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3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

Author: Gao Fang Editor: Anne

Source: Marriage & Family Magazine

At the beginning of this year, in a CCTV news program, an elderly couple in wheelchairs slowly entered the China Archaeological Museum, their eyes brushed over every cultural relic, and their lives were accompanied by archaeological technology.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

Qiu Shihua and Cai Lianzhen are scientists engaged in carbon-14 measurement, and they jointly pioneered China's carbon-14 dating technology, solving the mysteries of age in history and archaeology such as "King Wu's Expedition" more than 3,000 years ago, and are known as the people who carved the axis of time in Chinese archaeology.

Whether they go to scientific research together or in daily life, they are all peers hand in hand, and they are an admirable couple.

01

The simplest marriage wisdom

In the early spring of Beijing, wrapped in gentle sunlight, an old house of less than 80 square meters is the home where Qiu Shihua and his wife have lived for more than 30 years. Cai Lianzhen, with flowing silver hair, sat in front of the window, wearing reading glasses, and intently sorting out a thick handwritten booklet; His wife, Qiu Shihua, stood at the door of the house from time to time, leaned in halfway, and whispered, "Rest for a while when you're tired." ”

Cai Lianzhen didn't look up, just lowered her head and said "um" in response. On the paper in the center of the desk, the neat handwriting is from her years of records. These texts encompass all the details of the couple's work on carbon-14, interspersed with the daily life of a housewife, and are a diary of rigorous science and pyrotechnics.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

The diagram of the experimental instrument designed and drawn by Mr. and Mrs. Qiu Shihua themselves

For example, there is a page of the diary that reads: "In 1996, I started to do the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties project, and I completed the survey part that should be entered, and some of them need to look at the data cards and look at the "Historical Records"...... In the afternoon, I went to the Daqiao vegetable market and took the No. 104 bus back and forth, but I still felt very tired when I picked up the vegetables, and I couldn't even buy the vegetables in the future. For half a month, my legs felt very weak. ”

In the eyes of outsiders, Cai Lianzhen is smart and capable, and she is like stepping on the "hot wheels" every day, but Qiu Shihua feels sorry for the other side of his wife's "fragility" - because of perennial hard work and physical overdraft, Cai Lianzhen has been accompanied by cerebral insufficiency since the age of 50, and often needs to lie down and rest for a while after working for a while. is worried about his wife's body, so Qiu Shihua is like a timed alarm clock, often helping her press the "pause button" to remind her to take a break.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

A few years ago, Qiu Shihua proposed that the process and details of the two people's lifelong research on carbon-14 dating technology could be compiled into a book, so that future generations could use it as evidence to support it, which was approved by Cai Lianzhen. In terms of learning, the rigorous attitude of the two has always been tacitly consistent. Starting from 2021, it took two and a half years for Cai Lianzhen to sort out the existing scientific research record diaries from 1987 to 2015, a total of 16 books.

Page after page of the diary, it is a microcosm of Qiu Shihua and Cai Lianzhen's life, and even the thirtieth year of the Chinese New Year's Eve is spent like this - reading books to do research, preparing Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and then reading books to do research after eating. Compared with the dividing line between most people going to work and getting off work, the life and work of Qiu Shihua and his wife are "not separated". This is not only the back of the two old scientists' lifelong dedication to science and exploration, but also the testimony of the deep love of the couple who have been in the same boat through thick and thin.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

Some of Qiu Shihua's academic works

A breeze blew into the room, lifting the yellowed paper of the diary, revealing a shallow handwriting: "On March 28, 1987, my daughter asked me, when people come home, there are entertainment activities, such as playing cards, why you and your father are so busy that we can't read novels, go out to play, and have no time to play at home, so we lie on the table all day and write and read." Our answers are in unison, scientific research is changing with each passing day, and every year is different, where is there enough time in life? What time and mind do you have to play cards and so on? ”

Counting these sparse pasts, it has been 68 years of diamond marriage in a blink of an eye. Now Qiu Shihua is 92 years old and Cai Lianzhen is 95 years old, and the two of them rarely go out with inconvenient legs and feet, so the family hired hourly workers to help buy vegetables and cook. The couple is not idle on weekdays, and often has academic discussions or opinion debate competitions, and the hourly workers are often amused by the two quarrelsome "old naughty boys": "You two are so funny, you can fight for things that have nothing to do with you." ”

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

In the end, the couple's academic debate competition won by whoever had a strong theory, but in many cases there was no absolute victory, and seeking common ground while reserving differences was a result of wisdom. Cai Lianzhen concluded: "Husband and wife have been together for decades, and it is impossible not to quarrel, but we never remember 'grudges', and the next day the two reconciled like no one else." ”

Just like the mode of getting along with Qiu Shihua and his wife, there is not too much romance in life, and many times only the two parties who love each other continue to complement each other, learn from each other's strengths, like puzzles, in order to spell out a successful marriage.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

Now in this old house, Qiu Shihua and his wife are living a dull life with each other, and the room still retains the lantern rope from 40 years ago, for this "old antique", Cai Lianzhen does not plan to replace it, and her and her wife's opinions are "just use it". Cai Lianzhen, who is busy sorting out her diary every day, is tired and happy, "When people are simple, they will gain more happiness." ”

The sunlight poured into the cramped room, leaving irregular shadow marks on the desk, and the silhouette of Qiu Shihua and his wife sitting in front of the window was like a dignified oil painting, interpreting the precipitation of the years.

