Qian Xuesen
preface
Five years to return to the country, ten years and two bombs! As a pioneer of China's aerospace industry, Qian Xuesen was considered by Chairman Mao to be a talent far beyond the strength of the five divisions; and was considered by his mentor Feng Carmen to be an unquestionable and extremely imaginative genius! He even said that it was Qian Xuesen who discovered him, not what the world said he found Qian Xuesen. Steve of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said that Qian Xuesen was smart, but not convincing enough. And his contribution to China is truly remarkable!
Such a patriotic genius, who enjoyed a worldwide reputation, returned to the motherland through many dangers and obstacles and made major contributions. When telling his own experience of achievements, he did not forget the help of his wife Jiang Ying. Qian Xuesen, 88, once said:
"When I encounter difficulties in a job and can't figure it out, it is often Jiang Ying's singing that makes me suddenly enlightened and enlightened..."
It can be seen that the depth of the relationship between the two and the silent payment of Jiang Ying over the years have had an impact on Qian Xuesen.
Alternative courtship of science and engineering men
Jiang Ying in his youth
Jiang Ying is the third daughter of Jiang Baili, a famous military educator in the Republic of China, and Qian Baili and Qian Junfu, the father of Qian Xuesen, studied together at Qiushi Academy, and after graduation, they studied in Japan together, and the two were close friends for many years.
Because Jiang Baili's family was full of daughters, qian Junfu's family had only one son. Therefore, when Jiang Ying was three years old, she was adopted by Qian Junfu as a daughter and renamed Qian Xueying. But not long after, the Jiang family couple, who were eager for women, came to the door and asked Jiang Ying to go back again.
And Mother Qian has long liked the lively, smart and beautiful Jiang Ying. He immediately proposed to let Jiang Ying be their dry daughter and grow up to be their daughter-in-law. Since then, Jiang Ying and Qian Xuesen have always been known as brothers and sisters.
Because of the war, Qian Xuesen deeply felt the weakness of China's aviation strength. Therefore, at the end of 1935, he was admitted to study at public expense and went to the United States for further study, and he and Jiang Ying were separated.
It wasn't until 11 years later that the two returned home met again. At this time, Qian Xuesen became a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 36. The 28-year-old Jiang Ying's solo concerts in China have also been a great success.
But at this time, Jiang Ying did not seem to have any idea about Qian Xuesen, and she also introduced Qian Xuesen to the object with her sister. When several people met, Qian Xuesen was embarrassed to look at the blind date, but he looked at Jiang Ying generously. This made Jiang Ying feel that Qian Xuesen was wrong.
After that, Qian Xuesen often went to Jiang's house under the pretext of visiting Aunt Jiang. Not long after, he said directly to Jiang Ying, "You go to the United States with me." ”
Qian Xuesen Jiang Ying wedding photo
Jiang Ying asked with a surprised face, "Why should I go to the United States with you?" Let's find out more and make a decision. For Jiang Ying's refusal, Qian Xuesen's response, a science and engineering man, appeared simple and direct. He kept repeating:
"No, go now."
Without a few back and forths, Jiang Ying chose to "surrender his weapons and surrender." In her opinion, Qian Xuesen's ability to become a professor at MIT at the age of 36 is very powerful, and she admires each other from the bottom of her heart. Moreover, she is as simple as Qian Xuesen, and simply believes that learned people are good people. In this way, the two married a week after meeting and went to the United States together.
In fact, Qian Xuesen showed his liking for Jiang Ying very early. On the eve of his departure abroad, when Jiang Ying came to visit him with his parents, he did not hide his love for Jiang Ying. He said to Jiang Ying emotionally: "Your laughter is very beautiful, can you keep it up?" ”
The lively and mischievous Jiang Ying asked him: "Why?" Qian Xuesen looked at her and said sincerely, "Because, there is nothing more precious than happiness and purity!" "This may be Qian Xuesen's first confession."
On the same day, the two talked very happily, and Jiang Ying also played a song for Qian Xuesen, who was full of appreciation and listened to it. Before leaving, Jiang Ying gave Qian Xuesen a copy of Tang poems, and Qian Xuesen brought the book to the United States like a treasure and became one of his important companions in a foreign land.
Qian Xuesen when he was at the California Institute of Technology
During their time in the United States, the two were very affectionate, and Qian Xuesen not only taught Jiang Ying English, but also cooked a good dish. When friends visited, the heavy responsibility of cooking vegetables at home was shouldered by Qian Xuesen, and Jiang Ying also jokingly said: "Qian Xuesen is the master of the family, and I am the master fu." It made my friends laugh.
