A special homework

I recently asked my students to do a special assignment - to wash their parents' feet and hand in a composition on their feelings afterward.

The response was intense after they heard of it. A bunch of students raised their objections and some expressed their doubts. Some said they had never done it before, and some said even their feet were washed by their parents.

But finally they said they were willing to give it a try. And, while reading through their lines, I was also touched by their stories, which were all full of their passion and love for their family members.

One student named Jiang Wei wrote: "A smelly odor rushed into my nostrils the moment my mother took off her shoes, and I covered my nose immediately."

"'It stinks?' she asked, 'leave it to me.' Then I quickly ripped off her socks, put her feet into the water and then I began to rub the toes, heels gently. To my great surprise, I found some skins on the heels had begun to rot and get dark. She told me it was due to standing long in water for transplanting rice seedlings. And I swiftly got the ointment and applied it to the wounds."

Another student named Wang Yubin wrote: "Dad leant on the chair and I ripped off his socks. This was the first time I had a clear look at his feet-they were big and black. There were even two scars on the left foot.

"I put them gently into the basin and carefully wiped the dirt off them. Suddenly, he cried 'ouch', and then he told me to have a careful look, and I noticed a deep cut on his heel."

Yao Jian, another student wrote: "My feet felt numb after squatting for a while and my face was sweating. But I thought that for the past 7 to 8 years, it was mum who washed my feet. She never complained. What is my pain compared to what she has done for me? We should do something we can to alleviate the burden of parents in daily life."

It was a such a delightful thing to see that through such an easy assignment, my students found the meaning of filial piety and learnt to reward the toil and unselfish love they got from their parents.

The real practice - which seems to be a small thing - to wash the feet of their parents can exert a much greater influence on them and can be much better than what they learn from the textbooks.

As a teacher, while imparting knowledge , we should also try to create some new ways like this to help them cultivate their morals and character.

And the latter might be even more important for what we call quality education.

Yu Minghua, a teacher

On blog.xinhuanet.com

Life is most precious

Since May 12 the world's attention has focused on Wenchuan, Sichuan province. People have used different ways to mourn for the quake victims. Though we are far apart, our hearts beat in resonance with quake zones - because we all share one family called China.

We feel so helpless when we see so many lives were lost. Besides donations and expressions of sympathy, what else could we do?

The TV programs and the Internet brought one moving scene after another from the quake-hit areas to our eyes. A school kid who escaped unscathed rushed back to the shaky school building to save his classmates; a teacher who used her body to shield her students from falling concretes; a mother who milked her newborn in her arms for the last time before she stopped breathing; a PLA soldier who ignored the pleas for help from his relatives buried in the debris to save others

So many such stories emerged from the quake zones, which have constantly moved us to tears. In the face of the disaster, which came all of a sudden, one was left with no time to think. To survive is the biggest hope, and the highest form of happiness, too.

Many school children lost their lives in the quake. One cannot but shed tears seeing the picture that shows a little hand sticking out from the rubble, still holding a pen. When the disaster befell them, these children were having their classes.

Many of them cherished the dream that they would one day leave their mountain-locked county to embrace the outside world, to become pillars of our society. Yet they were given no chance. In no time the phantom of death took them in its grip.

For those who survived, or those who did not experience the disaster, what they have learnt from the quake goes far beyond all that could be provided for by any form of education. The shockwave from the earthquake goes far into the depths of our soul.

We should pray for the survivors, mourn for the dead and feel lucky for those who have not suffered.

Fengyuluming

On blog.xinhuanet.com

Readers' comments are welcome. Please send mail to Letters to the Editor, China Daily, 15 Huixin Dongjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029 China. Send faxes to (86-10) 6491-8377. Send e-mail to opinion@chinadaily.com.cn or letters@chinadaily.com.cn or to the individual columnists. China Daily reserves the right to edit all letters. Thank you.

(China Daily 06/06/2008 page9)