馮穎平

2012年4月。清明節(jié)。在這個(gè)中國(guó)人的感恩節(jié)，陳劍平如同以往每年一樣，攜妻帶女回寧波鄞州老家掃墓。雖然已經(jīng)在杭州讀書(shū)工作多年，但家鄉(xiāng)在陳劍平心中的分量永遠(yuǎn)都是最重的，他不會(huì)忘記自己是從家鄉(xiāng)的小路走出去，走向省城杭州走向首都北京直至走向世界。

在陳家老屋里，有一張沾滿灰塵的椅子。整張椅子不用一個(gè)釘子，全都是用榫頭緊緊咬住。這是13歲少年陳劍平的作品。

除了椅子，陳劍平記憶中還有一雙鞋。那是他到十幾歲穿上的第一雙買來(lái)的鞋。上學(xué)前他要看到是個(gè)大晴天才穿這雙鞋。其實(shí)走出家門他就把鞋脫下放入書(shū)包，赤著腳走過(guò)差不多10里路，看見(jiàn)校門了，再把腳擦干凈穿上鞋。

這張椅子、這雙鞋子可以詮釋陳劍平的精神世界。正是有了赤腳走長(zhǎng)路的意志和不用一個(gè)釘子打造椅子的細(xì)致，才會(huì)有他后來(lái)在科研道路上的艱苦跋涉和出類拔萃，并在2011年成為中國(guó)工程院院士。

百年院慶VS新科院士

走進(jìn)浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院正門，撲面而來(lái)的那座雕塑一下子抓住了我的眼神。

雕塑的材質(zhì)是不銹鋼。雕塑中間造型有點(diǎn)像花苞，邊上有點(diǎn)像蝌蚪又像音符。圍著雕塑團(tuán)團(tuán)轉(zhuǎn)，我怎么也看不懂這具體表現(xiàn)的是什么？后來(lái)有人告訴我，雕塑名為“萌芽”。中間像花苞的是胚胎，意味著一切生命的起源；而被我看成小蝌蚪的，是基因的形象表述。

我啞然失笑。之后又若有所思。

浙江不是農(nóng)業(yè)大省，但浙江和農(nóng)耕文明密不可分——考古學(xué)者認(rèn)為河姆渡可能是中國(guó)乃至世界稻作文化的發(fā)源地；而上山文化證實(shí)1萬(wàn)年前當(dāng)?shù)厝司蜁?huì)種水稻。因而，在浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院工作了27年的陳劍平，享受的文化熏陶肯定比在別處更給力。

目前，浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院科技綜合實(shí)力在全國(guó)名列前茅。

而這里的領(lǐng)軍人物陳劍平，今年不過(guò)49歲，卻已當(dāng)了整整10年的院長(zhǎng)。

浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院的前身是創(chuàng)辦于清末宣統(tǒng)三年（1911年）的浙江農(nóng)事試驗(yàn)場(chǎng)，1951年更名為浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)研究所，1960年擴(kuò)建為浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院。2011年11月，浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院迎來(lái)了百年華誕，也誕生了百年歷史上第一位中國(guó)工程院院士陳劍平。

2012年的一個(gè)春日，在堆滿了各種學(xué)術(shù)資料的院長(zhǎng)辦公室，我接過(guò)沉甸甸的《百年珍藏——浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院建院100周年紀(jì)念》。這部厚重的書(shū)，由陳劍平作序：“以時(shí)為經(jīng)，以事為緯，述而不論，力求圖文并茂、可讀可品。然，‘吟安一個(gè)字，拈斷數(shù)莖須……當(dāng)然，管窺之見(jiàn)，疏漏一定不少；辭不達(dá)意，還望仁者諒解。只是，人生有代謝，事業(yè)需傳承?！?/p>

品讀這些文字，可以看出陳劍平對(duì)這所百年老院文化積淀的那份自豪，以及對(duì)中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)文化的那份癡迷。

序言之后是院徽、院訓(xùn)、院歌和百年賦。紀(jì)念冊(cè)的首頁(yè)印著當(dāng)年毛主席在浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)研究所扶著雙輪雙鏵犁耕地的版畫(huà)。

