Farewell to Qian Xuesen

Scientist and patriot Qian Xuesen passed away on October 31, 2009 in Beijing, putting a period to a glorious and legendary life of 98 years. On the morning of November 6, the party and state leaders including Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin and all other members of the standing committee of the political bureau of the CPC said farewell to the founding father of China’s modern spaceflight undertakings.

On the afternoon of November 1, Qian Xuesen’s relatives and people from all walks of life in Hangzhou, the hometown of the scientist of national and international renown, attended a memorial in the meeting room on the third floor of Zhejiang Daily News Tower. On the same day, a mourning hall was set up at the former residence of the Qian family at 2 Fangguyuan, Hangzhou and open to the general public.

Qian Xuesen had his ancestral roots in Hangzhou. He was born on December 11, 1911 in Shanghai and he was a 33-generation decedent of King Qian Liu of the Wuyue Kingdom (907-978). He left Hangzhou for Beijing at 3. He studied in Beijing and Shanghai before studying at MIT in America in 1935. In September 1936 he became a student at California Institute of Technology. At 28 he became a scientist of international renown for his contribution to jet propulsion.

In 1950 he decided to come back to China. He was under house arrest for five years. One day in June 1955. Qian was able to write a brief note on a cigarette pack in Chinese in a café, saying that the ban on him to return had been lifted in April and asking for help from China to get him back to the motherland. The letter was sent to his wife Jiang Ying’s sister in Belgium. Premier Zhou Enlai received the letter. The letter was shown to the American representative in Geneva on August 1, 1955. Four days later Qian and his family were notified by the American authorities that they were free to go.

Qian made great contributions to China’s space program. In September 2009, he was selected as one of the 100 people which touched the heart of Chinese since 1949.

Qian abided by a few rules in his lifetime: he did not attend banquets; he did not attend celebrity activities; he did not take part in any product appraisal and promotional activities; he did not write prefaces and inscriptions for anybody; he did not accept any gifts; and he did not write memoirs. In 1980, Zhejiang Daily opened a column for celebrities of Zhejiang roots to publish their memories. In those days, I visited Hu Yuzhi, Xia Yan, Qian Sanqiang, Jin Sanbao and Chang Shuhong. Their articles arrived as expected. But nothing came from Qian and he did not explain why.

Qian is survived by his wife Jiang Ying. Their marriage was arranged by their parents. Qian Xuesen’s father Qian Junfu and Jiang Baili were from Zhejiang and they were classmates of Qiushi Academy, the predecessor of Zhejiang University. They studied together in Japan. Jiang Baili was a famed military strategist. After his return from Japan, he served as the president of a military academy in Baoding. The Jiangs and Qians were very close over years. The Jiang family had five daughters and the Qian family had Qian Xuesen as the only son. Through arrangements, Jiang Ying, the third daughter of Jiang Baili, was adopted by the Qian Family. Qian Xuesen and Jiang Ying grew up together. Later Jiang Ying came back to the Jiang Family. Qian Junfu said to Jiang Baili that he liked the girl very much and wanted her to be his daughter-in-law in the future. The marriage deal was made between the two fathers.

Jiang Ying came with her parents to see 24-year-old Qian Xuesen off in 1935. Jiang Ying gave her would-be husband a copy of Tang poetry as a gift. Jiang Ying studied music in Europe for ten years and became a soprano. They married in Shanghai in 1947. Qian Xuesen was 36 and Jiang Ying 27. The marriage lasted 62 years.

The people in Hangzhou are very proud of Qian Xuesen. He is a national hero and great patriot.