"Promoting the spirit of scientists" I and Jida Chemical Story

Northeast Renmin University (predecessor of Jilin University) is one of the first comprehensive universities created after the founding of New China. The Department of Chemistry was established in the autumn of 1952.

In 1952, after graduating from Shanghai Jiaotong University in three years, I was assigned to the Ministry of Education of the Northeast Education. On October 11, I came from Shenyang to the Department of Chemistry, Changchun Northeast Renmin University. Since I came to the latest and came to Changchun for the first time, the school sent a big carriage to the train station to pick me up. Because when I came out of Shanghai, the weather was still very warm. At that time, I only wore a shirt, a wool vest, and a single pants on my lower body. When I first arrived in Changchun, I felt the cold wind pierced when I got off the train (the climate of Changchun at that time was far cold than now, and the "Eleventh" National Day parade often flew down in heavy snow). On the way from the railway station to the school, I was freezing on the carriage, and I had to wrap a thin quilt brought from Shanghai on my body. This is my first impression to Changchun -it is too cold. After going to school and registering, I invested in the creation of the Department of Chemistry. Because the Department of Chemistry is a newly established teaching unit, it has created thousands of work, and all teaching preparations are from scratch. Therefore, freshmen began to report in October and started classes in November. At that time, the country advocated "studying from the Soviet Union", especially in the science and education community. At that time, colleges and universities were adjusted by colleges and universities at that time. University teaching plans, teaching outlines, curriculum settings, teaching materials preparation, and the establishment and establishment of schools and teaching institutions were all studied from the Soviet Union. In this way, the first problem to be solved is that teachers must be organized to assault Russian, otherwise all changes will not be able to talk about it, and work cannot be carried out. In this situation, the school and department decided to use the month before the new students to organize all teachers to assault Russian.

After I arrived at the school, I settled a little, so I quickly followed the teachers of the department to assault Russian. Because all teachers are completely strange to Russian, except for Cao Xizhang and Pang Wenqin from Northeast Normal University, the assault learning is also the most basic letter. Especially I came to the latest. For the end, I must hold my head every day and memorize more than 100 Russian words. In order to help and tutor our "assault learning", the school deliberately transferred a number of students from the Russian Department as a counselor to help and coach us to complete the learning tasks of three units a day. In this way, the one -month strengthening assault learning is still quite good for us. From the beginning, I did not know a letter to Russia. After a month, I had more than 3,000 words, and I could basically read Russian professional books with dictionaries. In addition, I used to learn and use in teaching and work practice later, and gradually learned the teaching plan, curriculum setting, teaching outline and even teaching books of the Soviet Union.

After a month of study of Russian, I basically know the teachers in the department. Among them, Professor Cai Yisheng from Yanjing University, Professor Tang Aoqing from Peking University, from Northeast Institute of Technology (Shanghai Datong University ) Guan Shizhi and Professor Tao comfortable Sun, and Associate Professor Yi Yifang (analytical chemistry), Xu Jiangjin and Associate Professor Jiyue Wu (organic chemistry) and Tang Yilin (analytical chemistry), Lin Fuqin (organic chemistry), Xu Huijun (organic chemistry), Lu Fengcai Caicai (Organic Chemistry) Lecturers. There are also 10 fresh graduates assigned from all over the country with me. They are Cao Xizhang and Pang Wenqin from Northeast Normal University, Wang Shizheng of Nanjing University, Gu Niancheng of Peking University, Zhang Shixian and Sun Jiazhong of Yanjing University, and Nankai University Liang Yuyuan, Zhang Yunmei of Tongji University, Tong Youyong of Jinling University. What makes me most happy is that when I was studying at Jianguo Middle School in Hangzhou, the old classmate Shen Jiayi, one higher than me, was allocated from Zhejiang University at the time. In addition to the above 22 teachers, the Department of Chemistry has established a party branch. Secretary Zhang Jiazhi, he also serves as a officer of the department. In addition, Liu Weicheng, Wang Jingzhi, officers of office offices, and two departments of the laboratory equipment and drug management from Yanjing University, who were responsible for the laboratory equipment and drug management technicians of the department director of the department. This is these 26 comrades, starting from scratch, united, and hard work, and started the creation of the Department of Chemistry. In the first semester, the following tasks were mainly engaged in the establishment of the department:

1. The enrollment and inorganic chemistry curriculum and experimental teaching of the first undergraduate students of the Department of Chemistry were set up with the leadership and support of the school and department. The first freshman was admitted to a total of 105 students, and only 96 were actually reported. Because it was just liberated at that time, and the Department of Chemistry was just established, the college enrollment system was still very imperfect. At that time, the degree of students admitted was uneven, and their age was different. Among these students enrolled in the first time, there are not many regular high school graduates. 50%are not the first volunteers. More than one third is not regular high school students. Southern students account for one -half of them. Three Class C.

