December 3, 2020 was the 16th anniversary of the passing of Prof. Shiing-Shen Chern, an internationally renowned master of mathematics who is known as the father of differential geometry. In the southeast of Nankai campus, there's a two-story building with outer walls painted in light green and geometric roofs arranged in different planes, which all make it a combination of both simplicity, elegance and creativity. Named as Ningyuan, the building is where Prof. Shiing-Shen Chern lived in his later years. On December 3, it was opened to the public in memory of the great mathematician.
The reception room on the first floor remains the same as when Prof. Chern was alive. On the wall a calendar titled "The Beauty of Mathematics" stays at the page of December, 2004, as if the time stops forever. The photos, the blackboard, the books, the computer, the television and the video discs, are all telling stories of the mathematician's later life. On the eye-catching blackboard there still remains handwriting, the famous Gauss-Bonnet formula.
Jinming Miao, a postgraduate student of Class 2022 from the College of Foreign Languages, was one of the first students who came to visit Ningyuan on the day of commemoration. "The formula left on the blackboard shows me how thoughts can sparkle. Prof. Chern once said, 'I spent my best years at Nankai University.' Through the books, letters, manuscripts and pictures displayed in here, now I have a deep understanding of the efforts Prof. Chern has made for the development of Chinese mathematics, and his high expectation on it. I'm touched by Chern's spirit of continuous exploration and his dedication to scientific research."
Weijian Li, a postgraduate freshman of Class 2023 from the Business School, felt the same way after visiting Ningyuan, "Prof. Chern dedicated his life to the study of geometry. He's made great contribution to the construction and development of mathematics discipline in Nankai University. His rigorous attitude towards academic study is worthy of our lifelong learning."
The register of visitors was full of names, among which there were teaching staff, students, retired teachers and citizens, all came to visit out of admiration for Prof. Shiing-Shen Chern.
"I've always been admiring Prof. Chern and had photographed several activities about him." said Li Zhang, a journalist from Tonight News Paper, "I really miss him when I'm standing here today and watching all the scenes here. It feels like the master has never gone away."
Shiing-Shen Chern was born in Xiushui County, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province in 1911, and graduated from Nankai University in 1930. He was one of the greatest geometers of the 20th century. In his youth Chern has shown his talent for mathematics. He faced several major choices during his mathematical career, but all managed to make his own way and spared no efforts until finally achieved the greatness. Having made great contribution to global differential geometry, and influenced the development of mathematics worldwide, Chern was regarded as another milestone after Euclid, Gauss, Bernhard Riemann and Élie Joseph Cartan. He founded the Institute of Mathematics of the Academia Sinica, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) and the Nankai Institute of Mathematics, which have all nurtured a lot of world-famous mathematicians.
Reported by: Jingqiu Hao, Qiqi Zong
Photographed by: Qiqi Zong
Translated by: Lingyu Meng
