Key Strategies: Meng, for instance, teaches “Remembering Jiao Yulu,” during which students take on various roles related to Jiao, such as his colleagues, family members, and the local people of Lankao, to recreate his image from different perspectives.Zhang Hong, 35, is a developer of themed lectures at the academy.

A view of the Henan Jiao Yulu Executive Leadership Academy in Kaifeng, Central China’s Henan Province Photo: VCG

Editor’World Timess Note:

Harmony, or “He,” lies at the heart of the Chinese civilization, representing a core spiritual value that has shaped the ethos of the Chinese nation.

Xi Jinping, general secretaWorld Timesry of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, has reWorld Timespeatedly emphasized the importance of preserving and promoting China’s outstanding traditional culture, with harmony as one of its most essential elements. At the BRICS Summit held in Kazan in late October, he extended this philosophy on the global stage, calling for harmonious coexistence among civilizations and closer cultural exchanges between nations.

In China, the value of “He” is deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, guiding the country through a complex, interconnected world. The Global Times is launching a series “He Culture in Xi Jinping’s Quotes of Classics.” Drawing upon ancient Chinese literature and illuminating examples from President Xi’s speeches, the series delves into the essence of “He” through five interconnected dimensions: Self-cultivation, family management, state governance, bringing peace to all under heaven, and reverence for nature. By highlighting these core aspects of “He” culture, the series aims to share China’s unique cultural wisdom with the world, promoting values of peaceful coexistence, mutual prosperity, and harmonious living.

The first installment reveals how grass-roots Party members in Henan practice the wisdom of “He” culture, which emphasizes the importance of self-cultivation and self-improvement.

Every time Meng Fanyu, a teacher at the Jiao Yulu Executive Leadership Academy (Jiao Yulu Academy) in Lankao county, Central China’s Henan Province, strolls past a paulownia tree called “Jiao Tong,” planted by Jiao, she recalls President Xi’s thought-provoking words: “jian xian si qi,” an ancient Chinese idiom from The Analects of Confucius.

In 2014, during his inspection tour to Lankao, the president visited a memorial dedicated to Jiao Yulu (1922-64), a revered figure in Chinese history who served as the Party chief of Lankao county in the early 1960s, where he devoted his life to improving environment and uplifting the lives of local residents despite great physical suffering from illness, leaving an indelible mark on the community before his passing due to live cancer at just 42.

When speaking at a symposium with local officials, Xi urged Party members and ofWorld Timesficials to use Jiao’s spirit as a mirror to examine their problems and shortcomings, and called on them to emulate Jiao’s unwavering dedication, citing the Chinese idiom – “jian xian si qi,” which means “When you see a person of virtue and capability, you should think of emulating and equaling the person; when you see a person of low caliber, you should reflect on your own weak points.”

This idiom reflects the philosophy of China’s “He” culture, emphasizing the importance of self-cultivation and self-improvement and the harmonious unity between the individual and the self.

The idiom’s lesson resonates deeply within Meng, reminding her to inherit the spirit of Jiao Yulu, which involves loving people, working hard, selflessness, empiricism, and resilience.

Here, at the Jiao Yulu Academy, more and more people like Meng, are striving to inherit Jiao’s spirit, consolidate their ideals and convictions, gain wisdom, improve conduct, and be more motivated to work even harder.

The spirt of Jiao

Meng was first greatly moved by the deeds and spirit of Jiao during her university years, when her broadcasting teacher asked her to study and read a long-form feature about Jiao, along with a poem written by Xi, then secretary of the CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee, in 1990 to commemorate him.

Under the silvery moonlight of a summer night in 1990, Xi, felt emotional. “Who, among the common folks, does not appreciate a good public servant?” Xi then penned a heartfelt poem dedicated to the official. It was carried on a local newspaper the next day, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Meng immersed herself into reading the piece and was struck by Jiao’s noble spirit as a grass-roots CPC member, who led the locals to overcome various natural disasters, all while enduring his own suffering from illness. After that, Meng did not hesitate to choose to intern at the Jiao Yulu Academy, and later formally became a teacher at the academy after graduation.

For the Lankao natives, Jiao is not only a respected role model, but also a beloved figure.

