I became associated with the Chinese Chemical Society thanks to the “Prof. Yu Hongzheng Award Fund Committee”.

Mr. Yu Hongzheng was born on October 5, 1897 in Minhou, Fujian. He joined the Chinese Chemical Society in 1933 and was elected a board member of Beijing Branch of Chinese Chemical Society. In 1951, he was elected a CCS board member and the board chairman of Shaanxi Chemical Society. He was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Mr. Yu Hongzheng was the major founder of colloid chemistry and soil chemistry in China. Rooted in northwest China for decades, he made outstanding contributions to the development of education and scientific research and the cultivation of scientific talents in northwest China. Due to long-term overwork and persecution in the early days of the Cultural Revolution, he died in Xi’an on November 11, 1966.

Mr. Yu Hongzheng at work

Mr. Yu Hongzheng’s certificate of CAS academician

(Photos courtesy of Prof. Gao Jinming of Northwest A&F University)

According to historical records, Mr. Yu Hongzheng, caring about the development of education and scientific research in northwest China when he was critically ill, left a will to donate his collection of more than 7,000 books to the Northwest Institute of Soil and Water Conservation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which he founded. In 1985, his daughter donated the more than CNY 70,000 yuan legacy he left behind as his Party membership fee.

In order to commemorate Mr. Yu Hongzheng’s outstanding contributions to the cause of education and science in China, especially the development of chemistry and soil science in northwest China, the Chinese Chemical Society, together with the Shaanxi Chemical Society and other institutions, held the “90th Anniversary Commemorative Conference of Prof. Yu Hongzheng’s Birth” in Yangling Agricultural Science City, Shaanxi Province on October 5, 1987. A bronze statue of Mr. Yu Hongzheng was erected in commemoration of him at the Northwest Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, which was funded by relevant institutions and his students. Lu Jiaxi, then president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, wrote the inscription for the bronze statue.

The Prof. Yu Hongzheng Award Fund Committee was established at the conference and his CNY 70,000 yuan legacy was set as Chemistry scholarship, to be used as awards for the top three students in Shaanxi province’s college entrance exams who were enrolled in Chemistry majors, outstanding Shaanxi province college students majoring in Chemistry, and young science and technology workers in Shaanxi province who had published noticeable papers. As a representative of young teachers, I had the privilege to participate in the commemorative event, and received the first Yu Hongzheng Award for Young Science and Technology Workers in 1989.

This award may not have had much impact and not much prize money, but it gave me a chance to learn more about the Chinese Chemical Society, and learn about the unremitting struggle of the pioneers of China’s chemical researchers for national liberation, regional development and national construction. It also made me more aware of the importance of the discipline of Chemistry and the professional and social responsibilities of chemical researchers.

On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Chemical Society, I write this piece to remember the sages, comfort the deceased, and enlighten newcomers on our path.

Written on July 24, 2022 at the Chang’an Campus of

Shaanxi Normal University at the request of

the special event “My Story with CCS”

on the 90th birthday of Chinese Chemical Society