The Four-Person Team for Artificial Cultivation of Lingzhi Mushrooms: Liu Xijian, Han Shujin, Yu Yongnian, and Wei Shuxia.

Release date:

2023-06-19

Liu Xijian, a renowned mycologist and plant pathologist in China
Liu Xijian was born on December 12, 1911, in Deyang, Sichuan. In 1943, he earned a bachelor’s degree in botany and plant pathology from Zhejiang University; in 1949, he obtained a master’s degree in plant pathology from the College of Agriculture at Jinling University, after which he remained at the university as a lecturer and then an associate professor. In 1957, he was admitted as a graduate student under Professor Dai Fanglan at the Institute of Applied Mycology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (the predecessor of the Institute of Microbiology). He stayed on at the institute in 1960, and in 1986 was appointed a researcher, receiving the “Government Special Allowance” awarded by the State Council.
Liu Xijian served as the chief editor of “Flora Fungorum Sinicorum” and translated the German original “A History of the Development of Fungi and Its Morphological Foundations” as well as the English original “Fundamentals of Mycology.”
In 1969, Liu Xijin accepted the task of artificially cultivating lingzhi and served as the leader of the “Lingzhi Research” project team. He spearheaded the first study to identify the key factors determining cap formation during the fruiting-body development of lingzhi, thereby ushering in the era of its artificial cultivation.


Professor Yu Yongnian, a renowned mycologist and researcher, was born in 1923 in Wanzhou, Chongqing. He has held numerous distinguished positions, including Researcher, Professor, and Doctoral Supervisor at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as Principal Investigator for major national research projects. He was a founding member of the Academic Committee of the China National Fungal Strain Preservation Committee, a member of the Microbiology Committee of the National Committee for the Standardization of Scientific and Technical Terms, and the Deputy Director of the inaugural Academic Committee of the Open Laboratory for Mycological and Lichenological Systematics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at the Graduate School of University of Science and Technology of China, a part-time professor at Beijing Agricultural University, and a visiting professor at Chongqing Three Gorges University. Additionally, he has been an Honorary Advisor to the American Biographical Institute (ABI), an Honorary Member of the Cambridge International Biographical Centre (ABC) in the United Kingdom, Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Mycology and the Flora Fungorum Sinica, Associate Editor of the Flora Sporophytica Sinica and MYCOSYSTEMA, a Consultant for the Chinese Journal of Mycology, President of the Chinese Mycological Society, and Honorary President of the Chinese Mycological Society. He has also served as Chairman of Beijing Masimeng Technology Development Co., Ltd.
Professor Yu has been engaged in mycological research and teaching for over 50 years. He has mentored approximately ten graduate students pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees. He has published more than 120 scholarly articles in over 30 academic journals both domestically and internationally. He is the author, editor, or translator of more than 20 books, including “Fungi and Humans,” “Outline of Fungal Taxonomy,” “Selected Papers on Mycology by Yu Yongnian,” “Common and Frequently Used Fungi,” “Fungal Nomenclature and Terminology,” “Checklist of the Erysiphales of China,” “The Peronosporales of China,” “Introduction to Mycology,” “Comprehensive Treatise on Mycology,” and “Selected Writings of Yu Yongnian,” among others. He has received numerous awards and is a recipient of a special government allowance.

Previous post

The birth of China’s first artificially cultivated Ganoderma lucidum.

Modern Classification of Ganoderma

Next article

Related Recommendations