In the middle of this photo is Mr. Yang Zhenning, on one side is his first wife Du Zhili, and on the other side is his current wife Weng Fan, the fate is so ingenious.
Mr. Yang Zhenning once said: This is an arrangement that God will do!
In 2004, more than a year after Du Zhili's death, Yang Zhenning and Weng Fan came together, 82 and 28 years old, and the "grandson love" that was very unfavorable was controversial.
Maybe Weng Fan has the shadow of Du Zhili, so Yang Zhenning will fall in love with her.
Transnational teacher-student love
Yang Zhenning's first wife, Du Zhili, was the daughter of Du Yuming, a patriotic general of the Kuomintang.
Du Yuming and his wife Cao Xiuqing have a total of 6 children, Du Yuming named them after "courtesy, righteousness, honesty, benevolence, courage and strictness", Du Zhili is the eldest daughter, and got the word "li".
At the same time, Du Zhili was also a student of Yang Zhenning during his time at Southwest Associated University, and Yang Zhenning was responsible for teaching Du Zhili's mathematics class.
Du Zhili
At that time, Yang Zhenning was 22 years old and Du Zhili was 16 years old, but there was no spark of love between these two young people, and Du Zhili felt that her math teacher was a shy and shy boy.
However, this is also because Du Zhili doesn't know Yang Zhenning well, in fact, Yang Zhenning is not shy, he is still a master of love, but this is all for later.
After Yang Zhenning taught Du Zhili mathematics for two years, the two never crossed paths again, and when they met again, they were already in the United States in a foreign country.
After finishing high school at Southwest Associated University, Du Zhili was admitted to the Chinese Department of Beijing Fu Jen University, and before she could make the trip, there was an accident in her family, so that she could not continue to stay in China and needed to go abroad to avoid the limelight, so Song Meiling arranged for her to go to Wesleyan School in the United States to study literature.
In addition, his father Du Yuming also had an illness and needed to go to the United States for treatment, and in 1947, the father and daughter were ready to go together.
But just when the two were about to board the plane, Chiang Kai-shek hurriedly sent someone to send an edict: "The national crisis is at the head, and the girder needs to be ......."
Helpless, Du Yuming could only stay and let his daughter Du Zhili go to the United States alone, at that time, neither father nor daughter thought that this parting would be half a lifetime.
Being alone in a foreign land as a stranger, not to mention that the Kuomintang was defeated and retreated by the Communists at that time at that time, Chiang Kai-shek was naturally no better than Du Yuming, the child of the defeated general.
Du Zhili's younger brother Du Zhiren was also studying in the United States at that time, but because Chiang Kai-shek deliberately deducted his tuition fees, his life was difficult to sustain and he was forced to commit suicide.
Du Zhili was not much better, and he had no way to continue his studies at Wesleyan College, so he could only transfer to St. Vincent's College in New York to continue his studies.
In this context, Du Zhili's mood of reuniting with Yang Zhenning two years after coming to the United States can be imagined.
On Christmas Day in 1949, Du Zhili met Yang Zhenning, who had come to eat with her colleagues, in a restaurant, she mustered up the courage to come forward to say hello, Yang Zhenning also recognized this former student, and the two talked happily until late at night.
Not long before Yang Zhenning met Du Zhili, he also encountered one thing, Yang Zhenning was 27 years old at the time, and when he reached the age of marriage in a male college, many students who studied abroad in that era had to be arranged by their families to get married before they could be allowed to go abroad.
So the family is very anxious, hoping that this matter can be settled as soon as possible, Yang Zhenning's father Yang Wuzhi has always had a good personal relationship with Hu Shi, so when he learned that Hu Shi was going to the United States, he asked him to tell Yang Zhenning about this matter, so that he would not soak in the laboratory all day, and also have a snack on marriage and love.
Hu Shi saw Yang Zhenning, and after the two finished talking about Hu Shi's intentions, Yang Zhenning smiled, and Hu Shi immediately understood what he meant and said, "Your generation has made much progress compared to our generation, and I don't need to worry about such a thing at all." ”
Hu shi
Is it really as Hu Shi guessed?
Indeed, when Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili reunited, Yang Zhenning still had several good female friends, including Zhang Yuanluo , Chu Huiyue, etc., many of whom could be regarded as his potential girlfriends.
But after a period of contact, it was difficult for Yang Zhenning to regard these girls as his lifelong companions, and it seemed that there was something they lacked, until Du Zhili appeared.
