On March 27, 2019, two plainly dressed and gray-haired elderly people supported each other and came to the business hall of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, carefully took out more than a dozen passbooks, and brought together the money in the passbooks one by one. They had come a long way here, moving slowly and steadily, with a peaceful smile on their faces. They want to donate all this money to the University education foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The deposit of 1.5 million yuan is the life savings of the two elderly people.
They are Zheng Ruyong, an 88-year-old academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Huang He, a 90-year-old researcher at the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Resolute choice
In that year, the rising sun of New China was rising, and Zheng Ruyong graduated from the Department of Plant Protection of Lingnan University in Guangdong Province, majoring in plant pathology. She did not follow her father's arrangement to go abroad for further study, nor did she follow the advice of her mentor to stay in school to teach, but completely obeyed the arrangement of the state, all the way north to the capital Beijing, and walked into the fungal plant pathology research laboratory of the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
As early as 1951, in view of the serious situation of plant diseases in the mainland, the Chinese Academy of Sciences decided to establish a special research institute due to the lack of systematic collection, collation and research of relevant data, the lack of systematic understanding of the source, cause, distribution or spread of many plant diseases, and the lack of technical cadres engaged in plant disease work. In October 1952, at the 42nd President's Meeting, the Chinese Academy of Sciences decided to ask Mr. Dai Fanglan to lead the institution. At the beginning of the establishment of the Fungal Plant Pathology Research Laboratory, there were 12 staff members from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, including 1 researcher, 3 assistant researchers, 3 research interns, 2 technicians, 2 trainees, and 1 technician; there were 11 people from China Agricultural University, a total of 23 people, and by 1956 it reached 35 people. Among them are Yu Dafu, Lin Chuanguang, Qiu Weifan, Shen Qiyi, Wang Huanru, Chen Yanxi, Yin Xinyun, Li Jilun, Jiang Guangzheng and other part-time personnel. When it moved to China Agricultural University, the research office borrowed 79 square meters of laboratories from China Agricultural University, built 163 square meters of offices and laboratories, and in 1954 added 278 square meters of houses and 199 square meters of soil greenhouses, for a total of 556 square meters. This was not small at the time, but from the perspective of the use needs of the 7 research groups, it was not generous.
It was under such scientific research conditions that Zheng Ruyong, together with several famous academic giants in the mainland at that time, began to devote himself to arduous experimental work.
Although the conditions are bitter and it is difficult to start, in these bungalows in Luo Daozhuang, there is a young shoot that has just broken the ground and has already towered in the sky, it blends in the air and the sun, flows in the blood, and becomes a deep-rooted existence. Its name is the Spirit of Science.
When Zheng Ruyong, who was in his early 20s, first met Mr. Dai Fanglan, he was 60 years old, and the scientific spirit was as dense as a jungle in him, as hard as a rock, frozen in invisibility, and not afraid of wind and frost. He is like an immortal beacon, inheriting the unique mark of the scientific spirit and illuminating the way forward for this young scientist.
Intensive and solid accumulation
Zheng Ruyong was the first student of Mr. Dai Fanglan after the founding of New China, and the memory of following Dai Fanglan's study was four years of diving in the herbarium. From 1953 to 1956, Zheng Ruyong sorted out specimens in the Fungal Herbarium, and unified the collection of fungal specimens from the former National Tsinghua University, the National Peking Research Institute and the National Academy of Central Studies. In the course of her work, she removed each specimen from her original pocket or carton and put it in the herbarium of the new fungal plant pathology laboratory, changing the label, typing and labeling each specimen. Through this work, Zheng Ruyong directly observed the external morphology of each fungus, increased the perceptual understanding of fungi, and became familiar with the scientific name of the fungus. In the eyes of others, the most monotonous and "low-level" work, Zheng Ruyong can still be at ease and learn from it. In his work, Zheng Ruyong paid attention to the establishment of a system and improved management, which laid the foundation for the future development of the specimen room and provided a guarantee for the classification of fungal systems in the whole room.
In this way, Zheng Ruyong stayed in the herbarium for four years. Today, in the herbarium of the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, many specimen labels handwritten by Zheng Ruyong are still preserved, which is a very precious historical and scientific research material.
After four years of silence, Zheng Ruyong was hired as an intern researcher at the Institute of Applied Mycology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the business secretary of the fungal room, and after moving from "behind the scenes" to "in front of the stage", he published his first paper "Collection, Production, Storage and Mailing of Plant Diseases and Fungal Specimens" in a short period of time. Subsequently, she co-translated with Wang Yunzhang, Lu Ding'an, Jiang Guangzheng, and Yu Maoxiao to translate A. И. Paйпo) originally wrote "Fusarium"; "Catalogue of Plant Pathogens in China" co-edited with Dai Fanglan and Xiang Wangnian. Both books are published by Science Press.
