Live with your heart
One heart for the country
The Great Qing is dead! This matter is not earth-shattering today, and after you listen to it, you may even smile slightly.
As China's last feudal dynasty, it first closed the country to the outside world, and then lost power and humiliated the country, causing China to lag behind the West in science and technology a hundred years ago.
But it was also in the late Qing Dynasty, such an era of overall poverty, backwardness, and ignorance, that a genius was born in science and technology and military industry.
He overthrew the famous physicist and Fellow of the Royal Society, John F. Kennedy. Tindor's conclusion on Bernoulli's law.
He published the first paper in Nature that belonged to Chinese.
He built China's first warship and first steamship.
He made China's first steam engine.
He gave China's first scientific lecture.
He translated the periodic table for Chinese.
He ran China's first school dedicated to teaching science and technology.
He was a fallen talent in the late Qing Dynasty who had not received specialized scientific and technological knowledge education - Xu Shou.
From prodigy to "not doing the right thing"
On February 26, 1818, Xu Shou was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, to a family of declining landlords. When he was 5 years old, his father died of illness, and his mother's expectation for him was that he would be able to win high school in the future and shine on the lintel.
When he was a child, Xu Shou was already a famous "prodigy" in the eight neighbors, and his father and fellow villagers felt that he would definitely "have a career" in the future.
However, Xu Shou, who had high hopes, was not even admitted to the "Boy Branch" in the "Boy Branch".
When he was 17 years old, his mother also died of illness. Since then, no one has forced Xu Shou to take the examination, and he immediately gave up his life goal of becoming a high official, no longer took the examination, and began to specialize in some "strange tricks and tricks".
He said very firmly: "Try a boy's test, think it is practical, and abandon it."
At that time, "everything is inferior, only reading is high", it was very difficult to be a person who was incompatible with the environment. This once-famous "prodigy" has gradually become a "non-doing business" in the eyes of the villagers.
Xu Shou's interests are very extensive, music, mechanics, optics, electricity, etc., anyway, he is more energetic than Kaokeke!
At the age of 22, Xu Shou found a motto for his life:
Needless to say nonsense
Needless to say
No need to talk about star life feng shui
No need to talk about witchcraft
It turns out that Xu Shou is indeed suitable for being a "craftsman". In the absence of professional guidance, I made my own compass just by going through the scientific and technological classics of the past. By observing and dismantling the "foreign play" that had been transmitted into China by the West at that time, Xu Shou made his own self-chiming clock with an extremely complex structure.
In addition, due to his love of music, he also recreated several ancient instruments. Over time, he actually had a superb violin repair skill.
Xu Shou's fate also turned because of the "qin", and began the road to "the world's first craftsman". Once, when Xu Shou was practicing the piano, Hua Yilun, a county official, noticed his extraordinary conversation and decided to hire Xu Shou as his younger son Hua Xiangfang's "playmate".
Xu Shou is 15 years older than Hua Xiangfang, and the two have similar interests, mentors and friends, and they really hate each other. This time, they became lifelong friends.
Left Xu Shou, right Hua Xiangfang
From falling off the list to being famous throughout the country
At that time, there were not many scientific and technological books in the country that were deeply affected by the closed country, let alone any "cheats" found in a small county.
Xu Shou and Hua Xiangfang searched everywhere, and if anyone found one, the other person quickly copied one and kept it. Two people do not read the Four Books and Five Classics, do not write eight strands of articles, high-level "literati" do not do, have to be a "craftsman", they have become the county people after dinner jokes.
As they learned more and more things, they asked people to buy "science and technology books" from outside and came back, while they also went to other places to find them. Until one day, they found a book in Shanghai called "New Edition of Natural history".
This book is the first book of modern Western science and technology imported into China, physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, geography and so on.
After Xu Shou read this book, he deeply felt how backward the Qing Dynasty was in science and technology.
The supermodel jun boldly imagined that it was probably equivalent to seeing an airplane from a human carriage. The two people were so excited that they immediately bought the book home, not only to read it, but also to make physical objects according to the principles in the book.
However, the reality is too bad for them, there are no tools for tools, no materials for materials.
However, if Xu Shou is a person who is not persistent enough, he will not be bent on engaging in "strange tricks and tricks" in the face of gossip.
What's not to like, right? He makes nothing! Even if it is a little bit of grinding, a file, he still has to make the real thing!
In order to verify the refraction of light and the separation of colors, he used a prism, and he polished off his only crystal seal.
Originally, with the reputation of not doing the right thing, not reading, not farming, not being an official, and only caring about "playing", Xu Shou's "notoriety" has been passed down even further.
After the defeat of the Opium War, the Qing government decided to master yi to control yi.
But to open a factory, run a school, this is not something that can be done with an open mouth, you have to find someone who understands to do it.
