The national outpouring of grief(悲痛) at the death of two legendary academicians (传奇院士) over the weekend, as if people had lost beloved members of their own families, offers much food for thought.
At 1:02 pm on May 22nd, 2021, liver surgeon Wu Mengchao, 99, died in Shanghai. He is known as the founder of hepatobiliary surgery (肝胆外科) in the country and was the teacher of roughly 80 percent of the nation's experts and doctors specializing in liver surgery today. Wu operated on thousands of patients, and saved at least 16, 000 lives. Five minutes later in Changsha, Hunan Province, agricultural scientist Yuan Longping died at the age of 91. He was known as the father of hybrid rice who helped lift the nation out of hunger. With their dedication to science and commitment to the people, the two devoted their lives to saving lives and improving people's livelihoods. Together with generations of their students, they not only made a big difference to the lives of the Chinese people, but also many living in other developing and least-developed countries.
Wu insisted that medical science is humanity while Yuan's lifelong dream was always to enable the Chinese people to fill their own bowls with rice. What makes Wu and Yuan great is not only their achievements, but also their shared attachment to the people. The public's spontaneous (自发的) outpouring of grief at their deaths, which has been rare in the country for decades, shows how much their down-to-earth dedication to improving people's lives touched hearts throughout the country.
Yuan and Wu are just two representatives of the large numbers of scientific workers that have devoted their lives to their research, giving the country's people-centered development principle more practical meaning. The country needs more scientists to inherit and carry forward their spirit. Even those in other walks of life can draw inspiration from the two academicians' commitment to their dreams, care for the people, and unconcern about material enjoyment, so as to make the best of what life grants for themselves and others.
