Revelations from the Advanced Deeds of Wang Ji | Fleeting Fame Is Not Worth Coveting — A Pure Heart Presses Toward the Distant March
"National Self-Improvement Role Model," First Prize of the Military Science and Technology Progress Award, Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award… Any one of these national- or military-level awards and honors would be enough to anchor an impressive professional record, yet Wang Ji's reaction to all of it was remarkably "muted."
When his paper was selected as an Outstanding Paper Award at the International Conference on Foundations of Software Engineering, the news arrived and Wang Ji turned straight back to the project he was working on. Even after he was later conferred the title of "Role Model of the Era" (时代楷模), with the gaze of countless people fixed upon him, he said only, with calm composure: "I am just an ordinary member of National University of Defense Technology. It is the wheelchair that has magnified my halo." This echoes the inscription his mentor, Academician Chen Huowang, once wrote for him: "Indifference to fame clarifies one's aspirations; tranquility carries one far." This reverence for honor, this detachment from fame and gain, and this composed and serene state of mind are precisely the foundations of conduct that science and technology workers in the new era must uphold.
Between name and substance — which is master and which is guest — the ancients had long seen through the matter. "Name is the guest of substance." The principle is not profound, yet how many people have inverted the order of priority, losing their original heart and their sense of proportion amid the temptations of fame and gain, single-mindedly chasing hollow reputation and empty glory, neglecting deep and earnest work, and ultimately falling into the predicament of a name that does not match reality.
People pursue fame, often because fame brings visible rewards. Yet the "niche and hard-core" (冷门硬核) track that Wang Ji chose — high-assurance software technology — is precisely where fame and gain are most scarce. Faced with questions about this, his answer was very simple: "Whether something is popular or niche is not the criterion. The needs of the nation and the military are."
To set right the relationship between name and gain is, at bottom, to resolve the question of "for whom does one seek fame, and from what does one derive gain." The front of national defense science and technology innovation has always been a place for "doing earth-shaking deeds while remaining nameless and anonymous" (干惊天动地事、做隐姓埋名人). From the forebears of the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" (两弹一星) program who took root in the Gobi Desert and concealed their identities, to the later generations who threw themselves into Tianhe, BeiDou, and high-energy laser programs and were content to endure obscurity without calculating personal gain or loss — generation after generation of national defense science and technology workers have faced the same choice. In their view, personal gain and loss are as light as floating dust; the weight of the cause is as heavy as Mount Tai.
When one's gaze is confined to the small self, one can only fret over the petty gains and losses of poverty and lowliness. Only when the heart holds the nation and the homeland does one come to understand the vastness of heaven and earth within a single bow and lift of the head. In 2013, Wang Ji underwent surgery that resulted in high bilateral lower-limb amputation. As soon as his condition improved slightly, he returned to the front line, serving as the chief technical expert for a key national defense software project. Getting around became the first obstacle standing before him. Colleagues advised him that he could simply lend his name and preside from a distance. He replied with a question: "Have you ever seen a chief expert who never leaves home and never goes on assignment?"
In terms of fame and gain, Wang Ji had long since achieved success and built his reputation — enough to spend the rest of his life with ease and dignity. In terms of illness and pain, he had even more reason to choose to step back; no one would blame a man who had lost both legs for stopping. But in Wang Ji's view, "chief expert" is not a nominal title, nor a treatment to be enjoyed. The greater the name, the heavier the responsibility. The honors above one's head and the titles on one's shoulders correspond to more exacting standards, weightier accountability, and more grounded action. Only by matching one's reputation with earnest work, and interpreting one's identity through the fulfillment of duty, can one prove worthy of the honor and worthy of the mission.
Those who chase fame find that fame often scatters with the wind; those who attend to substance find that substance achieved brings fame of its own accord. We do not oppose legitimate fame and gain, but we do oppose hollow reputation divorced from real achievement and private interest that betrays the people. The fame and gain that a Communist Party member ought to pursue should be, as with Wang Ji, fame that is "worthy of the name" (名副其实) and gain that "benefits generations to come" (利在千秋).
Chairman Xi has profoundly pointed out: "Scientific achievement cannot be separated from spiritual support" and "we must encourage science and technology workers to focus on their own scientific research endeavors, to study diligently and assiduously, to not covet empty glory, and to not calculate personal fame and gain." All Party members and cadres should take Wang Ji as a mirror, rectify their pursuit of values, truly devote their minds and energy to getting things done and building their undertakings, and strive to deliver a qualified answer sheet that is worthy of the Party, worthy of the people, and worthy of the era.