[People's Daily] Chen Xiaohong, President of HUTB and CAE Academician: I Become More Certain of My Dream after Reading These Books
2020-05-26
I remember that from junior high school, I would walk for more than 20 minutes to school for self-study at first light no matter the wind and snow, and other students often called me“the woman like the wind".
The reason why I go so fast is that I make full use of every minute to study. In that hard-won era, the opportunity to read was extremely rare, and the thirst for knowledge affected the learning of our generation: we studied very hard and believed that we should read for promoting the growth of China.
From studying and visiting in Central South University and Tokyo Institute of Technology, to becoming a scholar, a president and a CAE Academician... my engagement in scientific research, participation in the construction of“two-oriented society”in Hunan, promotion of the spanning development of HUTB, and provision of suggestions for the economic and social development and policies are related to the teachings of my parents and the books I read that year.
01
My parents are intellectuals. There are many kinds of books at home. What they told my sister and me most was reading. From childhood, we have grown up in the South Community of Xiangya Hospital. It is a very pleasant thing to study in the environment of golden glazed tiles and red and white walls.
The book How the Steel Was Temperedis a gift from my father. After receiving, I was fond of the book very much, used the newspaper to wrap it, and put it on the bedside to read every night.
It was very cold in winter night, but it could not affect my passion for reading this book. Sometimes I read it while eating little Hunan chili sauce, and there was sweat on my forehead, but my thought always followed the protagonist“Pavel". His fate made me not only forget the cold, but also felt full of power.
It was late when I read the passage that“Pavel bid farewell to Tonya, fled his hometown and joined the Red Army", and I had classes the next day, but I could not sleep when I was lying in bed. I kept thinking: what would happen to Pavel after he joined the Red Army? What new setbacks and difficulties would he encounter?
This is the charm of a good book.
Certainly, in addition to the attractable story in this book, his indestructible will and spiritual power also shocked me.
Pavel was seriously wounded in the battle, unable to fight on the front line, and was assigned to provide the rear services. This was a blow to a real soldier. But he did not get depressed. Instead, he worked harder and more selflessly. He got cold when repairing the railway, and nearly lost his life. After recovering, he immediately rushed to the front line and stuck to his post. When reading here, I cheered Pavel in my heart.
However, Pavel was paralyzed due to such new and old wounds. I was sad for him, and thought why the fate was so unfair to him. But Pavel continued to work on his new job - writing novels. When reading here, I could not describe my mood at this time!
His spirit and will could not be crushed. In the face of the great pain caused by diseases, he chose to overcome it with a smile. This reminded me of a poem by Tagore:“The world has kissed my soul with its pain, asking for its return in songs.”
After reading this book, I set Pavel as an example. For a long time, some sentences in the book would come to my mind, such as“The tragedy of life, is to stop the struggle";“Common cause; the common struggle, can make people put up with all the power generated";“Happiness, is to create a new life"...
I then read the book again, and bought a book specially to copy the wonderful sentences.
Especially, the most classic sentence:“Man's dearest possession is life, and it is given to him to live but once. He must live so as to feel no torturing regrets for years without purpose, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past--so live that, dying, he can say: all my life, all my strength were given to the finest cause in all over the world--the fight for the liberation of mankind.”
02
In addition to Pavel, I also admire Madame Curie.
After reading The Story of Madame Curiein junior high school, her quality, spirit and attitude also deeply affect me.
I admire not only her great scientific achievements, but also her enthusiasm and tenacity in overcoming difficulties under unimaginable extremely difficult circumstances. It can be said that she is my“idol”and lays a foundation for my dream of becoming a scientist in the future.
Later, when I read the stories of Loo-Keng Hua, Hsue-shen Tsien, Chen Jingrun, Deng Jiaxian and other scientists, I have learned that scientific research relies not only on bold intuition, but also on the spirit of bearing hardships, perseverance and persistent pursuit of bravely scaling new heights.
Their experience has become a light for me in the face of difficulties.
I'm absorbed in my study. Sometimes I think about a topic“very selfless". In winter, I was even not aware of the cold water for washing feet. It is because of this diligence and hard work that I entered university at the age of 16 and began to study for a master's degree in management at the age of 20. Later, I would like to be a scientist even more when studying and visiting in Central South University and Tokyo Institute of Technology.
We are able to contribute to the country with our own scientific research. I think this sense of achievement is far greater than any honor.
