Poster Design: Qian Cheng
Xiamen, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Title: China's Contribution to Ecological Civilization -- Remembering Zhao Jingzhu, Former Party Secretary of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xinhua News Agency
What kind of cities do human beings need?
This scientific question is the lifelong quest of the Chinese ecologist Zhao Jingzhu.
This dream-chaser runs selflessly on the road of ecological civilization of "people and cities" until the last moment of life.
Behind him, what remains is a "landscape ecology" that he proposed, a institute of urban environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that he personally established, and a relayer who is influencing and inspired by him to write the thinking of sustainable development on the vast land.
"Those of us who engage in ecological science are not geniuses, but local talents"
Rhododendrons, bougainvillea, yellow hibiscus... All kinds of flowers and trees, burning like fire, bloomed just right in the courtyard of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
This "young school" research institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was built by Zhao Jingzhu, the first party secretary; the ecological landscape in this courtyard was created by Zhao Jingzhu himself.
Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, located in Jimei, Xiamen, Fujian Province, on the banks of Xinglin Bay (drone photo taken on March 18, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
"These plants are like his children." Colleagues pointed to these grasses and trees and said that they are vivid annotations of "scenic ecology": from the overall layout of the park to the details of one stone and one wood, from the unique "comprehensive utilization system of rain and sewage resources" to the grass and tree nurseries that do not water, fertilize or medicate... Everywhere there is green, circular, ecological ingenuity.
Landscape ecology is based on the basic principles of ecology, from the natural elements, physical perception, psychological feelings and other related aspects, the study of urban ecological planning, construction and management of science, led by Zhao Jingzhu Led by Chinese scholars first proposed.
If Western landscape ecology focuses on exploring the pattern and process of ecosystems from the spatial scale, then the landscape ecology proposed by Chinese scholars such as Zhao Jingzhu introduces the oriental wisdom of "the unity of heaven and man" on this basis, emphasizes the subjective and objective interaction and role between man and natural systems, and explores the "Chinese solution" of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
Exterior view of the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (drone photo taken on March 18, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
"China has a population of more than one billion, and solving our ecological and environmental problems well is the greatest contribution to the world's ecological environment." In the early 1990s, Zhao Jingzhu, who studied overseas, returned to his motherland with ideals.
At the time, the term "sustainable development" was little known in China.
In March 1994, the "China Agenda 21 - White Paper on China's Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century" was officially adopted at the executive meeting of the State Council, which also made the mainland the first country in the world to prepare its own Agenda 21 action plan. Since then, he has devoted himself to theoretical exploration in related fields, and in his post-employment experience in Guangxi, Yunnan and other places, he has opened up academic practice based on China's national conditions.
The hinterland of North China - Xiong'an: blue and green intertwined, water city communion. The ecological beauty of this "city of the future" also includes the sweat of Zhao Jingzhu's team.
At the beginning of the preparation of Xiong'an New Area, Zhao Jingzhu and his team took over the special research topic of "ecological carrying capacity". Zhao Jingzhu improved traditional assessment methods and innovatively introduced the concept of "population equivalence". Since then, he has led the team to apply the principles of landscape ecology to multi-scale ecological infrastructure planning, design, construction, evaluation and management, laying a solid foundation for the study of ecological infrastructure and ecological security in the new area.
"If you know you're looking for someone to look at, why don't you know how to cut this one to look good?" Colleague Fang Xing has repeatedly been criticized by Zhao Jingzhu on the "small matter" of sawing trees. "Be sure to saw from top to bottom, and when the branches are about to break, be sure to saw a few times below the saw to cut off the bark below, otherwise, the branches will tear off a large section of the bark."
"Landscape ecology emphasizes human feelings and cultural values, and if scholars do not have this experience, it is difficult to achieve the harmonious development of cities and ecology in planning and design." Chen Shaohua, the current party secretary of the city institute, said that Zhao Jingzhu had been injured many times in order to prune the plants. Once, his thigh was cut by sisal and blood flowed, but he sat down calmly, briefly bandaged it, and continued to drill into the bushes.
Zhao Jingzhu, former party secretary of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, personally planned and designed the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2006, and the picture shows the model (taken on December 31, 2021). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
The large and small plants in the park leave him with sweat, and the little lights in the office also remember his perennial hard work.
With the rapid development of urbanization, "urban diseases" such as traffic congestion and environmental pollution have caused concern. Building a green, intelligent, low-carbon, healthy and livable new ecological city with Chinese characteristics is an inevitable choice of the country and the mission of Chinese scholars.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has attached great importance to the construction of ecological civilization, providing a broad stage for scientific research workers. "Doing management during the day and doing scientific research at night" has become the norm for Zhao Jingzhu.
Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Xiamen, Pingtan, Arshan, Grand Canal... How to use the concept of ecological management to serve the local reality, he rushed on the road.
"Quiet at night, easy to think about, can take back time for scientific research." Because they are accustomed to meeting late at night, the scientific research team led by Zhao Jingzhu simply calls this way of working a "nightclub".