我從這本紀(jì)念冊(cè)中，讀到了省農(nóng)科院的百年文化。

因?yàn)殛悇ζ搅χ鞲憧蒲幸杏⑿壑髁x、浪漫主義、理想主義精神。他一向認(rèn)為人的素質(zhì)最重要的是先進(jìn)的文化和理念，文化決定未來(lái)，理念決定發(fā)展。文化是農(nóng)科院賴以生存和發(fā)展的血脈，編寫(xiě)百年紀(jì)念冊(cè)，通過(guò)科研人員的回憶與反思展示農(nóng)科院的光榮歷史和深層文化底蘊(yùn)，傳承農(nóng)科院的優(yōu)良傳統(tǒng)和作風(fēng)，才能構(gòu)建一代勝過(guò)一代、奮發(fā)向上的精神。

1985年陳劍平從浙江農(nóng)業(yè)大學(xué)畢業(yè)，走進(jìn)浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院工作直到今天，雖然中間曾三次出國(guó)又回國(guó)，但無(wú)論人在何處，陳劍平都忘不了毛主席手扶雙輪雙鏵犁行進(jìn)在田頭的那個(gè)定格，由此知道農(nóng)業(yè)科研的方向就是為“三農(nóng)”服務(wù)。

早在1990年，27歲的陳劍平在英國(guó)洛桑實(shí)驗(yàn)站進(jìn)修時(shí)，奇跡般地在禾谷多黏菌介體內(nèi)發(fā)現(xiàn)了病毒粒子，首次揭示禾谷多黏菌與其傳播病毒的內(nèi)在關(guān)系，一舉攻克了西方科學(xué)家30年沒(méi)能攻克的科學(xué)難題，被譽(yù)為真菌傳植物病毒學(xué)發(fā)展史上的一個(gè)里程碑；1998年底陳劍平發(fā)現(xiàn)并命名的“中國(guó)小麥花葉病毒”是由中國(guó)科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)并被國(guó)際病毒分類委員會(huì)確認(rèn)的第一種植物病毒；2004年陳劍平領(lǐng)銜完成了“我國(guó)水稻黑條矮縮病和玉米粗縮病病原、發(fā)生規(guī)律及其持續(xù)控制技術(shù)”，這項(xiàng)成果創(chuàng)造了兩個(gè)世界第一：第一次揭示了兩種病害的發(fā)病原因、發(fā)病規(guī)律；第一次完成了水稻黑條病毒基因組的全序列測(cè)定，并被美國(guó)國(guó)家生物技術(shù)信息中心確定為該病毒的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)序列。

這些年來(lái)，陳劍平一次次把“中國(guó)”刻在了世界植物病毒學(xué)發(fā)展里程碑上，先后獲1992年全國(guó)十大科技成就1項(xiàng)，國(guó)家科學(xué)技術(shù)進(jìn)步獎(jiǎng)一、二等獎(jiǎng)4項(xiàng)，省科技進(jìn)步獎(jiǎng)一等獎(jiǎng)6項(xiàng)，以及中國(guó)青年科學(xué)家獎(jiǎng)、全國(guó)勞模、五一獎(jiǎng)?wù)?、第五屆光華工程科技獎(jiǎng)青年獎(jiǎng)、何梁何利基金“科學(xué)與技術(shù)創(chuàng)新獎(jiǎng)”等多項(xiàng)榮譽(yù)。

一國(guó)之士VS一院之長(zhǎng)

我和陳劍平有過(guò)數(shù)次長(zhǎng)談。最近的一次交流讓我看到了一個(gè)胸襟開(kāi)闊的中國(guó)工程院院士和恪盡職守的浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院院長(zhǎng)。

陳劍平說(shuō)目前自己的第一身份是浙江省農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院院長(zhǎng)，第二身份是院士。“可以這么說(shuō)，當(dāng)院士是把自己的科研工作搞得更好；當(dāng)院長(zhǎng)是讓大家的科研工作搞得更好。前者是個(gè)人追求，后者是個(gè)人職責(zé)。我既然接受了這個(gè)崗位，首先應(yīng)當(dāng)恪盡職守?！?/p>