02

How water and fire are compatible

Speaking of the fate of Qiu Shihua and Cai Lianzhen, we have to start with a beautiful campus love.

In 1951, Qiu Shihua, a young man from Rugao, Jiangsu, was admitted to the Department of Physics of Zhejiang University with the first place. In 1952, the state adjusted the faculties, and the Department of Physics of Zhejiang University was merged with Fudan University. Therefore, when he graduated, he became a top student at Fudan University.

During his time at school, the young student was slender and as tall as a verdant pine tree, and naturally became an active member of the school's various club activities, and the only girl in the class, Cai Lianzhen from Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, was also eye-catching. The black and shiny braids danced gracefully on her shoulders, like a poem in a painting, telling the gentleness of a woman in the water town south of the Yangtze River.

From acquaintance to acquaintance, campus love is like the sunshine in early summer, bright and innocent.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

Those beautiful memories were immersed in Cai Lianzhen's eyes like a movie, and she recalled: "We are completely different people. "Cai Lianzhen is fast-talking, cheerful as a cheerful stream; Qiu Shihua is calm and silent, steady as a rock. The two of them are moving and quiet, one is like summer and the other is like autumn.

At that time, the love was pure and simple, and it was determined for a lifetime after holding hands. On the eve of graduation in 1955, when filling out the graduation intention form, Qiu Shihua solemnly wrote the word "lover" in the column of the relationship between the two, and put pen to ink, announcing the declaration of love with certainty.

"Filling in the relationship between lovers means that we have to share our work together." Cai Lianzhen said. In the Spring Festival of 1956, a couple tied the knot.

At the beginning of 1959, Qiu Shihua and his wife were transferred from the Institute of Atomic Energy to the then Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (now the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences). Mr. Xia Nai, then deputy director of the Institute of Archaeology, planned to establish a carbon-14 dating technology laboratory in China. At the beginning of the preparations, he selected the young couple Qiu Shihua and Cai Lianzhen.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

At that time, there was no reference laboratory in China, and the experimental instruments had to draw their own drawings, and they only had a dusty laboratory and a book that was about to be turned over. The two are like a small boat, driven by the tide of the times, about to embark on an extraordinary voyage.

"What should I do?" Cai Lianzhen looked at Qiu Shihua, don't look at her usual ups and downs, she still relies on her husband's calmness when she makes up her mind.

"If there is a problem, solve it." Although Qiu Shihua didn't say much, just a few words gave Cai Lianzhen a reassurance.

"yes, there's no use complaining." Cai Lianzhen knows her husband, he is a person who will not easily admit defeat when he identifies his goal, which is what she appreciates.

In winter, the humble laboratory is as cold as a large refrigerator, and every day you need to burn a coal stove to keep warm as soon as you enter the door. "You rest, I'll do it." Qiu Shihua rolled up his sleeves, dirty and tired, he always rushed to take it down. Countless instrument drawings, large and small parts are placed in front of you. Because the table is not big enough, Cai Lianzhen often needs to lie on the ground to draw, she picks up the parts while drawing, and looks at it, "Is this model suitable for here?" ”

The stove crackled and sparks, and only Qiu Shihua's voice responded to her in the empty laboratory: "If it's not suitable, change it again, don't worry, take your time." "A complete set of test instruments needs to be designed and processed by yourself. Electricians, metalworking, welders, glassblowing, etc., all kinds of work are done by the husband and wife.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

Cai Lianzhen still remembers that her biggest headache is winding transformer coils. She can afford to hold embroidery needles, and she is often dizzy by coils. Some transformers have a copper wire as thin as a hair, only 0.1 mm. Once Cai Lianzhen couldn't wrap around neatly for half a day, and she cried quickly.

Qiu Shihua immediately took the parts in her hand and comforted her, saying, "Look at me." I saw that after the coil was operated in his hand, it was actually stuffed in. He raised his eyebrows proudly, stretched out his palm and flipped it in front of Cai Lianzhen, meaning to say: Don't look at my thick fingers, but they are flexible. Cai Lianzhen was amused by his expression and burst out laughing.

