The Paper's reporter Lu Sijia
March 19, 2021 marks the 100th birthday of Mr. Shaheed, a well-known physicist, educator and social activist. Xie Xide (1921-2000) was the founder of the Department of Semiconductor Physics and Surface Physics in New China, known as the "Mother of Semiconductors", and the first female president of New China University, serving as the president of Fudan University in the 1980s.
On March 18th, the "Love zhide - Sheheid Centenary Birthday Commemorative Exhibition" jointly launched by Jiefang Daily, Shangguan News and Fudan University was unveiled in Jiefang Daily, and more than 100 precious exhibits presented for the first time in addition to a large number of documents, archives, letters, etc., also shared Xie Xide's multi-color life to the audience, she loves stamp collecting, loves classical music, loves to knit sweaters, and can play the piano. The exhibition site uses a combination of spatial images and physical displays to lead the audience closer to a real, concrete, three-dimensional and vivid Sheshid.
Shaheed
Exhibition site
When it comes to Chinese women who won applause in the U.S. Congress, most people probably think of Song Meiling in the United States in 1943. However, few people know that 57 years later, the US Congress paid tribute to a woman on the other side of the ocean in a more special way, but because of the person's consistent low-key and pragmatic style, this symbolic event for Sino-US relations at that time was not widely disseminated.
On February 24, 2000, an American flag flew over the U.S. Capitol. Congress passed Rep. Curt Weldon's proposal to use the flag to pay tribute to Madam Xie, who has made a special contribution to U.S.-China exchanges. She is Xie Xide, who was the former president of Fudan University. Xie Xide was born in 1921 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, and her father was the famous physicist Xie Yuming. When Xie Yuming studied in the United States, he was praised by Yang Zhenning as a person who "rubbed shoulders with the Nobel Prize" because he accurately determined the structure of the hydrogen atom spectrum.
Through more than 100 precious exhibits in seven parts: "Listening to Chicken Crying, Getting Up Early", "Five-Star Red Flag Calling Me Back to China", "Mother of Semiconductors", "Dan Fudan Xi", "Madam Xie", "In Her Name", and "Love", the exhibition connects the various stages of Mr. Xie Xide's 79-year life course, and a large number of photos, letters and physical exhibits in the exhibits are the first public appearance - such as Xie Xide's self-recommendation letter to serve the motherland after completing his studies, and his master's thesis of "excellent" at Smith College in the United States. When she was the president of Fudan University, she personally wrote a list of professors to be promoted to young associate professors, and the original national flag of the US Congress to celebrate her contribution to Sino-US relations, and other precious exhibits, all have important documentary value and historical significance.
High school graduation photo
In the "Listen to chickens, get up early" section, the children's poem "Early Rise" published by the 10-year-old Xie Xide in 1931 in Beiping's "Dawning Quarterly" is exhibited, as the poem "Get Up Quickly", Xie Xide has been an ambitious and hard-working girl since childhood.
In 1931, at the age of 10, Shahid published a children's poem "Early Rise" in The Dawn Quarterly in Beiping.
In 1927, Xie Yuming went to teach in the Department of Physics of Yenching University, and the 6-year-old Xie Xide moved to Beiping and studied at Yanda Affiliated Primary School. After the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression began, Xie Yuming and his family went south. In 1938, Xie Xide graduated from Fuxiang Girls' High School in Changsha, Hunan Province, with the first place in his class.
But at this time, Shaheed suffered the first ordeal of her life. After graduating from high school, Xie Xide had been admitted to Hunan University, but she was forced to suspend her studies due to osteoarticular tuberculosis, and spent four years in bed in Guiyang and Huishui; the limited medical conditions during the war left Xie Xide with regrets, and she had to endure leg diseases all her life. Four years later, she was admitted to the Department of Mathematics and Physics of Xiamen University through self-study. After graduating from university, Sheheed began a study abroad career. In 1947, Sheheed was admitted to Smith College in the United States to pursue a master's degree in physics, and two years later, graduated with "honors" in all courses, entered the Department of Physics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pursue a doctorate, and finally obtained a doctorate with the highest score and stayed on as a researcher. Five years of study in the United States has made her have begun to have her own place in the world physics community.
