Epilogue: To Be a Good “Storyteller” of China’s Stories

Lu Xinning

Some scholars believe that politics can be divided into sensational politics and rational politics. “Telling stories” can be employed as an approach to interpreting ideas and provoking thinking, regardless of whether they are shared in the context of diplomatic activities or literary works and speeches. This approach can even help effect audiences, draw them closer to the speaker, and eventually connect them with the speaker in terms of both mind and heart. This can be described as a combination of rationality and sensibility.

“Profound truth should be conveyed to audiences through stories to move them and persuade them.” As we studied President Xi Jinping’s series of important speeches, what became clear was that storytelling is helpful in “conveying truth”. We can transform profound thoughts and abstract principles into colorful stories and vivid examples. Such transformation makes our expressions down-to-earth and literary, and they can widen an audiences’ scope of vision and reveal the speaker’s accomplishments in communication.

Because of this, we generated the idea of exploring the mysteries of the anecdotes and sayings of Xi Jinping. Designing the structure and layout of this book, Yang Zhenwu, the President of thePeople’s Daily , assigned me to lead the Editorial Department to compile this book. He even wrote a preface to the book, in which he summarized and expounded upon Xi Jinping’s method of telling stories and the significance of the method, and further reflected on China’s means of reform and development and great-power diplomacy and the people’s means of self-cultivation implied by his stories.

As “the first speaker” of China’s stories, the stories Xi Jinping tells contain rich connotations, and he demonstrates excellent skill in telling them. In this book, we also provide “further reading” sections after each story for two purposes. The first is to enrich the story, to supplement the story with more detail, and provide a detailed description of the people and things in the story. The second is to return to the original context of the speech in which he told the story, including when and to whom he told it, so that the reader can comprehend the story on the basis of its context and background. Our aim is to help the reader obtain a more comprehensive, intuitive, and deepening understanding of “Narrating China’s Governance”.

Joseph Samuel Nye, a Professor from Harvard University, once said with emotion, “The leader of China is a master of storytelling.” It can be said that storytelling is also an important soft power. Another reason why we interpret the stories told by Xi Jinping is that we expect to have more people become the “storytellers” of China’s stories. In the age of the Internet, everyone is an “outlet of value,” and in the age of the global village, everyone is a “business card for his nation.” What is more, this great era and time of great change enable the Chinese people to have very rich possibilities and more colorful life experiences. Dreams and struggles, successes and setbacks, and laughter and tears are the themes of the most inspiring stories. As long as we acquire the skill of discovering and telling the stories of ourselves and those around us, we can show the world a real, intuitive, and vivid China.

“Moving and persuading the reader” is a task of commentators of the Party newspaper. Therefore, telling good stories and telling stories well are what the editors of this book should learn and pursue. With respect to this book, the “Further Reading” following each story was written by Zhang Tie, Fan Zhengwei, Cao Pengcheng, Li Zheng, Li Bin, and Chen Ling. They are all from the Editorial Department of the People’s Daily. Li Chunsheng, Vice President of thePeople’s Daily headed the editing and design of the book. We hope this book will enlighten the reader in terms of thought and expression, so they can find a “golden key” to enable soulful communication, connect with the audience emotionally, and be understood by both China and the rest of the world.

(By the Deputy Editor-in-chief of thePeople’s Daily ).