When I visited Russia in March last year, I said in a discussion with Russian sinologists that I had read many works by Russian writers, such as Chernyshevsky's What to Do When I Was Young? It caused a big shock in my heart. During my visit to France in March this year, I talked about the influence of French literature and art on me, because many of the leaders of the older generation of our party had studied in France, so I had a strong interest in French literature and art when I was young. In Germany, I told the story of my own reading of Faust. At that time, I was in the queue in the countryside of northern Shaanxi, and I heard that a young intellectual, who had a book called Faust, walked 30 miles to borrow it, and later he walked another 30 miles to retrieve it. Why should I tell this to a foreigner? It is because literature and art are the language of the world, and to talk about literature and art is actually to talk about society and life, and it is easiest to understand each other and communicate with each other.

——Speech at the Symposium on Literary and Artistic Work (October 15, 2014)

Further reading:

Every era has its own heroes, and everyone has their own role models in their hearts. The novel "What to do? Rakhmetov, the protagonist of ", is not only an important symbol in the history of the Russian psyche, but also has a deep influence on a generation in China.

Chernyshevsky was a Russian revolutionary, philosopher, writer and critic, whom Lenin praised as "the young helmsman in the storm of the future" and Plekhanov compared him to Russia's Prometheus. In 1862, Chernyshevsky was arrested by the tsarist government for propagating progressive ideas and criticizing the realities of Tsarist Russia, and in 1864 he was sentenced to seven years of hard labor and life exile in Siberia. In captivity and exile, he completed What to Do? "Prologue" and many other excellent works full of revolutionary passion. What to do? The story revolves around the three threads of free labor, women's liberation and clandestine revolutionary activities, and proposes that only struggle can change the doom of the people. The protagonist Rakhmetov worked as a woodcutter, sawyman, stonemason, and slender man, and in order to exercise his revolutionary will and dedicate himself to his ideals, he would rather live an extremely frugal and simple life.

Xi Jinping recalled that his generation was deeply influenced by the Russian classics, "What to do? "The protagonist of the book, Rakhmetov, lived an ascetic life, and in order to temper his will, he even slept on a bed of pegboards, covered in blood. At that time, we felt that we had to exercise perseverance so much, so we simply removed the mattress and slept on the bare kang. When it rains and snows, we go out to get wet, when it rains, when it snows, when it snows, we rub the snow, and take cold showers by the well, all influenced by this book."

Faust is also a work of profound influence. It has been said that a history of world literature cannot be written without mentioning Goethe; In the same way, without reading Faust, it is difficult to understand why Goethe is Goethe. Faust is a long poem written by Goethe based on German folklore. The devil tempted Faust to sign a pact with him: the devil would fulfill all of Faust's requirements during his lifetime, but would take his soul in exchange for Faust's death. Starting from this bet, Goethe deduced many important questions about the ideals of life and the future of mankind, and declared the triumph of mankind's enterprising spirit. Xi Jinping has repeatedly mentioned the story of his reading of Faust, and the good story of "borrowing books for 30 miles and begging for books for 30 miles" vividly illustrates the power of literature.

Xi Jinping talked about his literary love, recalled the impact of reading at various stages on himself, showed the elegant temperament of being well-read, and also reflected the charm of his amiable and cordial character. With his own experience, he fully illustrated what good literature is: it is a good literary and artistic work that is deeply integrated into people's lives, and "career and life, good times and bad, dreams and expectations, love and hate, existence and death, all aspects of human life" can be found in it.

Literature and art are the language of the world, and literature is the magic weapon of communication. Xi Jinping has mentioned his reading experience on many occasions, and he did not talk about it in generalities or put on a show, but used his personal experience to explain the value of the power of knowledge and the possibility of civilized exchanges. Treating different civilizations requires tolerance, and more importantly, in-depth understanding and understanding, and literary works are undoubtedly the best way for different countries and nations to understand and communicate with each other. As Xi Jinping said, "Talking about literature and art is actually talking about society and life, and it is easiest to understand each other and communicate with each other."