在陳劍平看來(lái)，科學(xué)人生必須有一個(gè)崇高的理想和遠(yuǎn)大的目標(biāo)。在實(shí)現(xiàn)人生目標(biāo)的進(jìn)程中，有時(shí)候需要一點(diǎn)狂勁。1990年8月，陳劍平以旁聽(tīng)者身份第一次參加在德國(guó)舉行的國(guó)際真菌傳植物病毒大會(huì)。遙望主席臺(tái)，擔(dān)任大會(huì)執(zhí)行主席的一位東方人引起陳劍平的注意。他打聽(tīng)到這位日本國(guó)立農(nóng)業(yè)研究中心的年輕博士剛過(guò)而立之年，卻已是這一研究領(lǐng)域的權(quán)威人士之一。當(dāng)時(shí)的陳劍平既羨慕又更希望有朝一日也能坐上執(zhí)行主席的位置。

三年之后的1993年，在法國(guó)巴黎召開(kāi)的第七屆全歐植物病理學(xué)大會(huì)上，陳劍平實(shí)現(xiàn)了這個(gè)愿望。至今陳劍平已無(wú)數(shù)次在國(guó)際學(xué)術(shù)會(huì)議上作學(xué)術(shù)報(bào)告，其中5次為會(huì)議執(zhí)行主席之一。

陳劍平知道，既然當(dāng)了省農(nóng)科院院長(zhǎng)，那么僅僅有個(gè)人的科研成果是不夠的。于是他在全國(guó)農(nóng)科院率先提出學(xué)科與標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化研究所建設(shè)，在不斷調(diào)整完善學(xué)科結(jié)構(gòu)過(guò)程中，又千方百計(jì)地尋找各個(gè)學(xué)科的帶頭人。

他給我看的資料中，有一張PPT上面只有I、T、G三個(gè)字母用箭頭連接，表示從I到T再到G。陳劍平坦言:“自任院長(zhǎng)以來(lái)，我個(gè)人在顯微鏡下的科研時(shí)間肯定要耽誤不少，但讓我高興的是，我可以為更多的科研人員提供一個(gè)走向成功的平臺(tái)?！睋?jù)陳劍平解釋，“I”就是英文“我”，是對(duì)自我價(jià)值的實(shí)現(xiàn)，個(gè)人出色完成科研工作；作為一院之長(zhǎng)需要在“I”粗粗的一豎上面加上重重的一橫成為“T”，這是英文“團(tuán)隊(duì)”(Team)的第一個(gè)字母，也就是聚集和使用更多的人才，至今他已經(jīng)培養(yǎng)了17名博士、40名碩士，其中多人破格晉升為研究員；而“G”是戰(zhàn)略目標(biāo)的英文（Goal）的第一個(gè)字母，他的目標(biāo)是帶領(lǐng)團(tuán)隊(duì)為支撐和引領(lǐng)中國(guó)的現(xiàn)代農(nóng)業(yè)發(fā)展作出貢獻(xiàn)。

在農(nóng)科院，一度流傳過(guò)陳劍平萬(wàn)里飛鴻請(qǐng)來(lái)海歸博士陶躍之的故事。我見(jiàn)到這位陶博士時(shí)問(wèn)：“你為什么肯來(lái)浙江農(nóng)科院？”因?yàn)樘詹┦吭谟?guó)劍橋大學(xué)獲得博士學(xué)位后，夫妻倆在澳大利亞已經(jīng)十幾年。后來(lái)夫人到浙江轉(zhuǎn)化科研成果，他就被引進(jìn)到浙江大學(xué)。

由于陶博士的專業(yè)是分子育種，有人建議他到浙江省農(nóng)科院看看。沒(méi)想到他和陳劍平一見(jiàn)面就談得志同道合。陳劍平直截了當(dāng)邀請(qǐng)?zhí)詹┦考用苏憬r(nóng)科院。但陶博士婉言謝絕。因?yàn)樗堑秸愦筠k手續(xù)的，人到中年的他更喜歡在大學(xué)教書(shū)。

三天后，陶博士回了澳大利亞，沒(méi)想到陳劍平的信緊跟而至。信中陳劍平言詞懇切，說(shuō)和浙大相比，農(nóng)科院是個(gè)小單位，更需要像你這樣的學(xué)科帶頭人?！傊?，請(qǐng)您無(wú)論如何來(lái)我院工作。我給您出了個(gè)難題，請(qǐng)?jiān)?，?qǐng)保持聯(lián)系。

信不長(zhǎng)，一張農(nóng)科院的信箋紙；話不多，就是實(shí)實(shí)在在的幾句。

陶博士卻被陳劍平的真誠(chéng)感動(dòng)，義無(wú)反顧地直奔浙江省農(nóng)科院而來(lái)。而這封萬(wàn)里飛鴻，也被陶博士珍藏了許多年。

