第3章 变迁与瞬间

地震：变迁与瞬间

1943，家人为还债把她嫁到山里面。她试图逃走、自杀过，最终她为这一家人养育了五女一男，乡里人都不记得她叫什么，更少有人知道她当年是绵竹女子师范学校的校花。大家都叫她刘婆婆。2008年她83岁，本来已经平淡如水的家被地震打破了。纪录片《劫后》的故事从这个时候开始。讲述了一个真正意义上人的“破碎”，家的“坍塌”。一辈子的悲欢离合都化为那几分钟的烟雾。

地震后，刘婆婆日日都在废墟“捡破烂”，特别是自己老房子里面一针一线都牵挂着她。小儿子非常反感刘婆婆的这一行为，几次冲突，家庭战争不可开交。刘婆婆离家出走，住在了灾民安置点；刘婆婆到弟弟家、女儿家躲避，寻找安慰。但是，最让她牵肠挂肚的还是那片属于她的废墟。政府的重建工作在有条不紊地进行着。年轻人热烈地分享着新房子，搬新家，寻找新的工作机会。面对老屋在推土机前面倒塌的时候，刘婆婆喃喃自语：“拆房子倒是快哦，修，不知道有多少年哦。”这一天晚上，儿子喝得大醉，昏暗的灯光下刘婆婆默默无言，媳妇似乎在替她表述：“这房子是1997年修的，一晃都十年了，在这十年内，天天除了还债就是还债。去年刚刚把债换完。修房子的时候，那么苦，起早摸黑的。没有谁帮你出一点点力，现在刚刚好过点，又要面临修房子。”很多人觉得，你要看到未来啊，未来有希望。

这一切都在帮助她拼出生命，重组记忆。我们总是在凝望着他们的身影，在敬畏中行动。是的，儿子就是对未来充满希望，高兴得醉倒了。刘婆婆83岁了，她没有未来，她的所有一切都在那些被儿子扔出的废品中，都在今天推倒的废墟之上。她捡回来的一砖一瓦，半斤小麦，这一切都在帮助她拼出生命，重组记忆。

当那场地震已经渐行渐远的时候，我们怎么去观察与回顾灾难，除了最开始的悲悯与参与感，今天怎么去倾听与感受地震的质感？今天的村落与人，今天在村子里的年夜饭与菜地。我们切身体会今天的体验与感受。地震后出生的新生儿都已经5岁了，伤痛与遗憾都在隐去的时候，那些消逝的幼小的灵魂在哪里？这片土地在瞬间抛弃了他们，又用四季变迁来抚平他们的痕迹。我们逃不开他们来谈论向峨，我们总是在凝望着他们的身影，在敬畏中行动。

我们将视野投向向峨的2008年5月12日，将眼光落脚在向峨的那所学校。

汶川大地震的震中在汶川县映秀镇，距成都中心城区65公里，距都江堰市中心城区21公里。此次地震为逆冲、右旋、挤压型断层地震类型，震源距地表14公里，系浅源地震，破坏性大，最大烈度为11级，震中50公里范围内的县城和200公里范围内的大中城市皆受不同程度影响。都江堰市向峨乡距震中15公里，处在龙门山脉断层岩的震波上，境内地震烈度最高10.5级，最低为7级，是汶川大地震极重灾区都江堰市中受灾最重的乡镇之一。向峨乡95%的房屋倒塌，共有485名乡民遇难（其中5名幼儿，8名乡政干部，16名老师，121名村民和335名学生）,2000多人受伤。向峨场镇、政府大楼、向峨中学、小学、医院、信用社全部倒塌，山体滑坡、余震不断，严重威胁幸存群众的生命财产安全。据石花村村民讲述，地震发生时钻子崖有成吨的巨石滚下，上万立方米岩石垮塌，山体大面积滑坡，当时有四人在山上打猎，最终只有两人下山。地震发生后几天，有人冒着余震上山寻找亲人，最终在乱石中找到尸体。据棋盘村村民描述，地震发生时情况更为严重：梅子庄地表开裂宽达30厘米，山上岩石滚落，村道水泥路面开裂，路面凸出80厘米高，电线杆摇摆剧烈，水池里的水被抛出塘堤，田块里的泥水裹沙奔涌而出。原都江煤矿老工人反映，都煤电影院侧面一幢五层楼房塌陷一层，震后只剩下四层开裂的楼房立在地面，至今还有一位老人埋在底楼。地震造成全乡1.5万余名群众流离失所，无家可归。

