Li Siguang (October 26, 1889 - April 29, 1971), Mongolian, named Zhonggong, formerly known as Li Zhongkui. Born on October 26, 1889 in a poor family in Huanggang City, Hubei Province (now Huilongshan Town, Tuanfeng County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province). Li Siguang is a world-renowned scientist, geologist, educator and social activist. He is one of the founders and main leaders of modern earth science and geological work in China. He attended a private school taught by his father Li Zhuohou since he was a child. When he was 14 years old, he said goodbye to his parents and came to Wuchang alone to apply for a higher primary school. When filling out the registration form, he mistakenly mistook the name column for the age column and wrote the word "fourteen". Then he had an idea and changed "ten" to "Li", followed by the word "光". He became famous as "Li Siguang". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as provost and director of the Department of Geology and Mineral Resources of Changchun Institute of Geology. In 1904, Li Siguang was selected to study in Japan because of his excellent academic performance. Because he was influenced by anti-Manchu revolutionary ideas with Chinese nationalism in Japan, he became the youngest member of the Tongmenghui led by Sun Yat-sen, and took "driving out the Tartars and restoring China" as his own mission. Sun Yat-sen appreciated Li Siguang's ambition: "You want to be revolutionary at such a young age. It is good and you are ambitious." He also gave him eight words: "Study hard and serve the country." In 1910, Li Siguang returned to China after studying in Japan. After the Wuchang Uprising, he was appointed as a counselor in the Financial Management Department of the Hubei Military Government, and was later elected as the Minister of Industry. After Yuan Shikai came to power, the revolutionaries were marginalized, and Li Siguang left his motherland again to study at the University of Birmingham in England. In 1918, Li Siguang, who received his master's degree, decided to return to serve in China. On the way, in order to understand Russia after the October Revolution, we also stopped by Moscow. In 1920, Li Siguang served as professor and director of the Department of Geology at Peking University. In 1928, he went to Nanjing to serve as director of the Institute of Geology, Academia Sinica, and was later elected president of the Geological Society of China. He leads students and researchers to travel to the field all year round, traveling through mountains and rivers, and has traveled all over the mountains and rivers of the motherland. He has traveled to Europe and the United States several times to give lectures, attend academic conferences and inspect geological structures. In July 1928, the National Government decided to establish the National Wuhan University. Cai Yuanpei, dean of the National Government College (Ministry of Education), appointed Li Siguang as chairman of the Wuhan University Construction Preparatory Committee and selected the new campus of Wuhan University (Li Siguang was also present at Wuhan University. sited statue). In the autumn of 1949, when New China was about to be founded, Li Siguang, who was abroad, was invited to serve as a member of the CPPCC. After getting the news, he immediately made preparations to return home. At this time, a friend in London (Ling Shuhua and Chen Yuan) called and told him that the Kuomintang government's ambassador to the UK had received a secret order asking him to make a public statement refusing to accept the position of CPPCC member, otherwise he would be detained. Li Siguang made a prompt decision and left London alone for France. Two weeks later, Mrs. Li Xu Shubin received a letter from Li Siguang saying that he had arrived in Basel, the border between Switzerland and Germany. The couple bought a ferry ticket from Italy to Hong Kong in Basel, and set off secretly to return to China in December 1949. Li Siguang, who returned to the embrace of New China, was entrusted with important responsibilities and successively served as Minister of Geology, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the National Federation of Science and Technology, and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Although he is old, he is still fighting on the front line of scientific research and national construction, and has made great contributions to China's geology, oil exploration and construction. In August 1951, China Changchun College of Geology, the Department of Geology and Mineral Resources of Shandong University, the Department of Geology and the Department of Physics of Northeast Institute of Technology merged to form Northeast Institute of Geology (later named Changchun Institute of Geology, now the Department of Geosciences of Jilin University), with Li Siguang as chairman. Appointed as dean. In 1952, Li Siguang was invited again to work at the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1958, Li Siguang joined the Communist Party of China after being introduced by He Changgong and Zhang Jinfu, and became a communist fighter from a national democrat. After the 1960s, Li Siguang's health became worse and worse due to overwork, but he still devoted himself with great enthusiasm and energy to earthquake prediction, forecasting and geothermal utilization. On April 29, 1971, Li Siguang died of illness at the age of 82. Li Siguang wrote this poem in his early years to commemorate a good student, and it is also a glorious portrayal of his lifelong engagement in geological scientific research.