Study abroad documents
In 1950, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea broke out, and soon after, the US government announced that all Chinese students studying science and engineering in the United States would not be allowed to return to Chinese mainland. Shaheed's father, who was far away in the Philippines, also wrote to her repeatedly, saying, "I don't want you to go back to poor and backward China." ”
However, Sheheed's determination to return home was firm. At that time, her fiancé Cao Tianqin obtained a doctorate in Britain, and she planned to go to Britain first, get out of the United States, and then return to her motherland from Britain on the grounds of consummating her marriage with her fiancé. In 1952, Xie Xide and Cao Tianqin set out from Britain and arrived in Shanghai via Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
After returning to China, Xie Xide began to teach in the Department of Physics of Fudan University. She became a pioneer in the Department of Physics at Fudan - she has successively opened seven or eight basic courses such as optics and theoretical mechanics. Every time a class is opened, she always explores, and when she is on the right track, she gives it to other teachers and opens up new courses herself. At the same time, she saw that the computer was still composed of electron tubes, and the footprint was particularly large. So she was keenly aware that semiconductor science would change the future of computer science, so she changed her research direction and devoted herself to the study of semiconductor physics.
In 1956, the state wanted to establish its own semiconductor talent reserve, opened China's first semiconductor specialization training class at Peking University, and invited Xie Xide to Beijing as a deputy director to preside over the work. During the work period, Xie Xide has trained a number of backbone talents of Chinese semiconductors such as Wang Yangyuan, Xu Juyan, Yu Zhongyu, etc., laying the foundation for the development of China's semiconductor industry. She co-authored the book "Semiconductor Physics" with Huang Kun, the head of the training class, which has long been the only Chinese textbook and classic work in the semiconductor discipline.
In 1983, at the age of 62, Xie Xide began to serve as the president of Fudan University, becoming the first female president of a new Chinese university. In the educational reform of Fudan University, she vigorously used young talents and took a series of specific measures to accelerate the growth of the teaching staff. In order to let more students go out, Sheheed insisted on writing letters of recommendation to students to colleges and universities around the world. "It takes up a lot of my time, but it's a pleasure for me." She said.
In April 1983, Xie Xide was appointed president of Fudan University. The Paper's reporter pictured
During his tenure as president of Fudan University, Sheathed persuaded the U.S. Congress to fund the establishment of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, where he served as director until his death. During Sheheedd's tenure, the school has more than 600 teachers who have carried out academic activities abroad.
In the exhibition, the reporter read "A True Story" written by physicist Yang Zhenning himself, which recounted the physical contributions of Xie Xide's father Xie Yuming, the lifelong regret that Xie Yuming died in Taiwan in 1986, and the father and daughter could not get together forty years apart.
Physicist Yang Zhenning personally wrote "A True Story" surging news reporter picture
There is also no shortage of light-hearted and witty exhibits in the exhibition that resonate with some audiences. In October 1988, Principal Xie Xide received letters from the parents of several liberal arts students in Fudan, reflecting on the students' behavior of smoking and playing mahjong at home during the summer vacation, and Xie Xide wrote an article in the Fudan school journal "Cherish time and study hard" to echo this letter.
In 1988, Xie Xide wrote an article in the Fudan school journal entitled "Cherishing Time and Striving to Study" as a surging news reporter
From an early age, Shaheed has paid special attention to and thought about the fate, status and role of Chinese women, and she has practiced throughout her life to fight for equality, independence and educational opportunities for women, which is presented in the "In Her Name" unit.
"I don't want all girls to go to science — they should have a choice, not be excluded because of prejudice and other obstacles."
— In 1996, Shaheed said in an interview with the American Association of Women Scientists (AWIS) magazine
For the survival and development of female scientific and technological workers and the vast number of women's groups, Shehid showed a valuable forward-looking and insightful answer in her time.
The final section of the exhibition revolves around the theme of "love", creating an immersive multimedia video space on the spot. Scenes of old photographs on the walls lead the viewer into Sheheed's daily life. Here are the earliest photographs of Sheheed as a child, her correspondence with her mother, her wedding photos with her husband Cao Tianqin, and the last family portrait she treasured. Among them, five postcards sent to Xie Xide by Cao Tianqin in 1949 – two innocent boys and girls in love with each other on the front and love words written by Cao Tianqin on the back – added warmth and romance to the exhibition site.
A postcard from Cao Tianqin to Sheheed, Very Tasty Very Sweet
The exhibition also shares the multi-colored life of Sheheed, who loves stamp collecting, listening to classical music, knitting sweaters, collecting dolls, playing the piano, and dressing well. The exhibition site uses a combination of spatialized images and physical displays to lead the audience closer to a real, concrete, three-dimensional and vivid extraordinary woman.
"Beloved Zhide - Sheheed Centenary Commemorative Exhibition" is one of the "Masters in Shanghai" series of exhibitions sponsored by Jiefang Daily Shangguan News. Open to the public from March 22, the exhibition address is Jiefang Daily, No. 816 Yan'an Middle Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, and will be on display until May 18. Reservations are required for viewing.
Editor-in-Charge: Ruoxi Chen
Proofreader: Ding Xiao