Stories of celebrities teaching themselves under difficult circumstances.

1985 June 12, the lecture hall of Tokyo University was packed-Hua, a famous mathematician in China, was giving an academic report introducing China's work in pure mathematics, applied mathematics and popularization since 1950s. Foreign colleagues showed great interest in his report.

Yes, maybe China people have a talent for mathematics. For thousands of years, the Chinese nation has added wealth after wealth to the world's mathematical treasure house: Shang Gao discovered Pythagorean theorem in BC; There are very incisive geometric propositions about two continuous axioms in the ancient book Mo Jing, and modern geometric theory was not introduced by the German mathematician Hilbert until the end of 19. China has many great mathematical works, such as Zhou Zhi's suan Jing, Nine Chapters of Arithmetic, Sun Zi's suan Jing and Nine Chapters of Arithmetic. Liu Hui wrote Chopping Wood; Zu Chongzhi calculates pi. ...

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the people of China continued to make remarkable achievements in the field of mathematics. This brilliant history and brilliant reality complement each other, which aroused people's strong interest in the field of mathematics in China. It is against this background that Hua was invited to Japan for an academic visit. After the speech, the audience burst into prolonged applause to pay tribute to the great scientist from China.

However, before the applause stopped, Hua suddenly fell sideways from the chair and slowly slid to the floor-he had been suffering from heart disease for years. That night, a bad news came back to China: Professor Hua Jiao died in a Japanese hospital at 6:5438+00 pm!

This mathematician left a lot of research works for people, and at the same time left a footprint of self-taught.

19 10, Hua was born in Jintan, a small county in Jiangsu province. When I was a child, my family was poor, and my father opened a small grocery store in a small town to buy silk for others. The family lived a semi-starvation life. When Hua was in junior high school, he had a special interest in mathematics. His teacher, Wang Weike, attaches great importance to this clever boy and often tutors him alone and gives him some difficult problems to do, which benefits him a lot.

After finishing junior high school in Jintan Middle School, Qiu Luogeng had to drop out of school to help run the restaurant business in his father's small grocery store because his family couldn't afford his schooling. But this young man who loves mathematics, although standing in front of the counter, has been thinking about mathematics. Teacher Wang Weike lent him several math textbooks: a big algebra, an analytic geometry and a calculus. Hua followed these dumb teachers into the door of advanced mathematics.

/kloc-at the age of 0/8, with the help of teacher Wang Weike, Hua went to Jintan Middle School as an accountant and was responsible for school affairs. He once recalled the hard life at that time: "In addition to the heavy affairs of the school, I have to help manage the affairs of the small shop sooner or later. I can't go home until around 8 o'clock every night. After cleaning up the account of the small shop, you can go to learn math, often late at night. "

Soon, typhoid fever was prevalent in Jintan county, and Hua was unfortunately ill and stayed in bed for half a year. Later, the condition gradually improved, but the left foot was bent and deformed, leaving a crippled leg for life.

Hua studied hard in poverty and illness, not only reading widely, but also being diligent in independent thinking and daring to challenge authority. /kloc-when he was 0/9 years old, he found that a university professor had written a wrong paper. He wrote his own opinion in an article entitled "Why the quintic equation solution of Su Jiaju's algebra can't be established", which was published in the second year of Shanghai Science magazine. Subsequently, Hua successively published several mathematical papers, signed "Jintan People".

This "Jintan Man", who made his mark in the mathematical forum, attracted the attention of Professor Xiong Qinglai, the head of the Department of Mathematics at Tsinghua University. When he learned that the math wizard turned out to be a teenager who had only attended junior high school, he was deeply shocked and wrote to invite Hua to be an administrator in the math department of Tsinghua University in Peiping at that time.

After arriving in Tsinghua, China has made even faster progress. He taught himself English and German. At the age of 24, he was able to write a math paper in English. At the age of 25, his thesis has attracted the attention of foreign mathematics circles. At the age of 28, he became a professor at National Southwest Associated University. Later, he was recommended by Professor Xiong Qinglai to go to Cambridge University for further study.

Hua succeeded! After a bumpy road of self-study, he became a world-famous master of mathematics. The foreign mathematics community commented on him like this: "Professor Hua's research works are wide enough to make him among the top mathematicians in the world."

In the late 1940s, Hua was employed by the University of Illinois and became a professor. Hua's living and research environment is very good. His house has four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a living room, which can accommodate fifty or sixty people for a reception. The university also provided him with four assistants and 1 typist.

