For the common good

Wen Simei, vice-president of South China Agricultural University, says Lu's patriotism and personal charm over several decades had helped inspire many talented high-level Chinese studying abroad to return to work in their motherland. In 2017, Lu's student Liu Yaoguang was admitted to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Zhao Xingjuan, Lu's secretary for more than two decades, says he was a rigorous professor and scholar but very down-to-earth and courteous toward colleagues and students.

Lu had made remarkable achievements in his research of rice genetics. His work on a specific gene has significantly influenced rice-breeding research. Lu and his team developed more than 33 new varieties of rice that were planted on more than 667,000 hectares of land.

Lu was sent abroad for fact-finding and exchange visits three times in the 1980s and 1990s. But he refused three times when relatives and friends tried to persuade him to stay in the United States or other developed countries, where working and living conditions were better.

"My roots are in China, and my country needs me to go back to work," he told them.

Lu lived a simple and frugal life, despite his scientific achievements.