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This article comes from the official account of Wechat: back to Park (ID:fanpu2019), by Fan Ming

The previous article, "A mathematician across two cultures, Einstein said he was his great teacher," mentioned that the famous mathematician Karassiodori had two Chinese students, one of whom was the female mathematician Xu Ruiyun. In the public information, Xu Ruiyun is considered to be the first female doctor of mathematics in China. However, according to the textual research of scholars in recent years, Liu Shuting is actually the first person. She received her doctorate from the University of Michigan in 1930. More than a hundred years ago, an important topic of the New Culture Movement was the opening of women's ban in universities. Women with aspirations went abroad and sought new knowledge through various channels. With this article, I would like to commemorate this Chinese female pioneer.

In the first two or three decades of the 20th century, modern science was still in its infancy in China, and there were very few overseas students studying mathematics, physics and other disciplines and obtaining degrees, especially girls. For example, the first female PhD in physics in China was Gu Jinghui, who graduated from the University of Michigan in 1931. As for the female doctorate in mathematics, the more famous is the student of Constantin Carath é odory, who graduated from the University of Munich in Germany in 1940. Recently, I read the article "Barber Scholarship and Chinese female Doctor of Science pioneer" (hereinafter referred to as [LZ]) published in the 3rd issue of Dialectics of Nature by Li Aihua and Zhang Peifu, which mentioned that the first female doctorate in mathematics in China was Liu Shuting.

There are very few Chinese materials about Liu Shuting's life. On the Internet, the author can only find the pictures and words published on the front page of Women's Pictorial No. 3 in 1930 and Beiyang Pictorial No. 457 (1930): "Ms. Shuting is from Peiping. He went to study in the United States in 1923 and studied science at the University of Michigan. "" Min received a doctorate in astronomy and mathematics in the United States for 18 years. He is currently a professor at Colorado University in the United States. Ms. Liu is actually the first Chinese woman to receive a doctorate in astronomy and mathematics in the West and serve as a university faculty member. Ms. Wen is now invited by several departments and Peiping University to return to China this summer as a professor at the university. " Driven by curiosity, the author roamed through the Internet and spelled out a simple but clear picture.

In 2009, the American Mathematical Society published a monograph by Judy Green and Jeanne LaDuke, female Pioneers in American Mathematics: PhDs before 1940 (Pioneering Women in American Mathematics: The Pre-1940 PhD's) (hereinafter referred to as [GL]), and the author provided additional materials in 2016. Even in the United States, the road for women to learn math and science is not smooth. In 1886, Columbia University awarded a female doctorate for the first time, making Winifred Edgerton the first female doctorate in mathematics in American history. Dramatically, Christine Ladd completed all the requirements for a doctorate at Johns Hopkins University in 1882, but was denied a degree only because of gender. After 44 years of unremitting efforts and struggle, she did not receive a doctorate in mathematics until she was 79 in 1926, and the award dates back to 1882.

In the United States in the first 40 years of the 20th century, the learning and research environment of women has been greatly improved, and the proportion of women with doctorates in mathematics is more than 14%, which is even much higher than that of today in the 21st century. The book introduces 228 women who received doctorates in mathematics from American universities before World War II, 16 of whom were born outside the United States. Liu Shuting is the only Chinese, ranking about 120 in chronological order. Liu Shuting has the surname of the crown husband after marriage, so the English name in the book is Shu Ting Hsia (Liu). Wikipedia also has an entry for Shu Ting Hsia, which is from the book, but only in German.

Born in Beijing in 1903, Liu Shuting is the eldest daughter of the family. [GL] says his father Te-Yuang Liu (Liu Deyuan) is a railway engineer and his mother's name is Shien-Ying Chen. More than 100 years ago, there was only one railway university in China-Shanhaiguan Railway official School, the predecessor of Tangshan Jiaotong University, which later changed its name many times. The author happens to have a book of Jiaotong University alumni on hand. Liu Deyuan graduated in 1900 and is one of the first 17 graduates of the university. Liu Shuting received a complete education from primary school to university in China. He studied mathematics at the University of Michigan (University of Michigan) before 1923 and won a Barber Scholarship the following year.

