In the Name of Genius

By YIN PUMIN

In the Name of Genius

By YIN PUMIN

Pushy parents and an inflexible system leave China’s young math prodigies feeling cursed

Liu Lu, a junior majoring in applied mathematics at the Changsha-based Central South University (CSU) in central China’s Hunan Province, attracted worldwide attention recently by successfully solving the Seetapun Enigma, a notoriously difficult mathematical problem.

Liu found a way to solve the problem in October 2010, when he successfully proved a negative answer to the conjecture. He submitted his fndings to theJournal of Symbolic Logic, an authoritative international academic journal, under the penname of Liu Jiayi. He won lavish praise from its editor in chief, Denis Hirschfeldt, an expert in mathematical logic and a professor at the University of Chicago in the United States.

“As someone whose research into this problem fnally came to nothing, I am very delighted to see its fnal solution, especially with such a wonderful demonstration,”Hirschfeldt wrote to Liu.

Another young talent, the 16-yearold mathematics prodigy Zhang Xinyang, came into the spotlight too, when he became the youngest PhD student in China this September.

It seems that China has an abundance of math geniuses, given the frequent reports of prodigies and China’ success at international math competitions. However, the stark reality is that only a handful of world-class mathematicians are from China.

While some said what China’s math geniuses lack is the access to instruction by world-class mathematicians, others pointed out pushy parents and the rigid education system have stifed their growth.

A math prodigy

Skinny, pale and bespectacled, Liu exudes quiet determination. The young man from Dalian, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, told Xinhua News Agency that he was not born a math talent and neither of his parents was involved in mathematics.

But he unknotted a problem that has puzzled the international math community for more than two decades. The Seetapun Enigma, a conjecture put forward by English mathematical logician David Seetapun in the 1990s, is a problem of reverse mathematics.

Speaking of his efforts to crack the Seetapun Enigma, Liu recalled, “It was more like a fash of inspiration when I was pondering the problem. In fact, it did not take me much time to demonstrate it.”

“Maybe it is the accumulation of knowledge from my daily studies that prepared me for the solution,” he said. “I was never a born genius, but I found my passion for the subject in middle school and never stopped cultivating it.”

Liu started studying mathematical logic when he was a sophomore at CSU. For Liu, the complex theories that boggled the minds of his classmates were simply fun and intriguing puzzles to be solved.

In his classmates’ eyes, Liu is a math genius, as he is able to transform complicated problems into simple and elegant equations and then provide radical solutions. Many, however, don’t realize the sheer amount of hard work and toil he puts into his studies.

Liu was later invited to the Academic Conference on Mathematical Logic at the University of Chicago and delivered a 40-minute speech on September 16. He was the only Asian college student present at the event.

Amazed at what Liu did, three senior academicians at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have recommended the 22-year-old for postgraduate researches, a year ahead of time. It is reported that CSU will admit Liu to successive postgraduate and doctoral programs under the guidance of Hou Zhenting, one of the top mathematicians in China as well as a professor at CSU.

“I’d like to encourage Liu to graduate sooner than next year,” Hou said after meeting Liu. Hou also wrote recommendation letters to the Ministry of Education suggesting Liu’s instructors prepare him for early graduation through intensive academic training.

Education to blame

Liu’s case refects the need for authorities to reform China’s rigid exam-oriented education system.

As products of such a system, “students usually don’t question what they are taught,”said Li Banghe, a CAS academician, adding that many students in China are not able to conduct independent research.

But there are growing exceptions like Liu. As a divergent thinker, Liu often askedquestions which found no quick answers from his teachers, or gave correct but not standard answers to their questions, said one of his high-school math teachers, Gong Fujing.

“Liu’s interest in math didn’t target high grades. His divergent thinking was refected in his study of other subjects, and even the pressure from the college entrance exam didn’t erode his thinking habit,” said Tian Jukun, another high-school teacher of Liu.

Independent college recruitment procedures in the United States ensure that gifted students like Liu are admitted to schools which will adequately nurture their gifts, said Yun Zhiwei, the gold medalist of the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in 2000.

