【HaiChuan. Pioneers in the Chemical Industry】24 Xie Jiarong: A pioneer in Chinese geoscience, who was the first to predict the existence of oil in the Northeast

“One of the outstanding members of the \"Eighteen Arhats\", Xie Jiarong was born on August 19, 1897, into a poor clerk’s family in Shanghai. He dropped out of school after graduating from middle school in 1913 and stayed at home. At that time, the Geological Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, founded by pioneers of China’s geological field such as Zhang Hongzhao, Ding Wenjiang, and Weng Wenhao, was recruiting students in Shanghai; he decided to take the exam and was admitted as one of the 27 selected candidates. Students at the Geological Research Institute do not have to pay tuition; accommodation is provided by the institute, but they are responsible for their own food expenses. Coming from a poor family, Xie Jiarong had to work part-time while studying, earning some money in his free time to cover his meal costs. Most of the students admitted to the Geological Research Institute have a high school diploma, while he only has a junior high school diploma. Financial difficulties and differences in educational level posed considerable challenges to his studies. Adhering to the belief that \"an ordinary person should not waste their life,\" he is \"a person willing to put in hard work.\" His exceptional diligence enabled Xie Jiarong to rank among the top performers among the 18 graduates of the Geological Institute (historically known as the \"Eighteen Arhats\" of China’s geological community). On November 1, 1916, he, together with Ye Liangfu and 5 other outstanding graduates, was appointed as an investigator at the Geological Survey Institute. Of the remaining 13 graduates, 7 were appointed as academic investigators, while 6 stayed at the institute to continue their studies. My first job after graduating from the Institute of Geology was to conduct field surveys of the geology in the Western Hills of Beijing. His excellent academic performance and outstanding work results made Xie Jiarong the first among the Eighteen Arhats to be sent abroad for further study. In 1917, he was sent to the Department of Geology at Stanford University in the United States to pursue his studies; in 1919 he transferred to the Department of Geology at the University of Wisconsin, where he obtained a Master of Science degree the following year.

Pay tribute to these academic giants! It’s a shame they were swept away by another vortex

By looking at their biographies, one can guess the hardships they endured in that era. He held various positions such as Deputy Chairman of the China Geological Work Planning Steering Committee, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Geology, member of the Exploration Committee of the Ministry of Geology and its Chief Engineer, as well as Deputy Director of the Geological and Mineral Research Institute of the Ministry of Geology. Xie Jiarong (1897.8.19—1966.8.14)

