Xia Peisu

Xia Peisu was born in Jiangjin City, Sichuan Province in 1923. Electronic computer expert, one of the founders of Chinese computer industry. In April 1960, China’s first homegrown electronic digital general purpose computer, the Model 107, went live. Xia Peisu, the machine’s engineer and designer, had just made history. Xia is known as the “The mother of Chinese computers.”

In 1937, 14-year-old Xia was admitted to the high school in Nanyu Middle School. She always ranks first in her class in mathematics. At that time, there were mostly exiled students around the summer, and their life was very difficult. The hard life and the atrocities of the Japanese during the Anti-Japanese War made her determined to study engineering, hoping to change the fate of the country with engineering knowledge. Xia was admitted to Nanjing University after graduating from high school. While studying at Nanjing University, Xia was interested in the transient analysis of AC circuits taught by the professor at that time, which also helped her develop computers in the future. Xia received his Ph. D. in philosophy from the University of Edinburgh in July 1950. In 1951, 28-year-old Xia Peisu became a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Edinburgh. This experience laid a solid foundation for her research and design of computer circuits.

After returning to China, Xia was assigned to the Telecommunications Network Research Office of the Electrical Engineering Department of Tsinghua University as an assistant researcher. Opportunity await those who are ready. In 1952, Hua, director of the Institute of Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed to develop electronic computers in China, and found three telecom and electronic technicians in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University. Xia, who was only 29 years old shortly after returning home, was selected. It was this turning point that made her embark on the road of develop China’s computing technology and formed an indissoluble bond with the Chinese computer industry. In order to let more people know about computers, in 1955, Xia began to write lectures on the principles of computers. At that time, some basic computer terms and nouns were all in English. When she wrote lectures on computer principles, she repeatedly scrutinized and relayed English technical terms into Chinese, which is still used all over the country. Moreover, in March 1956, Xia founded a workshop on computer theory, which taught the basic principles of electronic computers. This workshop is regarded as the first workshop on computer principle in Chinese computer industry.

In 2011, china computer federation awarded Xia’s first Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her contribution to China’s computer industry. To commemorate Xia’s 50th anniversary of her computer career, her students named the first Loongson processor chip “Xia 50”. On August 27,2014, the 91-year-old Xia passed away. Her deep impression on the development history of Chinese computer technology is brilliant.

Bibliography

McNeill, L., 2020. The Computer Pioneer Who Built Modern China. [online] Bbc.com. Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200219-xia-peisu-the-computer-pioneer-who-built-modern-china> [Accessed 28 October 2020].

LEE, L., 1988. BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF CHINESE WOMEN VOLUME 2. China: SYDNEY University Press, pp.572-573.

En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Xia Peisu. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xia_Peisu> [Accessed 28 October 2020].