You are here: Home > China > Nation

Adjust font size:

The essay that President Xi Jinping wrote in memory of a deceased friend, who was a writer, offers a rare glimpse into the top leader's loyalty to friends and his philosophy of governance, literary analysts say.

Kang Zhigang, vice-chairman of the Shijiazhuang Writers' Association, said on Monday that he shared three essays, including Xi's, on his blog to honor his mentor, Jia Dashan, on Sunday evening after Kang attended an annual gathering of writers in Beijing.

"President Xi respected my mentor a lot. I was the editor of the essay he wrote, and later asked his secretary to submit it to the literary magazine Modern People," Kang said. Xi's draft was good and did not need much editing, he added.

Kang said he did not know that Guangming Daily, a newspaper whose target audience is Chinese intellectuals, dedicated a whole page of its Monday edition to the three essays, including Xi's — In Memory of Dashan — until he heard about it from media reports.

In his 3,000-word essay, Xi recalled his friendship with Jia, a well-known novelist he befriended and confided in while working as a local Party official in Zhengding county, Hebei province, from 1982 to 1985.

Jia Dashan is a well-known novelist Xi Jinping befriended and confided in while working as a local Party official in Zhengding county, Hebei province, from 1982 to 1985. [file photo]

Jia was the first local resident to whom Xi, then in his 20s, paid a home visit after assuming his new position in the local government after working in Beijing as a secretary at the General Office of the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

The two quickly became close friends, and they enjoyed long conversations on various topics that included literature and social issues, while usually losing track of time, Xi wrote.

Jia, then a civil servant and a part-time writer, was promoted to the head of the county's cultural bureau by the end of 1982. Jia turned out to be a good leader, overseeing the construction of many cultural facilities and the renovation of numerous ancient cultural heritage sites, Xi wrote.

"My mentor," Kang said, "was not a Party member, and in the 1980s, it was uncommon for a non-Party member to become a director of a government department, which showed the courage of President Xi in using industry experts for governance no matter the person's political beliefs."

Print E-mail

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

Add your comments...

• User Name Required
• Your Comment
• Enter the words you see:    
  Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.