Zhu Guangya: The "Handsome Man of Science and Technology" in the Realm of "Five Nothings"

Zhu Guangya (1924.12.25-2011.2.26), one of the main pioneers of China's nuclear science cause, the winner of the "Two Bombs and One Star Meritorious Medal", was selected as the "2011 Person who Moved China". He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1950 and returned to China that year; he joined the Communist Party of China in April 1956 and joined the army in June 1970. Zhu Guangya is one of the leaders of China's atomic and hydrogen bomb science and technology research organizations, participated in the test and development of China's atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb, and then successively organized the implementation of research and development plans for the preparation of nuclear power plants, the production of nuclear fuel, and the application of radioactive isotopes, and participated in the formulation and implementation of the "863 Plan", and also participated in the preparatory work of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, making significant contributions to the development of China's nuclear science and technology and national defense science and technology. Zhu Guangya won the special prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 1985, the special prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 1988, and the 1996 Science and Technology Achievement Award of the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation.

Zhu Guangya is one of the leaders of China's atomic and hydrogen bomb scientific and technological research organizations, organized the implementation of nuclear power plant preparations, nuclear fuel production and radioactive isotope applications and other projects research and development plans, participated in the formulation and implementation of the "863 Plan", participated in the preparation of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and enjoyed high prestige in China's scientific and technological circles, education circles, especially the national defense science and technology front. Fifty Spring and Autumn, dedication to outstanding achievements, he was known as "the handsome man of science and technology". Zhu Guangya's choice of returning to China is "no regrets," "fearlessness" in casting nuclear shields, "no confusion" in strategic decision-making, "flawlessness" in the scientific spirit, and "no self" in the realm of life; these "five noes" epitomize the "spirit of two bombs and one satellite" of "loving the motherland, making selfless dedication, self-reliance, hard struggle, vigorous coordination, and courage to climb the mountain," and also vividly interpret the spiritual connotation of "patriotism, innovation, truth-seeking, dedication, coordination, and education."

No regrets: The choice to return home

"The frost is full of heart blood, sprinkled on the Qianfeng Autumn Leaf Dan." Zhu Guangya has a strong sense of home and country, he believes, "Only by closely linking the fate of the individual with the fate of the motherland and dedicating his wisdom and talents to the motherland can the value and ideals of personal life be realized." As a teenager, he set an ambition to serve his country. In his youth, he went to the United States to study with the lofty ambition of saving the country through science, and made a firm determination to return to the country after completing his studies and to share the glory and disgrace and fate with the motherland.

During his research in nuclear physics at the Graduate School of the University of Michigan in the United States, Zhu Guangya actively participated in the progress group of students studying in the United States and often organized patriotic and progressive activities. After the news of the founding of New China reached the United States in 1949, he took the lead in filling in the song of "Overthrowing the Great Powers" during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and filling in the words "Hurry up and return to China" to promote the return of international students to serve the country. In February 1950, Zhu Guangya resolutely refused the "relief" of the US Economic Cooperation Agency's travel expenses, and before the United States imposed a total blockade on China, he passed through Hong Kong and returned to the embrace of the motherland. On the steamship back to China, Zhu Guangya took the lead in writing an enthusiastic "An Open Letter to Students Studying in the United States" with 51 patriotic students who were full of blood and strength, calling on overseas Chinese students to return to China to participate in the construction of the motherland: "The fathers and elders of the motherland have placed unlimited hopes on us, what hesitation do we have?" "We all grew up in China, we've been educated for years, we haven't grown a grain of rice ourselves, we haven't dug a single piece of coal." We all grew up supported by the blood and sweat of thousands of Chinese workers and peasants who worked all day. They long for us, shouldn't we hurry back and dedicate our skills to the people of the motherland? "Go back!" Let us go back and sprinkle our blood and sweat on the land of our motherland and irrigate the splendid flowers. We in China are going to come out, and our nation is no longer a nation that has been insulted! We've got up, go back, hurry up! The motherland is eagerly waiting for us! In this short letter of more than 1600 words, Zhu Guangya used 11 exclamation points, each of which told Zhu Guangya's inner joy and excitement about the founding of New China, and each exclamation mark showed Zhu Guangya's fighting spirit and eager expectations for awakening Chinese students to serve the motherland. Later, most of the Chinese students at the University of Michigan broke through many obstacles and returned to New China after obtaining degrees. The letter also reached Britain and France, where many Chinese students also returned to China, and Cheng Kaijia, who later made outstanding contributions to the cause of nuclear weapons, was one of them. Between 1950 and 1955, thousands of students returned from overseas.

