The Best Interpretation of the Meaning of Youth—The Enlightenment of Xi Jinping’s “Educated Youth” to Contemporary College Students ()
1. In Hardships and Tribulations, You Can Do It
In hardships and tribulations, you can get it. No one is born great. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s life as a young man has a profound impact on his life, the hardships and tribulations cast his self-improvement strong quality, for his life tied the “first buckle”.
1.1. Dare to Meet the Challenge
“The smallest age, the hardest place and the longest time” is the distinctive mark of General Secretary Xi’s youthful years, and the first stop in his life when he left school and his family to make progress towards society. He overcame the “four hurdles” with the quality of perseverance and strong will and the spirit of tenacious struggle. At that time, his beloved father was persecuted, his mother was under review, his siblings wore the hat of “gangster”, and he was also discriminated against and processed unfairly. In such a difficult environment, General Secretary Xi did not complain about the injustice of fate, but rooted himself in the countryside, and through his own hands and faith, he changed the face of Liangjiahe and won the approval of the people, which also allowed him to grow from a confused middle school student to a young man who tasted the sorrows and sweets of life, and completed his transformation and spiritual sublimation in the midst of difficulties.
1.2. Keep Learning
Two conditions are required: perseverance and consistency of purpose. Throughout the years of hardship, General Secretary Xi Jinping explained in action and practice that learning and thinking must be persistent, and that several years of painstaking study had broadened his thinking, enlivened his thinking and improved his ability to analyze problems, so that he knew what was right and why. The problem of food and clothing was not solved during Liangjiahe’s military expedition, and reading was the only spiritual food for Xi Jinping. Under the dim kerosene lamp “enjoy” the infinite power brought by the knowledge; enjoy the unique taste of “the world all sleep I wake up alone”; enjoy the powerful positive energy brought by the excellent culture of my vast Chinese nation. It was Xi Jinping’s boundless love and a keen interest in books that gave him the infinite strength to grow stronger and stronger. While the knowledge and information acquired in youth has changed over time, the spirit of perseverance and good learning methods and thinking skills developed in youth have remained with General Secretary Xi throughout his life.
1.3. Work Effectively for the People
Both during the Liangjiahe years and today in China, working for the happiness of the people and the revival of the nation are the goal of General Secretary Xi. The seven years of intellectual youth set up for him the direction of “people-oriented” governance, which is inseparable from his understanding of the people’s plight and establishing flesh-and-blood ties with the people, so that when he left Liangjiahe, he decided to engage in politics when he had the opportunity and conditions to do good things for the people and do practical things. General Secretary Xi said so, and even more so, in Liangjiahe as a village branch secretary is so, in Zhengding as county party secretary is also so. After being selected as the General Secretary of the party, he asked the people what they needed, asked the people what they wanted, asked the people what they felt, did practical things for the people and sought benefits (Zhao, 2019).
2. Know the Situation of the Country and the People
Although China has undergone drastic changes since the reform and opening up of the country, and has made remarkable achievements in modernization, it has also moved closer and closer to the center of the world stage from the edge of the world stage. However, young university students should clearly see the hidden dangers behind their achievements and the problems facing their development, understand the basic conditions of China and the needs of the people in a comprehensive scientific and rational manner, internalize them in their hearts and externalize them in their actions, and continuously enhance their sense of worry, crisis and social responsibility, so as to contribute their youth and strength to socialist construction.
2.1. Learning from Society
The life of the intellectuals in northern Shaanxi taught Comrade Xi Jinping that the emphasis on class struggle as the main contradiction was unrealistic, and that the main contradiction at that time was that the productive forces were too backward to meet the survival and living needs of the people. It is also because Comrade Xi Jinping deeply understands the reality of Chinese society, the country’s realities and the living conditions of the peasants at the bottom of the hierarchy that he has truly felt the hardships of the people, that he was inspired to pursue a career in politics if he had the opportunity to solve practical difficulties for the people, and that only from a practical point of view has the Party’s series of initiatives since the 18th Congress focused on solving livelihood and development problems. Young university students are the elite of the Chinese nation and carry the hope of the country and the nation. The revival of the Chinese nation should be based on the present, look to the future, understand the national situation, go deep into society, be down-to-earth, study diligently, give back to society with what they have learned, improve themselves in the midst of hardship, seize opportunities in a complex and changing society, rushing through dangerous shoals in the midst of the current and releasing the passion of youth in the midst of struggle.
