Chapter 311: Mathematics Breaks The Ice
“Old Hua, you’re about to return to Yanjing to host the Sino-American Mathematicians Conference, and there’s one thing I want to particularly remind you of.”
On the eve of Hua Luogeng’s departure from Area 51, Dean Qian called him in for a talk.
Dean Qian’s political wisdom and keen smell naturally go without saying; his words must be taken seriously.
Hua Luogeng knew this well.
“Dean, just say it directly, and I will certainly pay attention,” Hua Luogeng replied.
Dean Qian reminded him: “This time Chen Jingrun will definitely come as a representative to attend the Mathematicians Conference. Many of those doing research at your Mathematics Institute know him, so be sure to repeatedly emphasize: listen more, speak less, don’t speak carelessly, control your expression, and especially don’t let the Americans know that Chen Jingrun ran away from the domestic side.
Originally, his experience of going from Hong Kong to New York is already very sensitive.”
Hua Luogeng understood. “I get it. I will definitely repeatedly emphasize it, and there will certainly be no slip-ups.”
Dean Qian corrected him: “It’s not that there won’t be slip-ups, it’s that there cannot be any. Once there is a slip-up, it will not only affect Chen Jingrun himself but could even affect White Horse’s safety. That’s a consequence we cannot bear.”
Even this point Hua Luogeng had thought of long ago; it was already in his notes on the key points of the Mathematicians Conference meeting. He nodded repeatedly in agreement, saying he would certainly consider it repeatedly.
Because at the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Moscow in 1966, China also sent a delegation to participate, and the members of the Chinese delegation had repeatedly emphasized “discipline issues” before going.
The discipline issue here was actually the true identity of that year’s award winner, Chen Jingrun.
However, the Yanjing side did not tell the mathematicians that Chen Jingrun was sent out; they still thought he had run away.
If the outside world knew that Chen Jingrun had run away, it would spark heated discussions and have a negative impact on the domestic side.
At New York City University, Chen Jingrun was now serving as a professor here, taking over Harvey Cohen’s mantle and becoming one of the leading figures in the Number Theory field at the university.
Today, a special guest came to his office: the Head of Mathematics Department from Columbia University, Professor Fox.
“Professor Chen, this is an invitation letter from China. We will hold a mathematicians exchange forum with China in Yanjing, from Hua Luogeng on the Yanjing side.”
When the three words Hua Luogeng came out of Professor Fox’s mouth, along with his non-standard Chinese language and the meaning of the entire sentence, it nearly brought tears to Chen Jingrun’s eyes. If he hadn’t gone through so much, he definitely wouldn’t be able to control the emotions in his heart right now.
“An invitation letter written to you, inviting you to Yanjing to attend this mathematicians exchange forum. Professor Chen, are you willing to participate?” Professor Fox asked.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Jingrun said: “I’ll consider it, but I should go. Professor, I’ll call you before tomorrow.”
Even though he really wanted to go back, having drifted abroad for several years, New York was good, but it was not his hometown.
During these seven years in New York, Chen Jingrun increasingly understood the state of mind that Lin Ran wanted to express in Bystander, and increasingly understood what the professor meant when he said in an interview, “In this place, in the international cocktail, I am still a piece of ice that refuses to melt.”
But he couldn’t agree immediately; he needed to seek approval from relevant people.
Even though with his rising reputation and the professor’s power in America at its peak, the tasks he bore were actually fewer and fewer. Apart from occasional contact with his nominal father, he actually had very, very little contact with his contacts.
But at this point in time, whether it was the Mathematicians Conference held in Yanjing or him returning to Yanjing to participate, Chen Jingrun was very clear that he had to obtain approval from the relevant side no matter what.
This was the responsibility he had to fulfill with this identity of his.
However, the reply made him very happy. After decrypting it into English, it was just one letter: Y.
Chen Jingrun knew this meant he could go, and he felt mixed feelings.
The entire delegation consisted of 52 people. Excluding American staff, there were 40 mathematicians, and two physicists: Tsung-Dao Lee and Yang Zhenning, or rather Yang Zhenning and Tsung-Dao Lee.
Chinese descent mathematicians included Zhou Yuanshen, Shiing-Shen Chern, Chen Jingrun, Chung Kai-Lai, and others.
The nationwide selection for the China-U.S. Boxer Indemnity Scholarship exam admitted only about 20 people per session, with a total of 6 sessions: 4 before the War of Resistance, 2 during. The sixth session admitted 21 people in total, and Yang Zhenning and Chung Kai-Lai were students admitted in that session.