In 1949, at the age of 38, Qian Xuesen had become a professor and director of the Jet Propulsion Center at the California Institute of Technology. But after hearing about the founding of New China, he did not hesitate to choose to drop everything in the United States. All money and fame could not stop him from returning home at this time.
In fact, before that, he had received an invitation from the Kuomintang. However, in his view, the scene of the people's lack of livelihood under the rule of the Kuomintang is in direct contradiction with his vision of eliminating the hardship and deprivation of sentient beings. Therefore, he indignantly stated:
There will be no whitewashing of such a government! The Communist Party, on the other hand, gave him a glimpse into China's future.
Therefore, after consulting with Jiang Ying, Qian Xuesen was bent on returning to China as soon as possible. Whenever he thought of what he could do for the development of the country, he was excited. Just as he later wrote to Chen Shutong, expressing his urgent desire to return to China:
"There is no day, a moment, a moment without thinking about returning to China to participate in the great climax of construction."
Qian Xuesen teaches in the United States
However, Qian Xuesen not only failed to return to China immediately as he wished, but was also implicated in the comprehensive investigation of the Communists that the United States suddenly launched.
Because Weinbaum, a researcher recommended by Qian Xuesen, was found to be a Communist Party, the United States suspected him of being a Communist Party and revoked his certificate of participation in classified research.
In anger, Qian Xuesen just asked to return to China on the grounds of unfair treatment. Before packing up his good things and returning to China, Qian Xuesen, out of courtesy, asked the US deputy secretary of the Navy
Daniel Kimbell
Formal resignation.
However, after the other party tried to persuade Qian Xuesen to stay in the United States without success, he immediately informed the Ministry of Justice: "Qian Xuesen knows too much, and no matter what, he cannot be allowed to leave the United States!" ”
In 1950, when Qian Xuesen's family was preparing to lift their feet to the cruise ship home, they were intercepted by U.S. officials and seized eight boxes that Qian Xuesen had transported to customs on the grounds that Qian Xuesen was trying to transport secret scientific documents. Subsequently, they detained Qian Xuesen on the island of Termino.
Investigating Qian Xuesen, a hearing on the island of Termino in the United States
During their imprisonment, they tried their best to torture Qian Xuesen. Don't let others talk to him, the lights in the room turn on every three minutes at night, and Qian Xuesen can't rest well.
In just thirteen days, he lost about 30 pounds. Even when he first came out of prison, he lost the ability to speak. Mrs. Jiang Ying looked at Qian Xuesen, who was emaciated and speechless, distressed and helpless. All she can do is be companionship and support.
If not the dean of caltech with his mentor
Von Carmen and others learned of the news and scraped together $15,000 to release him on bail, and Qian Xuesen did not know how long he would be tortured.
But all this was only the beginning of his suffering in America. After his release from prison, Qian Xuesen was monitored and placed under house arrest by the US side, unable to enter and exit freely, and had to report to the Immigration Bureau every month, completely losing his freedom as a human being.
In such a difficult time, Jiang Ying did not have any complaints, and she used music to soothe Qian Xuesen, who was infinitely depressed in her heart. The husband and wife played a bamboo flute and a guitar to accompany each other through these difficult years. She said to Qian Xuesen:
"Your decision was made right and I will always be with you!"
Von Carmen
Tough way home
With Jiang Ying's support and understanding, Qian Xuesen became more and more determined to return to China to repay the service. During his house arrest, he immersed himself in academics and completed the 400,000-word "Engineering Cybernetics". Finally, in 1955, Qian Xuesen ushered in a turning point in returning to China.
By chance, he saw a familiar figure standing next to Chairman Mao in the People's Pictorial, and that person was his wife teacher, Chen Shutong.
Qian Xuesen immediately decided to write to Chen Shutong for help. The letter expressed Qian Xuesen's urgent desire to return to China, while explaining his current situation of being trapped in the United States, and attaching a copy of the New York Times anecdote to prove it.
Because of the FBI's surveillance, Qian Xuesen could not let them know of the existence of the letter. After consulting with his wife, Jiang Ying, they decided to write a letter to Jiang Ying's sister Jiang Hua in Belgium, and then clipped Chen Shutong's letter inside and threw it into the postbox of a shopping mall.
