Why does Yuan Longping, who has won numerous awards, value foreign awards more?

Editor’s Note:

During the 100-year struggle of the CPC, there are many like-minded friends. Among them are former senior generals of the Kuomintang, influential social elites, industrialists and businessmen, and intellectuals who aspire to save the country and revitalize the nation... The 10-episode micro-documentary "Walking on the Great Road - Who Shares the 100 Years of Glory" by China News Service, the filming team went to more than 10 provinces and had face-to-face talks with nearly 40 descendants of celebrities, historical witnesses, party leaders, senior experts, etc., to present to you the wonderful process of "working together" between various democratic parties, the Federation of Industry and Commerce, non-party people and the CPC in the 100 years of glory in the form of storytelling. Please pay attention.

In August 1953, a new teacher arrived at the Anjiang Agricultural School in Huaihua, Hunan. He was assigned to teach botany, genetics and breeding, and also taught Russian and English. He was Yuan Longping, who had just graduated from university.

In the eyes of students, this young teacher is different from others.

According to Li Bihu, a student and assistant of Yuan Longping, in the summer, when the weather was the hottest and the sun was the strongest, Yuan did not take a break at noon. He spent the whole morning and noon in the fields, covered in water, mud and sweat. "I thought this teacher was a bit strange."

At that time, China was facing a food shortage, and hunger was tormenting the people like a curse. In Yuan Longping's mind, an idea was budding.

Li Bihu said: "Teacher Yuan felt very sad. As an agricultural student trained by the Communist Party, I have the obligation to help farmers."

In February 1966, Yuan Longping's paper "Male Sterility of Rice" was published in Science Bulletin. The article proposed that through further breeding, it is expected that male sterile lines, maintainer lines and restorer lines can be found to achieve a three-line matching, making it possible to utilize the hybrid advantage of rice.

This epoch-making paper received no response at the time.

"The voices of opposition may be more than 90%. This is contrary to traditional genetic theory, and people think his theory is weird," said Li Bihu.

Yuan Longping's wife Deng Ze also recalled, "Some people opposed it. The United States and Japan tried it but failed. If it couldn't be done abroad, how could you do it?"

The experimental garden of Anjiang Agricultural School was filled with Yuan Longping's experimental rice seedlings. However, after six years of hard exploration, he still failed to cultivate an ideal male sterile line, and his scientific research work stagnated. During the Cultural Revolution, Yuan Longping's experimental rice seedlings almost suffered a "catastrophe".

"That was really the lowest point for hybrid rice. It could be said that it was at the end of its rope," said Li Bihu.

Deng recalled the situation at that time, "I turned to the archives and found a red-headed document from the Ninth Bureau of the State Science and Technology Commission, asking Yuan Longping to develop hybrid rice and to protect it."

With national support, the research is on the right track.

Yuan Longping traveled back and forth between Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Hainan Island to carry out breeding in the south and cultivation in the north, and the experimental seedlings were reproduced generation after generation.

In the winter of 1970, hybrid rice research saw a ray of hope when the male sterile wild rice "Yebai" was discovered in Hainan.

"In the autumn of 1973, the three-series rice system was developed, and in 1976 it was promoted nationwide, increasing production by 20% to 30%. Before 1984, China's grain was rationed. After 1984, after eight years of promoting hybrid rice, China's grain supply suddenly passed the test, so the rationing was cancelled," Li Bihu recalled.

On the eve of May 1, 2013, at the National Labor Model Symposium, 83-year-old Yuan Longping told General Secretary Xi about his two dreams.

One is the dream of enjoying the shade under the rice plants, and the other is the dream of hybrid rice covering the whole world.

"The General Secretary also had a cordial handshake and conversation with Academician Yuan. National leaders have always been very concerned about food security, and the country attaches great importance to Academician Yuan's requirements," said Xin Yeyun, secretary of Yuan Longping and researcher at the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center.

Deng mentioned that "every prime minister has to allocate funds, and there are hundreds of millions of research expenses, all of which are state-supported funds for research."

In the Longping Rice Museum, there is an exhibition hall filled with trophies, all of which are honors that Yuan Longping and his team have won at home and abroad.

Li Bihu said that many of Yuan’s awards were donated, and he valued the foreign awards.