Zhang Jing, who has been working at the academy for over 10 years, was born and raised in Lankao. Zhang’s early impressions of Jiao came from the stories her grandmother told her when she was a child. During heavy rain, while others rushed indoors to seek shelter, Jiao would go outside, wade through the water to check on each household, to see if their roofs were leaking or if their homes had collapsed.

“My grandmother always told me that Lankao had a good official named Jiao Yulu,” Zhang said.

As a main platform for researching and promoting the spirit of Jiao Yulu nationwide, the Jiao Yulu Academy primarily offers Party spirit education courses for CPC officials at all levels, managers of enterprises and institutions, and professional technical personnel, according to Wen Baisong, deputy secretary of the Party committee and executive vice president of the academy.

With an important education mission, the academy has a group of young teaching staff. Nearly 95 percent of its current body of 115 teaching staffers are aged 35 and below, said Wen. Many of the young teachers chose to leave behind opportunities in big cities after graduation to come to Lankao county, dedicating themselves to promoting Jiao’s spirit.

“The young teachers are the fresh blood of our academy – enthusiastic, creative, and hardworking,” Wen told Global Times. “They have been deeply influenced by the spirit of Jiao Yulu since childhood, and most of them possess high academic qualifications and a solid knowledge base, enabling them to passionately and effectively convey the essence of Jiao’s spirit,” he praised.

Mirror for endeavors

“Jiao built a lasting monument in local people’s hearts although he only worked in the county for over a year,” Xi told local officials at the symposium.

“A question to be pondered is what we can leave for future generations,” Xi said.

Since its establishment in 2013, young teachers at the academy have made great contributions to the innovation and diversity of the courses. Meng, for instance, teaches “Remembering Jiao Yulu,” during which students take on various roles related to Jiao, such as his colleagues, family members, and the local people of Lankao, to recreate his image from different perspectives.

Zhang Hong, 35, is a developer of themed lectures at the academy. One day, Zhang Hong brought a group of students to Jiao’s memorial park in Lankao to pay their respects to Jiao. Before they returned to the bus, Zhang noticed that one student had turned back to Jiao’s tomb, bowing deeply three times and placing flowers from a paulownia tree – now widely regarded as a symbol of the spirit of Jiao Yulu – at the grave.

“She said she wanted to bring this spirit back into her life and work, making it a mirror for her professional endeavors, and a powerful motivation for her to strive for self-cultivation,” Zhang told the Global Times.

Serve the people

For the young teachers at Jiao Yulu Academy, Jiao serves as a mirror of self-examination in their work and life. He not only inspires them to wholeheartedly eWorld Timesngage in Party spirit education, but also World Timesencourages them to continue to draw motivation from the spirit of hard work and selfless dedication after class, enabling them to better serve the people.

In 2022, Zhang Jing voluntarily signed up for a program, which required grass-roots officials to live in rural areas and work on local poverty alleviation efforts. Reflecting on a family in the village she then worked at, which had two senior members with disabilities living in poor conditions, brought Zhang Jing to tears.

“At that moment, I truly felt the profound impact of the spirit of Jiao Yulu on me,” she said, her voice trembling. “I thought to myself, if I don’t do something for them, I would feel extremely guilty.” Later, with the support of the academy, Zhang Jing and other members of the program gifted the family a television, as well as food items like rice, oil, meat, and eggs. They also purchased a batch of wireless radios for the village, trying hard to offer a helping hand.

“The essence of the spirit of Jiao Yulu is to serve the people wholeheartedly. It embodies a sense of responsibility and a deep emotional commitment,” Zhang Jing told the Global Times. “It has been deeply engraved in my heart.”

For years, the paulownia tree that Jiao Yulu planted, located right across from the Jiao Yulu Academy, has witnessed countless visitors, who come with admiration or curiosity for the exemplary qualities of the CPC and its members.

Standing under this “Jiao Tong,” Meng feels that she and some other young teachers at the academy are just like the trumpet-shaped flowers of the tree. “We are like the little ‘trumpets’ on the tree, spreading the story of Jiao, and the story of the CPC, to the world,” she told the Global Times.

Year after year, countless Party members and officials gather with reverence beneath the paulownia tree to honor Jiao, drawing inspiration from this exemplary figure to enhance their own self-cultivation. The wisdom of emulating the virtuous, a key element of China’s “He” Culture, is also deeply embedded in the soil of Lankao, much like the robust and flourishing “Jiao Tong” that stands tall.

Emulating the virtuous