On 1st November, the Xu Xiujuan statue unveiling ceremony was held in front of the Wildlife Resource Teaching Building. Xu Xiujuan is one of NEFU’s distinguished alumni, the first martyr who died for environmental protection. NEFU leaders, statue designer Xiao Xiaoqiu from Changsha University of Science and Technology, heads of the related departments, staff and students of the College of Wildlife Resources and College of Forestry attended the ceremony. It was hosted by President Yang Chuanping.
In the speech, President Yang mentioned that in 2014, NEFU started to prepare for the construction of the statue to commemorate Xu Xiujuan, stimulate staff and students’ enthusiasm for wildlife protection and participation of environmental protection causes. Through two years’ effort, it was completed under the hard work of professor Xiao Xiaoqiu and his team.
Wu Guochun, Secretary of the NEFU CPC Committee, indicated that Xu Xiujuan devoted herself to the cause of crane protection since she was 17 years old. In 1985, Xu Xiujuan went for further study at the Department of Wildlife Resources at her own expense, and completed two years’ studies within a year and a half. In 1987, she drowned seeking a lost swan in Yancheng Nature Reserve of Jiangsu Province. She was only 23 years old at that time. Secretary Wu said that the construction of Xu Xiujuan statue aimed to encourage the staff and students to carry forward the spirit of the “crane soul”, make more contributions to NEFU’s Double First Class (first class university and first class discipline) and China’s ecological civilization construction.
Gao Yuhong, representative student from the College of Wildlife resources said that the vivid statue and Xu Xiujuan’s spirit would be enshrined in the heart of the entire NEFU family, who would be stimulated to work to realize the dream of constructing a more beautiful and prosperous China.
Later Secretary Wu Guochun and President Yang Chuanping unveiled the statue.
The statue of Xu Xiujuan is 6 meters long and 2.2 meters high. It is a statue made of bronze, with a stone base. In the statue, feeding nestling cranes with her right hand, Xu Xiujuan bends forward, while cranes take flight around her. The final statue design was selected from 6 possible drafts, and underwent several changes. The final statue image was chosen from 5 clay samples.