Fearless: Forged nuclear shields

"Andre leaned on the sword of heaven and crossed the sea to behead the long whale." In China's great project of forging nuclear shields, every success of nuclear tests has been poured into Zhu Guangya's painstaking efforts and sweat; every step forward in the development of nuclear weapons has condensed Zhu Guangya's wisdom and determination. Looking back on his life, Zhu Guangya said: "This is the main thing I have done in my life - to engage in China's nuclear weapons. "With loyalty to the motherland and dedication to the cause, under the extremely harsh natural conditions and extremely simple equipment conditions at that time, our country has reached the technical level reached by hundreds or even thousands of foreign tests with only 40 nuclear tests.

In April 1950, at the age of 25, Zhu Guangya returned to China to teach, becoming the youngest associate professor in the Department of Physics at Peking University at that time. After arriving at Peking University, he immediately threw himself into the front line of teaching with great enthusiasm, teaching both optical and general physics courses, and he carefully prepared each class. In the spring of 1952, Zhu Guangya was sent to Korea as an English translator to participate in the Panmunjom armistice negotiations, when the U.S. military repeatedly threatened china with nuclear weapons. This humiliation made Zhu Guangya realize once and for all that China must have its own killer weapon. In 1957, Zhu Guangya was transferred to the Institute of Atomic Energy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to participate in the construction and start-up of the reactor with the assistance of the Soviet Union.

In China's earliest atomic energy base camp, Zhu Guangya led the design of a light water zero-power device, and successfully took the first step in the manufacture of China's nuclear reactors. In the autumn of 1958, soviet-aided nuclear industrial reactors and accelerators were officially handed over to the Chinese side. However, in 1959, the Soviet Union withdrew its experts from China, and our country must develop its nuclear cause entirely on its own. At that time, the Nuclear Weapons Research Institute was in urgent need of a "science and technology leader" in charge of atomic bomb development. Zhu Guangya, who was only 35 years old, was assigned to the Nuclear Weapons Research Institute and assumed the heavy responsibility of technical leadership of China's nuclear weapons research and development. Looking at the "broken fragments" left by Soviet experts, Zhu Guangya was fearless: we will build Our First Atomic Bomb from these fragments! He moved from his family into the single dormitory of the institute and worked tirelessly to forget about his work.

In September 1962, with the efforts of Zhu Guangya and others, breakthroughs were made in the theoretical design and detonation test of China's atomic bombs. The Second Aircraft Department put forward the goal of striving to explode China's first atomic bomb in the second half of 1964 and the first half of 1965 at the latest, that is, the "two-year plan." In order to achieve this goal as soon as possible, Zhu Guangya compiled two programmatic documents, "Outline of the Plan for Scientific Research, Design, Manufacture, and Testing of Atomic Bomb Devices and The Key Issues That Must Be Solved" and "Preliminary Proposals for National Test Projects and Preparations for Atomic Bomb Installations and Outline of Explosion Tests on Atomic Bomb Installation Towers," which played a key role in the correct decision-making of the central authorities.

On October 16, 1964, a yellow-brown mushroom cloud jumped up in the sky to symbolize the successful explosion of the first atomic bomb independently developed by China. At that time, Zhu Guangya was on his way back to the command tower after leaving the test site, and when he saw this scene through the car window, he burst into tears.

