1. Prologue: The road of charity sets sail
"Big red! Reach out and be helpful! Do what you can to help those in need. This deep and endless word sounded in Han Hong's ears like an alarm bell, and it was the most important time in her life's journey - before her death in 1994, her grandmother gave her affectionate advice.
At this time, my dear grandmother is 73 years old and has left us, and this sentence has become a beacon to guide Han Hong forward and illuminate her future path.
Grandma, the noble person in Han Hong's life, is the great mother who took her from her mother and raised her. Han Hong has witnessed her mother's demeanor on stage since she was a child, and has developed a deep love for music.
However, the tricks of fate did not stop because of this, and at the age of 6, Han Hong's father died heroically while serving in Tibet; When she was 9 years old, her mother remarried, and Han Hong couldn't adapt to the new family environment, so she had to be sent to her grandmother's house to board.
The embarrassing grandmother made a living selling popsicles on the street, and in order to support Han Hong in pursuing her music dream, she even did not hesitate to exchange her blood for money. Grandma is Han Hong's most solid backing, and whenever she encounters setbacks in singing competitions, she will always get her grandmother's encouragement and support.
After her grandmother's death, Han Hong rose to prominence in the music world and became famous, but she always kept in mind her grandmother's teachings. Despite the poverty of her family, she did not hesitate to donate all the first income she earned to the minority orphanage school, leaving nothing behind.
That year, a photograph of her kneeling and weeping and praying with her hands folded went viral, revealing her arduous path to charity.
Poverty and predicament made Han Hong deeply understand the pain of the poor. Although she later achieved some success in the music industry, her grandmother's teachings were always in her heart and became her lifelong goal: to be a kind person and do her best to help those in need.
2. Dependent Origin
Looking back on Han Hong's growth process, she has tasted the ups and downs of life since she was a child.
In 1971, Han Hong was born in an ordinary family in Beijing. His father was a cross talk actor, and his mother was a talented singer. Originally, their family of three should have lived a happy life, however, when Han Hong was 6 years old, a sudden change completely changed the trajectory of their lives.
My father went to Tibet to join the army and unfortunately sacrificed his precious life.
The departure of his father forced his mother to remarry quickly. For the young Han Hong, she couldn't accept this strange stepfather. In the end, her mother had to entrust her to her grandmother's care.
Since then, grandma has become Han Hong's only relative and reliance in this world.
Despite the poverty and hardships of life, my grandmother never bowed to fate. She shuttles the streets every day, making ends meet with the meager income from selling popsicles. In this huge city, only grandma and Han Hong support each other to tide over the difficulties.
Seeing her granddaughter's extraordinary talent in music, Grandma gave everything she could to support her in pursuing her musical dreams.
In her long musical journey, Han Hong has experienced countless setbacks and hardships. With her excellent voice condition, she has participated in various singing competitions many times, but she has been repeatedly eliminated due to her mediocre appearance.
In desperation, she had to temporarily put aside her musical dreams and turn to other singers as harmonies or songwriters, living an obscure behind-the-scenes work life.
In 1997, by chance, Han Hong was appreciated by the host Zhang Yue in a CCTV program and was invited to sing on stage. Her outstanding performance landed her on the spotlight of the record label, which launched her career.
The title song of her debut album, "Hometown", quickly became popular in the market.
Although the future of his career is gradually bright, the shooting of the first music video still faces many difficulties. Due to financial constraints, unable to afford the production costs, the grandmother resolutely took out her remaining savings of 30,000 yuan, which even included the money from selling blood.
The bumpy music road did not extinguish Han Hong's love for music. On the contrary, the experience of struggling in poverty made her deeply understand the difficulties of life, and strengthened her determination to remember her grandmother's teachings and to help more people in difficult situations like herself.
3. Footprints of continuous rescue
In 1999, Han Hong embarked on her philanthropic journey. Since then, whenever disaster strikes, she has not hesitated to step up and take the lead in rescue operations.
On May 12, 2008, China was hit by a devastating earthquake that shocked the world, the Wenchuan earthquake. The magnitude 8 earthquake devastated Sichuan province and caused a large number of casualties.
At that time, Han Hong led her five-member charity team, regardless of her personal safety, and rushed to the disaster area as soon as possible.
The tragic scene at the scene made Han Hong vomit for several hours, and tears flowed like a spring. The house collapsed, the flesh and blood were blurred, and cries for help filled the air. However, she quickly adjusted her mindset and threw herself into the rescue work.
In addition to generously donating tens of millions of yuan of personal wealth, Han Hong actively advocated people from all walks of life to lend a helping hand and did her best to raise a large amount of valuable relief funds and materials for the devastating disaster in Wenchuan.
Back in August 2010, the tragic city of Zhouqu in Gansu Province suffered a severe mudslide. It was more than four o'clock in the morning, and Han Hong quickly led the team to the front line.
The road was in extremely poor condition, and visibility was extremely low in the middle of the night, so their small vehicle unfortunately overturned on the way.