After the first batch of freshmen enrolled, the first thing to encounter was the student's teaching problems. After discussing the school and department leaders, the lecture on the first inorganic chemistry course was held by Professor Tang Aoqing. Teacher Tang not only has a high level of academic level, but also has the teaching experience of general chemistry to the students at Peking University. Teacher Tang lived up to expectations and completed the teaching of inorganic chemistry. It not only encouraged our confidence in work at that time, but also set an example for us. In addition, the more urgent job at that time was the preparation of the inorganic chemical experimental course, and the first of which was the teacher with experiments. After research by the Department of Department and Teaching and Research Office, it was decided that Pang Wenqin, Wang Shizheng, Tong Youyong, Shen Jiayi, Liang Yuyuan, and six instructor to undertake the experimental courses of three classes of A, B, and C, respectively (two people brought one class). Next, what is urgently needed to solve the laboratory venues and the most basic experimental equipment, and how to open inorganic chemical experimental courses in accordance with the requirements of the Soviet teaching outline. At the beginning, even experimental venues and facilities, the most basic glass instruments and chemical experimental drugs, experimental equipment, textbooks, book materials, etc. are not available. This became a difficulty that hindered in front of us at that time. We need to break through and find ways to solve them one by one. At the beginning, it was an experimental place. At that time, the six our teaching assistants and several workers and several workers were first sorted out the basement behind the gray building as a student's laboratory. There are neither experimental desk nor gas pipelines, and there are no even upper or sewer pipes. These facilities are the basic conditions for students to do inorganic chemical experiments.

As the start time is approaching, the production and installation of these facilities is too late and there is no enough funds to purchase. At that time, Pang Wenqin was arranged as the experimental team leader to be responsible for experimental preparation. After accepting the task, she immediately discussed the countermeasures with the experiment and started to solve these problems nearby. First of all, we are simple because we are bad. With a few flat wooden boards found at the time, we spelled into the experimental desk, and then asked the workers to install a water pipe at both ends of the experimental table and install a faucet instead of the water; We put a bucket instead of the water under the water faucet. After the bucket is full, the students are poured out and poured out (see the photos taken at the time). This is repeated. The relationship between myself and Northeast Normal University has borrowed a few alcohol lamps from the Department of Chemistry of the Normal University. We will actively find ways to pick up ink bottles and wash them as simple alcohol lamps. Drugs, we borrowed some medicines used by students from Northeast Normal University ... Just like this, the use of waste, and finally issued the students' first inorganic chemical experiment under extremely simple and difficult conditions. class.

Figure 1: The alcohol lamp made by the students to do experiments

Figure 2: Experiments made by students with wooden strips do experiments

During the experimental class, we divided the students into 15 groups, each of which was divided into two groups, and two people brought one class. We need to prepare the experiments in advance before the formal experiment, and we need to prepare for the experimental lesson through the trial lecture. Although the experimental conditions are poor, we all have a feeling of broom. After all, it is the laboratory we established in person. Therefore, we are very seriously prepared for lessons and take good students' experiments seriously. At the beginning of the establishment of the Department, the chemicals of the Department of Foundation were under such conditions, which opened and completed the inorganic chemistry experimental teaching of first -year students.

Now, using wooden strips to build an experimental table, use ink bottles as wine lamps, and use buckets to make water into history have long become history, but this is a true portrayal of the hard entrepreneurship of chemistry, but it is deeply engraved in the hearts of several generations of chemicals. And as a spiritual inheritance.

