Liang Congjie

Liang Congjie
Born	(1932-08-04)4 August 1932 Beijing, Republic of China
Died	28 October 2010(2010-10-28) (aged 78) Beijing, People's Republic of China
Title	President of the Friends of Nature
Spouse	Fang Jing
Children	Liang Jiang Liang Fang
Parent(s)	Liang Sicheng Lin Huiyin
Relatives	Liang Qichao (grandfather)
Awards	2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Services

Liang Congjie (Chinese: 梁从诫; 4 August 1932 – 28 October 2010) was a Chinese historian best known for his work as an environmental activist who established the Friends of Nature in 1994 as the first environmental non-governmental organization to be officially recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China.^[1]

Liang's father, architect Liang Sicheng, had led attempts to prevent the destruction of the walls surrounding Beijing with the land to be used for the construction of highways. His grandfather Liang Qichao spent 14 years in exile in Japan after he advocated on behalf of turning the Qing Dynasty into a constitutional monarchy.^[1] His ancestry came to haunt him during the Maoist Cultural Revolution when he was purged for his being the "grandson of China's biggest royalist". Liang was ultimately able to attend Peking University.^[2]

Having learned about the activities of Greenpeace, Liang and three of his colleagues at the Academy for Chinese Culture came to agreement that a corresponding organization was required in China to address growing environmental concerns in that country. The group that they formed, Friends of Nature, eschewed Greenpeace's more confrontational techniques, choosing to develop grassroots concern about nature through fostering environmental awareness in schools and establishing the nation's first birdwatching group. The organization worked with the Chinese government to ensure enforcement of existing environmental law, including efforts to protect a Tibetan antelope which were on the path to extinction and videotaping the cutting stands of old-growth forest in Western China that led to a 1999 order by Zhu Rongji prohibiting cutting down such trees.^[1]

Environmentalist Ma Jun described Liang as having "incubated the first generation of environmentalists in China" and described how he worked in conjunction with the government on a "constructively critical" basis to build support for protecting the environment.^[1] Friends of Nature's Li Bo credited him with "promoting ordinary Chinese's participation in supervising pollution problems and protecting the environment".^[2] Liang was recognized in 2000 with the Ramon Magsaysay Award, which recognizes Asian contributions to public service, noting that he was able to push environmental issues while having "avoided the pitfall of alienating government".^[3]

Liang died at the age of 78 on October 28, 2010, due to a lung infection while at a hospital in Beijing.^[2]

References

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Ramon Magsaysay Award recipients

Government Service (1958–2008)

Cambodia Ek Sonn Chan  China Yuan Longping  India C.D. Deshmukh J. M. Lyngdoh  Indonesia Raden Kodijat Ali Sadikin  Japan Morihiko Hiramatsu Hiroshi Kuroki Yukiharu Miki  Laos Keo Viphakone  Malaysia Mohamed Suffian Mohamed Hashim B. C. Shekhar  Pakistan Akhtar Hameed Khan Ibn Abdur Rehman  Philippines Jose Vasquez Aguilar Francisca Reyes-Aquino Hilario Davide Jr. Grace Padaca Jesse Robredo Jovito R. Salonga Miriam Defensor Santiago Haydee Yorac  Singapore Goh Keng Swee  Thailand Anand Panyarachun Chamlong Srimuang Jon Ungphakorn Phon Sangsingkeo Prawase Wasi Puey Ungpakorn  Taiwan Shih-chu Hsu Li Kwoh-ting Jiang Menglin

Public Service (1958–2008)

Burma Tee Tee Luce  Ceylon Mary H. Rutnam  China Gao Yaojie Jiang Yanyong Liang Congjie Wu Qing  India Baba Amte Banoo Jehangir Coyaji Manibhai Desai Jayaprakash Narayan V. Shanta  Indonesia H.B. Jassin Teten Masduki  Pakistan Ruth Pfau  Philippines Pedro Orata Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI)  South Korea Kim Sun-tae Park Won-soon  Spain based in  Philippines Joaquin Villalonga  Thailand Fua Hariphitak Mechai Viravaidya Nilawan Pintong Phra Parnchand Prateep Ungsongtham Hata Sirindhorn Sithiporn Kridakara Sophon Suphapong Therdchai Jivacate Thongbai Thongpao

Community Leadership (1958–2008)

Bangladesh Tahrunessa Abdullah Fazle Hasan Abed Muhammad Yunus Zafrullah Chowdhury Mohammed Yeasin Angela Gomes  Burma Cynthia Maung  India Mandakini Amte & Prakash Amte Mabelle Arole & Rajanikant Arole Pandurang Shastri Athavale Chandi Prasad Bhatt Ela Bhatt Vinoba Bhave Aruna Roy Shantha Sinha Rajendra Singh  Japan Fusaye Ichikawa  Laos Sombath Somphone  Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman    Nepal Mahabir Pun  Philippines Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation Antonio Meloto  Thailand Aree Valyasevi Krasae Chanawongse Prayong Ronnarong  Tibet 14th Dalai Lama

Journalism, Literature, and the Creative Communication Arts (1958–2008)

Bangladesh Matiur Rahman Abdullah Abu Sayeed  Burma Edward Michael Law-Yone  Ceylon or  Sri Lanka Wannakuwatta Amaradeva Tarzie Vittachi  India Mahasweta Devi Palagummi Sainath Amitabha Chowdhury  Indonesia Atmakusuma Astraatmadja Mochtar Lubis  Japan Akira Kurosawa Yasuji Hanamori Michiko Ishimure Akio Ishii    Nepal Bharat Koirala  Philippines Zacarias Sarian F. Sionil José Lino Brocka Radio Veritas James Reuter Bienvenido Lumbera Nick Joaquin Raul Locsin Eugenia Duran Apostol Sheila Coronel  Thailand Prayoon Chanyavongs  Great Britain based in  Philippines Robert McCulloch Dick

Peace and International Understanding (1958–2008)

China Tang Xiyang  India Mother Teresa Jockin Arputham Laxminarayan Ramdas  Indonesia Ahmad Syafi'i Maarif  Japan Ikuo Hirayama Tetsu Nakamura Saburo Okita Seiei Toyama    Nepal Sanduk Ruit  Pakistan Ibn Abdur Rehman  Philippines Operation Brotherhood Summer Institute of Linguistics William Masterson Harold Ray Watson International Institute of Rural Reconstruction Press Foundation of Asia Asian Institute of Management Corazon Aquino  South Korea Pomnyun Sunim  Thailand Asian Institute of Technology The Royal Project  United States based in  Thailand Genevieve Caulfield

Emergent Leadership (2001–)
Burma Ka Hsaw Wa  China Chen Guangcheng  Cambodia Oung Chanthol  India Sanjiv Chaturvedi Arvind Kejriwal Nileema Mishra Sandeep Pandey  Indonesia Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto Dita Indah Sari  Philippines Benjamin Abadiano  South Korea Yoon Hye-ran  Sri Lanka Ananda Galappatti  East Timor Aniceto Guterres Lopes  United States based in  Hong Kong Chung To

Uncategorized (2009–)

Bangladesh Syeda Rizwana Hasan A.H.M. Noman Khan  Cambodia Yang Saing Koma Koul Panha  China Fu Qiping Huo Daishan Ma Jun Pan Yue Yu Xiaogang  India Kulandei Francis Harish Hande Deep Joshi  Indonesia Hasanain Juaini Tri Mumpuni  Japan Tadatoshi Akiba  Philippines Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI) Christopher Bernido Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido Romulo Davide Antonio Oposa Jr.  Taiwan Chen Shu-chu  Thailand Krisana Kraisintu