Mao Yisheng, also known as Tang Chen, was born in January 1896 in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province. He once served as the Vice Chairman of the 6th CPPCC National Committee, the Honorary Chairman of the Central Committee of the Jiusan Society, the Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, and the President of the European and American Students Association. He is a famous bridge expert, scientist, educator and social activist in China.
Mao Yisheng went to the United States to study after graduating from Tangshan Industrial School in 1916. In 1917, he graduated from Cornell University Research Institute with a master's degree in bridge; In 1919, he received a doctor's degree in engineering from the Kaliki Mellon Institute of Technology. After returning to China in 1920 to 1949, he served as a professor of Tangshan Industrial School, a professor and engineering director of Southeast University in Nanjing, a professor and president of Nanjing Hohai University of Technology, a professor of Beiyang University, the president and professor of Tianjin Beiyang Institute of Technology, and the president of Tangshan Institute of Engineering of Jiaotong University; During this period, he served as the director of Jiangsu Water Resources Bureau from 1930 to 1931, the director of Qiantang River Bridge Engineering Department in Zhejiang Province from 1934 to 1937 (up to 1949), the director of Bridge Design Engineering Department of the Ministry of Communications from 1942 to 1943, and the general manager of China Bridge Corporation from 1943 to 1949. From 1949 to 1952, he served as President of China Jiaotong University and Northern Jiaotong University. From 1951 to 1981, he served as the director of the Institute of Railway Technology and the president of the Academy of Railway Sciences.
Comrade Mao Yisheng is a representative of the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a member of the second to sixth CPPCC National Committee, and a vice chairman of the sixth CPPCC National Committee; He was a member of the Standing Committee of the First to Sixth National People's Congress. He served as the Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Jiusan Society since 1958, and became the Honorary Chairman of the Central Committee of the Jiusan Society after 1987.
Mr. Mao Yisheng is a well-known scientist and bridge expert with outstanding achievements at home and abroad. In 1919, his doctoral thesis "Secondary Stress of Frame Structure" at the Kaliki Mellon Institute of Technology in the United States reached the world level at that time. The scientific innovation of this paper was called "Mao's Law", so he was awarded the "Fidelity" Research Medal of his alma mater Cornell University. In the 1930s, he presided over the design and construction of the Qiantang River Bridge, the first modern railway highway bridge designed and built by the Chinese themselves. The achievements of the bridge in engineering technology have enhanced the self-confidence of Chinese people in bridge construction, and made foreign counterparts look at Chinese bridge construction engineers with new eyes. In the 1950s, during the construction of Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, Mao Yisheng served as the chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee composed of more than 20 Chinese and foreign experts. He presided over the committee, solved 14 problems in the construction of Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, and contributed his own technology, experience and wisdom to the first modern bridge built in New China. In 1959, Mao Yisheng served as the head of the structural review team of the Great Hall of the People in the construction of the ten major buildings in the capital. Premier Zhou Enlai designated Mao Yisheng to review the design scheme and sign it, taking responsibility for ensuring the safety of the Great Hall of the People. It reflects the respect and trust of the leading comrades of the Central Committee. In 1978, Mao Yisheng presided over the compilation of the "History of Chinese Ancient Bridge Technology", summarizing our ancient bridge architecture from a technical perspective. He has presided over the Railway Technology Research Institute and the Railway Science Research Institute for 30 years. During his tenure, he put forward the policy of "all for scientific research, scientific research for transportation", presided over the research and development plan of railway scientific research for many times, defined the scientific research priorities for railway transportation, and worked hard to promote international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation. The Institute has developed into a comprehensive professional research institution with complete specialties and strong technical force, provided a large number of scientific research achievements for the production and construction of railway transportation in China, and trained a large number of scientific and technological talents.
Mao Yisheng was awarded the honorary medal by the Chinese Society of Engineers in 1941. In 1947, he was elected as the president of the Chinese Society of Engineering, and he was also elected as an academician of the Central Academy of Engineering; After liberation, he served as the chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Science and Technology, the chairman of the Beijing Association for Science and Technology, and the honorary chairman. He was a member of the Academic Department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the deputy director of the Technical Science Department. He was elected as the chairman of the Chinese Civil Engineering Society since 1953, served as the vice chairman of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology since 1958, and became the honorary chairman of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology in 1986. Comrade Mao Yisheng's achievements in the field of bridge engineering have been widely recognized internationally. As early as 1956, he became an individual member of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering. In 1979, he was awarded the "Outstanding Alumni" Medal of the U.S. Kaliki Mellon University. In 1982, he was elected a foreign academician by the National Academy of Engineering Sciences of the United States, and in 1984, he was elected an honorary member of the Canadian Civil Engineering Society.