向峨死难者里，绝大多数是在校学生。向峨学校从地方志的记载中开始，走进我们的叙述。

民国时期，向峨前后共有过私塾6所，除此之外当地还发展过国民党保国民小学、煤矿厂矿立小学和共产党的义务小学。私塾多在村内，主要进行启蒙教学，内容一致，主要授孔子之道，读《人之初》和《百家姓》，释《中庸》和《大学》。学生每年向私塾纳“尊师米”，多则3～4斗，少则1～2斗。国民党保国民小学从民国二十六年起前后共有三所，开设课程主要有国文、算术、修身、体育等，其办学经费均来自当地寺庙公产。矿立小学由成燃公司煤矿厂创办于1946年春，主要招收煤矿工人子女和向峨农村子女，开办初小和高小，六个年级，六个班。开设有国语和算术，高小加学地理、自然、历史等，自三年级起还开设童子军课和训练。学生入学也需纳“尊师米”两斗，自购书本笔墨，三年级以上的学生还需购置童军服装。义务小学由中共地下党向峨地区支部创办于1946年。学校设在东林村农民家中，曾动员20名贫苦农民子女入学，由地下党员杨太登、秦慕良、兰衍羽等轮流任教。免收学生学费，发给自编油印课本，对特别困难的学生，还发给本子和笔墨。教学主要以识字为主，教唱过《义勇军进行曲》、《卖报歌》、秧歌等，学生多为贫寒子弟，后因情况变化，办学一年后停办。

1950年初，新政府吸收全境尚存的官学和私塾与都江煤矿厂合办小学，同时开始在村里推动村小的建立，并将原有学生和新收学生就近合并于各新办学校。乡政府与矿长合办的小学名为“向峨乡完全小学”，校舍分为两处，原矿立小学设三个低年级班，向峨场西北公房内设两个高年级班。向峨乡的中学始建于1969年秋季，校址在原向峨乡完全小学，由公社和都江煤矿厂合办，名为“向峨联中”，并设分校于贾家岗（现海虹村，又称“二中”），主要用于照顾边远村落学生就近入学。全校开设5个班（其中分校2个班）共收学生250人，有老师14人（其中民办教师3人）。1970年，都江煤况厂开办了子弟中学，向峨联中改由公社主办，学校更名为“向峨公社中学”。

我们从此在向峨学校欠上了3 3 5个生命的债。拥有百年变迁的土地在瞬间嵌上生的坚强与死的挣扎。

向峨中学在2008年之前，就是中国山区乡村教育的一个非典型个案，它太不起眼了。是灾难把它粉碎，然后又将丢失的生命突显在世人面前。

地震把向峨中学的教学楼全部震垮，废墟中不时传出孩子的哭声、呼救声。已经赶到学校的家长哭喊着，扑在废墟上疯狂地刨着砖石，寻找自己的孩子。在一段时间的慌乱之后，大家组织起来，身强力壮的男人站在废墟上面挖，女人和老人排成两行，把砖头和水泥块不断地往后传。大约10分钟后，从废墟里救出了一个活着的娃娃。但由于没有大型器械，救援进展十分缓慢。16时，东林村村主任袁凤群带着砂厂的两台装载机赶到向峨中学操场，迅速清除了废墟旁的路障，并打通了操场与校外连接的通道，继续开展抢救被埋学生的工作。19时，成都市消防支队16人赶到向峨中学垮塌现场，与当地干部群众一起参与救援。这是第一支进入向峨乡的救援队伍。13日凌晨1时，成都军区第13集团军77115部队炮兵旅236人，77146部队炮兵团300名官兵赶到向峨中学现场。13日凌晨6时，成都军区第13集团军武警8740部队650余人赶到向峨中学现场，成功营救出58名学生。救援官兵陆续到垮塌废墟中营救被困人员。5月16日8时左右，经过四天三夜的连续奋战，向峨中学营救工作基本结束。从向峨中学和向峨中心小学的废墟中共救出68名幸存学生，刨出335名遇难学生遗体。

我们从此在向峨学校欠上了335个生命的债。拥有百年变迁的土地在瞬间嵌上生的坚强与死的挣扎。

The Earthquake:Snapshots of the Changes

In 1943, in order to pay off its debts, the family of a young girl had her married off to a gentleman in the mountains. At first she tried to flee, then she tried to commit suicide. Eventually, she brought up five girls and one son. Villagers today no longer know the woman's name, but a few remember her as the valedictorian of Mianzhu Women's Normal School. Now, everyone just calls her "Granny Liu."Granny Liu was 83 years old in 2008. Her family seemed callous and uncaring toward her after the earthquake. A recent documentary film, "After the Quake, "focused on Liu, telling the story of a family with broken spirits that was in a state of turmoil. It seemed that Granny Liu's existence, which included partings and reunion—the vicissitudes of life—was like smoke that lasted but a few moments before it vanished.