2.2. Learn from the People
General Secretary Xi Jinping grew from an urban youth who did not know what else to do for farming to become a “strong labor force” in the village. The educated youth experience that breathed and shared fate with the people in the countryside laid a solid foundation for the proposal of the Chinese Dream. During his inspection in Henan, General Secretary Xi emphasized that we must “consciously draw nutrients from the excellent traditional Chinese culture, honestly learn from the masses of the people, see wise ideas everywhere, strengthen self-discipline and accept other disciplines with strict standards” (Li, 2014). Comrade Xi Jinping’s learning spirit once again shows us that young college students should cherish the pleasant time of study, seek truth, and learn skills. Learn lessons from the people; learn from their hard work, hardworking and frugal spirit. Learning from the society, society is a big dye tank, it is worth tasting. On the road to learning, one cannot just be satisfied with fragmented information and fast-food knowledge. Through systematic learning of knowledge, we will constantly grasp the laws of the development of things, understand the truth of the world, rich knowledge, increase insights, and tap our potential. Make efforts for social progress and development and make unremitting efforts to realize the Chinese dream at an early date.
2.3. Learning from Practice
“Though the path be near, it cannot be far; though it be small, it cannot be done”. Young university students should be idealistic doers who put into practice what they have learned from books, and put it into practice in a realistic way. Take young people like Xi Jinping as an example, learn from their predecessors, read the classics, deeply understand their meaning, arm the mind with Marxist ideology, never forget the original heart of learning, use scientific theory as guidance and actively engage in practice.
3. Hone One’s Will and Temper One’s Character
“Three feet of ice is not a day’s cold.” How to select the right path? The key is to have a firm belief in the idea. General Secretary Xi’s belief is to do practical things for the masses, this is the belief that has been ingrained in his blood after seven years in northern Shaanxi, holding hands with ordinary people who are “facing the earth and back” and struggling to survive. Every era has its heroes, and everyone has their own role models in their hearts. During the seven years of Leong’s youth, the persevering and committed General Secretary still persevered in finding and realizing the meaning of his life in the midst of hardship and hardship.
3.1. Endure the Loneliness
The winter is the only way of wait for the flowers to bloom; the loneliness is the only way to keep the prosperity. Without the persistence of a battle between heaven and earth, without going through the trials and tribulations, it is very difficult for a person to have a profound knowledge, let alone learning to use, knowledge and action unity. Young college students should make learning a priority, as a responsible, a spiritual pursuit, a way of life, instead of being obsessed with the Internet and jitterbug all day long, with empty minds and nothing to do. Loneliness is the best millstone of life. Ma Yun cannot survive the early years of Alibaba, then no later business empire. Chu Shijian did not survive the 10 years of orange growth at the age of 80 and did not have the entrepreneurial success that followed. Life is a marathon, and only if you can’t help being lonely, can you have the beauty of a village in the dark.
3.2. Suffer a Great Deal
You can only become a human knowing if you suffer from bitterness. Looking at the general background of the country’s young people going up to the mountains and down to the countryside, General Secretary Xi’s army of the Liangjiahe is located in the loess plateau, backward transportation, barren land, low rainfall, natural environment and living conditions is one of the most difficult places in the country’s army of young people. Shaanxi North for seven years, exercised his inflexible character of not hitting the south wall and not turning back, casting his self-improvement, the ambition to live up to the sentiment. General Secretary Xi’s spirit of hard work and endurance teaches us that all those who have achieved great things will always go through the “nine hundred and eighty-one difficulties” in order to obtain real gold, in the journey of life, if there are storms and rains, it should be combed in the wind and rain, if there are rapids on the way forward, it should ride the wind and waves, if there are difficult and dangerous obstacles on the way forward, it is necessary to step on the bumpy road. In hardships and hardships to sharpen the will, cultivate the spiritual quality of suffering and endurance, only with this fine tradition of the Chinese nation, in the future of life on the road to maintain the initial heart, courage to move forward.
3.3. Stand up to the Storm
Ancient people say: since ancient times, more ordeals, never playboy less distinguished man. Life is not smooth sailing, and one’s encounters are like a roller coaster ride with ups and downs. How can one see a rainbow without experiencing the storm? Throughout the ages, all successful people have been elites who have withstood the storm, the fall, the ordeal, the glory, and the humiliation. At that time, General Secretary Xi was not anxious when he watched the young people leaving the army or joining the army, or recruiting for jobs, or going to school, but kept the calmness of “the clouds and the flowers bloom and fall”. As young students of the 21st century, we should carry forward the character of bamboo in Zheng Banqiao’s poem “Bamboo and Stone”, no matter the wind, rain and snow, always “bite the green hills without relaxing”, always stand up straight, not disturbed by difficulties, not confused by contradictions, not tempted by interests. To be aspirational and to have faith. With ideal faith as the core backbone, behavior has a compass and a coordinate system, which can make us more courageous in the storm.
