Story of Zhao Zisen, Father of China’s Optical Fiber

By Wang Jikai & Zhang Jian

Unlocking your phone, news messages in QQ and WeChat keep popping up.

The same happens when you start your computer—various pages grab your attention...

All these have to be attributed to an old man. He is Zhao Zisen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, also known as the Father of China's Optical Fiber.

Mr. Zhao, now 86 years old, sat down with us for an interview recently.

In the year 1932, Zhao was born into a family which ran a small clothing workshop in Luwan District, Shanghai.

In the year 1937, the Battle of Shanghai broke out. Seeing two Japanese soldiers taking eggs from a merchant without paying, a relative of Zhao Zisen devised a method to make the two soldiers bend over, and their eggs got broken in the pockets. Fueled with anger, the soldiers kicked Zhao Zisen's mother and other relatives down on the ground and forced them to kneel down to them.

Turning around, Zhao's mother rushed to the kitchen, picked up the knife, and wanted to fight with the soldiers, but was stopped by their relatives.

“Being conquered is miserable! I then made up my mind to build my country great with my knowledge.” Recalling the scene, Mr. Zhao took off his glasses and wiped his eyes.

Mr. Zhao's experience could be made into a serial drama.

In 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded. After graduating from high school, Zhao had to make his first important choice in life—the college entrance examination.

“Public universities are cheaper than private ones, and all my three sisters were admitted to private ones. For budget reasons, I applied to a public one—the Agricultural School at Zhejiang University.” He, however, found that he was learning calculus, cytology, and biology.

Disappointed, Zhao decided to take the entrance exam again.

In the next year, he was admitted to Fudan University. “I selected the department of physics, but was transferred to the department of Chinese for low marks, so I never registered.” Later, he was admitted to Utopia University, which then merged with Shanghai Jiao Tong University. At last, Zhao Zisen got access to electronics and telecommunications that had intrigued him since he was a kid. He achieved excellent scores in his subjects.

Following his graduation in 1954, Zhao became a teacher at Wuhan Posts and Telecommunications School. The polytechnic school later became FiberHome Technologies Group. His career as a teacher lasted nearly 20 years, first with secondary students, and then graduate students.

In 1973, Zhao Zisen happened to know that the United States was engaged in fiber-optic communications.

Glass fiber for communication? No one believed it was possible back then.

“Since no one believes it, I will make you believe.”

Next to the toilet Mr. Zhao built a lab.

Without proper equipment, he used old machines to process the materials; without precise compensators, he managed to do it with screws and plasticine.

In an experiment, he accidentally sprayed silicon tetrachloride liquid into his right eye, which immediately became red and swollen. Severe pain followed, he fainted and fell down on the ground...

He finally made the glass fiber.

At the exhibition of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in May 1977, Zhao used his own optical fiber to transmit black and white signals to the television. Zhong Fuxiang, the then Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, “was totally shocked.” Soon, fiberoptic communication was listed, exceptionally, as a national key research project.

Mr. Zhao led his team in tackling optical fiber, laser devices, and communication processor—the three components of optical fiber communication.

In March of 1977, the team produced China's first step-type quartz fiber of short-wavelength for practical uses; in April of 1980, long-wavelength fiber was made, qualified for real applications.

On December 31, 1982, China's first practical fiber communication system was adopted in Wuhan Urban Telephone Network, marking the start of digital communications in China.

In the next decade, Mr. Zhao and his team used large-capacity and high-speed fiber-optic communication lines to connect all parts of China.

Making optical fiber possible requires world-class technologies, and Zhao found Philips, a Dutch company, an ideal partner. After strenuous research and negotiation, the two established a joint venture, YOFC, which is now a world-renowned company.

Mr. Zhao had even bigger dreams. He planned to build an “Optics Valley of China” in Wuhan, but Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Changchun were tough competitors.

Thanks to unremitting efforts of academicians such as Mr. Zhao Zisen and the People's Government and the Party Committee of Hubei Province,

China's photo electronic industry base—“Optics Valley of China” was officially born in Wuhan.

The valley began with an optical fiber made more than 40 years ago, with just “a beam of light” in it. Here, optoelectronics, laser, small and medium displays, memory chips, and other industries began to catch up and take the lead in the global market.

“China has now occupied more than half of the global optical fiber market. But we must keep innovating and improving our optical fibers!” Behind the glasses, Mr. Zhao's eyes are shining.

一個(gè)人 一束光 一座城——“中國光纖之父”趙梓森故事

文/王際凱 張健

打開手機(jī)，QQ和微信的消息不停閃現(xiàn)。

打開電腦，五花八門的頁面瞬間彈出……

這一切，都不得不提到一個(gè)老人。他就是中國工程院院士趙梓森——中國光纖之父。

最近，我們采訪了86歲高齡的趙梓森。

這位享譽(yù)世界的光纖科學(xué)家，1932年出生于上海盧灣區(qū)一個(gè)小型制衣作坊家庭。

1937年淞滬會(huì)戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)。一天，在街上看到兩個(gè)日本兵拿了商販幾個(gè)雞蛋不給錢，趙梓森的一位親戚使了個(gè)招，讓那兩個(gè)日本兵彎腰撿東西，結(jié)果雞蛋碎在口袋里，日本兵當(dāng)即惱羞成怒，幾腳就把趙梓森的母親和親戚踹倒在地，強(qiáng)迫他們跪在馬路上。

