“人才魔術(shù)師”蔡笑晚

近年來，瑞安籍醫(yī)生蔡笑晚成了全國各大報刊、各類網(wǎng)站以及中央和地方電視臺關(guān)注的人物，他把六個子女培養(yǎng)成五個博士、一個研究生的感人事跡以及他的專著《我的事業(yè)是父親》，在社會上引了強烈反響。許多大專院校、各省市婦聯(lián)以及家庭教育學會、圖書館等等，紛紛請他作報告，使得他們夫婦南北奔波，半年多回不了瑞安家鄉(xiāng)。

成功之父與博士之家

蔡笑晚出身醫(yī)生世家，當年因家庭成份問題受過很多磨難。1961年他考上杭州大學物理系，1963年卻由于天真地敞開心扉“交心”而被勒令退學，頓時打碎了他的求學成才之夢。但22歲的青年血氣方剛，他在父親墳頭立下三樁誓愿：一是自己的夢破碎了，有生之年定要將自己的兒女送進大學培養(yǎng)成才，以在晚年能開懷大笑，為此他更名“蔡笑晚”；二是把“父親”兩字當作責任和“事業(yè)”來看待，確保每個孩子都能成為棟梁之才；三是在培育子女成才道路上，不管遇到任何挫折，絕不回頭!

蔡笑晚的父親蔡勛原為浙南名醫(yī)，因積勞而早逝。為著養(yǎng)家糊口，他找出父親的醫(yī)書，四處拜訪鄉(xiāng)里郎中，鉆研醫(yī)術(shù)。三年里他夜以繼日啃書試方，居然無師自通，開設(shè)了中西醫(yī)結(jié)合的個體診所，解決了衣食之虞。立業(yè)后他與在小學做臨時工的勤奮、賢惠的陳小湘結(jié)成夫婦，當時因未實行計劃生育，10年里生下五子一女，分別取孟子(天文)、孫子(天武)、荀子(天師)、潤子(天潤)、君子(天君)、西子(天西，女)，所以給孩子取這樣的名字，目的是激勵孩子從小立志。親友說他狂妄，他卻說：“這是我們對孩子寄托的希望!”

為了培養(yǎng)六個孩子，夫妻倆吃夠了苦頭，耗盡了心血。開始幾年，不說學雜費，光是八口人的衣食住行就是個沉重的負擔。為了六個孩子的學習和成長，他們先后六次搬家，把家安在學校附近，一是這樣可以就近入校節(jié)約車費，二是為了孩子有更多時間讀書。為省房租，全家八口人居住在不足20平方米的屋子里，并將屋內(nèi)的眠床“白天床當桌，夜晚桌變床”。為了教育子女，夫婦倆還帶頭自學輔導孩子，謝絕煙酒和應酬，甚至婉拒親友的喜慶婚宴，這些行為有時被人誤為“不近人情”!為了鼓勵孩子從小自立和增強生存能力，他們倡導“以大帶小，兄妹互牽”和舉家游學，以擴大知識面。

皇天不負苦心人。改革開放的多元文化為蔡家六個子女提供了騰飛的廣闊天地，使之個個成才，實現(xiàn)夙愿：長子蔡天文，美國康奈爾大學博士畢業(yè)，現(xiàn)為美國賓夕法尼亞大學最年輕的終身教授之一，2006、2007年兩次應中科院邀請來京講學；次子蔡天武，14歲考入中國科技大學少年班，25歲獲得美國羅切斯特大學博士學位，現(xiàn)為美國高盛公司副總裁；三子蔡天師，北京外國語學院畢業(yè)，被美國圣約翰大學錄取讀博；四子蔡天潤，華西醫(yī)科大學畢業(yè)，被美國阿肯色州立大學錄取為博士生；五子蔡天君，中國科技大學碩士；六女蔡天西，18歲成為麻省理工學院博士生，28歲擔任哈佛大學最年輕的副教授。她指導的博士學生比她還大12歲。蔡家因此被譽為“博士之家”，蔡笑晚被媒體稱為“成功父親”和“人才魔術(shù)師”!

點撥鄉(xiāng)親教子成才

蔡家子女一個個遠走高飛后，平日勞苦忙碌的蔡氏夫婦逐漸有了空閑時間，與親友、鄰里接觸也多了起來。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，隨著教育的普及、高等教育的日漸大眾化以及就業(yè)的艱難，民眾對培養(yǎng)子女讀大學的要求日益強烈起來。人們對于他們6個子女能考研讀博，有欽佩，有羨慕，有贊嘆，也有嘲諷妒嫉的。

聽到這些反映，他深有觸動，覺得我們不能光顧自家孩子成才，自己有些教育子女的經(jīng)驗也許對別人有用，于是他們一有空就上鄉(xiāng)親家里串門，關(guān)心鄉(xiāng)親子女的讀書狀況，對于上門討教育兒經(jīng)的更是悉心解答，有家長慕名上門請他們幫助教育輔導孩子的，他們也爽快答應。四年中，在他們的點撥啟發(fā)下，不少孩子的學業(yè)都有了飛躍進步。特別是鄉(xiāng)親金建山帶兒子上蔡家討教，見蔡家兩間四層樓房，三層都是滿柜、滿架的書籍和雜志，墻上、窗邊掛著愛因斯坦、牛頓、伽利略、居里夫人、詹天佑等幾十幅中外名人的畫像和名言條屏，這使金建山大受啟發(fā)，他覺得家庭的環(huán)境氣氛，對于子女的教育和熏陶是十分重要的!蔡笑晚說，他的女兒天西對居里夫人的印象最深，她看了居里夫人名言，常說“我將來要做中國的居里夫人”，后來居然一考折桂，18歲考入哈佛讀博。