During the conversation, Yang Zhenning realized that he was attracted by the girl in front of him, his former student, when she was just a little girl, and now she has become a slim girl.
After the two said goodbye, Yang Zhenning called Du Zhili when he returned to his residence and asked her to watch a movie together the next day.
Du Zhili has always had a good impression of Yang Zhenning, so he naturally readily agreed, and later Du Zhili told Yang Zhenning that in fact, on the day he came to the United States, he saw Yang Zhenning at the airport and knew that he was also going to study in the United States, but he couldn't come forward to say hello because he was shy.
But fate is like this, the courage that I failed to muster that day is now back to Du Zhili.
Many years later, Yang Zhenning recalled that reunion, still full of happy smiles.
"I didn't know that Du Zhili had arrived in the United States, I walked into the hotel by accident, and if I arrived early or late, I would miss the opportunity to meet Du Zhili. If we don't see each other, we can't talk about a lifetime of marriage, but the gods of fate have arranged for us to meet in that day and place, which cannot be said not to be a miracle. ”
Yes, on the other side of the ocean, in the vast sea of people in the United States, two people met by chance, and thus concluded a lifelong marriage, which is indeed a miracle, a miracle of love.
After the first date, Yang Zhenning was more sure that Du Zhili was the best candidate for his life partner, but he chose to play "disappear" together after the date, and did not contact Du Zhili again for half a month.
Because Yang Zhenning has a lot of concerns, after a few years of life, Yang Zhenning has also been influenced by American culture and has become open, but the idea in his bones is still very traditional, pay attention to the beginning, if Du Zhili is identified, the two of them will have to support each other to go on, he is afraid that his good impression of Du Zhili is just a hormonal problem, just a temporary novelty.
He was also worried that if he acted too anxious, he would scare Du Zhili away, so he didn't take action for a long time.
Yang Zhenning's worries made Du Zhili bitter, because he didn't wait for Yang Zhenning's news after the date ended, Du Zhili began to think wildly, thinking that he had said something wrong or done something wrong, so that the relationship between the two people died early.
So she decided to take the initiative and added an attachment to the letter to Mr. You Tong, saying that if Yang Zhenning could come with her, she would be very welcome.
Later, Du Zhili admitted frankly that writing such a letter was completely against her character, and she didn't understand why she could do such an active and bold thing, which also showed that in Du Zhili's heart, Yang Zhenning's weight was indeed very heavy.
If it weren't for the initiative to say hello at the restaurant, if it wasn't for the later invitation, the identities of the two people might have stayed forever as teachers and students.
Supporting each other and winning the Nobel Prize
In this way, under Du Zhili's initiative, the two talked about a long-distance relationship, Yang Zhenning was in Chicago at the time, and Du Zhili was in New York.
Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili
It was not easy for Yang Zhenning to see Du Zhili once, which also prompted him to make up his mind to buy a car, and later Yang Zhenning felt that it was not convenient enough, so he simply transferred to a university in Princeton to teach work.
Originally, he had followed the advice of his mentor and had moved from Princeton to Chicago, and now he had returned for Du's salute.
Just because Princeton is closer to New York than Chicago, just to be able to see Du Zhili often.
In the afterword of the article "The S Matrix in Heisenberg's Appearance", Yang Zhenning officially announced this relationship:
"I made up my mind to stay, because I was in a relationship with Miss Do, who was studying in New York, and I was only an hour's drive from Princeton. ”
After a period of such a relationship, both parties are sure that the other party is the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with, and the matter of marriage is also on the agenda.
Previously, Yang Wuzhi asked Hu Shilai to cross the border to urge marriage, Yang Zhenning thought that his father would readily agree when he learned the news, but Yang Wuzhi did not agree immediately.
Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili's wedding photo
Because it was already New China at that time, Du Zhili's father, as a former Kuomintang general, is now imprisoned in Beijing, although Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili are both abroad, Yang Wuzhi is still worried that the combination of the two families may bring some bad effects.
Fortunately, this was only a small episode, and the father's concerns did not extinguish the couple's hopes for the future, and in 1950, Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili held a wedding in a church in Princeton.
Not only Yang Zhenning, but Du Zhili also made a lot of sacrifices for this wedding.
At that time, Du Zhili was studying at a Catholic Women's College, and the students in the school must be unmarried women, so Du Zhili and Yang Zhenning got married, which was equivalent to giving up their studies.
But Du Zhili understands that her husband is a great physicist, and his work will benefit all mankind and change the history of mankind, compared to him, his literary research is insignificant, and now it is more important to support his husband's career behind the scenes.
