i Guanyi, having taught English for more than 40 years in School of English Studies at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), passed away at the age of 93 on Feburay 6, 2017.

Founder of English textbooks and English teaching

Li Guanyi was one of the first faculty members employed by the newly-established school of English Studies, started her English teaching at SISU in 1956. She graduated from the St. John's University in 1946 and the Department of English at Stanford University in 1951.

With the first group of 12 students having no English textbooks and no foundation of English learning, Prof. Li applied the teaching method of “all-time communication” by encouraging them to practice listening and speaking in English both in and after class.

Prof. Li’s teaching method with Chinese characteristics has now been widely used. She concluded her teaching experience in series of articles, such as Is It Possible to Combine Traditional Teaching Methods and New Teaching Methods of Communication and Practice? and Developing Communication Skills Based on Language Learning.

Prof. Li also initiated in compiling eight English textbooks as the editor-in-chief. This series of books named New English Course has become the earliest and the most influential English textbooks in China since the 1980s, which has been widely used among Chinese high institutions and reprinted for several times.

Strict instructor of young teachers and students

Prof. Li was extremely strict with her students and young teachers. whoever was late for her class even for one second was usually not allowed entering the classroom until the end of the class. However, she would add a sincere apology later if the student had a reasonable excuse for lateness. She also could find any minor mistake in students’ homework and urged them to correct.

Prof. Li also liked to attend new teachers’ lectures and asked them to re-prepare as soon as she found any mistake in their teaching. Li Jian, professor of SISU’s School of English Studies and the former director of SISU’s Office of Academic Affairs, recalled a memory of Li Guanyi when he was a new teacher. He said, “Prof. Li was once found he used ‘such kind of’ in his teaching, so she pointed out that it is Chinglish and it should be ‘this kind of’ or ‘such a’. He often sweated all over when Prof. Li attended his class.”

Prof. Li did not retire until the age of 70. She spent most of her time teaching, going to work around 6 a.m. until 8 p.m.

According to Prof. Li, the idea of being a good teacher derived from her family education. Born on Sep. 10, 1924, when was accidentally the Teachers Day, she grew up in a traditional family. Her father insisted that teacher should be a good job for females, which had a great influence on her. She got the Master Degree in English Literature at Stanford University in the U.S. after finishing her undergraduate study in School of English Studies at Shanghai St. John’s University in 1946. In 1953, she returned to China.

Indifference to fame and money

What she valued most was the passion for English teaching, although she was awarded many titles during her lifetime, including ‘Shanghai’s working model’, “Woman Model” and “National Teacher Model”.

She liked to live a frugal life in her small room instead of a house with three bedrooms and two living rooms which was awarded by the university. She donated more than one million to set a scholarship named “Lin Xin Prize”, hoping to subsidize poor students and social practice. She also subsidized poor children living in mountain areas, which was not known by others until her nephew found confirmation letter of her funding.

Li Guanyi was like a candle, providing others with light and hope in the darkness.

It is worth noting that Li's birthday was Sepember 10 - the tearchers' day in China.