Distinguished guests,
Dear colleagues,
Dear scholars, parents and friends, good morning everyone!
Today we gather in the peak of graduation season to bid farewell to the graduates of the 2024 cohort of Yenching Academy. Your time at Yenching Academy has quietly come to an end, and a brand-new, boundless life journey filled with endless possibilities is about to unfold before you.
At this special moment, my heart is filled with countless emotions. On one hand, I feel reluctant to part with you; on the other hand, I am utterly at peace, for I know our paths will cross again on various occasions. Experience has taught me that Yenching Academy alumni are spread all across the globe, not to mention throughout China. Time and again, in the most unexpected places — in embassies, at social gatherings with friends, or even during transit layovers — I have run into our graduates. What’s more, the Academy regularly hosts alumni homecoming events. Above all, you are all outstanding scholars with brilliant prospects ahead. I am convinced we will have more and more chances to meet again, and you will surely be doing even better each time we reconnect!
I look back fondly on the wonderful time we spent together. If my memory serves me right, the first lecture I gave you focused on the four seasons in classical Chinese poetry. It represented my personal interpretation of Chinese verse, while also capturing an eternal, essential aspect of Chinese culture. I deliberately talked about the shifting seasons across the Peking University campus. Sharing and experiencing the cycles of spring, summer, autumn and winter here alongside you has been an absolute joy.
Many precious moments are etched in my memory: your performances of Shakespeare’s plays at Jingyuan Four, our joint participation in the Yenching Global Symposium (YGS) in Hainan, field research trips to Hangzhou, my hometown, and countless chance encounters across the PKU Campus. I communicated with you in my halting English, while you greeted me with your ever-improving Chinese. These small interactions have become some of my most cherished memories over the past two years.
Just now, we enjoyed a wonderful speech by Professor Roger Ames. For decades, he has crossed oceans in pursuit of profound knowledge, building bridges for dialogue between Chinese and Western philosophy through academic research while wholeheartedly devoting himself to teaching. Breaking free from narrow cultural biases, he interprets Chinese classics with an inclusive and impartial perspective. Through rigorous and insightful scholarship, he has enabled Confucian thought to transcend linguistic barriers and resonate deeply on the global stage. Let us express our sincere gratitude and heartfelt respect to him!
We also extend the same gratitude and respect to our beloved Honorary Dean Yuan Ming, who graces our event as always. A preeminent international affairs scholar renowned at home and abroad, she has made tremendous contributions to the development and refinement of the Academy, offering steadfast companionship and robust support at every stage of our growth.
We also give a warm welcome and special thanks to guest of honor Ms. Liu Qian. As you may recall, she delivered a wonderful speech at your opening ceremony, and today she witnesses your graduation, bringing this warm journey of connection full circle. Her speech theme back then was Explore the world, explore yourself. Whether you take diverse courses to expand your knowledge, date different people to discover more about yourself, or step outside your comfort zone to try activities like skydiving, she asked me to check whether you have followed her advice. Later, you can share your updates with her during photo opportunities.
We are delighted to have our alumna Xue Fei with us today. Her life journey demonstrates how Yenching Academy graduates can continuously evolve and thrive in professional careers, and shows that the Academy is truly one big family. To all the parents who have traveled far and wide to attend today’s ceremony, I want to reassure you: though your children are far from home in Beijing, they have found a second home here. Even as they cross national borders and civilizational divides, they will never walk alone. Civilizations do not exist as isolated islands; the spark of exchange and mutual learning has been passed down through generations by countless academics including Professor Ames and Honorary Dean Yuan Ming.
Since its founding, Yenching Academy has stayed true to its founding mission: to connect the world and nurture young talents with global vision and profound humanistic literacy. Thanks to the dedication of Honorary Dean Yuan Ming, of Professor Ames, and all faculty and staff, the Academy has remained a fertile ground for free inquiry and the integration of diverse ideas, as well as a loving home. Just like your own families, we care deeply for your children and always keep our doors open, welcoming them back home at any time.
As we mark this moment of temporary farewell, I would like to share a few more thoughts with you. As you know, Yenching Academy’s guiding vision is Focus on China, Contribute to the World. Truly understanding China, however, is no easy feat. Over the past two years, you have steadily moved closer to this goal through coursework and hands-on practical experience.
The term "focus" originates from optics and photography, rooted in the principle of the camera obscura, which itself grew out of the perspective techniques developed during the Renaissance. Renaissance linear perspective allows us to fix our gaze on a single focal point within a vast space. By concentrating on one point, we filter out irrelevant distractions and establish an orderly framework of observation, with the focal point serving as the core of this system. Meanwhile, just as with any camera, when you focus sharply on one spot, the surrounding background blurs out of focus. When you take a compelling portrait photograph, the subject’s vivid facial details stand out clearly against a soft, blurred backdrop.