轉(zhuǎn)身，趙梓森的母親拿菜刀要跟日本兵拼命，被親戚攔住。

“亡國奴的滋味不好受啊！那時(shí)我就暗下決心，立志將來一定要科技報(bào)國。”回憶到這里，趙梓森摘下眼鏡，擦了擦眼角。

趙梓森的求學(xué)經(jīng)歷，可以拍一部青春勵(lì)志劇。

1949年，新中國成立。高中畢業(yè)的趙梓森面臨人生第一次抉擇——高考。

趙梓森大失所望，決定重考大學(xué)。

第二年，趙梓森考上了復(fù)旦大學(xué)。“我報(bào)的是物理系，因?yàn)槌煽儧]達(dá)到，被錄到中文系，我就沒去。”后轉(zhuǎn)到上海大同大學(xué)，幸好被合并到上海交通大學(xué)，終于學(xué)上了從小感興趣的電子學(xué)、通信學(xué)等，且成績優(yōu)異。

1954年趙梓森大學(xué)畢業(yè)，當(dāng)上武漢郵電學(xué)校老師。這所中專，就是如今武漢郵電科學(xué)研究院的前身。他先教中專生，后帶研究生，站講臺(tái)近20年。

1973年，趙梓森偶然聽說美國在搞光纖通信。

玻璃絲還能用于通信？在那個(gè)年代，人們都認(rèn)為不可能。

“你們不相信，我就做個(gè)成品出來。”

于是，趙梓森在廁所旁搭起個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)室。

沒有設(shè)備，就用舊機(jī)床加工；沒有精密調(diào)準(zhǔn)器，就用螺絲釘加橡皮泥拼接。

城鎮(zhèn)化過程中一部分農(nóng)民轉(zhuǎn)移到城市實(shí)現(xiàn)農(nóng)民的市民化，而留在農(nóng)村的農(nóng)民也要通過城鄉(xiāng)統(tǒng)籌一體化發(fā)展實(shí)現(xiàn)農(nóng)民職業(yè)化和農(nóng)業(yè)現(xiàn)代化。這必然對(duì)農(nóng)村社會(huì)生活和秩序產(chǎn)生重大影響，從而影響村民自治制度。黨的十九大報(bào)告明確提出實(shí)施鄉(xiāng)村振興戰(zhàn)略，其中包括“加強(qiáng)農(nóng)村基層基礎(chǔ)工作，健全自治、法治、德治相結(jié)合的鄉(xiāng)村治理體系”。本文擬在分析和認(rèn)識(shí)城鎮(zhèn)化對(duì)村民自治的影響的基礎(chǔ)上，因應(yīng)這種影響從自治與法治的結(jié)合上提出完善村民自治制度的建議，以期對(duì)鄉(xiāng)村治理體系的完善有所裨益。

一次實(shí)驗(yàn)，趙梓森不小心把四氯化硅液體噴進(jìn)右眼，右眼當(dāng)即又紅又腫，伴隨著劇痛，他暈倒在地……

玻璃絲終于搗鼓出來。

1977年5月，在郵電部展覽會(huì)上，趙梓森用自行研制的光纖，將黑白電視信號(hào)傳輸?shù)诫娨暀C(jī)上。時(shí)任郵電部部長鐘夫翔“看呆了”。不久，光纖通信被破格列為國家級(jí)重點(diǎn)攻關(guān)項(xiàng)目。

光纖、激光器、通信機(jī)，光纖通信的三個(gè)基本要素，趙梓森帶領(lǐng)團(tuán)隊(duì)一個(gè)個(gè)進(jìn)行攻關(guān)。

1977年3月，團(tuán)隊(duì)成功拉制出了中國第一根實(shí)用型、短波長和階躍型石英光纖；1980年4月，又拉制出長波長光纖，最終達(dá)到實(shí)際應(yīng)用要求。

1982年12月31日，中國光纖通信的第一個(gè)實(shí)用化系統(tǒng)，正式進(jìn)入武漢市市話網(wǎng)，標(biāo)志著中國進(jìn)入光纖數(shù)字化通信時(shí)代。

此后10年里，趙梓森和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)將大容量高傳速的光纖通信線路，連通到祖國的大江南北。

要搞光纖就必須達(dá)到世界先進(jìn)水平，趙梓森為此瞄準(zhǔn)了荷蘭飛利浦公司。歷經(jīng)艱辛調(diào)研和談判，雙方于1985年建立了中外合作公司——長飛公司，如今已成為世界知名上市大公司。

趙梓森的夢(mèng)想一個(gè)比一個(gè)高。他醞釀在武漢建設(shè)“中國光谷”，但廣州、上海、長春都在爭奪這個(gè)戰(zhàn)略性項(xiàng)目。

結(jié)果，經(jīng)過趙梓森等院士專家和湖北省委省政府的不懈努力，2001年，中國光電子產(chǎn)業(yè)基地——“武漢·中國光谷”正式誕生。

40多年前，從一根光纖出發(fā)。如今，“一束光”已成為“一座城”。這座城里，光電子、激光、中小顯示面板、存儲(chǔ)器芯片等產(chǎn)業(yè)，開始在全球產(chǎn)業(yè)體系中并跑甚至領(lǐng)跑。

“中國光纖，已占據(jù)世界光纖市場的半壁江山，但我們還要不斷創(chuàng)新，做更多更高水平的光纖！”眼鏡背后，趙梓森雙眼炯炯有神。