Complete Works of Gao Shiqi · 4

Author: Gao Shiqi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-10-01
Features: The major feature of this reprinted edition of The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi is the addition of nearly 200,000 words of memoirs, personally written by Gao Shiqi during his later years in the hospital. These memoirs reveal his extraordinary life and inner journey to the public. Gao Shiqi was a pioneer and founder of China's science popularization movement and a great disabled figure in human history, enjoying high prestige both domestically and internationally. Despite being completely paralyzed, he wrote millions of words of science popularization works. In honor of his contributions, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid No. 3704 "Gao Shiqi" in 1999.
Gao Shiqi was a renowned scientist, science popularizer, and educator in China. He was also a great disseminator of scientific thought and a pioneer and founder of China's science popularization movement. Over nearly 60 years of paralysis, he overcame immense physical pain and unimaginable difficulties, writing millions of words of science popularization works. From 1991 to 1994, Anhui Children's Publishing House published The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi in four volumes. The publication of the complete works sparked huge social and received numerous highest honors, enriching China's scientific and cultural treasury. However, due to various reasons, only 500 sets were published at the time. These 500 sets were snapped up during the The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi news conference and are now treasured by people from all walks of life. Since then, many libraries and universities have been unable to purchase copies and have called for a reedition. On the occasion of the centenary of Gao Shiqi's birth, we decided to reprint The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi. This reprinted edition is divided into five volumes: Volume 1 contains science popularization works created before 1949, Volume 2 contains science popularization works created after 1949, Volume 3 includes poems written throughout Gao Shiqi's life, Volume 4 features his papers and speeches, and Volume 5 contains his late-life memoirs, messages, congratulations, and dedications.
The major feature of this reprinted edition of The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi is the addition of nearly 200,000 words of Gao Shiqi's memoirs. This is a special memoir, personally written by Gao Shiqi during his later years in the hospital. It provides a complete account of some lesser-known years, events, and stories in his life, from his birth to the founding of the People's Republic of China. Thus, it offers a vivid and complete image of Gao Shiqi and his life journey. With plain and sincere language, he reveals his extraordinary life and inner thoughts. From this memoir, we can clearly see that Gao Shiqi's life was filled with suffering and tragedy, yet he navigated this external journey with an inner spirit of humor and optimism.
In the memoirs, Gao Shiqi provides a complete and truthful account of his life and seriously reflects on his inner world, which serves as his to future generations. After the of Beijing Hospital and the demolition of the South Building, dust entered his room, causing severe aspiration pneumonia. From then on, he was confined to bed. Three years later, he left this world he deeply loved. From Gao Shiqi's memoirs, we clearly feel that he was not named the "pioneer and founder of China's science popularization movement" for no reason, nor did he say "handing science to the people" for no reason, nor did he receive the asteroid named after him for no reason, nor did he become a national law for no reason based on the work and career of a scientist.
Gao Shiqi's memoirs contain no artistic embellishment or, and they themselves resemble an extremely vivid and moving screenplay. They present a truly humanized Gao Shiqi, and his legendary nature is also rare. In fact, the compilation of Gao Shiqi's memoirs went through a long process. Over a decade, it was repeatedly revised, edited, and identified. Because it was scattered across more than 20 notebooks of various sizes, the dates, locations, and events were cross-cutting and unordered. It was extremely difficult to find the connection between one paragraph and the next. Moreover, the handwriting was blurred and disorganized, as he wrote it with trembling hands, requiring careful identification. Many names, places, historical events, and even English letters and professional terms had to be repeatedly checked. Due to his involvement in the daily work of the Gao Shiqi Foundation and numerous social activities, the memoirs were never published until now. This is the first time they are fully released to the public.
The reedition of The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi has significant social meaning and contemporary relevance. In 2002, a female member of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference proposed the concept of "green science popularization." What is "green science popularization"? She believed that society generally thought that "academy members writing science popularization were essentially 'science without popularization,' and thus, scientists should propose topics, content, and frameworks, while writers should handle the creation and." In reality, this issue was already addressed in Gao Shiqi's science popularization works decades ago. Gao Shiqi organically blended science and literature, achieving a high degree of artistic harmony and perfection.