So, what does it mean when we talk about focusing on a country? A nation like China is extraordinarily rich, complex, multi-layered, wide-ranging and rapidly evolving — deciding where to place your focal point poses an enormous challenge. We are joined today by leading sinologists and top experts in area studies, and they will all tell you that focusing on a country is an enduring undertaking. Your one or two years living in China have given you firsthand experience, yet the most constant rule of our world is perpetual change. At the same time, every nation possesses enduring core qualities. This interplay between timeless constants and ever-changing realities is what makes human civilization endlessly fascinating. Individuals, artworks, ethnic groups and nations all embody this wonderful fusion of permanence and contingency.
Here lies a common pitfall: fixating too narrowly on your immediate focal point can make you blind to the bigger picture and the broader context. A country holds profound inner truths invisible on the surface, requiring long-term immersive engagement to comprehend, and all elements within it are intricately interconnected. Unlike the linear perspective of the Italian Renaissance, traditional Chinese painting pioneered the technique of scattered perspective centuries ago, as exemplified in the masterpiece A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, capturing a panoramic view of the entire landscape.
You must strike a balance between depth and breadth, rationality and emotion, academic rigor and intuitive insight to develop your own approach to understanding China. I often quote a classic Chinese idiom: A single leaf blocks the view of Mount Tai (一叶障目不见泰山). I hope your chosen focal point will never become that single leaf obscuring your vision. China is as magnificent and multi-faceted as Mount Tai, never let isolated observations limit your perspective; instead, let every piece of knowledge you acquire and every experience you encounter serve as nodes connecting you to broader networks and systems of understanding.
Next, let us turn to "Contribute to the World". China has always been an integral part of the global community. For a long period in history, China was perceived as a closed society, and Western powers even resorted to warfare to force open its doors. Yet China’s remarkable achievements over the past four decades demonstrate that it is a major nation that engages with and contributes to the world through continuous opening-up. Opening-up is not only about introducing global ideas and resources into China; it also means China can voice its perspectives to the world and share its achievements to benefit humanity at large.
Nevertheless, China’s global contributions have sometimes led to misunderstandings in parts of the world. Such contributions are occasionally misconstrued as geopolitical expansion and interpreted through biased ideological lenses. I sincerely hope all Yenching Scholars will recognize that China is a pragmatic nation delivering tangible benefits to the world in diverse ways. The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is never about pursuing hegemonic dominance. It signifies a renewed understanding of the world and our era, and a higher-level partnership between China and the global community.
Though a young institution, Yenching Academy was founded to build bridges between China and the rest of the world. My expectation for you goes beyond understanding China; I hope you can help global audiences recognize and appreciate China’s contributions to the world and carry this message to every corner of the globe. A truly great and powerful nation is not defined solely by military might or hegemonic ambitions. National strength can manifest in a people’s moral ethos, civilizational institutions, people-centered values and splendid cultural heritage.
Finally, keep your confidence in Chinese culture. Chinese civilization is an inherently inclusive cultural system, continuously open to new interpretation and exploration. Traditional culture never closes us off from contemporary life or the future world. From Qu Yuan’s Heavenly Questions and the myths of Classic of Mountains and Seas to Li Bai’s poetry, Chinese literature has long inspired boundless imagination and cosmic curiosity across generations. Today, amid the boom of metaverse and artificial intelligence technologies, we see that ancient Chinese thinkers and writers were already exploring the universe and expanding humanity’s cosmic awareness. China’s curiosity and exploration of the micro and macro worlds have never ceased. This cultural DNA of imagination will help us adapt to our times and shape the future together. Therefore, maintaining confidence in Chinese culture means retaining faith in our own imagination and our own dreams. Always preserve spiritual freedom, never become a slave to anything, no matter how powerful it may be, even something as formidable as AI.
Dear scholars, you have come to the Academy from across China and the globe, bringing diverse cultural backgrounds, life experiences and aspirations. Starting today, you will take what you have learned with you to every continent, stepping into the vast open landscape of life. I wish you all a brilliant future. May you climb the ladder of success and fulfill your lofty aspirations, while always keeping tenderness in your hearts. Just as Xu Zhimo left his soul in the gentle waves of Cambridge, may your affections always remain tied to the Weiming Lake.
I would like to leave you with lines from Li Bai’s poem:
I dream of Wu and Yue drawn by tales of the scene,
Flying over Mirror Lake beneath the lunar sheen.
The lake moon casts my shadow,
Escorting me all the way to Shanxi River...
Dark clouds loom, foretelling rain;
Waves heave, and mist begins to rise.
Let us freeze this moment beneath the damp, rain-imminent sky, and fix our gaze upon (or if you prefer, let’s focus on) the mist-shrouded clear lake. For it is a marvelous hour when heaven and earth converge, and all living things are poised to burst forth with new vitality! Wherever your life takes you, whenever you receive an alumni message or news from the Academy, may your dreams carry you back to the Peking University campus. Under the moonlight, the mirror-like surface of Weiming Lake will forever reflect your youthful radiance.
Happy graduation! Thanks everyone！
