A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 662 The controversy remains
Lu Xun seemed not to be very happy living in his new home in Badaowan. A few years later, he was driven away by Zhou Zuoren's Japanese wife...

That’s outrageous! It was clearly Lu Xun who paid for the house.

But the specific reason why Lu Xun and his brother Zhou Zuoren turned against each other can only be speculated, and no one knows the real reason.

It is difficult for an upright official to deal with household affairs, so of course Li Yu cannot take care of the Zhou family's affairs. Anyway, Brother Xun lived a comfortable life for the rest of his life, so there was no need to worry.

A few days after returning home, Li Yu learned from the newspaper that Xiong Xiling had founded a Salesian home specifically to accommodate orphans of disaster victims and was raising funds.

Lu Bicheng was soft-hearted and couldn't stand seeing the tens of thousands of people affected by the disaster in the newspaper, so he dragged Li Yu to the Salesian Home in Xiangshan.

Xiong Xiling was a little surprised by Li Yu's visit: "Mr. Academician came unexpectedly and was unable to welcome him."

"It doesn't matter whether you welcome them or not," Li Yu said, and then asked, "How many orphans do you have here now?"

"More than six hundred," Xiong Xiling said. "But in recent years, disasters have occurred frequently in the Beijing-Tianjin area and Hebei and Shandong. Floods this year and drought next year have killed countless people. I can only help so little."

Li Yu said directly: "Sir, even if you expand the scale, I think it can at least double the area. I will bear the extra expenses."

Lu Bicheng also agreed: "Including schools, hospitals and other supporting facilities."

Xiong Xiling said: "Brother Shucai, I know you and your wife are kind-hearted. Let me tell you the truth. It is not difficult to double the area. It may only cost four to five million silver dollars, but you have to spend more than four." Five hundred thousand, you know what I mean?"

Lu Bicheng asked: "Isn't it just corruption? Dean Xiong said it's okay. How much is needed?"

Xiong Xiling sighed: "At least more than one million."

Lu Bicheng exclaimed: "You can't be so corrupt, right? Just swallow half of it?"

Li Yu was mentally prepared for the political arena during the Republic of China. What Xiong Xiling said was even better than his own expectations. He thought he would say two million.

Xiong Xiling said: "The location here is good, but it is under the jurisdiction of several departments. I started to take in orphans and prepare for the Salesian Home three years ago. It was not until this year that the project was launched. It is very disappointing to be able to build the courtyard in front of you. easy."

Lu Bicheng said: "Aren't there many good people in Beijing and Tianjin?"

Xiong Xiling asked: "Madam, how many good people know the sufferings of the people? Why don't they eat more minced meat?"

Lu Bicheng was immediately disappointed. Li Yu patted her and said to Xiong Xiling: "It doesn't matter, as long as the money is in a practical place."

Vice President Shi Jinmo on the side praised: "Mr. Academician really has a great heart."

Li Yu smiled: "At least the result can make me feel better. As for the process, I won't worry about it."

Xiong Xiling is also considered a figure in the political arena and said: "Mr. Academician is not involved in politics. It turns out he has seen through it all."

Lu Bicheng didn't care about that anymore and asked, "Dean, can you let me go in and take a look?"

Xiong Xiling said: "If you two can really spend so much money, you two will definitely be on the board of directors in the future. If you want to join, you can join."

Several people walked into the Salesian Home. The children inside looked quite thin, and most of them were malnourished. However, compared to those in the disaster area, their condition was much better. At least they were able to jump around.

Li Yu knew that Shi Jinmo was one of the top Chinese medicine doctors in the Republic of China, and said: "Salesian Hospital should just ask you to be the vice president. They all have diseases to some extent."

Shi Jinmo said: "Fortunately, children have strong qi and blood and recover quickly. Many diseases do not need to be treated. If they are only provided with three meals a day, they can sometimes be cured."

The Salesian Home is divided into two schools for boys and girls. Lu Bicheng asked the children one by one about their current situation. After an hour, they suddenly started to retching. Shi Jinmo had a quick eye and walked over and said, "Let me check Madam's pulse."

Lu Bicheng stretched out his arm, Shi Jinmo touched it slightly, and said with a smile: "Congratulations to both of you, it's a happy marriage."

Li Yu said happily: "Sure enough, good people are rewarded. In that case, let's go back as soon as possible."

Lu Bicheng definitely didn't dare to show off and agreed.

Shi Jinmo said: "If you don't mind, I will come to your door in a few days to help prepare medicines and meals."

Li Yu immediately said: "How can you dislike it!"

-

A week later, Shi Jinmo came to Li Mansion as promised.

Li Yu's name was so famous that it was impossible to cover up the news. Many celebrities in the capital also came to congratulate him.

For example, there are Shi Liangcai and Shao Piaoping in the journalistic circle, Cai Yuanpei and Lu Xun in the cultural circle, and Hu Dunfu and Yu Heqin in the scientific circle.

