Zhang Guimei

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang.
Zhang Guimei
张桂梅
Principal of Huaping High School for Girls
Assumed office
August 2008
Preceded byNew title
Personal details
Born (1957-06-15) 15 June 1957 (age 64)
Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, China
Political partyCommunist Party of China
Spouse(s)
Dong Yuhan
​
​
(m. 1990; died 1994)​
Alma materLijiang Institute of Education
AwardsJuly 1 Medal (2021)
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese张桂梅
Traditional Chinese張桂梅

Zhang Guimei (Chinese: 张桂梅; born 15 June 1957) is a Chinese educator who is the founder and principal of Huaping High School for Girls, China's first and only free public high school for girls – in a poor, mountainous region in southwest China's Yunnan.[1][2] She devoted her life to improve female education in China.[1][2] She is of Manchu ethnicity. She is also the director of Huaping Children's Home, the orphanage in Huaping County. She is known for founding the Huaping High School for Girls, a free public high school have trained 1,804 poor girls to universities and rewrote their fate. She is a member of the Communist Party of China. She was a delegate to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Early life[]

Zhang was born into a family of ethnic Manchu minority group in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, on 15 June 1957, while her ancestral home is in Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning.[3] She is the twelfth child in the family.[3] Because of the hard conditions, only six children of her family survived.[3] Her mother died of illness in her childhood.[3] Her father died when she was 17.[3]

Career in Yunan[]

In October 1974, the 17-year-old Zhang Guimei followed her sister to participate in the "Third Front" to Zhongdian County (now Shangri-La City) in southwest China's Yunnan.[4][5][6] In December of the next year, she entered the workforce and became a staff member of Zhongdian County Forestry Bureau.

Later, Zhang was admitted to Lijiang Institute of Education (now Lijiang Normal College). After graduation, she worked as a front-line administrator in the forestry system and met her husband through introduction.[3] She moved to the Forestry Children's School in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture (now Xizhou No.1 High School) with her husband, and her husband was made the principal.[3] In 1993, her husband was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer.[3] Her husband died in 1994, leaving her childless.[5][6] In August 1996, she decided to leave the place with which she was too familiar and applied to teach in Huaping County National Middle School in Lijiang, where she was promoted to head teacher of the Third Class due to her excellent work.[4] In the same year, she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids.[7][6] After hearing the news, members of the Huaping Women's Federation and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference donated money to her for treatment.[7][6] In order to thank the local people, she decided to repay it with her whole life.[7][6] In April 1998, he joined the Communist Party of China.[8] In 2001, the Huaping Children's Home, where orphans were adopted, was established, and she was appointed as director.[5]

Principal of Huaping High School for Girls[]

A girl can influence the next three generations. An educated and responsible mother will never let their children drop out of school. My Goal is to prevent poverty from passing down from generation to generation.

Zhang Guimei, [9]

When Zhang taught in Huaping County, she came across "many girls that just disappeared before they finishing their studies".[2][5] After inquiring, she learned that some of them were forced to work and others to get married at a young age.[2][5] Since then, she decided to change it.[2][5][10]

To raise money for establishing a school, between 2002 and 2007, Zhang spent the summer and winter vacations on the streets in the provincial capital city Kunming, asking people to donate.[2] Many people refused to donate and humiliated her, and she only managed to collect about 10,000 yuan (about $1,415), which was nowhere near enough to start a school.[2][10] In 2017, she became a delegate to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.[2][10] When she attended the meetings in Beijing, a reporter reported her story and her dream to start a school for girls have drawn attention from the public.[2][11][10] Within a short time, governments of Lijiang and Huaping county allocated one million yuan for her, and she also received financial support from various organizations and warmhearted people in different regions.[12] In August 2008, Zhang founded the Huaping High School for Girls, a free high school so that poor girls living in the mountains can get an education.[4][10] In order to prevent the poor girls from losing the opportunity to study due to poverty, she stipulated that tuition and accommodation fees are all free.[11]

In 2011, the students participated in the college entrance examination, with 69 undergraduates online, with a comprehensive online rate of 100%. Since that year, the comprehensive online rate of college entrance examination has been 100%, and the online rate of key universities has increased from 4.26% in 11 years to 40.67% in 19 years, ranking the first in Lijiang.[13]

Personal life[]

In 1990, she married Dong Yuhan, an ethnic Bai man.[12] Dong died from stomach cancer in 1994, leaving her childless.[5][6]

Zhang suffers from 23 diseases, including osteoma and emphysema.[12] She has a tight schedule every day, getting up at 5 am and going to bed at 12:30 am.[12]

TV program[]

Television English title Chinese title Notes
Phoenix Television She De: Headmistress in Mountains 舍得（大山里的女校长）
CCTV-13 One on One (Zhang Guimei: the Girls' School in Mountains) 面对面（张桂梅：大山里的女校）
Yunan Television Teacher and Mother 教师妈妈
Award Ceremony of the Title of "Yunling Model" 云岭楷模颁奖盛典
CCTV-13 Award Ceremony of the Title of "Moving China Person of 2020" 感动中国2020年度人物颁奖盛典

Honours and awards[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Kristin Huang (21 February 2021). "China honours education pioneer who lifted 1,800 girls out of poverty". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Li Danqing (3 July 2020). "Woman devoted to girls' education in the mountains". China Daily. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Zhuo Yue (酌月) (26 February 2021). 张桂梅怎么坐轮椅了？ [Why is Zhang Guimei in a wheelchair?]. qq.com (in Chinese).
  4. ^ a b c Zhang Wenling (张文凌) (29 November 2019). 张桂梅：一千多个孩子的“妈妈” [Zhang Guimei: the "mother" of more than 1,000 children]. cctv.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Li Yingqing; Li Hongyang; Li Danqing (22 March 2021). "Showing the way forward". China Daily. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Feature: School principal crafts new future for "mountain girls"". xinhuanet.com. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Zhang Shuyuan (张书愿) (26 February 2021). 感动中国之张桂梅：我不伟大，不必像我一样 [Zhang Guimei: I'm not great]. 163.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  8. ^ Chen Jian (陈坚) (4 December 2020). 张桂梅被授予“全国优秀共产党员”称号 [Zhang Guimei was bestowed the title of "National Excellent Communist Party Member"]. gmw.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  9. ^ 张桂梅说一个受教育的女性能阻断贫困代际传递 改变三代人的命运 [Zhang Guimei said that an educated woman can block the intergenerational transmission of poverty and change the fate of three generations]. sina (in Chinese). 29 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d e Bianji; Hongyu (1 July 2020). "Teacher helps impoverished girls pursue higher education in SW China's Yunnan". people.cn. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Teacher realizes dream with tuition-free school for girls". Yunnan.cn. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d Zhang Jiamin (6 June 2021). "Zhang Guimei Helps Impoverished Children Improve Education, Offers Motherly Love to Orphans". womenofchina.cn. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  13. ^ Li Yin (李银); Pang Mingguang (庞明广) (10 December 2020). 大山女孩的“校长妈妈”——记云南丽江华坪女子高级中学校长张桂梅 ["Mother principal" of girls in mountains: Zhang Guimei, principal of Huaping High School for Girls in Lijiang, Yunnan]. Xinhuanet.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 29 June 2021.
Educational offices
New title Principal of Huaping High School for Girls
2008–present 		Incumbent
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