After the earthquake, Granny Liu spent every day searching and salvaging anything at the ruins around her damaged house. She was especially worried about everything that had to do with her own old house—or what was left of it. Her son very much disliked her collecting trash. Family arguments were inevitable, and she finally ran away from her home after several serious altercations. She hid herself and sought comfort with her younger brother's family or at her daughter's home. But, what worried her the most was that her house—though in ruins—still was hers, so she returned home. All around her, the government's reconstruction projects had been continuing methodically. Young people were happy to move into new houses as they looked for new jobs. When the old houses were being razed by the bulldozers daily, Granny Liu would mutter, "It takes no time to tear down an old house, but it takes several years to build a new one! "

One night, her son got drunk; Granny Liu kept quiet in the dim light. Her daughter-in-law tried to placate her by saying, "The house was built in 1997. Ten years have passed so quickly. In those 10 years, we worked every day to repay the house debts until we finally finished last year. When we built the house, we worked from dawn to dusk and nobody lent us a hand. We felt so good afterward, but who could imagine we'd have to build a house all over again! "Many people thought it would be better if she looked to the future—there is hope in the future. Yes, her son was full of hope for the future and seemed happily drunk. Granny Liu, 83 years old, did not have any future left. All her hopes were in the garbage she brought home, in the garbage that her son had flung out that was now scattered all around her house that was smashed down by a bulldozer the following day.

At her home's former site, Granny Liu picked up a piece of brick, a broken shard of tile, and a few ounces of wheat. Her whole life and memories were embodied in those things.

After an earthquake passes, how do we review and assess the disaster? How do we feel and absorb the earthquake's devastation except by taking pity on the victims and participating in rescue work. We learned from the experience and felt many emotions. All the babies who were born after the earthquake are five years-old now. Parents hid their mourning and lamenting.

Where are the dead young souls? The earth took them in an instant, and now they comfort their parents through the four changing seasons. We could not avoid the parents talking about Xiang-E. We could only be in awe of them.

Our attention returned to Xiang-E and its school on May 12, 2008. The epicenter of the Wenchuan Earthquake was Yingxiu, a town 65km away from downtown Chengdu and 21 km from Dujiangyan City. The quake was caused by a tectonic fracture that thrust upward, rotated, and extruded geological materials from top of mountains to below the ground. The center of the quake was 14 km from the earth's surface and was of the shallow-focus type, which was more damaging than other types, and reached a grade eleven maximum intensity. The counties and towns within 50 km and large and medium-sized cities within 200 km all were affected to varying degrees.

Xiang-E Township in Dujiangyan City, just 15 km from the epicenter, are located almost directly on top of the Longmen Mountain fault. Historically, the highest recorded seismic magnitude in the area is 10.5 and the lowest is only 7. For Dujiangyan City, the Wenchuan Earthquake was one of the worst ever.

Number-wise, 95% of houses in Xiang-E collapsed; 485 villagers perished; 2,000 were wounded, among whom were five young children, eight township government officials, 16 teachers, 121 villagers, and 335 students.

Buildings of all types were not immune to this earthquake: the township administration, governmental centers, middle schools, elementary schools, hospitals, and banks.

Landslides and aftershocks constantly threatened the lives and property of survivors. According to the villagers of Shihua Cun(Shihua Village), multi-ton rocks atop Zuanziya cliff rolled down the hills during the earthquake. Monumental landslides led to thousands of cubic meters of rocks and boulders barreling down the mountainside. Four hunters were caught up in the mountains during that episode—only two came back down. Several days later a brave searcher risked multiple aftershocks to climb up for worried relatives to locate the men, only to find them crushed under boulders from the landslide.

The residents of Qipan Cun (Qipan Village) described the severity of the earthquake thusly:

The face of Meizizhuang Village split open with 30 cm-wide clefts, rocks rolled down the mountainside, the cement roads cracked—with parts of the pavement heaved 80 cm high, poles shook violently, water swayed out of ponds, and sandy mud gushed up from fields. A worker at Doujiang Coal Mine recounted that an old man was buried on the ground floor of a five-story building near Dumei Cinema, which sank into a chasm on the street. More than 15,000 villagers were displaced or made homeless.

Most of the dead at Xiang-E were students at school.