[GL] and other foreign language materials did not mention the Chinese university where Liu Shuting studied, while [LZ] said it was Yanjing University. In the related report of Shenbao in 1923, Liu Shuting went abroad from Shanghai Datong University and had high credibility, so he kept this record. Datong University is a private university founded by Hu Dunfu, a famous mathematics educator. The name of the university is "the Book of Rites and Rites": "the world is shared by people and it is Datong." After graduating from Harvard, Hu Dunfu's two brothers, Hu Mingfu, China's first PhD in mathematics, and Hu Gangfu, one of the founders of modern Chinese physics, also joined Datong. Hu Mingfu founded the Datong Mathematics Department and served as the dean of the Department, while Hu Gangfu presided over the Datong Physics Department. Datong University is also the first private university in China to implement coeducation. In its 40-year history, Datong University has always been a leading private university in Shanghai and even in the whole country, enjoying the reputation of "north-south opening, south Datong".

With regard to the process of studying abroad by Liu Shuting and Gu Jinghui in Datong Campus, the Declaration of 1923 is described as follows:

Ms. Gu Liu and Ms. Gu Liu will be sent off to study in the United States: Ms. Gu Jinghui and Ms. Liu Shuting of Datong University will be sent to the United States on the 17th. The school alumni association held a farewell party at 07:30 last night, and teachers and students gathered until about 10:00 before having fun. At the end of the banquet, Ye Yuanlong, president of the alumni association, delivered a farewell speech, which was answered by Ms. Gu, saying that it was unexpected to be admitted to Tsinghua University at the beginning of studying in the United States, and that everything could not be planned beforehand. Now she plans to study science at Cornell University. I also heard that Ms. Liu also plans to study science, but it has not yet been decided which school to enter. " (August 9)

"apart from Gu Ching-hui, a female student in Datong, who was admitted by Tsinghua University to study physics at Cornell University, Liu Shuting also went to the University of Michigan to study mathematics." (August 17)

"in terms of the subjects that foreign students plan to study this year, men and women mostly study civil engineering, mechanical engineering, business, economics, etc., while science, education, and agriculture are in the minority. There are only one or two students studying aviation and army, and only five or six students each study philosophy and literature. Most of the girls study education, medicine, literature and music, and there are only two or three students who study science. If Gu Ching-hui and Ms. Liu Shuting of Datong University are both majoring in science, there are also two or three students who have not yet decided on the subjects they are planning to study. " (October 10)

The Declaration of January 22 of the following year also published the undergraduate record of Chinese students of Mi University. Liu Shuting has been participating in the activities of Chinese Alumni Association during his study abroad.

Founded in 1817, the University of Michigan is one of the top public universities in the United States and the world. Liu Shuting received his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1926 and 1927 respectively, and worked as a research assistant in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Liu Shuting completed his doctoral thesis in August 1929 and received his degree in March the following year. He is the third female doctor in mathematics in the history of the university. Her doctoral thesis, entitled "Periodic Orbital Theory of Integer Type asteroids" (Theory of Periodic Orbits for Asteroids of Integral Types), gives the construction of periodic solutions of differential equations for plane motion of infinitesimal objects under the gravitational action of Jupiter and the sun. Liu Shuting's mentor, Louis Allen Hopkins, is an expert in applied mathematics and astromechanics. Liu Shuting is one of the two PhDs he has mentored.

After completing his doctoral thesis at the University of Michigan Student Union Building (Michigan Union) in 1919, Liu Shuting worked as a substitute teacher for a sick teacher for two months at the private liberal arts college, Colorado College (Colorado College in Colorado Springs), before marrying Xia Pingfang (also: Xia Pinfang), who graduated from Harvard Business School. Apart from the misdescription of Colorado College as "university", the introductions of Women's Pictorial and Beiyang Pictorial are basically true. Gu Jinghui, who went to the United States with Liu Shuting, received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a master's degree from Yale University. In 1928, he received a Barber Scholarship and went to the University of Michigan to pursue his PhD. He graduated one year later than Liu Shuting. Interestingly, Liu Shuting and Gu Jinghui, the two earliest female PhDs in mathematics and physics in China, are classmates of the same university in China and the United States.

