In June, everything flourishes, and vitality burgeons. Children welcome their own festival.
Just a few days ago, the International Children’s Day on June 1st is approaching, and General Secretary Xi Jinping sends a congratulatory letter to celebrate the 9th National Congress of the Young Pioneers of China and extends holiday wishes to all children nationwide.
General Secretary Xi Jinping regards childhood as “the most precious period in a person’s life” and has recalled his own childhood on various occasions.
Since childhood, he enjoyed visiting museums and reading classics such as “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” “Journey to the West,” and “Water Margin.” He would write reading reflections as a diary for his parents to review. From a young age, he memorized famous lines from Lu Xun, “To endure cold stares from the world, and bow to serve as an ox for the children,” among others. General Secretary Xi Jinping once remarked emotionally: “Things we speak about effortlessly now, we remembered from our youth.”
Regarding the strict upbringing he received as a child, “Not to waste food, not even a grain of rice,” clearly emphasizes “saving food should begin in childhood.” He recalls stories from small books bought by his mother about “loyalty to the country,” stressing the importance of instilling good moral values from a young age.
Nurturing strengths, achieving greatness.
“Primary and secondary schools, even kindergartens, play a very important role throughout a person’s life and should capture attention from infancy.” Focusing on the “most precious period of life” is essential for long-term success and future achievements.
“Starting from infancy,” first requires establishing a correct value system from a young age—
In May of this year, during an inspection at the Longmen Stone Cave in Henan, the children who came to see the ‘Kebenli Ancient Site’ made General Secretary Xi Jinping very happy. He earnestly urged: ‘Explore the profound depths of Chinese culture on the ground, and build cultural confidence from a young age.’
For any idea or concept to be established throughout society and to have a lasting impact, we must start with children and adolescents.
As early as during his work in Zhejiang, Comrade Xi Jinping published articles emphasizing that spiritual civilization construction should ‘start with babies.’ He profoundly pointed out, ‘Only by ‘starting with babies’ can a solid foundation for the spirit of socialism be established.’ He stressed that strengthening and improving the ideological and moral construction of minors is not a matter of expediency but a long-term, arduous strategic task.
At this year’s National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping attended the CPPCC meeting focusing on the theme of education planning, once again emphasizing ‘starting with babies.’
Reflecting on the positive achievements in moral education in recent years, the general secretary called for persistent efforts: ‘Instill ideals and firm belief from a young age, and socialism with Chinese characteristics will have reliable successors.’
Start with babies and instill ideals from a young age. On one hand, our party is committed to the great enterprise of the Chinese nation across generations and must nurture generations of useful talents who support the leadership of the Communist Party of China and our socialist system. On the other hand, ‘youth is naturally inclined, habits become routine,’ and it is essential to closely focus on the critical period of forming values, life views, and views of the motherland and the nation, allowing education to penetrate the blood and soul.
In 2015, during the central political bureau mass study, there was an emphasis on ‘properly educating the broad youth to cultivate their integrity from a young age.’ In 2016, while in Anhui Jinzhai, it was pointed out that ‘revolutionary tradition education should start from childhood, focusing on both knowledge input and emotional cultivation.’ At the 2018 National Education Conference, it was explained that ‘promoting patriotic spirit should start from children and teenagers.’……
Time and again, General Secretary Xi Jinping stands at the strategic height of the red territories and carries forward the legacy of people and careers, grasping the law of people “growing, maturing, becoming talented” and cares deeply about the youth, helping them fasten the first button in life.
‘Start from childhood,’ and it’s also crucial to focus on comprehensive quality cultivation from a young age——
Character and virtue building, learning and innovation, physical and mental health, hard work, environmental protection, and legal awareness …… all of these are significant initiatives for the youth, essential for China’s future “green foundation.” General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to this and has made clear requirements on various occasions——
Nurture scientific literacy. At a symposium with scientists, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that ‘guidance and cultivation of interest in science should start from childhood,’ aiming to form a large group of youth with scientific potential. Visiting the Beijing Yuying School’s science labs, he encouraged students to cultivate ambitions of ‘technological innovation and national strength,’ to be brave young scientists now, and to strive to become prominent scientists in the future.
Grasp physical fitness. In 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping expressed during a conversation with IOC President Bach, “Improve competitive sports levels from a young age;” In 2019, he visited the ecological migration district of Huanghuatan in Gulang County, Gansu Province, where children were practicing football on a school field. Seeing their eager faces, he enthusiastically said, “Sports should start from a young age.”
Grasp labor awareness and ecological consciousness. General Secretary Xi Jinping participated in a tree-planting activity in the capital with youth and children, advocating “from a young age actively participate in labor, plant trees and create forests, and plant the seeds of green awareness to nurture respect and love for nature.” “Train labor awareness from a young age, and love for labor.” His words were filled with hope for the comprehensive development of the country’s “young saplings.”
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“Education of children, like planting trees, should be upright from the beginning, otherwise it will grow crooked.” From a young age, instill the correct ideas into the mind, akin to planting good seeds.
A decade ago, during the International Children’s Day on June 1st, it coincided with the opening of the 7th National Congress of Chinese Young Pioneers. General Secretary Xi Jinping sent words to the children of all ethnic groups across the country: learn to be a person from a young age, learn to have aspirations from a young age, learn to innovate from a young age, “be a good child of the motherland today, and a builder of the motherland tomorrow.”
This time, in a letter congratulating the convening of the Ninth National Youth Congress, the General Secretary once again emphasized the need to guide a broad range of young pioneers to ‘strive to be new-era youths who love the Party and love the country, who study diligently, and who develop comprehensively,’ assigning young people and children the important role of being ‘the future force in advancing the construction of a strong nation and the great cause of national rejuvenation.’
With deep emotions in words and humorous chit-chat, like a spring breeze or morning dew, conveying beautiful expectations for the new-era youth and children, it also reveals the bright future of the Chinese nation’s ongoing progress.
