Centennial anniversary of Taining No.1 Middle School

泰宁一中-我远航出发的地方A receipt from Taining No.1 Middle School to start my long Journey

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Centennial anniversary of Taining No.1 Middle School

At the invitation of Taining No.1 middle School, Professor Zhen Fang attended the centennial celebration of his alma mater. On the morning of Saturday, October 17, 2026, the sky was clear and cloudless. Prof. Fang walked 10 min from the hotel to the school track and field. Before the conference, he met 90 years old painting and biology teacher Mr. Liang (52 graduate alumnus), on the red carpet and took a group photo as a souvenir. Mr. Liang still remembers meeting Prof. Fang's father and talking about him during a meeting of the County Overseas Chinese Federation a few years ago. Prof. Fang remembers in his biology class on the first day of junior high school, He saw onion cells for the first time under a 30-40 times optical microscope. In the second year of junior high school, Mr. Liang drew a picture of an American soldier flying at a landmine exploding during the Vietnam War on the blackboard, including a close-up of a steel helmet flying into the sky, which left a deep impression. At 8:30 am in the morning, the conference was held amidst the red flag waving drums and gongs. The school song led by the students felt more powerful and inspiring than the school songs of CAU and NJAU, even though it was the first time Prof. Fang had heard it. The poetry recitation by classmates and young teachers is full of youthful atmosphere, which brings Prof. Fang back to the campus 50 years ago (1975-1979) and reveals that the students are modern the same as young girls and boys in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Prof. Fang wears sunscreen equipment and is exposed to the scorching sun of 30 degrees Celsius for 2 h in autumn. When taking a shower at night, he still noticed that his uncovered neck and arms turned red and black. The centennial anniversary is a big successful conference, but the downside is that it has a strong commercial flavor and lacks a typical speech from an outstanding student and a solo performance by a high school girl. During lunch, Prof. Fang coincidentally met an old comrade who was the former county mayor (who said he knew Prof. Fang’s father) who had retired and was enjoying himself in Fuzhou (the capital of Fujian province), his father’s hometown.

On the next day according to the plan, on the morning of October 18th (Sunday, Double Ninth Festival), the sky was clear with a few clouds drifting for thousands of miles. At 8:00 am, Mr. Zhang, the second generation of the former armed forces, led us (5 classmates from Class 2 in 2 cars) to drive 24 km from the county town along the direction of the Damaxu Martyr's Tomb during Military training when we were at elementary school period, and headed to Mount Emei. On the halfway, we passed through, the Meiqiao Farm of Taining No.1 Middle School for our training of engineering and agricultural courses, the independent brigade of the Provincial labor camp prison, and the nearby county ceramic factory that we had visited. At about 10:00 am, we reached at the top of the 1714 m high mountain. Prof. Fang pointed towards the southern direction of the East China Sea, and everyone looked out at Taiwan Province, we saw the description in the then text about the forest sea of Alishan and a female indentured laborer‌ sleeping on the streets of Taipei, who were misery and suffering people‌. This was the direction of the live fire exercise led by General Sun (52 graduate alumnus), the second generation of the Grand Courtyard Army of Unit 501 (6789), during the period of passing away of Chairman Mao in 1976, who led Basic militia of the ten-kilometer breeding farm (cadre school militia). Suddenly, a J-15 fighter plane flew from Mount Wuyi Airport in the sky. Prof. Fang looked around and saw vaguely what his mother used to say when he was in primary school, that the three county towns of Jiangle, Jianning and Taining, likely watching a young mother drying the bedwetting blanket under the sun for her second son in the fifth grade at Taining Elementary School on a bamboo pole in the courtyard of Taining County Revolutionary Committee. Prof. Fang picked a wild vegetable near the meteorological station and requested Ms. Wu to bring it to his guide Ms. Liu (who is enjoying herself in Xiamen with family) when returning to Xiamen tomorrow, for stewing it with pig thighs for Ms. Liu’s two grandsons to enjoy the health food. Ms. Liu, the then secretary of the Communist Youth League in the class (the eldest daughter of the county party secretary, a southbound Eighth Route Army veteran‌) who helped Prof. Fang joined the Communist Youth League 50 years ago at his age of 13 in the second year of junior high school.