Pioneering and Laying the Foundations of Chinese Geological Science: Xie Jiarong dedicated 50 years to the field of geology, working in areas such as regional geology, geotectonics, stratigraphic paleontology, mineralogy, petrology, mineralogical classification, ore deposit studies, coal rockology, coalfield geology, petroleum geology, economic geology, geochemistry, meteoritics, physiography, paleogeography, hydrogeology, engineering geology, seismogeology, and soil science. The breadth of his expertise is unique in China’s geological community, and he played a pioneering role in many of these fields. In 1920, Xie Jiarong, who was still studying in the United States, published a series of papers titled \"An Outline of Ore Deposits\" in the journal Science. These papers covered topics related to ores, various types of rocks and strata as well as stratal changes, the origins of ore deposits, their classification, their shapes and associated minerals, the erosion and metamorphism of ore deposits, as well as the minerals, ore deposits, production volumes, and uses of various metallic and non-metallic minerals. In China, the theory and practice of depositology were systematically expounded for the first time, paving the way for depositological research in the country. In 1921, Xie Jiarong, who had returned from the United States, rejoined the Geological Survey Institute. He soon went to Gansu with Weng Wenhao, Wang Lie, and others to investigate the 8.6-magnitude earthquake in Haiyuan, and later went to Yumen alone to carry out the earliest oil exploration activities by Chinese geologists. After returning from his field trip, he wrote the first seismogeological survey report on modern China, titled \"Report on the Earthquake in Gansu in December of the 9th Year of the Republic of China,\" as well as the first petroleum geological survey report, titled \"Report on Petroleum in Yumen, Gansu.\" In December of that year, he contacted Yuan Fuli to jointly propose to Weng Wenhao the establishment of the Geological Society of China, which led to the founding of this society, which has had a significant impact on China’s scientific community, on February 3 of the following year. Xie Jiarong is one of the pioneers and founders of coal geology in China. In March 1923, China’s first monograph on coal geology, titled *Coal*, was published by The Commercial Press. In August of the same year, he published \"A Study of Chinese Meteorites\" in Science, paving the way for modern meteorite research in China. In 1924, The Commercial Press published Xie Jiarong’s \"Geology (Volume I)\” – China’s first textbook on general geology. Ding Wenjiang wrote a preface to this book, stating that \"Mr. Xie Jiarong is the most diligent young person in China’s field of geology.\" He added that Xie was also fond of reading and skilled in writing, and therefore the textbook he created \"can certainly be regarded as a groundbreaking work in the field of textbooks.\" During the three years from 1923 to 1925, Xie Jiarong went to Hubei every year to conduct geological surveys alongside Liu Jichen or Zhao Yazeng, and published several survey reports; the Daye limestone, which he named, is still in use to this day. The book \"Geological Structure and Geopedology below Wushan in the Yangtze River Basin\", co-authored by Ye Liangfu and Xie Jiarong in 1925, offers original insights into the formation of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River as well as the geopedological history of western Hubei. It is one of the seminal works in the fields of geomorphology and geopedology in China. In 1927, Xie Jiarong was invited to go south to Guangzhou to assist in the establishment of the Guangdong-Guangxi Geological Survey Institute, carrying out the first geological surveys in that region by Chinese people. In the spring of 1928, he transferred to Central University, where he taught ore depositology and agricultural geology. During that time, he conducted geological surveys of Zhongshan in Nanjing and wrote an article titled \"The Geology of Zhongshan and Its Relationship with the City’s Water Supply,\" which paved the way for geologists in China to address issues related to urban water supply. During the eight years after returning from studying abroad, he engaged in research on earthquakes, oil, regional geological surveys, various mineral resources such as coal and iron, as well as geomorphology and geological education, making numerous contributions and gaining a high reputation within China’s geological community. Between 1928 and 1930, Xie Jiarong went to Germany as a researcher to conduct microscopic studies on Chinese coal (petrography) and on certain Chinese copper mines (mineralogy). At that time, coal petrology had a history of less than 10 years. All the research was conducted under normal light. Xie Jiarong introduced the polarizing microscope into coal petrology research, and published works such as \"Microscopic Study of Carboniferous Rocks in Sichuan,\" \"New Methods in Coal Petrology Research,\" and \"Preliminary Coal Petrological Study of Beipiao Coal.\" Upon returning to his home country, Xie Jiarong became the head of the Qinyuan Fuel Research Laboratory at the newly established Geological Survey Institute. He continued his research in coal petrology and published a series of papers, including \"Microscopic Study of Domestic Coal,\" \"Plant Tissues in Chinese Coal and Their Geological Significance,\" \"Study of the ‘Silk Coal’ Produced in Longquan County, Zhejiang,\" \"Study of Thin Coal Slabs – A New Method in Coal Petrology,\" and \"Leiping Coal in Jiangxi – A New Species of Coal in China.\" These efforts established his status as a pioneer and founder of coal petrology in China, as well as one of the pioneers of coal petrology worldwide. Many pioneers in world coal petrology wrote to him, praising his papers on coal petrology and requesting copies of them. The microscopic studies of Chinese copper ores conducted during his time in Germany and after his return to China marked the beginning of mineralogy in China. The exquisite microscope photographs of Chinese copper mines taken by him were included in their renowned works by the famous depositologist Snyder-Hong and the pioneer of mineralogy, Ramdohr. In 1930, the Soil Research Laboratory of the Geological Survey was established; Xie Jiarong played a role in its setup and was responsible for its initial management. He invited the American soil scientist Pendleton to work in China, wrote China’s first systematic paper on soil science, and together with Chang Longqing, who had just graduated from Peking University at that time, conducted China’s first soil survey. They also prepared China’s first survey report titled \"A Preliminary Report on the Soils of Sanhe, Pinggu, and Jixian in Hebei Province.\" He gave the first lecture on soil issues at the lectures held by the Geological Survey, and thus became a pioneer and founder of modern soil science in China. Between 1932 and 1934, Xie Jiarong, together with Ding Wenjiang, Li Siguang, and Gleip, was appointed as a research professor at Peking University. During that time, he went to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to investigate iron mines. In his work \"A Record of Iron Mines in the Lower Yangtze River Basin,\" he proposed a classification system for iron mines in China, dividing them into 5 major categories and 17 types. This classification system has remained an important reference for mineral exploration in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

