Yang Jiachi: The never-ending meritorious scientist丨The childhood of the hero of "two bombs and one satellite"

Yang Jiachi, an expert in aerospace technology and automatic control, an expert in instrumentation and automation, and the founder of automatic detection. He led and participated in the development of the attitude control and measurement subsystem of China's first artificial earth satellite. He led the completion of the "three satellites in one rocket" launch mission.

Photo of Yang Jiachi in junior high school at Shanghai Middle School in 1932

Graduation photo of Yang Jiachi at Shanghai Middle School in 1937

Story 1: The “Little Naughty Boy” in the Eyes of Parents

On September 9, 1919, Yang Jiachi was born in a silk industry family in Zhenze Town, Wujiang County, Jiangsu Province. When he was young, Jiachi was a "naughty boy" in the eyes of his parents. On his fourth birthday, his father Yang Chengwei, who worked in Shanghai, did not bring him new clothes, but gave him a small telescope. Little Jiachi was overjoyed and turned it over and over in his hands. At night, he climbed onto the windowsill and looked for something in the sky with a telescope. It turned out that he was looking for "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" because his mother told him the story of meeting on the magpie bridge.

Little Jiachi's mischief was reflected in "destruction". Once, he took apart the clock his father brought back to see what was inside it. He also took apart the copper lock on the door, but when he was discovered, he tried to put it back together but failed. So, for a long time afterwards, the clocks and other things in the house were hidden by his mother, for fear that he would take them apart and break them.

Once, his parents took him to Shanghai. When they were about to arrive at the station, they found that he was not in his seat. They looked everywhere but couldn't find him. His mother was very worried. Finally, she found him near the train engine with the driver. Later, every time he went to Shanghai, Jiachi liked to go to the train engine to watch and think. Perhaps, the seeds of applying for Jiaotong University were planted at this time.

Story 2: The "follower" who longs to go to school

When his elder brother Yang Jiaping went to school with his schoolbag, Jiachi was very envious and wished he could grow up quickly. Whenever he saw his elder brother coming home from school, he would follow him home like a "tail-bearer", touching his brother's schoolbag. After returning home, he would read his brother's books and especially liked to listen to stories about school.

After his elder brother finished his homework, the two brothers gathered around the table and took out their books to play the "matching words" game. Each brother turned to a page and counted how many pairs of the same word were printed. The one with the most pairs won. This game brought endless fun to little Jiachi. If he didn't know the words he had matched, he would ask his mother and elder brother to teach him. Therefore, little Jiachi, who was still a preschooler, already knew a lot of words.

In the autumn of 1924, Jiachi, who had just turned five, carried his schoolbag and entered the Silk Industry Primary School. This school was the product of the Yang family's efforts to save the country through industry and education, and was founded by his uncle Yang Chengzhong. In addition to learning Chinese and arithmetic, Jiachi was also influenced by anti-imperialist and anti-feudal ideas.

Story 3: The “rebounder” who came from behind

In 1932, due to the bleak prospects of the silk industry in his hometown, Yang Jiachi's parents gave up their family business and moved to Shanghai. Jiachi also bid farewell to Zhenshu Middle School in his hometown and was admitted to the junior high school of Shanghai Middle School.

Because he was a transfer student, he could not speak Shanghainese at first and had little contact with his classmates. In addition to the textbook content, the teacher also added a lot of new knowledge, requiring students to take shorthand notes and consult reference materials for analysis and thinking. All these inadaptability caused Jiachi's grades to be at a low point. However, he was unwilling to be outdone and caught up. Finally, he surpassed the others and received a school award after graduating from junior high school.

When Jiachi was promoted to high school, he encountered difficulties again. Shanghai High School had a tradition of recommendation for admission from junior high school to high school. However, the new regulations issued by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education at that time did not recognize this. Jiachi's grades in all subjects were excellent when he took the exam, but when the provincial government reviewed his Chinese test paper, they thought his test paper was radical and raised objections to the scoring.

As a result, Yang Jiachi was enrolled in the engineering class of the senior high school. The director of the engineering class arranged the teaching in the way of employment schools, so that students had half a day of classes and half a day of labor practice. Yang Jiachi had learned locksmithing, casting, and forging. Once, when he was swinging a 12-pound hammer, he used too much force, sprained his back, and aggravated his scoliosis.

Later, the school adjusted the teaching and teaching staff of the engineering class, and Jiachi began his "revenge" hard study. He finally realized his dream and became the first graduate of the engineering class of Shanghai Middle School to be admitted to Jiaotong University.

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 CPC 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.