In order to hide his eyes, Jiang Ying used his left hand to imitate the handwriting of a child and wrote Down Jiang Hua's address on the envelope. Then Jiang Ying took the letter and went to the mall with Qian Xuesen.
During the period, Qian Xuesen was at the entrance of the mall, and Jiang Ying entered alone. Because the Americans regarded Qian Xuesen as a key target of surveillance, they also followed Qian Xuesen at the entrance of the mall, and Jiang Ying had the opportunity to avoid their sight and send the letter out.
Qian Xuesen's letter
After seeing Jiang Ying's letter, Jiang Hua quickly sent the letter to Qian Xuesen's father, Qian Junfu. After several turns, the letter was finally delivered to Premier Zhou.
Seeing this letter, Premier Zhou was overjoyed in his heart, and he really thought of what to do. The Americans also lied before that they did not detain Qian Xuesen and others, and the Chinese side has been suffering from no evidence to expose their lies.
Immediately, Premier Zhou ordered the letter to be delivered to Wang Bingnan, who was negotiating with the US ambassador in Geneva.
In order to show its sincerity, the Chinese side first proposed the release of the 11 Detained American pilots captured in the Korean War. However, when the Chinese side once again proposed that the US side release the detained Qian Xuesen and other Chinese citizens, the US side still slyly argued that Qian Xuesen was not detained, that he was very free, and that he himself was unwilling to come back.
Wang Bingnan immediately took out Qian Xuesen's handwritten letter of help and punched the American side in the face on the spot. In the face of ironclad evidence, the US side had no choice but to announce the release of Qian Xuesen.
In September 1955, Qian Xuesen's family finally embarked on their way back to China, and they took the "President Cleveland" cruise ship to prepare to leave the United States. But that doesn't mean their dangers are completely eliminated.
Qian Xuesen's family returned to China
On the day of departure, in addition to friends who came to send off, there were also federal investigators who monitored Qian Xuesen on the dock. In order to prevent accidents, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the name of Qian Xuesen's father, sent a telegram instructing him:
"Be careful on the road, don't get off the boat in the middle of the way, and when you arrive, you will be greeted by friends at the border station."
As he got closer and closer to the mainland, Qian Xuesen became more and more excited, but he did not take it lightly at all. Qian Xuesen's son, Qian Yonggang, recalled:
"When I was about to arrive at the Luohu Bridge, my father and my mother discussed that my mother had a special task when crossing the bridge. That is,
In the event of an accident, the mother must lie on the father's body to protect him at the first time! To ensure the safety of the father's life. ”
Because he was deeply in love with Qian Xuesen, Jiang Ying was willing to do so. Because Qian Xuesen is crucial to the development of the country, he wants to do his part for the country, and Jiang Yingyi has no hesitation in supporting her husband and supporting national construction. Based on this, they reached such a consensus. This understanding and extraordinary courage are truly valuable.
On the other hand, although the United States released Qian Xuesen and others, it still wanted to stigmatize them. Under the pressure of the United States, the Hong Kong and British authorities at that time treated Qian Xuesen and others in the insulting name of "escorting transit.".
At that time, the Chinese side sent Zhu Zhaoxiang to Shenzhen on behalf of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to meet Qian Xuesen. After disembarking the ship, the group slowly stepped onto the boundary bridge. After seeing Zhu Zhaoxiang who came to greet him, some people were emotional and suddenly grabbed each other's hands and burst into tears.
Although they did not know each other, in the eyes of this group of returnees, Zhu Zhaoxiang represented the great motherland that took them home.
In this way, everyone with tear marks stepped into the country one by one.
Qian Yonggang
Reject American Honors: I'm Not a Rare Foreign Title!
Just after returning to China, Qian Xuesen came to visit the Harbin Military Engineering College. During this period, General Chen Geng watched Qian Xuesen and the teachers discuss around the small rocket test bench, and he tentatively asked Qian Xuesen: "Sir, can we build our own rockets and missiles?" ”
Qian Xuesen confidently replied, "What's not to like?" Foreigners can do it, we can certainly make it! Chinese't half shorter than others. Chen Geng was doubly confident.
In 1956, Qian Xuesen drafted the "Opinion on the Establishment of China's National Defense Aviation Industry" and listed a list of more than twenty experts who could participate in this undertaking. After arousing the great attention of the party Central Committee, Premier Zhou presided over a meeting of the Central Military Commission, which decided to adopt Qian Xuesen's opinion. A few months later, China's first rocket and missile research institute was formally established, and China's missile industry began.
