Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

The original title: "do you know? physics" came from a Jinshi in the late Qing Dynasty, and the family behind him is like a river of stars.

On March 1, 1952, an old man nearly 80 years old died in Beijing.

He is the person who chose "physics" as the Chinese name for "physics". He is also one of the important figures who lit up the spark of physics education in China. His name is Wang Jilie.

Wang Jilie (1873-1952), the word Jin Yu, was born in Changzhou County, Suzhou Capital (now belonging to Suzhou City). In the Qing Dynasty, Guang Xu Jiachen (1904) Ke Jinshi, served as a teacher and supervisor of Lang Zhong of the School Department and Beijing Translation School. In the early stage, he was engaged in the translation of physics works, the arrangement of terms and the compilation of teaching materials, and then turned to the study of Kunqu Opera.

Wang Jilie was smart from an early age and influenced a subset of Confucian classics when he was young. In 1899, Wang Jilie began to work as a translation clerk in the Translation Hall of Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. During this period, he studied and studied modern western physics by himself.

In 1899, Wang Jilie collaborated with British scholar Fu Lanya (John Fryer) to translate the American Dr. William J. Morton's book on X-rays, "The X-ray--Photography of the Invisible and its Value in Surgery", and named it "Tongwu Diangguang". It was only four years after Roentgen in Germany discovered X-rays in 1895.

Wang Jilie pays attention to a set of physics works translated by Japanese Japanese historian Fujita Fujita. Its original edition is made by Japanese physicist Miyasheng Ting. It is a set of comprehensive and university-level physics textbooks. Around 1900, Wang Jilie carefully recompiled this set of textbooks.

The word "physics", which has long existed in Chinese, refers to the inherent law or truth of things. For example, it is mentioned in Zhoushu Ming Emperor Ji that "heaven and earth are poor, the five often go by, and people are always at ease, so that they are born with the dead, which is the necessity of physics."

Now, through the hands of Wang Jilie, the meaning and function of the word "physics" have changed. It has become a subject noun and the Chinese name of "physics". Before that, the corresponding Chinese name for "physics" was "Gezhi". For example, in 1867, there was a "Gezhi" course offered by the Tongwen Museum in Beijing.

Wang Jilie changed the Chinese name "Gezhi" chosen by Fujita for physics to "Physics", and named the book "Physics", which covers mechanics, acoustics, heat, magnetism, electricity and atmospheric physics. From 1901 to 1903, the book was published one after another by Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. It was the first set of physics textbooks with university level in China.

The book became very popular after its publication. Many physics terms mentioned in the book, such as "accelerated motion", "deceleration motion", "straight line motion", "curve motion", "matter", "gravity", "centripetal force", "real image", "virtual image", "insulator", "battery" and other physical terms have been used to this day.

After completing the translation of the book, Wang Jilie began to teach physics all over the country, not only physics, but also foreign languages and physics and chemistry. According to literature records, in 1901, he first served in Hubei Ziqiang School and Jing Xin Academy of Physics and Chemistry. In 1903, he served in Lianghu High School and Hubei ordinary Middle School.

Of course, during this period, he did not forget to get merit and fame, after all, he came from a family of imperial examinations.

Soon, Wang Jilie's talent attracted Zhang Zhidong's attention. Zhang praised him as "studious, thoughtful, knowledgeable and memorized, and diligent in the study of Chinese and Western mathematics, physics, and chemistry." In 1902, Zhang Zhidong recommended him as an economic special subject examiner. In 1902, he should raise a person in the provincial examination. In 1904, he won the second place in Yingdian and was born as a Jinshi.

In 1904, Wang Jilie was appointed to teach physics and chemistry at the eight banners school. In 1905, he taught physics and chemistry at the Beijing Translation School-- equivalent to a university professor.

During this period, Wang Jilie used the Modern Physics textbook by Keiji Nakamura as the textbook, which he translated for the convenience of the professor. The book was published in 1906 and won the praise of "excellent style, proper naming and smooth translation", and was rated as the best book in the textbook-the highest level of the textbook at that time.

