Academician Zheng Du's profile >>
Zheng Du, originally from Dapu County, Meizhou City, was born in 1936 in Jieyang County (now Dayang Village, Jiexi County). He graduated from the Department of Geography of Sun Yat-sen University in 1958, served as the director of the Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and is currently a researcher and director of the Degree Committee of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1999, he was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Zheng Du is one of the leaders of the main disciplines of physical geography in China, has long been engaged in the comprehensive research of physical geography, especially the geographical research work related to plateaus and mountains, and has innovated in theory and methods of the study of the natural environment and regional differentiation of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and is the chief scientist of the first batch of national key basic research development planning projects "The Formation and Evolution of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Its Environment and Resource Effects".
Behind Academician Zheng Du's desk hangs a three-dimensional topographic map of China. A low bulge on the south side of the map represents the Liangguang Hills, where Zheng Du is home; on the west side of the map, the towering Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the deeply sunken Junggar Basin are the motherland he has measured with his feet for decades.
Geographical data in China's arid and semi-arid areas and qinghai-Tibet alpine regions have been lacking for a long time. After the founding of New China, the natural geographers represented by Zheng Du investigated these areas, who were the workers of China's geography discipline and the pathfinders of contemporary scientific investigation.
Today, as the "blanks" on this topographic map of China are gradually filled, Zheng Du has set his sights on a longer-term goal: to fill the "gaps" in the process of regional development of environmental ethics, and to provide strong support for the sustainable development of our country in the future as a scholar.
The Hakka students ignited a passion for knowledge on the plateau
"I'm a Hakka and I'm used to being home everywhere." Talking about the reasons for decades of roots in the highland mountains, Zheng Du explained with a smile.
Zheng Du has been on the move since he was a teenager. Zheng Du was born in 1936 in a small mountain village in the western part of Jieyang County, lived in Wujingfu Township for a long time, and later went to Shantou Yuhuai Middle School to study because of his father's job transfer. In 1958, Zheng Du went to Guangzhou to study geography at Sun Yat-sen University, and after graduation, he was assigned to the Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1959, he joined the sand control team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and went to Xinjiang to conduct a field expedition to the desert of the Jungar Basin.
"Most of my siblings are scattered across the country after work." Zheng Du believes that there are "Hakka characteristics" in the family education he received, one of which is the tradition of re-teaching from literature, and the other is the spirit of striving to open up. Zheng Du's father once told him to "study hard and don't care where he was assigned", which became one of the reasons why he embarked on the road of physical geography research.
In the middle of the vast desert in the Junggar Basin, the expedition rode camels, endured the wind and the sun, and rationed drinking water according to the ration. Zheng Du, who has lived in Lingnan for many years, was very uncomfortable at first in the face of harsh living conditions and dry desert dry climate. However, it is precisely by adhering to the courageous and hard-working side of his family education that Zheng Du has adhered to the scientific expedition and positioning experimental research work in the northwest region of China for 6 years and accumulated rich experience.
Zheng Du, 83, believes that he is still tough and clear-headed, and he has been inseparable from his insistence on surgical examinations for many years. In 1966, Zheng Du was arranged to participate in the scientific expedition of the Everest area, and after receiving the notice, he did not worry about the difficulties of the high altitude of the Everest region, but felt excited and happy.
From 1966 to 1968, Zheng Du joined the Tibet Scientific Expedition Team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to engage in scientific research and research in the Everest region, accompanied by a group of old, middle-aged and young scientific and technological workers from 23 units and nearly 30 disciplines across the country who also have the spirit of curiosity and hard work. Zheng Du recalled that after the "Cultural Revolution" began, the scientific expedition was suspended, but everyone's enthusiasm was still not extinguished, and "I only wanted to carry out scientific research."
Hard work is passed on to pave the way for those who come
In July 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai called for the strengthening of basic scientific research and instructed the relevant departments to implement some strategic ideas and specific measures. Zheng Du introduced that the Chinese Academy of Sciences then formulated an 8-year plan on the basis of the summary of the Everest scientific expedition team. The following year, Zheng Du joined the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Comprehensive Scientific Expedition and conducted a four-year comprehensive expedition to Tibet.
This expedition fills many gaps in China's research on the Tibetan Plateau. Zheng Du recalled that at the first International Conference on the Tibetan Plateau held in China in May 1980, at the end of the meeting, a foreign expert was surprised to say that he thought that the theme of the conference was to introduce foreign research results, but he did not expect to learn research results from China.
In the following 40 years, Zheng Du has devoted himself to relevant research for a long time and made pioneering progress in the study of regional differentiation and pattern of the natural environment on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. As a discipline leader who has successively been responsible for or presided over major projects of the State Foundation of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Climbing Plan for the study of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, he still modestly said that his early years of investigation work were to be a "pathfinder" for the research work of later generations.
"In 1973, we went to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to investigate, and most of the places were impassable by car and completely walked on foot." Zheng Du introduced that compared with today's research work using mobile phones to contact information and using advanced equipment to detect, the means of communication and observation at that time were relatively backward.
