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Farewell, father of our space program

By Wang Zhuoqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-07 08:49

People pay their last respects to Qian Xuesen, the father of China's space program, at a funeral in Babaoshan Cemetery in Beijing on Friday. [China Daily/Feng Yongbin]

There were wreaths and elegiac couplets. There were leaders, and students and former colleagues. And there were thousands of tearful eyes and muffled sobs.

Friday's overcast sky hung like an extra pall of gloom over Beijing as thousands of mourners, in queues, moved slowly toward the memorial hall of Babaoshan Cemetery to pay their last respects to Qian Xuesen.

The father of China's space technology had the same somber but friendly look in the picture that lay in the memorial hall, surrounded by the floral decorations and elegiac couplets presented by his friends and students.

Top State leaders, including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, too, paid their homage to the great soul on Friday.

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Qian, who died on Oct 31 at the age of 98, was cremated after the funeral. The Friday morning ceremony was simple, reflecting the lifestyle the scientist led throughout his illustrious career.

Thousands of people had already paid their tributes to the great scientist at his apartment since Nov 1. Son Qian Yonggang said he was deeply moved to see so many people paying their respects to his father.

Among Qian's many other contributions are his guidance in finalizing China's blueprint to develop jet and rocket technology.

Qian played a significant role in developing China's first satellite, too.

Zheng Nanning, president of Jiaotong University in Xi'an and fellow of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said: "We should remember all intellectuals like Qian for the deep love and devotion they had for the country."

Wu Min, a researcher with China National Petroleum Corporation, could not hold back his tears while talking about the scientist.

Qian has been his idol for years, the 30-year-old said.

"I've been reading about him and his works since childhood," said Wu, who took a day off to attend the funeral. "He is a great scientist and a great patriot."

"We will always share his values and never seek fame or wealth instead we will work for the glory of our country," said Ma Lei, general secretary of the Shanghai Jiaotong University's alumni association. Qian graduated from the Shanghai university in 1934.

For his students, Qian will remain an outstanding teacher and advocator of creative ideas. Wang Baiyi, a former student of Qian at the University of Science and Technology of China, said that "attending Qian's classes was simply a pleasure".

"He was an amazing teacher," Wang said. "He had a resounding voice and wrote enough to fill up three blackboards in one class. We really enjoyed his lectures."

Wang, deputy director of China Institute of Mechanism of the Chinese Academy of Sciences between 1992 and 2001, said many of Qian's students grew up to become pillars of research.

Qian's colleagues will always remember him as a good friend.

Liu Juntao, a senior research fellow with the China Academy of Space Technology, who used to work as Qian's assistant, said: "He was very easygoing. The way he worked still inspires me."

Qian is a role model "who broadens our vision and enhances our love for the country", said Liu Shuhao, a 23-year-old graduate student in Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

"Qian and his contribution to science and research will motivate generations," said Liu Hu, 16, a Beijing Normal University-affiliated middle school that Qian attended as a boy.

Xinhua contributed to the story