In the 1950s, in order to cooperate with the construction of major transportation arteries between the mainland and the northwest, scientific and technological workers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Forestry gathered in the Shapotou area of Zhongwei County, Ningxia to jointly study how to prevent and control railway sand damage. No one expected that this work would last for more than 30 years, and five generations of people stationed in Shapotou worked day and night, and finally solved the daunting problem of railway sand damage in theory and practice. The sand control project of Shapotou has also become a world-recognized "miracle of human sand control". Mr. Chen Shunyao's "Shadu Sanji" is a classic work that records this process and has a wide range of influences. The third edition of the book has been officially published in the second series of the "University Science Popularization Series", and the preface is written by Researcher Wang Tao, former dean of the Lanzhou Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and excerpted below for the benefit of readers.
On a Sunday afternoon in September 1988, Mr. Chen Shunyao knocked on my door, a house converted from a warehouse in the administrative compound of the Lanzhou Institute of Desert Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for the temporary residence of the families of newly employed graduate students. Mr. Chen explained the meaning: the "Shadu Sanji" she wrote was basically out of the manuscript, and the manuscript mainly recorded the scientific research and practical results of the Baotou-Lanzhou Railway Sand Damage Prevention and Control Carried out by several generations of sand control people in the Shapotou area on the southeast edge of the Tengger Desert over the past 30 years since the 1950s, as well as the spirit and ideals therein. Suggested by Mr. Zhao Xingliang and Mr. Liu Shu, she hopes to understand the understanding of young people about sand control engineering and desert science in Shapotou. According to Mr. Chen's standards, I just graduated with a doctorate and belong to the "fifth generation of sand control people". Mr. Chen spoke with me for an hour and a half, and specifically mentioned her admiration for previous generations of sand-controlrs. When I was parting, I said that you young people should catch up with the good times, learn from the old comrades, and make more contributions to the cause of the desert. In July 1999, Mr. Chen gave me a signed copy of "Shadu Sanji" and once again instructed me to gain confidence and strength from the spirit and achievements of generations of sand control people. I read through this book many times, and many of the predecessors in the book taught our young people in real life, which made me realize that doing hard work in a difficult environment requires special spirit and fulfilling ideals, which is also the best textbook to guide, encourage and help me to use Lanzhou as the base camp after graduating from my doctoral degree to engage in desert and desertification research and practice.
Fast forward another 30 years, according to Mr. Liu Shu's proposal, the Science Publishing House will publish the third edition of "Shadu Sanji", hoping that more young readers will understand the scientific knowledge of railway sand control and the scientific spirit of hard work and entrepreneurship, understand the glorious history and pioneer figures of China's desert science starting from Shapotou, especially the spirit of hard work, pioneering and innovation, hard-working, and courageous dedication - which can be called "camel spirit" - will be passed down from generation to generation.
The previous generations of sand control people gave up their superior work and living conditions, responded to the party's call, went to the frontiers, to the difficult places, and to the places where the motherland needed it most; they were full of ideals and enthusiasm, and they dedicated their youth, wisdom, and even their lives to the cause of sand prevention and control in the motherland and the pioneering development of desert science, and made meritorious achievements that can be recorded in the annals of history, and have always made the theory and technology of fixing quicksand in the international level, so that the research and practice of deserts and desertification is at the forefront of the world. Among them, there are Mr. Liu Shenchen and Mr. Zhu Jifan, who came from the northeast to the northwest to guide the work, and Mr. Li Minggang and Mr. Zhao Shengcun, who took root in the west from the south; There are Mr. Zhu Zhenda, Mr. Liu Shu and Mr. Tian Yuzhao who directly participated in the sand control team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences after returning from studying in the Soviet Union; As well as the whole team moved west to Shapotou and Lanzhou, such as Mr. Liu Wanxin, Huang Zhaohua and Chen Longheng of the biological group of the former Shenyang Institute of Forestry and Soil Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who came from the northeast to Shapotou, Mr. Zhu Zhenda of the Beijing Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences led the team of the Desert Research Laboratory from Beijing to Lanzhou to participate in the establishment of the Lanzhou Institute of Glacial Permafrost Deserts of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The detailed description and summary in the Satur Sanji is a good education and enlightenment for the young group, that is, no matter what is done, spirit and ideals are the source of motivation.
