Hunan university gives valuable lesson on Mao Zedong's youth

The campus of Hunan First Normal University in Changsha, Hunan province, has the capacity to bring visitors on a journey through time.

Originally founded as Chengnan Academy during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279), the institution later developed into one of the province's best-known teacher-training schools. Mao Zedong studied and worked here for eight years, and the place helped shape his outlook before he stepped onto the national stage. It is also the alma mater of other revolutionaries and scholars, including He Shuheng, Cai Hesen, Li Weihan and Ren Bishi.

The university houses an exhibition hall dedicated to exploring Mao's younger years which attracts hundreds of thousands of young visitors annually.

"Our hall focuses on the formative years of Chairman Mao Zedong and his contemporaries," said Yang Dan, head of the exhibition hall.

"We have designed an educational program tailored to students of different ages, as well as the general public."

To foster knowledge of China's revolutionary history, the university launched an immersive education program in December last year. The initiative recreates the atmosphere of student life from a century ago — how young people pursued knowledge, formed friendships and began to shape their convictions.

Guided by student and faculty actors, participants walk through restored sites, including the classroom where Mao attended lectures, the well where he took cold showers to strengthen his body and spirit, and the dormitory where he once urged classmates to avoid talk of money, trivial family matters or personal relationships.

"We hope to create programs more closely tied to the needs of today's youth," Yang said.

"By bringing them into the classrooms and dorms of a century ago, they can reflect on their own studies and ambitions, and consider how personal goals relate to national progress."

For Gong Huiling, a junior at Hunan First Normal University who took part in the course as a student actor, the experience was meaningful.

"It makes me proud to tell this story," she said.

"I hope that, through my role, more people can learn about this part of Chairman Mao's life and the stories of other revolutionaries."