<正>The term ’literacy’ is usually defined as"the ability to read and write at a specified age". According to the statistics provided by the UNESCO,there are 875 million people rated as illiterate and 113 million children have no chance to receive schooling.As for the literacy rate among Asian countries,it ranges from 32%(Afghanistan) to 95%(Maldives).Seeing that iteracy has an integral role to play for equity,justice,peace and development in the world and a basic human right,the United Nations decided upon the years 2003-2012 as the United Nations’ Literacy Decade,with the aim to extend the use of literacy to those who do not currently have access to it and the theme being"Literacy as Freedom". The paper is first to argue for the fact that the UNESCO has drafted a new definition:,that is,"literacy is the ability to identify,understand,interpret,create,communicate and compute,using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts.Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals,to develop his or her knowledge and potential,and to participate fully in the wider society."Then the paper will further discuss that,in fact,we are now moving from the traditional notion of ’literacy’ towards ’multiliteracies’ in the new era.This is illustrated successively in terms of linguistic literacy,cultural literacy, technological literacy,information literacy,and critical literacy. The presenter holds the view that research in this orientation will help improve and develop China’s education programs at all levels.