I just want to let Teacher Dashan's guard be seen, I'm on site. The story behind the photos | Over 60000 photos in 11 years

Every time I walk into a school in the mountains with a camera on my back, I think of my father, the mountain teacher who taught me knowledge and how to be a good person, and my childhood dreams.

My father is a mountain teacher. When I was in elementary school, he had to walk a mountain road for over three hours to teach in another village, and he could only go home on weekends. After finishing second grade at my doorstep, he insisted on taking me to the school where he worked. It was a school located in a mountain valley, surrounded by mountains and sparsely populated. Eight teachers stood here to teach six classes of students. There, the image of the Dashan teacher is deeply ingrained in the film of my childhood soul: in class, they teach students to recognize characters step by step, and the scattered chalk and dust fall on their shoulders, full of emotions and without any slackness. After class, they sat on the old wooden building in the classroom and dormitory, blowing the wind from all sides of the mountains, chatting about the emperors and ministers of the Three Kingdoms, and chatting about the warmth and coldness of human relationships in the world. They sighed and laughed heartily in their heroic moments.

As a teenager, I don't know what the world outside the mountains is like. I was naive and thought it was great to be a teacher like my father and his colleagues. In the third and fourth grades of elementary school, I had my first dream in life: to be a "child king" like my grandfather and father, standing in the sound of books, accompanying one group after another of mountain children to grow up slowly, allowing time to pass without being disturbed by wind and rain. Unexpectedly, after finishing my education as a teacher, I wandered through the mountains and gradually drifted away from my childhood dreams.

In 2012, I picked up my camera and became a photojournalist. Since then until now, I have been walking into Dashan School. When I see a dedicated teacher, I think of my deceased father and my Dashan teacher. My childhood dreams, which are deeply buried in my heart, have also been repeatedly touched.

My impression of Dashan Teacher back then was that he was leisurely and carefree. After continuous in-depth interviews, I truly realized that Dashan Teacher is difficult. The teachers I interviewed mostly work in schools located in ethnic minority areas, Dashishan areas, and border areas of Guangxi, surrounded by mountains and with deep forests and long roads. The vast majority of schools only have one or two teachers and a few students, and many teachers have to attend classes and take care of students to eat and sleep, becoming the "teachers, chefs, and nannies" of mountain children.

However, no matter how harsh the natural environment and working conditions may be, they still deeply love the hopeful podium, serve as role models, live up to their original aspirations, and even if their green hair changes into white hair, they always have no complaints or regrets.

Therefore, I decided to use the lens in my hand to record their dedication. Over the past 11 years, I have visited more than 130 mountain schools in 20 counties in Guangxi, and pressed the shutter button more than 60000 times to take photos of over 270 mountain teachers. I am determined to let their silent observation and selfless dedication be seen.

With their youth, they plunged into the mountains

The flower of Lu Xiufen's career dream, a teacher of the post-80s generation, bloomed quietly in the watchkeeping of Dayao Mountains.

Lu Xiufen, born in 1989, is the only teacher at Gengfan Teaching Point in Zhongliang Township, Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi. In 2018, she received a transfer order and plunged into the mountains with her backpack on her back.

A more standardized teaching point is a remote teaching point. On June 5, 2019, when I was here for an interview, I had to cross three cities and counties to arrive from Jinxiu County. I set off before dawn in the morning and didn't return to the county town until dark at night. A friend from the county said that there is another road that is relatively close, and it takes more than 4 hours to drive one way. However, the road conditions are not good, and it often collapses. "If we encounter a landslide, we can't get to school for a day." We walked a long way, but it was actually faster.

At the beginning, the local education department was worried that Lu Xiufen would not be able to adapt to the environment of the teaching site and could not stay to teach with peace of mind, because the journey was long and she had just become a mother. Her child was only over 8 months old.

Unexpectedly, Lu Xiufen still chose this big mountain. Here, except for long holidays and winter and summer vacations, she almost lives at school and rarely goes home on weekends. When the night is quiet, it is the time to miss home the most. She said that when she missed home with her children, she would chat with them over the phone or video, or browse family photos saved on her phone. Sometimes, when I hang up my family's phone, I unknowingly have tears in my eyes.

At the more standardized teaching point, Teacher Lu Xiufen is teaching the students.

↑ Assembly photo: At the more standardized teaching point, Teacher Lu Xiufen is organizing a student's attire. During break time, Teacher Lu Xiufen is flipping through photos of her own child on her phone.

