Prof. Huang Ruicai, a famous soil scientist and agricultural educator in China, devoted his entire life to soil science research and agricultural education, and made important contributions to the development of soil science in China. He conducted long-term and fruitful research in soil geography, soil generation classification, soil micromorphology as well as farmland ecology. This article deliberately combed Prof. Huang Ruicai’s growth and development process, hoping that his life of “rather die by work than die in bed” could stimulate new generation of scientists and lead more successors to make their due contributions to the development of China's scientific undertakings.