HUTB Teachers and Students Mourn Academician Yuan Longping
2021-05-24
Yuan Longping, recipient of the Medal of the Republic, the founder and leader in the research and development of hybrid rice, CAE academician, Director-General of the China National Hybrid Rice R&D Center, and former vice president of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, died of organ failure at 13:07 on May 22, 2021. He was 91 years old.
HUTB teachers and students were deeply grieved by the news. On the morning of May 24, as representative of academicians in Hunan, Chen Xiaohong, Party Secretary of HUTB and CAE Academician, attended the farewell ceremony for Mr. Yuan Longping at the Mingyangshan funeral parlor in Changsha. "Academician Yuan Longping and I got acquainted more than 20 years ago. Everything about him is still vivid in my mind. I am deeply moved by his patriotism, care for people, goodness, professional ethics, wisdom and simplicity." "I admire his spirit and character. He is a great man of chivalry, and performed immortal feats. As an academician, I will always follow his example! Inheritance is the best memorial. I and all the teachers and students of HUTB will study and inherit his lofty moral character of caring for the fate of his nation and benefiting mankind, his innovative spirit of continuous self-renewal and being bold in scaling heights, his will of struggling through thick and thin and persistent pursuit, and his lofty sentiment of being unpretentious and contributing to society. We will carry forward his deep love for the motherland, maintain the pride, ambition and moral integrity as a Chinese, root ourselves deeply in our motherland, keep on learning and working as long as we live, be high-minded in research, and transform our research achievements into more benefits for the nation," said she.
Some teachers and students laid flowers to pay their homage to Yuan Longping in the designated place at the Mingyangshan funeral parlor. Sophomore Deng, born in a village in Yiyang, said “Grandpa Yuan deserves the comments engraved on this elegiac couplet reading ‘He will be remembered as if he was still alive, and his reputation will go down in history’”. She got up at 6 a.m., and after a long journey by metro and bus, she came to the funeral parlor just to lay a flower. “My father called me yesterday. He asked me to bid farewell to Grandpa Yuan on behalf of him and others of our village,” student Deng said with tears in her eyes.
Many teachers and students mourned Academician Yuan Longping through in-house memorial service, on-line condolence and expression of their grief on Wechat.
Teacher Yang Gang from the School of Mathematics & Statistics: The green hills are silent, the sky sobs. White candles are weeping, dark clouds are sad. The news that “Father of Hybrid Rice” Yuan Longping passed away saddened the nation. People across the country mourned Academician Yuan Longping, a respectable and lovely figure, by various means. Academician Yuan engaged in hybrid rice research for half a century. He dared to break through the shackles of tradition, made sacrifice and painstaking efforts through thick and thin, and made greater contributions to solve the issue of access to food inside and outside China. Academician Yuan had two dreams: one is to enjoy the cool under the rice and the other is to cover the world with hybrid rice. Important progress has been made in realize these two dreams. His another wish is to develop saline-alkali tolerant rice so as to transform saline-alkali land. There is no end in Academician Yuan’s cause, which will inevitably achieve magnificent progress. His legacy will be as bright as the asteroid named after Yuan Longping.
Teacher Du Shenzhong from the School of Foreign Languages: Academician Yuan Longping was a respectable and amiable academician. As an uncle who lives next door, he was worldly and romantic, and showed deep patriotism! I wrote this poem in memory of Academician Yuan: Yuan Longping, the modern-day version of Shennong, spent his life pursuing high-yield hybrid rice strain, and will be remembered for his uprightness and conscience. Braving rain falling from the sky, thousands of people took to the street to bid farewell to the great man. Two feet of mud in the field, start light accompanies you back to home. You write a lot of papers with first-hand experience in the field, and still think about the growth of crops after retirement. You play violin songs to bid ode to the motherland, and hold up the meteor hammer with your hands. Your dream is to fill the granary with high-quality rice, and no one deserves the title of national hero better than you. Upon receiving the news from cuckoo that Grandpa Yuan passed away, the whole nation was deeply sad.
Teacher Luo Chuanling from the Labor Union of HUTB: Academician Yuan Longping spent his life in his beloved paddy field, and pursuing his dream of enjoying the cool under the rice. He broke through the shackles of classical genetics, and initiated the research of hybrid rice. He realized the dream of developing hybrid rice to benefit people around the world. For him, there is no shortcut to success. While walking on the muddy field, he thought about people’s access to food and the national food security. His wish is to become a seagull over the Pacific Ocean and send hybrid rice technology cross the ocean. We should learn his spirit of planning for a general in the capacity of a solder, persistently pursuing the goal, unremittingly making progress in the work, adhering to noble sentiments, and shouldering responsibility through thick and thin, carry forward his cause, carry out his will, pursue the dream of rejuvenating Chinese nation, cultivate the field of national responsibility, practice continuous self-renewal, and dare to scale new heights. In the midst of fragrant rice flower and bright stars, we wish Academician Yuan a good journey.
Teacher Ren Zhi from the School of Computer Science & Information Engineering: Academician Yuan Longping was the pioneer of research and development of hybrid rice in China, and was the first scientist to successfully apply the heterosis of rice to production, making great contributions to China’s food security and development of agricultural science and world food supply. He is the pride of the people and the nation. He had two dreams: one is to the enjoy the cool under the rice and the other is to cover the world with hybrid rice. He really understood the difficulty of people’s livelihood. All of us should follow his example. His passing away saddened millions of people who love him. But his spirit, cause and will will be carried forward by generations to come. We should treasure the hard won happiness in the future. We wish Grandpa Yuan a good journey!
