Shen Chun-shan
Shen Chun-shan
- Shen Chun-shan** (29 August 1932 – 12 September 2018) was a Taiwanese physicist who served as president of National Tsing Hua University from 1994 to 1997. He was known as one of the "four princes of Taiwan" along with Chen Li-an, Fredrick Chien, and Lien Chan, all of whose fathers attained prominence in politics prior to their sons' successes.
Early life and education Shen was born in Nanjing; his paternal family roots are in Yuyao, Zhejiang. His father was an agricultural expert. In 1957, he left Taiwan for the United States, to enroll in a doctoral program in physics from the University of Maryland, from which he graduated in 1961.
Career Shen went on teach at Princeton University and Purdue University as well as taking up a position at NASA.
Shen took up his post as the president of National Tsing Hua University in 1993; he retired from that position and from academic life in 1997. He was a member of the Republic of China team that finished second in the 1969 Bermuda Bowl world teams bridge championship, a particularly notable success given that he and teammate Frank Huang had never previously played as partners. He was ranked as a 6th-dan go player. In 1978, he got Harvey Feldman, then Director of the United States Department of State's Office of Republic of China Affairs, to reveal over a game of Go the timetable for the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations which would end formal relations between Washington and Taipei. Novelist Jin Yong introduced Shen to world Go champion and People's Republic of China citizen nie-weiping in 1984 in Hong Kong; the two would go on to become good friends through their mutual interest in both Go and bridge, though they did not have many opportunities to meet. In 1991, they were able to integrate their bridge play into cross-straits diplomacy, entering the 1991 Far East Championships in Guangzhou as partners. 9th-dan professional Go player Cho U also credited Shen with teaching him the game as a child; the two first played when Cho was seven.
Illness and death Shen's health deteriorated further after his retirement; he suffered his first stroke in June 1999. In September 2005, a year and a half after the 2004 publication of the first portion of his memoirs, he suffered his second stroke. However, even after his second stroke, he continued writing; his series of biographies of five Go masters go-seigen, Minoru Kitani, rin-kaiho, Cho Hunhyun, and nie-weiping was published in June 2006. On 6 July 2007, he suffered his third stroke, involving intracranial hemorrhage; he was hospitalised at Hsinchu's Mackay Memorial Hospital.
After surgery, his condition stabilised, but he was left in a coma. Later in the year, he was transferred to Wanfang Hospital. Doctors there assessed his condition as roughly nine points on the Glasgow Coma Scale, meaning that his brain was still basically in good condition, and there remained a possibility that he might regain awareness. In early 2008, he showed some response to voices, and his condition was reportedly continuing to improve. However, from 2012 until his death, he remained comatose.
Shen had many famous visitors while in his coma. In October 2009, Nie Weiping travelled to Taiwan to see Shen, in what he described as a "final visit". Ma Ying-jeou paid a visit in February 2011, and recited poetry for Shen, to which Shen reportedly showed some response.
Shen was sent to Mackay Memorial Hospital in Hsinchu on 5 September 2018, with a fever and a swollen belly where he went for colonoscopy screening. The doctors found a twisted and necrotic section in Shen's intestine, the statement said, CNA reports. He died on 12 September from a ruptured intestine, aged 86.