However, when the news of the founding of New China came, China no longer attached to the superior conditions of the United States and embarked on the journey of returning to China. He said, "In order to choose the truth, I should go back! I should go back for the sake of my country and nation.

! Serve the people, I should go back! "

/kloc-one day in 0/950, the famous professor, then director of the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, wrote the words "graduated from junior high school" in the column of "education" when filling in the household registration book. Although this surprised many people, it is true: he really only has a junior high school diploma. Almost all of this master's mathematical knowledge is obtained through self-study!

1June, 983, Hua revisited the United States and accepted the honorary title of foreign academician of the American Academy of Sciences. This is the first time in the history of American Academy of Sciences 120 that this honorary title has been awarded to a scientist in China. The president of the American Academy of Sciences paid tribute to China and said, "He is a self-taught man, but he has educated millions of people."

Compared with Chen Yinque, Hu Shi, Zhao Yuanren, Gu Jiegang, Feng Youlan, Jin, Zhu Guangqian and other cultural masters born in 1990s, Liang Shuming's road to success is unique. Chen Yinque, Hu Shi and others have all received university education, and most of them have experience in studying abroad, while Liang Shuming's highest education is only middle school. He himself commented: "A middle school student like me who later served as a university lecturer, of course, was mostly self-taught." (autobiography of Liang Shuming, Jiangsu literature and art publishing house) "I learned everything today by myself." (The same book) From the end of 19 to today, talented students have entered famous universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua for further study. I don't know how many students have been instructed by famous teachers for several years, but it is difficult to become a master of culture. It's a miracle that Liang Shuming, with average talent (Liang Shuming can't wear suspenders at the age of 6, and his academic performance in primary school has been below the average), can become a famous scholar who has made achievements in philosophy, Buddhism, politics, economics and other fields through self-study. So, is there anything in Liang Shuming's self-study worth learning for aspiring students today?

One is perseverance. I have long heard a legend that Socrates, the wisest saint in ancient Greece, died in pursuit of truth and once opened a school to teach his disciples. On the first day of school, he said to all his classmates: Today, I only learn the simplest and easiest things. Everyone tries to throw their arms forward and then try to throw them back until 300 times. I will do this every day. At that time, the students laughed and dumped at least 300 times. A month later, Socrates asked, how many people are swinging their arms 300 times? 90% of the students raised their hands; Half a year later, Socrates asked, 50% of the students raised their hands; A year later, Socrates asked again, but only one person raised his hand-Plato, who was as famous as Ness in ancient Greek history. Everyone can swing his arm, and it is easy to swing his arm 300 times a day. The hard part is persistence. Plato's insistence on the legend of swinging arm is nothing more than explaining the importance of persistence and persistence to success. Liang Shuming's self-study also confirms this truth. He taught himself from the age of eight or nine until he died at the age of ninety-five. For 90 years, he has been taking books as his friends and newspapers as his companions. Especially in adolescence, when he laid the foundation of knowledge, Liang Shuming was even more self-taught. At that time, he was addicted to reading newspapers, so that "not reading newspapers every day means not eating or drinking." (with the book) reading this feeling, is there any reason not to stick to it? Once you persist, it will not be too far away from what Mr. Wang Guowei said, "Looking back, people are in a dim light."

The second is to learn to solve problems. Liang Shuming has repeatedly said that he is not a person who is studying, but a person who is in a problem; My knowledge of philosophy, Buddhism, politics, economy, etc. It was forced out by the problem. Denying that he is a scholar is Liang Shuming's modesty or preference; But Liang Shuming said that his knowledge (in our eyes, profound knowledge) comes from problems, but it is true. Liang Shuming was good at thinking since he was a child. When he was thinking, he found many problems in life and society. He is also a very serious person. He will never ignore the past and always try his best to find any answer to the question in his mind. In order to find satisfactory answers about life and social problems, Liang Shuming read a lot of books and periodicals on philosophy, Buddhism, politics and economy, consulted other people's opinions, and sorted out his own ideas. The third is to learn from others. In the field of culture, a figure who can be regarded as a master must have certain depth and uniqueness in his thoughts and views. Generally speaking, a person who is in tune with others can't be a master. However, the profound and unique insights of the masters did not come out of thin air while sitting in the room. Their ideological sparks need the opinions of predecessors and others to stimulate and collide. Generally speaking, when creating cultural achievements, masters will collect many flowers like bees, thus brewing a small drop of sweet honey. Liang Shuming's self-study is no exception. According to Liang Shuming's own memory, when he was in middle school, he read several kinds of newspapers every day, some were run by China people and some by foreigners. There are both words supporting improvement and chapters advocating revolution; When reading, whether it is Buddhist or Confucian classics, whether it is economic reading or political works, as long as he thinks it is related to many problems in life and society, he tries to study it as much as possible, draw lessons from it in the study, and then draw his own conclusions about life and social problems. As a result, his works such as Questioning the Yuan Dynasty, Eastern and Western Cultures and Their Philosophy, Cultural Essentials of China, People's Heart and Life came out one after another, and his status as a cultural master was established.