Among them, Chung Kai-Lai was a student of Hua Luogeng, a master in the Probability Statistics field, and a figure who definitively founded a school in Probability Theory.
Of course, Chung Kai-Lai and Hua Luogeng did not have a good relationship. When Chung Kai-Lai graduated from Southwest Associated University and asked his mentor’s opinion on whether to stay on campus, Hua Luogeng immediately said no. If Xu Baoluo hadn’t insisted on keeping Chung Kai-Lai, he would have had to go back to teaching at a middle school.
Unlike other mathematicians, Chung Kai-Lai not only did not choose to return to China in the 1950s, but even after the 1980s, he only briefly visited China and gave short-term courses, unlike Shiing-Shen Chern, Shing-Tung Yau, and others.
He even passed away in the Philippines because his wife was Filipino.
And this time Chung Kai-Lai was going back because Xu Baoluo wrote him a letter. Chung Kai-Lai greatly respected Xu Baoluo; he raised funds to publish the Complete Selected Works of Xu Baoluo and took the lead in writing a commemorative article about Mr. Xu in “Annals of Statistics.”
They would first go to Hong Kong, then transfer through Hong Kong to enter Yangcheng, and from Yangcheng go all the way north.
The delegations assembled in New York, then headed to China. During this time, Jenny followed along the whole way as a special correspondent for the New York Times.
Before heading to China, in addition to writing a letter to the conference itself, Lin Ran also specially wrote a song and asked Jenny to find Chinese musicians and singers in New York to cover it, then bring the cassette tape and song back to China together.
Jenny had great influence because of running a school in New York City’s Chinatown, so it was easy for her to gather musicians who played Chinese classical instruments.
However, she didn’t quite understand what the professor wanted to express.
Before flying to Yanjing, Janet specially invited Chinese scholars to a dinner at a restaurant under the Hearst family, and played the song on a cassette player.
After one song, the scholars present looked at each other in bewilderment.
“Everyone, this song is called Ten Years of Human World. The professor entrusted me to bring this song back to China. I don’t quite understand what the professor wants to express. Do any of you understand?”
Jenny handed Lin Ran’s manuscript to everyone present. After they each read it, they looked at each other in bewilderment. The song was very nice, like Bystander, a pop style combined with familiar Chinese classical music.
It was just that this meaning, no matter how they thought about it, they couldn’t understand.
Once gathered together, everyone was very clear that this bilateral mathematicians summit was entirely spearheaded by Lin Ran.
Including Jenny’s appearance—as mathematicians who had attended the New York Mathematicians’ Gala, Shiing-Shen Chern and Chen Jingrun knew Jenny’s identity well.
Even so, after thinking left and right, they still couldn’t understand the meaning this song wanted to express.
“Sorry, Miss Hearst. After listening, I can’t quite read what the professor wants to express, but I think the last line, ‘and I once again lay the groundwork for the next chapter,’ means the professor hopes to lay the groundwork for the next chapter in relations between the two countries?” Shiing-Shen Chern said first.
Everyone was really confused. They originally thought it was a song expressing longing for the homeland, but it turned out to be Ten Years of Human World. Listening to the whole song, there wasn’t the slightest hint of longing for the homeland.
Chen Jingrun, as the mathematician among those present who had dealt with Lin Ran the most, knew that Lin Ran would absolutely not write this song casually.
In his view, the professor’s behavior would not have any unintentional actions.
Moreover, Chen Jingrun increasingly understood the state of mind Lin Ran wanted to express in Bystander.
However, Chen Jingrun didn’t speak; he just quietly watched these scholars use their wild ideas to interpret Ten Years of Human World.
Yang Zhenning felt the key should be on “The segments that the world envies is but ordinary,” expressing that the professor’s achievements were astonishing, but to him they were just ordinary.
Tsung-Dao Lee felt the key should be on “Look, the impermanence of your calculations and the hesitation when you came; look, in the end there is courage to stand alone against the absurdity of the mortal realm.”
In short, each person had their own understanding, and different people understood it completely differently, but no one could interpret it from a unified overall perspective.
Similarly, when this song was sent out by Lin Ran, it had already been obtained by a certain IA side, after all, it was part of what was to be brought to China this time.
After Larry King translated it into English and handed it to his superiors, the intelligence analysis officials at a certain IA were similarly baffled.
Everyone racked their brains but couldn’t figure out the connotation of the song the professor entrusted others with; it was even more difficult to understand than Bystander.
