An Lichun, who became rich by growing chestnuts, is hailed as the "Chestnut God of Wealth"
An Lichun teaching chestnut farmers chestnut tree grafting techniques.
In the early winter season, the depths of the Yanshan Mountains are freezing cold. In the chestnut groves of Huangshishao No. 2 Village, Luanyang Town, Qianxi County, Hebei Province, a tall, gray-haired man, holding a megaphone in one hand and fruit tree pruning shears in the other, is passionately explaining chestnut overwintering management techniques to chestnut farmers who have come to learn from him, showing not the slightest fear of the cold. His dedication to his work deeply moved the many seekers of knowledge, and the atmosphere of exchange was warm and lively.
This instructor is named An Lichun. Because of his outstanding contributions to chestnut cultivation in Qianxi and throughout our country, the local people have given him a resounding title - "Chestnut God of Wealth."
Persistent Pursuit
40 years of unremitting pursuit, 6 national invention patents, bringing a fourfold increase in average chestnut yield per mu.
Qianxi County is located at the southern foot of the Yanshan Mountains, a purely mountainous county with "seven parts mountain, two parts water, half a part farmland, and half a part roads and estates." The unique climate conditions combined with the gneiss geological environment have made this place particularly suitable for chestnut growth since ancient times, with a chestnut cultivation history of over 2,000 years. However, limited by traditional technical management, the chestnut growth cycle here was long, with a yield of only a few dozen jin per mu, leaving generations of chestnut farmers living in a state where they could not bear to give it up yet could not prosper from it.
In 1975, 20-year-old An Lichun became an agricultural technician in his hometown of Luanyang Town. On his first day at work, he resolved to change the status quo and began an obsessed quest for chestnut technology innovation: seeking mentors, buying books, researching materials, and conducting hands-on experiments...
In 1976, he learned that top domestic chestnut technology experts were conducting chestnut research in Han'erzhuang Township, so he pedaled his bicycle dozens of li along mountain roads every day to get there and humbly seek advice on chestnut cultivation techniques. For several consecutive days, he would arrive at the field as soon as dawn broke; even as the sun set, he was still unwilling to leave; even when he fell and bruised his face in the dark while rushing along the road, he never gave up learning. The old expert was moved and passed on his decades of chestnut technology to him without reservation.
In 1986, An Lichun selected 100 mu of chestnut orchard as an experimental area. From then on, he made the chestnut grove his home, spending almost all his time there except for eating and sleeping. On cold winter nights of minus 20 to 30 degrees Celsius, he persisted in observing the overwintering conditions of chestnut trees, often with chilblains constantly on his feet and cracks all over his hands; in the midsummer heat of over 30 degrees Celsius, he patiently observed the fruiting conditions of chestnut trees, with his exposed skin repeatedly burned and peeling from the scorching sun, yet his steps of exploration never stopped. To figure out the production process of "Yanshan Zaofeng," he carefully recorded every data point throughout the entire growth process of chestnut trees all year round. At important production milestones, he would even stay in the chestnut grove all day. To solve the problem of early fruiting in chestnuts, he creatively borrowed methods from apple tree branch spreading and bud notching, exploring year by year, guarding the experiment day and night like caring for an infant in swaddling clothes...
Through tireless diligent study and indomitable bold innovation, An Lichun became a veritable chestnut technology expert. His six new chestnut planting and management technologies, including the "open center, branch spreading, bud notching" early-fruiting technique for young chestnut trees and the "three promotions and two controls management method" for chestnut trees in full fruit period, obtained national invention patents...
Under the guidance of his "early fruiting and high efficiency" systematic planting technology, the previously long chestnut tree growth cycle of "one year to plant, fifteen years to bear fruit, twenty years for full fruit" was changed to "one year to plant, two years to strengthen, three years to graft, four years for high yield, five years for full fruit," and the per-mu yield increased from a few dozen jin to 200 kg. An Lichun's almost mythical creation caused a sensation in the fruit tree cultivation world and earned him the title of "Chestnut God."
Resolute Action
Over ten thousand personal guidance visits, 100,000 technical training sessions, driving an annual increase of over 100 million yuan in benefits for chestnut farmers.
