Chapter 21 second quarter

Mr. Su Yunfeng, an expert on the history of Tsinghua University, once wrote in his monograph "From Tsinghua Academy to Tsinghua University": In the list of professors who were not born in Tsinghua University, we can also see the stars that will shine in the future... Xiong Qinglai (1893-1969), professor and head of the Department of Mathematics, was admitted to Yunnan to stay in Europe at the beginning of the Republic of China. After many years in France, he studied science at Montbury University Master degree, recommended by Ye Qisun, came to Tsinghua University in 1926, organized the Department of Mathematics, and taught difficult courses such as calculus, differential equations, and analytical functions.

There is a reason why Mr. Su Yunfeng put the words "not born in Tsinghua University" at the beginning of the essay.According to his research, there is actually quite a strong ethnic concept in the Tsinghua campus: "Small group consciousness is a common phenomenon, and Tsinghua University is no exception, especially for Tsinghua graduates who are distributed in various places. They have common experiences and deep feelings, resulting in common values ​​and interests. They have reasons to cherish and maintain these values, but the result of excessive protection will inevitably produce external repulsion.” We learned from the diaries of Wu Mi and others You can clearly touch the hidden and vast thoughts of the Tsinghua ethnic group, as well as the secret behavior style and values ​​of this ethnic group.Objectively speaking, the ethnic consciousness of Tsinghua people contains reasonable components.As far as Tsinghua people are concerned, because they have a good command of Chinese and Western, as well as arts and sciences, they will be the top of the list, so they can see all the small mountains at a glance.Even Peking University, Nankai University, or Zhongda University and Fudan University at that time, Tsinghua people did not think highly of them from the bottom of their hearts, especially if a person from such a background came to Tsinghua University, an involuntary sense of rejection would arise spontaneously .Influenced by the standardized education of Western universities, Tsinghua people pay special attention to rules, order, family background, and history.Even for a master like Chen Yinke who is well versed in both Chinese and Western cultures, it still takes a lot of trouble to come to Tsinghua University. He has to be guaranteed by a famous person like Liang Rengong, and Cao Yunxiang personally makes the decision.

From the list of professors who were not born in Tsinghua University listed by Mr. Su Yunfeng, the ones crowned as "stars that will shine in the future" are mostly Mr. Ye Qisun, except for a few professors hired by Zhou Yichun and Jin Bangzheng, and Zhao Yuanren. Employed. Xiong Qinglai is one of them. It was the early spring of 1931 when Xiong Qinglai saw Hua Luogeng's thesis in the library.The school just finished the winter vacation, and Xiong Qinglai walked into the library for the first time after the vacation.It was quiet in the library, only a few teachers in the department were reading newspapers and periodicals.Xiong Qing looked at it for a while, but found that the new issue of the newspaper had not yet arrived, so he had to pick up the last December issue of "Science" magazine again.At this moment, Hua Luogeng's name caught his eyes.

This time he could see it. Following the path guided by Hua Luogeng, along the way, there is an impression of mountains gathering together and waves like anger. Watching him analyze the questions, it is like flying a car to win the pass. Xiong Qing looked excitedly, so he couldn't help admiring, which attracted the colleagues in the room to stop for a while. "This person is very skilled, is he a professor from some university?" "This man has a solid foundation and a unique method. He must have received Western training..." Everyone discussed fiercely, and they all felt that this person was extraordinary.Just at this moment, the teaching assistant Tang Peijing arrived, and he couldn't help laughing out loud when he heard everyone's judgments:

"This man is from my hometown. He only went to junior high school and worked as a servant in the middle school of Jintan County, Zhejiang, my hometown." General servants are handymen.Everyone fell silent after hearing this. Only Xiong Qinglai became excited: "In this way, this person is a genius. Mr. Tang, can you draw a thread from this and invite Hua Luogeng to Tsinghua University to let us have a look?" A month later, Tang Peijing ran into Ye Qisun in the Gongzi hall, and Ye Qisun asked him suddenly: "Have you met Hua Luogeng yourself? Mr. Xiong asked you to contact Hua Luogeng, did you get in touch?"

