Qian Sanqiang: Founder of China's Atomic Energy Science | Childhood of the Hero of "Two Bombs and One Satellite"

Qian Sanqiang, a nuclear physicist, is the founder of my country's atomic energy science and the father of China's atomic bomb. He and his wife He Zehui discovered the tri-fission and quad-fission phenomena of uranium nuclei and are known as the "Chinese Curie couple."

Qian Sanqiang during his student days

"From Cow to Love" written by Qian Sanqiang's father Qian Xuantong

Story 1: Enlightened fashion nurtures young people with moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and labor qualities

On October 16, 1913, a scholarly family in Shaoxing welcomed a newborn. Qian Xuantong, a philologist, named his son "Bingqiong" according to the rhyme of "Dong". The names of the previous three children were: Bingxiong, Binghong, and Binggong.

His father taught at a university in Beijing. When Bingqiong was 9 months old, his mother brought him to Beijing. In 1919, his father sent the 6-year-old Bingqiong to the primary school attached to Beijing Normal University for his first education. The next year, he transferred to the Comte School. The school was named after the French modern positivist philosopher Comte. It was founded by Cai Yuanpei and advocated the balanced development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics and labor.

Xiao Bingqiong is good at playing table tennis and won the fourth place in the men's singles in the city-level competition. At the age of 13, he was very strong, but he was not very tall. When he signed up for the school's "Bobcats" basketball team, the coach advised him to play table tennis. But he said that he could play table tennis and basketball, and he could play guard since he was not tall. In the team, he cooperated very well with the center Zhou Fengyi.

In terms of family education, Xiao Bingqiong was also lucky. His father Qian Xuantong, as an advocate of the New Culture Movement, set an example in family education. He did not require his children to memorize ancient texts, but allowed them to read freely. His home was like a bookstore.

The periodicals that Bingqiong has read include "Little Friends", "Children's World", "New Youth", "Novel Monthly", "Creation Quarterly", and "Yusi", classical novels such as "The Scholars", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "Dream of Red Mansions", "Flowers in the Mirror", and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", new novels such as "Call to Arms" and "Wandering", and foreign novels such as "Robinson Crusoe" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland".

Story 2: Interesting story of name change, which is both friendly and in line with the new trend

Little Bingqiong can be said to have a special affinity with the word "three". He is the third among his brothers. In his class at Kongde School, he has three "close friends". Wang Zhizhong, who is the oldest and tallest, is very thin. The second is Zhou Fengyi (Zhou Zuoren's son). The third is Qian Bingqiong, who is strong. The naughty Zhou Fengyi nicknamed Wang Zhizhong "Da Ruo" and Qian Bingqiong "San Qiang". At first, it was just a verbal name, but it was actually used in writing.

In the winter of 1926, Bingqiong's mother, Xu Xianzhen, unfortunately suffered from cervical cancer and was hospitalized for radium irradiation treatment. The cost was as high as more than 20 yuan a day, and they could not afford to hire a caregiver. For a long time, the eldest brother Bingxiong and Bingqiong took turns to take care of their mother in the hospital. The two close friends were concerned about Bingqiong who could not come to school normally, and informed him of his academic progress and interesting stories in the school class through letters.

Once, Qian Xuantong, the father, accidentally saw a letter written by "Da Ruo" and addressed to "San Qiang". The father asked Bing Qiong who wrote to whom, and Bing Qiong told him about the nickname shared by his classmate Zhou Feng. Unexpectedly, the father asked, "Are you willing to change your name to "San Qiang"?"

It turned out that his father thought that this name was easy to understand and was in line with the purpose of the New Culture Movement he advocated. Chinese characters should be reformed in the direction of popularization and common people. Moreover, it was in line with the trend of the times and what parents expected for their children to strive for progress in morality, intelligence and physical fitness. Bingqiong responded immediately, and from then on Qian Bingqiong became "Qian Sanqiang".

Story 3: From cow to love, father’s handwriting becomes motto

In the spring of 1929, Qian Sanqiang was about to graduate from high school and began to think about further studies. One day, the school library received a lot of new books, and Qian Sanqiang was particularly interested in Sun Yat-sen's "National Construction Strategy". Mr. Sun proposed six major "industrial plans" to promote China's advancement, including the construction of ports, railways and industries.

When Qian Sanqiang returned home, he told his father that he wanted to study engineering and become an electrical engineer. His father asked, which school are you going to apply to? When he learned that his son wanted to apply to Shanghai Jiaotong University, his father reminded him that Shanghai Jiaotong University teaches in English. Can you keep up? Because Qian Sanqiang studied French at the Conde School.

In order to realize his dream, he planned to study science preparatory courses at Peking University. The fourth class accepted students who passed the German and French exams and those with poor English proficiency. Qian Sanqiang started to make up for his English. He stopped going to the sports field and sang less. He took notes in class and looked up dictionaries in the library or at home after class. He scored 65 points in the semester exam. His father happily told his mother that he was born in the Year of the Ox and he really had the energy of an ox.

Qian Sanqiang read a lot of scientific works outside of class. He was attracted by the description of the atomic structure in "A New Theory of Atoms" by British scientist Bertrand Russell. He also often attended the classes of Wu Youxun and Sa Bendong, professors of the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University. Qian Sanqiang's interest shifted to physics. He even gave up the three-year preparatory course and undergraduate degree at Peking University and was admitted to the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University to repeat his first year.

The enlightened father supported his son's choice and gave him a handwritten four-character phrase "From Ox to Love". His father hoped that Qian Sanqiang would continue to carry forward the spirit of the ox and learn from Newton and Einstein in science. These four characters became Qian Sanqiang's motto. This handwritten phrase has been with him for 60 years, and he took it with him when he went abroad and returned home.

Reading link: The founder of the "Two Bombs and One Satellite"

"Two bombs and one satellite" originally referred to atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, and artificial satellites. The atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb in the "two bombs" were later collectively called nuclear bombs, and the other bomb referred to the missiles developed in the early days. Later, "two bombs and one satellite" referred to guided missiles, nuclear bombs, and artificial satellites.

On September 18, 1999, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Party Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission solemnly commended 23 scientific and technological experts who made outstanding contributions to my country's "two bombs and one satellite" cause and awarded them the "Two Bombs and One Satellite Medal of Merit." They are called the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" heroes. (Source: National University of Defense Technology "Science Popularization China" co-construction base)