Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili
In the spring and summer of 1956, Yang Zhenning and his wife Du Zhili traveled to San Francisco, USA, which is a photo of the two at a pier, with the Golden Gate Bridge, a famous attraction in San Francisco, in the background. When this photo was taken, the photographer accurately captured the state of Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili after marriage, and the two of them were smiling, giving people a feeling of incomparable warmth.
Even if you don't know Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili, I believe that many people will think that the couple's married life is harmonious and happy after seeing this photo, and this is also the case. When this photo was taken, Yang Zhenning was 34 years old and Du Zhili was 29 years old, and the two had been married for 6 years.
If you know anything about Du Zhili, you will know that she is the eldest daughter of the famous anti-Japanese general Du Yuming, and she is a real top celebrity, she has an extraordinary temperament and charm. In the summer of 1944, 22-year-old Yang Zhenning obtained a master's degree from Southwest Associated University. In August of that year, Yang Zhenning was admitted to the sixth physics department of Tsinghua University, the only public scholarship student in the United States.
Yang Zhenning
While waiting to study in the United States, Yang Zhenning listened to the advice of his father Yang Wuzhi and came to the High School Affiliated to Southwest Associated University to teach and subsidize his family. Yang Zhenning is a mathematics teacher in the first and second grades of high school. Almost at the same time, Du Yuming's family came to Kunming, and Du Zhili, who was only 17 years old, entered the second (fifth) class of the High School Affiliated to Southwest Associated University.
At that time, the two were just a simple teacher-student relationship, and they just knew each other's names. Du Zhili later said: "At that time, Mr. Yang was a very shy boy. At the time, neither of them could have imagined that they would reunite in the United States years later and end up married.
Yang Zhenning in the United States
In the summer of 1945, Yang Zhenning went to the United States to study, and his first stop was to study for a doctorate at the University of Chicago. As for why he chose the University of Chicago, Yang Zhenning recalled in his later years:
"In 1945, I went to the University of Chicago to do my Ph.D. At that time, the physics department at the University of Chicago was the most famous in the world, and the main reason why I chose the University of Chicago was because Professor Fermi taught there. Professor Fermi was a great physicist of the 20th century, and the last great physicist in history who could do both hands-on and theoretical research, and he made first-class contributions in both aspects. ”
In 1948, after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Yang chose to stay and work for a year. In the summer of 1949, Yang came to work at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he had planned to work for only one year, but did not leave until 1966. These 17 years were the golden age of Yang Zhenning's academics, he created one miracle after another, and won the Nobel Prize in physics.
Yang Zhenning
It was during his work at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton that Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili reunited. In 1946, Du Zhili was admitted to the Department of Chinese at Fu Jen University in Beiping. However, Du Zhili did not graduate from this university. The following year, Du Zhili decided to take his father Du Yuming to the United States, where his father was treated and she studied.
On the eve of departure, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly detained Du Yuming, and Du Zhili had no choice but to take his younger brother Du Zhiren to the United States first. Du Zhili received the help of Soong Meiling and came to study at the American aristocratic college "Methodist College", majoring in English literature. The good times did not last long, because Du Yuming was captured in the Huaihai Campaign, Du Zhili directly lost his financial resources.
In order to continue his studies, Du transferred to St. Vincent's College in New York, where he could enter for free, to continue his studies in English literature. On Christmas Day 1949, Yang and his colleagues went to eat at the only Chinese restaurant in Princeton. Just as the two sat down, Yang Zhenning suddenly found that a girl at the next table seemed to be familiar, and the other party seemed to suddenly recognize him.
Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili
Almost simultaneously, both got up from their seats and called out each other's names. We don't know what kind of mood the two of them were in at that moment, but Yang Zhenning had the idea of further understanding the beautiful Du Zhili. After this reunion, Yang Zhenning took the train to New York every weekend to meet Du Zhili.
After the first date, Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili had a good impression of each other, and the seeds of love quietly germinated in the hearts of the two. For this reunion, Yang Zhenning thought that it was God's arrangement in his later years. Yang Zhenning said: "I didn't know that Du Zhili arrived in the United States, I walked into that hotel by accident. If I arrive early or late, I will miss the opportunity to meet Du Zhili. If we can't see each other, we can't talk about a lifetime of marriage. But the fact that the god of fate arranged for us to meet in that day and place cannot be said not to be a miracle. ”
Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili's wedding photo
On August 26, 1950, 28-year-old Yang Zhenning and 23-year-old Du Zhili were held in the chapel of Princeton Theological Seminary. Because both parents were unable to attend the wedding, Mei Yiqi, the former president of Tsinghua University, presided over the ceremony, which was witnessed by more than 80 guests, which was the happiest moment for the two.
After Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili got married, they had two boys and a daughter, and the two followed each other like a shadow, loved each other for more than half a century. For a long time, Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili were a model couple. In October 2003, Du Zhili died in the United States at the age of 76.