Tang Peijing didn't take this matter too seriously.When Mr. Xiong said that at the time, everyone listened to it.Mr. Xiong said that inviting Hua Luogeng to Tsinghua University for everyone to "take a look", Tang Peijing thought it was just a joke.Tang Peijing is a student of farming and studying. He knows that from Zhejiang to Beijing, the Guanshan Mountains are separated by rivers and rivers.If letting him come here is just for everyone to "see" and prove his ability, but it is of no practical use, Tang Peijing would feel a little indifferent in his heart.However, after hearing Mr. Ye Qisun's question, he realized that the "look" that Mr. Xiong said was probably not the "look" he thought.

Tang Peijing did not answer Mr. Ye directly, but asked him: "Do you know about Hua Luogeng?" "Yes, Mr. Xiong has told me about this man. I have read the three papers he wrote, very good. When will you invite him?" Tang Peijing felt from Mr. Ye's tone that he attached great importance to this matter.He hurriedly replied that he had written to his younger brother and entrusted him to contact Hua Luogeng.It's just that the school seems to be quite controversial about this matter. I was afraid that something would happen in the middle, so I slowed down the matter...

Tang Peijing wanted to tell Mr. Ye that if it was just for "seeing", it would be best not to let him come.But not for "seeing", if he came to Tsinghua University to work, he didn't dare to think deeply.He himself only got a teaching assistant after graduating from university, and Hua Luogeng only graduated from junior high school. How should Tsinghua arrange it?Tang Peijing knew that this was a matter of considerable consideration, and Mr. Xiong was an outsider, and his influence was not enough if he wanted to lure Hua Luogeng, who had no status, to Tsinghua University.If Mr. Ye intervenes in this matter, with his power as the dean of the Faculty of Science and the influence of his Tsinghua Youth School, he may be able to succeed.

Ye Qisun seemed to have seen through Tang Peijing's thoughts, and hurriedly said: "This matter must be carried out quickly. Hua Luogeng's matter has been discussed, and Mr. Xiong will inform you later. Hua Luogeng will arrange to work in your department first, and other matters will be discussed later... " Back in the department, Mr. Xiong really found him, and told him about Hua Luogeng again, saying that if Mr. Ye hadn't supported this matter, it would have been a joke to ask him to invite Hua Luogeng to Tsinghua. Tang Peijing suddenly felt a lot of emotion in his heart.This country boy, who had never met before, really met two good people. Since ancient times, literati have neglected each other, but they have "valued each other". .In this way, Hua Luogeng's visit really fulfilled the saying "There are noble people in his life to help him". You can see that he is thousands of miles away, and before he knows it, there are people here who are working hard and spare no effort to arrange for him. The little brother is really a blessed person. !

So, I hurriedly edited a book and introduced the situation here to Hua Luogeng, asking him to come to Beijing sometime soon... In August 1931, when Hua Luogeng’s figure appeared in Tsinghua Campus, within the university, especially in the faculty meeting, there was a fairly heated debate about his identity and physical issues. Hua Luogeng is not only a junior high school student, but also a disabled person. At the age of 18, Hua Luogeng suffered from a serious illness. His life was saved, but due to long-term inflammation and periosteum adhesions, his left leg became stiff and bent, and he could no longer straighten it.If you walk, you must hold the crutch with your left hand, step forward with your right foot first, and draw a circle in the air with your left foot before landing.Now, Hua Luogeng walks in the Science Museum or the I-shaped hall every day with such a maverick figure. In the eyes of many Tsinghua people who regard themselves as the proud son of heaven, it is a bit of an obstacle.In addition, he is only a junior high school student and has no higher education. Compared with most of the professors who have traveled across the ocean to find a master's and doctoral degree and come back to teach, his name is not right.For them, the few valuable papers published by Hua Luogeng are just flashes of inspiration, and they are using their whole life to practice the modern order of university education, which is more important, which is related to whether they respect the laws of running a school .The arguments of the opponents seem difficult to refute.

