Pioneer

This film (drama)Also known as奠基者，is aMainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At2010Released in year 。The dialogue language isMandarin，Current Douban rating8.2(For reference only)。

In early 1958, during the first five-year plan after the birth of New China, only the Ministry of Petroleum failed to complete its plan. Western countries attempted to "suffocate red China" with oil, leaving the young New China in a petroleum crisis, and leaders such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai were at a loss. The one-armed general Yu Qiuli, then Minister of the General Logistics Department of the People's Liberation Army, was appointed Minister of Petroleum during this critical time. After taking office, Yu Qiuli actively searched for oil fields in the east, in line with Deng Xiaoping's directive to shift the focus of oil exploration from the west to the east. At the second meeting of the Eighth Plenary Session, he led the Ministry of Petroleum in a surprise maneuver against various departments, keeping a determined but tactful approach. In April 1958, during an inspection in Nanchong, Sichuan, Yu Qiuli brought the PLA tradition of "establishing party branches within units" to the petroleum front, requiring each drilling team to establish a party branch and assign a political instructor, prioritizing organizational development over drilling output. As Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated and the Soviet Union reneged on its promises, withdrawing experts, the surrounding situation for the young New China grew increasingly tense. Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Defense Minister Peng Dehuai were highly concerned about the oil situation. Amidst elation about oil gushing at wells like Longnusi No.2 and Nanchong No.3, Mao Zedong suddenly appeared at a gas field in Longchang, Sichuan, without notifying Yu Qiuli and wrote the words "Sichuan is full of hope." Soon after, the military campaign in Sichuan retreated, placing immense pressure on Yu Qiuli. Following the Eighth Plenary Session held at Lushan, the Central Committee initiated a struggle against "rightist opportunism" within the party, affecting some leaders in the petroleum factories and mines. Yu Qiuli took political risks, arguing fiercely to protect his subordinates against opposition. On September 26, 1959, Songji No.3 well struck high-yield oil. Vice Minister of Petroleum Kang Shien supervised the trial drilling, with the first secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee, Ouyang Qin, personally inspecting the well and renaming Datong Town to "Daqing District." Yu Qiuli gathered cadres and experts for discussions and ultimately decided to break with convention, setting aside exploration and focusing all forces of the petroleum system around Datong Town for a significant oil campaign in the Songliao Basin. He demanded that everyone overcome parochialism and adopt a holistic perspective to explore and develop this massive oil field as quickly and efficiently as possible. With persistent urging from Deng Xiaoping, the report from the Petroleum Department's party committee on launching the oil campaign was quickly approved by Chairman Mao and the Central Committee. A large number of outstanding drilling teams, including those led by Wang Jinxie, rushed to Daqing to participate in the campaign. Facing reluctance from a minority, Yu Qiuli asserted the battle cry, "If conditions exist, we will go; if conditions do not exist, we will still go." On March 10, 1960, the Sa66 well exploded with an abundant oil flow. Yu Qiuli convened consecutive party meetings and proposed to shift the main battlefield north from the vicinity of Datong Town to the Saltu area. Resources from across the nation continuously flowed to support Daqing's construction, and a large number of retired soldiers arrived as fresh forces for the petroleum industry. Wang Jinxie led his drilling team, working overnight to transport drilling rigs and equipment to the drilling site while being the first to break through the ice and initiate drilling. Yu Qiuli established Wang Jinxie and others as advanced examples for the campaign and addressed issues that had arisen by learning and analyzing the situation, tasks, and contradictions of the campaign. A wave of studying Mao's writings and the "Two Theories" swept through Daqing, unifying the thoughts of the workers. During the unprecedented rainy season that followed, Yu Qiuli, Kang Shien, and all petroleum workers overcame numerous difficulties, including transportation and food shortages as well as natural disasters, managing to achieve their first oil transport by June 1, 1960, breaking the Western prediction that it would take at least three years. The deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations led to a near halt in the import of aviation kerosene, grounding all Air Force aircraft and even forcing the Army's combat vehicles to stop. Vice Premier Nie Rongzhen personally wrote to Yu Qiuli, urging the Petroleum Department to swiftly organize the development and production of domestic kerosene to escape this dire situation. Yu Qiuli's department, the Petroleum Research Institute, was tasked with developing the aviation kerosene project. Soon, the project achieved success, ending China's reliance on imported aviation kerosene. As winter approached, the biggest challenge facing the campaign team was how to help tens of thousands survive the winter. After studying the situation, Yu Qiuli heeded Secretary Ouyang Qin's advice and fully mobilized the masses, working hard for four months to construct 300,000 square meters of "dry walls" before winter set in, ensuring "people had housing, machines had shelter, vegetables had cellars, and vehicles had garages," securing safety for the winter. Meanwhile, the relentless pursuit of drilling speed among drilling teams led to ongoing quality issues, even in Wang Jinxie's standard drilling team, which experienced deviation. Yu Qiuli and Kang Shien emphasized the importance of collecting essential data, drafting a "survey outline" that specified 20 types of information and 72 data points during the drilling and development at Daqing, which became geological technical specifications. A timely "4.19" on-site meeting helped cultivate a lifetime sense of responsibility and quality consciousness among petroleum workers, significantly enhancing the quality of drilling and oilfield projects. They successively summarized experiences such as job responsibility systems, "three old and four strict" standards, and "four consistent principles." Just as the campaign team stabilized, more family members arrived and workers began to flee, putting immense pressure on the already starving team suffering from swelling diseases. In September and October 1960, as national grain supplies tightened, the food rations for the campaign workers were also reduced, causing swelling diseases to emerge among the workforce, placing the campaign in a difficult position. Yu Qiuli asserted the necessity to manage production while simultaneously ensuring living conditions, finding every way to overcome difficulties and unwaveringly insisting on the campaign's continuation, even if the sky were to fall. He proposed, "Cadres eat in the cafeteria, and secretaries work in the mess hall." Meanwhile, some workers and families were mobilized to clear farmland on a large scale, embodying the spirit of Nanniwan, while the work committee organized hunting and fishing teams, gathered wild vegetables, and foraged for fruits, eventually overcoming hunger and surviving the winter of 1960. As spring plowing arrived in 1961, Yu Qiuli personally took the lead in organizing land clearing and the development of agriculture and sideline production. With expanded clearing efforts, the workers’ living standards improved, their health was restored, and the smooth progress of the campaign was ensured. In November 1961, Team 1202 surpassed the Soviet Grelinia Merit Team in just nine and a half months, winning the title of world champion for well drilling that year. Leaders such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai praised the achievements of the Daqing campaign. Before leaving Daqing, Yu Qiuli advised everyone not to be complacent, stating that starting a business was difficult, but maintaining it was even harder. On December 25, 1963, Deng Xiaoping announced to the world that the oil China needed was now self-sufficient, marking the end of the era when the Chinese people relied on imported "foreign oil" for over a hundred years...