In 1945, 32-year-old Qian Sanqiang racked his brains to write a 25-word marriage proposal letter to He Zehui.
What's going on?
In 1932, He Zehui was admitted to the Department of Physics of Tsinghua University with high scores, but was asked by the head of the department, Ye Qisun, to change departments.
"Why can't girls study physics, girls can also serve the country, I was admitted by ability, I have to study, I don't change the department!"
Ye Qisun couldn't help this stubborn girl, so he had to compromise, but he set harsh conditions, and he tried to study for a semester, but his grades couldn't keep up, so he left.
He Zehui walked away with his head held high, but this scene was seen by his classmate Qian Sanqiang, and he admired in his heart, this quiet and delicate Suzhou girl actually has a heart to serve the country!
After a semester, Ye Qisun was dumbfounded, because He Zehui was the first in the class, and his proud student Qian Sanqiang was second.
Group photo of Tsinghua University, He Zehui with two long braids from the right in the front row, and one money and three strong from the left in the back row
In 1937, Qian Sanqiang went to the University of Paris, France. He Zehui studied experimental ballistics at the Technical University of Berlin in Germany. In 1940, both received their doctorates.
At this time, World War II broke out and the German border was closed, He Zehui not only couldn't return home, but also lost contact with her family for a year.
In 1943, Qian Sanqiang, who worked at the Marie Curie Institute, suddenly received a letter from Germany asking for help, and the letter was actually from He Zehui, a female classmate of Tsinghua University.
He pinched the letter and thought of the elegant, delicate, and intelligent girl, she was a student in the department, she was not afraid of heaven and earth, she dared to argue with the head of the department, and pressed herself as soon as she took the exam.
"It turned out that he asked me to help report the safety of the family, what is the difficulty, it is a gesture!" He immediately contacted He's father through his parents, and He Zehui exchanged news with his family.
He Zehui received a doctorate in engineering from the Technical University of Berlin in Germany in 1940
Since then, the two have exchanged letters frequently, gaining an in-depth understanding of each other's temperament, hobbies and aspirations, and Qian Sanqiang found that this junior sister who is half a year younger than himself is so compatible with his soul and like-minded.
He wants to confess, but he is afraid of rejection, and if he doesn't even have to be a friend, what a pity. It's so distressing that she can't taste a trace of love between the lines of each of her letters!
But he thought that it was at least better to try than to wither in frustration, and even if she failed, she would not leave regrets, and besides, she was the one who decided that she wanted to commit her life to her.
In 1945, he mustered up the courage to write a marriage proposal letter of only 25 words. It's not that he was stingy with pen and ink, but because Germany and France were at war at that time, all correspondence should not exceed 25 words.
He needs to confess his heart to a beloved girl within the limit of 25 words, which must be polite and tactful, which will not only impress the other party, but also not allow her to refuse.
He tore one after another, but none of them satisfied him, so he simply went straight into it with the single knife of the science and engineering man, and wrote a courtship letter to the girl in his heart.
Nervous, he waited for her reply, but the credible content shocked him, it turned out that He Zehui asked him to report the matter to his eldest sister He Yizhen, and the eldest sister asked his parents for advice.
Qian Sanqiang smiled angrily: "This is a lifelong event that the two of us solemnly decided, she actually asked me to ask her eldest sister, I don't know her sister, so I took the liberty to write to her, is this deliberately embarrassing me?"
Helpless, Qian Sanqiang had no choice but to do so, and complained to He Yizhen in the letter: "Zehui is a child's temper", in the letter, he made plans for the future work and life of the two, and also attached his resume according to He Zehui's request.
After receiving the letter, the eldest sister of the He family was overjoyed, and immediately replied to comfort her brother-in-law, saying that she agreed very much with the marriage, and forwarded the letter to Suzhou.
As a result, the relationship between the two was formalized.
Qian Sanqiang
In the winter of 1945, Qian Sanqiang was reading a book in his Paris apartment, when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door, and he was stunned when he opened the door.
This is their reunion after graduating from Tsinghua University after 9 years, and it is also the first time they have seen each other after confirming their relationship, but she suddenly came without saying hello.
He Zehui handed him the box in his hand: "I have something good for you!" and walked into his bedroom with a smile.
Qian Sanqiang sat down holding the box, He Zehui opened the box and showed him his treasure the same, it turned out that in addition to the stamps she collected, there were also photos of the cloud room and curve charts and other information in the box.
Qian Sanqiang handed her a cup of hot tea and said with a smile: "Did you come to me with your belongings?"
He Zehui blushed: "No, I'll just take a look first!" She really just came to see and take a look at the person who will be with her for life in the future.
