[00:12.85]Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Colleagues:
[00:16.26]Because I am the Vice Chancellor of the oldest of the foreign universities represented here today,
[00:22.96]I have been chosen to speak on their behalf.
[00:26.34]I am pleased to be their voice in presenting our heartfelt congratulations to the professors, teachers,
[00:34.54]researchers and students of Peking University on the 100th anniversary of its foundation.
[00:41.84]Our universities form a great intellectual community round the world.
[00:47.43]Science has no nationality; knowledge belongs to everyone.
[00:53.17]Our universities create new knowledge. They teach this knowledge,
[00:58.73]together with that of other universities and also the best of the great storehouse of knowledge,
[01:06.09]which those who came before us have uncovered, tested and accumulated.
[01:13.55]All universities contribute to the prosperity and success of their country.
[01:19.47]They also conserve the culture and inheritance specific to their country’s civilization. But, they do more.
[01:30.38]Knowledge is secure only when it is hard won by the independent tests of accuracy,
[01:39.45]rational explanation and truth. So, when we teach our students skills, we also give them values.
[01:51.91]On the one side, these are values for personal and civic conduct.
[01:58.84]On the other side, these values underwrite the personal need for independent understanding
[02:06.81]which is the source of human creativity.
[02:11.11]These duties give universities a high responsibility. They are rooted in a great and fine tradition of honesty,
[02:20.50]free fearless enquiry and independence. Each university is a beacon of light in its own society and,
[02:29.84]by its association with its sisters, its knowledge and its values are spread wide.
[02:37.64]A tradition is not built easily or quickly. During one hundred years,
[02:44.12]Peking University has been fashioning its tradition.
[02:48.29]Present and future members of the University! We hope to see you elaborate and consolidate your tradition.
[02:56.76]We hope to see you become a keystone of the intellectual community.
[03:01.99]In your next century, we hope to see you contribute to the international academic movment as a whole,
[03:10.34]as more and more of your numbers come to participate in the activities of your sister universities.
[03:17.41]Congratulations, Peking University on your first century of achievement!