Local records tell us more about Xiang-E. During the early days of the Republic of China, there were six old-style private schools in Xiang-E. Additionally, there were Kuomingtang (Guomingdang, or KMT) Baoguoming primary schools run by local entities, a primary school run by a coal mine company, and a compulsory primary school operated by the Communist party.

Most of the old-style primary schools were inside the village and generally provided culture-based teaching. The primarily-taught subjects usually revolved around Confucian ethics; reading Chinese classics such as "San Zi Jing"(Three Character Primer), "Bai Jia Xing"(Book of One Hundred Family Names), "Zhong Yong"and "Da Xue."In gratitude and respect, students gave the teacher over three to four buckets of rice, or a minimal of one to two buckets.

Since 1937, there were three KMT Baoguoming primary schools. Main subjects taught were Chinese, Math, Morality/Ethics, and Physical Education, among others. Funding came from the local temples.

Chenran Mining Company established an elementary school was established in Spring of 1946. It mainly recruited the children of mine workers and farmers in Xiang-E Village. The school set up lower and upper primary levels with six grades and six classes. It taught Chinese and Math in addition to subjects such as Geography, Nature, and History, and it added Scouts activities and training class for grade three and higher. These students also gave the teachers two buckets of rice in respect and gratitude, and they brought their own textbooks, ink, and Scout uniforms (if in those grades).

The Xiang-E branch of the Chinese Communist Party established a compulsory primary school, located in a farmer's home at Donglin Village, in 1946. Twenty children of poor farmers attended the school. Yang Tai-deng, Qin Muliang, Lan Yan-yu, and other teachers taught there in rotation and were secret Party members. There was no tuition, the school duplicated textbooks using a mimeograph machine for student use, and gave exercise books and ink to the ones with the most hardships. The typical focus of class was to study vocabulary, sing songs such as Volunteer March and Song of Selling Newspapers, and to learn steps to yangko, a popular rural folk dance. Because the students were from poor families, the school could not sustain itself and closed after just one year.

In early 1950, China's newly established Communist government asked all the remaining official schools to merge and establish a new primary school with Dujiang Coal Factory School. At the same time, they were asked to establish a new village school, and all the institutions would be populated by new and former students. The new primary schools were collectively named Xiang-E Unified Elementary School.

Xiang-E School was divided in two parts. The former coal mine primary school set up three lower grade classes and two upper grade classes in the northwestern public housing unit of Xiang-E Village.

The middle school in Xiang-E Township was established in autumn of 1969, and was located in the original elementary school. Run jointly by the village commune and Dujiang Coal Factory, the school was called "Xiang-E Unified Middle School"and set up an extension in Jiajiagang (now Haihong Village), known as "Second Middle School, "especially to aid the remote village children's access to education. There were 250 students in five classes (two classes at Second Middle School), 14 teachers (three substitute teachers among them).

In 1970, Dujiang Coal Mine set up a school for migrant children and the sponsor of Xiang-E Unified Middle School became a commune, so the school name changed to Xiang-E Commune Middle School.

Xiang-E Middle School was typical of mountain rural education in China before 2008. The facilities were too small; then it was struck by the earthquake and it lost its life abruptly in front of the world.

The earthquake destroyed all buildings of the Xiang-E Middle School. Crying and shouting could be heard coming from the ruins now and then right after the quake. Panicked parents rushed to the school, sobbing and yelling, then ran to the rubble to dig wildly into piles of bricks and stone looking for their children—any children.

After a period of chaos, we organized a system of search: strong men dug into the debris heaps from above. Women and the elderly formed two lines to pass pieces of bricks and concrete continuously,conveyer-style. After about 10 minutes, they had rescued a living baby. Of course, the work was tedious and very slow because there was no heavy equipment.

At 4:00 PM, Yuan Feng-qun, Director of Donglin Village, brought two front-loader tractors to the playground of the school. The machines quickly removed debris blockages and connected the playground with an external road, then proceeded to work on rescuing trapped students. At 7:00 PM, 16 people of Chengdu's fire department arrived at Xiang-E Middle School's quake site and quickly worked alongside local officials and residents. This was the first fire rescue team to reach Xiang-E Township. At 1:00 AM the next morning (May 13), 236 soldiers from Artillery Brigade 77115, 13th Regimen, Chengdu Military Region, and 300 officers and soldiers from Artillery Brigade 77146 also arrived at the school. Collectively, they rescued 58 students.

After four days and three nights of continuous rescue work, Xiang-E Middle School's basic search was finished. Altogether, the rescuers found 68 survivors and dug out 335 student bodies from both the Xiang-E Middle School and Elementary School sites.

