PKU-DSLLH 29th was held on the evening of December 30th at the Dashui Lake Theatre. Professor Cheng Yuzhui from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of Peking University, a doctoral supervisor, was invited to give a special lecture on Classical Poetry and Humanistic Spirit. Nearly 300 people attended the lecture on site, and the new media platform attracted a total of 218,000 people to listen to the lecture online.
At the lecture, Professor Cheng "used time as a thread and the Yellow river as a guide", following the long river of history and the geographical coordinates, sorting out the thousand-year evolution of Chinese poetry and deeply explain the humanistic spirit values contained in The Book of Songs, The Songs of Chu, Jian'an poetry, Six Dynasties poetry, Tang poetry and poems expressing homesickness.
During the lecture, Professor Cheng delivered many memorable quotes: from the lament in Long Song that "All rivers flow east to the sea, when will they return west again", he associated it with the nourishing of civilization by the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, and drew the life lesson that "one should have a head start in life and not be a marathon runner in doing things". He used Cao Cao's The Sea with the lines "The sun and the moon seem to rise from within it" to illustrate the broad-mindedness of "embracing the universe", and derived the educational advice that "only with a broad mind can one achieve great things, and having virtue does not necessarily mean having gains". He praised the selfless love of mothers through Meng Jiao's Song of the Parting Son, and compared it with stories like Gray Lanterns, highlighting the purity of "maternal love is the greatest love in the world", and advocated "repay a drop of water with a spring, and a spring with a sea". He emphasized that only when a person learns to be grateful and repay kindness does it mean that his personality begins to be complete.
During the two-hour passionate lecture, Professor Cheng Yuzui, with just himself, a pen and a whiteboard, presented the thousand-year-old poems in a gentle and flowing manner. His profound academic foundation and deep understanding of classical poetry vividly revealed the brilliant humanistic treasures in Chinese classical poetry. From family ethics and sincere friendship to the responsibility for the country and the contemplation of the universe, he led the audience into the vast spiritual realm carried by classical poetry. Professor Cheng was witty and humorous, drawing applause and laughter from the audience, igniting their love for classical poetry and deepening their confidence and recognition of Chinese excellent traditional culture.
During the interactive session, the audience actively asked questions on topics such as "the uniqueness of Tao Yuanming compared to his contemporaries" and "classical poems recommended for young people to read". During the lecture, Professor Chengspontaneously created a couplet "Facing the sea, facing the great lake, Dishui Lake, a famous lake", expressing his deepest blessings and expectations for the Lingang Science and Technology City.
Yan Yijun, the second-level inspector and the Party Secretary of the Party Committee of Lin-gang Special Area Administration (LSAA), attended the lecture and presented a commemorative plaque to Professor Cheng.
Before the event, Professor Cheng visited PKU-IICSH on site, toured the Party and Mass Service Center on the first floor, and gave kind guidance on the development of the center.
PKU-DSLLH is a series of lectures initiated by PKU-IICSH, jointly with the Office of Science and Technology Development and Office of Humanities Social Sciences, Peking University under the initiative and support of LSAA. It is deeply involved by units such as Peking University Press and the Peking University Alumni Association. Relying on Peking University's profound academic accumulation and expert resources in the fields of humanities and social sciences, it focuses on economic development, humanistic art, and social governance.
Since August 2023, the center has invited a well-known professor or expert from Peking University to the new area every month to give special lectures and have in-depth exchanges with the builders of the new area, promoting the aggregation of high-quality humanities and social science resources from Peking University in Lingang, effectively enhancing the cultural image and urban competitiveness of the Lingang Special Area, and better meeting the diverse and high-quality spiritual and cultural needs of the people. The Peking University Dashi Lake Lecture Hall has become an important cultural brand activity in the Lingang Special Area, allowing every Lingang striver to release their youthful passion, pursue their youthful dreams, and achieve all-round development in the nourishment of culture, and outlining a richer cultural texture and injecting stronger spiritual strength into the Young City for the Youth.
