Classmates, you have no choice.

Classmates, you have no choice.

------------President Xu Zhihong's speech at Peking University's 2008 graduation ceremony

Teachers, classmates,

Parents and friends, distinguished guests,

Hello everyone!

Peking University has gone through 110 years of hard work, and the best Chinese intellectuals from generation to generation have gone from here to the world. As the principal of Peking University, I am also very fortunate. Together with the teachers and students, I have experienced the fastest growing and most stable period in the history of Peking University. Our international reputation has also been continuously improved. I have been back to my alma mater for nearly nine years. Whenever the graduates leave, I will represent the school, represent the teachers and students of the whole school, bless the students, and put forward a lot of hopes for the students. I hope that every young person who goes out from Peking University You can work hard, be self-sufficient, be down-to-earth, and have a high morale. You can inherit the great and glorious tradition of this university, and be a Peking University who is worthy of the country and worthy of the people!

This year's graduation ceremony, I feel very special, because 2008 is not a normal year.

In the past six months, our country has experienced many tests and suffered major disasters. Disasters are always recorded by history, because disasters can change the lives of countless people in a very short period of time, and will affect our future for a long time. Disasters make us painful and make us strong.

After more than a month, we will also welcome the Beijing Olympics and show the world the demeanor, strength, strength and confidence of the Chinese nation. I believe that the Beijing Olympics will be a striking milestone in China's modernization process.

In 2008, let us remember four words forever: how difficult it is to prosper.

Premier Wen Jiabao wrote these four words on the blackboard of Beichuan Middle School. When I saw the TV screen, I shed tears. "It is difficult to fix the country and open its territory; or it is not difficult to lose its country. ". I am 65 years old and have experienced all the history of the Republic. I have also witnessed many important historical moments and can deeply understand the meaning of these four words.

Today's graduation ceremony, I also hope that the 2008 graduates of Peking University will remember these four words. You are still very young. You can hardly understand what it is, but as your principal, I have the responsibility to tell you that suffering is the most precious asset in life. It is the driving force for a country to move forward. It is only strong in hardships. Unyielding, only united in the hardships, only by constantly reflecting on the tribulation, we can succeed, and we can realize the modernization of the country, so that the Chinese civilization can last forever.

I am very proud and very pleased. In the face of the disaster, the North Master students showed amazing strength and unity. I saw many students with blood and donations in the disaster area. The Ministry of Medicine and various affiliated hospitals have formed many branches. The medical team, a total of 100 people, rushed to the first line of earthquake relief; Peking University Microprocessor Research and Development Center assisted the construction of 3 small Chinese multimedia network classrooms including Beichuan Middle School; the life school teachers and students cooperated with the Sichuan Forestry Department on Wolong The affected areas of pandas and other protected animals in the reserve were evaluated; the Institute of Earth and Space established the Wenchuan Earthquake Working Group; a group of teachers and students from the Ministry of Medicine and Psychology participated in the psychological assistance and counseling work in the disaster area, and proposed Beijing. University's Post-earthquake Psychological Reconstruction Assistance Program; Professor Lu Bin of the City Circle College and the National Development Bank drafted the "Study Report on the Reconstruction Strategy of the Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan", and the "Design Manual for Earthquake Reconstruction Planning" written by the Landscape Design Institute. And the Environmental Testing and Research Group of the Disaster Area, chaired by Professor Zhu Xi from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, participated in different levels. The work of reconstruction in Wenchuan after the disaster. All of these reflect the social responsibility of Peking University, the civic awareness of Peking University, and the love of Peking University. I am proud of our Peking University from the bottom of my heart.

"Anything is hard to beat the heroic Chinese people." The Chinese nation has experienced hardships in the history of thousands of years of development and never yields. It is even more impossible for the earthquake disaster to intimidate the Chinese people. In the face of a huge disaster, the courage, strength, unity and great humanistic care shown by the Chinese people vividly interpret the indomitable national spirit of the Chinese nation. This spirit is the spiritual pillar for us to resist various dangers, and it is also a powerful driving force for the Chinese nation to endure. During the Spring of 2003, when SARS ravaged China, Premier Wen’s reply to the North University students contained a paragraph that contained profound philosophy of life. He said: “Let us remember this extraordinary experience! It made us learn more than There are many more things in peace. Let us remember this truth: what a nation loses in a disaster will surely be compensated for in the progress of the nation."

How difficult is it to be a country, for a country, why not for a university. This year marks the 110th anniversary of the founding of Peking University. Looking back at the history of Peking University for a hundred years, it is not a glorious course of China’s modernization process, despite its many fates and hardships, but it is constantly striving for self-improvement and struggle.

