Cherish Traditions, Forge Ahead Into the Future

Former President Jiang Zemin said in a speech in the United States in November 1997, “In the prolonged course of development, China has formed its fine historical and cultural traditions, which have been either discarded or developed with the changes of the times and social progress. These traditions have exerted a profound impact on the values and the way of life of the Chinese people, and on China’s road of development today.” To this end, the China Youth Development Foundation launched a cultural project---ancient poem recital—in June 1998.Teenagers are encouraged to read and learn by heart ancient Chinese poems so as to get an edifying influence of ancient Chinese culture during childhood when they have the best faculty of memory.

The CYDF’s Community and Cultural Committee was in charge of the project. Experts and scholars were organized to compile a “textbook of ancient Chinese poems,” that contains 300 pieces of ancient poems covering a period from the pre-Qin days(before 221 B.C) to modern times. The poems are published in 12 volumes with phonetic annotation and notes of explanations.

The project was officially launched on June 28,1998, with famous scholars such as Ji Xianlin, Yang Zhenning, Zhang Dainian,Wang Yuanhua and Tang Yijie serving as advisers and Chinese expert Nan Huaijin as the honorary chairman of the guiding committee.