——Speech at the opening ceremony of 2022 undergraduates
Wang Xiqin, President of Tsinghua University
Dear students and teachers:
Today, more than 3,000 new students have joined the Tsinghua family. On behalf of all the teachers, students and staff of the school, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations and warm welcome to you! And take this opportunity to extend cordial greetings and sincere thanks to the parents and teachers who nurture and nurture you and all sectors of society who care and support you!
You have spent almost three years in high school during the epidemic, and everyone has overcome many difficulties. Those days of studying at home must have left you with unforgettable memories. Today, there are still some students who are temporarily unable to come to the school due to the impact of the epidemic, but whether you are at the opening ceremony or not, a new stage of your life has already begun, and Tsinghua University has also added new vitality and vitality because of you. I hope that you will inherit the school motto of “unremitting self-improvement and great virtues”, carry forward the school spirit of “actions speak louder than words” and the study style of “rigorous, diligent, truth-seeking and innovative”, and practice the tradition of “patriotic dedication and pursuit of excellence”, To achieve “red, professional, all-round development”, and grow into a Tsinghua with a sound personality, a broad foundation, innovative thinking, a global vision and a sense of social responsibility.
Entering university is the beginning of your true independent life, and it is also the beginning of your independent face to society. The fast pace of life in modern society and fierce competition can easily make people forget their original intentions and perseverance in a hurry. The fragmentation and diversification of the online world makes it easy for people to wander in virtual space and ignore deep thinking and connection with the real world. In the face of such an environment, I hope that you will proceed from your heart, constantly improve yourself, establish a collective consciousness, have the courage to take responsibility, and keep in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping’s entrustment, “Let youth be in the unremitting struggle for the motherland, for the nation, for the people, and for humanity. blooming beautiful flowers”.
First, we must take ourselves as a mirror, recognize ourselves, and be careful only to cultivate morality. Prudence and independence refers to being prudent and conscientious when one is alone, abide by the inner moral principles, and be consistent in words and deeds, consistent in appearance and behavior, and noble in behavior. “Book of Rites. In The Doctrine of the Mean, it says, “Don’t see anything hidden, don’t show anything subtle, so the gentleman should be careful about his independence.” , the line has stopped. In 1943, on the day of his 45th birthday, Premier Zhou Enlai declined the refreshments and birthday celebrations everyone had prepared for him. He returned to the office alone, wrote “My Rules for Self-cultivation”, and asked himself to “step up his studies” and “pay attention to review and sorting.” “”correct one’s own shortcomings” “never be isolated from the masses”. Premier Zhou Enlai strictly demanded himself from time to time, everywhere, in everything, paid attention to every bit of self-cultivation, and only sought dedication without thinking of return, which created a great personality. Shen Du must be self-disciplined and self-respect, and also self-reflection and self-policing. People’s moral cultivation should be improved through continuous self-reflection, self-evaluation and self-improvement. Self-examination is like looking into a mirror. It is necessary to see one’s own strengths, but also to take a closer look at one’s own shortcomings. At the same time, it is also necessary to continuously deepen their own cognition in the interaction and cooperation with others, and to grasp their own current situation more rationally and objectively. When you first entered the university, you are in a stage of relatively large ideological development and changes, and it is also a critical period for the formation of world outlook, outlook on life, and values. Being cautious and diligent in self-examination is crucial to taking every step of life well. I hope you will cultivate the awareness and habit of introspection and self-learning, gradually form a clear self-awareness, and aim to pursue a higher, more realm, and more tasteful life.
Second, it is necessary to treat friends as friends and integrate into the collective, so that like-minded people can not be alone. The ancients said, “The same family is called a friend, and a comrade is called a friend”. Your college years will be spent in different groups such as dormitories, classes, and clubs. You should not only study and live together, but also form like-minded friends in the group. “The Analects of Confucius” has a saying: “Virtue is not alone, there must be neighbors.” Individual cultivation and collective construction are unified. The development of the collective is inseparable from the efforts of each member, and the collective character is jointly shaped by all individuals. The collective will give strength to the individual, and only in the collective can the individual achieve all-round development and individual development. Tsinghua University has always attached great importance to collective construction. Jiang Nanxiang, the old principal, regarded the formation of advanced collectives as “a step-by-step and vivid all-round development process of individuals and the whole class”, and emphasized that “individual solid efforts and collective self-education and care are complementary, not mutually exclusive.” This year, all the seniors of Class 602, Class 1960 of the Department of Engineering Physics are over 80 years old. They studied and exercised together in the Tsinghua University Garden, made a common aspiration of patriotism and dedication, and forged a profound friendship that lasted a lifetime. After leaving the campus, they went to the places where the motherland needed them most, and achieved fruitful results in their respective fields. They practiced the slogan of “strive to work healthily for the motherland for at least fifty years” with practical actions. A good group can enable people to cultivate character, learn tolerance, know how to cooperate, strengthen their aspirations, and encourage and support each other and make progress together in the future life path. I hope that you will inherit and carry forward the fine tradition of the school, actively integrate into the collective, build the collective, and grow better in the collective with like-minded partners.
Third, we must put people first and serve the people. The people are a larger collective with attributes that transcend time and space. We are all part of the people, and we must always adhere to the people-centered approach and stand firm for the people. Since its establishment, the Communist Party of China has always regarded seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation as its original mission, united and led the Chinese people to truly control their own destiny, successfully walked the path of Chinese-style modernization, and created a new form of human civilization. Tsinghua University was born when the country and the nation were in crisis, grew up in the progress of the country and the nation, and developed when the country and the nation were rejuvenated. Generations of Tsinghua people have worked tenaciously, dedicated themselves sincerely, and have always been at the forefront of national rejuvenation and the trend of the times. In 1975, the country needed a large number of engineers and technicians to urgently support the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. 150 fresh graduates of Tsinghua University took the initiative to invite the school, full of lofty ambitions to “smile in the plateau snowstorm, call Lhasa even Beijing”, overcame the harsh environment of high cold and hypoxia, and devoted themselves to the survey and design of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, engraving their youth in the snow. Domain “Road to Heaven”. There are always Tsinghua people in difficult places. Since 1998, successive Tsinghua postgraduate support groups have traveled to Qinghai, Tibet, Hunan, Yunnan and other regions to carry out educational poverty alleviation, supporting and helping more than 27,000 students, contributing to the victory of poverty alleviation in the western region. Go fast alone, go far in groups, a great cause requires generations of young people to work together. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that youth is the future of the country and the future of the world. I hope that you will shoulder the mission and shoulder the heavy responsibilities, integrate your personal self into the big self of the motherland and the people, and run the best results of contemporary youth on the youth track.
Be careful not to be alone, everyone can go far. Students, your new life journey has set sail. I hope that from the beginning of your schooling, you will bear the responsibility of the family and the country, strengthen your ideals and beliefs, temper your morality, cultivate strong skills, and integrate your own development into the great cause of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, starting from me, from now on Start, live up to the youth, live up to the times, live up to the people!