Agricultural scientist who bred the first high-yield 杂交水稻 (hybrid rice) in the 1970s, now grown across China and Asia, and is called the father of hybrid rice. Crowds lined the streets of Changsha when he died.
Yuan Longping is hailed as the 'Father of Hybrid Rice'.
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culture
He spoke of two dreams. In the first, 禾下乘凉梦, 'the dream of resting in the shade of the rice', his rice grows as tall as sorghum with grains as big as peanuts; the second was hybrid rice covering the globe.
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Mourners sent him off with 袁爷爷，一路走好 'Grandpa Yuan, farewell'. 一路走好, literally 'go well all the way', wishes a traveller a good trip and is also the set phrase for bidding farewell to the dead.
