Copywriter | Investigator No. 33
Editor| Investigator No. 33
In 1977, in a letter of recommendation to Fang Yi, vice premier of the State Council, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the name of "genius teenager Ning Bo" was particularly prominent, which brought "China's first prodigy" into people's vision.
Born in 1965 in an ordinary family in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, Ning Bo's grandparents are intellectuals, his father worked as a lecturer in school, and his mother worked as an accountant, showing amazing talent in learning.
2-year-old can memorize dozens of poems, 3-year-old can count hundreds, 4-year-old can also read more than 100, Ning Bo, who has not attended kindergarten, directly entered the primary school for children of the Power Supply Bureau at the age of 5. During the sudden Cultural Revolution, his family was forced to leave the campus.
Driven back to the countryside, he still had a box of books at home, and during that chaotic time, Ning Bo read a lot of books.
At the age of 9, he read Chinese medicine books and soon learned to prescribe medicine; he flipped through the Book of Go and soon played against adults; read Tang and Song poems, and could recite poems against them.
After slowly growing up, it wasn't until Ni Lin, a teacher at Jiangxi Metallurgical College, did something that changed his destiny.
In 1977, Ni Lin, a friend of Ning Bo's father Ning Enzhi, wrote a 10-page recommendation letter to Vice Premier Fang Yi, which began with the words" I have never seen such an incredible child, and if I were specially trained, I would surely become a future breakthrough."
In November of the same year, Vice Premier Fang Yi forwarded the letter to the University of Science and Technology of China, stating: "If true, it should be admitted to the university for study." It was such a letter that opened a new chapter in Ning Bo's life.
Subsequently, the University of Science and Technology of China sent two professors to Interview in Ganzhou Ba, where Ning Bo was located, and one professor was a go player who lost twice in the game with Ning Bo. His performance shocked the two professors.
That interview was a high number, and there were two early-hui teenagers who took the same exam with Ning Bo, and Ning Bo was outstanding in other aspects of the assessment, and finally only Ning Bo was admitted.
In 1978, Ning Bo was received by Vice Premier Fang Yi, and won several rounds against Ning Bo, which suddenly became the focus of the whole society at that time, and the news newspaper called him "China's first prodigy". For a time, letters of recommendation appeared in an endless stream everywhere, which triggered a nationwide search for prodigies.
Subsequently, under the advice of Nobel laureate Li Zhengdao, the first junior class of the University of Science and Technology of China was officially launched. At the age of 13, Ning Bo became the first student of the junior class and the first student in China to be admitted to the university.
After entering the university, Ning Bo, who is not yet an adult, is addicted to early love, and he is not as attentive to learning as before, he likes poetry and chessboard, his grades are not ideal, and he did not set a good example for his classmates as an example, losing the enthusiasm of the past.
In 1979, the junior class students began to choose a department, Ning Bo said that there is no favorite department in the University of Science and Technology of China, and also wrote an application to transfer to Nanjing University to study astronomy, but was rejected by the school, the school responded that "if it comes, it is safe.".
After that, Nimbo began to decay.
He spends less and less time on professional courses, and in addition to the main physics, he devotes more energy to the study of partial disciplines. Night stargazing, studying religion, and even practicing qigong.
Even so, the school has never revealed the true situation of Ning Bo to the outside world.
After graduating from the university in 1982, Ning Bo stayed at the University of Science and Technology of China and was hired as an assistant professor. In the same year, he applied for graduate school many times like his classmates, but each time he did not really complete the exam.
This year, he married Cheng Luhua, but the married life was not harmonious.
During his years as an assistant professor, without any achievements, he indulged in the study of Buddhism. In the eyes of the outside world, Ning Bo has always been moving forward, he confided in his parents, but his parents always believed that Ning Bo was still the genius teenager before. But who knows he has gone off course.
In 2002, he went to Mount Wutai to become a monk, but it didn't take long for him to be brought back from school. A year later he entered the monastery as he wished.
Later, it was difficult to find any trace of Ning Bo in the society. In 2018, there were media reports that Ning Bo followed his wishes to return to the world, studied Buddhism, did psychological counseling, and lived the ordinary life he wanted.
From entering the University of Science and Technology of China in 1987 to quietly retiring from the monastery in 2003, in the past two decades, Ning Bo has made many "escape" struggles, and none of them have been realized. He must obey the arranged life.
In 1998, Ning Bo participated in a TV show called "Tell the Truth", and when the host mentioned the topic of the junior class, Ning Bo's emotions became excited, and he lashed out at prodigy education.
He said, "Because we are facing children, it does not matter if we lose money in business, but we are facing children and cannot use them as experiments", it is undeniable that Ning Bo is not a guinea pig educated by prodigies.
In the face of pressure from all aspects of society, he could not say, nor did he have anywhere to call for help, because he was Ning Bo, the "first prodigy in China". When his score is not ideal, he is afraid of people's discussion and public opinion in society.
While falling into the shadow of inferiority, he had to disguise himself as a genius, the path of astronomy was blocked, he studied "astrology", and others saw him as a god all day.
When he applied for graduate school, he gave up the exam once after applying for the exam; the second time he completed the physical examination, but gave up; the third time he received the admission ticket, but the moment he entered the examination room, he gave up again. He wanted to prove that he could achieve something without taking the graduate school exam, which was a prodigy. But no one can understand how oppressive life is under all kinds of social pressures.
In his view, he was the product of the needs of that era, and if he could do it again in life, he would never choose to enter the junior class. On the other hand, some of Ning Bo's classmates have achieved extraordinary achievements in the end, some are also very ordinary, and some have not lived so well.
NingBo is undoubtedly the sadness of the times, in that era, "to put things right, a hundred wastes to be revived" society urgently needed talents to boost the development of the country; "science and technology is the first productive force", "early out of talent, fast out of talent" and a series of slogans, was the urgent hope of society at that time.
We can understand the decisions made by the state, but we never know what the result will be without experiencing anything, and the ups and downs of Ningbo have provided us with experience in the education of prodigies in the future, so that the junior classes in universities can now be run more smoothly.
While we mourn for Ningbo, we should also pay tribute to this "China's first prodigy". He dedicated himself to our higher education today.
His experience has taught us that interest is the best teacher, and if children are forced to learn what they don't like or even hate, they can only be encouraged by seedlings. Emotional intelligence is more important than IQ, family education is always an indispensable part of education, compared to children's achievements, physical and mental health is the most important part of education.