You may have had one of those rare teachers who went way beyond the call of duty in what is often a tough and demanding job.

To be someone as described above you’d have to have a very big heart.

And a Chinese school principal named Mo Zhengao appears to fit that bill.

According to Chinasmack, Mo Zhengao was the Du’an Yao autonomous county high school principal, and during his 30-years plus as a teacher, he helped raise funds to help 18,000 improvised kids get a good education.

Sadly, the 59-year-old Mo passed away earlier this month from illness, and a huge funeral was held in his honor on March 15, of which there are pictures of below.

Going beyond the typical role of a teacher, Mo Zhengao earned the respect and admiration of people in his community for what he did for the kids and their families from the mountainous area of Yao in Guangxi Province, southern China.

His generous heart earned him the nickname ‘Principal Dad’ from his students.

He was known as the “Begging Principal” to some of those who he asked to make donations.

But it wasn’t just for his fundraising efforts that he is remembered, because Mo looked after his student’s welfare in all respects.

In response to his death, thousands of past and present students, as well as members of the local community, came out to pay their respects at his funeral. As you can see by the image below, it was a huge send-off, and all the wreaths in the county were sold out.

Among those who attended the funeral was 60-year-old Lan Yufeng, who broke local traditions by attending the funeral of a person younger than himself. Lan felt he needed to show his respect for what Mo Zhengao had done to help his son get a proper education, which went on to be Ph.D studies.

Many former students traveled from afar, including distant cities such as Beijing and Shanghai to say their farewells to Mo. Messages of condolence were sent from abroad also, with some of them being from academics like Harvard University and Ohio State University in the U.S.

Within two days of Mo’s passing, the number of views for the “Du’an High School Mo Zhengao” hashtag on Sina Weibo reached over a quarter of a million on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like social media platform.

Rest in peace Mo Zhengao, your memory will live on in those who you selflessly helped.