Serving the Nation and the People: Hua Loo-Keng and Chinese Mathematics in the 2nd half of the 20th century against scientism, nationalism and communism
Abstract
Chinese enthusiasm for science in the twentieth century often created demands incompatible with the scientists' interests in the growth of their own disciplines. It was especially so with mathematics, called the "Queen of the Sciences" and seen as the core of new rationality.
After 1949, communist ideology constructed an ideal of a selfless "red expert" serving the people by solving problems in national defense and industry. A representative of this change was Hua Loo-Keng (Hua Luogeng, 1910-85).
After 1949, he tried as Director of the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to build mathematical disciplines important for practical applications. At the same time, he tried to construct a national mathematics in a classic academic manner, emphasizing the role of mathematical theory.
From 1965, he concentrated all his effort on large-scale promotion of simple methods of applied mathematics into management and production practice. Although this highest stage of his service to the people occurred during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and could thus be seen as an evasive move protecting him from revolutionary excesses, it is also a logical conclusion of long-term tendencies to make Chinese society more scientific.
The enduring popularity of Hua Loo-Keng's maths popularization moreover shows that for many Chinese, it is still the most perfect intersection of communist, nationalist and scientistic-technocratic ideals.