Zeng Guofan was a minister of the late Qing Dynasty, a famous historical figure, who praised and depreciated him all his life, but in general, the praise was greater than the depreciation, and he was also a famous educator in China. His "Letter of Zeng Guofan" is a very good pedagogical work, which contains his views on education and some true knowledge and conscience.
As his descendant, The Xiang Gongzi Zeng Zhaozhuo was also very good at learning, and was a famous chemist in China. He achieved excellent results and returned to serve his motherland after studying abroad. But because of him, his sister and his wife committed suicide, and he died of illness, unaccompanied before his death, very desolate.
Zeng Zhaozhuo was born in Hunan in 1899, Zeng Guofan was the brother of his great-grandfather, although the relationship was somewhat distant, but it did not hinder his wisdom like Zeng Guofan. He entered Changsha Yali Middle School at the age of 13, and three years later he was admitted to Tsinghua Preparatory School for Studying in the United States, because his grades were very good, and he directly transferred to the fourth grade.
After graduation, he studied in the United States and studied in the department of chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, during which he achieved excellent grades and worked hard, completing four years of courses in three years. After reading the Doctorate, he published the doctoral thesis "Application of Selective Derivatives in the Identification of Alcohols, Phenols, Amines and Thiols", so he received a doctorate.
He had excellent grades during his time at the school, and seeing that his studies were about to be completed, the school wanted to keep him and let him teach at the school, but he refused. In his view, he worked hard to learn this knowledge in order to serve the motherland. He returned to his homeland despite his dissuasion and taught chemistry at Peking University, Wuhan University, and Southwest Union University.
At that time, China emphasized theory over practice for chemistry, and students' ability to do experiments was extremely poor. Zeng Zhaozhuo strongly advocated chemical reform and purchased many chemical experimental tools. Under his leadership, the students' hands-on ability was further enhanced.
In addition to practice, he also advocated the simultaneous development of students' moral, intellectual, and physical aspects, and under his guidance, the students' physical fitness has been strengthened and their moral level has also been improved.
He attaches great importance to the cultivation of talents and the quality of education, and personally reviews the high examination questions every year. In addition to educational work, Zeng Zhaozhuo also attached importance to China's scientific development. In 1955, he was elected as a member of the Faculty of The Chinese Academy of Sciences, and during his tenure, he worked seriously and put forward many effective suggestions, laying a solid foundation for the scientific development of our country.
In addition to his achievements in chemistry, his achievements in other areas are also very remarkable. He once led a team to visit Liangshan Yi District on foot. At that time, this area was unexplored, and even the markings on the map were very vague. The conditions in the mountains were very difficult, but he never gave up, and also wrote nearly 200,000 words of "Investigation Record of Daliangshan Yi District".
Zeng Zhaoli was not only successful in his own career, but even his sister. His younger sister, Zeng Zhaoyi, specialized in archaeology and made outstanding contributions to the excavation and protection of Chinese cultural relics.
Career is very successful, love is not left behind. His parents chose a wife for him, and his parents still had the old ideas and let him marry his cousin Yu Daqi.
Yu was also an intellectual, having studied at Oxford University in the United Kingdom and receiving a Master of Arts degree. The parents did not understand the dangers of marriage between close relatives, but the two intellectuals knew, so in order to avoid this situation, the two decided not to have children.
After getting married, the two still struggled in their posts. For Zeng Zhaoli, chemistry and work are everything to him, and he does not indulge in love. Yu Daqi is also, she has her own career, the two respect each other after marriage, raise eyebrows.
Just when Zeng Zhao's career was showing an upward trend, something bad happened. In 1957, he was classified as a rightist and lost all his work. Not being able to engage in his own chemical work and not being able to contribute to his motherland made him very uncomfortable. He had applied for a job, but the above did not agree.
Finally, the president of Wuhan University invited him to teach, and he went to Wuhan University alone. Although he is nearly old, he is very happy to be able to do the work he likes.
During the years he taught at Wuhan University, he studied assiduously, often staying in the library until late at night. He is very familiar with the placement of library materials and knows the location of each professional book. He said that the library is an important place to study, and it is necessary to come to the library frequently to consult materials.
Regardless of the weather, he insisted on going to the library to learn knowledge. Summers in Wuhan are very hot, and he always gives up his seat under the fan to others. In the winter, he wore thin clothes, shivering with cold but no clothes, which he said was able to concentrate.
Under his efforts, Wuhan University established the Elemental Organic Chemistry Laboratory, which is also the earliest school in China to carry out elemental organic chemistry. He has written more than 2 million words of chemistry lecture notes and has personally taught chemistry courses.
Unfortunately, he developed cancer in 1961, but even so, he studied and wrote more than 1 million words during his illness. But more painful times have arrived.
During the Cultural Revolution, because he was classified as a rightist, his sister and wife were also implicated. His younger sister Zeng Zhaoyi committed suicide by jumping off a building because she could not bear the torture. His 61-year-old wife, Yu Daqi, was stripped naked and whipped in front of everyone, and finally committed suicide without being humiliated.
And Zeng Zhao, who contributed to China's chemical industry, has not been able to escape being criticized. He was suffering from cancer, his health was not good, and his spirit was also inhumanly destroyed. He died alone in 1967 at the age of 68.
Later, after the end of the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese Chemical Society was held in Shanghai, and more than 400 chemists mourned Zeng Zhaoli. In 1981, with the approval of the central government, the Ministry of Education held a memorial service for Zeng Zhao's death in Babaoshan, Beijing, to rehabilitate him. The chemist who gave everything for the motherland was finally blind.
Although we know some, but that is only a part, there are many scientists and writers who are drowned in the long river of history and are not known.
Zeng Zhaozhuo was gifted and obsessed with learning all his life, laying a solid foundation for China's chemical industry, although his old age was bleak, but he always engaged in the cause he loved without stopping for a moment. This spirit of his is very worthy of our study. Identify one thing, don't give up, stick to it, and success is ahead.