This group of people laid the material foundation for China’s industrial development. The Jiufeng Earthquake Research Laboratory was completed in 1930. Standing from left: Hsieh Chia-rong, Zhang Hongzhao, Jin Ka-yee, Jin Shao-fang, Jin Shao-tang, Jin Shao-ji, Weng Wen-hao, Li Shan-bang ；

Pioneering mineral exploration in China: The July 7th Incident disrupted the peace on the campuses of Peking University. Xie Jiarong, who was then the head of the Department of Geology at Peking University, disguised himself as a Japanese man and went south alone to face the national crisis. He arrived in remote and impoverished areas along the Xianggui border region, where he worked on the development of the Tomioka tin mines in order to earn foreign currency for the war effort, thus laying the foundations for mineral exploration in China. At a time when war raged across half of China, Xie Jiarong was ordered to prepare for the establishment of the Jianghua Mining Bureau, with its headquarters located in Jianghua and a branch office in Babu; in 1939 he was appointed as the manager of the Jianghua Mining Bureau. Through his careful investigation and in-depth study of tin ore, he humbly took foremen and miners as teachers, consulted books, and diligently learned the techniques for mining, processing, and smelting tin ore. In the shortest possible time and at the lowest cost, he established the only mine in Hunan at that time that used machines for tin extraction. He not only managed to start production on schedule but also turned the Jianghua Mining Bureau into a profitable enterprise. Once the Jianghua Mining Bureau got on track, Xie Jiarong was sent to Kunming to serve as the chief engineer of the prospecting project team along the Xukun Railway, responsible for investigating the geology and mineral resources within a 50-kilometer radius on either side of the railway line. Soon, due to changes in the international situation, the contract for the Syqun Railway could not be implemented. The prospecting agencies along the Syqun Railway were successively reorganized into the Southwest Mineral Exploration Agency and the Mineral Exploration Agency, with Xie Jiarong remaining as their director throughout. During the War of Resistance against Japan, the Mineral Survey Office he led worked in the poorly accessible and remote provinces of the southwest, under extremely difficult working conditions with severe funding constraints. He once said to Yang Boquan, who was in charge of general affairs, “Our budget is very limited; we must make every effort to save on all expenses. We should also reduce the number of workers as much as possible. If necessary, we can handle everything ourselves. The remaining money must be set aside for field surveys. If the government fails to provide us with funds for a while, we will have to do without salaries while still eating. Those of us who study geology should possess such a spirit of hard work...” Over the five years from 1940 to 1945, they created geological overview maps of the minerals in the southwestern provinces, covering an area of nearly 100,000 square kilometers. Among these, there were more than 2,000 square kilometers covered by detailed mineral maps at scales of 1:1,000 to 1:5,000. They surveyed 60 coal mines, 16 iron mines, 13 copper mines, 21 silver-lead-zinc mines, 3 gold mines, 5 antimony mines, 27 aluminum mines, 5 tin mines, 2 tungsten mines, and so on. They discovered high-quality bauxite in Yunnan and Guizhou, which provided significant support for the War of Resistance against Japan.

The Shaanbei Oil Field Exploration Team in August 1932. The one on the left is Xie Jiarong, and the one on the left fourth is Sun Yueqi ；