SUFE
In the AI wave of the digital age, people can quickly obtain information through information technology. Is reading still valuable and necessary? Why and how should we read in the age of artificial intelligence? On April 23rd, coinciding with the 30th World Book Day, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics held the 2025 Book Fragrance Cultural Festival, to explore together how to "Deep Read·Deep Think" and to guide teachers and students to think about how to return to the essence of reading in the age of artificial intelligence and move from superficial reading to in-depth reading. This event includes six parts: Secretary Cultural Salon, "Reading Star·Reading Expert" Award Ceremony, Director's Book Recommendation, Book Fragrance Elegance Gathering, Intangible Cultural Heritage Handcraft Experience, and Douyin Club.
SUFE's Party and administrative leaders Xu Tao, He Pengcheng, Li Zengquan, Liu Liya, Liu Qingsheng, Zhou Guoliang, and Jin Yuying, as well as Party committee members Cao Dongbo and Chu Hua, attended the event. Liu Ke, the Party secretary and editor-in-chief of Xinmin Evening News, Qin Jiancong, a director of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and chairman of Southeast Elevator Co., Ltd., intangible cultural heritage inheritor and ancient books restorer Lian Chengchun, and cooperative units such as Douyin Campus and Lvwa Bookstore, as well as relevant departments within the university, also participated in the event.
They discussed the power of reading and thinking and explored the charm of cultural inheritance and innovation. The third Secretary Cultural Salon was held on the third floor of Kuangshi Bookstore, a campus cultural landmark, where guests and teachers and students freely talked about their feelings and thoughts on reading and gained inspiration through interactive communication.
In the speech, Xu Tao and Liu Ke encouraged everyone to seek wisdom, strength, and the direction of growth from books, to share the joy of reading, and to convey warmth and thought through words. Lian Chengchun, an intangible cultural heritage inheritor and ancient books restorer, Ruan Hong, an associate professor at the School of Humanities and a municipal intangible cultural heritage inheritor (Jiangnan Silk and Bamboo), and Gao Hongbing, dean of the Digital Economy Research Institute, respectively shared their views on the restoration of ancient books, the inheritance and education of intangible cultural heritage in universities, and the challenges and creation of artificial intelligence to human culture and reading.
Facing the rapid development of the digital age, the university actively explores the empowerment of technology to promote the integrated development of media. At the event, the university officially launched its publicity IP image—Su Xiaofei and the intelligent news publicity entity, using information technology to promote the digital empowerment and information transformation of cultural construction.
To further enhance the humanistic temperament and transcendent spirit in campus culture, and to play a positive role of general education and classic reading in the cultivation of first-class talents, SUFE encourages its students to walk with classics and be accompanied by famous works. The fourth "Reading Star·Pleasant Reading Expert" award ceremony of SUFE was held on Lvye Pedestrian Street. Xia Jijun, director of the Academic Affairs Office, on behalf of the "Reading Star·Pleasant Reading Expert" selection committee, introduced the classic reading work of SUFE and the selection of the fourth "Reading Star·Pleasant Reading Expert" award. Xu Tao, Liu Qingsheng, Zhou Guoliang, Jin Yuying, and Chu Hua successively presented awards to the winners of "Reading Star" and "Pleasant Reading Expert" and outstanding organizing units.
“Reading has broadened my horizons, softened my heart, and helped me find a few close friends, making my life journey rich and warm,” said Cheng Jianqiao, a 2023 master’s student at the School of Humanities and representative of the “Reading Star” awardees, as she shared her reading stories.
Liu Yuxuan, a 2024 student at the School of Digital Economy and awardee of the “Pleasant Reading Expert,” said that the power of reading always shows up late. It quietly changes the way we look at the world and adjusts how we deal with problems. Usually, it is only after a long time that we look back and find those books have already become a part of us.
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The integration of tradition and fashion, and the coexistence of reading and experience, the library, archives (university history museum)/museum, publishing house, School of International Cultural Exchange, university youth league committee, Kuangshi Bookstore and other units jointly held a book fragrance elegant gathering. At the characteristic booths of “Directors' Book Recommendations,” “What is Recommended is What is Read,” “SUFE Museum Reading,” “Reading Takes You to See the World,” and student associations, students felt the collision of traditional elegance and modern cultural creativity.
SUFE, in association with the Douyin Club, has established a thematic cultural experience area for the Four Great Classical Novels. Classic characters from these novels “step out of the books” to join students in revisiting and performing these classics, providing an immersive experience of traditional culture. The Black Wukong flash mob performance, accompanied by the majestic melody of the theme music, interacts closely with teachers and students at the scene, offering a double shock to the senses of sight and hearing!
Traditional skills that have lasted for thousands of years are passed down through fingertips. A non-heritage cultural fair was also set up on site, integrating non-heritage skills with a campus filled with the fragrance of books. Under the guidance of craftsmen, students and teachers of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics personally experienced traditional skills such as foil painting, printing, sugar blowing, clay figurines, grass weaving, and dyeing, cultivating their recognition and love for traditional culture and igniting the fire of inheritance in their hearts.
Time refines the classics, and the fragrance of books moistens a hundred years. SUFE will continue to explore and practice more reading methods with the characteristics of the times, guide young students to be lifelong practitioners who “love reading, read good books, and read well,” calm down through in-depth reading, go far through in-depth thinking, safeguard the torch of Chinese civilization, promote cultural inheritance and innovation, and hold up a lamp to guide reading and thinking in the flood of information.