The earthquake owes Xiang-E Middle School 335 lives. After 100 years of mutability, the struggle for life and death is ingrained into the land.

任木匠

12日下午2点20分，任木匠和工人们刚吃完饭，到石灰岩矿附近的小卖部买了一瓶矿泉水，正在这时，他听到“轰轰轰”的声音。“像山在咆哮一样，地也开始动。他明白是地震了，立即对着同事们大声喊叫，快躲到空地。”任木匠知道，山上的石头滚下来会随时要了大家的命。他让工人们围成一个圆圈，都面向外，谁看到哪面山上有巨石滚下来就发出警报。“石头像下雨一般往下滚，我们眼睁睁看着下面的房子被砸垮了。”“一定要下山，不然危险异常，如果下雨再形成泥石流，想跑都跑不了。”任木匠带着工人们往山下走，到处都是滚落的巨石，他给工人们加油鼓劲，走了近两个小时才出了山。

任木匠的女儿任慧在乡中学读初三，下月才满16岁。在带领工人逃生的途中，任木匠觉得，女儿可能在学校出事了。回到家后，他马上搭乘一辆货车赶往乡中学。赶到学校，眼见教学楼已经不在了，废墟一片。这时，他看到一个十二三岁的女孩悬挂在一处断梁上，肚子已经裂开，仍在抽搐。任木匠立即跑过去将她抱下来，同去的工人问他：“是你的女儿吗？”他说：“不是。”这时，他意识到，必须采取有效救援，才能多救出一些学生。用手刨是行不通的，现场的铲车也不能用，因为可能会伤及幸存者。怎么办？必须要有吊车！可眼下哪里有吊车？没办法，自己改装吧！任木匠用现场仅有的材料，如篮球架等，将铲车改装成吊车：将铲车的中齿空起4米长的钢管，再从四角绷起钢绳，一个简易的吊车就改造成功了。在用它救出了5个幸存学生之后，钢绳断了。

14日早上10时左右，任木匠女儿任慧的遗体被挖了出来，但悲痛的任木匠没有马上带着女儿的遗体离开现场，他留在现场继续参与救援。直到15日早晨，他才将女儿的遗体运回家掩埋，而这时他已经连续在乡中学救灾现场工作了约50个小时。当和人说起自己的女儿，他满眼充满泪光：“女儿很乖，成绩很好，读的是A班，希望她入土为安。我就是平时跟她在一起的时间太少了。只有周末……”

Mr. Ren, the Carpenter

On May 12 at 2:20 P.M, when Mr. Ren, a carpenter, and other workers had just eaten a meal, he went to the shop near the limestone mine to buy a bottle of mineral water. Suddenly, he heard a "boom"that sounded as if the mountain was roaring, and the floor beneath him began to move. He knew it was an earthquake and immediately shouted to his colleagues to run into the open. Being in the mountains at that moment, Mr. Ren knew that rocks rolling down the hills would kill anyone at any time. He asked the workers to stand in a circle facing outward, and said if anyone were to see rocks coming down the hills, to raise an alarm.

Ren said, "The stones were pelting down like rain, and we could only watch as houses below were hit and smashed into pieces. We had to get off the mountain, as the situation was growing very dangerous where we were. If it rained, there would be a debris flow, and anyone who wanted to escape would be trapped."

As Mr. Ren led the way down with the workers, the stones, rocks, and boulders constantly skipped around them. He gave pep talks to his colleagues. It took nearly two hours to descend the mountain. He thought about his daughter, Ren Hui, who would be 16 years old the next month and attended ninth grade at the countryside township middle school. As he was leading the escape, Carpenter Ren had a strange premonition.

As soon as he arrived home, he immediately drove his van to the middle school. When he arrived, he saw that the classroom building was gone—just a heap of debris now—and then he saw a young girl dangling from a broken beam. It was a 12 year-old whose gaping stomach wound was giving her convulsions. Carpenter Ren ran to pull her down, and someone asked, "Is this your daughter? "He answered, "No."At that moment, he realized that a rescue effort had to be organized so that more students could be saved.

But, how painstaking and ineffective would it be to dig by hand? And yet, a nearby forklift could pierce into the debris easily, but would hurt the survivors. "What can I do? What can I do? "He asked himself over and over. And then it came to him: A crane! There must be a crane! But where could he go to find a crane? Time was not on his side; he needed to be decisive. The only way to get a crane would be to make one himself. Without hesitation, he scavenged for any usable material, such as basketball rims, scattered in the rubble. He retrofitted the forklift into a crane and immediately went to work. A simple, homemade crane. Just a simple crane that rescued five surviving students!