陳劍平說(shuō)，請(qǐng)?zhí)詹┦考用藭r(shí)，院里“海歸”博士還屈指可數(shù)，而現(xiàn)在，這支隊(duì)伍已經(jīng)擴(kuò)大到幾十位，數(shù)字農(nóng)業(yè)研究所、食品科學(xué)研究所的所長(zhǎng)都是“海歸”一族。

農(nóng)科院人提及這位笑容可掬的院長(zhǎng)，使用頻率最高的兩個(gè)詞是：真誠(chéng)、親切。不僅僅是對(duì)科研人員真誠(chéng)，而且和所有人交流都沒(méi)有架子。

如果不外出，陳劍平每天下班后都會(huì)到院體育活動(dòng)中心打羽毛球，打球輸贏不重要，愜意的是球場(chǎng)上院長(zhǎng)和普通員工一樣，都痛痛快快地奔跑流汗。

陳劍平常說(shuō)自己的人生是“科學(xué)人生”，而不是“仕途人生”。對(duì)此他的做法是把院長(zhǎng)這頂正廳級(jí)的官帽不戴在頭上，也不放在桌上，而是拿在手上。他笑著向我解釋：戴在頭上會(huì)真的把自己當(dāng)成一個(gè)官而忘乎所以，放在桌上卻又太不當(dāng)回事，而拿在手上的意思是沒(méi)有當(dāng)官的癮，卻必須做好該做的事，必須負(fù)責(zé)任。

當(dāng)院長(zhǎng)十年，陳劍平的工作思路很實(shí)在，凡事都問(wèn)一問(wèn)該不該做？值不值得做？

在科學(xué)人生的道路上，陳劍平有一個(gè)目標(biāo)是成為院士。

2011年11月的某天，我收到陳劍平從北京發(fā)來(lái)的短信：“我終于當(dāng)上院士了，感謝這些年來(lái)對(duì)我的鼓勵(lì)和支持。”他認(rèn)為評(píng)上院士是對(duì)自己這么多年科研工作的認(rèn)可，是一個(gè)更高層次的開(kāi)端，意味著更多的責(zé)任和擔(dān)當(dāng)。

陳劍平院士說(shuō)：“糧食問(wèn)題始終是關(guān)系國(guó)計(jì)民生的大問(wèn)題，也是我心里的頭等大事?！?/p>

有一個(gè)數(shù)字陳劍平向我多次提及，那就是中國(guó)一年的糧食安全需要有1萬(wàn)億斤，每年因病蟲(chóng)害而少收1千億斤！陳劍平主持的多項(xiàng)世界級(jí)研究成果就是治療大麥、小麥、水稻、玉米等糧食作物所患病毒病，以世界前沿科技來(lái)保證中國(guó)的糧食安全。其實(shí)陳劍平的科研就是“蟲(chóng)口奪糧”。

陳劍平清楚地認(rèn)識(shí)到，搞農(nóng)業(yè)科研，科研成果不僅僅是發(fā)表在科學(xué)雜志上，更應(yīng)該寫(xiě)在廣袤的大地上。盡管陳劍平現(xiàn)在公務(wù)繁忙，但還是千方百計(jì)抽出時(shí)間到田間地頭去。

近幾年來(lái)我國(guó)的極端天氣日益增多，尤其是今春不是雨雪成災(zāi)就是連續(xù)干旱，極大地影響到糧食生產(chǎn)。僅在三四月份，陳劍平就像個(gè)“空中飛人”，奔波于全國(guó)各地，到大小麥病區(qū)調(diào)查病害發(fā)生情況，并與農(nóng)民和植保技術(shù)人員進(jìn)行現(xiàn)場(chǎng)交流，還要見(jiàn)縫插針給他們開(kāi)講座。我看到，他的手機(jī)里有著密密麻麻的一條又一條航班登機(jī)信息，陳劍平把自己的科研成果實(shí)實(shí)在在用到了指導(dǎo)全中國(guó)的農(nóng)業(yè)生產(chǎn)上。

