Complete Works of Gao Shiqi.4

Author: Gao Shiqi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-10-01
Features: The great 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, showcasing his extraordinary life and inner journey. Gao Shiqi was a pioneer and founder of China's science popularization movement and a great disabled figure in human history, enjoying high reputation 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 an asteroid numbered 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," treasured by people from all walks of life. Since then, many libraries and universities had difficulty obtaining copies and 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 one contains science popularization works created before 1949, Volume two contains science popularization works after 1949, Volume three includes poems written throughout Gao Shiqi's life, Volume four features his papers and speeches, and Volume five contains his late-life memoirs, messages, congratulations, and dedications. The great 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, which 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. It offers us a vivid and complete image of Gao Shiqi and his life journey. With plain and sincere language, he authentically reveals his extraordinary life and inner monologue. From this memoir, it is clear 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 memoir, Gao Shiqi provides a complete and truthful account of his life, earnestly analyzing his inner world, which serves as an explanation to posterity. 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, beloved by all. 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, as if they were an extremely vivid and moving film script and theme. They present a truly humanistic Gao Shiqi, whose legendary nature is also rare. In fact, the compilation of Gao Shiqi's memoirs underwent a long process, with repeated revisions, additions, and identifications over a decade. Because the notes were scattered across over 20 small and large notebooks, the dates, locations, and events were interwoven and unordered. It was extremely difficult to find the connection between one paragraph and the next. Moreover, the handwriting was unclear and disorganized, as he wrote them 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." 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 simple and popular language, such as personification, to explain profound and mysterious science in a way that even farmers and children could understand 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 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 academicians to engage in science popularization. It teaches scientists, academicians, and the broader scientific community how to better conduct science popularization and how to make science popularization works accessible, easy to understand, 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, 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, which he transformed into flower drum operas. He turned the myths and fairy tales he encountered into specific plots and characters in his creations, such as Old Madam Three Immortals and The Island of Many Legs. He infused traditional culture and 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 beliefs of the Supreme Lord Laojun and the three major deities, as well as the myths of Investiture of the Gods, in his works, along with Christianity, Buddhism, and the Adam and Eve of Christianity, which he used 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 coming of Japan's imperialist bacteriological warfare and its prevention measures. He described the state of national emergency mobilization and infused the essence of Marxism into his works, mercilessly critiquing and condemning society. He even included Engels' Dialectics of Nature in his long science poem Ode to the Universe, creating a renowned chapter that 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 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 writings 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, was supported and assisted by many of his life-long 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 September 1947, as well as the Biography of Gao Shiqi's 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 A Brief Biography of Gao Shiqi, A 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. This included staff from the China Aviation Press who gave up their rest during the National Day holiday 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.