At the critical moment, Ye Qisun once again stood up to all opinions.He said: I hope everyone will carefully read Mr. Hua Luogeng's paper before speaking.After he came to Tsinghua, we talked many times, and I learned a lot each time.In my personal judgment, in a few days, Hua Luogeng will become a shining star in the mathematics field of our country, and Tsinghua University will be proud of it.As for his disability, this is exactly what Hua Luogeng is proud of.Some people say that his walking is "the movement of circles and tangents". Yes, Mr. Hua Luogeng was born for mathematics.We at Tsinghua University should be very proud of having such a unique figure! Under the full attention of Ye Qisun and Xiong Qinglai, Hua Luogeng became an assistant in the Department of Mathematics. His job tasks were to organize books, newspapers, send and receive documents, collect tools on his behalf, and draw charts. The salary is still much higher than that of Jintan Middle School.Hua Luogeng cherished this job very much, so he worked hard and won a good reputation soon.In addition to his own job, he took advantage of his work to read a lot of books and read many Chinese and foreign mathematics books whenever he had free time.Ye Qisun specially approved him to follow the courses of the mathematics undergraduate class, and he completed all the courses in one and a half years.In addition, he also taught himself English, German and French during this period, which laid a solid foundation for him to become an internationally renowned scholar in the future. While working in the library of the Department of Mathematics, Hua Luogeng still insisted on studying mathematics, and published papers in Chinese and foreign mathematics journals continuously, and achieved gratifying results.Once, Ye Qisun found out that his thesis had been published by a Japanese academic journal. Overjoyed, he immediately consulted with Xiong Qinglai, Yang Wuzhi and other leaders of the mathematics department, and finally decided to promote Hua Luogeng as a teacher in an exceptional way. Not only that, Ye Qisun also "broke the routine and sent Hua Luogeng to the UK for further studies, which enabled him to get in touch with the forefront of the world's mathematics field, follow the top mathematics masters, and jump into the ranks of world-class mathematicians". ("The Cornerstone of Chinese Science and Technology", page 153) One day in the summer of 1936, Hua Luogeng and Zhou Peiyuan went to Europe together.Hua Luogeng went to Cambridge University, and Zhou Peiyuan went on annual leave.These were all arranged by Mr. Ye Qisun. Considering Hua Luogeng's leg ailment, the thoughtful Ye Qisun asked Zhou Peiyuan to escort him all the way, and he left at Cambridge University in England.So far, Hua Luogeng has really entered the big stage of the international mathematics community. After the founding of New China, Hua Luogeng became famous all over the world. Many people only knew Hua Luogeng but not Xiong Qinglai, or only knew Xiong Qinglai but not Ye Qisun.As for Hua Luogeng, he never forgets Ye Qisun and Xiong Qinglai's support and support.It can be said that without Ye Qisun and Xiong Qinglai, there would be no future mathematician Hua Luogeng. In December 1983, Hua Luogeng gave the following speech at the Tsinghua Alumni Gathering of the California Institute of Technology under the title "Talking the Old Words". They are Mei Yiqi, Ye Qisun, Xiong Qinglai and Liang Sicheng in turn.When talking about Ye Qisun and Mr. Xiong Qinglai, he said: Ye Qisun was the dean of the Institute of Science and Technology when I was in Tsinghua University, and he approved me from assistant to teaching assistant and teacher.Unfortunately, he died during the "Cultural Revolution".I remember someone once said that he made a lot of contributions to Tsinghua University. For me, Xiong Qinglai is of course a kindness to me, which is indescribable.His influence on me, at least in this way, is that he worked till he was old, worked till he died, and worked till his last breath.I am 73 years old this year, and I can still persist in my work in theory and application, which is the role of his example.Originally, I was supposed to write an article to commemorate him, but I didn't have time, and I didn't finish writing a poem to commemorate him.Make a statement now. I remember Xiong Lao's 70th birthday, we organized a celebration meeting.The main host of the celebration is Wu Han, who is the vice mayor of Beijing and an alumnus of our Tsinghua University.At that meeting, Mr. Ye Qisun told me: "Old people are afraid of being excited. Your responsibility today is to make Mr. Xiong comfortably celebrate his birthday here. Don't let him speak, you can speak for him." The students congratulated Mr. Xiong on his birthday and spoke on behalf of Mr. Xiong. I have to talk too much, because these many