On April 23, 2022, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) marked World Book Day with a meeting in Beijing to “study and implement the important instructions of Party General Secretary Xi Jinping and deepen the development of CPPCC member reading activities.” At the same time, fire departments across China observed the occasion with “study sessions” and reading activities designed to “keep the leaders’ instructions in mind and forever remain loyal guardians.”

Throughout his time as General Secretary, Xi Jinping has exhorted officials and Party members at all levels to read more and has emphasized the role of reading in strengthening the “people’s spirit” and shaping their “self-confidence.” Though reading and “reading activities” often connote studying Party-approved history and theory, a 2019 procurement notice posted by the Qingyang Fire Department, in Gansu province, reveals an eclectic list of book purchases for the brigade’s in-house library. In addition to treatises on Maoism, Chinese and world history, and revolutionary biographies, the inventory of more than 550 titles includes numerous self-help books, a how-to guide to understanding blockchain, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, Svetlana Alexievich’s Boys in Zinc, and George Orwell’s 1984.

This year, on World Book Day, a news report showed images of firefighters in Qingyang “relaxing” with books, perhaps mulling over Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, savoring a book of Tang poetry, or contemplating Henry David Thoreau’s Walden.

Below is ChinaFile’s translation of selected entries from the full list of titles. We have added authors’ names where available. The complete original Chinese list follows.

• Liu Dehuan, Biographies Series: Nobel Prize Winners–Eugene O’Neill
• George Orwell, 1984
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah
• Carson McCullers, The Member of the Wedding
• Isaac Asimov, Foundation and Empire
• Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• The Psychology of Microexpressions
• Henry David Thoreau, Walden
• Biography of Lu Xun
• The Selected Letters of Immanuel Kant
• Wen Pinyuan, Facing Humanity: A Biography of Sigmund Freud
• Sports Culture and National Fitness
• Zhao Mo and Zhao Lei, How Do Jews Think
• Chen Xingyu, Self Control: How to Balance Your Time and Your Life
• Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
• Bu Zhuoqi, Deng Xiaoping’s Art of Language
• G. Ng, The 38 Letters from J.D. Rockefeller to His Son
• Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
• Xi Jinping, Eradicating Poverty
• Svetlana Alexievich, Boys in Zinc
• Li Qing, Defending the Fertile Land with Loyal Hearts and Blood Shed for a Just Cause: The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army
• Guo Huiping, The “King of Directors”: Akira Kurosawa
• Fu Jingchuan, Master of Russian Critical Realism: Tolstoy
• Ying Zi & Li Xin, The Standard Bearer of China’s New Culture: Lu Xun
• Zhou Yue, The Complete Book of Jewish Wisdom (A Philosophy of Life)
• Wang Zhiyan, Let Me Tell You a Story about Bill Gates
• Guo Ting, Harvard Emotional Intelligence Course: Harvard Wisdom, Achievement for Life
• Tao Te Ching
• Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
• Wang Tenghe & Xin Hongrui, A Book to Understand Blockchain
• Cao Xueqin, Poems from “Dream of the Red Chamber”
• Tian Wenyi, Chiang Kai-Shek’s Last Days on the Mainland