終極追求VS閑情逸致

陳劍平愿意用一生時(shí)間做好一件事，就是在植物病毒學(xué)領(lǐng)域里不斷探索，取得更大的成就。

陳劍平曾經(jīng)就讀的鄞州中學(xué)和五鄉(xiāng)中學(xué)請(qǐng)他給學(xué)弟學(xué)妹做個(gè)勵(lì)志報(bào)告。去的那天恰逢植樹(shù)節(jié)?！笆陿?shù)木百年樹(shù)人”，他舍得從百忙中抽出時(shí)間，也就是想用自己的經(jīng)歷影響更多的年輕人報(bào)效國(guó)家奉獻(xiàn)人類。他用一件件親歷告訴這些青年學(xué)生：“科研工作是我的終身職業(yè)?！?/p>

一幅大尺度照片定格了陳劍平1995年12月獲英國(guó)丹迪大學(xué)植物病毒學(xué)博士學(xué)位時(shí)的瞬間。英氣逼人的陳劍平穿著博士服，頭上卻沒(méi)有如常人那樣戴著博士帽。陳劍平告訴我其中的秘密：“戴上博士帽就是止步于博士，我的追求不僅是博士?！?/p>

我笑言：“幸虧中國(guó)工程院院士沒(méi)有專屬服飾，要不然你現(xiàn)在也不會(huì)戴上院士帽。”

我很清楚，博士、院士都不是陳劍平的最終目標(biāo)，永不懈怠的科研探索，才是他的終極追求。

科研是陳劍平的職業(yè)更是事業(yè)。在工作之外，陳劍平可不是成天想著數(shù)據(jù)走路都會(huì)撞上樹(shù)干的老夫子。

到過(guò)西方三十幾個(gè)國(guó)家的陳劍平，出國(guó)時(shí)只要擠得出時(shí)間，就會(huì)去欣賞、購(gòu)買油畫(huà)。陳家的客廳掛著擺著大大小小十幾幅油畫(huà)。正中墻上最大的那幅寬約1.5米高也超過(guò)1米，畫(huà)面是一派安逸的田園風(fēng)光，尖頂房，參天樹(shù)，藍(lán)天白云，小河小船。小孩騎著馬，女人在洗衣，遠(yuǎn)景還有垂釣者……那是陳劍平花了4000多歐元不遠(yuǎn)萬(wàn)里從荷蘭買回來(lái)的。

陳劍平叫我走進(jìn)儲(chǔ)藏室看看，里面還有一幅又一幅緊裹著包裝的油畫(huà)，他說(shuō)有不少?gòu)膰?guó)外買回來(lái)還沒(méi)打開(kāi)掛出來(lái)過(guò)。

不要以為陳劍平是為了投資才買油畫(huà)。他說(shuō)自己只是看著養(yǎng)眼，喜歡這些畫(huà)面上的山水田野，寧?kù)o淡定。而阡陌縱橫蜿蜒小河這些景象，是他熟悉的“三農(nóng)”風(fēng)光，而油畫(huà)的寫(xiě)實(shí)技法讓他看到水是水、樹(shù)是樹(shù)，直白如同照片，更像科學(xué)一樣率真。

陳劍平的妻子是著名越劇演員，她主演的《九斤姑娘》，陳劍平不僅對(duì)劇情爛熟于心，連唱詞都記得一清二楚，有時(shí)臺(tái)上演員唱錯(cuò)一句他都可以聽(tīng)出來(lái)。

經(jīng)?？丛絼〉年悇ζ讲粫?huì)唱越劇。但有次妻子在外拍電視劇《楊乃武平冤記》，陳劍平去探班，一時(shí)興起，友情客串穿上戲服扮了個(gè)官老爺，雖然只有一句臺(tái)詞，扮相和氣質(zhì)都很入戲，贏得一片喝彩聲。和他同臺(tái)出演楊乃武的，就是現(xiàn)如今大紅大紫的余少群。

陳劍平工作再忙，也會(huì)擠出時(shí)間和妻子女兒去看電影。問(wèn)他最近看了什么片子？回答陪妻子去看了《金陵十三釵》，和女兒去看了講企鵝一家的《快樂(lè)的大腳》。

