A woman pays tribute to renowned physicist Chen Ning Yang, a Nobel laureate and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at Tsinghua University’s Institute for Advanced Study on October 19, 2025. Yang passed away due to illness in Beijing on Saturday at the age of 103. Photo: Xinhua
People flocked to Tsinghua University on Sunday to mourn the renowned physicist Chen Ning Yang, a Nobel laureate and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who passed away in Beijing on Saturday at the age of 103, after a memorial room was set up for the public to offer their respects.
People standing in a line that extended dozens of meters in length braved the cold wind on Sunday evening to pay tribute to Yang in the memorial room, set up by Tsinghua University’s Institute for Advanced Study. According to chinanews.com, the building once housed the workplace of Yang’s father and was also where Yang worked during his later years. Global Times reporters saw visitors forming quiet, orderly lines, streaming steadily from daylight into nightfall.
Among them were parents guiding their children, elders bearing grief in every line of their faces, and, most of all, young students and scholars, their eyes filled with reverence and remembrance. By Sunday night, more than 3,020 people had registered through the official system to visit the campus to mourn Yang.
Yang was born in Hefei, East China’s Anhui Province in 1922. In the 1940s, he went to the US to pursue academic studies and later held teaching positions there. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957, per the Xinhua News Agency. The Yang-Mills gauge theory introduced by Yang and Robert Mills is considered one of the most important achievements of physics in the 20th century.
Over the more than 20 years since he returned to China, Yang taught at Tsinghua University, making important contributions to cultivating and recruiting talent and promoting international academic exchanges, the report said.
In a tribute published in the Guangming Daily on Sunday, Weng Fan, Yang’s wife, said Yang must have felt deeply gratified at the moment of his passing. His entire life was a satisfactory answer sheet handed in for the nation’s rejuvenation, the country’s prosperity, and humanity’s progress, she wrote.
She also mentioned a poem Yang wrote when he was nearing 90 titled “On Reaching Age Ninety,” adding, “His life was defined by ideals, perseverance, responsibility, commitment, happiness, and gratitude. I consider myself profoundly fortunate to have shared so many years by his side.”Â
Wu Weishan, a sculptor whose work Yang has described as highly innovative, previously expressed that what particularly intrigued him was Yang’s perspective on aesthetics. In his work, Yang analyzed the stylistic nuances of scientific papers, discussed the beauty emerging from scientific experiments, and drew parallels between physics equations and poetry.
A sculpture of Chen Ning Yang by Wu Weishan, measuring 70cm × 31cm × 40cm, created in 2014. Photo: Screenshot from Art News of China
Yang’s profound insights are equally applicable to understanding the artistic styles of visual artists. To a significant extent, his perspectives reveal the underlying mysteries of artistic expression, revealing in a significant way the inner workings of artistic expression, Wu said.
Since his passing, Yang has been commemorated by the public through photographs, sculptures and other tributes. In Tsinghua University’s memorial room, a faint scent of chrysanthemums lingered, while the walls displayed a total of 26 images of him at different stages of life, most of them showing him serene and smiling. Visitors could lay flowers to honor him and a booklet outlining his life and achievements.
A citizen surnamed Wang, who came to pay tribute with her son and daughter, told the Global Times that she hopes her children will not only recognize Yang’s name from textbooks, but also understand him as a respected figure in real life. Her son, who has just enrolled at Tsinghua University High School, noted that many fellow students were also present to mourn, reflecting their deep respect for Yang and the enduring influence of his spirit.
“Passing away is natural, but being forgotten is the real loss. We should carry forward his legacy,” Wang added.
A person pays tribute to renowned physicist Chen Ning Yang, on October 19, 2025. Photo: Li Hao/GT
Zhang Yuxiang, an undergraduate from Weixian College, Tsinghua University’s first college focused on cultivating world-class engineering innovation talent, recalled that during his freshman year, his teacher had shown clips of Yang teaching physics to students in 2004. “I found Professor Yang’s teaching both profound and engaging,” Zhang said.Â
He later searched for more videos online. Aspiring to specialize in precision instrumentation, he added that he plans to make a solid grasp of fundamental physics the foundation of his future studies and research.
At Tsinghua University, there was another group of mourners from Southwest China’s Guizhou Province who had flown over three hours to Beijing. One of them, surnamed Dai, said “Yang’s contributions to China and humanity are worth crossing mountains and rivers to honor.”Â
Peking University also issued a statement on Sunday to mourn the passing of Yang. Yang is one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, having made outstanding contributions to the development of modern physics and to the scientific and educational endeavors of his homeland, according to the statement.
After the Lugou Bridge Incident in 1937, Peking University, along with Tsinghua University and Nankai University, moved south to Changsha, Hunan Province where they jointly formed the Changsha Temporary University, the statement introduced.
In 1938, the provisional university relocated to Kunming and was renamed the National Southwestern Associated University. In the same year, Yang was admitted to the National Southwestern Associated University. At the end of 1984, Yang was awarded the title of honorary professor by Peking University.
In the grand epic of human exploration of the unknown, there are always names that shine like eternal stars in the galaxy. Professor Yang was such a scientist, illuminating the sky of modern physics. What he contributed to the world was so profound; what he dedicated to his motherland was so pure, the statement said.
“Rest in peace, Professor Chen Ning Yang, alumnus of the National Southwestern Associated University and honorary professor of Peking University,” the university wrote.