In April 1946, He Zehui flew from Germany to Paris to register her marriage with Qian Sanqiang, and Joliot-Curie and his wife attended their wedding.
After their marriage, they worked together in the Laboratory of Nuclear Chemistry and the Curie Laboratory of the Collège de France, led by the couple Joliot-Curie.
At the end of 1946, Qian Sanqiang won the Henri Deba Prize in Microphysics of the French Academy of Sciences and became a research tutor at the French National Center for Scientific Research.
With talent and diligence, He Zehui discovered the phenomenon of triple fission and quadruple fission in countless nuclear fissions, and was known as China's Marie Curie.
Qian Sanqiang and He Zehui couple
In the summer of 1948, the couple, whose careers were thriving, gave up the opportunity to become more famous, and returned to their homeland with their 7-month-old daughter in superior living conditions.
In the face of the retention of teachers and friends, Qian Sanqiang said: "Science has no borders, but scientists have a motherland, and we go abroad to study in order to serve the motherland in the future!"
After returning to China, the couple devoted themselves to the cause of the motherland's atomic energy construction, one became the commander of the development of the two bombs, and the other became a scientific research leader in overcoming difficulties in nuclear technology.
However, all this was suddenly disrupted, and Qian Sanqiang and his wife, who were in the prime of their careers, were plastered with big-character posters by their former colleagues, and even He Zehui's wearing patched clothes was exposed as a crime.
On the third day of the successful nuclear bombing in 1964, Qian Sanqiang was sent to rural Henan to participate in the Four Cleanup Movement. Later, he became the target of the unit's criticism, and He Zehui became the cleaner of the unit's toilet.
In 1969, Qian Sanqiang was sent to Shaanxi again, he asked to be able to share a place with his wife who was about to be devolved, and soon the two got together in Heyang, Qian Sanqiang held his wife's hand distressedly and tears rained down.
56-year-old Qian Sanqiang rushed to do any work, raising pigs, hoeing the ground, fertilizing, and playing fields, just hoping that his frail wife could be taken care of.
He Zehui knew the depression in her husband's heart, she pulled him to look at the starry sky every day, and then suddenly thought: "Let's change to study astronomy, don't you see that this wilderness is a natural stargazing platform!"
The two of them made a tripod, found a protractor used by a junior high school teacher, drew sketches, observed latitude and time, recorded data, and made observations on a comet for a month.
She also wrote to her three children who had been assigned to Shanxi and Shaanxi to work in teams, telling them how to observe comets.
In 1972, 59-year-old Qian Sanqiang was approved to return to Beijing due to coronary heart disease, He Zehui also passed the appraisal, and the three children were also rated as five good members because of their good performance and returned to Beijing to go to school.
Qian Sanqiang, He Zehui and two daughters and one son
However, when the couple returned to Beijing, they found that much of their scientific work had stalled, especially her proud nuclear latex business. In her later years, He Zehui once said that there were two things that made her die blindly.
First, there is no whereabouts of more than a dozen diaries that Qian Sanqiang was taken from his house; second, China's nuclear latex business has withered and has been surpassed by Japan, which has prostitution technology.
After returning to Beijing, the upright He Zehuining did not return to his original unit, and transferred to the Chinese Academy of Sciences to study high-energy astrophysics and cosmic ray physics, and later made outstanding contributions to the beginning and development of these two fields.
In 1978, Qian Sanqiang also left the Institute of Atomic Energy, which he founded, and returned to work at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but his body could no longer be tired, so he concurrently served as the president of Zhejiang University to impart knowledge.
In 1999, the state awarded Qian Sanqiang the "Two Bombs and One Star" Meritorious Service Medal, and Qian Sanqiang died in 1992, and He Zehui's achievements that year were also buried.
In 2011, Academician He Zehui passed away at the age of 97.
In 2003, an asteroid was named the "Qian Trian".
In 2017, in honor of He Zehui, the mainland's first space X-ray telescope was named "Huiyan".
This couple, who promised the country by themselves, was upright, frank, simple, humble, and indisputable all their lives.
In those days of mutual affection, they poured out Shaohua together for national prestige, laughed together at the tribulation, and although they were wronged, they never forgot their original intentions, which made future generations admire.
China is the China of the Chinese, our own country, we don't love, who loves?
The teachings of the sages are still in your ears, please remember this pair of respectable and lovely gentlemen!
He Zehui, a nuclear physicist and high-energy physicist, and Qian Sanqiang, a nuclear physicist and founder of China's atomic energy science enterprise
Reference: "Juan Shu Kai and Close Ren Tianzhen: The Biography of He Zehui"
Some of the materials and pictures are from the Internet
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