Xiong Qinglai
Xiong Qinglai, or Hiong King-Lai, courtesy name Dizhi, was a Chinese mathematician from Yunnan. He was the first person to introduce modern mathematics into China, and served as an influential president of Yunnan University from 1937 through 1947. A Chinese stamp was issued in his honour.Biography
Xiong studied in Europe for eight years before returning to China to teach. During that time, Chinese university-level mathematics was only comparable to Western secondary-school mathematics level. In 1921, he established the Department of Mathematics of National Southeastern University, beginning undertook the task of writing more than ten textbooks on geometry, calculus, differential equations, mechanics, etc. It was the first endeavor in history to introduce modern mathematics in Chinese textbooks. In 1926, Xiong became a professor of mathematics at Tsinghua University, where he influenced the path of Hua Luogeng, who later became another prominent mathematician.
Xiong was persecuted to death in 1969 during the Cultural Revolution.
On 20 November 1992, China Post issued a stamp commemorating Xiong Qinglai as part of the third set of its "Modern Chinese Scientists" stamp series. 76 million copies were printed.
