16 Facts About Ye Zhupei

Ye Zhupei or Yap Chu-Phay was a Chinese physical chemist, chemical engineer, and metallurgist.

Ye Zhupei was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and died in prison after five years of incarceration.

Ye Zhupei was born in 1902 in Manila, American Philippines, into an overseas Chinese family that originated from Xiamen, Fujian.

Ye Zhupei's father, Ye Duxing, was a businessman and follower of the revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen.

Ye Zhupei was appointed director of the laboratory for metallurgy, which was established at his suggestion.

Ye Zhupei donated funds to support the Communist headquarters in Yan'an.

Ye Zhupei was elected a founding member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955.

Ye Zhupei solved key technical problems at Panzhihua Iron and Steel and Baotou Steel.

Ye Zhupei published more than 100 papers and won multiple State Science and Technology Prizes.

Ye Zhupei advocated the development of oxygen converter process for steelmaking, but others insisted on building large open hearth furnaces, a technology that was becoming obsolete.

Ye Zhupei advocated the use of computers for metallurgical research, and was ostracized by those who could not understand the connection.

Ye Zhupei spent the final five years of his life in custody, during which time he wrote technical papers and proposals totaling 200,000 words.

Ye Zhupei has an older son, Liangxi Ye prior to meeting Marcelia.

Ye Zhupei taught English at Yenching University, which later merged into Peking University, for 25 years.

Ye Zhupei became a writer, publishing short stories and the poetry collection Hillegass Street, and later returned to teach at Peking University for another semester.

Ye Zhupei died in Berkeley on 2 February 2008, at the age of 91.