4. Based on the Present, Ambitious
Comrade Xi Jinping in a forum with teachers and students of Peking University to encourage young students “life’s buckle from the beginning should be fastened”, if the original buckle is wrong, the remaining buckle will be wrong. What choices are available and what actions one will take depends on the way in which one perceives it, and ideal beliefs determine whether one can see life and the world from a higher place and with a wider vision. Young university students grow up in the best era of the development of the Chinese nation, there is a wide space for development, and it also carries the historical mission of reviving the Chinese nation. In the face of this greatest opportunity in life, young students should be more grounded in the present, be down-to-earth, establish firm ideals and lofty beliefs, and carry forward the revolutionary spirit of “the sky is strong, the gentleman is self-reliant”. Study hard, practice continuously, dare to innovate, and work hard to realize the Chinese dream of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation.
4.1. Start with the Little Things
In his 2018 New Year’s message, President Xi Jinping said. “The wood of the huddle is born at the end of the mill; the platform of the nine layers begins with tired soil.” It is a warning to people that no matter what they do, they must have strong perseverance, starting from the smallest things, starting from the smallest things, in order to have a great development and become a celebrated cause. We take the spirit of YuGongYishan as our unwavering ideal belief and value pursuit, and we break down our mindset and dare to be the first to judge (Wang, 2013). Young university students are in the prime of their studies, energetic and with a strong memory, provided with a safe learning environment, a highly qualified teaching staff, and their families do their best to provide them with adequate logistical support. After a harsh June, what should be young students do to take the first steps in life, starting with the little things? The first is not to forget the beginning of learning and strive to learn specialized knowledge and learn how to study independently. The second is tantamount to read widely and expand the knowledge surface. Thirdly, we are actively involved in various school activities and continuously improve our own comprehensive quality capabilities.
4.2. Start with Yourself
Young people have the sacred duty and glorious mission of realizing the Chinese dream of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation. As a young college student, how do you start with yourself and be a qualified college student? One is to have definite political beliefs, to have the ideal beliefs of not coveting glory in the face of glory, not reaching out in the face of interests, not changing color in the face of trials. The second is to have clear learning goals and to make progress towards your goals. The third is to be a qualified college student, not to come with the flow. Some college students stay up late to brush the jitterbug, indulge on the Internet, waste their time and waste their studies. Any time you read more, it’s not a bad thing. Like the young man Xi Jinping, read books as a habit. A person who pays constant attention to his own behavior and cultivates good habits and quality will inevitably make some extraordinary achievements and become a qualified person and a person of high morals.
4.3. Start from One’s Side
As young university students in the new era, we are closer to the goal of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation than at any other time in history, but the closer we are to the other side of our dreams, the more we will encounter all kinds of difficulties and dangers. With the east wind of reform and opening up, how should adolescent college students start from the side and write their own wonderful youth stories? One is to be perfect and ambitious as a compass to move forward. Ideals require a down-to-earth effort. Efforts, though not necessarily successful, must lead to nothing by giving up. On the way forward, it is with a firm idea that the voyage does not veer off course. The second is to actively participate in collective practice activities and serve the society with what they have learned. The third is to actively practice the core values of socialism, young college students should combine their own reality, set an example in patriotic, dedicated, honest and friendly, establish a good three-point view, start from me, start from the side, start from the little by little, with diligent hands, first-class performance achievements belong to their own life wonderful.
5. Conclusion: Struggling Youth Is the Most Beautiful
There will be times when the wind and waves break, and the sails will be hung upright. What enlightenment does the legendary life of youth Xi Jinping enlighten contemporary college students? First of all, it is self-knowledge. Secondly, grasp the environment. Finally, it is the adaptation to the times. Whether in the years of the “Cultural Revolution” or in the era of reform and opening up, the young man Xi Jinping moved in time to be a well-educated youth with roots in the countryside and a good public servant trusted by the people. What is the meaning of youth? General Secretary Xi Jinping said when teaching us: “Now, youth is used to struggle; in the future, youth is used to recall.”