Wang Ji: Never Broken
■ PLA Daily Reporters Wang Tonghua, Wang Tianyi, Guo Fengkuan
On a midsummer morning, the Xiang River flows northward, and the star city of Changsha is still asleep. The rhythmic trembling of a hand-cranked wheelchair stirs the night lights of a hospital ward.
In the hours that follow, the wheelchair folds into a car, boards a plane, passes through the clouds, and arrives in a distant city — coming to rest at the site of an academic conference, until a voice rings out: "Please welcome Researcher Wang Ji of the College of Computer Science, National University of Defense Technology…"
At that moment, the man who sits in the wheelchair — nearly "standing" with half his body — instantly becomes the focus of the entire room: so this is Wang Ji!
[Photo caption: A recent photo of Wang Ji. Photographed by PLA Daily Reporter Luan Cheng]
Who is Wang Ji?
In the China Computer Federation, he has served as both chair and vice chair of two specialized committees. On a certain national defense 973 Program project, he served as "chief technical expert." In the Great Hall of the People, he was commended as a "National Model of Self-Improvement." On the campus of the National University of Defense Technology, he is a "Professor Wang" who has won the hearts of countless students…
An academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences praised his contributions: "He is one of the principal pioneers of high-assurance software technology (高可信软件技术) in our country."
An airport employee remembers his hurried figure: "He is the unforgettable 'wheelchair scientist' in the crowd!"
A surgeon was moved to tears by his fortitude: "I have never seen anyone suffering such severe illness still insisting on working…"
Who is Wang Ji?
He was admitted to the National University of Defense Technology before the age of 14, was promoted to full professor at 33, received the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars at 38, and won the Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award at 43…
This is Wang Ji — famous in his youth, his path strewn with flowers.
At 43, he contracted a life-threatening acute illness (九死一生的急症). He was fortunate to cross the line between life and death, but lost both legs; he fought through major hemorrhage surgery, flap surgery, and vascular reconstruction surgery, one ordeal after another — and then, at 51, was diagnosed with uremia…
This, too, is Wang Ji — having endured great hardships, striving ceaselessly to improve himself (自强不息).
At 45, he returned to his post in a wheelchair, presided over the completion of more than ten major projects including National Natural Science Foundation grants and National Key R&D Plan projects, trained more than 120 master's and doctoral students for the national defense science and technology enterprise, and at 55 was awarded the First Prize of the Military Science and Technology Progress Award…
This, too, is Wang Ji — ten years of facing the wall (面壁十年), forging a shield for the nation.
Wang Ji — this is a name born in the era of "prepare for war, prepare for famine, serve the people." When his parents embedded an ancient weapon into this name, they perhaps did not imagine what profound reverberations it would set off across his life —
He sat for the military academy entrance exam, joined the armed forces, and took up the halberd (戟) to guard the state; he devoted himself to high-assurance software research, forging a "security weapon" for informatized warfare; in the face of the blows of fate, he remained unyielding throughout — his body confined to the narrow space of a wheelchair, his heart bearing a sharp and gleaming long halberd.
"Your name is Wang Ji — you must never let the halberd sink into the sand (折戟沉沙)!" In 2013, after losing both legs, Wang Ji told himself.
Since then, taking his wheelchair as a war chariot and code as his sword, he has fought his way through one barrier after another in the field of high-assurance software, proving through thirteen years of charging forward: Wang Ji — never broken!
Never broken, because of the call of mission —
In 2022, a top Western think tank published a report proposing that in the age of intelligentization (智能化时代), "software defines warfare." The security and reliability of software has become the key factor determining victory or defeat in future wars.
Years earlier, Wang Ji had already been paying close attention to this question. In 2003, Wang Ji and his doctoral supervisor co-authored the paper "High-Assurance Software Engineering Technology," becoming the first in China to propose the concept of "high-assurance software technology (高可信软件技术)," laying the foundational bedrock for "software-defined warfare."
He blazed a trail alone through uncharted territory. From that point on, Wang Ji led his team in writing line after line of "high-assurance" code, fitting one "security lock" after another onto the nation's most critical systems.
In 2015, a major project was approved for launch. It was the only high-assurance software project across the entire military that year addressing urgent national and military needs.
Who would take the lead as chief technical expert? Wang Ji volunteered: "Let me do it — I will absolutely carry it; and if you don't let me lead it, I still want to join the research group."
At that time, only two years had passed since that life-or-death surgery. His body had not yet recovered, yet Wang Ji wheeled himself back to campus, leading more than ten interdisciplinary, cross-unit research teams in an all-out assault on the problem, fighting with selfless dedication.
One battle that lasted six years. In 2021, the project was successfully concluded. The comprehensive evaluation report determined: the overall technical level is at the international forefront and leads domestically, with certain comparable indicators at the international leading level.
That same year, Wang Ji fell ill again. His kidneys, already damaged by his earlier severe illness, went into failure, and from then on he required dialysis multiple times each week.
Before Wang Ji entered university, his high school teacher had assessed him: "He has ideals and ambition, greatly admires figures like Luo Jianfu, and very much wants to get into a good university and become a scientist in the future."
Luo Jianfu — one of New China's first generation of aerospace microelectronics experts — in order to break through foreign technological blockades, continued pressing forward with scientific research even in the terminal stages of cancer, until he collapsed at his post.
