High Shiqi Complete Works.3

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 collection received huge social response and won numerous highest honors, enriching our 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. Many libraries and universities later sought to purchase copies but found no availability, calling 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 I contains science popularization works created before 1949, Volume II contains science popularization works after 1949, Volume III includes poems written throughout Gao Shiqi's life, Volume IV features his papers and speeches, and Volume V contains his late-life handwritten memoirs, messages, congratulations, inscriptions, and more. 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 the late Gao Shiqi during his hospitalization. It provides a complete account of some lesser-known years, events, and stories in his life, from his birth to the period of 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 monologue. From this memoir, one 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, earnestly analyzing his inner world. This is his to posterity. Later, the of Beijing Hospital and the demolition of the South Building caused dust to flood his room, leading to 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" without cause, nor did he receive an asteroid named after him as asteroid No. 3704 without reason, nor did he become a national law based on the work and career of a scientist without cause. Gao Shiqi's memoirs contain no artistic embellishment or alteration; they are as vivid and moving as a film script and theme. They present a truly humanized Gao Shiqi, whose 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-referenced and disordered. It was extremely difficult to find the connection between one paragraph and the next. Moreover, the handwriting was blurred and chaotic, as he wrote it with trembling hands, requiring careful identification. Many names, places, historical events, and even English letters and specialized 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 views "academia writing science popularization as essentially 'science without popularization,' and thus, scientists should propose topics, content, and frameworks, while writers should handle the creation and refinement." In reality, this issue was already addressed in Gao Shiqi's science popularization works decades ago in the 1930s. Gao Shiqi organically blended science and literature, achieving a high degree of artistic harmony and perfection. He not only used personification and simple language to make profound and mysterious science accessible to both farmers and children but also taught future science popularizers that science popularization is not an isolated endeavor but should be combined with the development of science and technology, literature, art, poetry, psychology, and fairy tales, and that experts in these fields should be consulted. 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 a model and example for scientists and academicians to engage in science popularization. It shows how scientists, academicians, and the public can better create science popularization works and make them accessible, easy to understand, and enjoyable for the masses. The reason why Gao Shiqi's works have become timeless classics and the eternal Gao Shiqi is 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, a model of the combination of natural sciences and social sciences, and 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 days, which he transformed into The Flower Drum Opera. He turned the myths and fairy tales he encountered into specific plots and characters in his creations, such as The Three Immortals and The Island of Many Legs. He infused his traditional culture, the Four Books and Five Classics into his works, even naming the opening of The Autobiography of a Mushroom "My Name." He included the Taoist deities, the Three Great Masters, and the myths of The Investiture of the Gods in his works, as well as Christianity, Buddhism, and the Adam and Eve of Christianity, which became the opening of one of his articles. The thoughts, philosophy, and spirit of Buddhism were also subtly reflected in 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 society. He even included Engels' Dialectics of Nature in his long science poem The Symphony of the Sky, forming a renowned chapter that once again predicted the development of the times and the victory of the people. Gao Shiqi used everything he engaged with, experienced, and learned to serve his scientific creation and his mission of "handing science to the people." His goals were clear, his direction was steadfast, and his aspirations were realistic and great. In this sense, Gao Shiqi was a true master—a master who integrated 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," though he had no confidence in his Chinese writing at the time (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 made possible with the great support and assistance of his lifelong friends. Notably, Comrade Ye Yonglie provided valuable materials, such as the 5,000-character Childhood memoirs dictated by Gao Shiqi and recorded by Bai Hua in September 1947, as well as the Biography of Gao Shiqi's Ancestors and Dai Botao's An Unfortunate Scientist—Gao Shiqi. Additionally, Pu Manting's newly published Research Materials on Gao Shiqi included relevant information such as A Biography of Gao Shiqi, A Chronological Table of Gao Shiqi's Life and Literary and Science Popularization Activities, and more. Moreover, many young friends came to contribute to the editing and publishing of The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi during their holidays. This included staff from the China Aviation Press who gave up their national holiday rest to work overtime. It can be said that the reedition of The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi was the result of countless hours of effort and sweat in the days leading up to the centenary of his birth.