In the height of summer, Wulingyuan is a verdant paradise, with a thousand peaks and the Suoxi River babbling merrily. The evening breeze brushes past the windows of Wenfeng Road Community and caresses the innocent smiles on the faces of children in the Colorful Holidays after-school care classroom.

Qu Xiuhe, a 22-year-old junior at the School of Ceramic Art and Design of Hunan University of Technology, is gently bending down to listen patiently to the little secrets in the hearts of children, tenderly protecting their innocence and childlike wonder.

Hunan University of Technology has innovatively explored an integrated approach to education that emphasizes moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education. In 2025, it was approved as a project and became the leading unit in compiling the "Guidelines for the Cultivation Standards of Moral, Intellectual, Physical, Aesthetic, and Labor Education in Regular Universities" for the entire province. Qu Xiuhe, as a member of the project team led by experts and professors from Hunan University of Technology, returned to his hometown with provincial-level research tasks and reflections on education, integrating the abstract and grand theory of "moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education" from university classrooms into the everyday life and local customs of his hometown.

Using community classrooms as her field and companionship and care as her pen, she wrote a thesis of youthful practice imbued with the warmth of the mountains and the everyday life of ordinary people.

From "unaccustomed to the local environment" to "the fragrance of the soil"

"In this life, one must cultivate one's own Shangri-La." This quote from picture book illustrator Cai Gao perfectly encapsulates Qu Xiuhe's unwavering commitment to his youth.

Born and raised in Wulingyuan, she understands best the plight of her hometown. Every summer, children of delivery riders, courier workers, dual-income families, and those from impoverished backgrounds in the area are left without care, companionship, or guidance, creating a void in their development. Parents struggle to make ends meet, leaving their children with only loneliness and boredom during their holidays. Having experienced similar hardships herself, she deeply empathizes with the helplessness of these children. Therefore, when the "Colorful Holidays" volunteer service recruitment began, on August 3rd, she resolutely put aside her holiday rest and volunteered to return to her hometown to dedicate herself to grassroots public welfare classes.

Upon first arriving at the grassroots level, the clash between theory and reality gave her her first taste of the weight and difficulty of fieldwork. Initially, she attempted to directly implement the standardized, systematic "five aspects of education" model from universities in the community, but encountered difficulties adapting to the local context: lively and active children couldn't sit still, rigid lesson plans didn't align with children's nature, and textbook theories were hard to match the developmental pace of rural children. Her carefully designed lessons initially failed to achieve the expected results.

Theories on paper may seem ingenious, but applying them to real-world situations reveals their difficulty. After a brief period of confusion, Qu Xiuhe gradually reflected: nurturing people is not about rigidly applying standards, but about gentle cultivation that is relevant to the land, the children, and life. Life is never a race to achieve quick results, but a steady and practical cultivation.

She completely broke free from the framework of textbooks and rigid lesson plans, immersing herself in the realities of rural life and the nature of children, focusing her attention on the magnificent peaks and rivers of Wulingyuan, the Tujia folk customs, and local products. Through the collision and integration of theory and reality, she gradually explored a path for the integrated development of education, moral education, intellectual education, physical education, and aesthetic education that is suitable for children at the grassroots level and fits the local characteristics, allowing the theory to truly take root, sprout, and flourish on the rural land.

The "Five Aspects of Education" Answer Sheet Hidden in Clay and Sweat

In the classroom, the "Five Aspects of Education" are no longer just slogans on the wall or theories in books, but are integrated into the vivid practice of daily interaction—visible, tangible, and conducive to growth. Nourishing the heart with virtue, companionship heals a child's soul. Seven-year-old Duoduo is timid and often hides alone in a corner. Once, in a folk pottery class, the child sculpted a crooked peak and proudly said, "This is the Imperial Brush Peak; I want to give it to my hardworking parents." Day after day of encouragement and listening slowly opened the child's heart; each call of "Sister Xiuhe" is the child's most sincere trust.