In the end, the whole matter was reported all the way to Lyndon Johnson, and he finally approved it, allowing Jenny to bring it to Yanjing.
Actually, Lin Ran didn’t think much about it at all; he just felt that other things like Me and My Motherland, Nostalgia, My Motherland would feel a bit weird if he wrote them.
After he obtained the Gate, he stayed three years in the 2020 spacetime, and 7 years in the 1960 spacetime; added together that’s ten years. After writing it, he felt this song was too interesting, so he thought others could listen to it too.
Late July in Yanjing was very hot; it wasn’t just the temperature that was hot.
Inside the auditorium of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, there was a rare excitement and tension.
This was their first time hosting an event with America; American civilian figures had appeared in Yanjing again after twenty years.
On the outer wall of the auditorium hung a banner in Chinese and English: “First Sino-American Mathematicians Conference,” with geometric patterns dotted underneath, symbolizing the universal beauty of mathematics.
Inside the auditorium, wooden long tables were neatly arranged, with teacups and notebooks on them. A large slogan hung on the wall: Science serves the people.
Mathematicians from China and America sat on either side, with expectation and caution filling the air.
At the central podium in the auditorium, Hua Luogeng, dressed in a gray Zhongshan Suit, pushed up the glasses on his nose bridge, and walked to the microphone.
His expression was serious as he said in Chinese: “Distinguished guests, mathematicians from China and America, welcome to Yanjing!
Mathematics is humanity’s common language. Today, we gather together to share knowledge, enhance friendship, and contribute to the progress of science.”
Obviously, Lin Ran could talk about mathematics transcending nations and ideology, but Hua Luogeng could not.
The interpreter translated Hua Luogeng’s words into English, and polite applause rang out from the audience.
Professor Fox stood up, took a letter from the pocket of his suit jacket, and said in English: “I represent Professor Randolph Lin to give the opening speech. Although he couldn’t come to the scene in person, he is one of the organizers who made this conference a success. He facilitated the smooth holding of this conference. Thank you Professor Hua for your warm welcome. This reminds me of fifteen years ago, when we strolled together on the Columbia University Campus and talked freely about mathematics.
Coming to Yanjing, I feel the profound heritage of this city. Mathematics brings us together; it is the combination of logic and beauty.
I expect this conference to become the starting point for cooperation between scholars of the two countries. Here is the statement from Professor Randolph Lin:
Hello everyone, I’m very glad to see the mathematics communities of the two countries have this opportunity to sit down and chat. America is a mathematics powerhouse, but China also has a great many excellent mathematicians. The active Chinese descent mathematicians in America fully prove one thing: Chinese people can excel in mathematics.
And the country with the most Chinese people, the motherland of Chinese people, China—I believe China can also become a mathematics powerhouse, one of the centers of world mathematics, and cultivate its own Fields Medalists.”
After these words were translated and recounted in Chinese throughout the auditorium, the people of this era, who desperately hoped for recognition from the so-called international community, burst into warm applause.
This was Lin Ran speaking; everyone present knew who Lin Ran was. His academic identity was in a certain sense the number one mathematician of the contemporary era. Even if Grothendieck brought out algebraic geometry, it would at most be a tie.
Lin Ran’s recognition was quite morale-boosting for the Chinese people present.
“From a material perspective, Chinese mathematicians face even harsher research environments, yet they can produce world-class achievements in many fields. I sincerely admire you all.
I hope China can resume sending government-sponsored students to America for study abroad activities, to accelerate the development of Chinese mathematics and even other fields. Finally, I want to say, mathematics is a bridge; I hope it can connect our hearts.”
Then Fox took a box of books from behind him and walked to Hua Luogeng. “Professor Hua, these are Professor Lin’s works. He hopes I can pass them on to you all.”
Hua Luogeng received them from his hands, and applause rang out again, with the atmosphere slightly relaxing.
Shiing-Shen Chern sat in the front row, his gaze sweeping over the venue, his heart filled with mixed feelings.
He knew this conference had not come easily.
After the opening ceremony, a erhu solo of Horse Racing ignited the atmosphere in the venue. American mathematicians praised the rhythm and power of the music and applauded enthusiastically.
The next morning, the conference entered the keynote speech session.
Shiing-Shen Chern, as the first main speaker, walked to the podium.
He opened in English, with the interpreter translating simultaneously: “Ladies and gentlemen, today I will share the latest progress on characteristic classes in differential geometry.”
The conference lasted a full week. Mathematicians respectively introduced their latest progress, during which Jenny met with Chinese representatives, bringing the recording tape and song manuscript.