In the early years of the Republic of China, Wang Jilie compiled a set of middle school physics textbooks called "Republic textbook Physics" at the invitation of the Commercial Press. The book was completed in May 1913 and published by the Commercial Press. The book pays attention to the cultivation of students' basic abilities, with detailed drawings and simple reasoning. The book was revised by Zhou Changshou in 1924 and became a national textbook after being approved by the Ministry of Education in 1929.

In addition, Wang Jilie also presided over the compilation of the Physics Glossary. It is the first specification of physics terms issued by the government in our country. Physics terms such as "focus", "light heart", "specific heat" and "wave" are all unified in this book.

In addition to the above-mentioned translations and works, in order to promote the development of school education at that time, Wang Jilie also translated, edited and published primary and secondary school textbooks such as "the latest physical and Chemical demonstration", "the latest Chemistry", "Primary School Teaching method", "New Physics textbook" and "Middle School Chemistry".

At the beginning of the Republic of China, deeply influenced by the Confucian thought of "loyalty, filial piety, etiquette and righteousness", Wang Jilie decided to return to seclusion and move to Tianjin to study the art of Kunqu Opera. Although he was under the age of 40 at that time, his road to science and technology and education came to an early end.

Wang Jilie is a famous physics educator in modern China and an important figure that can not be ignored in the history of Chinese physics, but after all, he has not engaged in real physics research, so he has not achieved research results in the field of physics.

However, his brothers and sisters and their descendants went farther and farther along the road of science, made brilliant achievements in their respective research fields, and became the pioneers of many scientific fields in modern China.

Let's sort it out briefly from Wang Jilie's generation.

Wang Jilie is the eldest son of the Wang family. his parents have 10 children, of which the third son, Wang Ji, died early, and the remaining nine children are:

Eldest son Wang Jilie, translator and educator of physics works

Second son Wang Jitong, mathematician and electromechanical expert

Fourth King Ji Dian, chemist, professor of Beijing University

Fifth son Wang Jixu, Doctor of Cambridge University, Professor of Peking University

Eldest daughter Wang Jizhao, studying in Japan, majoring in biology

Second daughter Wang Ji, chemist and professor at the University of Chicago

Third daughter Wang Jiyu, educator, headmaster of Zhenhua Girls' School

Four female women, Wang Jishan, industrialist and educator

Five female Wang Jichang, educator and founder of Anding Middle School

I can see that all of them are talented people. Among them, Wang Jitong (1875-1948) was obsessed with mathematics and was the first Chinese scholar to publish mathematics papers in international journals. Wang Ji (1879-1979), who was called "Doctor of preserved Egg" by her family, was the first female doctor in chemistry in China. In 1918, she completed her thesis "Chemical Research on Chinese preserved Egg and Edible Bird's Nest" and received a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Chicago. He later became a professor at the University of Chicago.

In the next generation of Wang Jilie, the talents of the Wang family became even more explosive, and they were the first to mention the children of Wang Ji's family. Wang Jitong had 12 children, of which 5 died and the remaining 7 were:

Wang Shuzhen, M.D., founder of Shanghai Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital

four

Wang Shoujing, Ph. D. in Physics, Professor at MIT

Five women, Wang Mingzhen, physicist, professor of Tsinghua University

Seven women, Wang Shoucan, studying in the UK, engaged in physics literature translation

Wang Shourong, Jiuzi, precision machinery expert, professor of Nankai University

Wang Shouwu, a microelectronics scientist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Twelve sons Wang Shoujue, semiconductor electronics scientist, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

It can be seen that almost all the children of Wang Jitong's family are engaged in scientific research.

The fourth son, Wang Shoujing (1904-1984), received his doctorate from Columbia University in 1928 and was head of the Physics Department of Peking University (1931-1933). When he was studying for a PhD in physics in the United States, during the development of quantum theory in Europe, he was one of the few people in the United States to study quantum mechanics, and he did not even have an instructor in his thesis, because he knew more than his mentor.