Inspiring thought through intellectual engagement, real-world scenarios broaden horizons. Ten-year-old Hao Hao is usually mischievous and active, and somewhat resistant to traditional classrooms. However, he listened intently to Qu Xiuhe's real-world fire safety science class. After class, he volunteered as a "little family safety guardian," checking for fire and electrical hazards in the home and reminding his family not to bring electric vehicles upstairs to charge. This real-world teaching method, which goes beyond textbooks, connects knowledge with life, ensuring that students learn something and put it into practice.

Cultivating character through aesthetics, and nurturing growth through aesthetic education. Leveraging her expertise in ceramic art design, Qu Xiuhe delves into local resources, bringing the Wulingyuan karst landscape, Tujia ethnic customs, and Xilankapu intangible cultural heritage patterns into the classroom. Through hand-painted karst peaks, traditional paper-cutting, and clay mountain sculpting, children use their fingertips as a medium to experience the beauty of their hometown and appreciate the charm of intangible cultural heritage. They enhance their aesthetic sense through hands-on creation, allowing local culture to nourish their childhood.

Strengthening the body and unleashing youthful energy. During breaks, she leads the children out of the classroom to jump rope, run, and engage in fun team-building activities. Running and laughter strengthen the children's bodies and teach them mutual assistance and cooperation in group games, showcasing their youthful vigor. Cultivating character through labor and nurturing good morals. After class, Qu Xiuhe takes the lead in cleaning the classroom and tidying up teaching materials, encouraging the children to participate in labor. These small acts help the children understand the value of labor and develop good habits of diligence, self-discipline, and appreciation.

Fifteen days of close companionship, integrating the five aspects of education (moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education) subtly enriched the children's summer.

The mountain wind blows mightily, and youth grows and flourishes in the countryside.

Silent perseverance will eventually yield results; warm cultivation will eventually lead to transformation.

Parent Ms. Li remarked that her child had changed significantly in just over ten days. Previously, the child procrastinated on homework, but now is self-disciplined and even helps with household chores when home. Parent Ms. Zhang, a food delivery rider, expressed her gratitude, saying that the free childcare program solved the real problem of "difficulty in childcare" for working families, giving parents working far away greater peace of mind.

Professor Liu Hong, the chief expert of moral education in the team that led the development of the "Guidelines for the Cultivation Standards of the Five Aspects of Education in Regular Institutions of Higher Learning," fully affirmed Qu Xiuhe's practice: "The vitality of theory lies in its implementation. Qu Xiuhe went beyond the textbook, transforming the research results of the provincial five-aspects education standards into operable grassroots practices. He adjusted the way of educating people according to their aptitude, which not only improved his own ability to transform knowledge into action, but also provided a valuable grassroots sample for the optimization of provincial education standards. He is a vivid example of college students writing their papers on the land."

Beyond the classroom, Qu Xiuhe uses her camera and words to record stories of nurturing students. Many of her volunteer service accounts have been published in mainstream media outlets such as *China Women's News*, *Legal Daily*, *New Hunan*, and Rednet, allowing heartwarming stories from Wulingyuan to reach a wider audience. The District Youth League Committee, the District Women's Federation, and the District Youth Volunteer Association highly praised her, affirming her ability to empower public welfare through scientific research, serve grassroots communities with her expertise, and put the five education standards to the test on the front lines of rural life.

The setting sun cast its golden rays across the mountain peaks. On August 17th, Qu Xiuhe carefully collected the children's handmade crafts and closed his thick research notebook. More than ten days of grassroots experience had shed his scholarly air, leaving him with the fresh scent of earth, truly embodying the principle of connecting theory with practice and using scientific research to serve the people's livelihood.

The mountain winds blow mightily, and life grows year after year. This answer sheet of five aspects of education, written in the mountains and rivers of Wulingyuan, in the soil, and in the hearts of children, grows towards the sun with the summer breeze, endlessly.

(Source: China.com; Author: Ye Lan, Deng Luan)