Xu Chi and the Goldbach Conjecture

Chen Jingrun and Xu Chi

The sensational reportage "Goldbach Conjecture", published in the first issue of People's Literature in 1978, is still often mentioned and talked about by literary circles and readers. 30 years have passed, the author of this reportage, Xu Chi, and the protagonist Chen Jingrun have passed away, and they have touched and inspired a generation of people to struggle for the "spring of science" and for the great cause of reform and opening up.

　　At that time, I was working at the people's literature magazine, so how did this work come about?

　　It's a long story. After smashing the "Gang of Four," the CPC Central Committee and Comrade Deng Xiaoping spent great efforts to straighten things out and correctly evaluate the status and important role of intellectuals. The Party Central Committee also decided to convene a national scientific congress. The convening of the science conference means a new direction for Chinese culture and indicates that the spring of science is coming. Receiving this information, the comrades of the editorial department of "People's Literature" were deeply encouraged, and at the same time, they thought that if "People's Literature" could organize a reportage reflecting the scientific field at this time, calling on people to respect knowledge and intellectuals, readers would definitely like to read it.

　　But who is good to write about? And who will write it? Discussions took place within the editorial board.

　　Suddenly, we remembered a story circulating at that time, that is, a foreign delegation came to Visit China, and some of the members offered to see Professor Chen Jingrun. Because, he saw Chen Jingrun's academic paper on overcoming the world's mathematical problem "Goldbach conjecture" from an international authoritative scientific journal, and he was very admired. China's relevant departments tried their best to search for it, and finally found this mathematician at the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

　　No one knows this remarkable result he has achieved. Chen Jingrun was intimidated by the severe criticism and crackdown on his so-called "white specialist" path during the Cultural Revolution, and even committed suicide at one point, but he survived, took risks, and immersed himself in argumentation. On weekdays, he enclosed himself in a dormitory of only 6 square meters, studied hard, quietly tackled key problems, and did not make a fuss. But he broke through a world problem in the lead and alarmed the international mathematical community!

　　It should be said that this is a contributing scientist. At the same time, however, many of his non-cannibalistic jokes and "selfish" behaviors were also reported, and he was said to be a "Frankenstein".

　　The comrades in the editorial department unanimously agreed that it was better to write Chen Jingrun! Either way, he was contributing. So, who will write it? Everyone thought of Xu Chi in unison.

　　I hung up the long-distance phone to Wuhan, looking for the poet who had been missing for a long time. It was the late autumn of 1977, when the poet was 63 years old... I could hear how excited Xu Chi's voice on the phone was! He was very happy that we invited him to Beijing to write about Chen Jingrun, but just said, "Try it."

　　Why do you say "try it"? First, he felt that he was unfamiliar with the subject of mathematics and did not understand it; second, he heard that Chen Jingrun was a "Frankenstein". Therefore, he was somewhat hesitant.

　　Sure enough, a few days after he arrived in Beijing, he came into contact with several old friends, and when everyone heard that he had come to write about Chen Jingrun, they were kind enough to persuade him to change the subject, thinking that Chen Jingrun was a controversial person, so why bother with this?

　　At this time, I told him that I had contacted the relevant departments of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and had the support of Comrade Fang Yi, the leader of the Academy. He said, "That's great! He also said that he also talked to an old comrade to solicit opinions, and the old comrade said: "Chen's theorem is remarkable!" Should be written. ”

　　Who is this old comrade? I learned afterwards that it was Xu Chi's brother-in-law and General Wu Xiuquan, deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army. The general's support strengthened Xu Chi's determination.

　　On a sunny autumn day, I accompanied Xu to the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Zhongguancun, a western suburb of Beijing. We were received by Comrade Li Shangjie, secretary of the party branch of the Institute of Mathematics.

　　In the office, Old Li emotionally told us the story of "Xiao Chen" delving into science. After a while, he left the office and brought in a young man who was not tall, with red cheeks, dressed in an ordinary old blue uniform. Old Li introduced himself to us: "This is Xiao Chen, Comrade Chen Jingrun. ”

　　Comrade Xu Chi and I did not expect to see Chen Jingrun so soon, a very simple mathematician.

　　We talked casually. We asked him what he was thinking about lately, and he said that he had recently received an invitation to an international conference and that the leader had asked him to think about whether to go or not to go. He then told us that not long ago he had received an invitation from Mr. President of the International Mathematical Union to go to Finland to attend the International Conference of Mathematicians and to give a 45-minute lecture. He said: According to Mr. Chairman's letter, more than 3,000 scholars from all over the world attended the meeting, but only a dozen academic speakers were confirmed, of which only two were from Asia, one was a Japanese scholar, and the other was Chen Jingrun from China.