Sanmao, whose real name is Chen Ping, was born in Dinghai, Zhejiang, and 1943 was born in Chongqing, Sichuan.

/kloc-at the end of 0/948, the family moved to Taiwan Province province. When she was a child, Sanmao didn't aspire to be a writer, but she loved art. She dreams of becoming a painter's wife in the future.

San Mao once read a book "San Mao's Wandering" when she was a child, which had a great influence on her. From then on, she fell in love with books and literature. When she grew up, she began to write. She didn't sign Chen Ping, but took Sanmao as a pseudonym as a souvenir. In primary school and middle school, Sanmao wrote a good article. When she was in primary school, she began to contribute to newspapers and periodicals, and all the manuscripts of school speeches were written by her own hands. In junior high school, she also learned to write poetry.

San Mao had a rough life in his early years. When studying in a girls' middle school in Taipei, Sanmao was not interested in mathematics and got poor grades. The teacher laughed at her for this. The competitive Sanmao studied hard without discrimination and finally achieved good results. But the teacher mistakenly thought it was "cheating", drew a circle on her face and let her run around the runway, leaving a huge wound on her young mind. She couldn't stand it, so she had to play truant. When her father found out, he didn't blame her, but let her drop out of school.

For seven years from 13 to 20, Sanmao taught herself at home. Her father, Chen Siqing, was a lawyer, and her mother, who finally entered Lanzhou, also had a good literary accomplishment. They all taught her patiently. Recalling the past, San Mao said, "Without the influence of my mother, I couldn't write these many articles." In those short years, Sanmao studied hard and worked tirelessly. She reads Tang poetry and Song poetry, China ancient literature, Dream of Red Mansions, Water Margin, painting, piano, English, Japanese, French and German, especially Spanish literature.

At the age of 20, Sanmao's best friend encouraged her to go to college to seek knowledge. With the consent of Zhang Qiyun, Dean of Taiwan Province Chinese Culture College, Sanmao entered the school for further study. At first she studied philosophy, and two years later she transferred to the journalism department. When studying in college, her teacher was moved to tears after reading an article written by Sanmao with more than 30,000 words, and thought Sanmao was the "most talented" one of his students.

Sanmao has published more than 10 books, most of which are essays, including The Rainy Season Never Comes, The Scarecrow's Notes, The Story of Sahara, The Crying Camel, The Gentle Night, How Many Flowers Fall in the Dream, The Back of the Figure, Send You a Horse, The Fallen City and Myself. Sanmao also translated books such as Song of Lan Yu and Doll Seeing the World. The latter is a Spanish cartoon, 1000 pages. In order to translate this book, San Mao and her husband Jose spent eight months, locking the door every night, not watching TV, and working until late at night.

San Mao wrote a passionate article about what he saw and heard in the roaming world. Most of what she wrote is true, claiming that her works are "almost all biographical literature". She also said, "I am not a writer, but a recorder of my life." Her works have a unique style, strong flavor of life and sincere feelings. Some people have commented that her work style is "simple, natural and frank".

In the mid-1970s, Sanmao's works were very popular in Taiwan Province Province, and there was once a "Sanmao fever". Some people say that Sanmao set off a storm in the Sahara Desert in the literary world of Taiwan Province Province, making readers who love her smile with tears as they watch her walk from desert to island? Touched the heartstrings of countless readers. 1986 was also named "Top Ten Best-selling Writers in Taiwan Province Province".

A writer in Taiwan Province Province pointed out that Sanmao's writing style is fresh and popular, and her personality is very strong, which may be the reason why her works are particularly popular with readers. A psychology professor in Taiwan Province Province analyzed that San Mao described South America so well, but it was full of war and human suffering. Since there are so many setbacks and constraints in real life, especially young people, who are facing great pressure and challenges under the existing system, how much they hope that Xu Yasheng can temporarily be mentally free and escape to a world full of love without war, hatred and everywhere. This may be the reason why Sanmao's article is so popular.