After winning the IMO gold medal, Yun transferred to Princeton University and later to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Yun said Chinese math talents lack opportunities to be instructed by world-class professors. “Almost every research university in the United States has top professors working on the frontier of mathematical research. It is much easier for students to fnd tutors sharing similar research interests,”Yun said.

In contrast, students in some math felds cannot fnd a professor to instruct their further research in China. Yun took his research of geometric representation theory as an example. “Because it’s not a field well developed in China, it’s hard to fnd experts, or even researchers,” he said.

Most of the top 20 world-class mathematical institutes are in developed countries.“There is a wide gap between China and the United States, though the gap is narrowing,” said Cao Yiming, a professor with the School of Mathematical Sciences at Beijing Normal University. “Some U.S. states even introduced laws to ensure researches on, training of and help to these gifted students.”

For parents' satisfaction

Parents also play a key role in shaping the futures of child-geniuses.

After completing his master’s degree at Beijing University of Technology, Zhang started his doctoral studies in fundamental mathematics at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) this September. But Zhang said much of his childhood was “like mental torture.”

A report by the Guangzhou-basedSouthern Weekendsaid the 16-year-old math whiz is not familiar with Chinese classical literature as his parents wanted him to focus entirely on math.

Zhang’s parents have insisted that he concentrate only on his studies. Recently, his father found him playing computer games. After the ensuing argument, his father left

“I’m not a born genius...It is the accumulation of knowledge from my daily studies that prepared me for the solution.”the BUAA and walked 50 km back to his home in Hebei Province.

—Liu Lu, a junior who solved the two-decade-old Seetapun Enigma

CFP

“He wanted to punish me but in reality, he was actually punishing himself,” Zhang said.

He claimed that his parents wanted him to pursue his studies in Beijing in order to realize a dream that they were unable to fulfll. In return, he threatened that he would fnd a job back in his hometown unless his parents buy him an apartment in Beijing.

“They planned my life and tried to convince me that what they were forcing me to do was what I actually wanted,” he said.

In a recent CCTV interview, Zhang expressed anxiety over his future. He worried he would become the next Wang Sihan or Zhang Manyi, two geniuses who entered universities at the age of 14 but were expelled by the schools due to their poor academic performance.

Like Zhang’s parents, many Chinese parents push their children too hard and insist on rigid teaching methods which, in many instances, stife their children’s gifts.

In contrast, Australian mathematician Terence Tao received extensive support from his parents. Tao won an IMO gold metal at the age of 13, completed his Ph.D. at Princeton University at 20, and won the world’s top math prize—the Fields Medal—at 31.

Tao’s father allowed the young prodigy to develop his talent at his own pace, allowing him to focus on the subjects and areas that interested him most.

Even Liu has benefited from his parents’ laissez-faire education. He was sent to some courses of special interests such as IMO courses, but hasn’t been severely reprimanded or praised for his school performance. This has allowed him to pursue what he truly likes and develop his independent thinking.

True interests count

Many Chinese math geniuses aren’t really interested in mathematics, said Professor Cao. One survey Cao had last year said most of China’s IMO gold medalists haven’t taken math related jobs.

“Most of Chinese IMO contestants want to add the 10 or 20 additional scores to their fnal college entrance exam results, which an IMO medal will guarantee, or target the possibilities they will be admitted to top national universities,” said Cao.

But different from answering questions in IMO competitions, cracking conjectures demands true interests and perseverance, because “it will take years before you enter the frontier of mathematical research at around 30s,” Yun said.

Yun worked with Ngô Báo Châu, a 39-year-old Vietnamese mathematician and the Fields Medal winner last year. “Châu is persistent, sticks to his pace of research, and never makes haste to have his papers published, while having a nice taste for wine, music and world literature,” Yun said.

Creation and innovation are enabled by a concrete and systematic knowledge base, said Xu Kuangdi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Xu encouraged students to read many literary works with powerful imagination because imagination will “enable divergent thinking, reasoning by analogy, and communicating by metaphor, and eventually lead to innovation,” Xu said.

STAR STUDENT: Zhang Xinyang, accompanied by his parents, attended the Beijing University of Technology for master’s program back in 2008