Hu Shi and Qian Xuantong arrived later and said to Li Yu, "There is also a famous doctor from the capital with us."

Li Yu couldn't laugh or cry: "It's not like I'm sick..."

"My dear, Yu Yunxiu," the doctor said, "what you said is not quite accurate. If you come back after being sick, will you still have such a good atmosphere?"

Hu Shi smiled and said, "That's right! Everyone is taking advantage of this happy occasion to come to your place to gather together."

Yu Yunxiu suddenly saw Shi Jinmo in the crowd and said in surprise: "Mr. Academician, with your status in the scientific community, how could you find an old doctor?"

After hearing this, Shi Jinmo said dissatisfiedly: "What about new and old doctors?"

Yu Yunxiu said: "The traditional Chinese medicine of the past is old medicine and should be abandoned!"

Shi Jinmo raised his eyebrows: "Why?"

Yu Yunxiu said: "Old medicine is all outdated lies, has no evidence, and cannot be called science. How can it continue to exist?"

Shi Jinmo said: "Sir, what you said is too extreme!"

Yu Yunxiu said: "No, I am just stating objective facts. From the perspective of anatomy, which is the foundation of modern medicine, the theories of yin, yang, five elements, meridians and acupuncture points upheld by traditional Chinese medicine have no practical support. Don't you admit it?"

Shi Jinmo's face was a little swollen, but he didn't expect Yu Yunxiu to come up and throw out a big move, and replied: "Medicine is about the efficacy, and being able to cure the disease is the most important thing."

Not to be outdone, Yu Yunxiu asked: "Can I have surgery? Can I get the vaccine?"

Shi Jinmo was not good at debating, so he had to say: "Mr. Li Yu is the sage of science. He invited me here today, which is enough to prove his attitude."

Yu Yunxiu said: "Oh? Then I would like to hear what Mr. Academician thinks about old medicine and new medicine."

Cai Yuanpei, Hu Shi, Lu Xun, Yu Heqin, Shao Piaoping and others all looked at Li Yu. This was a difficult question.

Li Yu had expressed his positive attitude towards traditional Chinese medicine several times before, but all in private, so he said: "It just so happens that today all the cultural elites are here, let's talk about whether the new movement to abolish traditional Chinese medicine is right or not. "

There have been several major waves of abolition of traditional Chinese medicine in China, and the current one should be considered the second wave. The strongest one was the third wave in 1929.

Shi Jinmo said to Yu Yunxiu: "Of course not! Please explain clearly, why is it necessary to abolish traditional Chinese medicine so decisively?" Yu Yunxiu said: "Why? Can't you see how remarkable Japan's achievements in abolishing traditional Chinese medicine are? As early as the Meiji Restoration period, Japan has abolished Kampo medicine (traditional Chinese medicine) through legislation. Nowadays, Western medicine is the only legal medical treatment in Japan. We must learn from Japan’s successful experience.”

Yu Yunxiu and others who firmly demand the abolition of traditional Chinese medicine are mostly students studying in Japan and imitate others.

"It's not that absolute," Li Yu said with a smile, and then said to Lu Xun, "Teacher Zhou, you also studied medicine in Japan. I want to know if there are any traditional Chinese medicines in Japan?"

Lu Xun nodded and said: "Yes. Japan has indeed abolished traditional Chinese medicine, but it has not abolished traditional Chinese medicine, because many traditional Chinese medicines are really effective and the Japanese cannot give up."

Shi Jinmo said: "The Japanese 'waste medicine and save medicine', they are very clever!"

Yu Yunxiu asked: "Teacher Zhou, you have studied Western medicine. Do you believe in Chinese medicine as well?"

Lu Xun said: "Of course I stand on the side of Western medicine."

"That's it!" Yu Yunxiu said, "Anyone who has studied modern science and modern medicine will firmly abolish traditional Chinese medicine."

Yu Yunxiu was the pioneer and leader in abolishing traditional Chinese medicine throughout the Republic of China period.

Shi Jinmo was a little overwhelmed by the words and could only look at Li Yu.

Li Yu thought for a while and said: "Dr. Yu abolished traditional Chinese medicine. I think it is nothing more than paying attention to whether traditional Chinese medicine is scientific, right?"

"That's right," Yu Yunxiu said, "I think Chinese medicine is not science, but just witchcraft and alchemy. Not only me, but everyone here, including Mr. Liang Qichao who is still in Europe, all agree with my point of view."

Everyone else expressed their acquiescence.

Li Yu paused and said, "Indeed, Chinese medicine is not science."

Shi Jinmo's face turned dark and he felt even more isolated and helpless.

Yu Yunxiu said happily: "I knew it was like this!"

Li Yu continued: "But I want to ask you a more basic question, what is science?"

Yu Yunxiu said: "I have read Mr.'s article. Science needs to be falsifiable. The Yin-Yang, Five Elements and Veins theories of traditional Chinese medicine are all unfalsifiable, so naturally they are not science."

