(Vientiane History Special Author: Zi Xiang)
Weng Wenhao's Biography: Thanks to Chiang Kai-shek's Geological Giants, The Kuomintang "War Criminals" Buried in Babaoshan
On June 29, 1889, Weng Wenhao (hào) was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, to a wealthy family. Weng Wenhao was very intelligent since childhood, and was admitted to Shanghai Aurora College at the age of 13 and entered Shanghai Aurora College at the age of 18. Soon, he received a subsidy from Zhejiang government and went to Europe to study.
In 1912 (at the age of 23), Weng Wenhao received a doctorate in geology from the University of Leuven in Belgium, the first doctorate in geology in China. He resolutely abandoned his life abroad and returned to China to serve in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce of the Beiyang Government.
(Front row from left Weng Wenhao, Ding Wenjiang)
In 1913, the Beiyang government established the Geological Survey Institute, and due to the lack of talents, the director Ding Wenjiang was almost a light rod commander. Weng Wenhao gave up other opportunities and took the initiative to work at the Geological Survey. He said, "This kind of work is very much in line with my aspirations."
At that time, it was a period of warlord melee, and the annual funding of the Geological Survey Institute was seriously insufficient. In order to reduce expenses, the letters and official letters in the institute were all handled by Weng Wenhao alone, often tired and his wrists hurt.
(Tent temporarily staying in Jingning to investigate the Haiyuan earthquake)
In 1920 (at the age of 31), a magnitude 8.5 earthquake occurred in Haiyuan, Gansu. After Weng Wenhao heard the news, he immediately went to investigate. Braving the severe cold and snow, he arrived in the disaster area in a mule car and completed the field investigation with strong perseverance.
He completed the first field investigation of the great earthquake by modern geologists in China! After returning from the survey, Weng Wenhao drew China's first earthquake distribution map! The whole country was shocked.
(Vulture Peak Seismic Research Laboratory, China's first seismic observatory)
In 1922 (at the age of 33), Weng Wenhao became the director of the Geological Survey. He teaches students in his own classes, and also teaches at Peking University and Tsinghua University. Most of the first generation of geologists in China came from his disciples.
In 1930 (at the age of 41), under the auspices of Weng Wenhao, China's first modern seismic observatory, the Vulture Peak Seismic Research Laboratory, was established in Xishan, Beiping.
(Weng Wenhao became the secretary general of the Executive Yuan of the National Government and officially entered his career)
In 1932 (at the age of 43), Weng Wenhao became secretary general of the National Defense Planning Commission. This is a government agency of a more academic nature, and he has traveled all over the country to conduct more in-depth investigation and research on the resources of our country.
In 1934 (at the age of 45), Weng Wenhao was in a serious car accident and unconscious while inspecting oil. Chiang Kai-shek was very concerned and ordered all-out rescue and finally survived the danger. Afterwards, Weng Wenhao was difficult but "the grace of life", and officially embarked on his career. In 1935, Weng Wenhao became the secretary general of the Executive Yuan of the National Government.
(Yumen Oil Mine during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression)
In 1937 (at the age of 48), the Anti-Japanese War broke out in full swing, and Weng Wenhao became the Minister of Economy, in charge of China's wartime industrial production and economic construction. After Weng Wenhao took office, he immediately decided to develop the Yumen oil mine in Gansu. This is the earliest oilfield discovered and put into large-scale development in China.
In 1944 (at the age of 55), his second son was an air force pilot and died in the War of Resistance.
In 1945 (at the age of 56), Weng Wenhao was elected a member of the Kuomintang Central Committee and served as vice president of the Executive Yuan of the Nationalist Government. In 1948, he was awarded the first academician of the Academia Sinica.
(In 1944, Weng Wenhao took a group photo with the students who came to pay tribute to the martyr Weng Xinhan)
In May 1948, Chiang Kai-shek invited Weng Wenhao to serve as the first president of the Executive Yuan (equivalent to premier). At that time, the national economy was in chaos and prices were soaring, and Weng Wenhao presided over the currency reform and launched the "Golden Yuan Coupon Reform". As a result, prices remained soaring and the economy collapsed. In November, Weng Wenhao had to resign.
In January 1949, Chiang Kai-shek stepped down, Li Zongren acted as "president", and Weng Wenhao became the secretary general of the presidential office. In May, the peace talks failed, and Weng Wenhao was listed as the 12th most class war criminal by the CCP. Weng Wenhao saw that the situation was not good, resigned all his posts, traveled to Hong Kong, and fled to France.
(Medal signed by President Weng Wenhao of the Executive Yuan)
In 1951 (at the age of 62), with the help of Zhou Enlai and Chen Yi, Weng Wenhao returned to China and declared a clear line with the Kuomintang government. He was the first former senior Kuomintang official to return to Beijing after the founding of New China.
In 1954 (at the age of 65), Weng Wenhao was appointed as a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and continued to focus on geology. He has a deep knowledge of geology, and has made outstanding contributions to the elaboration and development of the famous continental drift theory and the Yanshan orogeny, laying the foundation for Chinese geological science.
(The first former senior Kuomintang official to return to China)
In 1970 (at the age of 81), Weng Wenhao's eldest son was beaten into a counter-revolutionary and committed suicide. The white-haired man sent the black-haired man, and Weng Wenhao was very sad, and wrote more than ten poems in a row with the title of "Sorrow", such as "I am stealing life on August 1 today, mourning the whole family to cry Ru Ling", "Knowing that there are not many days left, I am reluctant to answer the time of prosperity with my residual age".
On January 27, 1971, Weng Wenhao died of illness at the age of 82 and was buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.
(Founder of Chinese Geological Sciences, from left Zhang Hongzhao, Ding Wenjiang, Weng Wenhao)
(The 578th work of the Vientiane History and Biography Writing Camp, and the 16th work of the camper "Zi Xiang")