“Zigui is my second hometown”
Zhang Wencai was born on November 11, 1904 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. In 1934, the first domestic academic paper on ethylene treatment of citrus was published in the "Journal of the Chinese Horticultural Society". In April 1935, Zhang Wencai went to the United States to study and received a doctorate. He has been engaged in citrus research all his life and enjoys a high reputation in the citrus industry at home and abroad.
He was born in Hangzhou and is the "Father of Chinese Citrus". But he always said to everyone he met, "Zigui is my second hometown."
In early winter, Zigui County, "the hometown of navel oranges in China", is full of orange and red, with "orchards as vast as the sea and beautiful buildings." There is a constant flow of vehicles transporting navel oranges, creating a lively scene of oranges and people enjoying themselves.
In these citrus harvest years, the 400,000 Zigui people will always deeply miss one person, a tall and amiable old man. He is the "Father of Chinese Citrus" and a first-level graduate of Huazhong Agricultural University. Professor Zhang Wencai.
“Zigui citrus has great potential,” Mr. Zhang’s eloquent words inspired the people of Zigui to abandon outdated traditional concepts and set off an upsurge of agricultural industrial revolution. On both sides of the Xiling Gorge, patches of citrus sprout.
"Professor Zhang has had an indissoluble bond with Zigui since 1962." On November 28, Song Honghu, a retired cadre of the former Zigui County Specialty Products Bureau, recalled in an interview that that year At the end of October, Mr. Zhang came to Zigui accompanied by Director Pan of the Economic and Production Department of the Provincial Department of Agriculture. The main purpose of Mr. Zhang's trip is to investigate the development of citrus in Longjiang Brigade and summarize the citrus development experience of Longjiang Brigade.
The next day, Mr. Zhang and Director Pan, accompanied by the staff of the Zigui County Specialty Products Bureau, took a boat to Xiangxi, and then transferred to a small boat in Xiangxi to Longjiang Brigade (Xintan) ( Today's Longmaxi Village, Quyuan Town). Facing the wind and waves of the Xiajiang River, Mr. Zhang showed no signs of timidity. Instead, he chatted and laughed with Director Pan on the boat.
The beautiful and picturesque scenery of Xiling Gorge inspired Zhang Lao's poetry. Mr. Zhang, who was standing on the bow of the boat, impromptuly said the first couplet: "Pan Gong and others were boating in the Three Gorges." After pondering for a moment, Song Honghu, who was sitting next to Mr. Zhang, replied timidly and excitedly: "Master Zhang and his disciples are hiking in the land of citrus." After hearing this, Mr. Zhang happily patted Song Honghu on the shoulder and praised repeatedly: Not bad, not bad, young man! In an instant, the mysterious scientist halo above Mr. Zhang disappeared into the flowing river along with his laughter. At this moment, the hearts of Mr. Zhang and the grassroots comrades are closely connected.
When he arrived at Longjiang Brigade, Mr. Zhang immediately threw himself into work. Hold discussions with cadres, conduct field inspections in citrus orchards, and interview citrus planting technicians. According to Song Honghu's recollection, he worked in the Longjiang Brigade for five consecutive days, and also gave lectures on citrus management and high yield knowledge to the cadres and citrus professional team members of the Longjiang Brigade.
Why did Mr. Zhang, who was a famous citrus expert in the country at that time, come to the remote Longjiang brigade? Song Honghu, who was working on citrus production in Longjiang Brigade at the time, said that in 1955, in order to implement the national policy of "taking grain as the key link and developing in an all-round way", Geng Tianbi, the former deputy secretary of the county party committee, built the "Fugen" citrus demonstration garden in Longjiang Brigade. . Song Honghu, who was sent to work in the field, organized a production team of 32 people who were good at citrus production, and established a professional citrus planting team to engage in citrus production. In the third year, the citrus output reached 7 tons; in the fourth year, the citrus output reached more than 40 tons; in 1962, the citrus output reached 160 tons. The citrus production, which ranks first in the province and among the top in the country, has attracted great attention from the Provincial Department of Agriculture and citrus experts.