In 1953, Mao Zedong pointed out that the Ministry of Geology is the party’s geological survey and research department. In 1956, Mao Zedong also pointed out: The Ministry of Geology is the reconnaissance department for underground conditions. If its work is not done well, one horse will block the road and ten thousand horses will not be able to move forward. A five-year plan must be implemented in advance. Li Siguang and Chairman Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong also attached great importance to the geomechanics founded by Li Siguang. In 1955, Premier Zhou Enlai followed Mao Zedong's instructions and supported the Ministry of Geology in establishing a geomechanics research laboratory. Since then, on the basis of this research laboratory, it has gradually developed, and today there is a specialized geomechanics institute. Mao Zedong was extremely concerned about China's oil prospects. As early as the beginning of the first Five-Year Plan, one day, Mao Zedong met Li Siguang in a living room in Zhongnanhai. At that time, Zhou Enlai was also present. During the conversation, Mao Zedong asked with concern what the prospects of China's natural oil were? Li Siguang had paid attention to this issue as early as 1932. Later, from 1935 to 1936, when he was lecturing in the UK, he wrote a book called "Chinese Geology", which mentioned "economically valuable sediments in the East China Sea and North China", which actually meant oil. He answered Mao Zedong in an optimistic and affirmative tone, saying that China's natural oil has great prospects. Based on decades of geomechanical research and from the perspective of the New China tectonic system, he analyzed China's geological conditions to Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, and believed that China's vast territory should be rich in natural oil resources. The Songliao Plain, the North China Plain including the Bohai Bay, the Jianghan Plain and the Beibu Gulf, as well as the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea, all have sediments of economic value." This sentence, because it was written in English in the past, Hearing this, Zhou Enlai said with a smile: Our Minister of Geology is very optimistic! Mao Zedong also smiled happily and immediately made a strategic decision on carrying out oil survey and exploration. According to Mao Zedong's strategic decision, the Ministry of Geology. Together with brother departments, they have carried out strategic petroleum prospecting and exploration work across the country. According to the theory of geomechanics, they have conducted research in some vast Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary basins covering an area of ??more than 2 million square kilometers. Petroleum surveys of varying degrees. More than 3,000 survey drilling wells were drilled, with a total footage of more than 1.2 million meters. From the large amount of geological data obtained, the basic characteristics of China’s petroleum geology were initially understood, and it was also confirmed that China is rich in natural resources. Oil resources. Later, a large amount of oil was ejected from the Daqing oil field. This is the best example. Mao Zedong always kept this in mind during the Third National People's Congress. Comrade waiter found Li Siguang among the National People's Congress deputies and said to him: "Please come to the Beijing Hall!" At that time, Li Siguang did not know what was going on. When he walked into the Beijing Hall, he saw that Mao Zedong was the only one sitting in the hall. There. Li Siguang didn't expect that it was Mao Zedong who was looking for him. He thought the waiter had told him the wrong place, so he quickly apologized and said: "Chairman, I'm sorry, I went to the wrong door!" But Mao Zedong walked over quickly, held Li Siguang's hand tightly, and said: "You are not wrong, I am looking for you." Mao Zedong then said to Li Siguang humorously: "Li Siguang, you are good at Tai Chi." Li Siguang did not understand Mao Zedong's meaning for a while, and replied: "I am not in good health and I have just learned a little." Mao Zedong smiled and said: "That geomechanical Tai Chi of yours." "At this time, Li Siguang understood that Mao Zedong's words were a high praise for him and the vast number of petroleum geologists, who used the New China tectonic system to find oil. Mao Zedong's praise inspired Li Siguang to contribute his own efforts to find more oil for the motherland. One day in 1964, Mao Zedong met Li Siguang again. After a meeting at Huairen Hall, Mao Zedong invited Li Siguang to watch the Henan Opera "Chaoyangou" performed for the first time in Beijing, and asked Li Siguang to sit in his seat. While watching the play, we talked about oil. When talking about the oil issue, Mao Zedong spoke highly of the contribution made by the Ministry of Geology and the Ministry of Petroleum in the search for oil. Everyone deserves credit!" After the performance, Mao Zedong took Li Siguang to the stage and took photos with the actors.