Comrade Mao Yisheng is a famous educator. After his return from the United States in 1920, he devoted himself to education until 1952, and served in the education industry for more than 20 years. He has served as professor of five schools, president of two universities, and dean of two colleges. As early as 1926, Mao Yisheng pointed out that China's education "not only retained the soul of feudalism, but also copied the body of Europe and the United States" and advocated reform. He proposed that engineering teaching should integrate theory with practice, "learning before learning, learning while learning", and combine scientific research, teaching and production. He has successively published many papers on the reform and development of engineering education in China, such as the Liberation of Education, Science Education in the New Era, and Principles and Methods of Engineering Education. Comrade Mao Yisheng actively advocated science popularization education. He regarded science popularization as a bridge to China's modernization and advocated the corresponding development of scientific research and science popularization. He has written a large number of scientific and vivid popular science articles, such as "Bridge Talk", "Chinese Stone Arch Bridge", etc. He also edited the Small Series of Natural Science and became a well-known science writer at home and abroad. He once served as the vice chairman of the Chinese Association for Popular Science, and made important contributions to the organization and promotion of popular science creation in China. He paid special attention to the growth of young people, spared no pains and worked hard to guide them to love, learn and use science and devote themselves to the scientific cause of the motherland.
Comrade Mao Yisheng is an energetic social activist. As early as when he was studying in the United States, he served as the vice chairman of the Chinese Student Union in the United States, and established the Chinese Engineering Society in the United States with Luo Ying and others. After liberation, he was one of the outstanding leaders of the Jiusan Society. He served as the vice chairman and honorary chairman of the Central Committee of the Jiusan Society for a long time. He played a bridge role in uniting the vast number of scientific and technological workers and members of the Jiusan Society around the Communist Party of China, strengthening the relationship between the Party and intellectuals, and made important contributions to the progress and development of the Jiusan Society. He also served as the President of the European American Homecoming Association and the Honorary President of the Alumni Association of Jiaotong University, widely uniting intellectuals at home and abroad to serve the construction of the four modernizations. During his tenure as a deputy to the National People's Congress, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and a vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, he worked together with the Communist Party of China and put forward many valuable suggestions for China's socialist revolution and construction, and for the development of China's science and technology. He once led a Chinese scientific and technological delegation to visit the Czech Republic, the Soviet Union, Italy, Switzerland, France, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Japan and the United States, strengthening China's scientific and technological exchanges with these countries, enhancing the friendship between the Chinese people and the people of these countries, and enhancing China's international prestige. He made many friends, engaged in the work of great unity and solidarity among overseas Chinese intellectuals, and often encouraged overseas Chinese to contribute to the construction of the four modernizations of the motherland and the great cause of the reunification of the motherland by "serving the country with doors".
Comrade Mao Yisheng is a patriot who keeps pace with the times. He yearned for brightness and pursued progress all his life. He changed from a democrat who advocated "saving the country through science" and "saving the country through engineering" to a communist. He was born at the end of the Qing Dynasty and grew up at the beginning of the Republic of China. At the beginning of the 1911 Revolution, he was going to college and was once ready to join the army. Later, he heard Mr. Sun Yat sen's speech that the Chinese revolution needed a large army of armed struggle and a large army of building the motherland, and he was determined to take the road of "saving the country through science and technology". After he got his doctor's degree in the United States, he returned to the poor and turbulent motherland with the strong feeling of "my career is in China", worked hard and cultivated many engineering and technical talents for the country. He presided over the design and construction of the Qiantang River Bridge, breaking the monopoly of European and American countries on the design and construction of large-scale modern bridges in China. When Kou invaded Hangzhou on the same day and the Qiantang River Bridge was about to fall into the enemy's hands, he helped military personnel blow up the bridge he built and evacuated to the rear with all the information about the bridge. In 1975, he donated these valuable information to the country in person, playing an important role in the construction of the four modernizations. After the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan, he witnessed the Kuomintang reactionaries destroy democracy and launch civil war, and realized that only the Communist Party of China led the people to rise up for revolution could save China. Therefore, on the eve of Shanghai's liberation, he refused to go to Taiwan. According to the instructions of the underground organization of the Communist Party of China, he took the opportunity to serve as the Secretary General of the Shanghai Municipal Government and made contributions to the protection of Shanghai's factories, organs and schools, as well as the protection of the 300 progressive students in Longhua Prison. In 1949, he was invited to go north to attend the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, that is, he was determined to support the leadership of the Communist Party of China. He believes that the Communist Party of China is the chief designer of building a new China. During the ten years of turmoil, he was in adversity and never wavered in his belief in the Party and communism. He sincerely supported the correct line, principles and policies since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. In 1987, he joined the Communist Party of China with honor and realized his long cherished wish. He said: "Joining the Communist Party of China is my wish for many years, which is the summary of my life experience.".
Mao Yisheng is open-minded, understands the general situation, considers the overall situation, is enterprising and ready to help others. He has friends all over the world. His life is rich and colorful. It is the life of a firm patriot, a progressive winner, a life of serving the people, and a life of transforming from a democrat to a communist.
