Thirty-four years ago today, on November 1, 1991 (September 25, 1991 lunar calendar), the Lu Gang incident. The Lu Gang incident refers to the shooting incident in which Lu Gang, a Chinese doctoral student studying at the University of Iowa in the United States, shot and killed three professors and vice president Ann Coleri and a Chinese student who received a doctorate at the same time as Lu Gang. After shooting five people, Lu Gang shot himself on the spot. The incident shocked China and the United States at the time, and also caused a discussion about the shortcomings of Chinese education. Background Lu Gang was born in an ordinary working family in Beijing. He was admitted to the Department of Physics of Peking University at the age of 18. In 1984, he was selected through the Sino-US Physics Exchange Program chaired by Li Zhengdao. After graduating from undergraduate in 1985, he went to the United States to study for a doctorate at public expense as an exchange student. He studied at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Iowa. He received his doctorate in 1991 through defense. His doctoral thesis title was "Studyofthe" criticalionizationvelocity "effectbyparticle-in-cellsimulation (ionization) ", and his supervisor was Christopher K. Goertz, a professor in the department. He failed to win the best thesis award when he graduated, and faced huge employment pressure, which eventually led to a tragic blood case. After the incident on November 1, 1991, at around 3:30 PM, Lu Gang entered Room 309 on the third floor of the University of Iowa's Van Allen Hall physics building where the symposium was being held. After about five minutes of observation, he suddenly pulled out his revolver and shot. He first shot his doctoral supervisor, 47-year-old Professor Gore, and after Professor Gore fell, he shot the professor in the back of the head. Then, he shot his doctoral supervisor, assistant professor Robert Alan Smith, twice. At this time, many people present had just woken up and fled the scene. At this time, Lu Gang aimed at another Chinese student who was present at the time, 27-year-old Dr. Shan Linhua, and fired several shots into Shan Linhua's brain and chest. Then Lu Gang left the first scene and arrived at the department chair's office in Room 208 on the second floor, where he shot and killed 44-year-old department chair Dwight R. Nicholson. After confirming Nixon's death, Lu Gang returned to the first scene and found several students rescuing Professor Smith, who was dying, so he reissued a fatal shot to Smith's brain. Then Lu Gang left the physics department building with a gun and arrived at the biology department building. He walked from the first floor to the fourth floor, seemingly looking for a female target (witnesses saw him enter the women's toilet to find someone). During this time, he encountered many teachers and students, but Lu Gang did not shoot indiscriminately. After failing to find the target, Lu Gang entered the administration building, stormed into the principal's office in Room 111 on the first floor, and fired two shots into the chest and temple of the vice principal, T. Anne Cleary (also translated as Ann Cleary). Then, Lu Gang arrived in Room 203 on the second floor and committed suicide. The entire shooting process ended in less than 20 minutes. Lu Gang shot a total of six people before committing suicide. Except for the female student Miya Sioson, who was shot in the spine and paralyzed from the neck down, the other five were killed. In the subsequent investigation, the police found that the weapon used by the murderer was a 38-caliber revolver, and the other 22-caliber pistol was carried with him but not used. In addition, the police also intercepted and seized packages, family letters, and remittances sent back to China by Lu Gang a few days before the incident, and found Lu Gang's suicide note. According to the official statement of the University of Iowa, the suicide note consisted of five pages, including four pages in English and one in Chinese, but the police released only four pages in English to the media more than a month after the incident. The police have not officially concluded the motive for the shooting, but according to some media reports, the direct cause of the shooting may be that the highest scholarship for the doctoral thesis was not obtained by Lu Gang, but by Shan Linhua. Another theory holds that the reason for the shooting may be that after six years of hard work to obtain a doctorate degree, Lu Gang could not get a decent job that he deserved to make a living. Desperate, he decided to commit suicide and take extreme revenge for the injustice of society. The last letter to the American press published a letter written by Lu Gang to his second sister at 12:02 on the day of the murder - November 1, 1991. Second sister: Hello! Please deposit the attached check in the bank quickly. This letter is written specifically for you, so don't let the rest of the family see it. By the time you read this letter, I will probably be dead. I have sent some things back, which are considered my relics. I think you just need to explain to the customs that they will let these things in, even if I bring them back. My biggest worry is my parents, who are too old to withstand this storm. But I can't do anything about it myself. This burden is about to fall on your shoulders. I beg you to take good care of them and keep (sparing) all costs. Also, don't pay for my funeral. Don't come to the United States to carry the body home. It is best to have my body cremated on the spot in the United States by the Chinese Embassy, and only some ashes can be sent back. Remember: don't let the United States extort money. I think the money I sent back is enough to repay my parents for their upbringing, and (already) enough to repay the upbringing of my two sisters. After I called you last night, I cried myself to death, and I couldn't swallow it. You know I've been honest all my life, and I hate villains and self-righteous corrupt officials the most. I've been meaning