Zhi Yueying: Devoting Life to Educating Children of the Mountains

Zhi Yueying escorts students on the way home in Zaoxia Township of Fengxin County, east China's Jiangxi Province, Sept. 2, 2021. [Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi]

In 1980, then-19-year-old Zhi Yueying left her hometown, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province's capital, to become a primary school teacher in a mountain village in Fengxin County. Despite the tough living conditions, Zhi has spent the past four decades educating children in remote villages in Fengxin. She believes that education gives the local children, who have had limited exposure to the outside world, a tool to dream about the future.

Walk into the Mountains

Zhi was born in Jinxian, a county in Nanchang, in 1961. After she graduated from college, in 1980, she became a primary school teacher in her hometown.

Before long, Zhi received a letter from her former classmate, Cai Jiangning, telling her about a new primary school in Niyang, a village in Zaoxia Town. Cai was working on a tree farm in Zaoxia.

Zhi had feelings for Cai, so she applied for a position with the new school. She passed the screening exam with the second highest score. The school was 200 kilometers from Jinxian, and Zhi's parents didn't want her to go. However, the young woman had made up her mind.

The living conditions of Niyang were much harder than Zhi had imagined. "The school is deep in the remote Niyang Mountain, at an altitude of about 1,000 meters. The nearest town is 45 kilometers away. To get to the school, I had to walk 10 kilometers after a two-hour bus ride from the nearest town," said Zhi.

"All of the students walked over the hills and mountains between home and school every day. The school didn't have any sports facilities. Before the semester started, teachers had to carry students' textbooks, chalk and other teaching tools on their backs, and they had to walk 10 kilometers from the bus stop to the school. What's more, due to the shortage of food, I had to plant vegetables by myself, just like local villagers," she added.

Zhi Yueying teaches students at a school in Zaoxia Township of Fengxin County, east China's Jiangxi Province, Sept. 2, 2021. [Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi]

Stick to Her Mind

Zhi became popular with the students, thanks to her vivid lessons. However, some villagers doubted if Zhi would stay at the school for a long time. Previously, many teachers had arrived at the school only to leave soon after because of the harsh conditions.

As she thought of the school as her own home, Zhi repaired the broken windows, and she bought new teaching equipment. To save money, she carried textbooks on a shoulder pole, with men teachers, from the bus stop to school. She eventually bought a motorcycle, with her own money, and helped transport daily necessities to the school.

When it snowed or rained heavily, Zhi sent students home — one by one — for their safety. Some of the villagers have allowed their sons to attend school while they have kept their daughters at home. Zhi visited the dropouts' families and persuaded their parents to allow the girls to continue their education. She also helped poverty-stricken parents pay the tuition fees, even though she earned merely 20 yuan (US $3) a month in the early 1980s.

Zhi has said she is like a big tree while her students are like a group of birds, flying and singing around her. As long as the students were joyful, Zhi also felt happy.

Her dedication earned the villagers' respect. When Zhi prepared lessons and corrected students' homework alone at night, some women villagers took turns keeping her company at school. Students often took her home-cooked food, and their parents often invited her to visit their homes on weekends. All of the kindness affected Zhi, and she strengthened her determination to stay.

Daughter of the Mountains

Zhi devoted her time to her post, and she was eventually promoted to headmaster of the school. She taught Chinese, mathematics, arts and physical education. The constant pressure and long working hours started to take a toll on Zhi's health, however. She was diagnosed with gallstones and underwent surgery in 2003. Students were always her priority. As soon as she was discharged from the hospital, she went back to work. Three years later, high blood pressure began to affect her eyesight. But she kept working — with only one healthy eye.

Considering her age and health, the local education authority in 2012 offered her a post at a school outside of the mountainous areas. However, Zhi refused, as she was invited by villagers to teach in Baiyang, one of the most remote villages in Fengxin County.

Cai, who married Zhi in 1982, opposed her decision, as he was concerned about her health. But she finally won her family's support, by insisting, "I can't abandon the children and leave them unable to learn."

During the summer of 2012, the local education authority decided to rebuild the school in Baiyang. Zhi and her husband, with other workers, spent several months building a new classroom, with modern teaching equipment. She still teaches there. With Zhi's efforts, the school has become one of the best primary schools in Zaoxia.

During the past four decades, Zhi has taught more than 1,000 students. They are working in various jobs, including in journalism, teaching, government, business and industry. Some of her former students are attending in colleges or universities. "I'm not a rich person. I don't have a villa, a car neither, but I'm proud of the work I have done," said Zhi.

"I'm happiest when I see my students succeed, though I do regret not having spent more time with my family over the years, especially my two daughters."

In February 2017, Zhi was honored for her endless contributions to rural education during China Central Television's annual "Touching China" awards. Aside from this, she has been honored as a National March 8th Red-Banner Pacesetter for her outstanding achievements.

Zhi could have chosen to retire in May 2016, when she turned 55. "Villagers and students love me. They need me, and I can't bare to abandon them," she said. "I am the daughter of the mountains and I will not stop teaching, so long as my health allows."

(Women of China)