At the more standardized teaching point, Teacher Lu Xiufen and the students take a group photo.

Wearing white hair, they always have no complaints or regrets

A teaching site, from the age of 18 to 60, has been guarded by Teacher Gong Shouxin for 42 years.

Gong Shouxin is a teacher at the Chongwei Teaching Point of Liangfeng Village Primary School in Wujiang Town, Zhaoping County, Guangxi. On May 25, 2022, when I visited this mountain village teaching site, it was shrouded in a rain curtain. The only teacher at the teaching site, Gong Shouxin, is teaching to the only three students here. The high and low teaching Q&A sounds and the heavy and light rain add a lot of joy to this remote small mountain village.

In 1981, 18-year-old Gong Shouxin came here to become a teacher. Unexpectedly, he stayed here for 42 years until retirement. For the vast majority of these 42 years, he was the only teacher at this teaching site. "There was a teacher who came in the middle and left soon," Gong Shouxin joked. He was 18 years old when he arrived, and now he is 60 years old. The young man with black hair has turned into an old man with white hair.

Gong Shouxin lives in the county town of Zhaoping, and it takes an hour and a half one-way from home to school. "Riding a motorcycle, there is also a ferry in between," he said. The journey is long, and he stays at the teaching site from Monday to Friday, and can only go home on weekends.

After 42 years of guarding the Dashan podium, Gong Shouxin looked nostalgic and relieved. He said that when he first became a teacher, he was all focused on preventing the children in the mountains from dropping out of school. In this small mountain village, he taught 21 college students, some of whom even went to key universities. If he chooses a career again, he still wants to become a teacher and use the lighthouse of knowledge to illuminate a better future for more mountain children.

At the Chongwei teaching point, Teacher Gong Shouxin and the students had lunch together.

Teacher Gong Shouxin is teaching the students.

Teacher Gong Shouxin is boiling water in the office, and his bedroom is separated by a wall.

Enduring their illness and disability, they refused to leave the podium

The story of Teacher Wang Yinghong teaching anti-cancer drugs has touched countless people.

Wang Yinghong is a teacher at the Seven New Teaching Point of Wangling Town Central School in Binyang County, Guangxi. In September 2017, when he went to the hospital for a physical examination, he was found to have primary liver cancer and subsequently underwent surgical resection for treatment. In July 2018, after his condition stabilized, he voluntarily proposed to return to school to work. Now, he has been leading the anti-cancer drug station podium for over 5 years.

On February 22, 2023, when I visited, Teacher Wang Yinghong was teaching students. He said that he goes out to school 4 kilometers away with medicine at 7:30 in the morning to attend classes, and can only return home after school at 5 in the afternoon. In addition to serving as the third grade homeroom teacher and math teacher, he also teaches physical education classes to first and second grade students, with 20 classes per week. "Old ox knows that the sunset is late, so he doesn't need to whip himself. I am already 58 years old and sick, so I must cherish my time and make more contributions to rural education."

The rural podium has become an indispensable part of his life. He said that during his 35 year teaching career, this podium has given him too much gain, warmth, and strength.

At the seventh new teaching point, Teacher Wang Yinghong is preparing to take medicine.

Teacher Wang Yinghong is taking medicine.

Enduring loneliness, they guard "one teacher, one school for a lifetime"

A school, a teacher, a student... For the sake of the children in the mountains, many teachers guard in the vast mountains where "one teacher lives one school".

Liu Xianyue, the only teacher at Chaoge Primary School in Longyan Township, Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County, Guangxi, is like this. This school has a maximum of over 100 students, and in the autumn semester of 2019, only Teacher Liu Xianyue and the only student left were Zhou Xiong.

Zhou Xiong's home is two kilometers away from the school, his parents are not around, and his grandparents are sick all year round, so they cannot pick him up and drop him off every day. He lives at school from Monday to Friday every week, and during this period, his academic life is taken care of by Teacher Liu Xianyue. Liu Xianyue's house is only a few hundred meters away from school, and Zhou Xiong eats at Liu Xianyue's house every day. At night, Zhou Xiong dared not sleep alone at school and stayed at the home of Teacher Liu Xianyue.