At the beginning of the establishment of the Jingshi University Hall, the country’s decline and the invasion of foreign enemies, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, and the university hall was once occupied and forced to stop. In the early years of the Republic of China, due to the shortage of funds, Peking University once again encountered a crisis of suspension. The old principal, Mr. Yan Fu, went up and down. Under the arduous conditions of running schools, he still adhered to the teaching reform and established Peking University’s “preservation of all noble academics and the culture of the country”. purpose. Around the May Fourth Movement, Peking University became the center of the new cultural movement and the birthplace of the May Fourth Movement. At the same time, it had to face the blame from conservative forces and the persecution of the warlord government. At one time, thousands of students were arrested and imprisoned. President Cai Yuanpei also worked. Was forced to resign. From 1927 to 1929, Peking University was cancelled and changed its name, and its funds and wages were suspended. The teachers and students continued to struggle in the half-starved state and swear to death. In 1937, the Lugouqiao Incident, Japanese imperialism launched a full-scale war of aggression against China, and the teachers and students of Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai moved southward to form the Southwest United University, and adhered to the teaching and research in the spirit of "resolute and determined" under extremely difficult conditions. , trained a large number of outstanding talents. During the difficult period of three years, the material was extremely scarce. A large number of students were forced to suspend their studies due to malnutrition. At that time, Peking University often lost power, but our teachers still kept their posts and taught. During the Cultural Revolution, Peking University was forced to suspend classes for four years. A large number of teachers were persecuted. Many outstanding scholars such as Rao Taitai and Zhai Bozan were persecuted to death, and thousands of teachers and students were decentralized. After the resumption of classes, under extremely difficult conditions, our teachers still adhered to the persistent pursuit of scientific truth, successfully developed China's first million-generation integrated circuit electronic computer, and established China's first satellite cloud image receiving station. Developed a world-class 铷 electronic clock, achieved a series of major scientific and technological achievements, and so on. For more than 100 years, our Peking University has gone through hardships and has never retreated. Several generations of Peking University have devoted their youth, talents and even their lives to the great cause of the Chinese nation seeking modernization.

Today, I am reviewing these magnificent years with my classmates. I hope that when the students are about to leave Peking University, they will once again arouse the spirit of Peking University in the hearts of the students, the spirit of Peking, Progress, Democracy and Science. The spirit of Peking University with the common destiny of the nation.

Peking University is the spiritual home of Chinese intellectuals for more than 100 years. In the preface to the book "Looking for Peking University," Mr. Qian Liqun wrote: "Peking University is the spiritual dream of every Peking University and all Chinese."

The entire Peking University, including you and me, bears the spiritual ideal of the entire nation. This burden is too heavy, but students, you have no choice, because this is the spiritual temperament that our Peking University people are born with. It is the spiritual temperament formed by Peking University for more than 100 years. She cannot escape or give up.

How difficult is it to be a prosperous country, why not for each of us. The students graduated, some will continue their studies, some will go to work, some will travel across the ocean, some will go to the west and join the reconstruction of the disaster area. No matter what kind of career you are going to do in the future, I believe that you will make a difference. However, the future cannot be smooth sailing, and students will encounter various difficulties and setbacks. At that time, the old principal, Mr. Ma Yinchu, suffered a national criticism because of his population theory. In the face of tremendous pressure and offensive, Ma Lao did not retreat. He said, "[I am nearly eighty years old, knowing that I am outnumbered, and I am a single horse. He came out to fight until he died." He also said, "I always hope that the 10,400 students of Peking University will have to make progress in their actual work when they are studying and in the future, and don't bow their heads in a difficult situation." Classmates, the day will be reduced, and the people of Peking University should learn the old principal of Ma Rong. They have the courage to uphold the truth and overcome difficulties, and to be the strongest in life.

Classmates, you graduated in 2008, please remember this year. In this year, we have Olympics. In this year, our alma mater is 110 years old. This year, we are all Sichuanese. You graduated this year. Classmates, our motherland is creating the greatest economic miracles and profound social changes in modern China and even the modern history of the world. I believe that you will soon become a direct participant and leader of national development and social change. A month ago, Teacher Lin Yifu had a shocking speech at the graduation ceremony of the Economic Center. He said, "As long as the nation is not revived, our responsibilities will not be completed. As long as there are still poor people in the world, we are ourselves in poverty. As long as there are hungry people in the world, that is, we are in hunger, as long as there are people suffering in the world, that is, we are suffering in our own lives. This is the heart of our Peking University and the solemn commitment of our Peking University!" It reminds me of the famous saying of Mr. Liang Shu, a professor at Laobei University. "I don't know if you can't make a living," is the courage and world care that will be inherited from you! In the future, no matter how successful your career is, how to be happy in life, please don’t forget the 2008, don’t forget the little hand holding the pen in the ruins, don’t forget the tears of the Prime Minister, don’t forget the crowd in the square, not to mention the crowd. Forget the noble spiritual ideals and solemn commitments of our Peking University. Please be sure that the students should take the country as the most important and take the life as the most important thing!

How difficult is it to be prosperous, I hope that every 2008 Peking University graduate will remember these four words. Let us also wish that our great motherland, our great alma mater, will be able to usher in new glory after the storm!

thank you all!