Chen Hengzhe and Ren Hongjun: The first professors in China

Source: Science and Technology Daily

Author: Liu Weimin

Everyone knows that Lu Xun's vernacular novel "Diary of a Madman" opened a new chapter in the history of modern Chinese literature. In fact, as one of the first batch of female students to go to the United States at public expense in China, Chen Hengzhe published the vernacular novel "One Day" in the "Quarterly Newspaper of Students Studying in the United States" in May 1917, a year before Lu Xun.

Chen Hengzhe (1890-1976) and Ren Hongjun (1886-1961) were the first professors at Peking University and Chinese universities. In the autumn of 1914, Chen Hengzhe, who came from a family of scholars, came to the United States and successively studied at the prestigious Wasa Women's University in New York and the University of Chicago, and received a master's degree in literature. In 1915, Ren Hongjun and others initiated the establishment of the "Chinese Science Society", she was invited to join, became a pioneering "interdisciplinary" member, pen name "Sha Fei" and soon became active in the May Fourth literary circle: in the famous "New Youth" magazine published the white drama script "Old Couple" and the new poem "Bird", "People Say I Was Crazy", "Returning Gypsy", etc.; especially the fairy tale creation "Little Raindrop" and "Pol" can be called the vernacular novel and foundational science masterpieces of the time.

Published on September 1, 1920, the first issue of The Eighth Volume of New Youth, "Little Raindrops" tells a meteorological story related to atmospheric circulation in mature, concise vernacular: "Little Raindrops" as an anthropomorphic theme image, first falling from the clouds on a blade of grass, then running from the mud swamp to "Brother Jianshui" and "Uncle River", and finally coming to the "Palace of the Duke of Haigong". In order to return to the home of the "White Cloud Purple Mountain", the light raindrops "rose up" in the air, but on the afternoon when he was "feeling a little tired", his "body shrank again" and landed on the petals of a green lotus flower. With compassion and dedication, Xiaoyudian did not hesitate to be sucked into a liquid tube by the lotus flower to save "her dry pale skin" and make her beautiful and plump. Until the next day, the sun father-in-law came and sent a little raindrop home. This work has a vivid narrative and a vivid image, and perhaps whether it can be regarded as a classic in the history of modern Chinese literature is debatable, but its pioneering, enlightening value, ecology and meteorological significance in the dissemination of science and technology and the creation of fairy tales cannot be denied or despised under any circumstances.

As we all know, Lu Xun's cry of the times to "save children" in "Diary of a Madman" has become an ideological banner that is held high in the May Fourth literary circle, and it has also aroused people's attention to children's and children's literature at that time, in the creation of children's literature, the creators attach great importance to and embody the content related to nature and science - from this point of view, it is impossible to ignore the founding significance of Chen Zheheng's creation of "Little Raindrop". It was not until the 1940s and 1950s that we discovered similar children's stories in the relevant creations of Chen Bochui and others, but there were still not many people who focused on introducing scientific knowledge.

Chen Zheheng's husband, Ren Hongjun, has personally promoted the development and progress of modern scientific research and education in China, and is one of the main pioneers and founders of China's science and communication undertakings. In particular, at the beginning of the last century, he took the lead in raising the question of "no science in China" before Needham, and pointed out that the reason was that "the method of scientific research has not been obtained." On New Year's Day 1915, he published "The Reason For Saying That China Has No Science" in the inaugural issue of the magazine "Science" founded by the China Science Society, and his later articles on the "spirit of science", which were insightful academic masterpieces of that era, which opened up a direction for the development of multiple disciplines such as the history of science, the sociology of science and the history of scientific thought, and laid a solid foundation, reflecting the initial positioning of the Chinese nation in the field of scientific culture and ideology.

Ren Hongjun is a knowledgeable scholar whose writings cover the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, education, politics, literature, scientific thought and organizational management, and the history of science and technology. In his youth, he traveled east to Japan to study "applied chemical industry" and joined the "League" led by Sun Yat-sen; on the eve of the Xinhai Revolution, he was very active in Tokyo, buying and transporting guns and ammunition for the Xinhai Revolution. Before the famous Huanghuagang Uprising, Ren Hongjun wrote a "revolutionary proclamation" and printed a large number of leaflets, and then carved out the great seal of the "National Revolutionary Government" overnight. In 1911, wuchang was successful, and Ren Hongjun, as the secretary of the provisional presidential office, and Sun Yat-sen entered Nanjing in the same car. Later, Yuan Shikai stole the title of emperor, and he was indignant and resolutely left his post to study in the United States - he received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Cornell University and a master's degree in chemistry from Columbia University. In the later stages of the May Fourth Movement, he pursued the talented woman Chen Hengzhe, and finally won the happy marriage. After marriage, they engaged in scientific education, historical research, etc., and achieved outstanding achievements and achievements.

In order to further carry forward the spirit of scientists and strengthen the construction of work style and study style, in recent years, a number of classic documents in the history of modern science and technology have been rediscovered and widely disseminated, which has produced a good academic and social impact. The works of Chen Hengzhe and Ren Hongjun are also listed here, and their ideological highlights are prominent, the artistic image is vivid, and it is pleasing and convincing to read carefully.