No confusion: strategic decisions

"Don't be afraid of floating clouds to cover your eyes, just because you are at the highest level." Because Zhu Guangya possesses superb strategic thinking ability and keen insight of the times, and can accurately judge the international situation and make scientific decisions in the development of China's nuclear cause, China's nuclear weapons development can achieve leapfrog success in a short period of time. Peng Huanwu commented that he "meticulously arranged to fight for the province well, made overall plans and communicated well, and maneuvered around the inside and outside worlds." Cheng Kaijia praised him for "pondering and grasping the waterways"; leaders at higher levels praised him as an "outstanding scientific and technological commander"; And Li Zhengdao commented that he was the "marshal of all the marshals of science and technology" in the development of the "two bombs."

At the critical moment when China was developing its first atomic bomb, in order to stop the process of China's nuclear weapons testing, the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty on banning nuclear tests in outer space and underwater in the atmosphere, proposing that "we can cooperate to prevent China from acquiring nuclear capabilities." With his far-sighted strategic ability and clear judgment of the current situation, Zhu Guangya personally drafted the report "Stopping Nuclear Testing is a Big Scam." The report pointedly pointed out the intentions of the United States and the Soviet Union and other countries, and suggested that China not only should not ban tests, but should also seize the opportunity to master the technology of underground nuclear tests as soon as possible. Because underground nuclear tests facilitate confidentiality and reduce radioactive contamination, many test data and information that are difficult to obtain in ground tests are also available. Since then, under zhu Guangya's organization, China has achieved a series of successful underground nuclear tests.

In 1992, in line with Zhu Guangya's expectations, the United States proposed negotiations on a total nuclear-test-ban. At the crucial moment, Zhu Guangya again reported to the central leadership on the suggestions and countermeasures for "speeding up again." At 9 o'clock on July 29, 1996, under the guidance of Zhu Guangya and others, China's underground nuclear test was successful. That evening, the Chinese government announced that it would suspend nuclear testing from July 30, 1996. The previous correct decision of the central authorities on "two accelerations" enabled China to complete the necessary nuclear tests before signing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, break through the key technologies of advanced nuclear weapons, and not only achieve a milestone success in neutron bombs, but also create a 10-year glory of miniaturization and weaponization of nuclear weapons, and safeguard national security interests. Before and after the complete cessation of nuclear tests, Zhu Guangya pointed out on many occasions that the development of nuclear weapons technology has entered a new historical stage. He personally guided the Nuclear Weapons Research Institute and the Nuclear Test Base to carry out the discussion and demonstration of the direction of scientific research and development after the ban on tests, and after the approval of the central authorities, he quickly launched the research and development of nuclear weapons technology after the ban on tests.

Zhu Guangya also participated in the development of various national medium- and long-term scientific and technological development plans in New China, participated in the formulation and implementation of the national "863 Plan", and organized and led the previous research on the development strategy of national defense science and technology and weapons and equipment. From June 1994 to May 1998, he served as the first president and secretary of the party group of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, led the establishment of a set of effective working methods and procedures, and did a lot of groundbreaking and pioneering work for the initial establishment and development of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Flawless: Scientific spirit

"Adults are not gorgeous, gentlemen are pragmatic." Zhu Guangya pursues perfection in his work, pays attention to the coordination and coordination of all parties, and fully carries forward the democracy of technology, which is a brilliant example of practicing the spirit of science. With this scientific spirit, Zhu Guangya and other "two bombs and one satellite" founding fathers have created miracles: from the first atomic bomb to the nuclear warhead installed on the missile, the United States took 13 years, the Soviet Union used 6 years, and China only used 2 years; from the first atomic bomb to the first hydrogen bomb, the United States took 7 years and 3 months, the Soviet Union took 4 years, and China only took 2 years and 8 months.

