Song Hao: The Mathematics Professor Who Became Bilibili's Most Trusted Teacher

Song Hao is a Chinese mathematics educator and one of the most influential academic content creators on Bilibili. Born in June 1979 in Wendeng, Shandong Province, he is an associate professor in the School of Statistics and Mathematics at Shandong University of Finance and Economics, where he also serves as director of the Quantitative Economics Teaching and Research Section and party branch secretary of the Practice Teaching Department in the School of Mathematics and Quantitative Economics. He completed his undergraduate and master's degrees in mathematics at Shandong University between 1997 and 2004, and later earned a doctorate from the Institute of Policy and Management at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2011. His entry into online video creation was not motivated by a desire for fame or commercial opportunity. In the early years of his teaching career, students repeatedly told him they could not follow his lectures or keep pace with the material. Rather than accept this as inevitable, Song Hao made a decision that would reshape his professional life: he began recording his complete lectures and uploading them online so that students could review them at their own pace, pause when they needed to think, and return to difficult concepts as many times as necessary. That decision, made with a second-hand camcorder and no expectation of an audience beyond his own classroom, set in motion one of the most remarkable educational projects in the history of Chinese digital media.

Song Hao's channel, officially named “Song Hao Teacher Official,” now has over 10.77 million followers on Bilibili and a total video view count exceeding 3.6 billion. His complete course on Advanced Mathematics, recorded in 154 lectures spanning 76 hours, has accumulated more than 150 million views and is frequently cited as the longest-watched video in Bilibili's history by total viewing time. His courses in Linear Algebra, Calculus, and Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics consistently rank at the top of Bilibili's search results for their respective subjects, and his content is widely described as the default resource for Chinese university students seeking to pass or master compulsory mathematics courses. He has been named to Bilibili's Top 100 UP Creators list twice, first in 2023 and again in 2025, a recognition that places him among the platform's most respected knowledge creators.

What distinguishes Song Hao from the vast majority of educational creators on Chinese video platforms is his unwavering commitment to the classroom as the fundamental unit of instruction. His videos are not edited into short, punchy explainers or supplemented with flashy animations. They are complete, unedited recordings of his actual university lectures, delivered in real time, with a blackboard, chalk, and the same pacing he would use in front of a live audience. He insists on writing out every step of every derivation by hand, refusing to skip intermediate stages on the assumption that students can fill in the gaps themselves. This pedagogical philosophy is grounded in his observation that the students who struggle most with mathematics are not those who lack intelligence but those who have missed a single foundational step and then found themselves unable to recover. By recording the entire process, from the first line of a proof to the final numerical answer, he ensures that no student is left behind due to a gap in the recorded material.

His teaching style has been described as “breaking down complex problems into simple ones” and treating his viewers “as complete beginners,” a phrase that captures both his patience and his refusal to condescend. He has developed a set of mnemonic devices and memory aids that he calls the “Song-style seven-character formula” and the “onion method,” techniques designed to help students retain procedural knowledge without rote memorization. These devices are not gimmicks; they reflect a deep understanding of where students typically become confused and a deliberate effort to preempt those difficulties. He also incorporates everyday examples into his explanations, using analogies that make abstract mathematical concepts tangible without sacrificing rigor. His lectures are structured, methodical, and unhurried, and he has resisted pressure to shorten them or accelerate their pacing in response to trends in online content consumption.

The scale of Song Hao's impact on Chinese higher education is difficult to overstate. His Advanced Mathematics course alone has been viewed more than 150 million times, and his total video views across all courses exceed 3.6 billion. At a time when increasing numbers of Chinese students are entering universities and encountering mathematics courses that assume a level of preparation many do not possess, Song Hao's lectures have functioned as a de facto national tutoring service, available to anyone with an internet connection at no cost. His courses are particularly valuable for students at regional universities and vocational colleges who may not have access to the same quality of instruction as their peers at elite institutions. Media coverage of his work has repeatedly emphasized that his videos have “broken down the walls of the university campus,” making high-quality mathematics instruction available to learners regardless of their institutional affiliation or geographic location.

His institutional recognition reflects both his academic standing and his public impact. In addition to his two Top 100 UP Creator selections, he has received the first prize in the Ninth Shandong Provincial Teaching Achievement Awards and the second prize in the Eighth Shandong Provincial Teaching Achievement Awards. He has been named an Outstanding Communist Party Member in the Shandong Provincial Education System, a “Positive Energy Communication Ambassador” by Qilu Evening News, and one of Shandong University of Finance and Economics's “Most Beloved Teachers,” “Most Beautiful Teachers,” and “Top Ten Teachers.” These awards, typically reserved for classroom instructors with limited public profiles, take on additional significance when considered alongside his millions of online followers, suggesting that the academic establishment has recognized the legitimacy of his digital outreach rather than treating it as a distraction from his scholarly duties.

The broader social value of Song Hao's work lies in his demonstration that the most effective educational content is not necessarily the most innovative or entertaining. He has built an audience of over ten million people using nothing more than a camera, a blackboard, and a commitment to explaining every step of every problem. In an era when educational technology is often celebrated for its novelty, his success is a reminder that the fundamentals of good teaching, patience, clarity, and genuine concern for the student's understanding, remain unchanged. His lectures have been watched by students preparing for graduate entrance examinations, by working professionals seeking to refresh their mathematical skills, and by curious learners who simply want to understand a subject they found intimidating in school. His willingness to make his teaching freely available, without paywalls or subscription fees, reflects a conviction that knowledge should not be treated as a commodity to be sold but as a public good to be shared.

In summary, Song Hao represents a model of the educator as public servant, someone who has used the tools of digital media to extend the reach of the classroom far beyond its physical walls. His decision to record his lectures was pragmatic, driven by the needs of a handful of students who were struggling, but its consequences have been transformative for millions. He has been recognized by Bilibili as one of its Top 100 creators, by provincial education authorities as an exemplary teacher, and by his students and viewers as a trusted guide through one of the most intimidating subjects in the university curriculum. His long-term significance lies not in any single video or series but in the principle he has demonstrated: that the most valuable educational content is often the least flashy, and that a teacher who is genuinely committed to the success of every student, even those he will never meet, can build something that lasts.