Chen Ning Yang

I should like to say that I am as proud of my Chinese heritage and background as I am devoted to modern science, a part of human civilization of Western origin, to which I have dedicated and I shall continue to dedicate my work.

As I stand here today and tell you about these, I am heavy with an awareness of the fact that I am in more than one sense a product of both the Chinese and Western cultures, in harmony and in conflict.

In the latter half of the last century the impact of the expanding influence of Western culture and economic system brought about in China a severe conflict.

In the final analysis, the incident is seen as originating from an emotional expression of the frustration and anger of the proud people of China who had been subject to ever increasing oppression from without and decadent corruption from within.

The question was heatedly debated of how much Western culture should be brought into China.

I was later to receive an excellent first two years’ graduate education in the same University and then again was able to pursue my studies in the U.S. on a fellowship from the aforementioned fund.