On this day, 40 years ago, on April 3, 1985 (February 14, 1985 in the lunar calendar), China zoologist Wu Xianwen passed away. Wu Xianwen, known as Xianwen, male, Han nationality,(March 15, 1900-April 3, 1985), his ancestral home was Ruian County, Zhejiang Province. Zoologists, ichthologists, nematogists. In 1918, he studied agriculture at Nanjing Normal University. He was one of the first students trained by Professor Bingzhi, the founder of modern animal science in my country. The main author of the masterpiece "Annals of Cyprinidae Fishes of China". It was the first in China to clarify the phylogeny of Cyprini fish and propose a new classification system. It was the first to organize and conduct a comprehensive survey of oceans and lakes in China. Dedicated to scientific research organization and talent training, he has made important contributions to the development of aquatic biology in China. Wu Xianwen, also known as Xianwen, was born on March 15, 1900 in a well-off farm in Yutou Village, Rui 'an City, Zhejiang Province. His father was crude and enlightened. Later, he abandoned farmers to do business and opened a fish shop in a rural town. However, due to his unfamiliarity with business management, his family fell into decline. Regardless of his poor family background, he insisted on letting his three sons study. After Wu Xianwen's three brothers completed middle school one after another, his two brothers supported Wu Xianwen's continued studies. However, his family's financial conditions could no longer afford him to go to college, so he made his own choice. In 1917, he was admitted to Nanjing Normal University (now Nanjing University) majoring in agriculture, which could not only waive tuition fees but also provide meals. In the winter of 1920, Professor Bingzhi, the founder of modern zoological research in my country, returned from the United States and taught at Nanjing Normal University. The zoology taught by Bingzhi and the zoological experiments he personally directed, Darwin's theory of biological evolution, and animal comparative morphology aroused Wu Xianwen's great interest. He secretly made up his mind to engage in zoological research as his direction of efforts. In 1921, Wu Xianwen graduated from Nanjing Normal University with honors and taught at Jimei School in Xiamen City, Fujian Province. A year later, Xiamen University was officially established, and he transferred to the Department of Zoology of Xiamen University as an assistant professor. The six years of life at Xiamen University were very important in Wu Xianwen's life. The basic training he received in zoological research here laid the foundation for his lifelong career. When he first arrived at Xiamen University, he followed S.F. Light to guide students in zoology experiments. In order to be competent for this job, Wu Xianwen learned zoology from Wright. Once, Wright took Wu Xianwen to a rock by the sea and asked him to classify and identify an animal himself. He first started with cultivation observation and morphological anatomy to clarify the structure, and then determined it from phylum, class, order, family, genus to species. It took more than a week to finally determine that this animal was a group of endoanal animals. This basic training in taxonomic thinking and working methods left Wu Xianwen with an unforgettable impression for life. In 1925, Bingzhi came to Xiamen University to teach vertebrate comparative anatomy, histology and embryology in the Department of Zoology. Encouraged by Bing Zhi, Wu Xianwen registered as a student in the Department of Zoology at the school. He served as a teaching assistant for Bing Zhi and completed his studies. His solid foundation in histology and embryology was achieved under the direct guidance of Bing Zhi during this period. At the same time, Wu Xianwen followed R. Hoeppli to learn about parasites, and studied free-living nematodes in Xiamen and Zhejiang, lung parasitic nematodes in finless porpoises and the histopathological changes they caused. Young Wu Xianwen took the first step in his career here. After graduating from Xiamen University, Wu Xianwen was recruited to teach zoology at the Department of Biology of Nanjing Central University (now Nanjing University). Although he had made certain achievements in the research of nematodes and other aspects by this time, his interest in ichthyological research remained unchanged. After only one year in Nanjing, he resigned from his teaching position at Central University. In 1929, he accepted funding from the China Educational and Cultural Foundation to study in France, and studied ichthyology under the guidance of L. Roule, the ichthyology laboratory at the Museum of Paris. After three years of hard work, Wu Xianwen finally completed his doctoral thesis "Research on the Morphology, Biology and Systematics of Flounders in China"(Contractual 'Etudemorphologique, biologiqueet systematiques des Poissons Heterosomeomes (piscesheterosomata) delaChine. ThesesUniv. Paris, Ser. A, no. 224 (1932): 1 - 179), and obtained a doctorate in science from the University of Paris in 1932. Since the early 1920s, with the efforts of Bing Zhi and other ancestors in the zoology community, the Institute of Biology of China Science Society and the Institute of Jingsheng Biology have been established one after another, and a variety of scientific journals have been created. Before and after Wu Xianwen went abroad, he had published some papers in these journals. In 1930, the National Museum of Natural History of the Academia Sinica was established in Nanjing. It was the first government-sponsored biological research institution in my country. After Wu Xianwen returned to China, he was immediately recommended to head the Zoology Department of the museum. Fang Bingwen, Chang Linding and others also worked in the Zoology Department during the same period. In order to investigate the rich biological resources of the motherland, they went deep into remote mountainous areas such as Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan, collected a large number of specimens, and discovered many new species that had never been recorded in science. During this period, Wu Xianwen's work covers a wide range of areas, demonstrating his solid foundation in zoological research. In 1934, the Museum of Natural History was changed to the Institute of Biology, Academia Sinica, and soon renamed the Institute of Animal and Plant Research. In 1937, the "July 7" Lugouqiao Incident broke out. The artillery fire from the Japanese invading army quickly spread southward. The research institutes affiliated to the Academia Sinica moved to the mainland one after another. The Institute of Animal and Plant Research was also ordered to move to Changsha and Hengshan in Hunan. After several years of hard work, the scientific research conditions for several years suffered serious