China News Service, Changsha, November 15th: Feature: Academician Yuan Longping’s spiritual bones were buried in Changsha
China News Service reporter Tang Xiaoqing Yang Huafeng Xu Zhixiong
On the 15th, the memorial service and spiritual bone placement ceremony of Yuan Longping, the winner of the "Medal of the Republic" and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was held in the Mausoleum of Tang People's Wanshou Garden in Changsha City.
This old man who has studied rice all his life and rooted in the soil, sleeps in the land he loves so much.
The ashes of Academician Yuan Longping are covered with the national flag.
Photo by Yang Huafeng
In sadness and longing, the family of Academician Yuan Longping, colleagues and students before his death came to see him off.
Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Liu Xu, Luo Xiwen, Zou School, Liu Zhonghua and Liu Shaojun attended the ceremony.
The memorial ceremony for Academician Yuan Longping, hosted by the Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, extended his deep feelings for the old man and shared the progress of recent scientific research results.
The ceremonial team sent Yuan Longping's ashes to the burial site.
Photo by Yang Huafeng
On May 22 this year, "Father of Hybrid Rice" Yuan Longping passed away in Changsha at the age of 91.
Pour out a city of flowers, just for the founder.
After the news of the death of Academician Yuan Longping was released, people from all walks of life were in great grief, and countless people from all over the country went to the funeral home in the rain to line up to offer flowers.
On that day, dozens of banners commemorating Yuan Longping were hung in the Mausoleum of the Longevity Garden of the Tang Dynasty, and a large plaque with the words "Reminiscing the Fragrance of Rice for a Thousand Miles of Rice, Paying Tribute to the Monument of Immortality" was very eye-catching.
Countless people came to see off spontaneously. The special masks they wore were printed with a sentence Yuan Longping loved to say before his death: "People are like seeds, to be a good seed."
Family members add soil to the burial site.
Photo by Yang Huafeng
The song "My Motherland and Me" that Yuan Longping liked during his lifetime was played in a loop.
The etiquette team, holding Yuan Longping's portrait, spirit medals and flower baskets, slowly walked towards the cemetery.
The procession was followed by three hearses covered in flowers.
On the first hearse was the urn of Academician Yuan Longping, covered with the national flag, and his family accompanied him.
When the auspicious time arrived, the laying ceremony of the spiritual bones of Academician Yuan Longping officially began.
All stood up, silently mourned, laid burial goods, and all filial younger generations added soil... The scene was solemn and solemn.
After closing the cave, all the staff bowed three times to express their gratitude and longing for Academician Yuan Longping, and paid attention to the memorial tomb of Academician Yuan Longping and released the peace dove.
Family members held academician Yuan Longping’s urn to commemorate Yuan Longping.
Photo by Yang Huafeng
People and students who came to mourn spontaneously lined up to present flowers.
Yuan Yawen, a junior at Hunan Agricultural University, and his classmates burst into tears.
"Grandpa Yuan is our super idol. He is kind, amiable, and meticulous in scientific research. At the opening ceremony of 2019, he sent a message on our knowledge, sweat, inspiration, and opportunity "Secrets of Eight Characters"." Yuan Yawen said, every agricultural university student has Taking Yuan Longping’s seed spirit as motivation, “Grandpa Yuan’s hard work and research and development of hybrid rice will not give up, and we young people cannot give up when encountering difficulties.”
Yuan Longping liked to use the violin to play "My Motherland and Me" during his lifetime, and the cemetery specially arranged for professionals to perform live.
Upon hearing this news, 29-year-old Liao Jing of the Yangfan String Orchestra took the initiative to sign up.
At the scene, she and her companion played "My Motherland and Me" on the cemetery with a violin to bid farewell to Yuan Lao.
"I want to send Grandpa Yuan the last time in our own way. We have always liked and respected Grandpa Yuan. He is very kind and has made a lot of contributions to the country." said Liao Jing, who graduated from Hunan Agricultural University.
Yuan Longping started researching hybrid rice in 1964. He was the pioneer of the research and development of hybrid rice in China and the first scientist in the world to successfully utilize the heterosis of rice.
He broke through the constraints of classical genetics and successfully bred the world's first practical high-yield hybrid rice variety "Nanyou 2". Since 1976, it has been popularized and applied across the country, which has greatly increased rice production.
This self-proclaimed "post-90s" academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering has worked tirelessly for his two well-known dreams—"Hexia Dream of Enjoying the Cool" and "Hybrid Rice Covering the Global Dream" all his life.
Fang Zhihui, a student of Yuan Longping and a researcher at the Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told reporters that the development of hybrid rice in Africa, especially Madagascar, has devoted much effort to the development of hybrid rice.
"We always keep in mind the teacher's teaching of'you can't grow rice on the computer', and continue to practice his dream of'hybrid rice to cover the world's dream', so that hybrid rice will benefit more people in the world." Fang Zhihui said, after Mr. Yuan left, He and his team members will inherit the teacher’s legacy, increase the localized production of hybrid rice seeds in Madagascar, and build a bridgehead for hybrid rice to go to Africa.
The people bowed to the cemetery of Academician Yuan Longping.
Photo by Yang Huafeng
At the site of the laying ceremony of the spiritual bones of Academician Yuan Longping, the reporter noticed that the boulder behind the portrait of Yuan Lao was engraved with Yuan Lao's famous saying: "Man is like a seed, to be a good seed."
A bowl of rice and a bowl of rice were placed on the golden tomb cover, which was as golden as rice. This was sent by a peasant entrepreneur named Hu Shuanghui in Anjiang Town.
"Rice and rice are Yuan Lao's favorites. I send him off in the way of a farmer," Hu Shuanghui said.
Although Yuan Lao is gone, the hybrid rice business he cares about is still moving forward.
At present, the annual yield of the newly bred third-generation hybrid rice has reached 1530.76 kg per mu, and the demonstration of salt-tolerant hybrid rice has also made phased progress.
Hybrid rice is now grown on a large scale in India, the United States, Brazil and other countries.
Just as Liu Xu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said when he read the sacrificial article: “This scientist who loves the people, is simple and indifferent to fame and fortune, this is a low-key and generous elder who is also a teacher and friend. The winner of the Medal of the Republic-Academician Yuan Longping has left forever, but he seems to have never left us, he will always live in our hearts." (End)