167 flights a year! This professor's belief ignites countless people

16 years

He traveled more than 500,000 kilometers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Collect more than 40 million seeds

"A gene can bring hope to a country.

A seed can benefit millions of people."

He trained the first Ph.D. in botany at Tibet University...

September 2017

A car accident ended his life at the age of 53.

He is the famous botanist Zhong Yang

Zhong Yang took a photo while sampling plants in Shigatse, Tibet.

(Photo by Feng Ai, Xinhua News Agency)

Recently, CCTV's "China in Stories" program

Looking back at Zhong Yang’s “seed life”

Countless netizens were moved

Today, Professor Zhong Yang's students

Continue to complete his unfinished work

Named twin boys after plants

He has become a "seed" of pursuing his dreams

1979

Zhong Yang was admitted to the Youth Class of the University of Science and Technology of China

Since then, he has been a computer talent

Assigned to work at Wuhan Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Under the guidance of colleague Zhang Xiaoyan

The first time I started to learn about botany-related majors

Later, Zhong Yang and Zhang Xiaoyan got married.

Botanical research also became the direction of his lifelong struggle

Zhong Yang's twin sons

All named after plants: Spruce and Caesalpinia

Representing gymnosperms and angiosperms

Zhong Yang's wife Zhang Xiaoyan said

"These two names would include the entire plant kingdom"

The couple loves plants

Just like loving your own children

In 2001, Zhong Yang gave up his position as vice president of Fudan University

Volunteered to teach at Tibet University

He said: "There are 2,000 unique plant species on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

One seed can benefit millions of people

That’s where every botanist should go.”

He often encourages students around him:

“It is not only the outstanding who dream

But those who are good at dreaming are outstanding.”

His dream is to cultivate talents

Collect more than 40 million seeds from thousands of plant species

Trained 7 doctoral students from ethnic minorities

Due to the unique geographical advantages

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has a rich variety of plants.

But until 2008

In Kew Gardens, the largest botanical garden in the world at that time

There is not a single seed from Tibet yet.

To make the world pay attention to Tibetan seeds

Professor Zhong Yang led the students to "take inventory of assets"

His footprints are all over the most remote and difficult areas of Tibet

More than 40 million seeds from thousands of species have been collected

Providing important ecological security reserve resources for the country

Due to long-term high-intensity work

In 2015, Zhong Yang suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage

The doctor advised him not to go to Tibet again.

But Zhong Yang increasingly felt that time was limited.

Speed ​​up the pace of work

Three years after three years, each three-year Tibet aid period ends

Zhong Yang had irrefutable reasons to continue:

Cultivate local talents in Tibet

Taking the subject to a new level

…

For the "seed business"

In 2016 alone, Zhong Yang flew 167 times

What's the point of collecting so many seeds?

Zhong Yang said: "Because the country needs it, and humanity needs it"

Suppose there is still cancer in more than a hundred years

At that time, people discovered that a certain plant had anti-cancer effects.

However, due to climate change

This plant has disappeared in Tibet.

This is when the collected seeds come into play.

Zhong Yang and his team conduct basic research

It is for the purpose of "those who plant trees will enjoy the shade"

Professor Zhong Yang's unfinished work

There are more shoulders to shoulder

September 25, 2017

Zhong Yang died in a car accident at work

Only 53 years old

At that time, his twin sons had just turned 15.

On the day the bad news came, the eldest son cried out:

"Father, how dare you leave? I'm not grown up yet..."

In grief, the family decided

Donate all of Zhong Yang's car accident compensation and interest

To support talent cultivation in western minority areas

Because the whole family knows that this is Zhong Yang’s dream

And they want to continue Zhong Yang's dream

Zhong Yang often said, "Teacher is the identity I care about most"

He always puts students first.

Every student is a precious seed.

He has trained seven doctoral students from ethnic minorities

Lajong, professor of the College of Science at Tibet University

He is the second Tibetan doctor of Zhong Yang.

Together they reached the highest limit of higher plant growth

Just to find the plant called "Snow Rabbit"

Rajon remembered that the teacher once said seriously

I want to train a Ph.D. in botany for every nation.

Zhong Yang once said:

"Every life has an end.

But I'm not afraid

Because my students will continue the path of scientific exploration

The seeds we collected

Maybe it will take root and sprout one day in a few hundred years.

I wonder how many people’s dreams will be fulfilled by then.”

Today, Zhong Yang's students are still at the pinnacle of science.

Continue to climb and realize his unfinished business

Do one thing with all your heart

Professor Zhong Yang's wish is to sow the seeds for the future

Thank you for all you do for the future

pay tribute!

Source: CCTV News

Producer/Xu Bing

Editor-in-Chief/Ma Wenjia

Editor/Zhang Yanan