The autumn, the new start
On September 4, together with students at the Wu-si Sports Field in Beijing, all new students of Peking University (PKU) Shenzhen Graduate School attended the 2022 PKU Opening Ceremony online. Under the requirements of epidemic prevention and control, students were organized and assigned to different venues. The main venue was the Moot Court located at the School of Transnational Law, where a total of 42 student representatives from various schools showed up. The rest watched the ceremony inside their dormitory. AN Xiaopeng, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of PKU Shenzhen Graduate School, also attended the ceremony in the main venue.
The flag raised, the anthem played
At the very start of the ceremony, performances includingOde to the Red Flag andWan Jianglighted up the atmosphere. After a series of warm-up programs that integrated symphony, recitation, drama, magic show, singing and dancing came the loud and majestic national anthem. The national flag was raised as faculties and students at PKU Shenzhen stood solemnly.
Message from President: To be a new youth
GONG Qihuang, President of Peking University, congratulated all the new students on realizing their dreams and starting a new chapter at PKU:“Welcome to Peking University!” He encouraged the students to shoulder the responsibility of building a strong country as young relay runners.
Our fellow students did remind me of myself in 1979 when I just entered the university. That was a time when China was full of the spring tide of reform and opening up. Our generation craved to master skills that can be useful in the construction of the country. With more than four decades of hard work, we have successfully built a moderately prosperous society in all respects and have sounded the call of building a great modern socialist country. The next 20 to 30 years are in your hands and you will be the one to write the grand chapter of the Chinese dream. PKU’s baton of“taking the world as one’s own duty” has already been handed to you.
XI Jinping, the General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, once pointed out that the realization of the Chinese dream is a historical relay race, and the contemporary youth should contribute bravely to national rejuvenation. In 1981, the youth of Peking University shouted out the strong voice:“Let us unite for national rejuvenation” on the Yanyuan campus. Forty years later, upon the Party’s centennial in 2021, the youth of PKU took the oath:“The Party can be assured that our youth will be there for the strong country” in the Tian’anmen Square. I do hope that our fellow students, as the newcomers to Yanyuan, can always remember their original mission and forge ahead, to finish the relay race for youth and be there for the strong country.
Under the topic“to be the new youth”, President GONG Qihuang put forward four hopes.
To be a new youth, one must be patriotic, determined to study for the country
Mr. HUANG Kun, a great master of China’s Semiconductor Physics, lived neither for fame nor wealth, but only for contributing to the country and revitalizing the nation. In 1951, he gave up the great opportunity to develop himself abroad and returned to his beloved motherland. As a professor in the Department ofPhysics at Peking University, he participated in the formulation of the firstScientific and Technological Development Prospect Plan of the People’s Republic of China, established the first Semiconductor Physics major, and has contributed greatly to the development of China’s semiconductor industry. Even today, his patriotic dedication is still a banner of the PKU spirit, encouraging and leading all faculties and students to break through the bottleneck of technologies in our country.
I hope that our fellow students will actively incorporate their feelings and sentiments about the country into their blood, turn them into actions, take the national development as their motivation for study, and take the duty of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and national rejuvenation as their lifelong mission.
To be a new youth, one must be pragmatic, learn the skills to take on important responsibilities
The spirit of being“diligent, precise, realistic, and innovative” is necessary for pursuing knowledge and practicing true skills. Mr. DENG Guangming, former Dean of the History Division at Peking University, once took“to learn extensively and never be satisfied” as his lifelong credo. He has great academic achievements and was honored as“the first person of Song Dynasty History worldwide in the 20th century”. With the continuous exploration and thinking of historical materials, he has repeatedly and substantially revised the six most important works in his life. Among them,Biography of Yue Fei was rewritten twice and the bookWang Anshi was revised and rewritten three times, which took him more than 40 years. I hope that our fellow students will strive to pursue this spirit of excellence, to learn and practice with a strong thirst for knowledge and a passionate heart for exploration.
I hope that our fellow students can always have the correct academic attitude, learn steadfastly, and work diligently, so as to make no waste of their college life and learn the real skills.
To be a new youth, one must possess a relentless spirit, undaunted by repeated setbacks
Taikonaut WANG Yaping, China’s first“space teacher”, has taken the very first step by Chinese women in the outer space. But at the same time, she is also a PKU student who graduated from the School of Journalism and Communication and is now pursuing her Ph.D. at the School of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences. On the way to the sky, she encountered one after another self-challenges. In the centrifuge program, her body was overloaded by 8 G’s (8 times the normal gravitational force)which caused facial deformation and breathing difficulties. In the underwater program, she has spent five to six hours training ten meters below the surface. It is exactly this tenacity that has enabled her to realize her dream of flying to the sky.
Many of our new students have also overcome different kinds of difficulties including COVID-19. They have pursued their dreams with perseverance, achieved great academic results, and become strong persons in their lives. I hope that facing no matter what setbacks in the future, our fellow students can forge ahead bravely, to build and develop their ambition, moral integrity, and self-confidence through every one of the difficulties and challenges.
To be a new youth, one must possess an inclusive mindset, embracing diversity
Our fellow students came from different parts of the world, yet here we are, united at Peking University; this is destiny. On the way forward, your peers would be your like-minded partners as PKU brings together the best students in China and even in the world. I hope that our fellow students can learn from each other, and be good at finding and absorbing others’ strengths to make up for their own weaknesses.
In 1916, Mr. LI Dazhao once noted in one of his famous articlesYouth that young people should contribute to“advancing civilization for the world and creating happiness for mankind”. Currently, the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, because of which civilized harmony and common prosperity should be greatly promoted. PKU is an important bridge for exchanges between China and the rest of the world. Its students, both Chinese and overseas, are the link between China and the world. I hope that our fellow students can get along with each other, and understand different cultures through sincere exchanges, so as to better understand China and the world and build a better tomorrow for the international community!
The new chapter to realize dreams
Then, all new students armed themselves with the PKU emblem. Over the past hundreds of years, the emblem has always been a great embodiment of the history and traditional spirit of the university. From then on, the PKU spirit would be integrated into the blood of these new“family members”. At the end of the ceremony, faculty members and students at PKU Shenzhen Graduate School, together with those at the Wu-si Sports Field, together performedthe songYan Yuan Qing.
The Opening Ceremony came to a successful end with the enthusiasm and passion of faculties and students captured by cameras. Here, we wish the new PKU students can walk forward hand in hand under the Boya Pagoda and the Wu-si Tower, ride the waves alongside the Weiming Lake and the Mirror Lake, and write abrand-new chapter that will live up to the expectations of the country!
Article by WANG Hui
Translation by YAN Yuchen
Edited by FONG Tsz Hei and WANG Shunlun
Photos by WANG Lin