When developing the first missile" "Dongfeng-1", at first with the help of Soviet experts, Qian Xuesen sent people to follow the Soviets on the one hand, and on the other hand, began to "counter-design". However, in the final stage of missile development, the Soviet Union withdrew all its aid experts, which led to the stagnation of our missile development cause.
Qian Xuesen directed the launch work
Did China's missile industry end here? Nie Rongzhen was extremely anxious, and quickly called Qian Xuesen to ask, "Can our missile development continue?" Qian Xuesen once again gave a reassuring pill: "Yes! ”
After that, Qian Xuesen led other experts, after experiencing countless days of sleep and forgetting food, finally overcame all technical difficulties and successfully interviewed the car with a rocket engine! At this time, all the R & D personnel cheered, and everyone's efforts finally came to fruition. But in the end, whether it can succeed or not depends on the whole flight test, Qian Xuesen does not dare to have a slack.
In order to ensure a smooth launch, Qian Xuesen braved the cold of minus 20 degrees on the eve of the launch, carefully examined all the details, and envisioned solutions to various problems. Under the preparation of Wanquan, finally, "Dongfeng No. 1" was successfully launched!
Later, under the leadership of Qian Xuesen, China successfully exploded the first atomic bomb in 1964. In 1966, the idea of "combining two bombs" was realized, and nuclear weapons with actual combat value and great power were developed. In 1967, the first hydrogen bomb was successfully tested, and in 1970, the first artificial earth satellite was successfully launched.
China's first artificial earth satellite "Dongfanghong No. 1"
These achievements have significantly enhanced China's international status. With a strong national defense, Chinese have enough confidence, and we also have more say in international affairs.
While plunging headlong into the scientific cause, Qian Xuesen did not forget to care about the development of the young generation.
"My last name is Qian, but I don't love money!"
This is a sentence that Qian Xuesen often said. He is very indifferent to money, bent on using it in more useful places rather than personal pleasures.
At the beginning of 1957, Qian Xuesen won the first prize of the Science Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for his outstanding contributions, and was awarded 10,000 yuan. The money was a huge sum of money at the time. You know, even in the 1970s of the last century, the ten thousand yuan household was already very impressive, let alone in 57 years.
But before the money could be boiled in Qian Xuesen's pocket, he bought a five-year plan construction bond issued by the state. After the expiration, he took out a total of 11,500 yuan and turned around to donate the money to the University of Science and Technology of China.
Later, the University of Science and Technology of China used this money to buy a ruler for students who could not afford to use a slide rule for class, and the students were able to successfully study Qian Xuesen's "Introduction to Rocket Technology" course. To this end, the school specially wrote a letter to thank Qian Xuesen.
Qian Xuesen attended the academic conference
With qian Xuesen making more and more breakthroughs, China's development is getting better and better. The United States has once again come to show favor to Qian Xuesen, who had been detained by them.
In 1985, Kierworth, the US president's passenger plane adviser, came to China, invited Qian Xuesen to visit the United States, and promised that as long as Qian Xuesen visited the United States, they would award Qian Xuesen the title of academician of the US National Academy of Sciences and academician of the US National Academy of Engineering, which is equivalent to our country's highest science and technology award.
But Qian Xuesen refused. He believes that
If the United States does not rehabilitate him, he will resolutely not visit the United States, and no matter how high the honor is, he will not accept it!
At a glance, he saw that the United States did not have any sincerity in this way, and it was completely a trick.
When he heard his friends congratulating him, Qian Xuesen responded:
"I'm not rare in those foreign honors. Only the affirmation given to me by the Chinese people is the highest reward! ”
Qian Xuesen wrote papers at home in his later years
Not only that, in 1979, the California Institute of Technology awarded him the "Outstanding Alumni Award", and he did not receive it. The medal was not given until 2001, when the school had no choice but to send Qian Xuesen's friend to Beijing and award it to him in person.
In 2009, Qian Xuesen died of illness in Beijing. But his teachings to the younger generation still echo in their ears:
"In the past hundred years of the Opium War, the Chinese people have dreamed of a strong country and have continued to struggle. The revolutionary martyrs sacrificed their precious lives for the dream of rejuvenating the country and the descendants of Yan huang, and the blood was fertile to the hot land of China. Personally, as one of the descendants of Yan Huang, I can only follow the footsteps of the martyrs, and in the midst of thousands of difficulties, I can explore and pursue, regardless of others. ”