2. The establishment of the teaching institution of the Department of Chemistry and the discussion and formulation of the teaching system and teaching plan -start to learn from the Soviet Union

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Higher Education at that time stipulated that the colleges and universities affiliated to the school, the setting of education institutions, the teaching plan, and the teaching outline of the curriculum must be fully studied, such as the specialization of schools, departments and departments, and departments and departments and departments of disciplines. Three levels of teaching institutions at the Teaching and Research Office, etc., run schools completely according to the Soviet model. After many faculty and discussions of all faculty staff, the Department of Chemistry established four teaching and research rooms including three specialization (one level of the professional in the Soviet Education System at the time) according to the Soviet model, three of which Specialized Teaching and Research Office: Analysis of Chemistry (Director: Yi Yanfang), Organic Chemistry (Director: Tao Muxun), and Physical Chemistry Teaching and Research Office (Director: Tang Aoqing). Because inorganic chemistry was under the leadership of Professor Guan Shizhi at the time, it was only composed of Cao Xizhang, Pang Wenqin, and Wang Shi, and the four third grades of my third -year teaching assistant teaching assistant. The strength was too thin. Teaching -oriented inorganic chemistry teaching and research rooms, first lectures on the inorganic chemistry course, as the director of the teaching and research office. At the beginning of the second semester, Professor Guan Shizhi was the director of the teaching and research office. In this way, under the leadership of the department director, Professor Cai Yisheng, the system of the four teaching and research rooms was established in the chemistry department.

3. Discussion and division of labor for subsequent teaching plans and curriculum settings

Except for the inorganic chemistry teaching and research room, it mainly focused on the first freshmen's teaching work. The other three teaching and research rooms were concentrated on their strengths to study and discuss the intermediate basic courses and related specialized teaching plans and teaching outlines of the Soviet General University issued by the Ministry of Higher Education. Combined with the setting of this professional course, the division of labor and preparation of teachers and the study planning plan outside the school, as well as the construction of related laboratories and the purchase plan of major instruments and equipment. In retrospect, we must not only work hard to participate in the creation activities and tasks of the above -mentioned departments of the Department of Chemistry. For me, it is more important to complete the teaching tasks of my students. Since I am a student who graduated in advance for three years in college, the courses I was studying at the university were mainly imitation and American systems (the first freshman "General Chemistry"). Basically never learned. Coupled with the inorganic chemistry taught by Teacher Tang at that time, it not only covered the main knowledge required by the Soviet teaching outline, but also added some structural chemistry content. The lecturer of Tang Yilin who came to write part of the lectures in cooperation in order to remedy the difficulties caused by the difficulty in learning because there was no inorganic chemical textbook at that time. Coupled with the lack of the Russian version of the Soviet textbooks and reference books at that time, in the situation at the time, "not big dare" to consult English books and materials. Although I worked overtime day and night, because of the lack of books and materials, I can refer to it. Therefore, it is difficult to do well in teaching. Fortunately, at that time, the Department of Chemistry was arranged for the first time. I did not expect that Cao Xizhang and I were arranged to work in the same office as Lecturer Tang Aoqing and Tang Yilin. Although I was very happy at the beginning, I always felt quite restrained when I got along. After all, facing a well -known national professor in the country. After 2-3 months of getting along, it also includes activities such as Marxism-Leninism and union groups of Montelism, and after many times to ask Teacher Tang to ask Teacher Tang to discuss academic questions, I feel that he is very kind. When he asked him the question, he always discussed with you well and created a good learning way for me. If there are difficulties, he can ask him and Tang Yilin to ask him and discuss it in time. At that time, I was gradually growing under the enthusiastic guidance and care of Mr. Tang and Tang Yilin, and gradually adapted to the requirements of teaching work. In the end, when the inorganic chemistry and experimental courses ended, especially after the end of the inorganic checked period, the two students in charge of the key counseling passed the test with the "pass" score, and I was relieved. I completed my first semester of teaching tasks, and then I was particularly happy to usher in my first spring in the Department of Chemistry of the Northeast People's Congress.

About the Author

Xu Ruman, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, internationally renowned molecular sieve and porous material scholars, founders and founders of my country's "inorganic synthetic chemistry" disciplines, and pioneers of water and heat synthetic chemistry. For the first time in the world, the scientific system of "modern inorganic synthetic chemistry" discipline. In 1952, he was one of the first creators of the Department of Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of Northeast China (predecessor).

Source: School of Chemistry, Jilin University

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