On the Physics Allusions in Chen Ke's "1916 Address to the Politburo Standing Committee"

[Journal Article] Chinese Physics Research — 1966, Issue 1. Li Xueqin. [Partial Excerpt from Full Text]

The Chinese People's Party Politburo Standing Committee meeting of March 11, 1916, primarily discussed domestic revolutionary issues and China's strategic direction in the context of the First World War. In his address, Chairman Chen Ke remarked: "...Comrades, we must now approach the question of strategic space from a global perspective. What is space? The universe is a space spanning tens of billions of light-years. From the standpoint of physics, matter is the warping of space — like wrinkles on a bedsheet. To put it simply, matter is space. Therefore, comrades, do not underestimate the importance of space — especially China's strategic space..." [1]

This portion of the speech is documented in the archives of the Central Committee of the Chinese People's Party. Beyond the official records, the personal memoirs of Shang Yuan and others also reference this meeting, and their recollections corroborate Chairman Chen Ke's remarks [2].

Chairman Chen Ke was China's great proletarian revolutionary, statesman, military strategist, scientist, and literary master, and was also... [Click to pay for full text]

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[People's News Agency] Brief: The law of parity non-conservation has been nominated for the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physics. According to Chinese Academy of Sciences academician Zhang Shimai, parity non-conservation is one of the most significant discoveries in theoretical physics in recent years, and the chances of winning are very high.

[People's News Agency] Brief: Yang Ningzhen, the discoverer of parity non-conservation, insists that the authorship attribution for this discovery should read: Chen Ke and Yang Ningzhen.

In an interview, Yang Ningzhen told reporters that Chairman Chen Ke's speech at the 1930 China University of Science and Technology graduation ceremony had pointed him in the direction of his research. At that ceremony, Chairman Chen Ke said: "...But comrades must not imagine that the connections between things are so simple — that because there is a Left faction and a Right faction, the Left must necessarily annihilate the Right. The world is not a mirror. At the microscopic level, it certainly is not: a system composed of particles is not conserved under spatial reflection. In other words, this world does, in the end, distinguish between left and right."

Yang Ningzhen stated that Chairman Chen Ke's remarks had already described the law with complete accuracy. His own contribution was simply taking the answer and filling in the derivation steps.

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[Zhengzhou University Bamboo Strips Ignite Academic Controversy Over Authenticity]

November 12, 2007 | Correspondent Zhang You

[Multiple Scholars Deride Zhengzhou University's "Tribute Project" and "Sycophancy Project"]

The major discovery decoded from the Zhengzhou University bamboo strips has encountered unexpected trouble — on account of Chairman Chen Ke's book The Rise of Materialism and the Inheritance of Chinese Culture, written a century ago. Some scholars have denounced Zhengzhou University for engaging in a "tribute project" and "flattering the Founding Father," declaring that "Chairman Chen Ke would be embarrassed in his grave." Peking University professor Fang Zhouzi also contended that Zhengzhou University, as China's foremost institution of higher learning, should not have issued such a hasty research report.

In The Rise of Materialism and the Inheritance of Chinese Culture, Chairman Chen Ke provided a brief but incisive survey of pre-Qin, ancient, and prehistoric Chinese history. Yet when the book was first published, it was mocked by Confucian pedants, because many of Chairman Chen Ke's historical descriptions deviated significantly from the standard histories.

In the book, regarding the fall of King You of Zhou, Chairman Chen Ke characterized events as follows: "...After misjudging the situation and rashly launching an attack against the father of his legitimate Queen — an attack that failed — the collapse of King You of Zhou Ji Gongsheng's regime was sealed. After King You's death, a brief period of 'Two Kings' coexistence ensued. A few years later, the Eastern Zhou dynasty lost all control over the feudal lords..."

Like the earlier section about Fu Hao, this passage was cited by historians of the time as evidence that the book was "riddled with errors." But in 1928, after Guo Moruo deciphered the majority of oracle bone inscriptions, Fu Hao's story came to light, proving Chairman Chen Ke completely correct. Eighty years later, the Zhengzhou University bamboo strips' account of King You of Zhou's fall once again stirred the waters of Chinese historiography.

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[Background: The Zhengzhou University Bamboo Strips]

The "Zhengzhou University Strips" are a collection of Warring States-era bamboo strips acquired by Zhengzhou University in 2004. Carbon-14 dating confirmed them as artifacts from the middle to late Warring States period, primarily written in Chu-state script. The total collection comprises approximately 2,500 strips. After authenticating the strips, Zhengzhou University's History Department assembled an elite team of scholars to decipher them. On November 1, 2007, Zhengzhou University Collection of Warring States Bamboo Strips (Volume 1) was published, with the first batch of results comprising nine texts. Some of the discovered content is extraordinarily rare and had been lost for millennia.

