In 1941, the anti-Japanese democratic regime in Muping County was established in the newly divided political districts (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th districts), and began to organize local women to participate in literacy classes and carry out literacy work.
At that time, because women could not read, there were many jokes and even tragedies. A woman in Xidengezhuang Village (now part of Shuidao Town) in Jinniu Mountain, because her husband was in the army, she could not write or write letters, so she sandwiched a few strips of green onion into the letter she sent to her husband, which means "thinking from the heart", but her husband would be wrong, thinking that he should "renew" his wife ("green onion" and "heavy" in Mou Ping dialect are the same sound, green onion shreds are also called onion whiskers, green onion whiskers and re-continuation pronounce the same), and wrote a letter in anger to divorce. There was also a woman who wrote a letter to her husband who was in the army, she could not write the three words "I miss you", so she drew 3 circles on the stationery, and the husband did not understand what it meant after seeing it, and felt that his wife was illiterate and could not even write a letter, which was very shameful.
Because of these practical demands in life, women responded enthusiastically to the call to attend literacy classes. In 1943, more than 5,800 women attended literacy classes. The study time is generally about two hours. Usually, after lunch, the women in the village would go to the village alone or with their children under the trees to learn to sing and read, and by the way, listen to the doctrine of the War of Resistance, women's liberation, and equality between men and women.
After the victory of the War of Resistance in 1946, Party organizations at all levels paid more attention to the literacy study of peasants, especially rural women. All levels in Muping County have set up winter or night school committees, with the assistance of the Women's Salvation Association, focusing on women's literacy.
The teaching time has been extended from two hours to "half-time". Learning stationery is local stone slabs, old tiles, sticks, abacus, sometimes digging some black ditch mud in the mountains, paste into the wall and become a "small blackboard", sometimes the beach and stone shed can also be used as a blackboard.
In terms of teaching methods, evening schools and literacy classes are taught by primary school teachers, and in literacy groups scattered in each village, teachers train "little gentlemen" to cover each group or even deliver classes to their doors. The "Little Mr. System" was first proposed by the Chinese educator Mr. Tao Xingzhi, that is, when the number of adult teachers is seriously insufficient, beginners can teach non-scholars, "knowing is passing on people", using this method to popularize civilian education. The little Mr. system was very flexible, and Mou Ping selected many students of the fifth and sixth years to be "little Mr. Xiao" and went into the village to teach women to read, which greatly made up for the lack of formal teachers at that time.
In terms of the cost of study, the trainees earn money and pay the tuition fees for literacy classes.
In terms of learning outcomes, by the end of 1949, the literacy level of women in West Dengezhuang village was between 500 and 700 words. In 1950, the night school and women's literacy class in Majiazhuang Village (now part of Jugezhuang Town) in Kunyang District, with the cooperation of teachers and Mr. Xiao, took a monthly exam, and the first grade could silently write more than 100 words, and the fourth grade could silently write 4500 words.
Mu Ping's textbook for women's literacy classes in Kunyang District at that time. On the left side of the cover is the red seal of "Anti-Japanese Primary School in Kunyang District, Muping County", and below is the woodcut seal of "Anti-Japanese Battle of the Eighth Route Army".
Kunyang District Women's Literacy Class Inner Page
Part of the text. The content of the text is geography, politics, and common sense of life, and at the bottom of each page are the new words of the lesson.
In November 1952, Muping County established a literacy committee to promote accelerated literacy. A total of 150 crash courses in literacy have been held in the county, of which more than 3,000 are female students. By 1953, there were 63 women's perennial literacy classes in Muping County, with 1,182 students.
In 1958 and 1975, the second and third literacy campaigns were launched respectively, and in August 1975, after the acceptance of the district, Muping was declared a "county without illiteracy".