Former Residence of Chen-Ning Yang

Former Residence of Chen-Ning Yang

The former residence of Chen-Ning Yang is located in an ancient alley on South Street in Sanhe Ancient Town. It is a traditional residential building originally constructed during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In 1937, when the War of Resistance against Japan broke out, the young Yang followed the Lu’nan Middle School as it relocated to Feinan Middle School in Sanhe Ancient Town (now Sanhe Middle School), where he studied and lived here with his mother. Currently, this is the only former residence of Professor Chen-Ning Yang within China. On October 1, 2007, during the 58th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and in celebration of Yang’s 85th birthday, the Sanhe Yang Residence was refurbished and redecorated as a commemorative gesture. The entire residence consists of five courtyards: the first two house photographic and documentary exhibitions about Professor Yang; the third courtyard is where Yang once lived, restored to its original layout; and the last two showcase his academic achievements.

Chen-Ning Yang was born on October 1, 1922, in Hefei, Anhui Province. He is a professor at Tsinghua University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, an academician of Academia Sinica in Taiwan, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Venezuelan Academy of Sciences, a member of the Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957. In 1942, Yang graduated from the National Southwestern Associated University; in 1944, he completed his master's degree at the same university; in 1945, he received a Boxer Indemnity Scholarship to study in the United States; in 1948, he earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago and subsequently worked as a lecturer at the University of Chicago and a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton; in 1955, he became a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton; in 1966, he was appointed professor and director of the Physics Department at the State University of New York at Stony Brook; in 1986, he became the Bao Yee Wah Professor of Physics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; in 1998, he served as a professor at Tsinghua University.

Chen-Ning Yang has conducted long-term creative research in fields such as particle physics, statistical mechanics, and condensed matter physics, achieving many outstanding accomplishments and making landmark contributions. In the 1950s, he collaborated with Robert Mills to propose the non-Abelian gauge field theory; in 1956, together with Tsung-Dao Lee, he proposed the law of parity non-conservation in weak interactions; he carried out extensive pioneering work in particle physics and statistical physics, introduced the Yang-Baxter equation, and opened up new directions in the study of quantum integrable systems and many-body problems. On May 25, 1997, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Jiangsu Provincial Government announced that, following the nomination by the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the International Astronomical Union officially named minor planet 3421, discovered by the observatory on November 26, 1975, as “Chen-Ning Yang Star.” In May 1999, the State University of New York at Stony Brook renamed its Institute for Theoretical Physics the “Chen-Ning Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics.”

Some say that Chen-Ning Yang is the third “physics all-rounder” of the 20th century, following Einstein and Fermi, possessing comprehensive knowledge and talent, and is one of the most well-known contemporary scientists among the Chinese diaspora. Experimental physicist S. A. Goudsmit, former director of Brookhaven National Laboratory, said: “Chen-Ning Yang is a person with a strong mathematical mind, but due to his early education, he has a great interest in experimental details. He enjoys talking with experimentalists and has a deep appreciation for elegant experiments.” American physicist and Nobel laureate Valentine Telegdi praised Yang as “one of the three theoretical physicists in the world over the past few decades who can be considered all-rounders.” As China’s first Nobel laureate, Chen-Ning Yang has always been highly respected in both Chinese political and academic circles.

The original site of the residence was the old Sanhe-based pharmaceutical shop of Sun Dasheng. The renovated former residence of Chen-Ning Yang is a typical Ming and Qing-style brick-and-wood structure, featuring white walls, black tiles, carved beams and painted rafters, as well as upturned eaves. Ascending two stone steps, visitors can see the plaque inscribed with “Former Residence of Chen-Ning Yang” above the doorway. The wooden lattice doors are intricately carved, exuding an air of antiquity. Stepping inside, a three-courtyard compound unfolds before you. From the front hall, through the partitioned door, one can gaze straight through the middle hall to the rear courtyard and back hall. On the right side of the front hall, a large portrait of Dr. Yang occupies half the wall. There is also a set of TV and audio equipment here, specially playing CCTV’s special feature “Traveling in China – Chen-Ning Yang” and the documentary of Yang receiving the Nobel Prize.

Passing through the courtyard leads to the middle hall. This second-courtyard building is the main part of the residence. In the vast hall, from left to right, there is a full array of photographs and material exhibits documenting Yang’s life journey—from his childhood studies and youth achievements, to studying abroad and teaching, and finally returning to his hometown. His path from Sanhe Ancient Town to the Nobel Prize podium, and then back to Sanhe, records not only the struggles and unremitting efforts of a scientific giant, but also the deep attachment of an overseas son to his homeland. The Apricot Garden and the back hall were where the young Yang studied and lived. Opening the back door of the Apricot Garden leads to the famous One-Person Alley in the ancient town—a narrow passage just wide enough for one person, stretching over 30 meters, cool and quiet, with moss-covered horse-head walls lining both sides. This was also Yang’s daily route to and from school.

Sanhe Town: Sanhe Town is located in central Anhui, in the southwestern part of Hefei, the provincial capital of Anhui Province. It is under the jurisdiction of Hefei and borders the cities of Chaohu and Lu’an. To the east, it faces Chaohu Lake, and the Fengle River, Hangbu River, and Xiaonan River flow through the area. It lies on the golden tourism route between the national 5A-level scenic spots of Huangshan and Jiuhua Mountain. The Hefei–Tongling Highway runs through the town, while the Beijing–Kowloon Railway and the Hefei–Tongling–Huangshan Expressway pass nearby, offering convenient transportation and superior geographical conditions. The town covers an area of 70 square kilometers, with 19 villages and 7 neighborhood committees, and a population of 72,000. The Sanhe Ancient Town scenic area spans 4.71 square kilometers, with a population of over 30,000. … Sanhe Town detailed information++