losses. For the minimum scientific research needs, Wu Xianwen and his colleagues packed microscopes and books and materials one by one, but threw away many personal necessities. At that time, the institute had collected a large number of animal and plant specimens, including some new species type specimens, but they could not be taken away. In order to preserve these specimens, they dug a deep ditch under the wall and carefully buried the specimens in bottles, hoping to take them out and use them after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. Who would have expected that eight years later, they would not be able to dig out these precious specimens. The thieves might have dumped these "stinky fish and rotten shrimps" because what they had dug up was not gold, silver and jewelry, but Wu Xianwen and others regretted losing these priceless treasures for life. The Changsha fire drove the Institute of Animal and Plant Research of the Academia Sinica to Yangshuo, Guangxi. The difficult journey, difficult life, and tight research funding have not shaken Wu Xianwen's determination to continue scientific research. During his short stay in Yangshuo, Wu Xianwen completed the article "On the fishes of Li-kiang. Sinensia, 10 (1 - 6): 92 - 142), which described 11 new species discovered in the Lijiang River. In 1939, the Institute of Animal and Plant Research moved to Beibei, Chongqing, Sichuan, to have a slightly stable scientific research environment. However, the Central Plains has been lost and wars have raged in all directions, making it difficult to realize the plan to investigate the natural resources of the motherland. Under this circumstance, Wu Xianwen decided to focus on indoor work, carried out a series of experimental ichthology studies, and published many papers in the fields of morphology, histology and physiology. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, some research institutes of the Academia Sinica moved to Shanghai. Wu Xianwen and his colleagues did not board the ship until 1946 and worked as researchers at the Institute of Zoology of the Academia Sinica. In 1948, he was elected as an academician of the Academia Sinica. However, the corruption and inflation of the Kuomintang government made Wu Xianwen, who was in his 40s, no longer have any illusions about the rule of the Kuomintang. On the eve of the liberation of Shanghai in 1949, he, together with all employees of the Institute of Zoology of the Academia Sinica, ignored the intimidation and inducement of Kuomintang spies and foiled the plot to move the institute to Taiwan, thus opening a new page in his history. Less than two months after Shanghai was liberated, Wu Xianwen received a notice to participate in the preparatory meeting of the First Natural Science Workers Congress of New China. Wu Xianwen, who had been wandering for half his life, felt extremely excited. He was determined to devote the rest of his life to the scientific cause of New China. He participated in the preparatory work of China Academy of Sciences. Algae professionals from the Institute of Zoology and the Institute of Botany of the Academia Sinica jointly formed the Institute of Hydrobiology, China Academy of Sciences in 1950, and successively divided into two marine biology research laboratories, Qingdao and Xiamen, and Taihu Lake Freshwater biology research laboratory. Wu Xianwen was appointed deputy director of the Institute of Hydrobiology and director of the Taihu Lake Freshwater Biology Research Office. In 1954, the Qingdao Marine Biology Research Laboratory was independently and directly under the leadership of China Academy of Sciences, while the Institute of Hydrobiology and its affiliated Taihu Freshwater Biology Research Laboratory moved to the shore of East Lake in Wuchang, Wuhan City, becoming my country's aquatic biology research center focusing on freshwater ecology. Wu Xianwen has been presiding over the institute's ichthology research work. Under the guidance of the policy of scientific research serving national economic construction, the research work of the Institute of Hydrobiology, China Academy of Sciences has been focusing on how to accelerate the development of freshwater fisheries, and the focus of ichthyological research has gradually shifted to the field of ecology. Since serving as deputy director of the Institute of Hydrobiology, China Academy of Sciences in 1950, Wu Xianwen has successively held many positions. In 1955, he was hired as a member of the Faculty of China Academy of Sciences. He served as president of Wuhan Branch of China Academy of Sciences, director of the Institute of Hydrobiology, and deputy head of the Aquatic Products Group of the State Science and Technology Commission. He is also a standing member of the National Committee of the China People's Political Consultative Conference, a standing member of the Central Committee of the Jiusan Society, and a deputy director of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Hubei Province. Although leadership work and various part-time jobs took up a lot of Wu Xianwen's time, he never forgot that he was a scientist and his main task was scientific research. He is determined to make new efforts to investigate the rich freshwater fish resources of his country. After more than 20 years of specimen collection, data collation and careful research, the first and second volumes of "Cyprinidae Fishes of China" with both pictures and texts were published in 1964 and 1977 respectively. When the next volume of "Chronicles of Cyprinidae Fishes in China" was published, although Wu Xianwen was 78 years old, his ambition had not yet waned, and he made a strategic plan to catch up with the world's advanced level. He told his assistants: "Our book has greatly increased the number of species and distribution of cyprinid fish in China, but it still follows the pattern of our predecessors in terms of the relationship between systems and clans of cyprinid and its affiliated groups. The next step should be to study the phylogeny of the carp suborder fish." After countless sleepless nights, Wu Xianwen and his assistants achieved fruitful results-proposing a new classification system for carpiid fish and occupying the world's forefront in this field. Since Wu Xianwen published the first research report "Preliminary Records of Snakes Produced in Ruian, Zhejiang" in the Quarterly of Xiamen University in 1924, he has published more than 80 papers and monographs in domestic and foreign scientific journals over the past 60 years. Among them, there are 45 papers on ichthyology, 16 papers on nematodes and other worms, 11 papers on arthropods, reptiles, amphibians and other animals, and there are also reports on ocean and lake surveys and fish archeology research. Comments: In addition to Wu Xianwen's high academic reputation, his character is also universally respected and loved