Do you remember this photo that once went viral online?
Image source: @机工战略微博
In this photo, the elderly gentleman is Academician Liu Xianlin. At that time, someone praised him as“the most distinguished guest in the second-class seat of the high-speed train”.
Months later, I was once again shocked by a photo of his desk…
Photo by Wu Tao, China News Service
On the desk, there are visible scratches, and even a whole section has lost its original dark red paint, revealing a yellowish wood color.
Clearly, it is a heavily worn desk, yet some people say: “This is the most ‘beautiful’ desk”.
Because the owner of this desk is Liu Xianlin, the honorary president of the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping and one of the first academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
He rarely publishes papers and does not have a large number of theoretical projects, but he personally engages in everything from soldering circuit boards, conducting on-site tests, to answering user questions. His laboratory is referred to as a “workshop,” and he is affectionately called “Master Worker” by everyone. For 55 years, he has been dedicated to the research and development of surveying instruments, embodying the spirit of craftsmanship with perseverance and striving for perfection, advancing the level of Chinese surveying instruments to an internationally leading position.
He has achieved a series of significant scientific research results with very little funding, filling multiple domestic gaps, saving the country over 200 million yuan and generating over 10 million yuan in foreign exchange.
From Passive Monopoly to International Leadership
“What can be made abroad can also be made in China”
One of the most profound impressions people have of Liu Xianlin is his effort to “break the foreign price monopoly on related instruments.”
Previously, the surveying instrument market was semi-monopolized, with no domestic brands, and international brands seemed to have reached some consensus, keeping the prices of related equipment high. However, domestic departments still needed to use them and could only purchase at high prices.
Staff members said: “Liu Xianlin has a very good temper, but the one thing he cannot tolerate is the sale of outdated foreign surveying technology to China at high prices.”
The SSW vehicle-mounted laser modeling measurement system developed by Liu Xianlin’s team is world-leading. Photo by Wu Tao, China News Service
He recalled: “In the 1980s and 1990s, the equipment we produced was eight times cheaper than similar products abroad. Subsequently, many of our equipment technologies surpassed those of foreign counterparts, and the prices were still lower.”
However, Liu Xianlin also mentioned, “In recent years, if the prices of equipment and instruments are too low, the market does not recognize them. Therefore, some of our products are now priced similarly to foreign ones. For example, our current SSW vehicle-mounted laser modeling measurement system is only slightly cheaper than similar foreign products, but its performance is much better.”
It is understood that currently, the SSW vehicle-mounted laser modeling measurement system is in an absolute leading position in the world, with an absolute accuracy of post-processing reaching 5 centimeters, and the processing time for one kilometer of data is only 5 minutes, capable of extracting up to 50 types of urban feature classifications, while similar foreign products take half an hour to extract even one type of feature.
A Desk That Reflects His Life
“All my time is spent on invention and creation, leaving no time for papers”
Photo by Wu Tao
As a surveyor, combining production with equipment research and development is Liu Xianlin’s principle.
He does not value papers, does not focus on patents, and does not purely pursue filling industry gaps. All his innovative achievements are not stored in filing cabinets; they have all been applied in practice, transforming into real productivity.
This can be seen from Liu Xianlin’s desk.
When talking about these “treasures,” Liu Xianlin immediately becomes animated, even during the interview, his hand occasionally touches the scissors on his desk.
A staff member from the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping told reporters that Liu Xianlin’s hands-on habit has been long-standing, “Whenever the power goes out on this floor, without asking, it is definitely Liu Xianlin tinkering with something, causing an overload.”
Staff introduce the SSW vehicle-mounted laser modeling measurement system. Photo by Wu Tao, China News Service
For decades, Liu Xianlin has led several major projects, each time going through nearly 10 years of tempering, hundreds of failures, and countless ups and downs.
He even spent three days and nights in the machine room to solve a difficult problem in aerial measurement procedures.