The physics interest group of Columbia University (left 1 is Wang Shoujing, right 1 is Nobel laureate I. I. Rabi) Wang Shouwu (1919-2014) and Wang Shoujue (1925-2016) are two pioneers in the field of semiconductors and microelectronics in China, both of whom were elected academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980.

Wang Shouwu (1919-2014)

Wang Shoujue (1925-2016) Wang Shuzhen (1899-1991), who obtained his medical doctor from Johns Hopkins University, is one of the founders of obstetrics and gynecology in China, and is called "South Wang Beilin" with the famous doctor Lin Qiaozhi.

Wang Shuzhen (1899-1991) Wang Mingzhen (1906-2010), a physicist, graduated from the famous physicist Wulenbeck (yes, the one who proposed electron spin with Gold Schmidt). He returned to China in 1955 as a professor of physics at Tsinghua University and was the first female professor in Tsinghua University.

Wang Mingzhen (1906-2010) married into the children of the four daughters of the he family, Wang Jishan. The youngest daughter he Zeying is a famous botanist. The two eldest daughters are physics majors, he Yizhen (1910-2008) and he Zehui (1914-2011). The husbands of the two sisters are also heavyweights in the field of physics-GE Tingyi and Qian Sanqiang.

He Yizhen and he Zehui in 1937

The group photo of the three sisters of the he family was taken in 1962 (he Yizhen (left), he Zehui and he Zeying (right). You must be shocked to see this long list of top talents. In fact, it is much more than that. according to incomplete statistics, if you include the descendants of the Wang family's children and spouses, there are at least six academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other kinds of scientific and technological talents are numerous.

So, why can Wang Jilie's family cultivate such talents like stars?

Of course, this is inseparable from the spiritual heritage of his family, but the greater influence comes from his mother, a great woman who is intelligent and sensible.

Let's learn about Wang Jilie's family background.

Wang Jilie was born in the Suzhou Moyi Wang family, which has not been official or Confucian for generations. Mojie Wang is a distinguished family in the south of the Yangtze River, which combines commercial giant family, imperial examination family, cultural family and scientific and technological family. According to statistics, there were 12 Jinshi in the Ming and Qing dynasties (including Jinshi and the second, one for the champion and one for exploring flowers), and 16 people.

Wang Jilie's 10th ancestor was Wang Kui, a famous Ming Dynasty minister and writer, who once served as a bachelor of Shangshu and Wenyuan Pavilion of the Ministry of Household Affairs. And his father Wang Songwei, Guang Xu of the Qing Dynasty five years Jinshi, once served as military aircraft Zhang Jing, Hao Shu senior political doctor. When he was an examiner in 1890, he strongly recommended Cai Yuanpei's examination papers, so he was regarded as Cai Yuanpei's mentor.

Wang Songwei advocated "Kai Xianliang, Deng Junliang, and practical learning" and hoped that scholars would "learn measurement, chemistry, and optics." this view of attaching importance to natural science obviously had an important impact on the descendants of his family.

Wang Jilie's mother's real name is Xie Changda, a native of Anhui, who changed her husband's surname after she married into the Wang family, so she is also known as Wang Xie Changda, a famous feminist activist and educator in Chinese history.

Wang Xie Changda (1848-1934) in 1895, the Qing Dynasty suffered a crushing defeat in the Sino-Japanese War. Wang Songwei was overgrieved and died of depression at the age of 48. After her husband's death, Wang Xie took an active part in social activities. First, a "foot release meeting" was organized, which called on women to give up the bad habit of foot binding. She said, "if you can't walk happily, what else can you do?" When the Suzhou Football Association was established, she went to southern and northern Jiangsu to rescue more women with foot binding.

In 1915, Wang Xie Changda set up a "Women's commonweal Group", calling on women to strive for economic independence, advocate women to attach importance to their careers, strengthen themselves, and strive for the happiness of survival for women by opening companies, shops, factories, and other methods. According to her granddaughter Wang Mingzhen, whenever a woman was treated unfairly, she stepped forward to fight injustice and even complained on behalf of the victim. At that time, Suzhou called her "King Tiger".

