Release Date: September 26, 2024 Source: Central South University News Network
On the main campus, clusters of green shade embrace a bright red hue — the radiance of the Metallurgy Hall, which has stood through nearly 70 years of trials and tribulations and regained vitality after renovation. Since its completion in 1956, the Metallurgy Hall has nurtured numerous metallurgical talents who have gone on to the frontlines of the industry and various fields across the country. Behind these widespread achievements lies the successive dedication of generations of teachers, passing on knowledge and spirit like torches. Here, there is a kind of teacher-student relay: learning from the teacher’s example to become a teacher oneself.
The Teacher’s Example
Shortly before Teachers’ Day, the reporter met Academician Zhao Zhongwei, who had just been awarded the title of “National Model Teacher,” in Room 234 of the Metallurgy Hall. During the conversation, he said little about his personal honor but frequently mentioned his “elder teacher.”
Zhao Zhongwei keeps a letter on his phone, written by Ren Hongjiu, a senior colleague from the same teaching and research section. Last November, upon learning that Zhao Zhongwei had been elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Ren Hongjiu, who was far away in the United States, specially wrote a letter to congratulate him. Over the past six months, Zhao Zhongwei has read the letter repeatedly, yet he still chokes up every time he reads the sentence: “The day you were elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering is enough to comfort the spirit of Teacher Zhao Tiancong in heaven.”
Zhao Tiancong, mentioned in the letter, was a pioneer of China’s antimony metallurgy industry and the winner of the first “Xu Teli Education Award.” He has taught in the metallurgy discipline since the establishment of Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, serving as a common mentor to all CSU metallurgists and a spiritual monument in their hearts.
Recalling Mr. Zhao, Zhao Zhongwei used five words: “He was an excellent person!” When he studied for his doctoral degree under Mr. Zhao, the elder was already over 80 years old but still carefully instructed his disciples. Zhao Zhongwei recalled that Mr. Zhao lived on the second floor and, due to his advanced age, his legs and feet were not very agile. However, if no one else answered the door at home, as soon as he heard a student call “Mr. Zhao,” he would slowly move down the stairs to open the door and see the student off to the gate when they left. This small detail full of sincere respect was later repeatedly mentioned by students such as Yang Tianzu and Zhao Zhongwei.
Zhao Tiancong (second from the left in the front row) with students at Xikuangshan Mine
Mr. Zhao spent his entire life working with students, teaching tirelessly without seeking any return. Zhao Zhongwei remembers that once, Mr. Zhao suffered from lung infection. When the students heard that a certain medicine was very effective for the treatment, they pooled their money to buy the medicine and sent it to Mr. Zhao’s family. After learning about this, Mr. Zhao called him to his home, gave him the money, and said: “It’s useless to return the medicine to you. There is a bookstore at the school gate; buy a dictionary for each student.” In this way, Zhao Zhongwei pushed a bicycle and brought back ten copies of the “English-Chinese Dictionary.”
Today, this dictionary is still kept in Zhao Zhongwei’s office. When recalling the years of studying under his teacher, he always feels that across the long river of time, his beloved teacher is still reminding him to be better to his students, even better. In the laboratory, he stands behind his students, controls various environmental variables himself, and only lets them operate when it is confirmed safe; when students cannot look up foreign journals and documents, he teaches them hand in hand; when he hears that a student is ill, he raises money to help the student get through the financial difficulty and goes to encourage the student to cheer up and cooperate with the treatment... These are all what Zhao Zhongwei is like in the eyes of his students. Treating his students, he follows his teacher’s example and devotes his whole heart. “To be a good teacher, you must love your students from the bottom of your heart and invest true emotion,” he says, and he does so.
Nearly 30 years have passed since Zhao Tiancong passed away, but the warmth he left still nourishes generations of CSU students. In 1993, Zhao Tiancong donated all the prize money of the first “Xu Teli Education Award” to establish the Zhao Tiancong Scholarship. Since then, the scholarship fund has continuously received donations from Mr. Zhao’s students, descendants, alumni and enterprises. Li Honggui, a student of Zhao Tiancong, followed his teacher’s example and donated all the prize money of the Hunan Guangzhao Science and Technology Award to the fund. Over the past 30 years, the scholarship has benefited hundreds of outstanding students. Today, the Zhao Tiancong Scholarship has developed into the Zhao Tiancong Metallurgical Education Award, which not only rewards students but also encourages teachers, inspiring more excellent teachers to take over the baton of metallurgical education.