The act of parenting
Let There Be Light grows naturally from Liang's experience as a mother. Struggling with parenting challenges, she read books such as The Conscious Parent, but found them unhelpful. Through discussions with other parents, she realized teenage mental health issues reflect deeper psychological structural dilemmas. "I wanted to enter their inner world and see how they think about themselves as individuals, and how they view their parents, schools, and society."
After research across families, schools, social and mental health institutions in cities and counties, she found that adolescent mental health problems have different roots: overcontrol in elite first-tier families, misguided parenting in smaller cities, and lack of care in county areas. She calls for education grounded in love, nature, and life — nurturing whole personalities, emotional resilience, and physical health, while helping children accept diversity and manage negative feelings.
Parents, she says, must confront their own anxiety. Learning to love themselves is the key to loving their children well. "Love is both a capacity and a method that requires reflection and learning."
Liang also highlights the absence of fathers in many families in Let There Be Light, noting that the famous writer Lu Xun emphasized the importance of fathers' self-awareness a century ago. Trapped in traditional family roles, fathers often stay on the sidelines, yet today's children badly need fathers' participation to balance the mother-child bond and build a healthy family dynamic.
The phrase "let there be light" also appears in The Light of Liang Guangzheng, written in memory of her father. In the book, the father speaks these words and lives with simple kindness and quiet resilience. For her, the "light" in the new book means inner strength: adults, especially parents, should build self-awareness, keep up with the times, and think critically, so they can truly see their children and support their innate strengths and potential.
Asked if she worries about a generation gap with her son as she spends very little time online, she says, laughing: "The internet is everywhere. I don't play games, but I sometimes watch random short videos and listen closely when my child talks about online memes."