Yu Yunxiu suddenly felt that he had found a better reason to oppose traditional Chinese medicine.

Li Yu said calmly: "Science is extremely demanding and rigorous. It strives for pure perfection and cannot tolerate any flaws or ambiguities, right?"

Yu Yunxiu said: "Of course! That's why science is the leader among all disciplines."

The status of science at the beginning of the twentieth century was truly indescribable, and this was true all over the world.

Li Yu said: "Then if I say, in the scientific community, whether mathematics is considered science, there is actually a dispute?"

"How is it possible!" Hu Shi said after listening to Li Yu's words, "Mathematics is the queen of science! Of course it is the science of sciences."

Li Yudao: "Formal sciences including mathematics, such as logic and statistics, cannot actually be called sciences. I mean science in the narrow sense that everyone calls it."

Li Yu's words were surprising, and Hu Shi asked: "Sir, how do you say this?"

Li Yu said: "Because even in the most rigorous mathematics, there are some contents that cannot be falsified."

"Ah——" Even Yu and Qin couldn't understand what Li Yu wanted to say, "Mr. Academician, this..."

Li Yu continued: "German mathematicians will soon give proof that if any axiom system containing Peano's axioms of arithmetic is self-consistent, then within this system there must be a certain proposition that cannot be It cannot be proven or falsified. In other words, self-consistency and completeness cannot be satisfied at the same time.”

Of course what Li Yu was talking about was the famous Gödel's incompleteness theorem, but Gödel has not yet given a proof, but it doesn't hurt to talk about it in advance. Anyway, not many people in the country know such advanced mathematical content.

"Can you say that again?"

They obviously didn't understand this.

So Li Yu repeated the content of Gödel's incompleteness theorem, and then said: "There are already many examples to support it, such as the barber's paradox proposed by Mr. Russell who just visited China.

"In a certain city, there is a barber who only gives haircuts to all the people in the city who don't give him a haircut. So should he give himself a haircut?

“If you give yourself a haircut, you belong to the person who cuts your own hair, which violates the principle of ‘not giving haircuts to those who cut your own hair’;

"If you don't give yourself a haircut, you become a person who doesn't give yourself a haircut, and you should give yourself a haircut. It forms a perfect closed loop of paradox.

"This paradox belongs to the category that cannot be falsified. According to the requirements of science, if there are incompleteness and unfalsifiable content, it is not pure enough."

Everyone at the scene was stunned.

This is the third mathematical crisis that is currently shaking the entire mathematical world, and it is also the most far-reaching mathematical crisis. Before Li Yu traveled through, the aftermath was still lingering.

Yu Yunxiu tasted it for a long time before coming back to his senses and said: "Mathematics is superior. Even so, Chinese medicine should not be called science."

Li Yu knew that it was difficult for them to understand the third mathematical crisis, so he added: "Science is constructed through various theorems, and theorems are derived from axioms. The entire "Elements of Geometry" is composed of several very basic It is built from postulates and axioms.

“So axioms are the basis of science, and axioms are self-evident.

“But I want to tell you that axioms are not just natural laws, they can also be artificially constructed.

“Traditional Chinese medicine artificially constructs the axioms of yin, yang, five elements, meridians, acupuncture points, etc., and then builds the entire system.

“Although this set of axioms cannot be falsified, the way Chinese medicine constructs the theory can be called scientific.

"I emphasize once again that whether it is scientific and whether the method used is scientific are two concepts and do not conflict."

After hearing this, Shi Jinmo's confidence greatly increased. Li Yu gave him a set of theoretical weapons on how to promote traditional Chinese medicine. "Mr. Academician said it very well!"

Li Yu knew that Yu Yunxiu could not be completely convinced, so he continued: "There is a famous doctor in the United States named Trudeau. He just passed away a few years ago. His epitaph is said to be regarded as the true meaning of Western medicine. It says this: Medicine is about occasional cures." , often helping, always comforting.

"By comparing this point by point, even if Chinese medicine is not a science, how can it be said that it is not medicine?"

Even Lu Xun, who had studied Western medicine and agreed to abolish traditional Chinese medicine, couldn't help but applaud after hearing Li Yu's words: "Brilliant! Wonderful! Even Western medicine has many diseases that cannot be solved. Sometimes people can only seek other comforts, such as religion. , such as metaphysics.”

Li Yu nodded and said: "At least Chinese medicine is much more reliable than religion. It is based on experience. If you want to abolish Chinese medicine, you should at least abolish religion first, but this is impossible when you think about it. So why do you insist on abolishing Chinese medicine? where?"

Shao Piaoping laughed and said: "This is the most profound passage I have heard this year. I will sort it out and publish it in "Declaration" tomorrow."

Li Yu smiled and said, "You are trying to push me to the forefront."

Shao Piaoping said: "Mr. Academician has always been at the forefront, hasn't he?"