Remembering Yuan Longping, the Man Who Fed Millions With Affordable Rice

If you happened to browse any Chinese social media during this past weekend, probably you have noticed there was a guy who has been mentioned repetitively by netizens, regardless of what kind of community they were in. Prof. Yuan Longping, the ‘father of the hybrid rice’ in China, but that can merely explain one-tenth of the reason why his death would cause waves of lament and reminiscence. To better comprehend their contributions to this country and even the whole world, I have collected a few shards of his outstanding odyssey of life here and wish Yuan’s soul can rest in peace and power.

Born in an intellectual family in Beijing, Yuan got to learn English at a very early age from his mother who studied in the British church school and worked as a teacher. He never forsook this skill for the rest of his life and it helped him to have an access to some of the most classic biological and agronomic theories during his study in Chongqing. 

As for why choosing agriculture as his lifelong vocation to pursue, yuan explained once in an interview saying it was a field trip to a garden plot in his primary school time plowed this seed deep down in his heart. Assorted flowers stretching on the field like colorful carpets which reminded him of the scenes he has seen in ‘Modern Times’ starred by Charlie Chaplin. Despite noticing those dystopia innuendos, in an age when Chinese were still struggling with famine and poverty, a world full of affluent produce to yield did sound tempting enough for a kid. Of course, Yuan’s parents did not expect him to be an agronomist, which does not sound much different from becoming a farmer for many people back then. And he had quite a few chances to gybe his journey of life as well, such as becoming a pilot or a swimming athlete. The harsh living condition in the countryside had also overturned his idyllic pastoral imagination about farmers’ life. However, the corpses of people who died from starvation during the Great Chinese Famine period scorched an indelible impression on his mind and has only reinforced his determination on looking for practical methods to increase the yield for corps.

When teaching at an agricultural school in Hunan Province, Yuan happened to find a natural strain of hybrid rice in the field and inspired by this discovery he started to explore breeding hybrid rice intentionally by manually remove the stamen of the rice. After years of research, he managed to harvest generations of hybrid rice which has shaken the stereotypical belief that hybrid rice can’t be bred and the asexual hybridization is a more efficient way to create new species. In the following decades, Yuan dedicated himself to elevate the yield and nutrition of the hybrid rice and finally had his first harvest of the breed of hybrid rice that can be largely planted in 1974, the yield was already 20% higher than usual back then. This hard-earned success never became the excuse for Yuan to stop, he and his team kept refreshing the world record of the yield of rice per acre and developing the breeds of hybrid rice that can endure the tropical or even desertification environment so that farmers in Africa, Middle East, Latin America and other places on this planet can also be benefited from his research. Step by step, Yuan has gradually achieved his dream to have rice strains tall and fertile enough for people to take a nap underneath them and to spread the hybrid rice to all corners of this world. Nowadays, about one fifth of the worldwide rice production comes from the species generated by hybrid rice based on Yuan's research. His contribution has gained worldwide recognition and awarded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Food Prize and many other international organizations. He was also one of eight Chinese individuals who acquired the Medal of the Republic, the highest official honor in China.

For him, none of those recognition and awards could be compared to the plump strains of rice, and there was no way for him to retire. On Mar 10, 2021, he tripped in the hybrid rice research base in Sanya, by then he was already 90 years old. Unfortunately, his condition only deteriorated in the following months, and bid farewell to the farming lands and people keep him attached for his whole life on May 22, 2021, in Changsha. 

The obituary triggered an outpouring of public mourning across Chinese social media, for people who have gone through the struggling time when a bowl of rice could only be enjoyed during the Spring Festival, Yuan was the savior who ensured people can stay away from the hunger, for the generations who are lucky enough to born in an affluent society, he was the most cordial figure appears on the textbook. Even though Yuan would like to keep his funeral humble and private, it couldn’t stop millions of Changsha residents and people from all over China came to say goodbye to him outside of the funeral parlor. Overnight, the chrysanthemum, the flower frequently appears on Chinese funeral and memorial as a token of reminiscence were sold out in Changsha. Instead of seizing this chance to start a lucrative business, more citizens offered free flowers or masks for others who were on their way to see off Mr. Yuan, or even voluntary shuffling service to the hospital, the funeral parlor, the hybrid rice research center, and other places where Mr. Yuan has left his footprints in his life.  

It was not only Mr. Yuan, but also Prof. Wu Mengchao, the ‘father of Chinese hepatobiliary surgery’ who made the breakthrough in hepatobiliary clinical treatment in China and still can perform surgeries at excellent standard in his 90s, passed away on the same day as Yuan Longping, and many other outstanding scientists and individuals who have taught us that if you are looking for a vocation that will make this world a better place rather than just a career that will keep your money detector cha-ching, the care for others and dedication to your profession are two essential things. The famine may just be an illusionary memory now thanks to Yuan Longping and his team, however, we can still learn a lot from them when facing our challenges in life

And to start it simply, how about finishing everything on your plate tonight?

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Images: XInhua, Cai Guosheng, Wuhe Qilin, Sohu, NetEase