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.

一个人 一束光 一座城——“中国光纤之父”赵梓森故事

文/王际凯 张健

打开手机，QQ和微信的消息不停闪现。

打开电脑，五花八门的页面瞬间弹出……

这一切，都不得不提到一个老人。他就是中国工程院院士赵梓森——中国光纤之父。

最近，我们采访了86岁高龄的赵梓森。

这位享誉世界的光纤科学家，1932年出生于上海卢湾区一个小型制衣作坊家庭。

1937年淞沪会战爆发。一天，在街上看到两个日本兵拿了商贩几个鸡蛋不给钱，赵梓森的一位亲戚使了个招，让那两个日本兵弯腰捡东西，结果鸡蛋碎在口袋里，日本兵当即恼羞成怒，几脚就把赵梓森的母亲和亲戚踹倒在地，强迫他们跪在马路上。

转身，赵梓森的母亲拿菜刀要跟日本兵拼命，被亲戚拦住。

“亡国奴的滋味不好受啊！那时我就暗下决心，立志将来一定要科技报国。”回忆到这里，赵梓森摘下眼镜，擦了擦眼角。

赵梓森的求学经历，可以拍一部青春励志剧。

1949年，新中国成立。高中毕业的赵梓森面临人生第一次抉择——高考。

赵梓森大失所望，决定重考大学。

第二年，赵梓森考上了复旦大学。“我报的是物理系，因为成绩没达到，被录到中文系，我就没去。”后转到上海大同大学，幸好被合并到上海交通大学，终于学上了从小感兴趣的电子学、通信学等，且成绩优异。

1954年赵梓森大学毕业，当上武汉邮电学校老师。这所中专，就是如今武汉邮电科学研究院的前身。他先教中专生，后带研究生，站讲台近20年。

1973年，赵梓森偶然听说美国在搞光纤通信。

玻璃丝还能用于通信？在那个年代，人们都认为不可能。

“你们不相信，我就做个成品出来。”

于是，赵梓森在厕所旁搭起个实验室。

没有设备，就用旧机床加工；没有精密调准器，就用螺丝钉加橡皮泥拼接。

城镇化过程中一部分农民转移到城市实现农民的市民化，而留在农村的农民也要通过城乡统筹一体化发展实现农民职业化和农业现代化。这必然对农村社会生活和秩序产生重大影响，从而影响村民自治制度。党的十九大报告明确提出实施乡村振兴战略，其中包括“加强农村基层基础工作，健全自治、法治、德治相结合的乡村治理体系”。本文拟在分析和认识城镇化对村民自治的影响的基础上，因应这种影响从自治与法治的结合上提出完善村民自治制度的建议，以期对乡村治理体系的完善有所裨益。

一次实验，赵梓森不小心把四氯化硅液体喷进右眼，右眼当即又红又肿，伴随着剧痛，他晕倒在地……

玻璃丝终于捣鼓出来。

1977年5月，在邮电部展览会上，赵梓森用自行研制的光纤，将黑白电视信号传输到电视机上。时任邮电部部长钟夫翔“看呆了”。不久，光纤通信被破格列为国家级重点攻关项目。

光纤、激光器、通信机，光纤通信的三个基本要素，赵梓森带领团队一个个进行攻关。

1977年3月，团队成功拉制出了中国第一根实用型、短波长和阶跃型石英光纤；1980年4月，又拉制出长波长光纤，最终达到实际应用要求。

1982年12月31日，中国光纤通信的第一个实用化系统，正式进入武汉市市话网，标志着中国进入光纤数字化通信时代。

此后10年里，赵梓森和他的团队将大容量高传速的光纤通信线路，连通到祖国的大江南北。

要搞光纤就必须达到世界先进水平，赵梓森为此瞄准了荷兰飞利浦公司。历经艰辛调研和谈判，双方于1985年建立了中外合作公司——长飞公司，如今已成为世界知名上市大公司。

赵梓森的梦想一个比一个高。他酝酿在武汉建设“中国光谷”，但广州、上海、长春都在争夺这个战略性项目。

结果，经过赵梓森等院士专家和湖北省委省政府的不懈努力，2001年，中国光电子产业基地——“武汉·中国光谷”正式诞生。

40多年前，从一根光纤出发。如今，“一束光”已成为“一座城”。这座城里，光电子、激光、中小显示面板、存储器芯片等产业，开始在全球产业体系中并跑甚至领跑。

“中国光纤，已占据世界光纤市场的半壁江山，但我们还要不断创新，做更多更高水平的光纤！”眼镜背后，赵梓森双眼炯炯有神。