清明節(jié)假期的第一天，我如約在9點(diǎn)半按響陳劍平家的門鈴，一次又一次卻沒(méi)人應(yīng)。無(wú)奈我只能打電話，鈴響很多次，才聽(tīng)到一個(gè)睡意矇眬的聲音接起電話。原來(lái)頭天晚上夫妻倆在看諜戰(zhàn)連續(xù)劇，開(kāi)始說(shuō)看到12點(diǎn)就休息，可是看得入迷欲罷不能，居然一直看到凌晨4點(diǎn)鐘。

這樣的放松對(duì)陳劍平是一種難得的奢侈。大部分日子他比普通人要付出更多的努力，工作時(shí)常忘記飯點(diǎn)，沒(méi)有周末，總是成為“空中飛人”，工作安排爬滿周歷本上的每個(gè)空格。只要在杭州，堅(jiān)持每周三晚上和實(shí)驗(yàn)室成員交流工作。他經(jīng)常乘半夜三更的紅眼航班回家，到家后必定打開(kāi)電子郵箱，如果有他帶的博士、碩士的科研文章，他就立即看過(guò)提出意見(jiàn)反饋回去，從不過(guò)夜。有時(shí)半夜想到什么科研新思路，也會(huì)打電話給實(shí)驗(yàn)室助手。

那天，陳劍平抱來(lái)一大摞書(shū)給我看，都是有關(guān)人生哲學(xué)的，其中被譽(yù)為中國(guó)最頂尖的文化大師季羨林的有三本：《讀書(shū)與做人》《我的人生感悟》和《講真話》，還有于丹的著作等等。這些書(shū)都是陳劍平在機(jī)場(chǎng)候機(jī)樓或者所住賓館的小書(shū)店買的，基本上在買的時(shí)間段一口氣看完，之后要引用可以信手拈來(lái)，潛在的文化浸淫自然不言而喻。

雖然陳劍平自己喜歡油畫(huà)，但是他送給中國(guó)工程院郭予元院士八十壽辰的禮物卻是一個(gè)國(guó)畫(huà)立軸。他打開(kāi)畫(huà)作，告訴我畫(huà)上題寫(xiě)的蘇東坡那句“一蓑煙雨任平生”是他特意選的，取的就是那份風(fēng)輕云淡。正如陳劍平所言：“這是郭先生一生寫(xiě)照，也是我自己的人生感悟?！?/p>

科技在右，是因?yàn)閷?duì)陳劍平而言，沒(méi)有什么比科技更重要；

而文化在左，因?yàn)殛悇ζ绞莻€(gè)有文化的科學(xué)家?！?/p>

Chen Jianping: Man of Science and Culture

By Feng Yingping

49-year-old scientist Chen Jianping was elected academician of China Academy of Engineering in November 2011. He is one of the only two academicians Zhejiang had in 2011. The success story of the agricultur-al scientist was seemingly foretold by two anecdotes in his boyhood years in Yinzhou, a key district of Ningbo, which is a port city of Zhejiang Province. At 13, Chen Jianping built a wooden chair by himself. The chair does not have a nail. The self-taught car-penter made all the tenons and sockets so that he was able to put all the parts together without using a single nail. The chair is still in the ancestral house of the Chen family. He did not have a pair of shoes bought until he was in his early teen years. He wore the shoes only when it was a fine day and when the road was not sticky. He would walk barefoot for about 5 kilometers and it was not until he saw the gate of the school that he cleaned his feet and put on the precious shoes.

The boyhood anecdotes relate how he translates his dream into reality and how he persists. With this knowledge of his past, no one would find it difficult to understand how the scientist has traveled barefoot all the way through his journey of science.

He assumed presidency of the Zhejiang Academy of Agricul-tural Sciences (ZAAS) ten years ago. Zhejiang is by no means a powerhouse of agriculture. However, archaeological discoveries at Hemudu, a prehistory site near Ningbo, indicate that our ancestors at Hemudu grew Chinas and probably the worlds first rice crop; archaeological discoveries at the Shangshan site indicate that local residents grew rice about 10,000 years ago. With such deep roots in history, Zhejiang plays a leading part in Chinas agricultural studies.

Upon graduating from Zhejiang Agricultural University in 1985, Chen Jianping started working at Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences. During the 27 years, he studied abroad three times. In 1990, 27-year-old Chen did a research project in Britain and accom-plished a breakthrough by detecting the barley mild mosaic virus within the bodies of fungus spores. His professor and other eminent researchers had tried in vain to find the virus. This discovery is widely considered a milestone in plant virology. In 1998 and 2004, Chen made two other breakthrough discoveries in plant virology and he is widely recognized in the world for his central contribu-tion. For his outstanding research results, Chen has been honored with prestigious awards and medals at national and provincial level.

