“Clouds on the Paper – He Lu’s Poetry and Calligraphy Exhibition”
He Lu (taken in Lyon of France, 1916)
Understanding of Infinitesimal Calculus, dubbed as “No. 1 notebook of
China
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He Lu (left) and Yan Jici
He was the first scholar that had introduced modern west mathematics into China and was also one of the founders of China’s modern mathematics.
He had a number of reputable students, among which there are well-known physicists and mathematicians like Yan Jici, Hua Luogeng, Wu Youxun, Qian Sanqiang, Zhao Zhongyao and Wu Wenjun.
Besides his extraordinary attainments in mathematics, He had made considerable accomplishments in poetry and calligraphy.
He is He Lu, a math master, educationist, calligrapher and poet of China.
He Lu was born in Guang’an, Sichuan in 1894 and his close connection with Chongqing can be dated back to 1932 when he first came to this city. He had since then lived in Chongqing for more than 20 years, and went through hardships during the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation. He was the first dean of the School of Science of Chongqing University, and was the 5th president of Chongqing University.
Recently, the“Clouds on the Paper – He Lu’s Poetry and Calligraphy Exhibition” was held at Wang Qi Art Museum. A total of 82 pieces of extraordinary poetry and calligraphy works of He Lu were exhibited. The works revealed part of the He Lu’s entire life that had been devoted to excellence and education.
Let’s have a close look at the life of the math master and great poet and calligrapher in Chongqing.
“No. 1 notebook of China”, the witness of how He Lu became a math master
“Mr. He, would you be kind enough to donate the Understanding of Infinitesimal Calculus, a note taken by your father, to Chongqing University, so that the students would be able to appreciate the spirit of rigorous scholarship of the elder intellectuals?” When asked this question by Li Ping, the then curator of the Archives of Chongqing University at a tea house in Chengdu, He Peiyan, the youngest son of He Lu, looked somewhat hesitant.
Before that, a well-known author named Ma Shitu had contacted the National Museum of China and the Museum proposed to buy the Understanding of Infinitesimal Calculus at a high price, so that scientists and experts in engineering and technology would be able to understand and learn the rigorous scholarly research spirit of the older generations.
The notebook had been by then kept by Mr. He Lu and his family for a hundred years. It has been baffling Mr. He Peiyan to find the best place for it.
He Peiyan and Li Ping and some others talked till midnight that day. “If the notebook is collected by the National Museum of China, ordinary persons would have no access to it except during the period of public exhibition. As a result, it would play very little role in extensive education. If it is collected by Chongqing University, tens of thousands of Chongqing students and even teachers, students, scholars and groups from all over the country would have access to it and benefit from it.” Li Ping said sincerely.
He Peiyan listened carefully and said: “I shall discuss this with my wife when I get home tonight.”
What surprised Li Ping was that He Peiyan called at 7:30am next day and told him his decision to donate the Understanding of Infinitesimal Calculus to the Archives of Chongqing University for free.
What makes this notebook so important to the National Museum of China and Chongqing University?
“The Understanding of Infinitesimal Calculus is dubbed as ‘No. 1 note of China’. It is the mathematics note taken by Mr. He Lu when he was studying at the University of Lyon in 1915 and serves as the historic witness of first Chinese intellectuals studying western science and culture.” Yang Yan, the current curator of the Archives, said.
The twenty-fourmo, 142-paged notebook is filled with neat and tidy manuscript writings in French. It seems like every word was printed on it, and it looks like a French copybook, without even a single casual stroke or alternation. Almost all geometric figures were drawn with bare hand without using any ruler or compasses. The figures are however accurate and precise and make up an exquisite piece of hard-tipped pen calligraphic works. It’s amazing to have a look at it.
“My father had told me stories about this notebook many times before his death. In 1912, as one of the 64 students that were sent to France to study under a work-study programme of China, Mr. He Lu was enrolled by the Department of Mathematics of the University of Lyon. As his French was not as good as his English, he was encountered with a lot of difficulties in study and would often stumble when asked a question in class.” He Pei Yan said.
