Chen Tianhua lost his mother since he was a child and lived with his father. Because his family was poor and had no money to go to school, he had no choice but to herd cattle for others, and his father, who had been a scholar, taught him how to read and write. When he was fifteen years old, Chen Tianhua had the opportunity to study in a private school.
Even though he had to run around all day for three meals a day, Chen Tianhua never put down his books. He read almost all the books he could borrow in the countryside. Can’t read enough. He especially loved popular folk tanci novels, and sometimes imitated and wrote some folk songs, which laid the foundation for his later ability to carry out revolutionary propaganda in the most popular language.
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Because he lives in the lower class of society, Chen Tianhua has experienced and seen the suffering of working people. From his youth
he has set up a lofty ambition to serve the people and the country. Once, he walked into a small pavilion on the side of the road, looked around
at the mountains, rocks, vegetation and gurgling streams, and couldn't help but chant:
Don't say that there are no heroes in the thatched cottage, you must know that the mountains A hero!
After speaking, he picked up a piece of stone and put these two sentences on the pillar of the thatched pavilion.
In 1898, when Chen Tianhua was studying at Zijiang Academy, he happened to catch up with Tan Sitong, one of the leaders of the reformists.
He returned to Changsha to preside over the "New Deal", which changed the atmosphere of the province. Everything changed at once. In Chen Tianhua's hometown of Xinhua,
someone set up a new school modeled on the Current Affairs School where Liang Qichao taught in the provincial capital. Chen Tianhua was immediately admitted to this school to study.
For the first composition, the teacher asked the students to talk about their ambitions. Chen Tian
Hua took over the topic and wrote without thinking:
"? A man who succeeds in the most difficult environment and wins on the battlefield must be like the Han Dynasty The same as Ban Chao of the Song Dynasty and Yue Fei of the Song Dynasty. Today's determination should first be to make suggestions for reform and make contributions to changing the face of the country. If such progress fails, we must take a step back. Shu Li said, compete with those old scholars
As long as I live, I will do these things!"
After finishing the essay, Chen Tianhua was the first to hand in the paper and walked out. classroom.
The teacher read Chen Tianhua’s article and appreciated it very much. He commented on Chen Tianhua's article with novel ideas and sharp writing style. Reading it makes people feel like cutting through the mess with a sharp knife. With a stroke of his pen, the teacher gave Chen Tianhua
's "Records" the highest score in the school.