During the work, I did not flinch, but chose to stick to and resolutely move forward when independently developing the management information system of enterprises and mines in the 1980s, taking a car alone for several days and nights to investigate in remote mines, losing the baggage, or experiencing extremely difficult conditions and other situations. I believe that“God rewards the diligent", and“An educated gentleman cannot but be resolute and broad-minded, for he has taken up a heavy responsibility and a long course.”
I think if I can complete two-day things in one day, I will outlive others by a lifetime.
Thinking back now, one of the most important reasons why I grew up to be who I am today is that strong and striving factors have been infiltrated into my personality under the influence of books, and I am eager to contribute to the society.
03
The most fundamental and powerful driving force of Pavel and Madame Curie is to realize their value of life in the cause of contributing to the society and promoting the social progress. Their spiritual value and influence are not limited by the time.
Inspired by this spirit, I still tackled key problems in the fields of decision-making theory and decision support system, SME financing, construction of“two-oriented society”and industrial integration of Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan when serving as the Dean of Business School of Central South University. My achievements won the second prize of National Prize for Progress in Science and Technology, and were affirmed and approved by Zhu Rongji, the then Prime Minister. Together with the team, we took the lead in putting forward the concept of“Hexi Leading District (now Xiangjiang New Area)", which promoted Xiangjiang New Area to be the first national new area in the central region. In addition, we also built discipline of“Management Science and Engineering”into a national key discipline, and we were awarded with the“Innovation team of Changjiang Scholars”by the Ministry of Education, and NSFC Innovation Research Group, etc.
Inspired by this spirit, when serving as the Deputy Director of provincial“two-oriented society", I organized to formulate 106 original reforms, design 16“two-oriented”project standards and 18 energy conservation and emission reduction standards, fill in the blank of the“two-oriented”project management standard system, prepare a series of green development plans, systems and reform programs, complete a number of national major projects such as the innovation of ecological civilization system and mechanism, and formed a large number of replicable two-oriented reform experiences, which have explored the path for construction of ecological civilization in Hunan and even the whole country. It has been highly praised as the“Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan model”for the construction of two-oriented society by relevant national ministries and commissions. The monograph written around“two-oriented”won the first prize of excellent achievements in the humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education.
Furthermore, from serving the President of HUTB, I have insisted on demand driven and problem oriented, led the team to carry out in-depth research in the fields of ecological civilization and green development, new generation information technology, and smart city construction, etc., and have been selected as“Global Highly Cited Researchers”for two consecutive years. Numerous achievements have been applied and implemented to promote the social development. Based on the idea of“five first-class”and“new technology + new business", I not only strived to promote leapfrog development of HUTB, but also focused on the continuous innovation and breakthroughs in big data, AI, blockchain, IoT, VR and other fields, so as to promote the relevant disciplines to become the national key ones, and promote young scholars to grow rapidly.
From beginning to end, I strive to be an innovative and practical scholar, to carry out“indomitable”research, to be a good educator, and to cultivate innovative talents with both ability and political integrity. I have a deep love for education, which comes from my parents and books I read that year. This also creates my dream!
04
Today, there are many people like Pavel and Madame Curie. For example, Huawei shows the spirit of bearing hardships and self-reliance in the face of the overall crackdown of the United States... Contemporary China needs the spirit of“atomic and hydrogen bombs and man-made satellite", the spirit of struggle, the spirit of iron man, the spirit of Long March and the spirit of innovation.
Lu Yao said in The Ordinary World:“There are only a few key steps in the life of man, especially when he is young."“In fact, everyone's life is a world. Even the most ordinary people have to fight for the world they live in.”
These words are simple and nice. I would like to recommend this book, known as“the Pearl of Maodun Literature Prize", to you. From this book, you can understand the hardships of the author during the creation. Like Ma Yun, you can“see hope and change your life”from the experience of Lu Yao and his book.
Just like the sentence of“wisdom in hold, elegance in mold", the book you read would eventually become your temperament and accomplishment, illuminating the road ahead. I believe that you can become more confident, notable and dignified in your reading and study.
You should regard excellence, diligence and civilization as a habit, seek spiritual nourishment in excellent books and cultivate the hobby of reading, which will benefit you in your lifetime.
I hope that you can make friends with good books, study hard, have a positive heart, love life, cherish the patriotism and great dreams, and play a valuable role in the struggle and dedication.
Source: [People's Daily] Client Wechat Official Account of“The Power, Hunan”