It is precisely by relying on the unremitting efforts of Zheng Du and other "pathfinders" that China's understanding of plateaus and mountainous areas has gradually become clear, and the establishment of disciplines has been more perfect, which has also provided guidance for local social and economic development. In July 2018, China's white paper "The Status of Ecological Civilization Construction on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" was released. The white paper points out that after long-term unremitting efforts, the construction of ecological civilization on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has achieved remarkable results. In September 2018, the results of the first phase of the second Comprehensive Scientific Expedition on the Tibetan Plateau were released, and more "Qinghai-Tibet Codes" are being deciphered.
Zheng Du introduced that in the 1960s, China's physical geography researchers were "taking tasks with disciplines", in order to complete the tasks of regional planning, examine the local macro geographical situation, and then drive the development of disciplines. Nowadays, with the development of related disciplines, physical geography research has become more "fine" and more "refined", and scientific investigation and research is more closely integrated with the needs of local social and economic development and ecological environmental protection.
Focus on environmental ethics for sustainable development
In 2004, Zheng Du stepped down as the chief scientist of the National Key Basic Research Development Plan "The Formation and Evolution of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Its Environmental and Resource Effects". Since then, Zheng Du has mainly devoted himself to the study of the importance of environmental ethics, and used his academic knowledge to "explore the way" for the sustainable development of the region in China.
Yak is a unique cattle breed on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the industrial breeding of yak has significantly improved the local economy. However, in the highland areas where there is little pasture in winter, how to form a sustainable development of the yak industry? Through the "support" of relevant experts at the review meeting, the Nagqu region of the main yak production area found a solar-powered southern Tibet region, you use the greenhouse to produce refined feed, I develop the yak industry, promote regional economic development, and the two work together to solve the environmental problems affecting economic development.
"In the process of development, it is necessary to coordinate the relationship between people and nature, build an environmental ethics system, and provide a solid theoretical foundation for the road to sustainable development." Zheng Du believes that in regional development, different social groups bear different responsibilities, and attention should be paid to the coordination and complementarity of government management, market operation and ethical norms.
In his old age, Zheng Du tirelessly proposed solutions for development by virtue of his own academic system, and was more concerned about his hometown and constantly tapped into Guangdong's experience. He pointed out that in maintaining environmental ethics and exploring solutions together, some positive cases have gradually emerged in Guangdong. Taking mangroves as an example, in the voice of scholars for many years, Guangdong has used policies as a guarantee, and has now become one of the provinces with a large mangrove area in the country, and the former "coast guard" is returning.
Zheng Du believes that Guangdong is the forerunner of national economic development and a province with relatively good environmental conditions in South China. Guangdong should give full play to its leading role in the management of nature reserves, exchanges and cooperation between regions, water use in the Pearl River Basin and other issues, popularize environmental ethics with practical actions, and promote the effective implementation of scientific decision-making with the scholar review system.
Dialogue with Zheng Du: The physical geography science dares to compete with a hundred schools of thought
Nanfang Daily: What do you feel most deeply about conducting scientific research in the no-man's land of the plateau and mountainous area for a long time?
Zheng Du: Compared with the present, the national level of science and technology and the living standards of the masses lagged behind a lot. What I felt most deeply was the support of the state system. During my scientific expedition in the Everest region, I lived in a base of more than 5,000 meters above sea level, and although it was surrounded by ice and snow, we could still eat canned vegetables and compressed biscuits supplied by the troops over the mountains. It is difficult to sustain such a supply without an efficient system of State governance.
The simplicity of the local masses is also very touching. During our expedition on the Tibetan Plateau, we crossed the Aza Glacier and hired 40 local people to do migrant workers. As we carried cameras and specimen holders for field observation and sampling, local people carried luggage and tents along the way. When I was in charge of finances, the bills were put in the pillow, sleeping on the pillow at night, and asking the masses to help carry them during the day. The expedition took a long time, and the banknotes did not have accidents.
Nanfang Daily: What is the temperament of the older generation of scientific workers who often conduct scientific expeditions in the field that is most worthy of learning from contemporary people?
Zheng Du: In the face of scientific research topics, the temperament of scientific workers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to localities and different majors and different academic qualifications who can discuss together and speak freely is the most valuable. At that time, the mutual cooperation between colleagues was very tacit, and all units and departments held meetings and discussions together, and then went back to analyze and study and consult materials after the meeting.
In 1977, we held a conference to discuss the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, and in addition to geological and geomorphological experts revealing the process of plateau uplift, ichthyology experts were also present, who analyzed the evidence of geomorphological cutting according to the stage of fish development. This atmosphere of controversy among a hundred schools of thought is of great benefit to the development of scientific research on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Nanfang Daily: Which of the experiences and qualities of the older generation have been well inherited by contemporary scientists?
Zheng Du: Some experts of the older generation have passed on the hard-working spirit and enthusiasm for exploring disciplines that they have exercised from field expeditions to the graduate students and doctoral students they have supervised. These spirits have been well inherited and have provided great help for the development of natural science.
[Reporter] Ling Xi
【Planner】Chen Feng, Zhao Xiaona
【Video Shooting】Ling Xi
【Video Clip】 Wang Shikun
【Author】 Ling Xi; Wang Shikun
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client