"Today's people sometimes seem too busy to read," he said at Tuesday's award ceremony. "When they have time, they prefer to attend lectures, where scholars share their ideas. However, reading can never be replaced by lectures. When you apply your own thinking while reading, you can really absorb the meaning of words of masters (such as Confucius), more than you can when told by others."

"Reading the classics" is a theme advocated by the National Library of China for this year's World Book and Copyright Day.

A retired Chinese physics professor, Lin Fengsheng, whose book Celebrated Paintings on the Left, Sciences on the Right also won the Wenjin award on Tuesday, explores the links among chemistry, natural sciences and the liberal arts. Lin brings in theories from neurosciences, optics, anatomy and math to explain why people enjoy paintings.

The book, which has been published by the Shanghai Scientific Technology Education Publishing House, cites artworks of Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali and other icon artists as examples of the author's unconventional study.

"Images form a bridge that connects the natural sciences and the fine arts, which were usually considered not to be relevant at all," Lin says. "Aesthetics for fine art are not always subjective impressions."