"Although it was a very tiring time, it was very happy, there were just two of us in the laboratory, you teased me, I teased you, and sometimes we quarreled." Recalling these, the corners of Cai Lianzhen's mouth rose.

Two people with very different personalities occasionally have conflicts, "For the sake of a problem, each has its own opinions, and they quarrel with each other, and then they each go to check the information, and then come back and continue to debate to see whose point of view is right." Cai Lianzhen said frankly that it is precisely because of the differences in personality that they complement each other.

"If we have similar personalities and do the same work, we will not be able to form a good complement in academic research." In Qiu Shihua's eyes, those debates for academic purposes are indispensable notes in life, and only with them can a tactful tune be played.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

Foreign guests visit the carbon-14 laboratory of the Institute of Archaeology (2nd from the left is Qiu Shihua and 3rd from the left is Cai Lianzhen)

03

The most romantic love

After Qiu Shihua and his wife became experts in China's carbon-14 dating technology, someone asked Qiu Shihua: "Is your wife your assistant?" His face sank, and he corrected him sternly: "She is my most important and indispensable partner, without her, it would be impossible to have such results!" "No matter what the occasion, he always defended and respected his wife.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

Qiu Shihua and Cai Lianzhen in the 60s of the 20th century

In fact, in many important scenes, the couple is more like a pair of tightly biting gears, which cooperate seamlessly. Cai Lianzhen has studied countless literature, and at every academic conference, she is like a "fill-in" role on the court, always able to explain the literature and laboratory data one by one to supplement Qiu Shihua's speech, and the scientific and rigorous arguments are like imprinted in her mind.

Whenever there is a matter of entering the expert group, Cai Lianzhen always says to her wife: "Let's just enter one person, you are suitable for external work, you go to the meeting." She smiled and summarized: "Shihua is outside the Lord, and I am inside." ”

Although she is well aware of the carbon-14 literature, every time she completes an academic paper, Cai Lianzhen will hand it over to Qiu Shihua for review; And he always puts it for half a year or a year, and thinks about it repeatedly. After getting the "backbone" decision, Cai Lianzhen will rest assured that she will deliver the publication for publication, which is a two-way trust.

This is like a sharp sword for the "golden partner" in the career, splitting the thorny road of China's carbon-14 dating development. Not only has she encountered problems at work and in family life, Cai Lianzhen also respects her husband's opinion, "Shihua has a long-term vision, and he can always disassemble and straighten out a mess of hemp." ”

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

"Our cooperation can be regarded as opening a hotel," Cai Lianzhen often jokingly compares, "Shihua is the shopkeeper, he has to grasp the positioning of the hotel, procurement, and attract customers; I am the chef of the restaurant, and I have to cook the dishes well and ensure the stability of the core of the restaurant. ”

Qiu Shihua used a lyric to describe the division of labor between their husband and wife - "There is half of me and half of you in the military merit medal."

Hand in hand through 68 years of marriage, the couple supported all the way and walked on the long river of life.

Recalling that in the early stages of the laboratory, once the full set of experimental facilities was activated, it was a 24-hour observation record, Cai Lianzhen was responsible for data monitoring during the day, and Qiu Shihua took the initiative to take on the night shift. The "white + black" mode of work is a cycle of failure, finding the cause, correcting, and starting over, day after day. It wasn't until the second half of 1965 that they got their first assured and accurate data, and the error was completely qualified.

"That day, we finally finished the data, thinking that we had finally succeeded, how can we celebrate? Let's take a walk in Zhongshan Park. Two of us in our 30s, we couldn't walk after walking a few steps, and we were tired to this extent. The couple sat on a row of chairs in the park with each other's arms, looking at each other and smiling. When working, they are like spinning tops that are spinning rapidly, and they can't feel physically exhausted; As soon as I rested, the feeling of exhaustion was like a tide enveloping my body, and I had no strength at all.

"No matter how hard the days are, I feel very steady when I have someone as my companion." Cai Lianzhen said that compared with scientific research achievements, the little memories that accompanied each other in those difficult days are the most precious.

3,000 years of unsolved mysteries have been solved by this couple! From campus to gray hair for 68 years, with a lifetime of "carving time"

Colleagues from the Institute of Archaeology visited the old couple on behalf of the institute

From the good couple in their youth, to the mutual support in their twilight years, and the 68 years of each other's love and hardship, they have gone through the ravines, difficulties and ups and downs of their lives together, and selflessly dedicated their youth to the scientific cause of the motherland. Moreover, they live the ordinary life with mixed tastes into the simplest and purest appearance.

This article was excerpted from the June 2024 issue of Marriage & Family magazine

Original title: "Ninety Scientist Couple Join Hands to Craft Time: The Most Contrasting Achievement of the Happiest"

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