The Barber Oriental Women's Scholarship (The Barbour Scholarships for Oriental Women) is the first scholarship for Asian women by UMU alumnus, Jewish lawyer and philanthropist Levi Lewis Barbour, who served on the school board from 1892 to 1898 and from 1902 to 1908. In 1917, Barber donated $50, 000 to the university to set up a permanent scholarship program, and then increased the amount of donations several times. The purpose of the Barber Scholarship is to encourage and help Asian women to improve their status in their home countries by recruiting outstanding women from Asian countries to study at the University of Michigan, to prepare them for leadership and social service when they return to their homeland, and to enhance exchanges and understanding between the East and the West. In Barber's own words: "the idea of setting up an oriental women's scholarship is to give western education to girls from the east, so that they can harvest what they think is good and get the blessing of the people of their own motherland."

According to [LZ], besides Liu Shuting and Gu Jinghui, China's first female doctor in microbiology, Tao Shanmin (1927), the first female doctor in zoology, Wu Yifang (1928), and the first female doctor in chemical engineering, Luo Yunhe (1931), all won a Barber Scholarship (later, Tao Shanmin and Luo Yunhe transferred to other universities in the United States to obtain doctorates).

In the group photo of the winners of the Barber Scholarship in 1928-1929, the fourth from the left in the front row is Liu Shuting, the second from the right is Gu Jinghui, and the fifth from the back is Wu Yifang. The first female Ph.D. in China in three different fields is in the same frame, which can be called "the best picture of a Chinese female student in history."

Liu Shuting's page on the mathematician spectrum website MGP of the American Mathematical Society. Liu Shuting's husband, Xia Pingfang, was born in Anhui Province in 1902. He studied in the United States from Tsinghua University in 1924 and received a master's degree in business administration from Colorado College and Harvard University. Shortly after their marriage, in the summer of 1930, the couple returned to China. Xia Pingfang worked for the Shanghai municipal government and the Bank of China. Their son and daughter were born in Shanghai in 1931 and 1937, respectively. Liu Shuting used to teach at Shanghai Hujiang University (Shanghai college). The quiet and stable life of a few years was soon broken by the war, and the whole family fled to Hong Kong after the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in August 1937, and came to the United States two years later until 1946.

During this period, Xia Pingfang served as the manager of Bank of China in New York and Ottawa, and Liu Shuting taught at Hunter College High School in New York from 1944 to 1945. In the summer of 1946, Pingfang was transferred to the resident manager of Bank of China in London, responsible for expanding its European business, and participated in the transfer of Bank of China in 1950. The couple later returned to New York, where Xia Ping Fang worked for Magnus Mabee&Reynard Oil Company until he retired and died in 1970. Liu Shuting worked on the New York City Youth Commission before retiring and moving to New Haven, Connecticut, where he died in 1981. Liu Shuting's daughter, Lucia Hsia Chinn, died in 1995; his son, Yujen Edward Hsia, who graduated from Oxford University and is a famous professor of pediatrics and medical genetics at the University of Hawaii, died in February 2020 at the age of 88.

In 1998, Yujen Edward Hsia described his mother in an email to one of the authors of [GL]: "my mother." She loves math very much, and I believe she enjoys teaching very much, but her main commitment is to give her relatives a home, making it impossible for her to pursue a more formal career in mathematics. "" My mother was a rare exception in the era when traditional Chinese people grew up and experienced. As a woman, she joined the adventures of higher education in the United States and won scholarships and doctorates. Nevertheless, she still feels a little uncomfortable about American customs and idioms. "

$8000 of Liu Shuting's estate was donated to the University of Michigan, some of which was remitted to the Barber Scholarship Foundation in return for her early years. Liu Shuting is one of the earliest female college students after the opening of women's ban in Chinese colleges and universities. she entered college at the age of 17, studied in the United States at the age of 20, and obtained her doctorate at the age of 27. Although later, due to various reasons of the times, society and family, Liu Shuting failed to give full play to her talents in the professional field as Xu Ruiyun and others did, she should be well-deserved for the title of "female pioneer". As a younger generation of scholars, it is also meaningful to record the Jiguang film feather in her legendary life and the vicissitudes of her time.

In the process of writing this article, I would like to thank my old classmate Cao Yuan for helping to consult the information and participate in the discussion. The pictures in the article are from the Internet, and the photos taken by Barber scholars are from the archives of the Bentley History Library of the University of Michigan.

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