With your youthful energy, you can create a country of youth and a nation of youth.
--Speech given by Xi Jinping to outstanding young representatives from all walks of life, May 4, 2013
Creating a Country of Youth with Youthful Energy
--Making the best use of our youth
In 1916, Vol. 2-1 of Shanghai's La Jeunesse (New Youth) published "Youth," a magnificent work by Li Dazhao that signified the start of a new era. In this essay, he called for "using youthful energy to create youthful families, a youthful country, a youthful nation, a youthful humanity, a youthful world, and a youthful universe in joyfully offering your limitless life." This was written in the spring of 1916 when China faced disaster as Yuan Shikai stole the fruits of the 1911 Revolution. Even though Li Dazhao was in Japan at the time, his heart was in his homeland. He shut himself away and devoted himself to composing this essay. Today, this poem remains a shining work of art that inspires youth to keep on fighting and make great contributions.
On the May Fourth Youth Day holiday of 2013, when Xi Jinping met youth representatives from all walks of life, he quoted this line to inspire everyone and show the great hope he places in the country's youth.
The youth are the future of the country no matter what era it is. In "The Young China," Liang Qichao wrote, "Wise youth make for a wise country, well-off youth make for a well-off country, strong youth make for a strong country, independent youth make for an independent country, free youth make for a free country, progressive youth make for a progressive country, youth who surpass Europe make for a country that can surpass Europe, and youth who are among the best in the world make for a country among the best in the world."
The CPC has had a close relationship with all youth since the day of its founding. Development of Party causes is inseparable from the youth, and the healthy development of the youth is inseparable from the Party. The modern transformation of the Chinese nation also proves that "when the youth prosper the country prospers and when the youth are strong the country is strong." After China was reduced into a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society, millions of energetic youth called far and wide for rescuing the country and revitalizing China, actively exploring principles and paths to that end. The start of the May Fourth Movement signified that China's youth had become the vanguard of the Chinese people in the struggle against imperialism and feudalism. After the establishment of the CPC, the idealistic revolutionary youth charged forward in the struggle led by the Party for national independence and liberation of the people. They laid down their lives in their outstanding contribution to achieving victory in China's revolution.
The establishment of the People's Republic of China opened a new world for the youth to grow in. China's legions of youth labored selflessly for the socialist cause. Their enterprise, contributions, and outstanding achievements served to protect and build the New China. As Mao Zedong said in the 1950s when meeting young intellectuals: "The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the last analysis, it is yours. You young people, full of vigor and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning. Our hope is placed on you."
Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, the Party provided a broad space for China's youth, and in particular its intellectuals, to become the pillars of economic development and social progress. The youth shouted out the call of the era to unite and revive China and threw themselves into reform and the building process. They united to progress on all fronts, working hard, seeking out new opportunities, and contributing to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
As the waves on the Yangtze River push those in front of them, the young will take over for the old in the world. After Deng Xiaoping stepped back from the leadership in the early 1990s, he sincerely urged the Party's third generation of core leaders: "More young people must be...allowed to grow. When they reach maturity, we shall rest easy." After that, central leaders such as Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao stressed over and over the importance that "winning over the youth means winning over the future." When people started saying that the "80s generation" was a "lost generation" or "disintegrating generation," the leaders said, "Facts have shown that the Chinese youth who have grown up over the great course of reform and opening up are worth our complete trust and are up to the task."
It is true of every era that the youth are in their prime and nimble in their thinking. They are the group with the most energy, creativity, and vitality in society, quick to adapt to new things. They always lead the way when it comes to new fashions. But at the same time, the youth lack worldly experience and the taste of failure. Therefore, in order to keep on innovating, one must have the spirit of never giving up and boldly moving forward as well as the attitude of exploring the truth and seeking the facts. To become the pillars of society, the youth not only must gain solid professional knowledge and capabilities, but also must fully recognize China's situation in a complex social and international environment. This will give them an advantage in scientifically driving development. They need to be able to both better adapt to society and take on the responsibility for leading social advancement. With this belief, China's youth will apply their knowledge, employ their talents, and realize their life worth as they realize achievements worthy of the era and the people on the stage of national rejuvenation.
(An excerpt from XI JINPING: WIT AND VISION -- SELECTED QUOTATIONS AND COMMENTARY, published by FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESS in 2015)
