"Her eyes seem to be able to talk to the hearts of hundreds of millions of people."
In April 1991, documentary photographer Xie Hailong photographed a "big-eyed" girl at Zhangwan Primary School in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province. This photo later became a promotional photo of the Hope Project, shouting out the desire of children in poor areas to "I want to go to school".
The fate of the "big-eyed" girl has touched the hearts of countless people since then. More than 30 years later, the girl has changed from a recipient to a sponsor, helping more people continue to write stories about "hope", and also witnessing the great strides of China's education.
Today, CCTV News National Day special plan "I Have Love, Its Name China" tells the story of Su Mingjuan, a big-eyed girl.
01
meet
In 1986, the People's Republic of China Compulsory Education Law was promulgated, raising the length of compulsory education to nine years. At that time, many children's "way to school" was interrupted by poverty. In order to help these children, in 1989, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and the China Youth Development Foundation launched the public welfare project "Hope Project".
Xie Hailong, who has always been concerned about basic education in rural areas, volunteered to become the "number one volunteer" of this public welfare project, carrying a camera into the depths of the mountains and recording the current situation of children in the mountains with photos.
△ Xie Hailong with the children
In April 1991, Xie Hailong came to Zhangwan Primary School in Jinzhai County. In the humble classroom, he was deeply moved by a pair of "big eyes". "When she looked up at me, she seemed to ask me: Do you know how hard it is to go to school?"
Xie Hailong used his camera to freeze this scene. When he tried to take a few more shots, he found that the shutter would not be pressed - it was just the last negative.
That year, Su Mingjuan was only 8 years old. In order to go to school, Su Mingjuan and her classmates need to cross rivers and climb mountains, and travel more than 20 miles back and forth every day. Every time it was dark, she had to set off and come home when it was dark.
△ Su Mingjuan (second from right) and her classmates on the way to school (photo by Xie Hailong)
The school is a converted old ancestral hall, with no lights and no glass on the windows. In winter, strong winds poured in through the windows, and almost every student had chilblains on their hands.
The grain that Su Mingjuan's family collects from the fields every year is only enough to last for three or four months. Her parents got up early in the morning to chop wood and catch fish, and used the money they earned to make ends meet. The cost of going to school is a big burden for their family.
Su Mingjuan, who was on the verge of dropping out of school, had no idea that her life was about to change because of a photo.
02
wish
When Xie Hailong developed the photo, the "big eyes" that reached the hearts of the people became the propaganda photos of the Hope Project, appearing in various newspapers and magazines.
In order to help the "big eyes", some people save a few dimes from the money they pay for groceries, some people save money for bus rides, and some people who have dropped out of school donate their savings to make up for their regrets...... In just 8 months, the donation exceeded 100 million yuan.
However, in the isolated mountain village at that time, Su Mingjuan did not know that she was already "famous". It wasn't until letters and donations from all over the world were sent to the school that the teachers found out that the child everyone was looking for was Su Mingjuan.
△ Su Mingjuan's mother (first from the right) took out her daughter's blouse and compared it with the "big eyes" photo (photo by Xie Hailong)
In the face of the donations sent by caring people, Su Mingjuan and her family only kept the first two payments, and handed over the rest to the local Hope Project Office as they were. They also commissioned the county to transfer any money sent to Big Eyes directly to Project Hope.
Su Mingjuan put the letters from all parties into a tin box and kept them carefully. Everyone's encouragement and expectations for her were firmly remembered by her: study hard and change your destiny with knowledge.
In 2002, Su Mingjuan was successfully admitted to university. Looking back, she lamented that if it weren't for that photo, her studies would probably have been over.
△ Su Mingjuan and Zhou Tong, the first student to donate to the Hope Project (photo by Xie Hailong)
03
Relay
In 2001, a year before Su Mingjuan entered university, the central government arranged funds to provide free textbooks to poor rural primary and secondary school students in key counties of the state's poverty alleviation and development work, which did not universalize nine-year compulsory education. Subsequently, the central and local governments stepped up the work of "two exemptions and one subsidy" (i.e., free miscellaneous fees, free book fees, and subsidized living expenses for boarding students), and countless poor students benefited from it.
