To encourage reading among students, President of Tsinghua University presents a book as gift to freshmen every year since 2015.
In 2015, for the first time, President Qiu Yong presented a book as a gift for freshmen. The novel Ordinary Worldwas presented to freshmen, encouraging them to strive for their ideals and to think about their responsibilities and missions for the country and the nation.
In 2016, Waldenwas selected as the gift, in the hope of helping freshmen feel the great power of tranquility in reading and find the Walden Pond in their hearts.
In 2017, the given book was The Story of Art. Freshmen who read this book were expected to better appreciate the beauty of art, and then feel, discover, and create beauty in daily life.
In 2018, a classic popular science One Two Three... Infinity was presented to freshmen. President Qiu Yong hoped that the book conveys the charm of science and enlighten freshmen on science topics.
In 2019, China: A New Cultural History was chosen as the very book to inspire freshmen to find their strength in history and culture.
In 2020, the book was From the Soil —The Foundations of Chinese Society, which was selected with the hope to help freshmen well understand what responsibilities they have on their shoulder.
In 2021, a realistic classic The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, was the selected gift for freshmen. That masterpiece could be interpreted as Hemingway’s expression of his rule for sensible behavior, since on the page he wrote down inspiring words like “Man is not made for defeat” and “A man can be destroyed but never defeated”. By sending this book, President Qiu Yong shows his hope that freshmen could take on upcoming challenges, with unswerving determination and great bravery from which they will benefit for a lifetime.
