People paid their final respects to Yuan Longping – "the Father of Hybrid Rice" – during his farewell ceremony on May 24 in Changsha, capital city of Central China's Hunan province, according to local media reports.

Having spent over five decades in hybrid rice research, the academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering helped China achieve a magnificent feat – feeding nearly one-fifth of the world's population with less than 9 percent of the world's total land.

Yuan also had connections with Quzhou in East China's Zhejiang province and he once inscribed a special inscription on July 6, 2017 for Wulian village, Changshan county – "To Wulian village, Changshan county: Farming-reading culture – hereditary treasure".

Farming-reading was not only central to the land-based way of life, it also become the means to a fundamental combination of farming and studies during the agrarian age – dating back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1911).

Zhou Huacheng, a member of the Chinese Writers Association and a writer from Changshan, affectionately recalled the moment he first met Yuan.

"I had been paid attention to Yuan. Every spring, my scientist friends often meet him in the fields in Hainan province, where they did scientific research. They also said it was not easy for Yuan to keep working in the fields at such an age."

Zhuo added: "Yuan solved the problem of food for the Chinese people, which deserves our respect and deep mourning."

His hometown Wulian village will continue to carry on the spiritual tradition of farming-reading culture. "I also hope that more urban people can come to our village and gain spiritual strength in our paddy fields," Zhou added.

"To Wulian village, Changshan county: Farming-reading culture – hereditary treasure", an inscription from Yuan Longping – the "Father of Hybrid Rice" on July 6, 2017. [Photo/WeChat account: quzhoufb]