□ Wu Lichuan
On March 16th, the activity to commemorate the 667th anniversary of Fang Xiaoru’s death was held in Nanjing. Fang Chengjian, a descendant of Fang Xiaoru and director of Fang Xiaoru Research Center, and nearly 100 experts, scholars and college students attended the seminar, and the author was also invited to participate. At the meeting, an initiative was issued: March 16 will be regarded as the Chinese Reading Festival. In recent years, many experts and scholars have made this initiative, which has aroused concern.
At a time when World Reading Day is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and reading by the whole people has become a common practice, why should we advocate the establishment of a "Chinese Reading Festival"? According to Professor Zhao Yinglin, a research expert in Fang Xiaoru, various reading festivals have different depths and connotations. Today, people still read too little. Promoting the establishment of "Chinese Reading Festival" will help guide more people to read more and read good books. Wang Zhenyu, a national first-class writer and deputy editor-in-chief of Phoenix Media Publishing Group, said at the meeting that reading is not about thinking about the past, but about Ming Dow and Ming events.
Obviously, every reading activity that advocates reading more and reading good books has the connotation of "giving roses to others". Promoting the establishment of "Chinese Reading Festival" with integrity and responsibility as the core can add new elements and strength to reading activities and themes.
With the current reading atmosphere, it is undoubtedly important to increase the proportion of "scholars" and increase the per capita reading index. The data shows that in 2022, the average reading volume of paper books for Chinese adults was 4.78, far below the level of developed countries. Mr. Qian Zhongshu said, "If you don’t study, you will only be a postman if you go to Wan Li Road.". It is self-evident that it is necessary to get the nutrition for personal growth through reading and nourish the soul of a society with books. As a matter of fact, it is only when you know the book that you can reach the ceremony. In reality, the source of many disputes is that you don’t know the book and don’t reach the ceremony. The result of replacing "speaking well" with rudeness is that when something happens, people are overwhelmed by "volume" rather than persuaded by reason.
However, it is more important to study Ming Dow and understand major events, and it should be emphasized. It is an indisputable fact that reading a book does not necessarily make you Ming Dow. The more books you read, the more confused you become, and the more unreasonable you read, which is the performance of some "scholars". In some hot events in recent years, it is regrettable that some scholars can’t distinguish right from wrong, but stand on the platform of fallacy and endorse it. This shows that we should not only improve the quantity of reading, but also improve the quality of reading, be good at condensing nutrients from good books, enrich and improve ourselves, and strive to form a correct three views.
It is a kind of cultivation to read more good books, understand the twists and turns of right and wrong, and gain insight into the darkness in big and small matters. Such a strong reading atmosphere will reduce unnecessary disputes and make it easier to resonate on right and wrong issues.
Reading is never just reading. "Smelling the chicken and dancing" is not only a spiritual portrayal of the reader, but also a "guide to action" for the reader. After reading a book, I have to do something. It should be a pursuit of scholars to achieve self with concrete actions, and even to make contributions to the country and the people.
Reading should not be utilitarian, but should be structured. This pattern is reflected in whether we can do more beneficial things and practical things in combination with reality and complete the later stage of the system of "reading and doing things".