Su Mingjuan did not forget the way she came. During her college years, she always paid attention to poor students who had been like her. At that time, she forwarded a living allowance of 900 yuan per semester to other poor students, while she relied on work-study to earn living expenses.
Later, Su Mingjuan entered the bank to work. When she received her first paycheck, she donated it all to Project Hope so that they could "make a difference in a more meaningful way." Every month since then, she has donated a portion of her income and has been doing so for more than ten years.
△ Su Mingjuan
In 2018, she took out another 30,000 yuan of savings as start-up capital and established the "Su Mingjuan Scholarship Fund". At present, the fund has raised a total of 4.628 million yuan, raised a total value of more than 5 million yuan, funded a total of 773 students in need, and participated in the construction of 7 hope primary schools.
△ Su Mingjuan visits the children
To this day, the red plaid top in the "Big Eyes" photo is still kept by her. She often tells her two daughters about her past experiences, and uses her own stories to tell the children to pass on the baton of love.
△ Su Mingjuan has always kept the top of the "big eyes" photo
04
witness
Looking back on her childhood experience, what makes Su Mingjuan most emotional is that there are many, many children who have been educated to change their fate in addition to her, including "big snot" and "little bald head". The pictures of them studying in a difficult environment when they were children were all recorded by Xie Hailong.
△ In 2005, Su Mingjuan (left) took a group photo with "big snot" Hu Shanhui (middle) and "little bald head" Zhang Tianyi (right), which was the first time the three of them got together. (Photo by Xie Hailong)
Hu Shanhui, a "big snot" boy who read aloud in a ventilated classroom when he was a child, joined the army when he grew up and realized his dream of the military camp. After changing jobs, he became a high-speed rail youth and participated in the establishment of the "Shanhui Good Deeds" service team to provide assistance to key passengers such as the elderly and children.
△ "Big snot" Hu Shanhui
Zhang Tianyi, who was shaved into a "little bald head" due to sores at that time, became the technical backbone of a company after graduating from university, and later started his own business and participated in the creation of an automation company. After the establishment of the "Su Mingjuan Scholarship Fund", he also took the initiative to donate his savings.
△ "Little bald head" Zhang Tianyi, on the right is Zhang Tianyi and Xie Hailong hugging.
The small step taken by Su Mingjuan and the "big snot" and "little bald head" is a big step for China's education.
Today's children have lived a life that she couldn't have imagined when she was a child. The primary school she attended was converted into Hope Primary School, equipped with multimedia teaching equipment, and later merged with a middle school, so that children in the village can complete nine years of compulsory education at their doorstep.
With the improvement of China's Huimin education system, children no longer have to worry about being unable to enter the classroom due to poverty like Su Mingjuan did when she was a child:
- In the pre-school education stage, the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with relevant departments, promotes the construction of a kindergarten system with inclusive resources as the main body, and subsidizes children from economically disadvantaged families, orphans and disabled children in inclusive kindergartens.
- At the stage of compulsory education, at present, all students in urban and rural areas have been exempted from tuition and miscellaneous fees; Since 2011, the Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students has been launched, and the subsidy standard has been raised several times.
- For ordinary high schools, the state has implemented the national scholarship policy for ordinary high schools since 2010, and students can apply to their schools, and the schools will assess the difficulties and give them the corresponding level of funding.
- At the stage of higher education, a diversified university funding policy system has been established, such as national scholarships, national inspirational scholarships, national grants, national student loans, work-study grants, and "green channels". Among them, the student loan policy has been continuously improved, the maximum loan amount has been continuously increased, and the "promise" of "you just have to work hard, and the rest will be handed over to the state" has been fulfilled in the students of no mathematics.
Over the past 75 years, the education of the People's Republic of China has borne fruit. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the mainland has built the world's largest education system, and the overall level of educational modernization has entered the ranks of the world's top countries.
Nowadays, many "big eyes" who are eager to go to school are sitting in bright classrooms and running towards a broader future. Just like Su Mingjuan, they shine in all walks of life, using their own strength to drive more power, so that "hope" can fly farther away!
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Generations of Chinese have forged ahead, and there are always some memories that will last forever. CCTV News specially planned "I Have Love, Its Name China" to relive these unforgettable stories together.
Source: CCTV News
Authors: Li Juan, Peng Dequan, Wang Li, Zhou Shaojun
Process edit: u027