“His time is all devoted to creation and invention, focused to the point of having no time to write tedious papers.” Liu Xianlin’s colleague said.
In 1987, to promote the application of the JX-3 analytical mapping instrument, he transferred the driver software from the single-board computer to the system machine one by one.
Coincidentally, it was during the Spring Festival, and Liu Xianlin’s assistants went home to visit relatives. He felt that time was of the essence, so he pulled his 10-year-old son to help. The two of them worked hard in the laboratory throughout the Spring Festival, soldering several hundred solder joints.
That year, the JX-3 analytical mapping instrument achieved mass production and was exported to the international market.
“One must use both brain and hands to make real contributions, to conduct useful research, and to pass on the spirit of hard work, fearlessness of hardship, and innovation to the younger generation.”Liu Xianlin stated that this is not only his insight from engaging in scientific research but also his understanding of the spirit of great national craftsmen.
Only the Ordinary is Most Moving!
Besides Liu Xianlin, there are many “Humble Gentlemen”
In various fields in our country, there are some “humble gentlemen” who have very low requirements for their own lives but devote themselves wholeheartedly to their careers.
Retired but Not Resting, Mr. Lu Liang
This is a 94-year-old gentleman who has been retired for over 20 years. However, Mr. Lu seems to have not slowed down. Since coming to the nursing home in Banfu Town, Zhongshan City in 1994, he has been getting up early every day to exercise, then returning to the guard room to read all the newspapers before clipping them for everyone to read. He keeps his clothes and bedding neatly organized.
94-year-old Mr. Lu Liang (Image source: New Express)
What is most surprising is that this elderly man, who has been wearing a faded cotton T-shirt and gray long pants for years, donated 258,000 yuan to the Banfu Middle School where he worked, which is all his life savings.
From 1990 to 1993, Mr. Lu Liang was an English teacher at Banfu Middle School in Zhongshan City and was the oldest teacher at the school. He never married and has no children, yet he has many students. Huang Bingpei, the principal who worked with Mr. Lu for three years, said: “Even after retirement, students still come to him for English questions, and he readily agrees without refusal… When there are many people, there are seven or eight students in his room. It was only last year that he refused to tutor students when his hearing had almost gone and his vision had declined significantly.”
Mr. Lu said that although his salary was not high at the time, he was very happy. The party gave him opportunities, and he wanted to give back to the school and be grateful to the teachers and students. “During this time, the principal also told me to evaluate me as a senior teacher, but I said no, I was almost 60, and I wanted to leave the opportunity for the young people.”
“The Deer Calls, Eating Wild Apples” – Tu Youyou
On January 9 of this year, just after her 86th birthday, Tu Youyou received the 2016 National Supreme Science and Technology Award, with a prize of 5 million yuan. On October 5, 2015, she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering artemisinin, which effectively reduced the mortality rate of malaria patients.
Tu Youyou (Image source: Internet)
To determine the effectiveness of artemisinin on humans, Tu Youyou and her research team spent all day in the laboratory, even testing the drug on themselves. She also suffered from hepatitis due to ether poisoning, while one of her team members, Zhong Yurong, had part of his trachea and lung lobes removed, and another researcher, Cui Shulian, passed away early.
However, she did not give up. After 191 trials, Tu Youyou’s research team finally discovered the 100% anti-malarial effect of artemisinin extract. Currently, the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences has listed the research on artemisinin series as a key task in the development of traditional Chinese medicine, aiming to clarify the resistance mechanisms of artemisinin-based drugs and their control methods, as well as clinical applications.
If it weren’t for these awards and the keynote speech delivered in the Nobel Hall of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, we might not have recognized this elderly woman who has always worn a white lab coat.
On her 86th birthday, she donated 1 million yuan to establish the “Tu Youyou Medical Talent Award Fund” at Peking University. Tu Youyou said that her achievements today are thanks to the cultivation of her alma mater, and she still has many research projects to complete, hoping that the young people at Peking University and Peking Medical University can take up the baton.
