A famous saying by English poet George Herbert goes "One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters."
英国诗人乔治·赫伯特有句名言如是说：“一位好母亲抵得上一百个教师。”

In the case of Ding Zheng, who was born with cerebral palsy in China's Hubei Province and is studying law at Harvard University, his mother Zou Hongyan is worth a thousand schoolmasters and more.
出生于中国湖北省的丁丁患有先天性脑瘫，目前在哈佛大学攻读法律，他的母亲邹翃燕可抵一千位老师，甚至是更多。

"There is little value in rescuing the baby. He will become mentally disabled or paralyzed. I suggest you give up," a doctor at Jingzhou District Hospital told Zou and her family on July 21, 1988.
荆州市医院的一位医生于1988年7月21日对邹翃燕及其家人说道：“这个孩子没有抢救价值了。他将来非傻即瘫。我建议你们放弃。”

Zou was shocked. "We shall give up the baby. He will make our whole life miserable," her husband said. His "rational" words hurt Zou deeply.
邹翃燕当时吓了一跳。她的丈夫说道：“别要这个孩子了。他将来会拖累我们一辈子。”他的“理智的”话让邹翃燕失望至极。

"No! I shall not let my boy die! I felt so happy when his little feet gently kicked my abdomen, and his heart beat together with mine, like dancing a ballroom dance," Zou said.
“不行！我不会让我的孩子死掉的！他的小脚丫曾经那么轻轻地踹我的肚皮，他的心脏和我一起跳动，就像是在跳社交舞，那时我太幸福了。”

"You are just too stubborn to listen to the doctor's advice. You will be the one to take care of the baby," said Zou's husband.
邹翃燕的丈夫说道：“你不听医生的建议，这么固执。你自己养这个孩子！”

Yet Zou did not change her mind and started the long journey of rehabilitation training for Ding. Zou divorced her husband when Ding turned 10 due to their differences over whether to raise Ding.
然而，邹翃燕并没有改变自己的想法，她开始了丁丁复原训练的漫漫长征。由于就是否抚养丁丁的问题出现分歧，丁丁十岁的时候，邹翃燕和她的丈夫离婚了。

"Of all the disabilities, I was most afraid that Ding Zheng would be mentally disabled," Zou recalled.
邹翃燕回忆道，“在所有残疾中，我最害怕的是丁丁出现精神瘫痪。”

She started to take Ding to Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine to check his intelligence when he was less than 100 days old.
在丁丁出生还不到100天的时候，她开始带他去湖北省中医院检查智力。

With continuous treatment, the day finally came when the doctor said Ding's intelligence level was normal after the boy turned one year of age.
经过持续治疗，这一天终于来了，在丁丁一岁的时候，医生说他的智力水平正常。

"Nothing was more soothing than the news that my precious boy has normal intelligence," Zou told Xinhua.
邹翃燕向新华社表示：“没有什么比我的儿子智力正常这一消息更令我宽心了。”

However, due to damaged motor neurons in the cerebellum, Ding had great difficulties in sports: He could not hold things until the age of one; he learnt to stand at the age of two, walk at three and jump at six. Zou instilled perseverance into her son and never let him give up.
然而，由于小脑运动神经受损，丁丁的运动存在困难。他到一岁的时候还不能拿起东西；二岁的时候，他学习站立，三岁的时候走路，六岁的时候跳跃。邹翃燕将坚持逐渐灌输给自己的孩子，从不让他放弃。

"I don't want him to feel ashamed about his illness......I ask him to work harder than others and have higher requirements of him," said Zou.
邹翃燕说道：“我不想要他因为自己的疾病觉得蒙羞……我要求他比别人更加努力，我对他的要求也更高。”

But Zou neither helped Ding with his homework nor forced him to participate in training courses.
但是，邹翃燕不会为丁丁的家庭作业提供帮助，也不强迫他参加培训课程。

Thanks to his mother's intense nurturing, Ding graduated from the College of Environmental Science and Engineering of Peking University, and then enrolled in the Law School of Peking University in the same year.
多亏了妈妈的强化栽培，丁丁从北京大学环境科学与工程学院毕业，随后同年被北京大学法学院录取。

In March 2016, Ding was admitted by the Law School of Harvard University after working as a lawyer for a year.
2016年3月，在担任律师一年后，丁丁被哈佛大学法学院录取。

"I've never dared to apply for Harvard University, but my mom always encouraged me to give it a try. Whenever I hesitate, she is always there guiding me," said Ding.
丁丁说道：“我不敢申请哈佛大学，但是我的妈妈一直鼓励我试一试。在我犹豫不决的时候，她总是指导我。”