Classic Readings for Chinese Students (4) - 80 Masterpieces You Should Read in Your Lifetime

Author: New Growth Reading Guidance Committee
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features:
1. Gain true knowledge and wisdom through reading.
2. Achieve enlightenment and growth in appreciation.
3. The best gift for yourself.
4. Not to be sent to classmates as a heartwarming soup.
5. A treasure trove of wisdom for parents to give to their children.
6. A spiritual read for teachers to gift their students.
It is not necessarily true that loving to read is always a good thing. Unselective reading, or reading low-quality, poorly written books, is better than reading less or not at all. For young readers whose bodies and minds are still developing, while broad reading is important, reading classics may be even more so. The renowned French writer André Malraux once said, "Do not drown yourself in the sea of ordinary books"—because life is too short, even reading classic masterpieces is not enough. To British writer Samuel Smiles, reading the best books is to engage in dialogue with the greatest thinkers of all time and to befriend the wisest minds. Both believed that only by reading classics could one truly be a smart reader.
Classic works are masterpieces recognized as the best after being tested by hundreds of years of time. Such works are unparalleled in terms of intellectual depth, profound insights, and exquisite language. Throughout human history, countless texts and works have been created, but only a very few have survived the test of time. Thus, classic works are the essence of human civilization and the crystallization of human wisdom. Even the distinguished scholar Qian Liqun has argued that reading classics is the fundamental way of education.
To encourage young students to read more classics, we have selected 400 of the best works from the vast pool of outstanding literature across the ages, categorized them into five themes— (), , , and —and compiled them into The Chinese Student’s Classic Readings. We hope that young readers will find in these enduring words the depth of history and the charm of thought, gaining the motivation and inspiration for life and growth!