At about 10 AM on May 14, Mr. Ren's daughter, Ren Hui, was found. Her body was dug out from beneath what had been the middle school while Carpenter Ren was rescuing others. The most heartbreaking thing was that Ren could not immediately leave the scene with his daughter's body. He remained to continue rescue work until the morning of May 15. On that day at that time, he brought his daughter's body home to bury it.

It had been about 50 non-stop hours since Carpenter Ren arrived to the township middle school site to do disaster work. When he told local villagers about his daughter, his eyes would fill with tears as he would say, "My daughter was very cute. She learned her lessons very well in Class A. As usual, I was sorry to have little time for her. We only had the weekends together..."

任老师

5月12日下午2点28分，任昌春老师正在教室给三年级学生上课，忽然听到窗户玻璃有噼啪响声，似乎是附近矿场放炮震得窗户响（因为平常也有同样的情况）。但接着大地剧烈的摇动起来，他马上意识到这是地震，必须马上把学生转移到开阔地带。他立刻顺手牵着一个学生一边往外跑一边大喊：“这是地震，大家快往外跑！”因为三年级小娃没经历过地震（包括我在内也没有经历过），都惊恐起来，于是他再次大吼道：“快点，快……”刚把学生带出教室四五米远，回头看见教室的墙壁裂开了大缝，哗，窗户玻璃被震得粉碎，泥土刷刷刷地往下落。这时学生全部疏散到大操场，全班学生无一人伤亡。当其他班级的学生到了操场后，学校的实验室垮塌了，顿时灰尘弥漫，什么都看不见。正在这时，传来小孩的哭声，任昌春立刻意识到幼儿园垮塌了，肯定有小孩还埋在废墟中，同时也听见幼儿园的老师在叫：“快救幼儿园的小朋友！”他没有多想，立即叫上另外一个男教师罗老师，冲过去救援。没有工具，只用双手，冒着连续余震可能带来的危险，从垮塌的房屋中救出一个又一个小孩，直到抢救出所有活着的生命。救完大家都累瘫了。不知谁说了一声，实验室那边还有学生被埋，任老师听到，顾不上喘息，和同事们马上朝实验室飞奔过去。近前一看，发现两层楼房完全夷为平地，十来个学生被砖块、预制板重重压在下面。大家没有多想，拼命用双手不停地刨，双手磨出鲜血也顾不上，唯一的念头就是救人要紧。闻讯赶来的群众也一起投入到救援中，搬的搬，抬的抬，伴随连续不断的余震，硬是从随时可能垮塌的残垣断壁中救出一个个受伤的学生。在学校救援过程中，传来任昌春老师父亲被埋的噩耗。他的父亲是向峨学校退休教师，被乡政府聘请撰写乡志，地震发生时乡政府房屋倒塌，他的父亲被埋。任老师顾不上营救父亲，强忍悲痛继续投入到学校紧张的抢救工作中。直到5月18日，任昌春才抽出时间掩埋父亲的遗体，简单安葬好父亲后又马上回到学校参加抗震救灾工作。

Mr. Ren, the Teacher

At 2:28 PM on May 12, Ren Changchun was teaching students in a third-grade classroom when he suddenly heard clanging of window glass and an explosive-type sound coming from the mine area—which was common to hear. But then the classroom floor began to shake violently. He realized it was an earthquake and immediately led the students out. While running and pushing and pulling at the students, he shouted, "This is an earthquake, and all of us must get to the outside at once."Since the young children of Grade Three did not have experience with earthquakes, they were terrified, so Mr. Ren shouted again, "Be quick, be fast..."

Just as soon as he and the students had run four to five meters out of the building, the classroom walls cracked and burst. The rows of glass windows splintered and rained down shards, while the building's plaster walls began to crumble onto the ground like giant puzzle pieces. All the students were evacuated to the playground, and the class suffered no casualties. As the rest of the students in other classes and grades also rushed to the playground, the school's laboratory building collapsed so quickly that no one could see anything but dust. At the same time, Teacher Ren heard a child's piercing cry in the distance, and he surmised that the kindergarten building also had collapsed. However, the cries could only have meant that children were trapped; then his realization was punctuated by kindergarten teachers yelling, "Help! Quick! Someone help save the kindergarten children."Immediately, without thinking, Teacher Ren and another teacher, Mr. Luo, both bolted toward the kindergarten building.

There were no tools. The only tools were bare hands. Thus, risking continuous aftershocks, Teacher Ren, Mr. Luo, and others, lifted one child after another from under the debris until everyone was saved. After all the brutal rescue work, they were very tired and had just started to take a rest. But then, someone yelled that there were students buried under the laboratory building. The rest would have to wait.

