Shaolin Friendship School Hosts Global Reading Event on World Book Day

On World Book Day, 23 April, Dengfeng City’s Shaolin Friendship School hosted a joint global mass reading event titled “Reading Nourishes the Heart, Sustains Cultural Continuity; I Am Ready for a Strong Nation—Reaching Out to Five Continents”. Grounded in Dengfeng’s unique cultural heritage—where literature and martial arts converge—the event connected Chinese-language schools across five continents for simultaneous reading and live global broadcasting. Employing a distinctive “reading + martial arts + classics + education” model, it deepened literary cultivation, inherited Shaolin kung fu traditions, promoted international dissemination of China’s fine traditional culture, and nurtured young people’s moral foundations, intellectual growth, and emotional well-being.

The event was guided by the Middle School Periodicals Committee of the China Children’s Press and Publication Association; jointly organised by *Zhongxuesheng Xuexi Bao* (Middle School Students’ Study Paper) and the Global Association of Cultural and Educational Exchange (GACEE); hosted by Shaolin Friendship School, Dengfeng City; and co-organised by Dengfeng Xinhua Bookstore and Henan University Press. Zhang Zhendong and Liu Hanqi served as hosts. The event opened with a solemn national flag-raising ceremony. Students from the school’s performance class delivered an energetic martial arts display, “Shaolin’s Heroic Spirit”, vividly embodying the essence and spirit of Shaolin kung fu—and powerfully reflecting Dengfeng’s distinctive integration of literary and martial education, as well as the school’s commitment to cultivating both scholarly excellence and physical discipline.

Guests included Li Guoyou, former principal of Henan Experimental Middle School; Li Kaizhen, Deputy Director of the Middle School Periodicals Committee and Editor-in-Chief of *Zhongxuesheng Xuexi Bao*; Lan Jianmin, representative of GACEE; Fan Zhanxian, Section Chief of the Wushu Development Centre, Dengfeng Municipal Education Bureau; Yi Jifeng, Secretary-General of the Dengfeng Wushu Schools Federation; Wang Hongbin, Deputy Manager of Dengfeng Xinhua Bookstore; Cui Yanfang, President of the Dengfeng Recitation Society; Zhou Luheng, reading and writing promotion expert; Shi Hai, Director of the International Publishing Centre at Henan University Press; and Qiao Yi Sister, a popular reading promoter. Also present were Li Jiong, Chairperson and Principal of Shaolin Friendship School; Li Zhansong, Party Building Instructor; Liu Huaiyuan, Vice Principal for Safety; and Luo Yuancheng, Vice Principal for Logistics—alongside all faculty and students.

In their speeches, Fan Zhanxian stressed that reading is the pathway for civilisational inheritance and the foundation for national rejuvenation. Leveraging Dengfeng’s rich literary-martial cultural endowment, he urged students to cultivate lifelong reading habits and grow into well-rounded new-era individuals—morally upright, intellectually capable, physically fit, aesthetically refined, and hardworking. Li Kaizhen emphasised nurturing hearts through reading and forging character through literature and martial arts, calling for the cultivation of new-era builders who possess patriotic commitment, global vision, and solid competence—rooted in the cultural legacy of Mount Song. Lan Jianmin noted that using reading as a bridge and martial arts as a medium enables Dengfeng’s literary-martial culture—and China’s classical texts—to cross borders and oceans, serving as a vibrant practice in fostering mutual learning among world civilisations.

During the public-interest lecture, Zhou Luheng spoke on “Why Read Classics?”, drawing on over twenty years of professional experience to explain the value of classical reading for adolescent development, guiding teachers and students to engage closely with and deeply understand the classics. The event innovatively adopted the format “One Book, Five Continents; Timeless Texts, Four Seas in Unison”: students from Chinese-language schools across five continents recited *The Great Learning* together online, synchronising literary resonance across vast distances and echoing Dengfeng’s scholarly tradition worldwide.

In the reading-sharing segment, students from the primary and junior secondary sections—as well as participants from the Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) department—delivered recitations, choral performances, and reflections on their reading experiences, showcasing the holistic, literature-and-martial-arts-integrated growth of Shaolin Friendship School students. Teacher representative Liu Xingru and coach representative Guo Xiaoge shared insights on reading pedagogy and the educational philosophy of “practising martial arts to strengthen the body, reading to nourish the heart”. Cui Yanfang, President of the Dengfeng Recitation Society, gave a musical recitation of “A Young China”, complementing students’ martial arts dance performance—creating a powerful fusion of literary elegance and martial vigour that brought the event to its climax.

A public-interest donation and award ceremony was also held on site: *Zhongxuesheng Xuexi Bao* and other organisations donated classic texts and high-quality periodicals to the school. The organisers conferred upon Shaolin Friendship School the title “Shaolin Kung Fu Global Chinese Education Practice Base”, and awarded Zhou Luheng, Cui Yanfang, and Qiao Yi Sister the title “Gold-standard Lead Reader”.

As a national-level intangible cultural heritage institution for Shaolin kung fu transmission, Shaolin Friendship School is rooted in the fertile soil of Mount Song and actively contributes to Dengfeng’s integrated literary-martial development. Upholding its educational goal of “cultivating both literary excellence and martial proficiency, moral integrity and talent”, the school has built a whole-person education system. It has been approved by Henan Province to enrol international students and established an International Department. It maintains deep cooperative ties with numerous domestic and overseas universities and institutions, continuously advancing the integration of Shaolin culture, Central Plains cultural heritage, and international education. School leaders stated that moving forward, the school will continue to leverage its local cultural strengths—using reading to sustain cultural continuity and martial arts to showcase distinctive appeal—in support of building Dengfeng’s literary-martial brand, connecting the world through cultural exchange, telling Dengfeng’s story and China’s story well, and nurturing more new-era youth with Chinese roots and global perspectives. (Wang Chaofeng, Han Fei)