Mao Zedong always attached great importance to the development of science and technology in China, and was very concerned about the growth of scientific workers. He was very concerned about the older generation of scientists who came from the old society and were willing to actively participate in the construction of socialism. At noon on February 6, 1964, Li Siguang received a call asking him to go to Zhongnanhai immediately. Li Siguang hurriedly finished his lunch and went to Zhongnanhai. A comrade waiting for him at the door led him into Mao Zedong's bedroom. Comrades Zhu Kezhen and Qian Xuesen also arrived one after another. Mao Zedong invited them to sit by his bed and talk cordially. They talked extensively for three or four hours about astronomy, geology, cutting-edge science and many other major scientific issues. Li Siguang came back and told his daughter: "The chairman is very knowledgeable, familiar with many scientific situations in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, and has a thorough understanding of scientific issues such as glaciers and climate. In his bedroom and even on his bed, there are many Classic works and scientific books can be read wherever they are mentioned. The scope of the discussion is very wide, and the world is vast. "In this conversation, Mao Zedong expressed his opinions on many major scientific issues and expressed his sincere hope to these older generation scientists. Contribute your talents to conquer the cutting-edge of science and technology and catch up with the world's advanced level. On May 19, 1969, Mao Zedong met with 10,000 representatives attending a study class in Beijing. Central Committee members in Beijing attended the meeting, including Li Siguang. Mao Zedong saw Li Siguang on the rostrum, immediately took Li Siguang's hand and affectionately called him "Li Siguang". The two were so close, but because the slogans of "Long Live Chairman Mao" were heard in the venue, they could not hear clearly what was being said on the other side. Mao Zedong had no choice but to lie in Li Siguang's ear and ask him if he was in good health and how his work was going. The chairman took Li Siguang's hand and walked in front to receive the comrades present. Then, they left the rostrum together and walked into the lounge. The family had already seen the happy meeting on TV, but they didn't know what Mao Zedong and Li Siguang said. As soon as Li Siguang arrived home, his family members were all anxious to ask Li Siguang. Li Siguang happily said that Chairman Mao and he talked in the lounge for more than an hour. In this short period of more than an hour, Mao Zedong and Li Siguang talked about billions of years of events - from the origin of celestial bodies and the origin of the earth to the origin of life and the origin of the solar system. When talking about the origin of the solar system, Mao Zedong said: I don't quite believe it. Schmidt, I think the theories of Kant and Laplace still make some sense. Mao Zedong told Li that he wanted to read the books written by Li Siguang and hoped that Li would find some books for him. He also asked Li Siguang to help him collect some domestic and foreign scientific materials. Mao Zedong said, I don’t understand English, so it’s best to have information in Chinese. "What kind of information does the chairman want to read?" Li Siguang asked. Mao Zedong drew a big circle in front of him with his hand and said, "I want the information within your research scope." The next day, according to Mao Zedong's instructions. Li Siguang asked his secretary to help him find books. He thought: The chairman is so busy, I can’t send all the books I wrote to him for reading. I should choose one or two representative works and send them over. After careful selection, Li Siguang first sent the book "Introduction to Geological Mechanics" and the article "What Do Geologists Do on the Scientific Front?" to Mao Zedong for review. Then, immediately began to collect the information Mao Zedong wanted. To this end, he read a lot of foreign information. In order to save Mao Zedong's time and allow him to see what he needed to see with less energy, Li Siguang decided to compile a document by himself, including the views of various schools of thought in geological theory at that time, plus his own comments. , clarify your point of view. He spent nearly a year sorting out the information, and based on this, he wrote seven books in a row. Every time he finished writing a book, Li Siguang asked his secretary to send it immediately to the printing factory, type it in large characters, and then take it back to proofread it himself. After these seven books were printed, they were named "Abstracts of Astronomical, Geological and Paleontological Data" and given to Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other central leaders.
Edit this paragraph Li Siguang and geomechanics
Geological mechanics was founded by Li Siguang and is a branch of geology.
However, he knew that this was not enough. He simply moved his family to Lushan Mountain and built a glacier exhibition hall at the foot of Lushan Mountain, named the "White Stone Exhibition Hall" (later bombed by the Kuomintang navy) to learn more in depth and detail. Conduct glacier research. Li Siguang's many years of research on glaciers were fully elaborated in "Lushan Mountain during the Ice Age", which was completed in 1937. Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, this book was not published until 10 years later.
Edit this paragraph to return to China to look for oil fields
In 1927, at the invitation of Cai Yuanpei, Li Siguang left Beijing and went south to preside over the preparations for the establishment of the Institute of Geology. In January 1928, the Institute of Geology was established, with Li Siguang serving as director. Engaging in geological research often involves eating wind and drinking dew, and the conditions are very difficult. Moreover, the newly established research institute had little funds, lacked equipment, and even had no fixed address. During the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Siguang and his research institute suffered from travelling. At that time, he smoked cigarettes made of straw paper, wore homespun clothes, and lived a very poor life. However, he and his colleagues never gave up geological research. Due to the hardship of life and the fatigue of work, he suffered from angina pectoris and tuberculosis. In early February 1948, Li Siguang set off from Shanghai to London to attend the 18th International Geological Society, and his wife Xu Shubin also went with him. After the meeting, they lived in the British Isles for another year, recuperating while observing the development of the current situation at home and abroad. Although Li Siguang was far away in Europe giving lectures and inspections, he still paid attention to the fate of his motherland.