On the basis of thorough research, Mr. Zhang proposed that Zigui’s climate and soil are suitable for growing citrus, and there is great potential for the development of citrus along both sides of the river. Zhang Lao also proposed that Zigui citrus production should achieve the "three modernizations" goals of regionalization of improved varieties, standardization of quality, and commercialization of fruits. According to the "Zigui County Chronicle", Mr. Zhang proposed the "three modernizations" proposal on November 8, 1962.
Zigui has since strengthened its confidence and determination to develop the citrus industry, and embarked on a long and difficult road to adjust its industrial structure. After years of hard work, citrus groves have grown on both sides of the Xiajiang River. In October 1979, Mr. Zhang saw that the excellent citrus varieties he had personally selected and promoted were spread on both sides of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. He wrote a poem with emotion: "On the 30th National Day trip to the Three Gorges, the cries of apes are accompanied by singing; the green water and green mountains The present is better than the past, and the forests are full of purple and red oranges.”
“Zigui is my second hometown,” Mr. Zhang often proudly recommends Zigui, Qu Yuan’s hometown, to foreign citrus experts who come to inspect it. He recalled that he had strong feelings for many citrus-producing areas across the country, but the place he visited most in his life was Zigui.
In 1993, 91-year-old Zhang came to Zigui County for the last time. When he came to Pengjiapo Village, Guizhou Town, and saw the fruitful citrus groves cultivated by himself, he was so excited that he happily wrote a poem: "Guiyou's trip to the Three Gorges on National Day, Qu Zi's hometown is full of orange groves, Peng's navel orange household "The relationship between Professor Zhang and Zigui cannot be expressed in words," Song Honghu said excitedly, not to mention anything else but the period of the "Cultural Revolution" (1967). During those three months in 2011, Professor Zhang formed a deep relationship with us.
In 1967, Mr. Zhang, who was hit by the "Cultural Revolution", brought a thick manuscript and his student Zhou Fu's "secret" to the Longjiang Brigade in Zigui County. They stayed in the Longjiang Management Area for three full months.
During this special period, their master and apprentice still couldn't let go of the aching tangerine complex in their hearts. Every day, they take the recently completed manuscript of "Citrus Production Management and Scientific Experiments" and go from door to door to solicit the opinions of the farmer brothers.
In these "mysterious" three months, what is unforgettable to the people of Zigui is probably the country's first underground ventilated storage cellar built under the guidance of Mr. Zhang, so that citrus can be kept fresh. After more than 4 months, the good fruit rate reached over 90%. Song Honghu recalled that during a chat with them, Mr. Zhang learned that they built a cellar more than two feet deep in Longjiang Team 4 in the winter of 1966, storing more than 10,000 kilograms of citrus and selling them the next year, with a good fruit rate of 70%, and the price has doubled.
Lao Zhang came to Longjiang Team 4 with great interest. After going deep into the cellar for on-the-spot inspection, he was sure that this was a practical and good method. Mr. Zhang also suggested improving the cellar to ventilate it to the outside world, thereby increasing the rate of good fruit. Zhang Lao drew a renovation sketch overnight and guided the citrus professional team to build an underground ventilated storage cellar. Under Mr. Zhang’s patient guidance, the citrus professional team members finally built the first underground ventilated storage cellar after more than a month of hard work. At that time, there were three cellars built in Longjiang Brigade. After experiments, the good fruit rate is over 90%. The next year, Zigui County built 52 underground ventilated storage cellars according to Mr. Zhang's idea, and the county's citrus has found a good way to preserve and sell citrus.
“Without Professor Zhang, there would be no Zigui citrus, whether it is peach leaf orange or navel orange,” said Cui Zhilong, a retired cadre of the Zigui County Agriculture Bureau. Mr. Zhang gave Zigui citrus its own name. In 1962, when Mr. Zhang inspected the Longjiang Brigade, he was deeply impressed by the fruits of the No. 8 and No. 18 trees he tasted. In the winter of 1965, Zhang Lao led professors such as Deng Guisen and Shi Xiaoheng, together with provincial experts such as Chen Zhaoming and Xiao Yanhua, to the Longjiang brigade again for the first time to conduct a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of excellent citrus varieties. The fruits from trees No. 8 and 18 received 95 points based on 12 indicators including condition and sugar content. After the evaluation results were announced, Mr. Chen Zhaoming suggested naming the selected excellent individual plants. Chen Zhaoming suggested naming No. 8 and No. 18, whose spring shoots are long and narrow like peach leaves, "Dragon Orange", which means that they are produced in Longjiang and reflect that the dragon is a symbol of China; or they could be named "Dragon Orange" based on the biological characteristics of the leaves. Peach Leaf Orange". Later, after discussion and deliberation by the experts present at the meeting, Mr. Zhang agreed to name the excellent single plants No. 8 and 18 "Peach Leaf Orange". Zigui citrus, which has been native to Zigui for thousands of years, has since had its own scientific name.