The other day, I had a long conversation with Chen. The conver-sation enabled me to understand why he is such a brilliant scientist and a highly competent president of the ZAAS. Chen Jianping says his first commitment is to the presidency of the academy and the academician status is secondary. “Being an academician helps me do a better job of my research work. Being president of the ZAAS helps all the colleagues do a better research job. The former is my individual pursuit and the latter is my obligation. Since I have as-sumed this presidency, it is my obligation to do my best.”

As his individual research results are not enough for the ZAAS, he knows he needs to build the academy up. He was the first in the countrys institutes of agricultural sciences to formulate a charter and build up a system for development and operations. Chen has spared no efforts to find talents to head research projects at the ZAAS. He emphasizes team spirit and understands the importance of building up a team of talents. Since he became the president of ZAAS, he has nurtured 17 doctoral students and 40 masters.

Dr. Tao Yuezhi is one of the first talents Chen Jianping success-fully engaged to work for the ZAAS. After attaining PhD degrees from Cambridge, Dr. Tao and his wife worked in Australia for more than ten years. His wife came to Zhejiang to commercialize her re-search results and Dr. Tao received an offer from Zhejiang Univer-sity. As he specializes in molecular breeding, he was recommended to visit the ZAAS. Chen Jianping and Tao hit off immediately and Chen invited Tao to join the team. Tao hesitated because he had meant to teach at Zhejiang University. Tao spent a brief period in Hangzhou before he went back to Australia. To his surprise, he received a letter from Chen Jianping shortly after he was back in Australia. The brief letter was sincerity itself, inviting Tao to work at the ZAAS. Tao was touched and joined the ZAAS. At that time, he was one of the few talents working for ZAAS. Now the ZAAS boasts dozens of researchers who are back from overseas.

Chen comments on his life and career succinctly this way: sci-ence is his career and administration is not. According to Chinas academic system, the presidency of the ZAAS is equivalent to the directorship of government department at provincial level. That aspect of his status is not what he cares. He cares his responsibility for agricultural sciences. As president of the ZAAS, his top prior-ity is the countrys food security. China needs 5,000 billion kilos of cereal a year to feed the people whereas viruses and insects destroy 500 billion kilos of cereal output a year. The research projects he heads at the ZAAS are meant to fight viruses in barley, wheat, rice and corn so as to boost food output as much as possible.

Every March and April, Chen travels busily all over the country to visit barley and wheat production areas. He watches crops and holds lectures and chats with first-line crop protection technicians and farmers.

Chen commits himself to science research. He is by no means a scholar who, totally absorbed in his thinking, bumps into trees or land poles. He is a man of culture. He has visited more than 30 countries in the world. During his visits, he managed to find time to visit galleries and buy oil paintings. The sitting room at his home is decorated with more than 10 oil paintings of various sizes. The largest one, a centerpiece in the central wall, is an oil painting that is 1.5 meter wide and 1 meter tall. He bought the landscape for 4 thousand Euros. The storeroom holds more paintings still in wraps, some of which he has not found time to unpack. These artworks are not investments. He buys oil paintings for appreciation only. These landscapes calm him down. He likes realistic touches of these paint-ings because they remind him of rural scenes.

His wife is a Yueju Opera artist. Chen is familiar with her plays so much that he can recite arias line by line in a play she stars. One day while visiting with his wife on a shooting location with a crew for a television version of a Yueju Opera play, he was given an offer so irresistible that he put on costumes and acted as a government official of old time, an role that spoke only one line. His perform-ance was highly appreciated. He is a family man. He once watched a series of spy drama all the night with his wife until four oclock in the morning. He goes to movies with his wife and their daughter frequently.

He buys books at airports and hotels and read them up. Many of the books he reads traveling around are about philosophy, life, about how to be a better person, how to use time more efficiently.

The cultured president of the ZAAS has long since decided that culture is the decisive factor of the future of the ZAAS. In order to boost the ZAAS culture, he presided over the task of publishing a memorial brochure in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ZAAS. Chen believes that the brochure helps carry on the commitment and dedication of the scientists of the ZAAS of the last 100 years over to the future. □