seniors have helped me too much.As long as I am free, I always go to them for advice.But I work on the two fronts of theory and application, and I often go out. Although I want to see more of them, it is still not enough... In 1984, Mr. Ye Qisun had passed away for many years, but Mr. Hua Luogeng still missed this old man whom he admired from the bottom of his heart.He said in a letter from Ye Mingying, the niece of Fuye Qisun: Most of the world in the eyes of mathematicians presents a beautiful mathematical state, which can be calculated and has answers.Wherever the human mind shines, everything reveals the contours of reason.This is the power of mathematics, its expression is accurate and vivid.However, Hua Luogeng, a mathematician, faced Ye Qisun, a person who had made great contributions to Tsinghua University and the Chinese nation, but he couldn't understand why he had such a fate in the future, and he couldn't help him.He had to leave this difficult solution to future generations... From 1929 to 1937, Ye Qisun served as the dean of the School of Science of Tsinghua University for nine years. During this period, it was the time when Tsinghua University was on the right track and booming.In the book "From Tsinghua Academy to Tsinghua University", Mr. Su Yunfeng commented on the School of Science during this period, "Building a physics museum, museum, meteorological station and related special technology research in the west of the campus, making the School of Science the largest and most comprehensive in the campus. The department with the most magnificent building and the best equipment. The biology hall received half of the donation from the Rockefeller Foundation, and it was the largest department hall on campus at this time.”In this period, the other two liberal arts and law schools have been using the library downstairs to work, and they still do not have their own departments. After 1931, the Faculty of Science “constructed chemistry halls, water conservancy halls, mechanical engineering halls, electrical engineering halls, and aeronautical engineering halls in the southwest of the school, rebuilt power plants, built 4 male and female dormitories and 40 new residences for faculty and staff.” After 1934, the Faculty of Science had "58 laboratories and research rooms, most of which were equipped with the best instruments and equipment".In terms of books and instruments and equipment, it is second to none in China, and no one can match it. When talking about Ye Qisun’s contribution to Tsinghua University, Mr. Chen Daisun said: Since I am a layman in physics, I have no way of commenting on the specific academic achievements of Mr. Qisun.What I know is that he is the founder of the Department of Physics of Tsinghua University, and at the same time the founder of the development of the departments of the School of Science of Tsinghua University.He made a contribution to Tsinghua University becoming one of the famous universities in a short period of time... In just a few years, Tsinghua has changed from a well-known school with no academic status to one that matches its name and its reality university.In the process of this sudden change, it should be said that the Faculty of Science is at the forefront, and the Department of Physics is the vanguard in this forefront.Mr. Qisun has made important contributions in this regard.In order to establish Tsinghua's Department of Physics and School of Science, he recruited a group of highly accomplished scholars, such as Xiong Qinglai, Wu Youxun, Sa Bendong, Zhang Zigao, Sa Bentie, Li Jitong, Zhou Peiyuan, Zhao Zhongyao, Huo Bingquan, Ren Zhi Gong and others have enriched the teaching staff of the Faculty of Science; they have actively prepared and established laboratories necessary for research work for the Department of Physics, equipped with various instruments and equipment.The Department of Physics of Tsinghua University cultivated a group of outstanding talents nearly ten years before the Anti-Japanese War; they played a great role in the development of China's scientific undertakings.There is no record of this bleak business process.After a long time, it is easy for future generations to not understand or forget. (Chen Daisun "Pioneer of China's Science and Technology Development, Sincere Patriot", see "A Generation of Teacher Ye Qisun", pp. 2-3) In the words of modern people, to summarize the achievements of Ye Qi Sun Dean, that is, he prepared Tsinghua University with the best hardware equipment in China at that time, hired the first-class teachers in China at that time, and cultivated a good style of study.And these have deeply influenced Tsinghua University, and established the basic structure and basic school-running philosophy of Tsinghua University. Since then, it has been inherited in one continuous line until the early days of the founding of New China.