founder, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, Qu Xiaohua has loved to read since she was a child. But after founding Canadian Solar in 2001, his time had to be allocated to a variety of professional or managerial books, what he calls "useful books".

In 2019, when Qu Xiaohua was 55 years old, he was paraplegic due to a car accident. After the accident, the "useless book" that he didn't have time to touch in the past became his "analgesic" and "cure", and he relieved his pain and gained inner peace by reading. During the course of his treatment, he went through this difficult time with books as his companion.

In his view, there is no such thing as "useful" or "useless" books, "reading with an open mind, seeing both trees and forests". In 2022, Qu Xiaohua opened a video account and also made the "Xiaohua Reading" column, which quickly gained a large number of traffic and fans.

On June 9, 2023, Canadian Solar was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. On the day of the listing, Qu Xiaohua, who was in a wheelchair, looked very eye-catching surrounded by executives. When the most ceremonial moment came, he slowly got up from his wheelchair and completed the bell-ringing ceremony with some difficulty.

On April 23, World Book Day, China Entrepreneur magazine held an event with the theme of "Every Day is a Reading Day", and Qu Xiaohua shared the inspiration brought to him by reading "useless books".

His main points are as follows:

1. The purpose and significance of reading can be roughly divided into two categories: one is "useful" reading, that is, the book has its own golden house, and the book has its own Yan Ruyu, which is an important way to do great things and become a master in ancient and modern China and abroad;

2. The "Book of Nothingness" can comfort the weak in adversity, and if it can also help them to work hard, it will be of great merit.

3. Some ideas are unreasonable, some people are unconvincing, we live in this world, we must take these ideas into account when making decisions, contact these people, and coexist with all these different ideas and different people. Reading will inadvertently and over time allow you to develop such an ability and develop such a character.

The following is Qu Xiaohua's narration, with deletions.

I think the purpose and significance of reading can be roughly divided into two categories: one is "useful" reading, that is, the book has its own golden house, and the book has its own Yan Ruyu, which is an important way to do great things and become a master in ancient and modern China and abroad;

Cai Lei and I are now physically weak, so reading has a healing and analgesic effect. The "Book of Nothingness" can comfort the weak in the face of adversity, and if it can also help them to work hard, it will do a great thing.

I want to tell you the story of me and reading. My parents were math teachers at Tsinghua University, and I was born and raised in Tsinghua Garden, which may be one of the reasons why I loved reading since I was a child.

In the era of "learning mathematics, physics and chemistry, I am not afraid to go all over the world", I chose to read physics, a "useful" book. From Tsinghua University to Canada, from bachelor's, master's to doctorate, I have been engaged in photovoltaic power generation business after graduation. In 2001, I returned to China to start my own business and founded Canadian Solar.

In the past 40 years, I have less and less time to read "useless books", and all I can squeeze out some time to read are "useful books" and the study of the world, in order to find a bowl of rice to eat and solve practical problems.

Canadian Solar's photovoltaic track is responsible for the sustainable development of mankind and has a bright future, but it has been full of ups and downs along the way, and it is currently at the bottom of a new cycle in the industry. This is the fourth wave of the PV industry in the past 28 years.

However, Canadian Solar, led by me, a "science and engineering man", performed okay when the industry was impacted. The reason for this is that I read "useful books" that allow me to understand where technology is headed, and at the same time have the management and financial knowledge necessary to run a company.

Be cautious in good times and be relatively calm in adversity. In 2019, during the May Day holiday, I wanted to go to the Alxa Desert in Inner Mongolia to plant trees and grass for public welfare, and at the same time, I also took the opportunity to visit Canadian Solar's desert photovoltaic power station in Ningxia.

For the first month or so after the surgery, I had tubes in my mouth and nose, and later I had an "air incision" in my throat, so I couldn't sit up or speak. To pass the long days and nights of more than 1,000 hours, my family got me an iPad and I started listening.

This time, I picked all "useless books", such as Jin Yong's martial arts masterpieces "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "Book of Swords and Enmity", and Liu Cixin's science fiction books "The Wandering Earth" and "Bring Her Eyes".

Here, I would like to introduce the book "Bring Her Eyes" in particular. This story is about human beings who want to explore the center of the earth in addition to exploring space. In the novel, "she" is the ground pilot of the underground exploration ship Sunset 6, which has an accident and falls into the center of the earth at a depth of 6,800 km, where there is a sea of liquid iron and nickel with a pressure of 1,600 tons per square centimeter and a high temperature of 5,000 °C. And "she" is the only survivor.

The so-called "eyes" are actually a pair of sensing glasses. When you put it on, everything you see is emitted by UHF information waves and can be picked up by another person with the same sensor in the distance, so that he can see everything you see, just as you have with his eyes. After "she" saw the outside world through someone else's eyes for the last time, neutrino communication was also interrupted, and she was enclosed in solitude forever in the center of the earth.

The novel was extremely short and could be read in half an hour, but it struck a chord with my heartstrings. At that time, I thought that it was not only "her" who was closed to the center of the earth, but also me.

There are so many places I want to see, and I can't go now. Tibet's sacred mountain, Kailash, the world's highest peak Everest, the great migration of animals from the Antarctic continent and the African grassland, if any of you want to go, can you also bring my eyes?

Since then, my action of reading "useless books" has been unstoppable, including heaven and earth, ancient and modern Chinese and foreign geography, science fiction biographies, children's picture books, martial arts fairy, and tomb robbery. After reading a book, I wrote a short essay on my personal impressions, recorded a video and shared it with you on the Internet, and has shared 28 articles so far.

I shared Cai Lei's book "Believe", which describes his 5-year struggle against ALS, including pain, confusion, despair, and hard work, great love and dreams.

Cai Lei was diagnosed with ALS in September 2019, and I was injured in May 2019 resulting in high paraplegia. We've been battling injuries for about as long. My fight against high paraplegia is a battle on the plains, a long road with no end in sight. ALS is a life-threatening terminal disease, and his struggle is an even more difficult attack. On December 31, 2023, I gave a New Year's Eve speech at Suzhou TV, and my title was "Believe: The Power of Believing".

While the "Useless Book" has helped me to relieve my pain and heal, it has also allowed me to make more friends and have common topics with all kinds of people from all walks of life.

As for "useful books", especially books on natural sciences and technology, it is necessary to read them intensively and get to the bottom of them. For the "useless book", you can browse and dabble in it extensively.

Read with an open mind, and see both the trees and the forest. You don't have to easily dismiss ideas that you don't understand or agree with, and you can smile at ideas that you don't agree with at all.

There are all kinds of people in the world, and there are all kinds of ideas. There are some ideas that you can understand, and some you can persuade. But some ideas are just unreasonable, and some are just unconvincing. We live in this world, and we still have to take these ideas into account when making decisions, reach out to these people, and live with all these different ideas and different people. Reading will inadvertently and over time allow you to develop such an ability and develop such a character.