Xu Shunshou | |
|---|---|
徐舜寿 | |
 Xu Shunshou at graduation from Tsinghua University (1937) | |
| Born | (1917-08-21)August 21, 1917 |
| Died | January 6, 1968(1968-01-06) (aged 50) Beijing, People's Republic of China |
| Occupation | Aeronautical engineer |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Xu Shunshou (Chinese:徐舜寿;pinyin:Xú Shùnshòu;Wade–Giles:Hsü Shun-shou; 21 August 1917 – 6 January 1968) was a Chinese aircraft designer and a founder of the aircraft manufacturing industry in the People's Republic of China. He was the founding director of the PRC's first aircraft design organization (later theShenyang Aircraft Design Institute), where he oversaw the development of theShenyang JJ-1, the first jet aircraft designed in China.[1] He trained many of the country's top aircraft designers and also participated in the design of theNanchang CJ-6 trainer, theNanchang Q-5 jetattack aircraft, and theXian H-6 bomber. He was severely persecuted during theCultural Revolution and died at the age of 50.
Xu Shunshou was born on 21 August 1917 inShanghai, Republic of China,[2] the youngest child of Xu Yibing, an educator and a member ofSun Yat-sen's revolutionary groupTongmenghui. When he was three, his family returned to their hometownNanxun, inHuzhou,Zhejiang Province. He lost his father at a young age.[2] In 1930, Xu attended secondary school inNanjing, then China's capital. Two years later, theJanuary 28 incident broke out and the Japanese army attacked Shanghai and threatened Nanjing. For safety, Xu transferred to the missionary Kashing High School (now Xiuzhou High School) inJiaxing, near his hometown.[2]
Xu entered the Department of Mechanical Engineering ofTsinghua University in 1933.[3] Upon graduation four years later with a bachelor's degree inaerospace engineering, he briefly worked at theCentral Aircraft Manufacturing Company inJianqiao, Hangzhou, before entering the special aviation mechanics program of theNational Central University in Nanjing.[3] TheSecond Sino-Japanese War soon broke out in July 1937 and Nanjing fell to Japanese occupation. The National Central University relocated toChongqing,[4] China's wartime capital. Upon graduation in March 1939, Xu joined theRepublic of China Air Force and served at the technical research office of the air force's aviation committee inChengdu.[3]
In 1942, Xu was sent by theKuomintang government to work and train at theMcDonnell Aircraft Corporation in the United States, where he participated in the design of jetinterceptors.[2] After the end ofWorld War II, Xu returned to China and worked at theNo. 2 Aircraft Manufacturing Factory in Chongqing (later moved back toNanchang after the war).[2]
When theCommunist Party defeated the Kuomintang in theChinese Civil War and established thePeople's Republic of China in 1949, Xu stayed in mainland China and worked for the Aviation Industry Bureau of the Ministry of Heavy Industry. As the PRC was receiving technical assistance from theSoviet Union, Xu taught himself Russian and translated several Russian books on aircraft engineering into Chinese.[2] In 1954, he oversaw the manufacture of theNanchang CJ-5 trainer aircraft, which was based on the SovietYakovlev Yak-18.[2]
In August 1956, the Aviation Industry Bureau established the PRC's first airplane design office atShenyang Aircraft Corporation, with Xu Shunshou as its director designer,Huang Zhiqian andYe Zhengda as deputy directors.[5] Xu led a team of 108 people,[3] whose average age was only 22. Most team members were recent university graduates, and only three people: Xu, Huang, andLu Xiaopeng, had any aircraft design experience.[3][5]
The team's first task was to design a subsonic jet trainer, theShenyang JJ-1. It was chosen because thePLA Air Force needed to train jet fighter pilots, and Shenyang Aircraft needed a relatively easy project to train its inexperienced designers.[5] The project started in October 1956, and the plane took its maiden flight less than two years later, on 26 July 1958. According toGlobalSecurity.org, the development cycle was less than half that of similar planes designed in Japan andCzechoslovakia and the performance was superior.[5]
The development of the JJ-1 marked a new era of China's aircraft manufacturing industry,[2][3] and a number of Xu's team members, includingGu Songfen,Guan De,Tu Jida,Chen Yijian [zh], and Feng Zhongyue (冯钟越), later became China's top aircraft designers.[6] After the JJ-1, Xu participated in the design of theNanchang CJ-6 trainer, theNanchang Q-5 jetattack aircraft, and theXian H-6 bomber. He also designedwind tunnels used for aircraft development.[3]
In May 1964, Xu was abruptly transferred from Shenyang to the 603 Design Institute of theXi'an Aircraft Company inYanliang,Shaanxi. At the time, the 603 Institute had few technical experts and no well defined development goal. He designed an air conditioning system for theIlyushin Il-28 bomber and its Chinese version, theHarbin H-5, but mainly focused on training engineers and translating and writing technical literature.[3]
When theCultural Revolution began in 1966, Xu was summoned back to Shenyang Aircraft in June, where he was denounced as a "capitalist academic authority". He was subject to almost a year ofstruggle sessions, although he still had time to read and translate technical documents.[6] In April 1967, Xu received permission to return to the 603 Institute, and thought his ordeal was over. On the contrary, as the country descended into deeper chaos, he was labelled a "capitalist reactionary authority", "capitalist roader", and "anti-Communist spy". Soon after returning to Yanliang, he was imprisoned and repeatedly tortured. On 6 January 1968, after undergoing a final round of torture, he died at age 50.[6]
Xu was politically rehabilitated after the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. The No. 1 Aircraft Research Institute (the former 603 Institute) erected a bronze statue of him on its campus in Yanliang, and established the "Xu Shunshou Science and Technology Progress Award" in his memory.[7] On 19 May 2005, the first anniversary of the establishment of Tsinghua University School of Aerospace Engineering, a life-size marble statue of Xu was dedicated in the main building of the school.[8] In 2008, the China Aviation Industry Press published Xu's biography, written by Shi Yuanguang and Xu's former trainee, academicianGu Songfen.[9]
Xu was the youngest of five siblings. His brother,Xu Chi, was a famous writer known for his popular biographies ofChen Jingrun andLi Siguang. His third sister, Xu He (徐和), was the wife ofWu Xiuquan, who served as Vice Foreign Minister of China.[6]
Xu married Song Shubi (宋蜀碧) in 1946, whom he had met four years before while working in Chengdu. She was a writer and translator known for her Chinese translation ofAylmer Maude'sThe Life of Tolstoy. The couple had three children. Their daughter, Xu Fan (徐汎), was an official of theWorld Tourism Organization of theUnited Nations. Their elder son, Xu Wen (徐汶), was still in middle school when Xu Shunshou died. He worked in a brick factory for eight years, and entered college after the Cultural Revolution and became an aerospace engineer. Their youngest son, Xu Yuan (徐源), became a tenured professor of mathematics at an American university.[6]
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