For more than 60 years, with the unremitting efforts of several generations of scientific and technological personnel, China's desert science has been built from scratch, filling the gaps in the subject field and making great progress, while desertification research has greatly enriched this science with its innovative and systematic theoretical progress and practical results of economic, social and environmental benefits. Desert science is a science that treats the area affected by aeolian sand disasters as a complete ecological environment socio-economic complex, and carries out research on sand prevention and control and resource utilization; It is a subject field with macro-regionality, discipline comprehensiveness and applied practice. Desert science has made outstanding contributions to the rational development and utilization of water and soil resources in the western region, the prevention and control of aeolian sand disasters and desertified land, economic and social construction, and the restoration of the ecological environment, and has achieved a large number of scientific research achievements and direct economic benefits of tens of billions of yuan that have won honors including the "Special Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award". It has formed a state-level desert and desertification research institution with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the relevant research institutes of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration as the main body, brought together a group of outstanding desert and desertification scientists, created a relatively complete desert science and its research system on the mainland, and made significant progress in aeolian physics and desert environment, desert formation evolution and global change, desertification process and its prevention, resource utilization in sandy areas, ecological environment restoration and regional sustainable development, and has accumulated rich research data and data. A number of long-term field observation experimental research stations (points) have been built in major deserts and desertification areas across the country, which provides a large number of theoretical basis and technical support for the country's decision-making on the development and utilization of desert resources and the prevention and control of desertification. The brilliant achievements made in the scientific research and practice of desertification and desertification for more than 60 years have been widely recognized by the government, local people, the scientific and technological community and international counterparts.
30 years ago, Mr. Chen Shunyao wrote: The fifth generation of sand control people walked up to the sand dunes facing the wind and sand, and they were sometimes shaken by the Shuo wind, or blinded by the powder sand, but finally plucked up the courage to come up. Today, 30 years later, we can happily report to Mr. Chen that the fifth generation of sand control people and the sixth and seventh generations have all "come up", adhering to the spirit of previous generations of sand control people, taking the predecessors as an example, and continuing to fight in the front line of the motherland's wind and sand. On the basis of the achievements of previous generations and under the theoretical framework of the earth's surface science, they carry out theoretical research and technological research and development on the ecological environment and social and economic development of arid and semi-arid aeolian aeolian sand areas, such as desert environment and evolution, aeolian sand movement law and aeolian landform, ecological environment and resource development and utilization in sandy areas, desertification process and its prevention and control, aeolian sand disasters and sand control engineering, etc., providing scientific basis and technical support for the sustainable social, economic and ecological development of the aeolian sandy areas in northwest China.
Written 30 years ago, the Book of Shadu Sanji was written on the one hand to erect a monument to the spirit and achievements of previous generations of desert people, and on the other hand to educate the newcomers to inherit and carry forward this "camel spirit". As Mr. Chen Shunyao expected: the fifth generation of sand control people may be luckier than previous generations, they have received good professional training, most of them graduate students and university graduates. They coincide with the era of opening up and reform; They have the guidance and support of their predecessors, the performance and foundation created by the struggle of several generations, and they can stand at a higher starting point and move towards a higher goal. The fifth generation of sand control and desertology workers has a long way to go, and the long road of science is looking forward to their climbing, and they have a great future. Here, on behalf of the fifth, sixth and seventh generations of sand control people, I would like to say that we are very honored to shoulder the ardent expectations of Mr. Chen Shunyao, inherit the "camel spirit", work hard and dedicate, and make due contributions to the development of desert science, desertification prevention, aeolian sand disaster management, and regional sustainable development.
Wang tao
October 2020 in Lanzhou
This article is excerpted from the preface to the third edition of Shadu Sanji (by Chen Shunyao), the preface is written by Wang Tao, and the title and content have 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].
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In the 1950s, in order to cooperate with the construction of major transportation arteries between the mainland and the northwest, scientific and technological workers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Forestry gathered in the Shapotou area of Zhongwei County, Ningxia to jointly study how to prevent and control railway sand damage. No one expected that this work would last for more than 30 years, and five generations of people stationed in Shapotou worked day and night, and finally solved the daunting problem of railway sand damage in theory and practice. The sand control project of Shapotou has also become a world-recognized "miracle of human sand control".
The author of this book goes deep into the sand slope and faithfully records the tortuous process of sand control. The whole book reflects the patriotic dedication of scientific and technological workers who are determined to overcome difficulties and the scientific spirit of rigorous and realistic breakthroughs and innovations, summarizes the experience and laws of sand control, and transmits the concept of ecological environmental protection, which is of great significance to environmental protection and governance in the mainland and even the "construction of ecological civilization", suitable for the public to read, and is also a reference material for ecological environmental protection workers.