Mr. He Lu did not give up. He managed to spare time to study French in his spare time in the library or the study hall. Sometimes he even studied all night long. The progress made by He Lu in his French had amazed the professor at the beginning of a semester after the spring break. The professor said to Mr. He Lu with accented Chinese: “You have been away for just three days but you have changed so much that I can hardly recognize you.” This inspired Mr. He Lu greatly and he started to take even more notes.
The Understanding of Infinitesimal Calculus is the embodiment of the rigorous scholarly research spirit and perseverant attitude towards study of Mr. He Lu.
Yang Yan said that He Lu did not only write Differential Calculus and Descant of Imaginary Numbers and introduced the western modern mathematics into China; he also published the first Handbook of Mathematics Glossary in China in collaboration with Chen Jiangong and some other persons in 1938, which ended the translation disorder of mathematics terms in China.
“He Lu was the only professor engaged by the Ministry of Education of Chongqing University in the period of the Republic of China”. Zhu Wenwan, the responsible person of the Collection, Cataloging and Research Department of the Archives of Chongqing University explained that a professor engaged by the Ministry of Education was a professor appointed by the Ministry of Education of the then national government, and was the top honor in the education circle at that time. Some called it the “professor of professors”, and there were only 45 professors engaged by the Ministry of Education then. He Lu ranked the first place of mathematics.
Mr. He Lu reviewed the Additive Prime Number Theory written by Hua Luogeng, and funded Yan Jici for his study in France.
In the midsummer of 1938, He Lu is reviewing the Additive Prime Number Theory written by Hua Luogeng, in a small building in Chongqing,
“What a work of genius!” He Lu acclaimed after going over the Additive Prime Number Theory. After that, he got himself a pen and ink and wrote a long preface for the Additive Prime Number Theory in a while.
How can such a talent be stifled? With his reputation as a ministry-engaged professor, He Lu insisted that the national government should award a certificate of honor to Hua Luogeng. Thanks to the persistence of He Lu, Hua Luogeng was granted the only one mathematics award issued by the national government in 1941. Hua Luogeng had been grateful to He Lu since then and regarded him as his teacher.
He Peiyan told the reporter of Chongqing Daily that his father valued and cherished talents throughout his life. Hua Luogeng was only one of those talents. He Lu had also developed profound teacher-student friendship with the reputable physicist Yan Jici.
“The harder life gets for Teacher He, the more grateful I am.” These words were written by Yan Jici at his desk after reading the letter from Mr. He Lu in an apartment in Paris during the period he studied in France. He realized that Mr. He Lu was helping him despite the hardships in his own life, and was moved, eyes dimmed with tears.
Mr. He Lu identified this talent as long as ago as Yan Jici was studying at Nanjing Higher Normal School. He Lu allowed Yan Jici to live in his house and provided accommodation for him and guided him in study. In 1923, Mr. He Lu funded Yan Jici for his study in France.
Zhu Wenwan told the reporter that one day during the period He Lu served as a teacher at Chongqing University, Wang Jianye, Tang Kaiyu and Bo Youlong, who were not students of Chongqing University, asked to attend the class of He Lu. They explained that they lived far away and came from poor families and were therefore unable to attend the entrance examination of Chongqing University.
Touched by the desiring and helpless eyes of the three persons, He Lu did not have the heart to turn down their request. He did not want the ambitious young people to be kept out of school.
Chongqing University organized an oral examination for the 3 students and the examination results showed that the three were all qualified for university entrance requirements. He Lu wrote a letter in person and proposed to accept them as auditors tentatively, and allow “them to follow their wills and see how they behave in the future”. This shows how much He Lu valued and cherished the talents.
He Lu did not only attach importance to talent cultivation in colleges and universities; he also paid attention to elementary education in primary schools and middle schools. He was one of the few well-known educators that had served as the primary school (Dayu Primary School, now known as Zhonghualu Primary School) principal, the middle school principal and university president.
In 1936, having realized that many students of Chongqing University could not find a job after graduation, He Lu founded Zaiying Middle School together with two Chongqing University professors, Peng Yongyi and Luo Yuanhui. He Lu served as the principal of the School.
