Introduction to Mao Jisheng Personal information
Mao Jisheng (1877～1947), also known as Hengyu. Shanghainese. In the 28th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1902), he set up his own private school. In the 30th year of Guangxu's reign, he was introduced by Lu Wenlu and appointed as an officer of Qiliu Office. The following year, he took over the school. In the 32nd year of Guangxu's reign, Bao'an School and Qiliu School merged to form He'an Primary School, with Mao as its director. In the first year of the Republic of China (1912), the school was renamed He'an Primary School, and Mao became the principal.
When He'an Primary School was founded, there were only a few students. Mao led his workers carrying small flags "encouraging studies" on their shoulders and shaking bells in their hands, and walked along the streets to persuade residents to send their children to school, and widely solicited support from people from all walks of life. Under Mao's leadership, He'an Primary School was expanded three times and developed into the largest and famous primary school in the concession. It was sometimes known as "Wanzhu in the South City and He'an in the North City".
Mao advocated the application of knowledge in running schools. Taking advantage of He'an Primary School's location in the concession, he canceled the traditional Bible reading subjects in the curriculum and replaced them with calligraphy, ruler tablets, abacus and other subjects. And with the purpose of "to strengthen the country, we must first strengthen the seeds, and to strengthen the seeds, we must first strengthen the body", we encourage students to exercise. He'an Primary School also teaches martial arts in physical education classes, holds sports meets every semester, participates in city sports meet competitions, and ranks first every time.
Mao was strict in running the school, often admonishing teachers to work hard with the saying "If you are not strict in teaching, the teacher will be lazy", and established an "honorary free" reward system. Students who are excellent in both character and academics will be given free 1 semester. Tuition and miscellaneous fees will be charged according to the financial situation of the students' families, and those who are in difficulty will be exempted.
Mao Jisheng’s spirit of persuading students to run schools is deeply respected by the majority of students. In the 17th year of the Republic of China, Mao suffered a stroke and was paralyzed and resigned as principal. The following year, alumni of He'an Primary School raised funds to erect a monument on campus, engraved with the image of Mao Jisheng "hand shaking a copper bell" and the inscription of Fan Gongxi, Jiangsu's academic envoy in the third year of Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty (1911), with the four words "Gong Mao Yang Meng". Praise Mao for his outstanding achievements in enlightenment education.