(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-20 11:40

Stories of how teachers saved the students and often sacrificed their own lives in the process are already beginning to touch millions of people around the country.

As news broke of how Qu Wanrong died saving a child at a kindergarten in Zundao, a teacher named Jiang Bojing from Hebei province pondered the true meaning of the profession. "What does being a teacher really mean? I hadn't found the answer in the past 10 years of teaching," Jiang told The Beijing News.

"Today I understand that the highest level a teacher can reach is to protect students with his or her own life when faced with life-and-death decisions.

"I don't dare imagine how the innocent young lives were taken away. I don't dare imagine how Teacher Qu had held the child, trying to get out of death's claws. I only know that Teacher Qu had won, even though she succumbed to death.

"I'm an atheist but I hope that Heaven does exist. I hope that Teacher Qu can lead her young students in Heaven and witness our people overcome this disaster under the leadership of our government.

"I hope that from another world, Teacher Qu and her students can see how we are rebuilding our home and I hope she can see how the child she saved with her life grows up."