Teacher Ren and his colleagues sprinted to the lab. Upon closer observation, they saw that the building's two stories had dropped almost completely flat to the ground. They could see a dozen students had been pressed under bricks and concrete slabs. No one paused to think, and all began to use their only tools to dig—despite bleeding, despite torn flesh, despite body aches, or fear, or tiredness—because the only thought on their minds was to save lives. Everyone worked cooperatively through continuous aftershocks, moving, carrying, pushing, pulling, creating human conveyer systems, just to rescue even one bloodied, injured student—no matter how long it took.

While he toiled at the schools, Teacher Ren got news that his father had died. His father was a retired school teacher who had been invited by the local government to write the Local Record of the village. The government center building came down when the earthquake struck, and his father's life was smothered under it. Teacher Ren had no chance to save his own father, because Ren had been continuously working at the school site.

It was not until May 18 that Teacher Ren could take time off to bury his father, whose grave was dug by others. After his father's burial, Ren immediately returned to continue working on the school rescue.

向峨学校在地震中死亡的老师

我们应该铭记14位老师：

邹世海、贾学明、张勇、高静、李晓冬、杨志军、苟天伟、李轩、钱福波、唐基磊、罗忠秀、董先蓉、郭小琴、雷静

Teachers of Xiang-E School Who Died in the Earthquake

We should remember all 14 of them:

Zou Shihai, Jia Xueming, Zhang Yong, Gao Jing, Li Xiaodong, Yang Zhijun, Gou Tianwei, Li Xuan, Qian Fubo, Tang Jilei, Luo Zhongxiu, Dong Xianrong, Guo Xiaoqin and Lei Jing.

我们能做什么？

很快，在汉嘉设计集团马礼飞工程师的帮助和协调下，成都驰兴环保工程技术有限公司的肖继光经理愿意来做些贡献，帮助我们实施雨水回用系统，他的队伍很快进驻工地，正式开始了雨水回用系统的安装施工。援建的第一步工作，在建筑师刘伶和设备工程师马礼飞的监工下，得以有条不紊地进行。接着，我开始转移工作重心，琢磨着向峨小学特色教育的事情。

我们能够实施路易维尔支持向峨小学项目，首先要感谢同济大学能够认同我们提出的一边重建学校硬件，一边筹划校园文化的特色建设，即将重点放在援建项目中大家容易忽视的对学校进行软件建设的理念。我想，我们在资金上没有优势，但我们在教育理念和教育资源上有优势。同济大学、上海市援建都江堰指挥部和都江堰市教育局给了我们这个绝好的机会，给我们提供了这块试验田。事实证明，我们从援建初期提出的着重软件建设的理念，各学校在进入新校园后不久，2009年底，也正式地把这方面的工作提到了学校的工作重点。

我们设计路易维尔支援向峨小学音乐、美术、英语、科学四个专用教室特色建设、英文图书馆项目的时候，主旨就是要营造一个宽松愉快的校园，给孩子们空间，让他们有一个愉快的童年，让他们在不知不觉中学到知识，锻炼每一个孩子的能力。在应试教育的大环境里，我们的想法看起来可能很另类，其实不是。我很仔细研究过现行的国家课程标准，英语、音乐、美术、科学，也看过语文和数学的。在小学阶段，国家课程标准留给老师的空间其实不小，只要不因循守旧，好好利用，将培养学生能力放在第一位，给他们空间发挥主观能动性，相信能做好文章。非常希望通过向峨小学的这些尝试，积累宝贵的经验，也许可以进一步推广开来。我们提出来的所有想法，在中国小学教育里面，都不是老路，是一条创新之路，探索之中，唯有自己亲自尝试，才能有比较清楚的认知。有了这样的认识基础，我便大胆地开始了各项特色建设的工作。

首先开始的是既属于硬件建设也属于软件建设的美术特色教育的开始——艺术墙。

What Can We Do？

Thanks to the Tongji University team, we were fully involved with carrying out the Xiang-E School project. Without the University's trust and support, we never would have been able to accomplish what we did, not to mention the implementation of follow-up programs. Their understanding of the importance of campus culture and their understated forces enabled us to enter Dujiangyan and to become an equal partner for reconstruction. Perhaps we did not contribute an immense amount of money for Xiang-E, but I believe we brought fresh and innovative ideas coupled with good educational philosophies and resources. Tongji University and the Shanghai Headquarters provided us the best opportunities to work on the development of an innovative campus culture so that by the end of 2009, focus on technology software for every school officially went onto Dujiangyan's agenda. We were proud to have been an integral part of the initiatives.

