文学院 唐欣昀

Youth have won endless praise for their irresistible vigor and unbending willpower. Samuel Ullman, the famous American author, described youth as “the freshness of the deep springs of life” (Ullman, 2018). Liang Qichao, the great thinker of modern China, regarded Chinese youth as the mainstay of the nation (Liang, 2017). New era brings the youth of today unparalleled opportunities and challenges; it also shapes their character in the meantime. Despite the vicissitudes of time, contemporary Chinese youth not only maintain the essential quality of youth inherited from the older generation, but also form the spirit of the age. I firmly believe that contemporary Chinese youth are not only followers of past traditions but also trailblazers for the future.

What is the essence of youth? From my perspective, it is the courage to bear the burden and the abundant vigor that make youth eternal. These two qualities are passed down from generation to generation in the unremitting endeavor of China’s revival. And they also take in fresh contents in keeping with the present age. On the one hand, contemporary Chinese youth inherited the courage from their predecessors to shoulder the responsibility of the times. On the other hand, their vigor is prominently reflected in the quality of innovation which leads them to be pioneers.

The courage to bear the burden is the fundamental spirit of Chinese youth. Looking back at the time when our country was on the verge of destruction, the youth dedicated themselves to the liberation of our people without hesitation. During the May Fourth Movement, Chinese youth fought for national sovereignty regardless of the brutal suppression from the authorities, which paved the way for a later thorough revolution. During the Anti-Japanese War, countless young Chinese people rose in revolt. They were the backbone of our country.

Contemporary Chinese youth inherited the courage to bear the burden of the times. The specific tasks shouldered by the youth may have changed along with time, but their strong sense of responsibility remains the same. Chen Xiangrong, a young soldier garrisoned on the western frontier, sacrificed his life to protect our territory. Zhang Xiaojuan, a rural grassroots cadre in Gansu province, devoted her beautiful youthhood to the great cause of poverty relief. During the battle against COVID-19, Chinese youth fully demonstrated their courage to shoulder the responsibility. There are about 25700 post-80s and post-90s among 28600 nurses who rushed to support Hubei province, accounting for roughly 90% of the total. These cases are probably just the tip of the iceberg. Contemporary Chinese youth are always prepared to respond to the needs of the country.

While the courage to bear the burden remains unchanged, the vigor of contemporary Chinese youth has new meanings in accord with the new era. From my standpoint, their vigor is prominently reflected in the quality of innovation, which is the very quality that helps the youth blaze a trail for the country.

Development of the new era provides a solid foundation and vast space for contemporary youth to innovate. The swift flow of information and close connection between different countries broaden the youth’s horizons and ignite their creativity. The relentless march of technology sharpens their tools and stimulates their thoughts. Therefore, contemporary youth are able to tackle the difficulties with fresh ideas and abundant vigor.

Contemporary Chinese youth grasp the opportunities and blaze a trail for the country’s development with innovation. They integrate their intelligence and passion with accomplishments of the time to break new ground. The creative team of Henan TV is made up of a group of young people. They designed novel performing pattern and utilized advanced technology like AR, 3D modeling and computer coloring to polish the effect, which gave birth to a series of breathtaking shows that evoked traditional culture enthusiasm nationwide. They opened a new way to inherit and revive our venerable culture. Another example is iFLYTEK, the only listed company in intelligent speech in China. The great majority of the core research group are young people. They repeatedly broke the world record in the field of speech recognition, machine translation and machine reading. Their advanced technology made a crucial contribution to the success of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Their efforts facilitated innumerable families and broke a brand-new path in artificial intelligence. We can see that contemporary Chinese youth are capable of pioneering.

Some time ago an expression called “lying flat” aroused heated discussion. The saying seemed to have struck a chord with the youth on the Internet, which led some people to doubt that contemporary youth are losing their ambitions. I strongly oppose this point of view. Contemporary Chinese youth are just releasing their pressure in such a joking way instead of giving up struggling indeed. Every generation have their own confusion and depression. The way to express them differs along with time. Due to social network, the youth’s negative emotions are exposed to the public, which may give us a false impression that the youth are lying flat. However, if we take a look at the overall youth in real life, we’ll find out that they spare no efforts to chase their dreams and work for the benefit of the country. For example, Tatala, a Chinese popular blogger and excellent young scholar, sometimes also claimed that she was “lying flat”. But the truth is, she keeps striving and is admitted as a Harvard University student recently. Therefore, it is unwise to consider the youth as “lying flat” based on their joking complaints.

As William Hazlitt, the famous British author, put it, “To be young is to be as one of the Immortals.” (Hazlitt, 2018) Contemporary Chinese youth are immortal. They are inheritors of the great traditions and pioneers of the brand-new way. Their courage to bear the burden and their quality of innovation assure them of unbounded prospect and therefore assure the country of a bright future.

References

China Youth Daily. (2022, May 4). Contemporary Chinese Youth [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://m.weibo.cn/1726918143/4765304557142506

Hazlitt, W. (2018). English Masterpieces for Recitation (Shuping Ke, Ed.). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.

Liang Q. C. (2017). The Youth of China. Beijing: China Yanshi Press.

Ullman, S. (2018). English Masterpieces for Recitation (Shuping Ke, Ed.). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.