In 1956, the mainland completed the formulation of the "Twelve-Year Science and Technology Development Long-term Plan", and the Institute of Computing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which was established in the plan, settled in Zhongguancun.
Zhongguancun, known as China's Silicon Valley and Science City, was a small village of only 70 families before the liberation, and there were large cemeteries around the village. At that time, Zhongguancun was still called "Zhongguan Village", why was it called Zhongguan Village? Because during the Ming and Qing dynasties, eunuchs were called "zhongguan", and eunuchs bought land here to build houses for the elderly after retirement, so the village was called "Zhongguan Village". After the eunuch died, he was buried around the village, so those cemeteries were also called "Zhongguan Tombs".
After the liberation, because the Chinese Academy of Sciences settled here, everyone felt that the word "Zhongguan" was not good, and the proposal of Mr. Chen Yuan, the president of Beijing Normal University, was to change the name to "Zhongguancun", and this name is still used today.
Roaring machines have torn down farmhouses, woods and vegetable fields, and this centuries-old historical homeland has now become a smoke cloud of the past, followed by buildings and spacious roads, and since then a new chapter in history has been opened.
In February 1958, the Preparatory Committee for the Computing Institute moved from the Xiyuan Grand Hostel in Baishiqiao to the newly completed North Building of the Computing Institute in Zhongguancun.
In July 1961, Ni Guangnan completed his university studies with a full score of five points and was assigned to the Institute of Computing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which was also the place that Ni Guangnan dreamed of, not only assigned to Beijing, but also because the Chinese Academy of Sciences was the top scientific research unit in the country.
Ni Guangnan went to the computing institute to report and was assigned to the external equipment room. At that time, all the energy of the Computing Institute was in the research and development of the "119 type computer" led by Wu Jikang, and in order to successfully develop the 119 type computer, the eighth room of several groups specializing in operation control, memory, external equipment, and power supply ventilation was established. Ni Guangnan was transferred from the external equipment room to the eighth room, and was promoted to the chief of duty two months later.
In March 1966, Ni Guangnan followed the working group of the Institute of Computing to Luoshan, Henan Province, to carry out the "Four Qing Movement", along with Zeng Maochao. A month later, the Cultural Revolution broke out. At the end of the Four Qing Movement in the autumn, Ni Guangnan and Zeng Maochao returned to the Institute of Computing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences with the working group. At this time, the Institute of Computing, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the whole society, has undergone tremendous changes, scientific research units have given up research, and the main task of every day is to meet non-stop and constantly memorize "Mao Xuan" and "Quotations", every day. Everyone was very excited like chicken blood, their blood was boiling, and they took to the streets from time to time to participate in the parade.
This daily activity lasted until June 1967. On June 17, the first hydrogen bomb test on the mainland was successful, and the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense wanted to launch the "Dongfanghong" artificial satellite into the sky, and it was necessary to calculate the assistance of the data and ground monitoring tasks, so Zeng Maochao and Ni Guangnan could be freed from that absurd period of time and space.
In May 1968, Ni Guangnan, who was afraid of going wrong, quickly got a marriage license with Zhao Mingyi and entered the palace of marriage in that turbulent era, and the poor and white Ni Guangnan's marriage room was still the house of his wife Zhao Mingyi's unit, with an area of less than 11 square meters.
In the same year, under the leadership of Ni Guangnan, the perfect combination of keyboard and computer was realized, and 256 Chinese characters could be displayed on the monitor, which filled the domestic gap and was quickly promoted and applied.
In April 1970, Dongfanghong 1 was successfully launched.
In August 1974, under the arrangement of Premier Zhou Enlai, the four machine ministries (the Ministry of Electronics Industry, the Ministry of Machinery Industry, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and xinhua news agency) held a computer work conference and set up a national key scientific and technological research project "Chinese character information processing system engineering". As the only representative of the Institute of Computing, Ni Guangnan introduced his research work in Chinese character processing to the leaders and expert representatives attending the meeting at that time, which was widely endorsed and recognized.
It was at this meeting that the second revolution in Chinese printing technology was initiated.
Professor Wang Xuan of Peking University took over the 748 Engineering Precision Chinese editing and typesetting system and began to develop the laser illumination system, which laid the technical foundation of Peking University Founder. The "Chinese character information processing" proposed by Ni Guangnan was also strongly supported by Zeng Maochao, then the director of the sixth room of the Institute of Computing, and the project was quickly approved, which laid the technical strength and foundation of Lenovo Company later.
The 748 Project is a transcendent task for the integration of Chinese character information processing with computers. In the 2000 appraisal of "Major Engineering and Technological Achievements in the Mainland in the 20th Century" organized by the Chinese Academy of Engineering and other units, the "Chinese Character Information Processing and Printing Revolution" project presided over by Wang Xuan ranked second, second only to "two bombs and one satellite".
Ni Guangnan began to work on the "Chinese character information processing" project after the 748 Project Conference, which is the predecessor of "Lenovo Chinese Characters".
At the end of the Cultural Revolution in October 1976, this catastrophe that lasted for 10 years was a disaster for the people of the mainland, and for the development of science and technology on the mainland, it missed the golden period of development, and it has lagged far behind western countries, especially in computer applications, western developed countries have entered commercial use, and the working people on the mainland are still playing with the abacus beads handed down for thousands of years.
In January 1978, Zhu Naigang, Ni Guangnan and Chen Zhiying's "Chinese Character Input and Human-Computer Dialogue" was published in the Journal of Computer Science, which attracted the attention of academic circles at home and abroad. The results of this research have led to the research and application of various computer Chinese characters, which have determined the status of Chinese characters and are no longer generally considered to be "backward characters" to be eliminated.
From March 18 to 31, 1978, the National Science Congress was held. An important meeting held under the situation of the country's wastes and waiting to be rebuilt is also a landmark event in the history of China's scientific and technological development. The important achievements achieved by the congress have laid an ideological foundation for the reform of the scientific and technological system and the emancipation and development of the primary productive forces of science and technology. At the same time, it has also laid the foundation for formulating the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education and the strategy of strengthening the country with qualified personnel. A large number of outstanding talents have stood out and formed an increasingly powerful army of scientific and technological talents.
At this congress, Deng Xiaoping, who had recently made a comeback, shouted out the slogan of "science and technology is a productive force," which gave the scientific and technological workers great confidence and made them see hope again.
The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee held at the end of 1978 made a major decision on reform and opening up, and also provided a valuable opportunity for Ni Guangnan to study abroad.