I have to say that misfortune is the place of blessing, and the old ancestor sincerely does not deceive his children and grandchildren. Xu Shou was "notorious" but was noticed by Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Zhang Zhidong.
In 1861, Zeng Guofan opened the Anqingnei Ordnance Institute. Xu Shou could not stand the rebellion of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in his hometown, so he took his youngest son Xu Jianyin and his friend Hua Xiangfang to zeng guofan.
"The world's first craftsman"
At that time, the Qing government was really bullied by foreigners to their homes!
Zeng Guofan: "Seeing the Yangtze River on a foreign ship, it is almost as if there is no day... Thinking (of the foreigners) across the Central Plains, there is no way to resist it, and he is worried about it", he could not sleep.
Witnessing foreigners rampage on their own turf, is this when there is no one in China? But there was really no way, because at that time, the Qing government's sailors were still using sail and oar-powered boats, and they couldn't catch up with this group of "bandits" when they were tired!
shipbuilding! Make a steam engine! Couldn't wait longer! Foreigners can't be allowed to bully us like this all the time!
However, there are no drawings, no materials, and it is useless to shout slogans to the heavens!
Xu Shou's stubbornness has come up again! He didn't believe that foreigners could make it, and he couldn't do it!
Xu Shou relied on the diagram and introduction on the "New Edition of the Naturalist", he ran to the foreigner's ship to study for a whole day, and when he went back, he would go dry!
Xu Shou makes parts of the steam engine, Hua Xiangfang's mathematics is good, he is responsible for calculation and drawing, Xu Shou's younger son also wants to help, while learning and giving advice. In this way, after only 3 months, they built China's first steam engine.
The foreigners did not expect that the steam engine they were proud of was built by a Chinese "fallen talent"!
But only the steam engine is still not enough, and we must hurry to build ships and ships. Three years after the steam engine was built, Xu Shou and Hua Xiangfang built China's first wooden steam-powered steamship", the Yellow Crane.
Restoration of the Yellow Crane
The "Yellow Crane" is 55 feet long, has a displacement of 45 tons, and a speed of 12.8 kilometers per hour, which is simply a "flying speed" for the Daqing, which has been lagging behind in science and technology for hundreds of years.
Zeng Guofan said excitedly: "The wisdom and ingenuity of foreigners, I can do it Chinese!" ”
After the Tongzhi Emperor heard this good news, he waved a large pen and gave him a plaque "The World's First Craftsman".
If it is an ordinary person, the emperor has given a plaque, or a handwritten royal letter, it must be gongs and drums, firecrackers in unison, feast for three days, so that everyone in the world knows that he is "out of the air"!
But Xu Shou is not an ordinary person! But he knows how advanced the technology in the West is now, if the "world's first craftsman" hangs out, don't say that he will blush, if he lets foreigners know, maybe how to laugh Chinese it!
In this way, Xu Shou hid this plaque given by the emperor, and hid it tightly.
Dissemination of scientific and technological knowledge
At the end of 1866, Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan wanted to build the Jiangnan General Machinery Manufacturing Bureau in Shanghai. Xu Shou was already recognized by the emperor as "the world's first craftsman", and this brick had to be moved wherever it was necessary, so he was pulled to Shanghai to take charge of the Xiang Office and stepped into the door of military production.
From his previous experience, we can also see that Xu Shou is a person with opinions and ambitions, and his vision is longer than that of many contemporaries. If it was only a few of them who built the machine, there was nothing to imitate the Western guns and guns, of course, no problem, but this is not a long-term solution.
If you want to prevent foreigners from being bullied at will, you must make the whole country stronger!
As soon as Xu Shou took office, he immediately gave Zeng Guofan four suggestions:
One is the translation of the book two for coal mining and ironmaking, the third is for self-made guns and guns, and the fourth is for the training of steamship sailors
Zeng Guofan was not as "radical" as Xu Shou at that time, and he directly refused.
"Do not promote anything other than its ships"
Translated into the big vernacular is: I am your boss, let you build a ship to build a ship, blind heart!
All right! You say build a ship and build it!
Under the leadership of Xu Shou, it was not long before China's first warship in modern times, the Huiji, was born!
Schematic diagram of the "Huiji" warship
Subsequently, I don't know whether it is practice that makes perfect, or whether it is installed with plug-ins, "Cao Jiang", "Measuring the Sea", "Chengqing", "Driving Yuan" and so on were born one after another. Xu Shou has also become the originator of China's naval military industry.
As mentioned earlier, Xu Shou was a stubborn man, and he believed that "eight cows could not be pulled back", and there was a cow that he used to "detour forward".
None of Zeng Guofan's four suggestions were approved, but it was absolutely impossible not to allow "translations". He himself has experienced the difficulty of finding books, and only by translating more foreign books can we help more people like him and the country can progress.
Since Zeng Guofan's road was not working, he found Feng Junguang and Shen Baojing of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and persuaded them to translate the book with him.