In the same year that Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili got married, Yang Zhenning received a five-year offer from Oppenheimer, and he was about to become a member of Oppenheimer's team.
Oppenheimer was a lonely genius, because he offended many people because of his somewhat eccentric and mean personality, and many people could not get into his eyes.
But he has always had a soft spot for Yang Zhenning and admired it very much, so when Yang Zhenning came to Oppenheimer's Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Oppenheimer asked him to make a public report.
Not only in work, but also in life, Oppenheimer also gave Yang Zhenning a lot of help, so that he could not be tired of a lot of trivial tasks and focus more on research.
In the second year after marriage, Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili's first child was born, whose name was taken by his grandfather Yang Wuzhi, called Yang Guangnuo, which means that he hopes that Yang Zhenning can one day win the Nobel Prize and win glory for the country.
With the blessing of his father, Oppenheimer's appreciation, and the silent support of his wife Du Zhili, Yang Zhenning made academic breakthroughs one after another, until he reached the Nobel podium in Stockholm with Lee Tsung-dao in 1957.
Today, Yang Zhenning's achievements in the physics community are second only to Newton and Einstein, and many Nobel laureates are either his students or research on the basis of his theory, but in Yang Zhenning's later years, he feels that the greatest contribution of his life is to prove that Chinese can also make achievements in science and eliminate the inferiority complex of the original Chinese people.
As early as the founding of the People's Republic of China, before Yang Zhenning won the Nobel Prize, the mainland government repeatedly extended invitations to Yang Zhenning, hoping that he could return to China to have a look.
However, Du Zhili's father, Du Yuming, was captured after the defeat, and Chiang Kai-shek, in order to prevent him from "joining the Communist Party", took Du Yuming's wife, Yang Zhenning's later mother-in-law, Cao Xiuqing, and others to Taiwan in the name of protecting his family.
This not only restrained Du Yuming, but also unexpectedly restrained Yang Zhenning, in order to ensure the safety of his mother-in-law's family, Yang Zhenning has never dared to return to China rashly.
Chiang Kai-shek underestimated Yang Zhenning's feelings for the motherland, thinking that as long as he knew it with affection and reason, he could make Yang Zhenning abandon the mainland and choose Taiwan instead, so he agreed to apply for a passport for Cao Xiuqing and let her come to the United States to persuade her son-in-law.
So far, Yang Zhenning has no worries about returning to China, and when relations between China and the United States eased in 1971, Yang Zhenning took his wife Du Zhili back to China for a visit as soon as possible.
In 1973, Yang Zhenning and his wife returned to China for the third time, Premier Zhou warmly invited the two in the Anhui Hall of the Great Hall of the People.
Premier Zhou was also amused by Du Zhili, and then arranged for Du Zhili to return to Xi'an to visit relatives.
This small episode can also see Du Zhili's character, although she fully supports her husband's career and pays silently, she never sees herself as anyone's vassal, but an independent person, she is the wife of a Nobel Prize winner, and Du Zhili herself.
Under the teaching of such a smart and independent mother, she and Yang Zhenning's three children all became talents, the eldest Yang Guangnuo graduated from the University of Michigan, the second Yang Guangyu is a compound talent, very accomplished in chemistry and astronomy, and the youngest daughter Yang Youli also became a doctor.
Yang Zhenning's 60th birthday party family photo
It is no wonder that Yang Zhenning obviously had many friends of the opposite sex around him, but he has never been able to set his lifelong event, and the appearance of Du Zhili made him make up his mind and give her the rest of his life.
In 1995, the Chinese Physics Conference was held in Guangdong, and Du Zhili accompanied Yang Zhenning to participate.
It can be seen from the group photo that Weng Fan was 19 years old at that time, looking young and beautiful, which was quite similar to Du Zhili when he was young.
In 2003, Du Zhili died of illness, and since the two got married in 1950, she has spent 53 years with Yang Zhenning, and she really deserves to be called "the great woman behind the successful man"!
In 2004, 82-year-old Yang Zhenning and 28-year-old Weng Fan got married, all of which was God's arrangement in Yang Zhenning's eyes, but many people felt that it might be because Weng Fan had the shadow of Du Zhili.
Bibliography:
"The Biography of Yang Zhenning: The Beauty of Norms and Symmetry" Jiang Caijian
"The Career and Marriage of Yang Zhenning", Meng Zhaogeng
Literature and History Spring and Autumn: "Before and After Yang Zhenning's Visit to Du Yuming" Shi Fengrui