"United Front Man in the New Era" Yang Yi: Cohesion and Persistence in Guarding the "Urban Cultural Living Room"

The picture shows Yang Yi, a non-partisan person. Courtesy of respondents

　　"Non-partisan personages are an important force in China's political life and have unique practical value and distinct functional advantages in China's multi-party cooperation." Recently, Yang Yi, an advanced figure without party affiliation in Chongqing's Nan'an District and the founder of Jingdian Bookstore, said in an interview that since the establishment of Jingdian Bookstore in 1998, Jingdian Bookstore has been the "main battlefield" of his united front cause.

　　Yang Yi said: It is necessary to clarify the mission of non-party personages, actively perform their functions and play their roles, and earnestly shoulder their political responsibilities as witnesses, practitioners, defenders, and defenders of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

　　Guarding the "spiritual home" of a city

　　There is a sentence on the wall of the classic bookstore, "The bookstore should be the spiritual home of a city, the refuge of the soul, the ideal station." Yang Yi said that in the bookstore, you can listen to lectures and read books... Here the reader can find the spiritual space of a city, which is his lifelong pursuit.

　　At present, with the rise of e-commerce and the birth of various "punch card" bookstores, the development of the physical bookstore industry is facing challenges. How does Jingdian Bookstore break through? In Yang Yi's view, he does not care too much about the business model of the development of physical bookstores, "bookstores should read books quietly."

　　"Bookstores have the characteristics of not having to pay for consumption, and from a certain point of view, it is also a public welfare undertaking." Yang Yi said that during the winter and summer vacations, as soon as the bookstore opened, many parents brought their children to the bookstore, ate at noon, and returned to the bookstore. Consumption, but do not have to pay, so bookstores naturally have a public welfare.

　　Although the bookstore loses money year after year, Yang Yi does not think so. He believes that it is far more important to make more people love to read and change their fate than to make money. He told reporters that the Jingdian Bookstore holds at least fifty to one hundred lectures every year, goes into schools, communities and even prisons, and spreads throughout all levels of society, with the purpose of influencing more people.

　　"There was a boss who used to come once a week, for a while every day, and his temper was particularly big, scolding the salesman to avoid him. Once he specifically apologized, saying that his lover had died, and that time was very irritable, and only the classic reading could be quieted down, and he read it for three months. Yang Yi said that reading can affect many people, many people in the career setbacks, is to read to accompany him to spend, out of the predicament, the bookstore is the ideal station.

　　Book selection is related to the expression of bookstore values

　　"'Son, Chongqing has also found cases of infection with the new coronavirus pneumonia, you must not go out these days, do you have a mask? I've stockpiled hundreds of them here, and I've sent you an expedited courier? My mom's voice was shaking on the phone, and I kept reassuring her that she was okay. One reader recalled this scene at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. The reason why he is so calm is precisely because of the Classic Bookstore.

　　At the end of 2019, the annual good book list, Jingdian Bookstore pushed two books, one called "Virus Planet" and the other called "Why We Are Not Dead - A Roaming Record of the Human Immune System".

　　"These two books have been pushed for less than a month, the new crown virus outbreak, and everyone who has read these two books is very grateful to me, because after reading these books, you know what the virus is, you know how to deal with the virus, and you will not be afraid of ignorance." Yang Yi was very pleased to talk about this.

　　"Book selection is related to the expression of bookstore values. Whether a book should be recommended or not, it must be personally reviewed by me, which is not an easy thing. Yang Yi said that as a space medium, we always carefully select good books that are beneficial to society and enlighten the people, carry forward the core values of socialism and carry forward the positive energy of society.

　　In March this year, Jingdian Bookstore launched the "Between Hope and Fear, We Read" theme book fair, exhibiting many books about "plague" and "vaccines", the purpose of which is to smash the rumors of bad self-media on the Internet and establish a correct understanding.

　　The more people face the unknown, the more they will have doubts, confusion, and fear. Yang Yi said that instead of holding the mentality of asking others, it is better to immerse yourself in reading, and in all kinds of books in ancient and modern China and abroad, with thinking, you will always find the right direction.

　　Through the careful selection of classic books and the long-term holding of celebrity cultural salons, Jingdian Bookstore has influenced the reading habits of a whole generation of Chongqing people, so it is affectionately called "the big study of the city" and "Chongqing cultural landmark" by the majority of book lovers, and was awarded "Asia's Top Ten Cultural Landmark Bookstores" in 2017.

　　Yang Yi believes that using reading to unite "book sellers" and "book readers", build consensus, and make contributions to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation together is the best way to do a good job in united front work.

　　As a member of the CPPCC Committee of Chongqing Nan'an District, Yang Yi also served as a member of the CPPCC National Committee for the deliberation of proposals. He hoped that as a non-partisan person, he would be able to stick to the "urban cultural living room" of bookstores and do his best to make due contributions to consolidating and developing the broadest patriotic united front, disseminating Chinese voices, and telling Chinese stories well. (Huang Weizheng)