China Daily Global Edition (USA)
AIMING FOR THE STARS
There is a growing interest in astronomy and the exploration of outer space in China. Yang Yang reports.
When 39-year-old Chen Dongni was studying cosmology in Shanghai more than 10 years ago, she could not have imagined that one day her knowledge of the cosmos would help farmers and herdsmen from the Hui, Tibetan and Uygur ethnic groups in China’s remote western regions.
As the deputy director of the Beijing Planetarium, Chen now often travels to the Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions to give lectures to farmers and herdsmen.
“When you look at the history of astronomy — a new science subject compared with maths or physics — you realize that it has been around for a long time, used by stargazers, fortune-tellers and theologians to tell people who we are, where we are from and where we are going. It’s also like a religion,” she says.
“After I deliver lectures about our view of the cosmos, people are excited about a different view of how the world works. Some of them believe that the world is held up by cattle, and the sun is pulled by cattle. But whether they accept our view or not at least they know that there is more than one opinion,” she says.
The lectures also teach many people a scientific way of thinking, which is also important, she says.
In recent years, Chinese have become increasingly interested in astronomy and the exploration of outer space, she says, thanks to the country’s successes in space with Tiangong-1, China’s first space lab, and spaceships like Shenzhou X.
The popularity of sci-fi fiction like Liu Cixin’s Three Body Problem and Hollywood movies like Gravity and Interstellar, have also helped, she adds.
Zhu Jin, director of the Beijing Planetarium, says that in the last five years, the number of visitors to the planetarium has grown by 20 percent yearon-year.
“One of the reasons is that a lot of domestic research results have come out recently, which is also drawing a lot of people to the planetarium,” he says. “It’s a good thing for the development of both this discipline and our country.”
It also gives children other choices besides dance, piano and painting.
Zhu, who has worked at the planetarium for 15 years, has helped organize national astronomy competitions for primary and middle school students over the past years.
“The competition, which is different from other contests like the Math Olympiad, is for children who love astronomy. And, many of them have started working in this field,” he says.
Last year, about 820,000 people visited Beijing Planetarium. Although the numbers are expected to rise in the future, Zhu says that compared with the more than 20 million population of Beijing, this is a small number.
In order to have more children learn about the cosmos, Zhu has been promoting a program to hold astronomy lessons in primary and middle schools around the country.
As of now, 30 primary and middle schools in Beijing have astronomy lessons.
“Five years ago, we started working with the planetarium in Delingha, Qinghai province. Now, all the primary school students in Delingha have astronomy lessons. It’s really great,” says Zhu.
Since Sept 1, dozens of primary and middle schools in Pingtang county of the Qiannan autonomous prefecture in Guizhou province have astronomy lessons. And soon, such lessons will be held in the whole prefecture.
“We hope that with the joint effort of the planetarium and education departments, we can have more primary and middle schools start astronomy lessons,” says Zhu.
“Besides China, many other countries are now promoting astronomy education,” he says.
“With such lessons, we hope more top talents will choose to study astronomy, instead of artificial intelligence or finance,” he says.
Besides astronomy lessons for children, China’s social media is also paying a lot of attention to the subject.
Some channels on Weibo and Zhihu explain astronomy discoveries such as gravitational waves, says Li Ran of the National Astronomical Observatories of China.
Top Chinese astronomers such as Li are also spreading awareness about the subject.
Li is also a popular blogger with more than 50,000 followers on Zhihu.
He says he chose astronomy as his major at university because he was inspired by US astronomer Carl Sagan and physicist Kip Thorne.
“My blogging on Zhihu is more like a summary of my research. I do not think about readers when I write, but I use simple words, so it may help other people,” he says.
With the increasing popularity of astronomy in China, publishers are also jumping on the bandwagon.
In 2015, Li worked with two translators to translate Thorne’s The Science of Interstellar, which won a book award in China. And, in May, he published his own book Roaming the Universe.
Recently the Chinese version of Sagan’s Cosmos translated by Chen has been published in China.
Speaking about the book, Chen says: “Carl Sagan is a very popular name in the United States and he was very successful in popularizing the subject among common people. But few Chinese know about him. If this book helps them learn about him and the cosmos, it will be great.”
Wu Yishan, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development, a fan of Sagan, says that the book can be used as a textbook to teach young people.
“When you learn about the human position in the magnificent cosmos, you will have a very different view of our behavior on Earth,” he says.
But whether they accept our view or not at least they know that there is more than one opinion.” Chen Dongni, deputy director of the Beijing Planetarium