He Peiyan told the reporter that Zaiying Middle School had abundant qualified teachers. The School tried its best to accept right-age students that had fled from the occupied area to Chongqing during the Anti-Japanese War and provide tuition-free secondary education and even free accommodation for them. After getting to know the contributions made by He Lu to the education business of the rear area of the Anti-Japanese War, Yu Youren, the teacher of He Lu, proposed to act as the school manager, as a way to support He Lu’s chivalrous deed.
In March 2014, in memory of the 120th birthday of Mr. He Lu, Chongqing No. 46 Middle School was renamed as Zaiying Middle School again. By now, Zaiying Middle School has been running at Tangjiatuo for more than 80 years.
Mr. He Lu fell in love with calligraphy; he once did antiphony with Liu Bocheng.
Early in April 1957 when spring was in the air, Passenger Steamer “Minzhong” heading for Chongqing was sailing along the Three Gorges Waterway, with the siren hooting. The view on the two banks was magnificent. Inside the steamer, the two persons were writing poems with a brush.
They were Mr. He Lu and Mr. Wang Yunfan, the “10-year-old amazing child”, and the “gifted youth of Sichuan”. The two celebrities with profound knowledge of sinology were inspired by the fantastic view and got poetic. They wrote poems with the most complicated couplets as an ode to the magnificence and historic accumulation of the Three Gorges.
“We passed through the Yiling Channel at night and saw the mist at the narrows in the morning.”
“The wind blows gently through Pingshan Dam and the cloud stays still above Woniu Peak.”
The two exchanged poems for a while. Sometimes they laughed out loud and sometimes they remained quiet tacitly. There were moments when they had a grim look and seemed like they were thinking; a second later they would start to exchange poems again. In a while, they got more than 10 couplets. Very soon passengers on the same steamer were attracted by them and more and more passengers crowded together. In the two days of voyage starting from Yichang, the two stayed in the restaurant almost for the whole day except for the dining time. They enjoyed the view of the river, crooned poems and couplets, reflected on the past and discussed the present. They eventually accumulated 100 couplets (rhymes).
In the exchange between the “amazing child” and the “gifted youth”, the An Ode to the Three Gorges · One Hundred Couplets was born. “My father had made considerable accomplishments in calligraphy and poetry, and this piece of works is one of the highlights of this Exhibition.” He Peiyan said.
As a talented person, Mr. He Lu did not only write about travel experience, personal emotions and contemporary events; he also wrote antiphonies. He Peiyan told the reporter that the Shengjie Jiyan Painting exhibited this time contained the moving stories of communication between Mr. He Lu and Marshal Liu Bocheng.
In 1919, Mr. He Lu returned to China without hesitation after obtaining his master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Lyon. On the way back, he met Liu Bocheng in Guangzhou. The two felt like old friends when the first met each other and talked happily.
On the International Labor Day of 1950, Chongqing was having its first celebration after 1949. After that, Liu Bocheng invited the celebrities present at the celebration to a banquet. At the banquet, Mr. He Lu sat next to Marshal Liu Bocheng. After parted in 1919 in Guangzhou, they had not met each other for 31 years.
When they meet again after 31 years, Marshal Liu Bocheng was delighted. He smiled and said to Mr. He Lu: “Mr. Kuiyuan, it is so glad to meet you in such a grand occasion. You are a poet. You have to write a poem.”
Mr. He Lu then started and wrote two poems at one stretch. One of the poems goes: “The New China has been founded, and the Marshal has gone through hundreds of wars…” Other persons present all scrambled to have a look at the poems. At last, Marshal Liu Bocheng folded the poems and put them into the pocket happily. To the surprise of Mr. He Lu, the next morning, Liu Bocheng asked someone to send two poems. Mr. He Lu took over the poems and saw the “Exchanging Poems with Mr. He Lu on May 1st” written on the small piece of paper.
Later Mr. He Lu got to know that after Marshal Liu Bocheng got home in the evening on that day, he chanted the poems he had written repeatedly and got poetic and wrote two poems in response. One of the poems goes: “In this new era of China, we are never tired of singings songs of victory…”
Since then, Mr. He Lu had been keeping the poem manuscript by Marshal Liu Bocheng. The manuscript is now still intact despite the fact that Mr. He Lu had moved several times.