In his science popularization works, Gao Shiqi used personification and other simple, accessible language to explain profound and mysterious science in a way that even peasants and children could understand. He also told future science popularizers that science popularization was not an isolated endeavor but should be combined with the development of science and technology, literature, art, poetry, psychology, and fairy tales, and that they should seek advice from experts in these fields. Therefore, the publication of this book is not only a good textbook for science popularization education for the general public and young people but also provides an example and model for scientists and academy members to engage in science popularization. It teaches them how to better create science popularization works and how to make them accessible, easy to understand, and enjoyable for the masses.
The reason why Gao Shiqi's works became a timeless classic and a permanent Gao Shiqi was not accidental but the inevitable result of his extensive engagement with science, culture, philosophy, religion, and literature. He was not only a model of the combination of science and literature but also a model of the combination of science and social sciences. He was not only a model of the combination of natural sciences and social sciences but also a model of the combination of science and philosophy. He incorporated everything he experienced and learned into his science popularization and science literary works, including folk customs from his childhood, which he transformed into The Flower Drum Opera. He turned the myths and fairy tales he encountered into specific plots and characters in his works, such as The Three Immortals and The Many-Legged Island. He infused traditional culture, the Four Books and Five Classics into his works, even using them as the opening of The Autobiography of a Mushroom. He included the Taoist deity Laozi and the three major deities, as well as the myths from The Investiture of the Gods, in his works. He also incorporated Christianity, Buddhism, and even Adam and Eve from Christianity as the opening of one of his articles. Buddhist thought, philosophy, and spirit were also subtly reflected in the content of his works. Western science, medicine, literature, art, and history, from the spread of the Black Death in the Middle Ages to the second World War, were all presented in his vast works. He even predicted the Japanese imperialist bacteriological warfare, its reality, and preventive measures. He described the state of national emergency mobilization and incorporated the essence of Marxist thought into his works, mercilessly critiquing and condemning society. He even included Engels' Dialectics of Nature in his long science poem The Symphony of the Sky, forming famous chapters that integrated science, culture, literature, philosophy, and politics and once again predicted the development of the times and the victory of the people.
Gao Shiqi used everything he explored, experienced, and learned to serve his scientific creation and to fulfill his mission of "handing science to the people." His goals were clear, his direction was firm, and his aspirations were realistic and great. In this sense, Gao Shiqi was a true master—a master who combined ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign science, culture, and philosophy. Therefore, I believe that the criticism, ridicule, and mockery of some people toward Gao Shiqi's works in 2002 were extremely absurd and laughable, but this absurdity and laughability were based on their lack of a true understanding of Gao Shiqi's life experiences, thoughts, and profound knowledge.
Gao Shiqi was proficient in English and deeply versed in German, French, Russian, and also understood Latin. In his youth, he once said, "In reality, my English writing skills were better than my Chinese writing skills," and at the time, he had no confidence in his Chinese writing skills (see Dai Botao's memoirs). He thoroughly read the literary works of Western countries and was familiar with the works of famous poets and writers such as Shakespeare, Shelley, Byron, Stendhal, and Goethe. Thus, he could effortlessly quote maxims, philosophies, and anecdotes from Western classics.
The reedition of The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi, especially the compilation of his memoirs, was supported and assisted by many of his lifelong friends. Notably, Comrade Ye Yonglie provided valuable materials, such as the 5,000-word Childhood memoirs dictated by Gao Shiqi and recorded by Bai Hua in 1947, as well as the family history Biography of the Ancestors, An Unfortunate Scientist—Gao Shiqi by Mr. Dai Botao, and relevant materials from Research Materials on Gao Shiqi recently published by Pu Manting, including Biography of Gao Shiqi, Chronological Table of Gao Shiqi's Life and Literary and Science Popularization Activities, and more. Additionally, many young friends came to help with the editing and publication of The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi during their holidays. Staff from the Aeronautical Industry Press worked overtime during the National Day holiday to contribute to the project. It can be said that the reedition of The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi was refined through countless hours of effort and sweat in the days leading up to the centenary of Gao Shiqi's birth.