Teachers are a significant part of everyone's lives and a good teacher can influence and change your outlook on life. Ever since China announced its first Teacher’s Day in 1985, the teacher figure has been seen as an incarnation of devotion and dedication.
This photo was taken on September 10th, 1985 when students at Peking University raised the banner saying "Teachers Rock" in celebration of China’s first Teacher's day.
With "Gaokao", the National College Entrance Examination, back in teachers were once again shouldering more and more responsibilities. Movies about how teachers helped students realize their dreams and personal values began to be released.
This one, "Her Smile Through Candlelight", portrays a teacher who fell sick due to overwork and dedicates her last living moments to her students.
While "Not One Less", directed by Zhang Yimou, tells the story of a young country teacher struggling to keep all of her students in school.
In the 80s, millions of children in China had to drop out of school due to poverty. Zhang Shengli was one of them. Back in 1989, he wrote a letter saying "I want to go to school" to the local education bureau.
Thanks to Project Hope, he then became the first student to go back to school. When Zhang graduated from university, he went back to the poorest area in his home town to help children there just like him years before.
Because of many dedicated country teachers like Zhang, over 3 million children have been afforded education in the past two decades.
"Thank you Mr Zhang for raising me up."
"Mr Zhang, you’re my idol. I want to become a teacher like you."
"When I grow up, I will become a teacher like you. To dedicate myself to my students."
Some of his students said.
In the late 80s and early 90s when studying abroad became more common, Yu Minghong became a teacher of the new age. With his unique yet effective way of teaching English, Yu helped over 20,000 students pursue their education abroad in 1995 alone. Now his name bears as much weight as any university president in China.
Although the public might see him as a successful entrepreneur for his many students, Yu will always be their teacher, just like Confucius says: once a teacher always a teacher.