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Post by douglaslam on Oct 6, 2009 0:04:56 GMT -5
Australians wake up this morning to find one of their own has won a Nobel Prize in Medicine : www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/05/2705473.htm It is a great result for the country, for we are showing the world that we do not just excel in sport but also other endeavours. As a small country with a population of 22 million people ( latest estimate last week), Australia has done well in winning the coveted award in medicine, science and literature. Another Australian Terence Tao, a Chinese at that also won the first Fields Medal in Mathematics for the country : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Tao. The Fields Medal is the highest honour in Mathematics, presented only once every four years, to one or more recipients. Alfred Nobel did not create a category for Mathematics. Terry Tao is perhaps the greatest mathematician of our times. Google Terence Tao and read more. By contrast, I am not aware China, Taiwan or Hong Kong has ever produced any home-grown Nobel laureates. Those who did win were mostly Chinese-Americans or Chinese-French. It is disappointing. Is it that China does not encourage cutting edge research in science, or is it the freedom to pursuit knowledge lacking ? Are our kin folks in China simply not good enough ? Or are there other forces at play ? That I do not know. I did read of one or two towering 20th century Chinese writers declined nomination. Members, please add your observation. |
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Post by Ah Gin on Oct 6, 2009 12:43:01 GMT -5
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Post by douglaslam on Oct 7, 2009 0:17:31 GMT -5
Ah Gin, Following on from your comment, I found out a little more about Charles Kuen Kao from HK TV news. Sadly, I think the Nobel laureate is being cared for at a home because the onset of Alzheimer's. The first Chinese joint winners of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics always have a special place in our hearts. Tsung Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang are now nudging ninety years old. Whenever they go on a lecture tour in China, HK Taiwan or Singapore, the halls are always filled to overflow. The people absolutely adore them, and hold them in reverential awe. It is to do with our respect for scholarship, achievement and honour to the people. Lee and Yang are etched in my mind because their names were on the pages of my primary school Social Studies textbook in HK fifty years ago or more . We the kids were very proud of them. Their recognition in quick time was in no small part due to the experiment conducted by another Chinese physicist Chien Shiung Wu. Wu was a brilliant experimental physicist, whose experiment, which proved the theory of beta ray decay and non-conservation of parity in 1956, ( all mumbo jumbo to me) was replicated by others, won them the day. It was injustice that Wu wasn't declared a joint winner, some critics say it was a sexist thing. Wu was a woman. I first learned of Wu in a Chinese magazine article in the early '60s. Chien Shiung Wu ( 吴 健 雄） is an unusual name for a woman. It is very masculine sounding. I can never forget that name. She was the greatest female physicist of her time, and had won many honours. BTW, that treasured magazine among my many keepsakes were stolen from a common storage room. It is useless to anyone else. physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Parity/photos.htmlLee, Yang and Wu are great inspirational figures. The inspired many Chinese scientists to go on to greater things. I love physics and mathematics but I don't have the right stuff to go on. Next life time perhaps. Douglas |
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Post by Ah Gin on Oct 8, 2009 3:58:14 GMT -5
Douglas,
The Cycle of Life, read Aging is something I confess I don't understand, but accept as exactly that -- Cycle of Life. Prof Kao has contributed significantly to the advancement of science, and humanity. Let's wish him a good life ahead, with dignity to the inevitable end.
I like to continue the conversation with what I think is something the Chinese race in general should be proud of. I am sure other old cultures such as Egyptians, Greek, Italian, Indian, Jewish etc. can claim similarly. But given that this MB is principally about Chinese Heritage, let's stick to something we know better. This is the Culture of Scholarship and encouragement of learning. I remember as a small grasshopper, and indeed many of my little friends: we were constantly encouraged to study hard and qualify to the highest degree possible. Just look at our own Message Board, and you can see quite a number of PhDs, Dr, Lawyer, Financial experts etc. For that we have to thank our parents -- again something we Chinese seems to promote -- remember who brought us up, nurture us. Be grateful for it, as our parents gave up a lot for us.