Mr. Xu Yuanchong, Noble Yet Not Cold
A cultural program on CCTV called “Readers” made 96-year-old translation master Xu Yuanchong instantly trending during its first episode. His conversation with the host moved countless people.
This 96-year-old man, who has been engaged in literary translation for over sixty years, with translations covering Chinese, English, and French, is known as the “only person who translates poetry into English and French” and is a professor at Peking University, yet he was previously little known.
And this 96-year-old man still works until three or four in the morning every day. Regarding “staying up late,” he contributed a rather literary saying, “stealing a bit of time from the night.” Throughout his life, he has translated countless poems and texts, yet he lives a very simple life. Some netizens shared a past story with Mr. Xu:
In 2007, Mr. Xu was diagnosed with rectal cancer, and the doctor said he had at most seven years to live. However, in 2014, the endpoint of life predicted by the doctor, Mr. Xu received the world’s highest translation award, the “Aurora” Outstanding Literary Translation Award. The 96-year-old translator Xu Yuanchong said on the stage of “Readers”: “Let Chinese culture be recognized, and I will have no regrets when I leave.”
Gan Chunsong, a professor at Peking University and executive vice president of the Chinese Confucius Society, has a deep memory of Xu Yuanchong: “He not only translated ‘The Peony Pavilion’ but also translated ‘The Book of Songs’, ‘The Songs of Chu’, ‘Song Ci’, etc., into English and French, presenting many ancient Chinese classics to the world in a very beautiful way. At the same time, he actively introduced Western classics to Chinese readers. This has significant meaning for the return of the value of Chinese traditional culture.”
Professor Liang Xi, Who Works Silently
Many of us may not have much concept of law, and we may not be very familiar with the now 93-year-old Professor Liang. However, students who have attended his classes know that he never steps onto the podium without sufficient preparation and research; this is Professor Liang Xi’s primary principle throughout his years of teaching. Professor Liang once said: “I have been a ‘teacher’ for a lifetime, focusing on my ‘little plot of land’, cultivating it meticulously, and never slacking off, but I have no complaints or regrets.”
Professor Liang Xi (Image source: Jingchu Net)
This elderly man, wearing reading glasses and with an unshaven beard, is also a renowned international legal scholar, a pioneer and founder of international organizational law in China, and one of the earliest part-time lawyers among university teachers in the 1950s in New China. He has attended trials of major foreign-related cases at the Supreme People’s Court and Beijing courts multiple times.
Professor Liang has devoted himself to researching international organizations centered around the United Nations, day after day, night after night, despite his vision rapidly declining. He has numerous publications but still lives in poverty. When asked about his recently compiled book “Methodology of Legal Education,” at the age of 88, Professor Liang humbly stated that this book, which emphasizes “self-formation” for college students, mainly comes from his own reflections on small details, offering some “practical” experiences: “Now that I am older, I want to summarize my experiences and the detours I have taken to provide references for young people.”
Today, the International Law Research Institute he co-founded with Professor Han Deping has become a key research base for humanities and social sciences under the Ministry of Education.
There are many people like this who are “dressed simply yet have a reputation, better than those who boast wealth yet remain unknown.” Their names and attire may be inconspicuous, or they may be unfamiliar to us, and even now, almost no one knows them, yet they tirelessly strive in their respective fields, creating value for themselves, their fields, and their country.
Perhaps he is also an old scholar or just an ordinary old gentleman, but what we admire and are moved by is not the halo around them, but their unpretentious and humble spirit, isn’t it?
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(People’s Daily WeChat ID: people_rmw, comprehensive report from China News Network Reporter: Wu Tao, China Daily reporter: Chen Shu, Voice of China reporter: Xu Xiao)
Editor-in-Chief: Yang Hongguang, Editor: Zhang Suling