Mr. Liu (the second-generation of the Shandong logging workers in the forest industry camp), former truck driver of Taining County truck fleet, pointed to the mountain cliffs that occasionally appeared through the clouds in the southwest direction:

"This is the famous Eight Cliffs. In the early 1980s, I drove a large truck along the winding mountain road for 70 km and arrived there in 2 h to transport wood. I saw many children wearing open crotch pants sitting on wooden piers happily like Chinese New Year, watching the convoy workers use cranes to load round logs." Prof. Fang's mind suddenly flashed. His mother had said, "An old grandmother from the Eight Immortals Cliff Production Brigade of Long'an Commune, walked for half a day on a mountain road and got a ride by  a large encountered truck transporting wood. After 2 h, 7 turns, and 8 turns, she arrived at downtown Taining and saw the main Bridge Nanqiao across the town rive. She returned to the village and said to the poor and lower middle peasants, 'Nanqiao' is so long and wide that was bigger than the entire street in the village, I got lost after watching a movie at the county cinema, and the police uncle led me to find my bus back to home. Prof. Fang always encourages himself with the words of the old lady from Long'an Commune in the future. In early 1995, in Spain as a postdoc, he said to a doctoral student Mr. Jose Luis doing experiments together, "I am from a poor and lower middle class peasants' family. I came out of the deep mountains of the Eight Immortals Cliff village in Long'an Commune, the Siberia of Taining, which is the most remote and poorest place, no tapping water, no electricity, no bus，no highway....”

At noon, we had a vegetarian meal prepared by a female layman from Xiapu county at Qingyun Temple. Afterwards, we visited the temple, which was built in the Song Dynasty and was originally named Emei Temple. It is a Buddhist temple for the ordination and ordination of Bodhisattva Cihang. Around 1:00 pm in the afternoon, we encountered several brightly colored and particularly ugly flocks of wild birds on their way down the mountain. This is a place where birdwatching enthusiasts frequent. At a distance of 10 kilometers, Prof. Fang visited Mr. Liu's personal farm. Liu, who loves labor, has a dark body and immense strength. He left the county convoy 30 years ago. Starting a business with his own hands, planted 600 Mu of bamboo forest in the deep mountains, raised a hundred pigs and cows, and a hundred Mu of orange forest. Prof. Fang said, 'You have now reached the time of harvest and enjoyment. The Bodhisattva Qingyun Temple will bless you.'. In the afternoon, around 4:00 pm, Prof. Fang arrived at Taining Station and boarded the train heading north to Nanjing. At around 11:20 pm in the middle of the night, he arrived in Nanjing, ending his two-day journey celebrating the school anniversary. During his trip to Taining, he met more important people and events than during his four years at Taining No.1 Middle School.

Taining No.1 Middle School is the Huangpu Military Academy of Taining,

Taining is a Legend!

参加百年校庆大会Attending the anniversary conference

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泰宁一中百年校庆

应泰宁一中邀请，方真教授参加母校泰宁一中百年校庆。2026年10月17日周六上午一大早，天空晴朗，万里无云，方真老师从宾馆步行10分钟到达校田径场。大会前，在红地毯路上见到了90岁的画画和生物老师梁老师（52届校友）并合影留念，他还记得几年前在县侨联开会时遇见方老师父亲并谈起方老师。记得初一，在他的生物课上，第一次在30-40倍显微镜下，看到了洋葱细胞。初二，他在黑板上画的越战美国兵地雷炸飞的画，其中飞上天的一个钢盔特写，印象深刻。上午8：30 am大会在红旗招展，锣鼓喧天中进行，学生领唱的校歌觉得比中农和南农校歌更有气势和鼓舞，这是方老师第一次聆听。同学们和年青教师的诗歌朗诵富有青春气息，使方老师又回到50年前（1975-1979）的校园，发现学生们不比京沪港的少男少女土气。烈日下方老师穿戴防晒设备，秋天30度高温暴晒2小时，晚上淋浴时还是发现没遮挡的脖子和手臂变红和发黑。百年校庆是一个成功的大会，但商业味太浓，缺少一在读优秀学生的典型演讲和一位高中少女的独唱。午餐时，方老师巧见到一祖籍福州的老同志，原县长已退休，在福州享福，他说他认识方老师父亲，倍感亲切。

