News from Changsha, China Central Broadcasting Network, November 6 (Reporter Huang Kelan and Zhang Xingsha) Under the foothills of the mountains, on the shore of the Xiangjiang River. From the founding of Yuelu Academy in 976 AD to the name Hunan University in 1926, this institution of higher learning, which has been operating at the same location for the longest time in China, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. At the 100-year mark, the century-old trees in the academy’s courtyard and the newly opened school history exhibition hall lay out this profound journey before our eyes.
Tourists visit Yuelu Academy (Photo courtesy of Central Broadcasting Network and Hunan University Integrated Media Center)
In Yuelu Academy, a honey locust tree has stood for 116 years. It has watched the institution transform from an academy to a university, and has watched generations of young people pass under the tree.
According to Zhan Bofan, an undergraduate student majoring in philosophy at Yuelu Academy of Hunan University, the academy is still a "living academy" to this day. In addition to regular classroom teaching, the academy also carries out practical education through project systems, tutoring systems and other methods. "It is not only a cultural monument, but also undertakes the functions of academic research, talent training and cultural dissemination." Zhan Bofan said.
Tourists visit the Hunan University History Exhibition Hall (photo by CCTV reporter Huang Kelan)
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the school, the newly opened school history exhibition hall between the Half-Study Room and the Teaching Room of Yuelu Academy uses three chapters and two courtyards to lay out the history from the establishment of the academy to the naming of Hunan University to the present day.
Hunan University History Exhibition Hall (photo by CCTV reporter Huang Kelan)
The school song of Hunan University is one of the oldest school songs in Chinese universities (photo by CCTV reporter Huang Kelan)
What Wu Niman, the lecturer of Yuelu Academy, most wants to recommend to the audience is a school song written in 1933. At that time, the national crisis was deepening. The then principal Hu Shuhua wrote the lyrics and the pioneer of modern Chinese music education Xiao Youmei composed the music. "Inheriting the sentiments of Zhu and Zhang, and taking advantage of Europe and the United States", the song was rooted in tradition, looked at the world, and ended with "revitalizing our nation and shining our country's glory", and sang into the melody the responsibility of the country and the country who are concerned about the world and dare to be the first. This school song has been sung from generation to generation and is also the spiritual password of the millennium school.
Xiange is not just sung in academies. At the Kechuanggang Campus of Hunan University, Zhu Jianhe, a professor at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and his team are engaged in research on electrode materials and engineering applications of sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries. In his battery testing room, one room can test about 800 batteries at the same time. In his view, scientific research is a bridge from theory to application: from understanding the country's major needs, to designing materials, preparing experiments, and then making batteries for industrialization, industry, academia, and research run through one line.
Tan Yongwen leads students to carry out experiments (photo by CCTV reporter Huang Kelan)
Tan Yongwen, a professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Hunan University, and his team focus on hydrogen energy production and storage materials. Talking about determination in scientific research, he said that determination is not just about spending time, but also about accepting failure, accepting the window period before the results appear, and continuing to do it. It is not about working for a while when interest comes and then giving up when it disappears. "Concentration is the stable foundation of scientific research, and daring to be the first means daring to ask what others have not asked, daring to do what others have not done, and daring to maintain a skeptical attitude."
A tree guards the thousand-year-old courtyard, and a generation of people is on the road to tackle key problems. From the old plaque in the lecture hall to today's scientific research site, what has changed is the research direction, but what remains unchanged is the background of being practical and daring to be the first. The string song has not stopped and is singing further ahead.