I wonder if the culture of learning has to do with the ancient days, when talking exams to gain a place in the Emperor's Court ( 考狀元 Jong Yun) has anything to do with it -- ie influenced our attitude to Learning as a people.
Regards, Ah Gin
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Post by douglaslam on Oct 27, 2009 6:20:51 GMT -5
www.eastasiaforum.org/2009/10/21/chinas-elusive-nobel-dream/The above link may provide some clues as to why there has never been a home-grown Chinese Nobel laureate in science or medicine. It is interesting to know two other Chinese Nobel laureates are conveniently forgotten. Do you know who I am talking about? Yang and Lee the joint 1957 winners in physics may rightly be called Chinese winners rather than Chinese-Americans. I think they were holding Taiwan passports at the time. Can any one verify that?
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Post by Ah Gin on Oct 27, 2009 13:33:38 GMT -5
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Post by douglaslam on Oct 28, 2009 2:55:32 GMT -5
Hi Ah Gin ,
I think both Yang and Lee were born in China. One or perhaps both of them went to the US on scholarships.
I think the scholarships were established after the Boxer Uprising. The victorious Allied Powers extorted huge sums in indemnity from the Qing Court. To the US credit, some of that money was used to fund promising talents to study at leading US universities. Tsien Hsue-sen or Qian Xuesen, the Father of China's rocket program was one of them.
Iris Chang's book Threads of the Silkworm gives a very good account of Qian.
For this 100% Sinophile, the disproportionate response by the Allied Powers in putting down the Boxer Uprising is always something that irks me. This is not ancient history; it happened in our grandfathers' time. I still seethe with anger and sadness for the killing, looting, burning and raping that took place. It was great humiliation.
Douglas
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Post by douglaslam on Oct 8, 2010 5:07:40 GMT -5
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Post by chak on Oct 8, 2010 7:51:08 GMT -5
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Post by douglaslam on Oct 9, 2010 4:12:32 GMT -5
Interesting clips from CNN. The presenter Stan Grant is an Aussie. He and his family had spent time in Beijing. I met him once and had a brief chat.
There were other nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize from China in the past. Wei Jingshen 魏京生 was one, and I think Wang Dan 王丹 was the other, and possibly Hu Jia 胡佳, who is still serving time in jail. These are people made of very stern stuff. They cast aside personal gains and self-preservation for their deep conviction. All could have secure cushy jobs with the trappings of a rising middle class in China. They remind me of the great former Soviet nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov, Nobel Peace Laureate, who also sacrificed so much for his conviction.
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Post by douglaslam on Oct 11, 2012 7:58:01 GMT -5
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_YanI just heard Chinese writer Mo Yan has been named as the Nobel Prize winner in Literature. I have to admit, I have never heard of his name mentioned in public, nor read any of his works. But I do know some of the titles of his works from feature films. He is the first Chinese to have won the coveted prize. ( Previously, there was a French-Chinese who has won the Prize.) I hope he could go to Oslo to claim the prize due him. Remember Liu Xiaobo? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Xiaoboen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_She I believe this great writer declined nomination. The other nominee I know of is Hu Shih en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_ShihHu Shih was a writer, philosopher, thinker, educator, legislator, diplomat.... He had a special place in history because he was the recipient of a Boxer Rebellion Indemnity Scholarship. His one work I am familiar with is a free verse poem Orchid : Lan Hua Cao Here is the poem set to music, one of my favourite Mandarin pop. As a primary kid in Hong Kong, I had to learn the poem and recite it by heart. 庚子賠款 (Boxer Rebellion Indemnity) the four Chinese characters ( the first two is the name of the year) evoke great emotions for a lot of people. I am no exception. It brought China to its knees in the dying days of the Qing Dynasty. It was just one of many unequal treaties forced upon China. To the credit of the United States, it did do some good in return. I encourage all to learn a little more of this piece of modern Chinese history. The Indemnity Scholars represented some of China's brightest minds of the time. Few of the recipients are still living, the Nobel Physics (1958) laureate C.N.Yang is one of them. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._N._Yang The list is a who's who of China's intellects in early 20th. century.
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