Zhou Ren (; 5 August 1892–3 December 1973) was a Chinese materials engineer and metallurgist. He was an educator and one of the founders of the

Science Society of China The Science Society of China (, 1915-1960) was a major science organization in the modern history of China. It was initiated by Chinese students at Cornell University in 1914, including P.C. King, H. C. Zen, Zhou Ren, Hsingfo Yang and later re ...

, a major science organization in the 20th century before the establishment of the Communist State. He was an academician of the

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

and the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

. He was also a delegate to the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

and

3rd National People's Congress The 3rd National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1964 to 1975. It held only one session in the ten years due to the disruption caused by the ongoing Cultural Revolution launched by Chairman Mao Zedong after 1966. Seat distribution ...

Biography

Early life and education

Zhou was born in Jiangning County,

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

, on August 5, 1892. After graduating from the Jiangnan Higher School, he arrived in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1910 at the age of 18 to begin his education at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

Republic of China

He returned to China after graduation and worked as an engineer in a construction company under the recommendation of Shi Liangcai, the chief editor of ''

Shen Bao ''Shen Bao'' (), officially transliterated as ''Shun Pao'' or ''Shen-pao'', known in English as ''Shanghai News'', was a newspaper published from 1872 to 1949 in Shanghai, China. The name is short for ''Shenjiang Xinbao'', Shenjiang being a sho ...

''. He was a professor of Nanjing Higher Normal School from 1917 to 1979. In 1919 he was hired as the chief engineer of Sichuan Steelmaking Plant, serving until 1921. In 1922, he moved to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

as dean of

National Chiao Tung University National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) was a public research university in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Established in 1896 as Nanyang Public School by an imperial edict of the Guangxu Emperor, it was one of China's leading universities. After the Chinese ...

, he remained there until 1927. After a short period (1927–1928) of teaching students at

National Central University National Central University (; abbreviated NCU; ) is a public research university based in Taiwan. It was founded in 1902 in Nanjing; initially located in Miaoli after moving to Taiwan, it relocated to Zhongli in 1962 and developed into a com ...

, he went to the

, where he served as director of Institute of Engineering. Zhou was elected a fellow of the Academia Sinica in 1948.

People's Republic of China

Zhou remained in China after the defeat of the Nationalists over the Communists in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

. After the founding of the Communist State, Zhou successively served as president of Laboratory of Engineering Experiment of

(CAS), Institute of Metallurgy and Ceramics of CAS, Shanghai Metallurgy Institute, Shanghai Institute of Silicate Chemistry and Engineering, and Shanghai University of Science and Technology. He became an academician of the

in 1955. In 1966,

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

launched the ten-year

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, Zhou suffered

political persecution Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

in the massive socialist movement, the

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

searched his house and confiscated his property. They put Zhou in isolation and under investigation, where he was mistreated and tortured. Zhou died on December 3, 1973, aged 82.

Personal life

Zhou married Nie Qibi (; 1901–1990), the youngest daughter of Nie Jigui (; 1855–1911), an official and the son-in-law of

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

statesman, military general, and

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

scholar

Zeng Guofan Zeng Guofan, Marquis Yiyong (; 26 November 1811 – 12 March 1872), birth name Zeng Zicheng, courtesy name Bohan (), was a Chinese statesman and military general of the late Qing dynasty. He is best known for raising and organizing the Xiang ...

(1811–1872). The couple had two sons and a daughter. Zhou's elder sister Zhou Jun () was the third wife of

Cai Yuanpei Cai Yuanpei (; 1868–1940) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Peki ...

, an exceptional educator, esperantist, president of

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

, and founder of the Academia Sinica.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Ren 1892 births 1973 deaths Chinese metallurgists Cornell University alumni Educators from Nanjing Engineers from Jiangsu Members of Academia Sinica Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Scientists from Nanjing Victims of the Cultural Revolution