His wife Deng recalled, "He said, this is not my personal award but a national award, which means he wants to win face for the Chinese people."

Yuan Longping can see vast rice fields by opening the balcony door at his home in Changsha, Hunan. Deng said, "If (he) wants to go to the fields, he can go outside."

According to the nanny at home, the first thing Mr. Yuan does when he goes downstairs every day is to go here to check on his rice.

"Last year (2020), he was still running around, counting the grains and how many days it would take to harvest. He was afraid of low temperatures and bad weather and rain, so he had to keep track of the situation," said Deng Ze.

In the experimental field of Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, Xin Yeyun, secretary of Yuan Longping and researcher of Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, recalled: "He would come here and check his (rice) in this field to see if there were any diseases or insect pests. Teacher Yuan would sit next to him on a throne, watching what he was looking forward to. Even if he was not in Changsha, even if he was in Longhui, Xupu, or Yunnan, he would call to ask, how is it going?"

In the 1980s, Yuan Longping led the research on two-line hybrid rice. In 1996, at the age of 66, he started the journey of super hybrid rice.

Yuan Longping, now in his octogenarian years, led his team to tackle technical problems time and time again, and production continued to break records.

"The Chinese people's own rice bowl is in their own hands. For this reason, they pursue high yields endlessly, 800, 900, 1,000 (kg per mu), double-season rice to achieve 3,000 jin (per mu), and single-season rice as well. They try every possible way to increase grain production." Deng said.

Talking about Yuan Longping's working state, Xin Yeyun said: "He calculates every day. Others don't calculate, but he does. How much my per-acre yield increases, how much we promote, how many people we can feed. We have to calculate to this extent, how many people we can feed."

In early 2021, 91-year-old Yuan Longping accidentally fell and was hospitalized while conducting research in Hainan. On May 22, he died in Changsha, Hunan.

Yuan Longping mentioned retirement very late.

"It should be in late April (2021), when he suddenly mentioned one day that he wanted to retire. Although he had actually gone through the retirement procedure once before, he definitely had never retired in his mind," Xin Yeyun recalled.

Deng talked about the situation after Yuan was hospitalized. "In the hospital, he said, 'I want to retire.' His hands were blue from the injections. He would say this every few days. The last time I heard him say, 'I haven't finished hybrid rice yet, so I want to retire.'"

"Two colleagues came later. (From the hospital bed) He was still asking about the situation. Tell me quickly. Your production is very high. Tell me quickly. He kept asking. He didn't give up. He kept asking until the last moment. He didn't give up."

The Sanya South China Seed Production Public Experimental Base in Hainan, this experimental field was the last project that Yuan Longping cared about during his lifetime.

On October 26, 2021, Hainan's double-season yield per mu reached 1,586.86 kilograms, and Yuan Longping's last wish has come true.

Li Bihu said, "We have a belief in how much rice can achieve in our lifetime. Although Mr. Yuan has not joined the party, he has been practicing the three views of the Communist Party members. To contribute to the Chinese people and the Chinese nation is our greatest motivation and our greatest pursuit."

Yuan Longping served as a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Vice Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for many years. He has put forward many proposals, including "Suggestions on Grain Prices" and "Proposal on the Comprehensive Management of Dongting Lake".

Xin Yeyun recalled, "At that time, he proposed some proposals, such as proposals on grain prices and the management of Dongting Lake. I think he was speaking from the heart. He said before that I love the Communist Party of China, but later he changed his statement to say that I not only love the Communist Party of China, but I admire the Communist Party of China."

"I am a non-partisan person, but my heart is deeply devoted to the Communist Party of China. I hope that young intellectuals can also participate in it, resonate with the great motherland, devote their youth and strength, deeply root themselves in the land of the motherland, and closely integrate their emotions into the great practice of serving the people." - Yuan Longping.

Although non-partisans do not join any political party, they have also made positive contributions to national independence, people's liberation, national prosperity and people's happiness.

Source: China News Service

Original title: [On the Road to Companionship·Non-Partisanship] Why does Yuan Longping, who has won numerous awards, value foreign awards more? 》

Chief Director: Song Zhe

Director: Wang Shibo

Videographer: Wang Chao, Xu Zhixiong, Li Yufan

Narrator: Yang Haibo

Packaging: Cao Yanpei

Editor: Liang Jing

Editor: Li Ji