Mr. Zhang is well aware that fine varieties of fruit trees are the basis for high yields and high quality. He led the teachers and students of the Yichang branch to go deep into the citrus producing areas in western Hubei to carry out large-scale mass citrus seed selection work. He taught the farmers the purpose, standards and methods of seed selection, and mobilized them to select the best individual plants and "present treasures" to the country, and then conduct scientific analysis and identification in the laboratory.
After peach leaf orange was named, Zigui County on the one hand strengthened external publicity, and on the other hand expanded the scale of planting in the county. Mr. Zhang will always talk about Zigui peach leaf oranges at every citrus conference in the future. In his two books "Breeding of Improved Citrus Varieties" written in 1973 and "Citrus Production Technology and Scientific Experiments" published in 1977, he spoke highly of the "excellent quality" of peach leaf oranges. By the end of 1976, there were 178,000 peach leaf orange plants in Zigui, with an output of more than 3,000 tons.
In 1983, Vice Premier Wan Li directed that 1,000 kilograms of peach leaf oranges and 3,000 kilograms of navel oranges be selected from Longjiang and Xiangxi and sent to Beijing for the state banquet at the Great Hall of the People. Zigui citrus has become more famous since then. At the 1989 National Fruit Selection Conference, Taoye Orange and Robertson Navel Orange No. 35 won the title of Famous Fruit. Mr. Zhang fell in love with Qu Yuan, the "ancestor of poetry", not only because of "Ode to Orange", but also because of Qu Yuan's patriotism and pursuit. He often went to Qu Yuan Temple and had in-depth conversations with this great patriotic poet who was so lonely and loyal.
"The Empress is growing tall trees, and the oranges are everywhere. I have been ordered not to move, but I was born in the south." More than 2,300 years ago, Qu Yuan, the "ancestor of poetry", wrote "Ode to Oranges" to express his ambitions. It can be seen from the poem that Qu Yuan had extraordinary feelings for tangerines, and it can also be seen that Zigui has a long history of growing citrus.
More than two thousand years ago, Qu Yuan loved citrus. More than two thousand years later, many descendants of the Yan and Huang Dynasties fell in love with "Ode to Orange" and the "ancestor of poetry" Qu Yuan. Zhang Lao was a follower of Qu Yuan. After Qu Yuan Temple was built (1982), he came to Zigui and often visited Qu Yuan Temple. Everyone knew in their hearts that he was by no means simply here to play and watch. He was sincerely having an in-depth dialogue with this great patriotic poet who was so lonely and loyal.
Mr. Zhang is as patriotic as Qu Yuan, and he is familiar with Mr. Zhang’s Zigui people’s theory. In 1938, Mr. Zhang, who was studying in the United States, declined the offer of his colleagues in the American citrus industry to stay, and resolutely returned to his war-torn motherland full of patriotism to devote himself to agricultural research. Mr. Zhang, like Qu Yuan, searched high and low, traveling and exploring in the ocean of science all his life. He solved many problems in the development of the citrus industry and compiled my country's first citrus cultivation monograph "Practical Citrus Cultivation" in 1935. In order to do a good job in exporting citrus, he compiled "Fresh Fruit Packaging, Storage, and Marketing" in 1954. In 1979, he edited my country's first "Fruit Tree Research Method" as a national textbook. He has also written more than 70 valuable academic papers. During the "Cultural Revolution", Mr. Zhang was hit hard, but he still deeply loved his motherland and the citrus industry, and never stopped studying citrus.
