On the evening of April 23, the final of the first “Luojia, the Sea of Knowledge” General Knowledge Competition of Wuhan University was held in the academic report hall of the WHU Library. Questions in this competition range from Chinese classical literature to humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. A total of 1,861 readers from both inside and outside WHU participated in the preliminary round and 24 contestants advanced to the final after fierce competition.
Prof. Wang Xincai, Director of the WHU Library, Prof. Sang Jianping from the School of Physics and Technology of WHU, Associate Prof. Yi Dong from the School of Art of WHU, and Prof. Pan Yingchun from the School of History of WHU, were invited as judges. Han Qi, Deputy Secretary of the Chinese Communist Youth League of WHU Committee, was also invited as a special guest.
Director Wang Xincai giving a speech
Prof. Wang Xincai delivered a speech, saying that attention should be paid by students to three dimensions of knowledge: breadth, height, and depth. While breadth needs to be explored with knowledge, height should be measured with imagination, and depth requires one to think. A wide range of knowledge is an essential prerequisite for students’ thinking and spiritual development, which is the precise aim of this competition.
Deputy Han Qi said that this general knowledge competition is one of the flagship activities of the 18th “Luojia Spring” Students’ Technology and Culture Festival. “Today marks the 26th World Book and Copyright Day, as well as the opening ceremony of the 9th Reading Festival of WHU. Therefore, today’s final is imbued with special meaning. Knowledge is power, and wisdom comes from reading. Students of WHU are expected to broaden their horizons and listen to the exchanges of famous scholars to enrich their spiritual world.”
Quick Q & A
The final was divided into four sections. Through quick Q & A, collaborating in pairs, and other forms of answering questions, contestants delivered a magnificent contest for the audience with nimble responses and broad knowledge.
In the first section, quick Q&A, Liu Xin, a student from Wuhan University of Technology said, “I’ve been following this contest from the very beginning, and it’s my pleasure to advance to the final.” Through this event, Liu Xin has enriched herself with a large variety of general knowledge questions.
In the last section, six students competed for the champion. As Contestant No. 8 and Contestant No. 13 had the same score, they were asked five more questions. After saying “yes” to the question “When you look at a person you love, would your pupils dilate by 45%”, Contestant No. 8 defeated his competitor and won the first prize. Contestant No. 20 Cui Le, a student from the School of Law of WHU, won the only special prize in the competition.
Prof. Pan Yingchun commenting on the contestants
After the contest, Prof. Pan Yingchun commented that the performance of the contestants shows that reading enriches the mind. Accumulating rich knowledge broadens one’s horizons. All the contestants did a great job, and she looked forward to another wonderful competition in the next year.
The General Knowledge Competition of WHU was jointly organized by the WHU Library, the General Education Center of WHU, and the Chinese Communist Youth League of WHU Committee. It has been upgraded from a Chinese classical literature competition to a general knowledge competition this year in order to improve students’ innovative thinking and their ability for interdisciplinary research.
Photo by Lin Wei
Edited by Qin Zehao, Wei Yena, LuoYuanyuan