Regarding the development of follow-up programs for Xiang-E School after I returned to Louisville, all I had in mind at the time was to utilize four special classrooms and to create an English corner in the library so that the campus would be a place for enjoyment and happiness. We wanted the Xiang-E students to feel relaxed and unpressured while learning, to be in areas conducive to gaining knowledge naturally, to smile as they increased their curiosity, and to enjoy music and art classes without having to condense them for an extra Chinese or Math class or exam preparation. Above all, we hoped the students would look forward to returning to school every successive day.

China is well-known for its exam-based educational system, especially the rigorous college entrance exam for high school students. Compared to teaching philosophies of current Chinese schools, our proposed curricular ideas probably sounded ridiculous. Well, maybe it was not that strange for elementary schools. I spent much time analyzing the Chinese Ministry of Education's National Standards for grade one through nine for various subjects, in particular English, Music, the Arts, Science, as well as Chinese language and Mathematics. At the elementary level (first through sixth grades), the National Standards allowed ample flexibility for the teachers to promote more critical thinking, to nurture creativity, and to stress less about rote memorization and recitation of facts. If this elementary education philosophy were in practice, I believed students definitely would come to love school and develop intellectual capabilities that would better address the challenges of real life. I very much hoped that Xiang-E could be among the first schools in China with students who enjoyed a new learning environment—or better yet, be the first school to show the rest of the world positive changes. If we could effect change in a countryside school, I believed it could be done anywhere.

Even though all the ideas that we put forth may not have worked well beyond the elementary level, they were still quite feasible. It was not as if the new ideas were unheard-of or completely revolutionary, but they were definitely not in keeping with traditional Chinese educational ideology. I felt confident that exploring and implementing innovations would lead to a better understanding of how to benefit the whole child along developmental paths.

In June 2012, I accompanied Dr. Robert Amchin, Chair of the Music Education Department at the University of Louisville's School of Music and a renowned Orff expert, to the Central Conservatory of Music and the Central University for Nationalities. His Orff workshops at these two distinguished universities happened to take place at the same time the China Children and Teenagers Fund was conducting a one-day international forum, entitled "China's Philanthropy Development and Innovative Social Programs"to celebrate its 30th Anniversary. I was honored to be invited to the affair.

Attendees included of almost everyone who was involved with charitable and nonprofit work either in China or internationally. For China, charitable donations, private fundraising, and nonprofit entities are relatively new concepts that arose only in the recent modern period. One guest speaker, CCTV's Mr. Bai Yansong, stated that there should be a clear delineation between governmental social welfare and private philanthropic work. I was puzzled why he would raise that issue, and soon learned the reason. As Mr. Bai continued on, he presented a statistic that said 70% of funds raised under the charity umbrella were somehow diverted to governmental programs. This was done for as long as he remembered. Furthermore, he stated that donors indeed existed and nonprofit foundations had raised good amounts of money, so funding was not lacking, nor ideas for how to apply the funds. Donors hesitated giving for fear of mismanagement of their monies by the grassroots nonprofits, yet these entities would fail unless funding was consistent and plentiful. In short, a "Catch 22"situation existed:Donors mistrust the organization's grant-executing capabilities, which would beget fundraising difficulties; financial difficulties would prevent proper implementation of projects, which donors would consider a failure by the nonprofit; then, fear of fund misappropriation would cause decreased giving, which would impede the nonprofit's growth;without growth, projects could not move forward, which would cause donors to fulfill their belief that the nonprofit had internal trouble sustaining its mission and managing its finances. Thus, the conundrum would continue.

Mr. Bai concluded that a definitive boundary between funding of government programs and private nonprofit programs had to be established for the healthy development of philanthropy in China. Of course, so that good ideas could become good programs, the need to nurture more effective and dedicated nonprofit organizations was apparent and equally crucial.

Suddenly at that moment, I felt that our Louisville model for the Xiang-E School project might set a good example for the future. When we originally started planning, we not only took the physical labor efforts into consideration, but we participated in the project from its design to completion. I also realized that the school's educational needs and operational issues would present themselves immediately after the move onto the new campus. No one had contemplated these considerations at the time. However, after discussions, we apportioned the funds in no time and dedicated them to follow-up programs. And, ever since then, the programs have operated non-stop. Using the Xiang-E project as a guide, perhaps our all-encompassing practices and experiences, in particular regarding the concept of eco-friendly sustainability, could serve as a good example for the future development of philanthropy in China.