　　After careful consideration and investigation, Chen Jingrun quickly wrote a reply. The letter contains the following three points: First, I thank the President of the International Mathematical Society for his kind invitation; second, there is only one China in the world, that is, the People's Republic of China; Taiwan is an inalienable province of China, and Taiwan currently occupies the seat of the Mathematical Society, so I cannot participate; third, if the representative of Taiwan is expelled, I can consider attending.

　　How principled and fulfilling the answer is!

　　It was simply unexpected! He was by no means "stupid" or "stupid" as the legend says, but a very politically minded scientist. He also told us about the tragic situation in which he was brutally criticized during the Cultural Revolution, and how he used his tricks to avoid his teacher, Professor Hua Luogeng, who participated in the struggle.

　　After hearing these touching stories, Comrade Xu Chi and I improved our understanding of him and eliminated certain misunderstandings. Of course, he does have some quirks, but most of them are due to personality. Xu Chi whispered to me emotionally: "Zhou Ming, how cute he is, I am in love with him!" Just write him. ”

　　In order to write this reportage, Xu Chi lived in Zhongguancun and filled the interview schedule day and night. In the interview, some said that Chen Jingrun was good, and some had views on Chen Jingrun, and he listened carefully to the positive and negative opinions. He said: "Only in this way can we objectively and comprehensively judge a thing and a person." During this period, he spent a lot of effort to "nibble" Chen Jingrun's academic papers.

　　At the Institute of Mathematics, Xu Chi went to the library where Chen Jingrun often went, went to his office, went into the canteen with him, chatted with him, and went to see the staircase where Chen Jingrun was beaten so badly during the Cultural Revolution. Soon, he and Chen Jingrun became close friends. But only one important place has not been seen - the 6-square-meter room where Chen Jingrun analyzed the "Goldbach conjecture". If you don't look at this cottage, you will lack a direct feeling of the atmosphere of the environment he has tackled, what a pity! For this reason, we have repeatedly expressed this small wish to Comrade Li Shangjie. Old Li said, "Xiao Chen never let anyone into his hut!" Every time he entered the door, he quickly locked it, making the hut mysterious. I've been in, and if you want to go in, you'll have to think of another way, or let's try something 'intrigue'. ”

　　After planning, on this day, I went upstairs with Xu Chi and Li Shangjie, and when I was close to Chen Jingrun's room, Old Li went to knock on the door and enter the house. Xu and I also knocked on the door ten minutes late, indicating that there was an urgent matter for Secretary Li, and then tried to squeeze into the house.

　　When I knocked on the door, Chen Jingrun had not yet reacted, Li Shangjie preemptively opened the door for us, and came by surprise. Xu Chi and I quickly stepped into the room, and he had to say embarrassedly: "Please sit, please sit." "Actually, where can I sit?" I looked around; inside there was a single bed, a simple desk and a chair. In the corner of the wall were two bulging sacks, one containing his clothes to change, and the other full of calculation manuscripts and waste paper. Except for a small area commonly used in the middle of the desk, the rest of the desk was covered with dust. He sometimes did not use the table, and used to lift the mattress in the corner of the bed and sit on a small bench on the bed to think and calculate. What a "hard struggle"!

　　After in-depth interviews, after some combing, thinking and refining, repeated deliberations, and several revisions, the reportage "Goldbach Conjecture" was finally completed.

　　With a striking title, People's Literature was published in the headline of the January 1978 issue. At that time, the central government's resolution on the complete negation of the "Cultural Revolution" had not yet been made, and the long-standing resentment of the people was expressed by Xu Chi. For a time, the Goldbach Conjecture flew over the land of Shenzhou and was almost a household name. Chen Jingrun also became famous because of this.

　　Since then, the poet Xu Chi and reportage have formed an indissoluble relationship. He wrote and published a series of excellent reportages reflecting the four modernizations and depicting scientists in The People's Literature. He roamed the kingdom of science, following "The Light of Geology", "Goldbach Conjecture", "In the Turbulent Whirlpool", "The Evergreen Tree of Life", etc., and during the National Science Congress in March 1978, he began to dabble in high-energy physics until life stopped. (Zhou Ming\Wen, transferred from China Writers Network)