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september 6th is the day when the new students of linyi university in 2024 will start school. on this day, liu xiuxiang, vice principal of wangmo county experimental high school in qianxinan prefecture, guizhou province, returned to his alma mater again.

16 years ago, liu xiuxiang carried his mother to college over a thousand miles as a student and son, which attracted wide media attention. 16 years later, he sent his students to linyi university as a teacher and alumnus.

although his identity has changed, his original intention remains the same. liu xiuxiang put the school badge he wore when he first entered the university 16 years ago on the chest of the students, "i hope you can pass on this beauty."

when charity becomes the keyword of life

liu xiuxiang has a keyword for each stage of his life. many years ago, the keyword for him was "filial son", which was given by the media and the public.

liu xiuxiang was born in a remote mountain village in guizhou. his father died when he was 4 years old, and his mother lost the ability to take care of herself due to illness. the young liu xiuxiang had to carry the burden of life on his tender shoulders. in order to support his family and buy medicine for his sick mother, liu xiuxiang started picking up waste, doing odd jobs, and following adults to the mountains to collect herbs at a very young age. while studying and taking care of his mother, liu xiuxiang stumbled along the way.

in 2008, liu xiuxiang was admitted to linyi normal college (the predecessor of linyi university). when the new students started in september, he brought his mother to the university to register. during this period, his story was discovered by the media, and the story of the filial son liu xiuxiang "carrying his mother to school for thousands of miles" was published in many media.

media reports at the time (data map)

"a person's life should not be pitied or sympathized by others, but should be amiable, admirable and respectable." liu xiuxiang said that although he did not accept everyone's help, he could feel the kindness of the society and "his heart was warm."

during his four years at university, liu xiuxiang used his spare time to do various part-time jobs, such as handing out flyers, setting up stalls, tutoring, and serving as a waiter. in addition to using his meager income for his own life and his mother's treatment, he also quietly used some of it for charity.

"when i was picking up waste in high school, i met three younger brothers and sisters who were also picking up waste. they were still in elementary school at that time." after liu xiuxiang entered university, he sent money back home every month to support his three younger brothers and sisters in their studies.

suddenly one day, a sister that liu xiuxiang sponsored told him that she was going to drop out of school to work. liu xiuxiang was very anxious and tried to persuade her over the phone. he even went back to his hometown to meet with her in person, but it didn't work in the end. the sister finally dropped out of school. "from this incident, i began to think about which is more important for a child in a remote mountainous area, money or dreams."

liu xiuxiang originally planned to stay in a big city to work after graduation, and a company in beijing had already sent him a high-paying job offer. after careful consideration, liu xiuxiang decided to return to his hometown. "i studied hard to get out of the mountains, not to escape, but to bring back the beauty of the world outside the mountains."

liu xiuxiang's life direction gradually became clear.

in 2012, liu xiuxiang graduated from university, returned to his hometown with his mother, and passed the examination for a special post teacher with the highest score in the county.

from then on, "education" and "public welfare" became the new keywords in his life.

"i have been caught in the rain myself, so i want to hold an umbrella for them"

at that time, wangmo county's education foundation was very weak. in 2012, when liu xiuxiang first returned, 46% of the county's more than 100,000 registered poor people had only primary school education or below, and only 70 students were admitted to colleges.

"people's awareness of education is very weak, and they generally think that studying is useless. not only parents think so, but students also think so." liu xiuxiang recalled that many students finished their studies early after junior high school and high school, and went to work to earn money to support their families. "the most urgent task is to persuade students who dropped out to return to class."

liu xiuxiang visits a student's home (data map)

in august 2012, liu xiuxiang and several local teachers launched the "aiding students in rural areas" public welfare campaign and began to visit every household on a motorcycle to persuade them to go to school. "at that time, i just wanted to go to the students' homes and persuade them to go back to school." the longest time he worked on the ideological work of a family was one and a half years, and he went there more than 20 times.

"i was rejected many times at that time. once, i angered a student's parents and was bitten by dogs." over the past 10 years, liu xiuxiang has traveled to almost every township in wangmo county and broke eight motorcycles, all in exchange for more than 1,800 students returning to school.

financial problems are one of the main reasons why students drop out of school. at first, liu xiuxiang funded students with his own money, and borrowed money when he didn't have enough. later, as the "aiding students in rural areas" charity campaign became more and more well-known, it attracted more and more social welfare forces to join the ranks. "'aiding students in rural areas' adopts a one-to-one or one-to-many funding form. over the years, more than 8,000 students have been funded."

ideological problems are more difficult to solve than economic problems. "the real poverty is not economic poverty, but ideological poverty." liu xiuxiang believes that only by awakening everyone and making them deeply aware that studying can change their destiny can the problem of students dropping out of school be fundamentally solved.

liu xiuxiang used his public speaking ability and combined it with moral education for students to start his motivational public speaking career. "i used myself as an example to let students know that if liu xiuxiang could make it, they can definitely make it, because they don't need to run around with their mother like i did, and they don't need to go through the hardships like i did."

inspirational speeches have become a major feature of the "aiding students in rural areas" charity campaign. in 2016, liu xiuxiang established his own studio. one of the functions of the studio is to give speeches around the country and inspire more teachers and students with his own stories. "i have been caught in the rain, so i want to hold an umbrella for them."

"at the beginning, there was only me, but later many people joined in, including teachers, businesses, caring people, and my students." to date, he has completed more than 3,000 public welfare speeches across the country.

liu xiuxiang at a public welfare lecture (file photo)

in the past two years, the "aiding rural students" public welfare campaign has shifted from "helping individual students to inspiring more teachers." liu xiuxiang realized that "a beam of light can illuminate a road, and inspiring a teacher can change the fate of a group of children."

"inspirational speeches, teacher training, moral education for students, and financial aid for poor students constitute the four major parts of the 'aiding students in rural areas' public welfare campaign." looking back, liu xiuxiang was filled with emotion: the economic issue that used to require the most attention has now become the issue that requires the least attention; one of the early key tasks, persuading dropouts to return to class, has also become history. "since 2023, we have basically not encountered any dropouts."

liu xiuxiang said that the people here have been awakened.

the education situation in wangmo county has undergone tremendous changes. the college entrance examination scores have gone from the last in qianxinan prefecture to the third in the prefecture for four consecutive years. the number of high school students in wangmo county who have been admitted to universities has increased from 70 in 2012 to more than 1,700 in 2024. a considerable proportion of students choose to devote themselves to the construction of their hometown after graduation, including liu xiuxiang's students.

in wangmo county, students of liu xiuxiang can be seen in government departments, banks, enterprises and other units. "many of them are rural children. they have not only changed their own destiny through education, but also set a good example of 'education changes destiny' for children in the same village."

many of liu xiuxiang's students chose to join the "aiding students in rural areas" charity campaign after returning to their hometowns to work. this makes liu xiuxiang prouder than "having students all over the world". "the essence of charity is common benefit, that is, everyone benefits together. only when everyone is well, can it be a good charity model." liu xiuxiang said, "in fact, from a certain perspective, we ourselves are the biggest beneficiaries."

from one person to a group of people, from the beneficiary to the helper, a grassroots charity project has come to a close here.