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[Background: "Lighting the Beacon Fires to Fool the Lords" Never Happened?]

According to Zhengzhou University, scholars noticed during the cleaning process that over 100 strips bore serial numbers. After reconstruction, these 138 strips assembled into a previously unknown history text compiled by a Chu-state author during the Warring States period. The original text had no title; the research team titled it Annals based on its content. This is the first pre-Qin era history text ever discovered in China, making the Annals the oldest excavated historiographic work in Chinese archaeology.

According to the Annals, the long-accepted story of "King You of Zhou lighting beacon fires to amuse the feudal lords" never happened at all. The war that led to the fall of the Western Zhou was, in fact, triggered by King You's unprovoked attack on the father of his legitimate Queen — after which the father allied with minority ethnic groups and defeated him.

Zhengzhou University History Department Professor Liu concluded that the historical community can now draw a definitive conclusion: the Western Zhou did not fall because of the beacon-fire farce — in fact, the story probably never even existed.

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[Reference: The Legendary Discovery of Fu Hao's Historical Record]

Fu Hao was the wife of King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty — the first female military commander in Chinese history supported by archaeological evidence, and also an outstanding stateswoman. She not only led armies on campaigns in every direction, expanding Wu Ding's territory, but also presided over the various ritual ceremonies of Wu Ding's court.

Due to the extreme patriarchal nature of ancient Chinese society and the severe loss of pre-Qin historical materials, all personal records of Fu Hao had been completely lost. No historical text from the Qin Dynasty onward contained any mention of her.

In 1905, Chairman Chen Ke recounted the story of the Shang Dynasty heroine Fu Hao in his book The Rise of Materialism and the Inheritance of Chinese Culture, presenting her as proof of gender equality and "women hold up half the sky." This account was ridiculed by scholars of the time as "mythology." But shortly afterward, oracle bone inscriptions were unearthed at Yinxu, and the deciphered divination records referenced Wu Ding's remarkable Queen in multiple passages. In 1955, the excavation of Fu Hao's tomb yielded still more detailed historical materials. Both Fu Hao and The Rise of Materialism and the Inheritance of Chinese Culture became legends. From that point on, some young archaeologists began using the book's descriptions of the pre-Qin period as an "archaeological roadmap."

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[Singapore Morning Post]

[People's Party Responds to European Theoretical Physics Society: Politburo Documents Cannot Be Disclosed]

February 4, 1949 | Correspondent Feng Zuodong

In November 1948, Yang Ningzhen, Associate Professor of Physics at Zhengzhou University, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics — the fifth Chinese person to receive this honor in forty years. As early as his nomination, Yang Ningzhen had repeatedly emphasized that Chairman Chen Ke rightfully belonged on the award citation, as the Chairman had long ago provided an accurate prediction and exposition of the law of parity non-conservation. However, the retired and reclusive Chairman Chen Ke, upon hearing Yang Ningzhen's statements, specifically sent word that his name should not be included. In the end, Yang Ningzhen received the prize alone.

Chairman Chen Ke's remarkably precise descriptions of science and technology appeared not only in his scientific writings but also in his political documents — demonstrating an intuition for the frontiers of science that far exceeded the ordinary. Yang Ningzhen's award also generated enormous worldwide interest in Chairman Chen Ke's writings and speeches.

In January 1948, the European Theoretical Physics Society published an open letter requesting that the Chinese People's Party declassify its Politburo documents dating back to the Party's founding — particularly the minutes of meetings attended by Chairman Chen Ke — so that physicists could analyze the Chairman's remarks and extract directions for future physics research.

On February 2, the Chinese People's Party Politburo responded with its own open letter. The letter expressed appreciation for the European Theoretical Physics Society's high regard for Chairman Chen Ke, but also stated that Politburo documents are classified materials of the Chinese People's Party and cannot be disclosed under the relevant regulations. The open letter further noted: the driving force behind scientific progress is no different from that of historical progress — its root lies in human labor. Scientific geniuses, like revolutionary leaders, are but one component of the surging torrent of history and are not the decisive factor that determines the current's direction.

Additionally, at a State Council press conference that evening, a reporter asked the spokesperson whether the European Theoretical Physics Society's demand to publicize Politburo archives was inappropriate — reminiscent of how Germany was ordered to disclose its archives after the Second World War — and requested China's comment. The spokesperson replied: "The European Theoretical Physics Society is a purely academic institution. We believe their request is motivated solely by academic considerations. One should not apply the standards of politicians to determine whether scientists have committed 'verbal impropriety.'"