It happened one day when Mr. He Lu was on a visit to Zhang Boju and Pan Su, he took out the poem manuscript by Marshal Liu Bocheng, and said he would like to mount the manuscript into a long scroll, so that it might be passed down from generation to generation.
Zhang Boju immediately agreed with the proposal of Mr. He Lu, and asked his wife to draw the Shengjie Jiyan Painting, onto which he wrote a poem. The poem goes: “The Marshal is so generous that he could write whatever he wanted.”
Other celebrities such as Shen Yujun, He Haoju, Zhang Xiushu, Ma Shitu, Wang Yunfan and He Yinghui had successively written poems on the scroll. This made the scroll how it looks like today.
In addition, the inscription “the two are always together and never abandon each other” on the “Xingyuelyu ink-slab” also reflects the unremitting faith of the math master in calligraphy.
In the He Lu’s Collection of Calligraphic Works, it says: “Mr. He Lu took off the western-style clothes immediately after he returned from France after finishing his study in 1919 and he had never again worn western style clothes. Instead, he stuck to his interest in calligraphy for the rest of his life.” Before his death, Mr. He Lu always had writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and ink-stone with him wherever he went. He wrote poems, scientific papers and monographs with brush pens. His entire life had been enriched by Chinese culture.
Mr. He Lu said angrily “Chiang Kai-shek is a bastard”.
Mr. He Lu was previously a member of Chinese Revolutionary League and had taken part in the Revolution of 1911. Influenced by the democratic thought of bourgeois revolution, he had always been an upright and plainspoken man. As an intellectual, he had a strong sense of responsibility for every person and everything, and was dubbed as a “celebrity in cloth gown”.
In 1929, Liu Xiang, a warlord of Sichuan, founded Chongqing University. Someone proposed to appoint Mr. He Lu as the dean of the School of Sciences. However, Liu Xiang was arrogant. After receiving the letter of appointment, Mr. He Lu returned it and wrote a reply letter to Liu Xiang, saying that: “You are so impolite and know nothing but bragging about your official title.”
Later, Liu Xiang visited Mr. He Lu several times and apologized. Mr. He Lu forgave him and came to Chongqing to go to his post.
It happened one day when Kang Ze, head of a special task of the Nationalist Party, “entertained” Mr. He Lu at the well-known Harry Stack Sullivan Restaurant in Chongqing, Kang Ze asked him: “Have you ever spoken anything bad about the Chairman?” Mr. He Lu replied: “Yes, I call him by a lot of bad names. Which one are you referring to?”
In 1947, the Civil War started by Chiang Kai-shek broke out. In April, Mr. He Lu and some other persons sponsored the “Seminar on Current Affairs for College Professors”, which was attended by 200 persons. Mr. He Lu was the first one to deliver a speech at the Seminar. He said: “Like I have said more than 20 years ago, Chiang Kai-shek is a bastard and he would cause a terrible disaster. He has now turned into an even more disgusting bastard and is going to bring a more terrible disaster, and it’s up coming.” Then he went on with the corruption deeds of the Kuomintang government and called Chiang Kai-shek the culprit to be blamed for the outbreak of the Civil War.
Mr. He Lu’s speech was well received by the audience. The next day, advanced journals such as the Xinhua Daily of Chongqing and the Liberation Daily of Yan’an reported the event.
The last words of Mr. He Lu were written 10 days before his death.
Mr. He Lu had been enthusiastic about study throughout his life. He started to learn Russian by translating the Russian calendar when he was almost 60. This Russian calender was translated into Chinese and written with regular script in very small characters by Mr. He Lu. The pages are thickly dotted but are neat and tidy. Anyone who has seen it would be shocked by the rigorous scholarly research spirit of this great master.
As a poetry and calligraphy master, Mr. He Lu had laid a solid foundation by hardworking in his early years. He had been devoted to calligraphy throughout his life and “never gave up on it after getting to know it”. Mr. he Lu practiced calligraphy diligently and his calligraphic skills reached the peak of perfection in his old age.
In 1973, Mr. He Lu transcribed the Thirty-seven Poems by Mao Zedong with regular script in small characters in more than half a month. Ten days later, Mr. He Lu died of disease. This piece of calligraphic works is his last one in his life.
All pictures, unless signed, are all archived pictures.
