High Shi Qi Complete Works.1

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 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 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 news conference for The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi and are now treasured by people from all walks of life. Since then, many libraries and universities have been eager to purchase but unable to do so, calling to request a reedition. On the occasion of the centenary of Gao Shiqi's birth, we have 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, inscriptions, and other writings. 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 eras, events, and stories in Gao Shiqi's 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, one can clearly see that Gao Shiqi's life was filled with suffering and tragedy, yet he navigated this external life 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 future generations. Subsequently, 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 that 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. He did not receive asteroid No. 3704 named after him for no reason, nor did he become part of a national law in his honor. Gao Shiqi's memoirs contain no artistic embellishment or. They resemble an extremely vivid and moving screenplay. They present a truly humanized Gao Shiqi, whose legendary nature is also rare. In fact, the compilation of Gao Shiqi's memoirs underwent a long process. Over a decade, it was repeatedly edited, revised, and identified. Because it was scattered across more than 20 notebooks of varying sizes, the dates, locations, and events were cross-cut and disordered. 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 specialized terms needed to be repeatedly verified. 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. 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 "academy members writing science popularization as 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. Not only did he use simple and accessible language to explain profound and mysterious science to both farmers and children, but he 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 they should seek advice from experts in these fields. Therefore, the publication of this book serves not only as an excellent textbook for science popularization education for the general public and young people but also provides a model and example 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 easy to understand, accessible, and enjoyable for the masses. The reason why Gao Shiqi's works have become timeless classics and an enduring legacy 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. 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 days, which he transformed into Yanhuagushixi. He turned the myths and fairy tales he encountered into specific plots and characters in his creations, such as The Three Fairy Grandmas and The Island of Many Legs. He infused his traditional culture and the Four Books and Five Classics into his works, even using them as the opening line of The Autobiography of a Mushroom. He included the Taoist deities and legends from The Legend of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and The Investiture of the Gods in his works, as well as Christianity, Buddhism, and the Adam and Eve of Christianity, which he used as the opening of one of his articles. The ideas, philosophy, and spirit of Buddhism 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 coming of Japan's imperialist bacteriological warfare and its prevention measures. He described the state of national emergency mobilization and infused the essence of Marxist thought into his works, mercilessly critiquing society. He even incorporated Engels' Dialectics of Nature into his long science poem The Symphony of the Sky, creating a famous chapter that integrated science, culture, literature, philosophy, and politics, once again predicting 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 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 synthesized 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," at a time when 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 Gao Shiqi's memoirs, benefited greatly from the support and assistance of his lifelong friends. Notably, Comrade Ye Yonglie provided valuable materials, such as the 5,000-word Childhood Days memoirs dictated by Gao Shiqi and recorded by Bai Hua in September 1947, as well as the Biography of the Ancestors of Gao Shiqi's family, Mr. Dai Botao's An Unfortunate Scientist—Gao Shiqi, and the newly published Research Materials on Gao Shiqi by Pu Manting, including materials such as A Brief Biography of Gao Shiqi, A Chronological Table of Gao Shiqi's Life and Literary and Science Popularization Activities, and others. Additionally, many young friends came to contribute to the editing and publication of The Complete Works of Gao Shiqi during their holidays. Staff from the China Aviation Press and Industry Publishing House gave up their national holiday rest to work overtime. 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.