Wang Xie Changda believes that "physical perfection is a great happiness, but ignorance is eventually criticized by the society." so she set up a girls' school. with the help of friends, she founded the later famous Suzhou Zhenhua Girls' School, advocating "to educate girls to promote women's rights."

Wang Xie, the old gate of Suzhou Zhenhua Girls' School, attaches great importance to modern science and technology education and encourages children to learn western science and technology. At that time, the physics and chemistry courses in Zhenhua Girls' Middle School were all based on the original foreign textbooks, and the English class was selected from masterpieces. In her later years, he Zehui recalled that her way of learning English at that time was to first read the index and vocabulary list at the back of the book and compile those words into a story.

Wang Xie Changda Monument Wang Xie Changda, who is located on the campus of Suzhou No. 10 Middle School, believes that women all over the world always have to rely on themselves. In order to educate the women around her, she photographed herself in sitting and kneeling positions, and then used film synthesis technology to complete the following photo, called "it is better to ask for help than to ask for yourself."

Wang Xie Changda's photo of "it is better to ask for help than to ask yourself" due to the influence of Wang Xie Changda's new educational ideas, members of the Wang family and their relatives and friends are educated here. Many businessmen and politicians actively donated money to help run the school. Zhenhua Girls' School gradually became a famous school in Suzhou at that time, providing enlightening education for many famous people, such as Yang Jiang and Bing Xin.

In the graduation photo of Zhenhua Girls' School in 1932, the fifth from the right is he Zehui. Although most of Wang Jilie and her sisters and brothers were adults when her mother started the education, her mother's openness and foresight must have had an important impact on their growth.

The statue of President Wang Jiyu in Suzhou No. 10 Middle School was most influenced by Wang Xie Changda, the third sister Wang Jiyu, a top student returning from the United States who inherited his mother's career and served as the headmaster of the school. She hired a famous teacher with a high salary, but she lived a simple and shabby life in cloth clothes and shoes, and was jokingly called "principal beggar" by her friends. In order to devote herself to education, she never married and devoted her whole life to this school.

The idea of women's economic independence and educational equality advocated by Wang Xie Changda has a profound impact on the whole family-- men and women in the Wang family have the same right to education. In the family photos of her and her family, the mother and child are always at the heart of the family.

Family photo, taken in 1919

In 1928, King Xie Changda took a group photo on his 80th birthday. In 1934, the 86-year-old Wang Xie Changda died. Just two or three weeks before her death, she was still working hard for women's public welfare.

On January 19, 1935, Zhenhua Girls' School held a memorial service for Mr. Wang Xie Changda. Cai Yuanpei delivered a speech at the memorial service, praising Mr. Wang Xie Changda for his great contribution to the struggle for equal rights between men and women, that is, giving enough to women can achieve physical equality, girls' public welfare groups give women economic equality, and Zhenhua girls' school gives women access to equality in education. At the same time, Cai Yuanpei expressed deep respect for President Wang Jiyu's mother's career.

reference

Wang Guangchao. A preliminary study on the Translation of two Physics textbooks by Wang Jilie [J], Chinese Journal of History of Science and Technology, 2015, 36 (02): 191-202

Http://www.wuculture.net/Filedispp.aspx?ID=22630

Zhang Jianhua. From the imperial examination family in Jiangnan to the famous family of modern science and technology [D]. Suzhou University, 2009.

Yong Mei, Feng Lixiang. Physics and Chinese physics terms-- the influence of Fan Sheng Ting's "physics" on modern physics education in China [J]. Physics, 2007 (05): 411,414

Shen Huiying, the three he sisters in the scientific community [J]. Today's Science Court, 2015 No. 308 (06): 17-20.

Zhang Jianguo, Zhou Ling. Wang Jilie and the spread of Physics in the late Qing Dynasty [J]. Journal of Mudanjiang University, 2011 Journal 20 (08): 59-60.

This article is from the official account of Wechat: University Physics (ID:wuliboke), by Xue Debao.

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