Former residences of renowned Fudan scholars open to public

The renovated former residences of three late renowned scholars and leaders from Fudan University were opened in Shanghai on Saturday.

One of the two-story houses located on 51 Guofu road, in Yangpu district, is the former residence of Su Buqing, one of the founders of modern Chinese math and the principal of Fudan from 1978 to 1983. In 2019, the asteroid numbered 297161 was named in honor of Su.

Another house was where Tan Jiazhen, one of the founders of modern genetics in China and a former vice principal of Fudan, resided in the 1970s. In 1999, the Minor Planet Center named the asteroid numbered 3542 in honor of Tan. 

Chen Jiangong, a late professor in math from Fudan and a pioneer in the study of Chinese function theory, once lived there as well.

Visitors will get a glimpse of the lives, work and achievements of these scholars  through the permanent exhibitions held in the houses. The exhibits include texts, historical relics, photos and videos.

According to Jiao Yang, Party secretary of Fudan, the two houses, along with the adjacent former residence of Chen Wangdao - another late former principal of the university - will form the "Jiu Yuan Complex", a cluster aimed at promoting patriotism education by illustrating the spirit of those pioneers.

Chen was also an educator who completed the first Chinese translation of the groundbreaking work The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels a century ago.

"It's our gift for the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. This gift pays tribute to these masters and passes on the Red gene and spirit to future generations," Jiao said at the opening ceremony.

According to Jiao, the university will cultivate more docents to join the current team of over 80 volunteers working at The Communist Manifesto exhibition held at the former residence of Chen Wangdao.

"It will become a new landmark for education on the Party's ideals and convictions, and science in Shanghai," said Xie Jian'gang, Party secretary of Yangpu district.