Feng Jinglan (9 March 1898 – 29 September 1976),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Huaixi (), was a Chinese mineralogist and geologist. He was one of the founders of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

in China. He was an academician of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

Biography

Feng was born into a landlord's family in the town of , in

Tanghe County Tanghe County is administered by the prefecture-level city of Nanyang, in the southwest of Henan province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hubei province to the south. Its ancient name was Tangzhou (). The county consists of 3 subdistrict ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

, on 9 March 1898, to Feng Taiyi (), an assistant to the

Qing government The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) was the last imperial dynasty of China. The early Qing emperors adopted the bureaucratic structures and institutions from the preceding Ming dynasty but split rule between the Han and Manchus with some positions als ...

official

Zhang Zhidong Zhang Zhidong ( zh, t=張之洞) (2 September 18374 October 1909) was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Qing dynasty. Along with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong was one of the four most famous offici ...

, and Wu Qingzhi (). His elder brother

Feng Youlan Feng Youlan (; 4 December 1895 – 26 November 1990) was a Chinese philosopher, historian, and writer who was instrumental for reintroducing the study of Chinese philosophy in the modern era. The name he published under in English was 'Fung ...

(1895–1990) was a philosopher. His younger sister Feng Yuanjun (1900–1974) was a writer. He secondary studied at Henan Provincial Second School in

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

. In 1916, he was admitted to

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

. In 1918, he pursued advanced studies in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on government scholarships, first studying mine geology in

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines (Mines) is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1874, the school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on ener ...

and then studying

petrology Petrology () is the branch of geology that studies rocks, their mineralogy, composition, texture, structure and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous ...

and

physiography Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, h ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

with a master's degree in 1923. He returned to China in 1923 and that same year became an instructor at Zhongzhou University (). In his spare time, he studied the

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

near Kaifeng and explored the control of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

. In 1927, he went to Heishanzhai () in Changping,

to investigate the geology of gold deposits, which was one of the earliest modern deposit geological work in China. In 1927, he was recruited as a technician of Guangzhou Geological Survey Institute, where he investigated the geology and mineral resources along the railway near Guangzhou. He discovered and named

Danxia landform The Danxia landform () is a set of landscapes found in southeast, southwest and northwest China that "consist of a red Bed (geology), bed characterized by steep cliffs". It is a unique type of petrography, petrographic geomorphology found in Chi ...

Mount Danxia Mount Danxia () is a noted scenic mountainous area in Renhua County, in the northern part of Guangdong province. It is described on the local signage as a "world famous UNESCO geopark of China". It was inscribed as part of the Danxia landform, Chi ...

Renhua County Renhua County ( postal: Yanfa; ) is a county in the northernmost portion of Guangdong province, in China, bordering Jiangxi to the northeast and Hunan to the northwest. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shaoguan. Renhua ...

. In 1929, he moved to

Peiyang University Tianjin University (TJU; zh, t=, , s=天津大学, p=, labels=no), previously Peiyang University (), is a national public research university in Tianjin, China. Established in 1895 by a royal charter from Guangxu Emperor, Tianjin University is t ...

, he remained at the university until 1933. During this period, he investigated the geology and mineral resources along the Shenyang–Haikou railway in

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

, the genesis of Xuanlong Iron Ore in Hebei, and the geology of

Northern Shaanxi Northern Shaanxi or Shaanbei () is the portion of China's Shaanxi province north of the Huanglong Mountain and the Meridian Ridge (the so-called "Guanzhong north mountains"), and is both a geographic as well as a cultural area. It makes up the so ...

. In 1933, he joined the faculty of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

. From 1933 to 1937, during the summer vacation, he and others investigated the geology and mineral resources of Pingquan,

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province, China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population o ...

, Zhaoyuan and

Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the ''Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being t ...

. After the outbreak of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, Tsinghua University was forced to move south to form

National Southwestern Associated University The National Southwestern Associated University was a national public university from 1938 to 1946 based in Kunming, Yunnan, China. It was formed by the wartime incorporation of National Peking University, National Tsinghua University, and Nat ...

with Peking University in

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

, where he concurrently served as dean of the Institute of Technology and head of the Department of Mining of

Yunnan University Yunnan University (YNU; zh, s=云南大学, p=, labels=no) is a provincial public university in Kunming, Yunnan, China. It is affiliated with the province of Yunnan, and co-funded by the Yunnan Provincial People's Government and the Ministry o ...

. During this period, he mainly studied the copper mines in

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

and Yunnan. After war, he moved back to Beijing with the university. After the establishment of the Communist State, he was hired as a professor by Beijing Institute of Geology (now

China University of Geosciences (Beijing) The China University of Geosciences (Beijing) is a public university located in Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Natural Resources. The university is ...

). In 1966,

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

launched the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, Feng was labeled as a "reactionary academic authority". In November 1969, he was sent to the

May Seventh Cadre Schools May Seventh Cadre Schools () were a system of rural communes throughout mainland China established during the Cultural Revolution to train Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres to follow the mass line, including through the use of manual labor. O ...

to do farm works with his wife in

Xiajiang County Xiajiang County () is a county of west-central Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the Chin ...

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

, working until the spring of 1972. On 29 September 1976, he died of a heart attack in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, aged 78.

Legacy

After Feng's death, his children donated 100,000 yuan saved during his lifetime to

in October 1998 to establish the "Feng Jinglan Prize" to reward teachers and students with outstanding academic achievements who have made outstanding contributions to the development of geological education.

Honours and awards

* 1957 Member of the

(CAS)

References

Bibliography

External links

Biography of Feng Jinglan
on the official website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences {{DEFAULTSORT:Feng, Jinglan 1898 births 1976 deaths People from Tanghe County Scientists from Hebei Mineralogists Chinese geologists Colorado School of Mines alumni Columbia University alumni Academic staff of Peiyang University Academic staff of Tsinghua University Academic staff of the National Southwestern Associated University Academic staff of Yunnan University Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences National University of Peking alumni