2017: They Left Us

Remembrance is a way to keep the deceased in our hearts. It also represents hope for the future.

In the past year, we lost some great yet low-profile, familiar and sincere people.

Some of the most memorable include Huang Danian, a famous geophysicist, Zhou Youguang, hailed as the “father of pinyin,” Ren Xinmin, one of the four Chinese aerospace pioneers, Yang Jie, director of the influential television series Journey to the West , Wu Wenjun, a mathematician and one of the founders of topology in China, Qian Qichen, former vice premier of the State Council who established the country’s diplomatic spokesperson system, Zhang Yuhua, one of the eight founding generals who saluted veterans at the September 3 military parade, Nan Rendong, a scientist who built the first Five- hundred- meter Aperture Spherical Telescope ( FAST) for China, Zhou Yongchang, a pioneer of ultrasonic medicine, and Yu Kwang- chung, a “nostalgic poet” in Taiwan.

Although they were committed to different fields, they all enjoyed what they were doing and contributed years of unremitting, painstaking efforts. They contributed tremendously to world civilization by painting Chinese civilization with unique colors, with their written language, words, formulas and images.

Nobody knows for sure how many days and nights they worked to free their minds. Some seized the opportunity to return to their homeland, giving up fame and riches for a chance to give back to the motherland. Their outstanding contributions and remarkable achievements, as well as their noble and sincere character, have touched our hearts. They are immortal legends and monuments of the times.

We lose people, but love is long. At the dawn of the new year, let us follow their noble examples and move forward as better people.