「保持求知慾，保持對新鮮 事物的學習熱情。」 出生於知識份子家庭的錢濤從小就對數學執 迷，初中時便展現出獨特數學天賦，因在數學 競賽獲第一名而被保送至聞名遐邇的北京四 中。雖然校內匯集全北京的優秀學生，如囊中 之錐的錢濤很快嶄露頭角：高一出任三角科代 表，高二被選為學習委員。然而，就在升讀高 三之際，國內政治氣氛驟然一變——文革烏雲 籠罩神州大地，錢濤因家庭出身被打入「改造」 行列。1968年12月28日，在席捲全國的「上 山下鄉」運動中，錢濤被分到山西省汾陽市峪 道河公社，開始了在農村插隊落戶的艱苦歲 月。 雖身處偏遠荒涼的農村，但錢濤對數學的執著 卻絲毫未減，他不但堅持自學，更與四位志同 道合、同樣從北京下放的「老三屆」中學生—— 程翰生、王明、張葆環和王世林於1969年7 月20日成立了中學生現代數學研究小組。這 個被數學界戲稱為「五人小組」的團體當年刻 意保持沉默，其事跡後來於2001年被寫成《五 人小組故事》，為海內外媒體爭相轉載，令這 段中國數學界「老三屆」傳奇廣為人知。 錢濤說當時分散各地的五人小組大多透過書信 聯繫，偶爾回北京也會向指導老師、數學家韓 念國請益，但大部分時間還是靠自己努力。很 長一段時間裡，錢濤每天完成繁重勞動後，便 在小油燈下研讀至深夜，到早晨連鼻孔都被熏 成黑色，他至今還記得一題一題啃《吉米多維 齊數學分析習題集》，「那是蘇聯出的，4500 多道題，非常難，我一般每天清早下地前先抄 十題，然後一邊做（農活）一邊想，回家再把它 （答案）寫出來。」錢濤的大學數學基礎及英文 閱讀能力全靠自學而來，「比如說學英文吧， 我就自己看書，第一個月，看初一的英文課 本，30幾課，一天一課，學音標、詞彙；第 二個月，再拿一本我想看的英文（數學）書， 先讀序言，一天一句，把那句裡的單詞、語法 都弄清楚，到第三個月就開始看（全）書了。」 憑著鍥而不捨的拼博精神，他積累下紮實的基 礎知識。 下放九年，錢濤耕過田、種過菜、放過羊，甚 至當過赤腳醫生和鑽井隊電測員，但一直沒有 放棄數學。70年代末，中國政治氣候漸露曙 光。1977年8月，重返領導職務的鄧小平在一 次重要講話中提到「恢復高考」，這消息給散佈 各地的五人小組帶來了希望。韓老師更給歷經 近十年磨難的五人打氣，「現在恢復高考和招 Stay Hungry, Stay Passionate Born into a well-educated family, Qian Tao has been fascinated with maths ever since he was a child. His gift for maths became more apparent after he began secondary school. He was recommended for direct admission major maths competition. Even in the more-than-a-century-old school with the best students from Beijing, Qian Tao quickly stood out from the rest. in the second year he was elected assistant to the homeroom teacher in study-related matters. Towards the end of his second year at Beijing No. 4 Middle School, the political climate in China changed abruptly — the dark cloud of the Cultural Revolution spread over the whole country, and Qian family background. With the “Down to the Countryside” movement sweeping across the country in 1968, Qian Tao was sent to a village in Shanxi province, Being banished to the remote countryside didn’t diminish Qian Tao’s passion for maths one bit. Not only did he continue to teach himself, he also co-founded, on 20 July 1969, a modern secondary school maths study group with four other like-minded young men. This group deliberately kept everyone except a handful of senior mathematicians in Beijing, who gave the group the nickname “The Quintet”. After a story about their experiences was published in 2001, The Quintet quickly became the object of extensive media coverage both at home and abroad. 恢復高考後，全部考入大學的「五人小組」返京後與韓念國老師（前排中）合照：錢濤（前 排左）、張葆環（前排右）、（後排左起）程翰生、王明、王世林。 Group photo of members of The Quintet: QianTao (front left), Zhang Baohuan (front right), (back row, from left) Cheng Hansheng, Cheng Hansheng, Wang Ming and Wang Shilin with their teacher Han Nianguo (front middle) in Beijing. 25
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