出身于湖南省湘潭市石鼓镇一个贫瘠小山村的田建国,在红薯煮粗米糠的清贫日子里苦苦挣扎到16岁,初中也只上了一年就被迫退学了。一开始他学木工活,跟着师傅在农村替人做家具。有一次,一个出过远门的人带回一个消息,说是广东那边钱好挣。于是,学了两年木工的田建国于1984年夏天的一个早晨,跟着他们周边100多人的打工队伍,静悄悄地离开了生他养他的地方。 Tian Jianguo, who was born in an impoverished small mountain village in Shigu Town, Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, was struggling to 16 years old in the poverty-stricken days when sweet potatoes cooked thick rice bran. After only one year in junior high school, he was forced to leave school. At first he learned woodworking and followed the master to make furniture for the people in the countryside. On one occasion, a person who had traveled far away brought back a message saying that it was good money in Guangdong. Thus, Tian Jianguo, who had been studying woodwork for two years, was quietly leaving the place where he was raising him, one morning in the summer of 1984, following the work teams of more than 100 people around them.