One flower blooming alone is not spring. An Lichun had long made up his mind to let the new technology benefit the broad community of chestnut farmers. He invented and summarized as he went, and once mature, he promoted it. With the county's support, in 1986, An Lichun joined forces with 4 chestnut farming households to contract 200 mu of barren hills in their village and established a chestnut new technology high-yield demonstration orchard. Shouldering his bedroll, An Lichun went up the mountain: installing water conservancy facilities, digging "contour trenches around the mountain," planting 5,000 chestnut trees... he did everything himself. Thanks to the adoption of new techniques such as grafting and annual pruning, after 5 years, these 5,000 chestnut trees reached an annual yield of 5,000 kg, causing a sensation throughout the county.
Hearing that An Lichun's chestnut orchard had such high yields, visitors came in an endless stream to observe and learn. "At that time, there were dozens of visits a year, with over a thousand people coming to observe," recalled Li Guoqi, an elderly villager and former village Party branch secretary.
An Lichun not only passed on all his techniques without reservation, but also compiled the new technology into a chestnut management "Three-Character Classic," printed it into practical booklets, and distributed them free of charge to chestnut farmers; giving public lectures on television was commonplace; he even "dragged in" his wife, son, and daughter, making them all "local experts" who taught the new technology to fellow villagers.
In 1991, An Lichun was exceptionally promoted to the position of deputy township head. From then on, he held more than a dozen training classes each year and convened on-site meetings more than three times, so busy he barely had time to touch the ground. A major chestnut marketing operator once tried to hire him at a high salary, but he politely declined. "He felt that doing this was where he could make the greatest difference," commented Zhang Jianjun, former Party secretary of Han'erzhuang Township.
Sweat brought the joy of golden autumn. The three townships of Luanyang Town, Saheqiao Town, and Han'erzhuang Township, which were the first to adopt An Lichun's new chestnut planting and management techniques, saw their chestnut yields rise rapidly. During An Lichun's 4 years working in Han'erzhuang Township, the township's chestnut yield increased from 1,500 tons to 6,000 tons, and the per capita chestnut income in the township reached over 2,500 yuan. Today, the chestnut output of these three townships has reached half of the county's total output, and they are all varieties such as Yanshan Zaofeng for which "however much is produced, that much is demanded," forming a single-variety market-oriented marketing system unique in the entire country.
Wherever he goes, the new technology is spread. Today, An Lichun, as unassuming as a chestnut tree, has cumulatively trained 100,000 chestnut farmers. Every year, he also receives over 3,000 visitors from various places coming to observe and investigate.
Selfless Devotion
Forgetting self and family, selflessly dedicating, only so that fellow villagers can all live a good life.
"For chestnuts, An Lichun is willing to sacrifice anything - truly forgetting self and family, selflessly dedicating." This is the most accurate assessment of him by the people of Qianxi.
In 1979, when his wife was about to give birth, it coincided with the critical period for planting chestnuts. An Lichun was responsible for technical guidance and ran up the mountain every day. When his wife went into labor, family members searched the entire mountain calling for him, but he did not hear a single call. In the evening, when he returned home dragging his exhausted body, his son had already been born. In 1991, while conducting an experiment on the effects of potted chestnut cultivation on mountain land, An Lichun accidentally suffered third-degree burns, with 10% of his body requiring skin grafts. His elderly mother's heart ached for her son: "Stop working on chestnuts, you're about to lose your life!" But half a year later, An Lichun was back in the familiar chestnut grove.
Years of labor caused An Lichun to develop severe diabetes, requiring more than 100 mg of insulin injections daily. Once, he was invited to give a lecture in Shangdong Village, Xinji Town. After class, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep on the scalding hot earthen kang, and only after waking did he discover that one foot had been burned, taking over 4 months to heal. Even so, as long as the county had arrangements, he would go to lecture, and mostly gave free lectures, never delaying even when limping.
After retiring from his leading post in 2007, An Lichun's pace of transmitting, assisting, and mentoring with new technology did not stop. "Chestnuts are my lifeblood career; just being in the chestnut grove makes me happy." He did not care about the low salary and unhesitatingly took up the position of chestnut production technology advisor for the county's Revolutionary Old Area Promotion Association, holding a pair of shears and traveling to all 37 key assistance villages in the old revolutionary areas throughout the county, establishing 10 science and technology demonstration orchards, cultivating 100 demonstration households, and training nearly a thousand chestnut technology backbone workers, increasing the per capita income of villagers in these assistance villages by 2,400 yuan.