Zhu Kezhen Complete Works (Volume 4)

Author: ZHU Kezhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: This volume collects ZHU Kezhen's articles, conference speeches, work reports, prefaces, proposals, peer review comments, letters, inscriptions, poems, the first and revised editions of his monograph Phenology, as well as personal collections of his intellectual autobiography, application letter for Party membership, resume, and supporting documents—totaling 171 pieces. In 1960, during the Three Years of Difficult Times, ZHU Kezhen, already 70 years old, still traveled extensively and engaged in fieldwork in remote and impoverished areas. Resource surveys, desertification control, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, nature conservation, and science-based "support for agriculture" were the themes of his thoughts and actions from 1960 to 1965. In 1962, at the age of 72, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of joining the Chinese Communist Party. During the Cultural Revolution, although ZHU Kezhen was included on a special protection list and thus avoided severe persecution, he was in fact abruptly removed from his leadership position. During his forced "retirement," he made full use of the rare time he had to dedicate his efforts to two projects that had long interested him and on which he had accumulated substantial experience over the years: one was the meticulous writing of Preliminary Study on Climate Change in China Over the Past 5,000 Years, and the other was the revision of Phenology in collaboration with others. The period covered in this volume was marked by frequent political turmoil. Amid persistent confusion, ZHU Kezhen's greatest concern remained the fate of the nation, the suffering of the people, and the future of the scientific cause. His intellectual autobiography, application letter for Party membership, and many letters reflect the ideological path of a certain category of elderly intellectuals of that era who earnestly sought "reform" and rejected their "old selves." This book adheres to the principle of "preserving authenticity" and strives to present ZHU Kezhen's academic achievements and life journey as accurately as possible, reflecting the historical process of political changes and social and cultural transformations in modern China.