According to Mei Yunlai, director of the Qu Yuan Memorial Hall in Zigui County, Mr. Zhang often wore Chinese tunic suits and was very approachable. He personally received Mr. Zhang at Qu Yuan Temple at least three times. Once, Mr. Zhang came alone to pay homage to the "ancestor of poetry". That time, Mei Yunlai and Mr. Zhang sat on the stone bench of Qu Yuan Temple and talked for a long time. The topic of the conversation was naturally Qu Yuan and tangerines. When Mr. Zhang learned that a variety of citrus would be planted in Qu Yuan Temple, he seemed very happy. He said that in the future, more Chinese and foreign tourists will be able to appreciate citrus. This will not only promote Zigui citrus, but also allow Qu Yuan to be with the tangerines and no longer be "lonely".
Mei Yunlai said that the most impressive moment should be October 17, 1988. That day, Mr. Zhang, who had participated in citrus research activities in Guizhou, the county seat, came to Qu Yuan Temple again. Mei Yunlai took the opportunity to ask Mr. Zhang to leave a "calligraphy treasure" for Qu Yuan's temple - a hand-written rhyme poem chanting Qu Yuan during the Xianfeng period. Zhang Lao immediately agreed to the request happily. Because of the rush of time, Mr. Zhang was not very satisfied with the works written on the spot. He immediately recorded the rhymed poems, copied them by hand after returning to Wuhan, and sent them to Qu Yuan Memorial Hall. Looking back now, this "little thing" is so touching!
Today, Mr. Zhang’s handwritten poems are on display together with the works of more than 40 other calligraphers across the country in the stele corridor of Qu Yuan Temple. I don’t know what Mr. Zhang was thinking when he copied the verses, but I always thought that he and Qu Yuan were a thousand-year-old romance. Because of the tangerine, their hearts were connected, and because of the poetry, they lived in the same room across time and space. "Zigui has become the hometown of navel oranges in China. This is a model for navel oranges in the Yichang region and even in southern my country. The most important thing at present is how to organize fruit farmers, run a large-scale agriculture of production, supply, marketing, transportation, storage and processing, and develop a fruit market economy. This Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, was a little ahead of us. We supplied them with high-quality, virus-free navel oranges in 1985.” On February 19, 1996, 93-year-old Mr. Zhang knew that he would only have a short time to live, and he still thought about Zigui in his heart. The letter was written to Luo Qingquan, the then Secretary of the Yichang Municipal Party Committee, and forwarded to the County Party Committee and County Government.
In the letter, Mr. Zhang euphemistically suggested that Zigui should learn from the Ganzhou region of Jiangxi Province, which has come from behind, on how to develop the fruit market economy: set up a fruit farmers' joint-stock cooperative, train farmer technicians, and strengthen pre-production, mid-production, and post-production processing; Formulate policies to accelerate development and use policies to mobilize the enthusiasm of fruit farmers; establish a navel orange fruit industry association, establish a pre-production, mid-production, and post-production service system to provide technical guidance on packaging, grading, fruit washing, transportation, marketing, and export... How touching. What I say from the bottom of my heart!
According to Mr. Zhang’s suggestion, Zigui began a large-scale citrus quality improvement in 1997 and formulated a series of measures to strongly promote the construction of citrus industrialization. That year, Zigui's "Newhall" navel oranges won the title of famous brand product at the Third Agricultural Expo.
Mr. Zhang has always treasured Zigui deep in his heart. In 1989, the Ministry of Agriculture decided to establish an agricultural development project in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Zigui was not the focus of the inspection at that time. Zhang, who was over eighty years old, patiently introduced the history of citrus cultivation in Zigui to the World Bank inspection team in detail, and explained the new navel orange cultivated locally. Variety, using his influence, finally won the project for Zigui, which enabled Zigui to receive a World Bank loan of US$2.26 million, US$200,000 more than similar counties (cities). During the implementation of the project, Mr. Zhang made special trips to the site many times for guidance, which enabled the project to achieve remarkable results and effectively promoted Zigui's citrus production.
What is gratifying for Mr. Zhang is that citrus has become Zigui’s pillar industry. Today, Zigui has an area of ??170,000 acres of citrus, an annual output of more than 150,000 tons, and an annual output value of over 200 million yuan. There are more than 100 citrus professional villages in the county, and more than 100,000 farmers are engaged in citrus cultivation.