經(jīng)過蔡家熏陶和點撥的金一政，1998年以全市理科第一名成績考入北京大學化學系，2002年留學英國劍橋大學讀博，師從諾貝爾化學獎獲得者HaroldW·Kroto教授，與世界一流科學家們一道，在英國最好的實驗室——劍橋大學卡文迪實驗室專注于納米領(lǐng)域的高科技研究。2007年春節(jié)金一政從日本學術(shù)交流回來順道回鄉(xiāng)探親，筆者問他“你成功的原因有哪幾點？”他不假思索地講了三點：第一是父母、師長的關(guān)懷與不斷地鼓勵，第二是自己的努力；第三是蔡老師的指導與蔡家子弟榜樣的激勵。

設(shè)立基金獎勵人才報效國家

時光流入2004年，蔡笑晚一家產(chǎn)生了一個新想法：他們想要回報社會，共筑和諧。蔡家覺得如今收入多了，即便最年輕的蔡天西，年薪也以七八萬美元計，加之節(jié)儉家風烙在他們身上，他們花不了多少錢，也沒時間花。于是在回國講學的長子蔡天文牽頭下，聯(lián)絡(luò)了在美的二弟蔡天武、六妹蔡天西，決定首期共同捐資100萬元，以父親名義在家鄉(xiāng)瑞安設(shè)立“蔡笑晚教育獎學助學基金”，每年用基金所得利息約5萬元，獎勵品學兼優(yōu)的中學生。

蔡天文說：“父親從小就給我們灌輸知恩圖報思想。父親也曾資助10個貧困中學生一直到大學畢業(yè)。我們傳承這個家風，為家鄉(xiāng)做點事情完全應該!”

2007年8月3日，在瑞安市僑聯(lián)舉辦的頒獎儀式上，蔡先生分別為2006年考上北大的瑞安學生、今年瑞安市高考文、理科狀元以及今年全市中考成績前五名的學生頒發(fā)了榮譽證書和助學金。蔡笑晚在頒獎會上動情地說：“歸根結(jié)底，是家鄉(xiāng)的人民培養(yǎng)了我們的孩子。現(xiàn)在孩子學有所成來回報家鄉(xiāng)，這是應該的。我希望家鄉(xiāng)的孩子們更好地學習、更好地上進，將來報效國家!”

(攝影 王鄉(xiāng)居)

The Family of Doctors Helps Students

By Zhang Yi

Recently， Cai Xiaowan has been somewhat lionized in the media. A man from Rui'an， Zhejiang Province， he has brought up five doctors and a master out of his six children. \"Being a Father is My Job\"， a book he wrote， caused a stir among parents across the country. For over half a year， Cai and his wife have been busily giving lectures on their education-oriented parenting， a hot topic among millions of anxious parents.

The story of Cai's own education was not rosy at all. He entered Hangzhou University in 1961 and majored in physics. In 1963， he was forced to quit the university because he handed in an essay that honestly discussed his political views. The 22-year-old Cai swore before his father's grave that he would achieve three things in his lifetime: his children would go to college， being a good father would be his life goal， and he would work hard to make his children successful. He even adopted Xiaowan as a new given name to himself， meaning that he would be happy enough to laugh in his evening years.

Cai Xiaowan's father enjoyed a local reputation as a doctor in southern Zhejiang Province but passed away in his middle age. After he was kicked out by the university， Cai began to study his father's medical books and visited rural doctors to acquire practical experience. He studied and practiced assiduously for three years before he started a private clinic to offer western and TCM services for villagers. After he could make a living， Cai married Chen Xiaoxiang， a woman who worked as a part-time employee at a local primary school. At that time， the one-child policy was not yet in practice. The couple had six children in ten years. Cai and his wife moved six times during these years， in order to keep the family close to schools. In order to save money， the eight chose to live in a 20-square-meter space even though now and then they moved to a new place. Cai and his wife educated themselves in order to coach their children.

The reform and opening up to the outside world helped Cai realize his dream. Cai Tianwen， the eldest son， is now a tenure professor with Pennsylvania University. Cai Tianwu entered China Science and Technology University at 14 and became a Ph. D. of Rochester University of USA at 25. Now he is an executive with Goldman Sachs. Cai Tianshi， the third son and a graduate from Beijing Foreign Studies University， is now studying for a doctoral degree at St John's University of USA. Cai Tianrun， the fourth brother， is now studying for a doctoral degree at Arkansas State University; Cai Tianjun， the fifth child， is a master of China Science and Technology University. Cai Tianxi， the youngest child and only daughter， became a doctoral student at MIT at 18 and became the youngest associate professor at Harvard University at 28.

After all their children left home， the couple had time to bond closely with their neighbors. Cai Xiaowan became aware that their neighbors needed tips about orienting their children toward successful education. Some neighbors also visited the Cais in the hope of learning some helpful methods. In these years， Cai advised many children.

In 2004， Cai Xiaowan wanted to make a new contribution to the general public. After a family meeting， Cai Tianwen， Cai Tianwu and Cai Tianxi put together 1 million yuan and set up Cai Xiaowan Education Foundation. The one million yuan capital now yields about 50，000 yuan as interest per year and the foundation uses the interest amount as aids for excellent middle school students. Cai Tianwen says that his father once financially helped 10 middle school students from poverty-stricken families go through college and that his father was always urging them to help others.

On August 3， 2007， Cai Xiaowan distributed aids and certificates of honors to those who entered Beijing University in 2006， top scorers in sciences and liberal arts in the national college entrance examination in 2007， and the top five scorers at the citywide middle school examinations in 2007.

(Translated by David)