Han Hong was crushed under the car and was covered in trauma when she was rescued. However, her first concern was the safety of the other personnel, and after confirming that everyone was safe, she hurriedly treated her wounds and resolutely continued to devote herself to the rescue work in the disaster area.
In this operation, she successfully raised up to 20 million yuan for the Zhouqu disaster area.
Making money as a singer is not an easy task. However, Han Hong selflessly dedicated most of the income she earned to charity, and lived a very simple life. Once upon a time, she even had to participate in talent shows for extra income because she was penniless.
At a charity fundraising gala initiated by Han Hong, although she invited more than 80 celebrities to participate with her reputation, the number of people who finally attended was very small. When she witnessed that the donations at the scene mainly came from ordinary people who were almost surrounded by walls, Han Hong could no longer suppress the grief in her heart, and knelt on the ground and wept bitterly on the spot, bowing deeply to everyone present to express her sincere gratitude for their kindness.
In the face of doubts and slander, Han Hong never chose to retreat, but paid unswervingly. In 2015, after a devastating earthquake struck Nepal, she immediately rushed to the local area and donated 1 million yuan. In addition, every year, she sends a "100-person aid team" to remote and impoverished areas in mainland China to provide assistance to local schools, nursing homes and other institutions to convey warmth.
In this cruel disaster, 36 innocent lives were lost, but a young couple and their only two-and-a-half-year-old son Pan Zihao miraculously survived, witnesses at the scene recalled fondly, at that life-and-death moment, the great parents lifted Pan Zihao high with both hands, trying to use their bodies to build a safe barrier for him, it is such selfless dedication, in exchange for the little Pan Zihao's chance to survive!
Ms. Han Hong came to the scene and felt the fear and despair brought about by the disaster, which inspired her to create the touching song "It's Dawn".
In order to be able to better care for this orphan who lost her relatives in the disaster, Ms. Han Hong made a shocking decision: she decided to raise Pan Zihao alone as if she were her own.
What's even more admirable is that in order to devote herself to caring for Pan Zihao and other children in need, Ms. Han Hong even announced that she would choose not to marry or have children for the rest of her life.
Since then, she has adopted more than 300 homeless orphans, interpreting the profound meaning of "children's affection" with practical actions. Under her protection, these children, who had suffered from hunger, cold and homelessness, finally ushered in a new life.
In 2010, when Zhouqu, Gansu Province suffered a devastating mudslide disaster, Ms. Han Hong donated up to 20 million yuan in donations and materials at the first time. In 2015, after the devastating earthquake in Nepal, she personally rushed to the disaster area and donated 1 million yuan to the victims.
From domestic to overseas, almost every disaster area has left her firm and warm footprints.
In addition to actively participating in disaster relief activities, Ms. Han Hong sends a "100-person aid team" to poor villages in Sichuan, Tibet, and Qingdao every year, visiting local schools, nursing homes and other public welfare organizations, bringing a ray of life to the people there.
No matter how big or small the amount of donations, or whether she personally devotes herself to public welfare undertakings, Ms. Han Hong has always practiced her philanthropic philosophy with practical actions.
However, despite Ms. Han Hong's dedication, she has never stopped being questioned and slandered by the outside world on the road of charity. First of all, some people questioned that she "had reservations about her donations" and that there was some kind of private interest consideration.
A netizen who claimed to be a staff member of the welfare institute once publicly reported Han Hong with her real name on the Internet, severely accusing her of attaching the harsh condition of "asking to adopt a child" in the donation process.
In the face of such malicious slander, Han Hong immediately hit back with strong words on Weibo! She did not hesitate to publish the bank transfer records suspected of being donated to the welfare home, and used this as substantial evidence to irrefutably prove that she was only making donations in good faith, and did not have any so-called "business experience" intentions at all.
Han Hong said firmly: "I just want to help those who are in need, even when I was living in poverty, I never had a trace of malicious thoughts, vainly trying to seek private interests through the disadvantaged."
Such challenges are not only from those who are dissatisfied with her, but even from her closest friends, who have cautioned: "You should take a proper pause, even if you are engaged in philanthropy, there must be a certain bottom line."
However, Han Hong shook her head resolutely, and responded in a firm tone: "Of course, I understand that charity needs to have certain limits, but when natural and man-made disasters come, I can't stand by coldly.
For her, the road to philanthropy is full of difficulties and obstacles, but it is a path that will never stop.
In addition to facing verbal doubts, Han Hong also encountered many obstacles in the process of raising funds. That year, she launched a gala dinner, and although she made full use of her connections in the entertainment industry and tried her best to invite more than 80 well-known artists to attend, there were only a few guests who were able to attend.
When she witnessed the wealthy people in the audience sharing the donations in groups, while the artists on the stage turned a blind eye to charity, Han Hong could no longer suppress the anger and grief in her heart, and fell to her knees on the spot, bursting into tears, and bowed deeply to thank everyone present for their generosity.
In the face of the pressure of public opinion and the dilemma of reality, Han Hong has never flinched in the slightest, and has always been firmly on the road of charity. As she puts it, "I am committed to this cause for no other purpose, but to do my best to help more people in need."