Teacher Xie Zhiyuan from the the Party Committee Office and Principal Office: We, with deep feeling, bid farewell to Grandpa Yuan who laid the foundation for reviving the great cause and established a spiritual monument. Inheritance is the best memory. I will follow Grandpa Yuan Longping’s example, calibrate the value coordinate of life, practice deep patriotism, serve the motherland, value the interests of the state, and regard people’s cause as paramount; pursue a lofty dream as he did, make a down-to-earth action, stay closer to the earth, and see the deeper sky; spend my life on the correct thing, learn and work as long as I live, and dedicate myself to transforming my life and work into a success; practice man’s natural kindness, stay simple and plain, bend my body into an ear of grain, and translate life into the most noble line of poetry. I will “become a good seed”, join millions of young people to carry forward Grandpa Yuan’s spirit, strive to transform dream into rich rice, and repay the blessing of the motherland.
Teacher Tan Xiaobei from the School of Continuing Education: Upon hearing the news that “Father of Hybrid Rice” Yuan Longping passed way, the whole nation was saddened. I am deeply moved by Grandpa Yuan’s life story, deeply moved by his mother’s greatness, and deeply moved by the deep love of residents in Changsha. Academician Yuan Longping’s life story proves that whoever dares to venture, be indifferent to fame and wealth and persevere makes the best example for us. People is the key to the success of our cause. As a college educator, I am proud of college students who mourn Academician Yuan Longping by various means across the country. They are what we are going to cultivate. They have goals, and are affectionate and responsible. They are what the youth of a major country should be. I am convinced that the asteroid named after Yuan Longping will continue to light up the road to the great rejuvenation of Chinese nation.
Teacher Liu Kebiao from the School of Law & Public Administration: Academician Yuan Longping compared himself to a seed. In the past, the seed sowed great love among people; at present, the seed returned to the earth. Although we never see Grandpa Yuan in person, we know that he always lives in our world, in our heart. Grandpa Yuan kept the people in mind. His commitment to original mission will be remembered. For our younger generation, the best way to mourn Grandpa Yuan is to follow his example in working hard in today’s world featuring great changes unseen in a century, grow into a good seed, and make contributions to the state, the society and the people. I hope Grandpa Yuan’s dream will be realized at an early date.
Teacher Yang Wentao from the School of Business Administration: Upon entering Hunan, he dared to be the first; his achievement is comparable to that of Shennong; both men’s legacy should be always remembered; his dream is to enrich the granary; though born in different times, he is comparable to Jia Fu in terms of achievement. Upon receiving the news that Academician Yuan Longping died, the whole city is sunk into an atmosphere of grief. People cannot believe what they heard is true. We already grow habituated to three meals a day, but we always forget that Academician Yuan spent his life on the research of plain rice. Such habituation only serves as a background against his humbleness and greatness. It also makes us more determined: even if we can't become a seed to change the world like him, we can become a ray of sunshine to warm the students
Postgraduate Tang Haoyu from the School of Marxism Studies: What Academician Yuan Longping left is a great spirit of continuously exploring and making progress in scientific research to serve the country, the nation and the people. When Yuan Longping was about to be assigned to a remote village more than 50 years ago, his mother said painfully “My son, you will face a lot of hardships there!” He replied “I am young, and I have a violin with me.” Whoever is aware of the purpose of his or her life can endure any kind of life. Despite such difficulties, Academician Yuan Longping still regarded the motherland, the nation and the people as paramount, which greatly inspires us to constantly explore in academic field. We should follow Academician Yuan Longping’s example in future work, and make our contributions to the great rejuvenation of Chinese nation.
Undergraduate Yang Mei from the School of Literature & Journalism: Academician Yuan Longping never stopped in pursuing his dream of enjoying the cool under the rice and covering the world with hybrid rice. After half a century, he became a faithful watchman of rice field. It is unimaginable that Grandpa Yuan, an old man in his 90s, got up in the morning to go to the field and to enjoy the pleasure of facing earth with back to sky. His life-long pursuit is to keep everyone away from hunger. Even in the two months before he fell ill, he still did research in the experimental field. On May 24, tens of thousands of people laid flowers to bid farewell to Grandpa Yuan. Chrysanthemum across the city was sold out. The whole nation mourns the national hero; although Grandpa Yuan passed away, the paddy field is abundant. The best way to mourn Academician Yuan Longping is to carry forward his spirit of dedication and to proceed with his unfinished cause.
Postgraduate Bai Qinrui from the School of Law & Public Administration: On May 24, the farewell ceremony for Mr. Yuan Longping was held at the Mingyangshan funeral parlor. Heart-broken residents, old and young, lined up to bid farewell, with the ear of rice scattered across Mingyangshan. He was a sickle laboring in the paddy field, and a dedicated microscope in the laboratory; he was not only a matchless national hero, but also the backbone of Chinese nation. From Nanyou 2 to three-line indica hybrid rice, from Chaoyou 1000 to saline-alkali rice, his sweat was scattered across the vast land of China; from being selected as “Figure Moving China” to receiving the Medal of the Republic, his light shines on generations of Chinese people. When he first arrived in Hunan, the place was full of hungry people; when he passed away, the granary is full of rice. I wish he will smooth out rice as long as broom, twist rich rice, and sleep well under the rice as tall as sorghum in the paddy field of Penglai; I wish he will be relieved at the news that the country is prosperous and the people are at peace, and that no hunger is existent in the world.