按计划，第二天10月18日（周日，重阳节）一大早，天空晴朗，万里飘着几朵云彩，8:00 am准时，原武装部军二代张同学带领我们二班5位同学分2部车从县城驱车24公里沿着小学拉练到大马絮烈士墓方向，前往峨嵋峰，半途中，经过我们每年必去的学工学农的泰宁一中梅桥农场，旁边是省独立大队劳改犯监狱和经常参观过的县陶瓷厂。大约10：00 am我们登上了1714 m高高山顶，方老师指着东海偏南方向，大家把台湾省瞭望，看到了课文里描述的阿里山林海和处于水生火热之中台北街头一露宿街头的一女包身工，这就是501 (6789)部队大院军二代孙将军（74届校友）插队时，76年主席逝世期间，率领十公里良种场干校基干民兵实弹演习的方向。天空中突然出现一架歼15战斗机从武夷山机场飞来，方老师向下四周远眺，隐约看到了小学时母亲常说的将建泰三县县城，注视到泰宁县革委会大院一年青母亲正在竹竿上给泰宁实小5年级二儿子晾晒尿床的被子。方老师在气象台附近摘了一颗野菜，叮嘱吴同学明天回厦门时，带给方老师的引路人，50年前初二13岁入团介绍人，南下老八路县委书记的大女儿班团书记刘同学，给她2个孙子炖猪大腿吃，她正在厦门享福。原县车队森工营山东伐木工人二代，卡车司机刘同学，指向西南方向不时穿过云层露出的山崖：“这就是著名的八悬崖，80年代初，自己不时开着大卡车沿着盘山公路70公里，2小时到达此地拉木头，看见很多穿着开裆裤的小朋友像过年一样，兴高采烈坐在木头墩上，欣赏车队工人用吊车装运圆木。”方老师脑海中突然闪现出，母亲说过：龙安公社八仙崖生产大队一老大娘，走了半天山路，搭上一辆拉木头大卡车，坐了二小时7弯8拐到了泰宁县城看到南桥，回村里和贫下中农说：南桥好长好宽比整个村的街还大，到了县城电影院看完电影迷路了，由警察叔叔带路才找到回家的车。方老师以后总是以龙安公社大娘的话鼓励自己。95年初在西班牙做博后，他和天天一起做实验的一博士生Jose Luis说过：“I am from a poor and lower middle-class peasants’ family. 我是从泰宁的西伯利亚龙安公社八仙崖大队大山深处出来的，那里是最偏最穷的地方，no tapping water, no electricity, no bus，no highway....”

中午，在庆云寺吃过霞浦来的女居士为同学们准备的斋饭，随后参观了该寺，它始建于宋代，原名峨嵋庵，为慈航菩萨剃度出家道场。下午1：00 pm左右，同学们下山途中遇到几次色彩鲜艳也有特别丑的的野鸟群，此处是观鸟爱好者出没的地方。在10公里处，方老师参观了刘同学的个人农场，热爱劳动的刘同学全身黝黑力大无穷，30年前离开县车队。凭作自己双手创业，在深山中种下600亩竹林，养了百头猪和牛以及百亩桔林，方老师说：你现已到了丰收和享福的时刻，庆云寺菩萨会祝福你的。下午，4：00 pm左右，方老师抵达泰宁站，坐上了北上南京的列车，半夜11：20 pm左右，抵达南京，结束了2天校庆辛苦的旅程。泰宁之行，见到的重要人物和事，比在泰宁一中4年期间还多。

返回南京第2天，傍晚6:00 pm，小雨中湿漉漉的田径场跑道就方老师一人打伞练习。慢跑3.2公里后，回办公室途中，方老师巧遇已答辩的博士生小姚，她说：“方老师，冬天时您的脸还会变白的”，心中的石头落下了。

泰宁一中是泰宁的黄埔军校，

Taining is a Legend!

烈日下的方老师under the scorching sun

90岁梁老师with 90 years old teacher Mr. Liang

峨眉峰遥望东南台湾岛Mount Emei overlooks Southeast Taiwan Island

峨眉峰顶遥望东南方向八仙崖Looking southeast at the Eight Immortals Cliff from the top of Emei Mountain

峨眉峰庆云寺女居士和信徒Female layman and believer of Qingyun Temple on Mount Emei

峨眉峰庆云寺Mount Emei Qingyun Temple

脖子和手臂变红和发黑uncovered neck and arms turned red and black