How do I parse the Zhou Enlai quote 为了中华之崛起而读书? This was listed as a Zhou Enlai (周恩来) quote in my 3-rd grade Chinese book:


  为了中华之崛起而读书
  Wèile Zhōnghuá zhī juéqǐ ér dúshū
  Reading for the rise of China [Google Translate]


Question: How do I parse this quote?

Breaking it apart:


为了 = "for"
中华 = formal abbreviated term meaning "China"
之 = (?)
崛起 = "rise sharply"
而 = "and" or "also" (?)
读书 = read books


I think I get the general meaning: reading books will lead to China's steep rise.  But it's not clear how it pieces together, and thus I may have totally misinterpreted it.
You parsed the sentence correctly, and got the correct meaning for most of them.

之 means 的 (of). And 而 is a conjunction, to connect the two subsentences. It's not necessary but if you want you can take its meaning as and / and then / and yet ... to help understanding.

PS: The google translation is quite straightforward and correct.