Many years later, Wang Ji became a scientist, and on his own mission's journey, became, in another sense, a "Luo Jianfu."
Never broken, because of the forging of spirit (精神的熔铸) —
When Wang Ji first started working, he worked in "Galaxy Tower" (银河楼). It was there that China's "Galaxy" (银河) hundred-million-operations-per-second supercomputer was born. His doctoral supervisor, Chen Huowang — the overall head of the "Galaxy" software team — became his guide on the path of serving the nation through science.
After recovering from his grave illness and returning to his unit, Wang Ji moved into "Tianhe Tower" (天河楼). It was there that "Tianhe-2" (天河二号) — which claimed the global supercomputing "six-peat" championship — was born. His wife, Huang Chun — head of the "Tianhe" compiler team — is the comrade-in-arms fighting alongside him.
The campus path from "Galaxy" to "Tianhe" passes a wall bearing the school's motto. In the motto inscribed on that wall, Chairman Xi clearly defined the positioning of this military academy: "a high ground for cultivating high-quality new-type military personnel and for independent innovation in national defense science and technology."
Each time he passes the motto wall and enters the "Galaxy" and "Tianhe" buildings, Wang Ji feels he is advancing within the gaze of the Supreme Commander's attention, walking within the inheritance of the "Galaxy Spirit" (银河精神).
Some moments in time are destined to be carved into the dual growth rings of life and mission.
When Wang Ji was passing through the critical period in the hospital, the cold Changsha winter had just ended and all things on earth were returning to life. That spring, the Party's goal of building a strong military in the new era opened a new march for the People's Army. Wang Ji, who had just lost both legs, felt that everyone around him was charging forward — "I must keep up with the formation!"
By the time Wang Ji's body began to recover, it was already deep autumn. Chairman Xi inspected the National University of Defense Technology and issued the call to "strive to occupy a place in forward-looking and strategic fields."
Carefully absorbing the Supreme Commander's instructions, Wang Ji felt surging within him "an urgent and glorious sense of mission": "There is so much to be done — I truly cannot sit still!"
And so, still in the hospital ward, he began reading papers and holding video conferences; after returning to his post, he raced against time even more — traveling on day trips whenever possible, holding three online meetings over the seven days of the Spring Festival holiday, and receiving project briefings every three days during the summer break…
Witnessing Wang Ji's years of relentless charging forward, his middle-school-aged daughter planned to write a work titled "The Steps": "Father resolved to build a new house with high steps… The steps are not merely steps — they also symbolize Father's self-respect and ideals."
At 22, Wang Ji wrote in his application to join the Party: "My path of growth has been relatively smooth; I have not personally experienced the tempering of hardship and setbacks. I am resolved, under the Party's cultivation and education, to temper my will, and under no circumstances of hardship and difficulty, absolutely never to retreat (绝不退缩)."
Twenty-two years later, in the face of enormous hardship and setbacks, he remained steadfastly committed to the cause of high-assurance software, making important contributions to the reliability and security of critical software for major national weapons programs — redeeming his promise to the Party with "high-assurance faith (高可信的信仰)."
Never broken, because of the gathering of strength —
When Wang Ji suffered his grave illness, the two statements made by his mother, Liu Guizhi, moved all who heard them.
The first was during Wang Ji's emergency rescue, when school leadership came to inform her of his condition. Upon hearing that her son would lose his limbs, the elderly mother's heart was cut as if by a knife; she bit her lips until they turned purple — and the first words she spoke were: "We have caused trouble for the organization!"
The second was after Wang Ji returned to his post. Colleagues, seeing him work himself to exhaustion, asked Liu Guizhi to persuade him to slow down. Liu Guizhi shook her head and said: "Wang Ji's second life was given by the Party — it should be dedicated to the Party. Even if he works himself to collapse, it is as it should be!"
Such is the heart of a parent. Liu Guizhi was not without pity for her son — her heart was simply filled with too much gratitude.
Liu Guizhi, now 81, still cannot forget: on the deep night when Wang Ji suddenly fell ill, school leadership rushed to the hospital and personally implored the doctors: "Save him at any cost!"
In the living room of Wang Ji's home, a chart has been posted for thirteen years — no one has the heart to take it down. It is the "rotation schedule" on which faculty and students of the school spontaneously signed up to go and care for Wang Ji during the more than one hundred days he lay in the intensive care unit. The paper has yellowed and curled at the edges, but every name remains clearly legible.
Liu Guizhi also treasures a certificate that bears no designated "institutional letterhead." It was issued by the local Bureau of Veterans Affairs, and states: Wang Ji and his wife are both active-duty military personnel, too busy with work to accompany his elderly mother, and relevant departments are requested to provide assistance. Liu Guizhi has never used this certificate, yet every time she takes it out, she finds it extraordinarily warming.
"My 'rebirth' was never a lone battle," Wang Ji once confided to others. "I am not that strong. On the nights when I could not hold on, it was countless people who lit the light for me."
"Ji" (戟) is a cold weapon that gleams with a cold light. Yet over these years, Wang Ji's face has always worn a warm smile.
That warmth is the gathering and transmission of countless strengths. It gives Wang Ji the courage to level every obstacle in his path, and it also inspires his resolve to repay what he has received in gratitude, and to charge forward without cease —
"As long as my mind can still think and my hands can still move, I will not stop."
Wang Ji — never broken!