In December 1958, the Institute of Applied Mycology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences merged with the Beijing Microbiology Research Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to form the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with Mr. Dai Fanglan as the director. Zheng Ruyong followed the Institute of Applied Mycology to the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and became a researcher at the Institute. Since then, she has been working hard in this institute for 60 years.
The inheritance of the scientific spirit
In 1973, Mr. Dai Fanglan died of illness at the age of 80. At this time, Zheng Ruyong had grown into the backbone of the field of Mycology in China and became a female scientist with outstanding achievements. She took the scientific banner entrusted by the teacher herself, firmly carried it on her shoulders, and moved forward without fear of danger or obstacle.
In 1977, Zheng Ruyong's research on the Powdery Mildew Family (Erysiphaceae) produced fruitful results, published a number of heavyweight research papers, and the following year, as the leader of the "Sino-Arab Cultural Exchange Agreement Project", went to Algeria to give lectures and help establish a microbiology laboratory. In the next few years, Zheng Ruyong published more than a dozen important papers in the research of powdery mildew mushrooms, which had a profound impact at home and abroad.
Zheng Ruyong is particularly refined in scientific research, she is open-minded, good at independent thinking, not afraid to challenge authority, so as to achieve fruitful results in the field of research. In 1985, Zheng Ruyong proposed the powdery mildew family classification system, clarified and revised many internationally controversial issues, and maintained its international leading position for many years. In 1987, she cooperated with colleagues and edited the first mycology in China that was completely directly studied and written, "Chinese Mycology: The First Volume of Powdery Mildew Mushrooms", which has been widely praised by internationally renowned experts.
To this day, Zheng Ruyong's genus classification system on the powdery mildew family still maintains its international leading position.
Year after year, Zheng Ruyong has been solid and diligent in scientific research, giving up many of his hobbies and devoting himself to scientific research. She was born in Hong Kong, her father is the president of the Hong Kong branch of the Bank of China, the famous mainland financier Mr. Zheng Tieru, the family is rich, did not suffer hardships in his youth, but in scientific research, he endured hardships and stand hard work, wild sampling in the wind and rain, conscientious, no complaints.
In 1991, she was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for her outstanding contributions to the field of fungal taxonomy.
Because of his long-term work in front of the microscope, Academician Zheng Ruyong suffered from lumbar spondylolisthesis and severe lumbar spinal stenosis. In 2004, her spine was "nailed" with two steel pillars and nine steel nails, and doctors warned her to sit for only 1 hour a day and the rest of the time she could only stand or lie down. Since then, Zheng Ruyong has raised his desk and experimental table, standing and working every day until he is in his 80s, still working more than 8 hours a day.
From 2012 to 2018, Zheng Ruyong and Huang He and his wife donated a total of 300,000 yuan to the Beijing Haiying Spine Health Public Welfare Foundation three times for the surgical treatment of children with poor and sick spine, and donated their all to young students and sick children.
In the spring of 2019, Zheng Ruyong and Huang He and his wife donated 1.5 million yuan to the University Education Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to encourage young students to make meritorious contributions and serve the country.
Every era has the sons and daughters of China who are enthusiastic and sincere and sacrifice themselves for others, who devote themselves to scientific research, serve the country with wisdom, and use their lifelong perseverance and silent dedication to ignite the hope of China's scientific and technological progress.
From the death of Dai Lao to the present, 48 years have passed, and it is a flash. Zheng Ruyong, like her most respected teacher, has become an immortal beacon, and she will always stand not far ahead, illuminating the way forward for xinxin students.
The author of this article is Ji Haili (director of information publicity of the Comprehensive Department of the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), excerpted from the book "My Heart Is To the Party, Science serves the country -- The Spirit of Scientists Shines Here" (Yue Aiguo, editor-in-chief), and the title has been adjusted. Science creates the future, and humanities warm the world. In the era of science and technology leading development, we will pay attention to the history of science and technology, the philosophy of science and technology, the frontier of science and technology and the dissemination of science, and the sustainable development of human society. Sciences Humanities Online, create valuable reading! Welcome to follow, like, leave a message, forward, participate in the book donation activities, contact email: [email protected].
Today's good book recommendation
This book records the moving stories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on the way forward in China's scientific cause. The book records not the big things, but the little-known little things. Although some people and things are inconspicuous, maybe only one of countless scientific experiments, maybe just a few steps in countless field scientific expeditions, maybe just a wave in the vast ocean of science, but it has indeed happened in the process of the growth, development, and expansion of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Many of these small things are sealed in the diaries and even memories of the older generation of scientists. On the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the PARTY, these scientific and technological workers who were once fighting in the forefront of scientific research told these dusty true stories in plain language. Readers can read the cuteness of Chinese scientists from between the lines, and feel the loyalty and hard work of Chinese scientists. I hope that the publication of this book will inspire more readers to inherit the spirit of scientists and make contributions to China's scientific cause.