Chen Wenjun:

Due to time constraints, we will take one last question.

Beijing Youth Daily:

My question is about culture. Hunan enjoys rich cultural resources, including not just historical and revolutionary culture, but also vibrant modern culture. What will Hunan do to give full play to its cultural resources and better undertake its new cultural mission? Thank you.

Mao Weiming:

Thanks for your question. Time-honored historical culture, rich revolutionary culture, and vibrant modern culture are a classic summary of Hunan culture given by General Secretary Xi Jinping. I would like to give you a brief introduction about them.

Hunan enjoys a time-honored historical culture. Chengtoushan National Archaeological Site Park presents an agricultural civilization based on rice planting. Fan Zhongyan, a statesman and literary scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), wrote in his essay "The Yueyang Tower" that "One should first show concern of the state and lastly to enjoy himself." The 17th-century outstanding thinker Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692) proposed the principle of "practical knowledge of managing state affairs," which means scholarly studies should be geared to meeting current needs and be of practical value to state governance and social management. Qing Dynasty scholar and historian Wei Yuan (1794-1857) asked the people in Modern China to "open eyes to see the world." All this cultural heritage will help Hunan to write its chapter in regards to Chinese modernization.

Hunan enjoys a rich revolutionary culture and is hailed as a national museum of revolutionary history without a fence. General Secretary Xi Jinping mentioned the story of Half a Quilt to explain the Red Army and the CPC's close bond with the people. In November 1934, three female soldiers during the Long March of the Red Army sought shelter in the home of an impoverished villager named Xu Jiexiu at Shazhou village in Rucheng county, Hunan province. Upon their departure, they cut their only quilt in two, leaving half with Xu in a gesture of kindness.

Hunan enjoys a vibrant modern culture with a flourishing literary and artistic scene, diverse scenarios for cultural activities, as well as a prospering cultural industry. Hunan is home to a number of Chinese cultural masters including Qi Baishi. The epic dance drama "Da Di Song Ge (the Ode to Hometown)," which debuted in 2020, is based on a story from Hunan's Shibadong Village. Hunan's radio and television station, publishing group, and Malanshan V Zone are all famous brands in China's cultural industry. Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, was recognized as a City of Media Arts in November 2017, making it the first Chinese city awarded with the UNESCO title.

Moving forward, Hunan will shoulder its new cultural mission proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping and promote the following four "integrations." First, we will deeply integrate culture with education, using cultural resources to teach. Second, we will deeply integrate culture with technology, using cultural resources to upgrade industries. Third, we will deeply integrate culture with rural revitalization, using cultural resources to energize rural construction. Fourth, we will deeply integrate culture with tourism, using cultural resources to attract tourists. We will continuously leverage our strength in the cultural industry and give full play to our five "business cards" to push Hunan's tourism revenue to exceed a trillion yuan. The five "business cards" are: the beautiful landscape represented by Zhangjiajie, red tourism in Shaoshan Mountain, the leisure city of Changsha, the agricultural civilization discovered in Chengtoushan, and Hengshan Mountain, one of the five great mountains of China. Thank you.

Chen Wenjun:

Thank you, Mr. Mao, and all the presenters for your introductions. Thank you to all the journalists for your participation. Today's press conference will conclude here.

Translated and edited by Wang Yiming, Huang Shan, Ma Yujia, Zhu Bochen, Zhou Jing, Wang Yanfang, Zhang Rui, Liu Sitong, Zhang Junmian, Liu Caiyi, Liu Qiang, Liu Jianing, Li Huiru, Wang Ziteng, Wang Wei, Lin Liyao, Wang Qian, Jay Birbeck, and Tom Arnsten. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.