The lights in Zhao Jingzhu's office on the 18th floor would always come on late into the night. Academician Zhu Yongguan, a colleague, said that every time he leaves or returns at night, he will habitually look up, because "when he sees the familiar lamp, his heart will be much more solid."
Look up at the stars, but also look down.
Zhao Jingzhu often hangs two sentences on his lips, the first sentence is "We engaged in ecological science, we are not geniuses, but the earth talents", and the second sentence is the words of his mentor, the ecological titan Ma Shijun: "Ecology is not learned, it is done." ”
"The state's money, not a penny can be spent indiscriminately!"
In recent years, the concept of landscape ecology proposed by Zhao Jingzhu in combination with practice has attracted scholars from many countries to join the research and led the development of relevant research directions in the world.
The young Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is also attracting more and more attention.
16 years ago, Xiamen Jimei, Xinglin Bay, the first pile of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was laid here.
In March 2006, Zhao Jingzhu, who returned to Beijing from Lijiang, was assigned by the organization to go to Xiamen to prepare for the establishment of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At that time, the site of Jimei Park was surrounded by wild grass. In the temporary renovation of the old room, Zhao Jingzhu pulled up a set of tables and chairs and began to work.
Work photo of Zhao Jingzhu, former party secretary of the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences," before his death (file photo, april 19, 2008). Xinhua News Agency
The construction of the city park is funded and responsible by the Xiamen Municipal Government, which is supposed to be a "turnkey project", but Zhao Jingzhu has repeatedly emphasized, "The state's money cannot be spent indiscriminately!" ”
That year, the price of building materials soared, and the construction party suddenly proposed that the price of floor tiles should be increased. Zhao Jingzhu could not sit still, and used the weekend to take his colleagues all the way south to Guangdong to see building materials, negotiate prices, and sign intentional contracts.
When he returned, he put the contract in front of the construction, one by one to compare the price. The other party looked dumbfounded, and had to maintain the original price.
After many years, Wang Yuhuan, then director of the Comprehensive Office of the City Institute, still remembers that after the successful negotiation, Old Zhao laughed like a child: "This time we have made a lot of money!"
On the way back, Zhao Jingzhu was not willing to let everyone eat in the service area, and a car of people had to stay up and return to the unit canteen. Everyone gathered around a ping-pong table and ate a basin of dry bowls.
How "slamming the door" does Zhao Jingzhu have? Shi Erwei, who was the vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at the time, wrote a testimonial: "He squeezed every point of the preparatory fund, and he really achieved the ultimate in careful calculation..."
About 200 acres of land area, 60,600 square meters of construction area, the total cost of the project is less than 159 million yuan, the average price per square meter is less than 2600 yuan... In Zhao Jingzhu's "Gong Baht Must Be Compared", the city was completed as scheduled.
Work photo of Zhao Jingzhu, former party secretary of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, before his death (file photo). Xinhua News Agency
Now, an old photograph of the past attracted the attention of the visitors: 16 people, holding disposable paper cups, smiling at the camera, sweat soaked through their clothes, and their trouser legs stained with mud.
It was August 2008, and the typhoon was raging and raining. The apartment buildings and canteens that were scheduled to be completed and accepted by the end of July are still dusty and full of building materials.
Inauguration of the "Sino-British Joint Institute of Environmental Technology", the first symposium on urban environmental science and technology, the international symposium on urban wetland ecology and restoration... This series of major international and domestic academic activities can all be counted on the new park.
"Can't delay any longer, move in as planned, and supervise the battle on the spot!" On August 20, Zhao Jingzhu took the management staff and lived in the park where even the scaffolding had not been dismantled.
With no domestic water, no air conditioning and no elevator facilities, the only things on the construction site in the middle of summer are flies and mosquitoes.
Former office of Zhao Jingzhu, former party secretary of the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (photo taken on December 31, 2021). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
It is inconvenient to go to the toilet in the middle of the night, everyone will reduce drinking water during the day; there is no place to take a bath on a hot day, everyone will carry a horse lamp to the temporary toilet in the middle of the night to wash up; the smell of construction in the room is slow, and everyone will move into piles of pineapples to drive the smell, so that many years later, there is still a joke that Zhao Qianjun, deputy leader of the preparatory group, holds the pineapple to sleep.
In December 2009, on a tidal flat in the southeast of the motherland, the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences rose from the ground, and China's urban environmental science opened a new chapter.
"When I'm done, I'll go back to the house"
Xiamen, the humid climate is the label of this beautiful city, but it also aggravates Zhao Jingzhu's rheumatoid disease.
Sometimes when he woke up, his arms could not be straightened, and it was difficult to even get up and get dressed. The organization proposed to transfer him back to Beijing to work, but he smiled and refused, ridiculing that he had already been "a doctor for a long time".
Not only the torture of rheumatoid, but also the years of hard work, quietly buried hidden dangers in his body.
On June 25, 2021, under the "raw pulling" of his colleagues, Zhao Jingzhu was forced to be admitted to the hospital for examination.
Zhao Jingzhu, former party secretary of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, received an honorary certificate (taken on December 31, 2021). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
He has been running a fever for more than 40 days!
