Wang Jishan

Wang Jishan was a translator of modern physics in China, born into the distinguished Moli Wang family of Suzhou, a direct descendant of Wang Ao, Minister of Revenue during the Ming dynasty.

Her father, Wang Songwei, was a Jinshi (palace graduate) in the sixth year of Emperor Guangxu, who served in the Ministry of Revenue and the Grand Council, and was also Cai Yuanpei’s mentor in the imperial examinations. Her mother, Wang Xie Changda, was a renowned feminist and educator of late Qing China, founder of Zhenhua Girls’ School, and an advocate for women’s liberation.

In 1906, Wang Jishan married He Cheng, an early member of Sun Yat-sen’s Tongmenghui who studied at the Japanese Army Academy and later became a noted connoisseur of cultural relics. His former residence, the Master of the Nets Garden in Suzhou, is now a nationally protected heritage site. They had eight children, among them He Zehui, who became an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a founder of nuclear and high-energy physics in China, and He Yizhen, a scientist at the Institute of Solid State Physics, CAS.

Wang Jishan’s translation work played an important role in the development of China’s physics discipline in the early 20th century. Drawing upon her family’s scholarly tradition, she systematically translated Western physics works, which served as scientific enlightenment for her children. He Zehui later recalled, “My mother’s translated manuscripts were my very first inspiration in science.”

As part of a scientific family, Wang Jishan’s lineage produced more than twenty scientists in modern China, including her cousins Wang Shoujing (pioneer of quantum physics), Wang Shouwu (semiconductor expert), Wang Shoujue (microelectronics scientist), and her granddaughter Qian Minxie, a professor at Peking University. Through her example, Wang Jishan established a family ethos of ‘saving the nation through science,’ inspiring generations of scholars.