The Chen Jingrun Phenomenon: A Textbook Case of Overblown Hype in a Distorted Era!
2006/5/30 16:54:30
Just came across an article on the tenth anniversary of Chen Jingrun's passing. Let me briefly discuss the Chen Jingrun phenomenon. Of course, it must be stated that the Chen Jingrun phenomenon has nothing to do with Chen Jingrun the person — he merely did something he enjoyed doing, which is perfectly normal. The Chen Jingrun phenomenon, however, is a freak product of an academic matter blown out of proportion in an unhealthy atmosphere.
Only the weak need to loudly prove their strength — this is probably the common psychological distortion behind all freakish phenomena like the Chen Jingrun case. In fact, from an academic standpoint, the problem Chen Jingrun researched is not important at all in mathematics. Even by the standard of comparing among Chinese people themselves, Chen Jingrun's achievements are a hundred thousand miles behind those of his same-surnamed Chen Shiing-Shen [S.S. Chern].
From another angle: if the problem Chen Jingrun researched had been posed by the Japanese, he'd probably have been elevated to national hero. But comparing with foreign examples — anyone with basic mathematical knowledge knows that Fermat's Conjecture is far more important than the Goldbach Conjecture that Chen Jingrun researched. Without research into Fermat's Conjecture, fields like algebraic number theory, algebraic geometry, and group theory could never have reached their current heights. The complete resolution of Fermat's Conjecture mobilized many of the most important tools at the frontier of mathematics. It was one of the most glorious victories in last century's mathematics, a symbol of the dramatically increased power that came with modern mathematics' growing abstraction and structuralism. How could the Goldbach Conjecture and its ilk compare? Let alone results that were still far from a complete solution!
Furthermore, everyone knows the historical animosity between the French and English is no less than that between China and Japan, and academically they've battled for centuries. Yet when this problem posed by a Frenchman was solved centuries later by an Englishman, the honors that Englishman received in his country were incomparable to what Chen Jingrun received — what does this tell us? A nation that produced Newton, even when defeating its archrival on one of the last century's most important mathematical achievements, would not lose its composure or engage in ostentatious boasting. This is the bearing of a true cultural and academic powerhouse.
When China has produced its own Newton and Einstein, phenomena like the Chen Jingrun case will probably no longer occur. Those who have never seen the ocean are the ones who boast about streams — and this too is the perfect symbol of a distorted era. Now, in an era of too many idols, it's actually equivalent to having no idols at all. Every idol is treated like a special profession, specially professionalized. Everyone can very specially professionalize the idols — and this, is the true progress of the age!