Zigui navel oranges, with their large, seedless fruit, thin skin and bright color, crispy and juicy flesh, and fragrant and sweet flavor, are very popular among consumers. The products are sold throughout the country and exported to Southeast Asian countries. Zigui has also established the National Citrus Breeding and Breeding Center Experimental Field and the Citrus Improved Variety Breeding Demonstration Field. It has introduced 88 reserve citrus varieties, including more than 50 navel orange varieties. Fresh navel oranges are on the market all year round.
If you want to ask, how deep is the relationship between the people of Zigui and Mr. Zhang? The people of Zigui will tell you that the most accurate answer is to walk into the Xinguizhou Town Government Square and take a look at the statue of Mr. Zhang with its back to the Yangtze River and facing the mountains of citrus. There are two bronze statues in Zigui, one is Qu Yuan, the "ancestor of poetry", and the other is Zhang Wencai, the "Original Man". What is slightly different is that the "Orange Man" built in the market town of Guizhou was voluntarily created by more than 30,000 citrus farmers in Guizhou for Mr. Zhang. What is still fresh in people's memory is the touching scene when the bronze statue of "Orange Man" was unveiled during the Dragon Boat Festival in 2002 - more than ten thousand citrus farmers spontaneously came from all directions and bowed to the statue of Mr. Zhang to express their most sincere remembrance. . Facing "Orange Man", my thoughts are flying. People can’t help but think of his glorious life of devoting himself to science, serving citrus farmers, and contributing to society; thinking of the touching scenes of him going deep into the countryside and taking root in farmers; thinking of the honors he won for Zigui that benefited thousands of households...< /p>
——In 1978, after the state approved the construction of a 20,000-acre navel orange export base in Zigui, Mr. Zhang introduced 12 fine American varieties to Zigui at one time, and the trial planting was a great success. Since then, honors such as "National Famous Fruit", "Provincial High-Quality Product", and "National Agricultural Expo Gold Medal" have been successively settled in the magical land of Quxiang.
——In 1985, large areas of citrus trees died in Lujiashan Village, Zigui. After learning about it, 81-year-old Zhang rushed to Zigui overnight. Early the next morning, he led his students across the Qinggan River to the citrus orchard for on-site sampling and inspection. When going downhill, Mr. Zhang, supported by four students, slid step by step to the river, his clothes soaked with sweat. In the end, under the guidance of Mr. Zhang, the citrus farmers took effective measures to control this "incurable disease."
——In 1986, Mr. Zhang began to serve as the agricultural science and technology consultant of the Zigui County People's Government (until his death). In 1993, after Mr. Zhang introduced him, Peng Hongguo, a farmer from Guizhou, was admitted as a member of the China Citrus Association. In 1994, Xiang Simo was awarded the title of Senior Farmer Technician in the province’s first batch of farmer technical title reviews. In Zigui, hundreds of citrus “soil experts” such as Peng Hongcai and Yan Qianming were all students taught by Zhang Lao.
——In 1995, Mr. Zhang, who was seriously ill, was still thinking about Zigui’s navel orange industry and wanted to introduce an orange juice factory to Zigui to increase the added value of navel oranges. Under Mr. Zhang’s introduction, the former secretary and director of the Zigui County Orange Juice Factory and staff from the Specialty Products Bureau came to Mr. Zhang’s home at Huazhong Agricultural University on March 27. They were translated by citrus expert Deng Xiuxin and met with three American investors. Negotiate. Although in the end the project was not settled in Zigui due to the high cost of processing navel orange juice and inconvenient transportation, Mr. Zhang’s special friendship for the people of Zigui was touching and unforgettable.
Some people say that Qu Yuan, a world cultural celebrity, made Zigui his hometown, and Zhang Wencai, the "Father of Chinese Citrus," made Zigui the "Hometown of Chinese Navel Oranges." This is not true at all! What Qu Yuan brought to the people of Zigui was spiritual wealth; what Mr. Zhang brought to the people of Zigui was material wealth. They are equally important to Zigui and the people of Zigui. They enjoy equal treatment in the hearts of the people of Zigui.
Thank you Qu Yuan! Thank you Mr. Zhang!