Every day, Liu Xianyue teaches the only student on time according to the course, takes him home after school, cooks, eats, does homework, and sleeps. "My family has all gone out to live, and I am the only one at home. Every day, I like taking care of my own child, giving him classes and taking care of his life," said Teacher Liu Xianyue, who was 58 years old at the time.

At Teacher Liu Xianyue's house, Liu Xianyue had lunch with student Zhou Xiong.

Teacher Liu Xianyue teaches student Zhou Xiong.

Fulfilling their duties, their husband and wife are both on guard

In Jinyuan Township, Tianwait County, Guangxi, the couple of teachers, Nong Zhipeng and Liang Biying, are like "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" watching.

On September 7, 2017, when I was once again carrying a camera deep into this mountain, Nong Zhipeng was the only teacher at the Longhan Teaching Point in Jinyuan Village, Jinyuan Township, Tianwait County, teaching four students. Liang Biying is the only teacher at Longjian Teaching Point in Jinyuan Village, Jinyuan Township, teaching 13 students.

These two teaching points, located in different villages and villages, are crossed by two large mountains. The distance between the two teaching points is 3 kilometers by walking through a narrow path, and it takes about an hour to walk alone. The road also needs to bypass the mountains for a single journey, which is over 20 kilometers.

Due to the barrier of the mountains, communication is inconvenient. Teacher Nong Zhipeng lives in her own home not far from the Longhan teaching site, while Teacher Liang Biying lives with her child at her mother's house near the Longjian teaching site. On weekends, Teacher Nong Zhipeng can climb over the mountains to reach his wife and children. He usually watches over the mountains like a cowherd and a weaver girl.

Teacher Liang Biying said that when Teacher Nong Zhipeng was transferred to Longhan Teaching Point, their child was only over two years old. The child felt uncomfortable in the middle of the night, and her lover couldn't come over the mountain overnight to help take care of her. It was all her own worries, often with messy hair, two lines of tears, and a belly full of grievances.

Of course, when Teacher Liang Biying is too busy to leave, Teacher Nong Zhipeng often uses her spare time or holidays to ride a motorcycle around the mountains to help transport students' nutritious lunches to her teaching site. Sometimes, she even carries these items on her shoulders and walks over the mountains.

Since being transferred to different teaching locations in 2010, this teacher couple has been teaching at different schools for 13 years.

↑ Assembly photo: The upper left image shows the teaching site of Longjian in Jinyuan Village, Jinyuan Township, Tiandeng County, taught by Liang Biying; Upper right image: Liang Biying is preparing lessons at Longjian Teaching Point; The bottom left image shows Longhan Teaching Site in Jinyuan Village, Jinyuan Township, Tiandeng County, taught by Nong Zhipeng; Bottom right image: Nong Zhipeng is preparing lessons at Longhan teaching site.

Picture above: At the Longjian teaching site, Teacher Liang Biying is teaching the children; Below: At Longhan Teaching Point, Teacher Nong Zhipeng is teaching the children.

Teacher Nong Zhipeng and his family of three are walking on a mountain road. On that day, I heard that my father was coming over after school, and my son Nong Haoji insisted on taking his mother to the nearest mountain valley to meet him.

Large picture of collage photo: The mountain village where Longjian Teaching Point is located in Jinyuan Village, Jinyuan Township, Tiandeng County, Guangxi, and the mountain village where Longhan Teaching Point is located, separated by mountains. Left small picture: At Longjian teaching point, Teacher Liang Biying is teaching the children. Right small picture: At Longhan Teaching Point, Teacher Nong Zhipeng is providing classroom guidance to children.

It is gratifying that after the touching deeds of these teachers under my camera became widely known, they gained widespread recognition from all sectors of society: "One legged Teacher" Qin Xingguo was awarded the title of "National Excellent Teacher"; Tao Fengying, who has been standing firm on the mountain podium for 39 years, has made it to the "Chinese Good Person List"

Time flies by. My father, who was only 54 years old at that time, had passed away 19 years ago, and the Dashan teacher who used knowledge to nurture me was slowly aging. I, who have been a photographer for 11 years, have been taking photos of a mountain teacher for 11 years. 11 cycles of spring and autumn, batches of children have grown up and walked out of the mountains. When the bell of the new academic year rings, many of the teachers I have interviewed return to the podium, continuing to cultivate the hopes and dreams of the mountains. The mountain ridge is still the same, and the original intention is still the same.

And I will continue to keep my original intention and record the story of Teacher Dashan.