On November 30th, the 2019 Rural Reading Ceremony in the New Era was held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, which was sponsored by the Publicity Department of the CPC and the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. The results of the “Looking for Rural Reading Models” were also announced at the ceremony. HNUST’s retired professor Xia Zhaoyan and his wife won the honorary title of “Rural Reading Model”.
After retiring, Professor Xia returned to his hometown, Youxian County, Zhuzhou, and sown the seed of rural culture in his county with his wife, Yang Lianjin. For more than ten years, Xia and his wife have set up farm libraries, opened lecture halls and established children’s holiday schools, greatly enriching the rural cultural life.
Xia said that the only thing he did after retirement is spreading culture in his hometown and he would not stop promoting culture, developing education and enriching villagers’ spiritual life in line with the development of economy.
It is reported that 20 Rural Reading Models were elected and appraised by a review team consisting of senior reading experts, among whom are new types of skilled farmers, grass-roots officials, rural librarians, rural entrepreneurs and home-going men of letters. These reading models carry forward the traditional Chinese culture of thriving a family through cultivation and reading. They take roots in their vast native land and create a good reading atmosphere in rural areas with concrete actions.
(Translated by Peng Jiayu and Lu Ziyao)