The mid-term evaluation of the pilot special project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences "Beautiful China Ecological Civilization Construction Science and Technology Project" has been launched, and Zhao Jingzhu, as the chief scientist, must complete the work as planned.
Colleagues thought that Old Zhao would return soon. Unexpectedly, the test result turned out to be pancreatic cancer...
"If you can get through it, you can get through it, and if you go, you will go." In the last 40 days of his life, in the face of colleagues and friends who came to visit, Zhao Jingzhu was still smiling.
In the morning, do therapy, and in the afternoon, help students revise papers and reply to emails. Zhao Jingzhu's rhythm in the hospital was no different from usual. Every time he was seen propped up on the bed typing on the keyboard, the medical staff would come forward to stop him, but as soon as the person left, he got up again...
On July 12, colleagues saw Old Zhao again, who had described him as withered.
"How's the project going?" Without waiting for everyone to speak, Old Zhao took the lead in speaking.
No one answered, and everyone present could not cry.
"Wait until I slow down, then push and push." Old Zhao gathered enough strength and showed his usual smile.
On August 4, 2021, Zhao Jingzhu's condition suddenly deteriorated. As he lay dying, his mouth was still repeating: "When I am well, I will go back to the house..."
"He's the life of the rush." His wife, Zhu Chunyan, suppressed the tears in her eyes and stared at the group photo of the two when they were young.
Chen Shaohua, currently secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduces Zhao Jingzhu's work before his death (photo taken on December 31, 2021). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
On the Jingjing campus, 20-year-old Zhu Chunyan met 26-year-old Zhao Jingzhu. After marriage, under the selection of the organization, Zhao Jingzhu successively went to Guangxi Hechi, Yunnan Lijiang and Fujian Xiamen to work, and the husband and wife lived apart for many years.
He was busy, she understood; she was bitter, he was in pain. The two people who attach great importance to the cause of their homeland especially cherish this rare confidant.
Zhu Chunyan loves to be clean, and every time he comes to Xiamen to "visit the class", Zhao Jingzhu will carry out a major cleaning in advance. Once, in order to "encircle" a cockroach, he did not close his eyes for a night.
Another time, it was Valentine's Day, Zhu Chunyan accidentally ripped the coat pocket, zhao Jingzhu was hungry, stitched her stitches one by one. This "work photo" was sent to the circle of friends by Zhu Chunyan and matched with a "love" expression.
Colleagues exclaimed: "Old Zhao, who is fierce in his daily life, can actually needle and thread work!" ”
"Love Chief" - outside the gate of the city, a granite stone is engraved with Zhao Jingzhu's autograph, as if it is his confession of the love of his life, and it seems to be the echo of his stay in this world.
In July 2021, as life had entered the countdown, Zhao Jingzhu stood up and called Wang Tangrong, director of the Education Department of the City Institute.
"Do we have a student named Pantene?" Zhao Jingzhu's tone was a little anxious.
"It's a visiting student at Xiamen University, what's wrong?" Wang Tangrong was a little stunned.
"Once I was burning fallen leaves in the compound and fattening, this girl was next to me in a daze. She said that the smoke reminded her of her home in the countryside, and you must help your classmates who are far away from home in time to relieve their homesickness. ”
Wang Tangrong did not expect that this was Secretary Zhao's last "work deployment.".
Subtle and warm, Zhao Jingzhu left many memories for people.
The winter in Xiamen is not cold, he sent a military coat to the security guards on duty at night to drive away the cold; the young colleague did not take off the single, he enthusiastically zhang Luo "blind date dinner"; students from foreign units sent emails to ask for advice, he would squeeze out time to reply to guidance...
In the computer, the paper submitted by the student has not been changed. After his death, his mailbox will also receive a "delayed email" from him, which is full of to-do items...
Students in zhao Jingzhu's research group, former party secretary of the Institute of Urban Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discuss the ecology of landscape sensing (photo taken on December 31, 2021). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shanchuan
"Unreservedly dedicate everything to the party, to the people, to the magnificent cause of communism, to say every word, to do everything must be linked to the great goal of communism, follow the party, and struggle all your life." Sorting out the information of Zhao Jingzhu's life, seeing the neat handwriting he left on the application for joining the party, his words rang in the ears of his colleagues——
"I am very grateful to the party for accepting me, so every stroke is written with heart."
Zhao Jingzhu loved trees all his life. After he left, someone asked: If you describe him as a plant, what is it?
Some people say that he is a poplar, with an iron bone, willing to take root where the motherland needs it.
Some people say that he is a green bamboo, indifferent to fame and fortune. He trained his colleagues to become academicians, but he was willing to be a "well-known person in the courtyard".
Some say he is a green pine, standing straight. After the storm, he still holds the ambition of looking straight into the sky.
It's spring again, and the grass and trees in the city are covered with pavilions and flowers.
It was as if the man who was working and sweating like rain was still there. (Reporters Wu Jing, Kang Miao, Yan Zhihong, Wu Jianfeng, Qu Ting)