From left, Xu Jianyin, Hua Xiangfang, Xu Shou
As soon as these two people heard Xu Shou's idea, they felt that it was feasible, and regardless of whether Zeng Guofan did not support it, they began like this. Soon after, they translated three books.
His front foot was just translated, and the back foot Zeng Guofan knew it, and he was excited, so he directly built a "Jiangnan Manufacturing General Bureau Translation Hall" for them, with Xu Shou as the general manager.
Xu Shou had his own acre and three points of land, and he had public funds to do what he wanted to do, so he invited his iron brother Hua Xiangfang and his son Xu Jianyin and other people who understood Western learning. The English missionaries Fu Lanya and Wei Lieali were also invited to translate scientific and technological works together.
He translated 13 works in 17 years, with about 2.9 million words. Among them, there are 6 modern Western chemical works and 63 volumes, including "Chemical Identification", "Chemical Quality", "Chemical Number" and so on.
It was Xu Shou who introduced Western modern chemistry to China and brought the first batch of chemistry textbooks to modern China, and he was also praised by later generations as "the pioneer of modern Chinese chemistry".
Among them, the most headache for Xu Shou is the "periodic table of chemical elements".
At that time, China did not say "chemistry", and there were almost no chemical elements or chemical terms.
In order to translate these Roman sounds into Chinese characters, Xu Shou was bitter and forced him to learn Cangjie to create characters. Now the periodic table of the elements in our chemistry book is what Xu Shou translated in that year.
Do you think that the chemical element Chinese characters are quite difficult to recognize? Have anyone ever suspected that the translator was lazy?
That is really wrong to blame Xu Shou, there is a contrast to have "hurt", do not believe you look at the Japanese translation, it is more difficult to remember!
Having translated books is indeed more conducive to the dissemination of science and technology, but only in specialized schools can we learn more professional knowledge faster. The country is in urgent need of talents, and we must vigorously cultivate talents!
As soon as he made up his mind, Xu Shou said to do it, and in 1874, Shanghai Gezhi Academy was established.
This school offers minerals, electrical, surveying and mapping, engineering, steam engines, manufacturing and other majors, the school itself tests, all in order to improve professional skills and efforts.
Supermodel Jun really admires these students, but they have given up the examination, which is equivalent to giving up the college entrance examination! And they are not just for learning crafts, but for the country and the nation.
However, if you want to run a school, only ideals are not enough, people have to eat! In order to keep the school open, Xu Shou himself donated 1,000 silver dollars, which was far from enough. In order to make up money, he lobbied everywhere, and finally mobilized a total of 7700 silver dollars from all walks of life, and the school continued to develop.
Now, the school has been renamed Shanghai Gezhi Middle School and has become a key middle school in Shanghai. In 2010, 51% of the students who came out of this school entered China's top 10 universities such as Tsinghua Peking University.
Gracious middle school emblem
In addition, Xu Shou also opened China's first scientific and technological journal, the "Gezhi Compilation", in which he published many articles.
In 1881, one of his articles, "Examining the Laws of TheOry", overthrew the famous physicist and fellow of the Royal Society, John F. Kennedy. Tindor's conclusion on Bernoulli's law.
It also appeared in the international top journal "Nature", which is the first article published in "Nature" in China. Let the foreigners with high self-esteem have a new understanding of Chinese!
Just three years after this article was published in Nature, Xu Shou died of illness at the school he founded by himself.
After Xu Shou's death, the 505th volume of the Qing History Manuscript, The Biography of Xu Shou, commented that he said:
"Shou Shunsuke, don't seek advancement, end with cloth."
Because he was a low-ranking talent, he was still prejudiced by the world until his death.
Xu Shou's youngest son, Xu Jianyin, continued to follow his father's path to improve the technological level of this backward and closed country.
He successfully developed sulfuric acid, ending the history of imported sulfuric acid in modern China.
He personally went to Europe to buy the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships for the Beiyang Marine Division, and became the capital ships of the Sino-Japanese War
He single-handedly established the Security Gunpowder Bureau, ending the Chinese army's dependence on foreign gunpowder.
In 1901, at the age of 56, Xu Jianyin was killed in a gunpowder experiment at the Hanyang Steel And Pharmaceutical Factory, and when he was found, only a thigh was left.
Xu Shou's son Xu Jianyin
Xu Jianyin was the first scientist in modern China to be martyred in the cause.
Write at the end
Xu Shou, his mother is still alive, keep filial piety. When your mother dies, follow your heart.
He developed machines, studied technology, and disseminated knowledge. In this life, he did not seek high-ranking officials, lived with his heart, and devoted himself to the country and did his best.
Today's China can achieve scientific and technological achievements that have attracted the world's attention precisely because of such a founder as him! He is a well-deserved enlightener of modern science and technology in our country.