126 years ago today, on February 20, 1899 (January 11, 1899 lunar calendar), Feng Zefang, a famous cotton scientist and the founder of modern Chinese cotton science, was born. Feng Zefang (1899.2.20 - 1959.9.22), an agronomist. Zhejiang Yiwu native. Graduated from Southeast University in 1925. Received a doctorate from Cornell University in 1933. Professor of Nanjing Agricultural College, researcher and director of the Cotton Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He has conducted in-depth research on the morphology, classification and inheritance of Asian cotton, as well as the genetics and cytology of Asian cotton and American cotton hybrids; presided over the national cotton variety regional trials and the investigation and research of Yunnan kapok in the 1930s and 1940s; advocated the planting of Sizi cotton in the cotton area of the Yellow River Basin and the planting of Dezi cotton in the cotton area of the Yangtze River Basin, which played a positive role in improving the yield and quality of Chinese cotton. He was first engaged in systematic research on cotton planting areas and cotton industry areas in China, and put forward the opinions on the division of China's five major cotton areas, which are still used by the scientific and technological circles. In 1955, he was appointed as an academician (member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences). Feng Zefang, a famous cotton scientist and agricultural educator, is the main founder of modern cotton science in China. In his early years, he did in-depth research on the classification and genetics of Asian cotton and the cytogenetics of Asian cotton hybrids and American cotton hybrids. He made important contributions in dividing China's cotton areas, identifying and developing non-nuclear kapok, advocating the promotion of "Sizi cotton" and "German cotton" and cultivating cotton scientific and technological talents. Feng Zefang, Zifu Tang, was born on February 20, 1899 in a peasant family operating a small traditional Chinese medicine shop in Chian Township, Yiwu County, Zhejiang Province. He attended private schools and primary schools in the countryside as a child, and entered Jinhua Zhejiang Provincial Seventh Primary and Secondary School at the age of 14. After graduating from middle school in 1917, he returned to the county to work as a teacher in the private Chounan Primary School due to his poor family. In 1918, he was admitted to the agricultural specialization department of Nanjing Higher Normal School, which was exempt from school fees. When he graduated in 1921, the school was upgraded to Southeast University. According to regulations, graduates of the original agricultural specialization can obtain a bachelor's degree after making up credits. Feng Zefang had to work and study, and it took 4 years to get his diploma in 1925. During this period, he has devoted himself to cotton research and published 7 papers successively. Among them, "The Morphology and Classification of Chinese Cotton" is the earliest work to sort out the Asian cotton grown in our country. "The First Report on the Mendel Nature of Chinese Cotton" is the first report on the inheritance of Chinese cotton traits after the rediscovery of Mendel's law. In 1930, Feng Zefang went to Cornell University in the United States to study. In 1932, he received a master's degree. His graduation thesis was "Introduction to Cotton Field Experiment Technology". In 1933, he received his doctorate. His thesis was "Research on the Genetics and Cytology of Asian Cotton and American Cotton Hybrids", which was published in the Botanical Gazette in the United States in 1935. In the autumn of 1933, Feng Zefang returned to China and served as a technical commissioner in the Cotton Industry Control Committee under the National Economic Commission in Nanjing. In 1934, the Cotton Industry Control Committee established the Central Cotton Production Improvement Institute. Feng Zefang served as the deputy director and director of the Department of Cotton Planting, in charge of the technical research and promotion of the whole institute. During his tenure, he presided over the regional test of cotton varieties across the country, affirmed the two American cotton varieties, and actively propagated and promoted them, so that the yield and quality of cotton were significantly improved. " After the July 7 "Incident, the Central Cotton Production Improvement Institute was abolished in 1938 and merged into the Central Agricultural Laboratory. Feng Zefang served as the director of the Department of Cotton Production and later the director of the Yunnan Workstation. During his work in Yunnan, he affirmed the application value of the local off-core kapok (perennial sea island cotton), and cooperated with relevant departments to actively build the southwest long-staple cotton area. In 1942, Feng Zefang served as a professor at Central University and dean of the College of Agriculture, lecturing on the introduction of cotton production and agriculture, and conducting research on the distribution of cotton areas in combination with teaching work. In 1947, when Feng Zefang was the deputy director of the Cotton Production Improvement Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, he actively advocated the establishment of the "China Cotton Publishing House", and published three cotton professional periodicals "China Cotton News", "China Cotton Industry" and "China Cotton Supplement" and a number of books related to cotton production. In the spring of 1949, Feng Zefang returned to teach at the Agricultural College of Central University (the school was later renamed Nanjing Agricultural College after being adjusted by the department). He taught courses such as cotton work, agronomy discussion and crop breeding in this institution of higher learning, and cultivated a large number of talents for agriculture, especially cotton. In 1956, he participated in the formulation of our country's 12-year vision plan and actively suggested the establishment of the National Cotton Research Institute. After being approved, he personally participated in the preparation work and became the first director of the Cotton Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in 1957. With great enthusiasm, he gave up the superior working and living conditions in big cities and took the lead in coming to the hinterland of the cotton region - Anyang, Henan Province, settled down and presided over the work, determined to contribute his life to the improvement of the cotton industry in our country.