this for a long time, but I've endured it until I got my doctorate. This is the scenery of the whole family. Don't be too sad yourself, at least I found a few people who are close to my back to be buried with me. My experience in the past twenty-eight years has made me look down on life. I have told a few people that I want to become a monk. There is no end to the desire for life. In America, although I can't worry about food and clothing, there are rich people above, and compared with them, I am still a poor man. In short, I have vented my anger to myself and provided security for the family's livelihood. How can I hope to be infatuated with the world? The ancients said: "A long drought meets the nectar, and I meet the old one in another country (knowledge), the night of the wedding room is a candle, and the title of the gold list." I have tasted these four goals in life, and I know enough! Although I am single, I have already had some girlfriends. I have already started to have girlfriends when I was in high school accommodation. When I was in college, I often sneaked into my hometown at the 262 Hospital with girls in the dark. After arriving in the United States, there are foreign, single, married, good family women or prostitutes in China. I have no perseverance. I am a person who has changed my mind and cannot feel at ease with a particular person. Maybe I have not met the right one or the high is not as good as the low. Anyway, I'm a little tired of the relationship between men and women, and I've lost interest in my physics that I've been studying for ten years (four years as an undergraduate, six years as a graduate student). It can be said that the more I go, the more I feel like I'm walking into a dead end. Physics research is getting more and more disappointed. At present, it is public opinion that is fair and right, and my grandmother says that my grandmother is right, and no one knows what is going on. So people are divided into several factions according to different schools, attacking each other and promoting themselves. No wonder some people say that "modern physics is self-deception". I feel a little regretful that I didn't study more practical subjects in the first place. What can I do? My parents don't know anything about it, so they can't guide me academically, and I'm all by myself. Many Chinese-American physicists are not satisfied in the United States, and they go back to China for a while, bragging about themselves and contributing to So the Chinese government is also promoting it, coaxing young people to study pure science. But then again, if I had gone to study engineering, I would never have come to the United States to study for a degree and save US dollars today. My parents did not have the financial strength to send me to the United States for further study. Some of the people in this school who are engaged in applied disciplines, their parents are mostly senior intellectuals who have studied abroad, and their families have foreign exchange, they can provide their children with TOEFL and GRE exams, tuition and living expenses in the United States, or they have overseas relatives to borrow money. I can say that my parents are at fault when I come to this point today. I believe: "Live as a hero, die as a ghost." I do everything by myself. In addition, it is best not to let the next generation know the truth about me, otherwise it will not be good for their future. Farewell, my dear second sister. Brother Lu Gang 1991.11.01 12:02 The Lu Gang incident has a great impact on the Chinese community in the United States. The Chinese-language newspapers and periodicals almost unanimously criticized Lu Gang and his background in Chinese mainland. A small number of people believe that his behavior is a Chinese rebellion against American society, breaking the image of Chinese people in American society that has always been silent and tame. On November 4, 1991, all 28,000 teachers and students at the University of Iowa suspended classes for one day to hold a funeral for Ann Coleri. "If today were the day of our anger and hatred, Ann Coleri would be the first to blame us," said the Rev. Devo Paul, Ann Coleri's close friend, in remembrance of her life. On this day, Ann Coleri's three brothers held a press conference, and they donated a fund in her name to announce the establishment of the Dr. Ann Coleri International Student Psychology Fellowship Fund to comfort and promote the mental health of foreign students and reduce the occurrence of human tragedies. On this day, the family of one of the victims, Ms. Anne Criley, released a letter to the family of Lu Gang through the media with great love, remembering Ms. Anne Criley's achievements and expressing the hope of sharing each other's grief with a tolerant attitude. This is the letter seen in her room - to Lu Gang's family: We have just experienced a terrible tragedy, and we have lost a dear sister we are proud of. The impact of her life has made everyone who has come into contact with her - her family, neighbors, children, colleagues, students, and her friends and relatives around the world - love her. When we came to Iowa from all over, so many friends came to share our grief, but at the same time they also shared with us the beautiful memories that Anne left us and all that she did for people. While we are in the midst of heavy grief, we also remember you - the family of Lu Gang - in our thoughts and prayers. Because we know that you must also be in the midst of heavy grief, and you must be as shocked as we are by what happened over the weekend. Anne believes in love and forgiveness. We would also like to extend our hands to you in this heavy time, please accept our love and prayers. In this time of grief, Anne must hope that our hearts are filled with compassion, tolerance, and love. We know full well that if there is a family suffering more than ours at this moment, it is your family. We want you to know that we share this grief with you. Let's be strong together and support each other, because this must be Anne's hope.