Remembering Yu Min, the hero of "Two Bombs and One Satellite"丨A stunning career, a silent life

"The country needs me, I will do my best!"

He is the winner of the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" Medal of Merit.

Winner of the National Highest Science and Technology Award

He kept his identity secret for 28 years to build a nuclear shield and defend peace for the country

It took 2 years and 8 months to develop my country's first hydrogen bomb

But he declined the title of "Father of the Hydrogen Bomb"

Today is the third anniversary of the death of Yu Min, the hero of "Two Bombs and One Satellite"

pay tribute!

On January 16, 2019, Yu Min, winner of the "Two Bombs and One Satellite Medal of Merit", the National Highest Science and Technology Award, and the Reform Pioneer Medal, passed away at the age of 93.

Yu Min's last public appearance was on January 9, 2015. On that day, General Secretary Xi Jinping personally presented him with the 2014 National Highest Science and Technology Award at the Great Hall of the People.

Yu Min had only made such public appearances twice. The last time was in 1999, when he was awarded the "Two Bombs and One Satellite Medal of Merit" at the "Conference for Commending Scientific and Technological Experts Who Made Outstanding Contributions to the Development of the 'Two Bombs and One Satellite'" and spoke on behalf of 23 award-winning scientists.

These highest national honors received by Yu Min bear witness to the great contributions he made throughout his life and convey our highest respect for him.

But he was not used to such big occasions because he had been living in anonymity for decades.

There is a mysterious forbidden area in Mianyang, Sichuan, which is passed down by word of mouth. Local people say: This is where China's nuclear weapons are developed.

In 1969, Yu Min led his team to the deep mountains of Mianyang, embarking on a new journey of nuclear weapons research.

At that time, my country already had atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs, and many people were curious about why China continued to develop nuclear weapons in secret. Yu Min said: "Nuclear weapons have entered a new stage. If we lose our deterrent capability, we will be subject to nuclear blackmail again."

During the process of developing nuclear weapons in my country, Yu Min never stopped. Due to long-term hard work, his body became weaker and weaker, and he had a close call with death three times.

In early 1969, during the first underground nuclear test and large-scale air-blast thermal test, Yu Min was extremely weak and had difficulty walking. He could barely walk on flat ground, and had to use his hands to lift his legs to climb the stairs. His colleagues advised him to rest more, but he insisted on going to the hill to observe the fireball. Due to overwork and mental exhaustion, Yu Min almost went into shock at the work site.

Late one night in October 1971, Yu Min once again suffered shock due to overwork and was rescued by a doctor.

In 1973, Yu Min began to have bloody stools on the train returning to Beijing from the Qinghai Plateau. After returning to Beijing, he was immediately sent to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing Medical College for examination. While receiving an IV in the emergency room, he went into shock again.

Group photo in 1978 (from the fourth from the right in the second row: Zheng Shaotang, Li Xueshu, Huang Zuqia, He Guilian, Zhou Guangzhao, Yu Min, Wang Lixin, Zhou Yulin, Han Chao, Fu Hongyuan)

Yu Min traveled back and forth many times and suffered tremendous mental pressure, almost risking his life to build a nuclear shield for the country.

"I am willing to dedicate my life to the country!" This was a saying of Academician Wang Ganchang before his death, and it also represents the spiritual belief of a generation of nuclear scientists.

During the development of the second-generation nuclear weapons, Yu Min not only made breakthroughs in key technologies time and time again, but he also became more keenly aware that when nuclear weapons developed to a certain extent, the United States and the Soviet Union would definitely take measures to restrict other countries from conducting nuclear testing. China must accelerate nuclear testing!

Group photo in 1984 (middle row from right: Zeng Decheng, Zheng Shaotang, Yu Min, Hu Side, Ma Wenjie)

In 1986, Yu Min could always be seen visiting patients in an ordinary ward of the 301 Hospital. His old friend Deng Jiaxian had entered the advanced stage of rectal cancer. In addition to visiting the patient, Yu Min and Deng Jiaxian talked more about the development of China's nuclear tests.

Yu Min asked Deng Jiaxian: "Have we reached the end?"

Deng Jiaxian was also very worried, but both of them realized that China’s nuclear testing must not fail at the last moment after building a mountain of nine feet high!

At that time, Deng Jiaxian was already in the countdown of his life. He was bleeding all over his body, but he firmly said to Min, "Let's write a letter to the central government now!"

In the last years of Deng Jiaxian's life, they discussed repeatedly with their colleagues, and Deng Jiaxian and Yu Min jointly wrote an extremely important proposal on the development of my country's nuclear weapons, suggesting that China's nuclear testing pace should be accelerated before the world completely bans nuclear testing.

After Deng Jiaxian passed away on July 29, 1986, Yu Min and his colleagues worked day by day for ten years to turn the last plan of their collaboration into reality step by step.

On July 29, 1996, the 10th anniversary of Deng Jiaxian's death, China solemnly announced to the world that it would suspend nuclear testing from July 30, 1996. On September 10, 1996, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty by an overwhelming majority.

It was precisely because of the strategic vision of Deng Jiaxian and Yu Min that my country gained ten precious years of nuclear testing time, greatly improved my country's nuclear weapons research and development level, and made a significant contribution to my country's national security.

Yu Min (left) at the Two Bombs and One Satellite Commendation Meeting in 1999

On September 18, 1999, on the eve of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Party Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission commended 23 scientific and technological experts who made outstanding contributions to the development of the "two bombs and one satellite" that year and awarded them the "Two Bombs and One Satellite Medal of Merit". The identities of meritorious scientists such as Yu Min, Deng Jiaxian, Cheng Kaijia, and Wang Ganchang, which had been hidden for 30 years, were finally revealed!

15 years later, 89-year-old Yu Min won the 2014 National Highest Science and Technology Award.

When he was over 90 years old, he was still an important "consultant" for scientific research institutions, and continued to contribute to the nuclear physics cause of his motherland with what he had learned throughout his life!

Although Yu Min loved poetry, he rarely wrote it. At the age of 73, he summed up his silent yet vigorous life with a seven-character regulated verse titled "Expressing Feelings":

Recalling the glorious past years,

Friends work together to seek,

Experiencing both the old and new eras,

I am willing to devote my life to great plans;

Being a leaf is insignificant.

The united will makes the town bandit chieftain,

Happy China Revitalization Day!

A hundred schools of thought contend for supremacy.

Looking back on his 60-year scientific research career, Yu Min said: "Everything is for the needs of the country!"

In that era, China, a country with a rising sun, faced opponents with far greater strength than us. If we had not produced the core equipment for protecting national security, the two bombs, we would have been at the mercy of others. Now we have passed the difficult time, and the country and the nation are making great strides forward. I just want to comfort the martyrs: this prosperous age is what you wished for.

Yu Min

(August 1926-January 2019)

Nuclear physicist

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Winner of the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" Medal of Merit

Winner of the National Highest Science and Technology Award

Recipient of the national honor "Medal of the Republic"

Comprehensive sources: Senior Scientists Academic Growth Data Collection Project Office, China Association for Science and Technology Innovation Strategy Institute, People's Daily, China Science Expo, etc.

Sources:

1. "The Reason for True Knowledge - Biography of Yu Min", Wen Tianshu and Li Shaomeng, Academic Growth Data Collection Project for Senior Scientists

2. "Yu Min: Willing to Dedicate My Life to Great Plans", Chen Haibo, Guangming Daily

3. The pictures in this article are from the Senior Scientists Academic Growth Data Collection Project