Zhu Guangya's rigorous and meticulous, excellence-seeking work style, truth-seeking and pragmatic, meticulous attitude towards learning are well-known in the scientific and technological circles. The conditions in the nuclear test site area are harsh and the environment is harsh, and he personally guides the work on almost every important test. It is necessary to conscientiously implement Premier Zhou Enlai's 16-character policy of "being serious and conscientious, thoughtful and meticulous, prudent and reliable, and foolproof," and demand that we do a good job in the "five determinations": setting personnel, assigning posts, assigning responsibilities, defining relationships, and setting actions, "not letting go of a single problem, not experimenting with problems," and striving to solve all foreseeable and answerable problems "before zero" to ensure one-time success. In particular, for some problems that suddenly occurred at the scene, Zhu Guangya asked for careful analysis, simulation experiments, clarification of the causes, and accurate measures until they were completely solved. His words and deeds have been taught and imperceptibly cultivated the fine tradition and style of the nuclear weapons research team of being rigorous and realistic.

The research team led by Zhu Guangya, whether it is the nuclear weapons technology research team, or the leading bodies of the Science and Technology Committee of the General Armament Department, the China Association for Science and Technology, and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, are all cohesive, united, and efficient. Zhu Guangya pointed out: "The development of nuclear weapons is a very comprehensive and large-scale project, which requires the full cooperation of scientists and engineers and technicians of various specialties and at a high level." He specifically mentioned the important contributions of qian sanqiang, Wang Ganchang, Peng Huanwu, Guo Yonghuai, He Zehui, Deng Jiaxian, Cheng Kaijia, Chen Nengkuan, Zhou Guangzhao and other scientists.

Zhu Guangya attaches great importance to carrying forward technological democracy, listens to the opinions of experts from all walks of life, is good at concentrating on the basis of democracy, and realizes the scientific and democratic decision-making of technology. He often stressed: "On scientific and technological issues, due to the multiplicity of specialties and the complexity of interconnections, it is necessary to conscientiously carry out technological democracy, pay attention to giving play to the wisdom and role of experts and technicians in all fields, pool wisdom and efforts, and concentrate on the basis of democracy." Whenever there is a major technical problem, he asks everyone to speak with theoretical calculations and experimental data, and the participants, regardless of their position or age, speak freely and express their own opinions, and conduct full discussions and arguments.

No Self: The Realm of Life

"Words are the rules of the people, and the deeds of the world are exemplary". In addition to his landmark success in the nuclear industry, Zhu Guangya is also a model for the older generation of scientists. He closely integrated the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation and the spirit of modern scientists, indifferent to fame and fortune, selfless dedication, and worked hard for decades. He said that as long as you always feel that you are at the forefront of the motherland's scientific research and are always doing down-to-earth work for the great cause of rejuvenating the country through science and technology, this is enough. It is "to push physics is to be happy, not to stumble on this life".

At the beginning of 1996, the People's Liberation Army Publishing House planned and published a set of "Biographical Series of National Defense Science and Technology Scientists", of which Zhu Guangya was one of the must-write objects. When he was asked for approval, he crossed out his name. In the article he wrote about the historical materials of national defense science and technology, he only talked about others and collectives, not about himself. "The cause of nuclear weapons is a collective cause, and I am personally just a member of the collective and have done some work."

In 1996, Zhu Guangya was awarded HK$1 million by the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Science and Technology Achievement Award. After getting the bonus check, he immediately donated it to the engineering science and technology award fund of China's engineering science and technology community, and repeatedly told the people around him not to publicize this matter. In 1999, even the more than 46,000 yuan of manuscript fees he had saved from his usual thrift and thrift were donated to a foundation of the China Association for Science and Technology.

In 2004, Zhu Guangya was 80 years old. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to China's scientific and technological undertakings, especially the development of atomic energy science and technology, the International Minor Planet Center and the International Minor Planet Naming Committee approved the official naming of an asteroid discovered by China's National Astronomical Observatory as "Zhu Guangya Star". At the naming ceremony, he said: "Naming an asteroid after me, I dare not be... I can't forget the party organization that trusted and cared for me, the old leaders who supported and helped me, and the colleagues who were in the same boat. ”