From Correspondence to Coauthorship: Reconstructing C. N. Yang’s Transpacific Academic Network History
This project reconstructs the long-term academic and social network of physicist Yang Chen-Ning by combining archival materials with public bibliographic data. Rather than treating coauthorship as the only sign of professional connection, the project compares three different forms of ties: formal scholarly collaboration, direct correspondence, and archival co-mentions in photographs and related records. The result is a multiplex view of Yang’s network across time, geography, and relationship type.
The project asks three connected questions. First, how did Yang’s network change over time when measured through coauthorship, correspondence, and photo co-mention? Second, did major milestones in Yang’s life and shifts in China-US relations coincide with structural changes in those networks? Third, did the three layers capture systematically different social worlds, or did they largely refer to the same set of people?
The overall argument emerging from the analysis is that these layers do not tell the same story. Coauthorship captures formal and sustained intellectual collaboration, correspondence reveals a broader communication network, and photo co-mention brings in family, political, institutional, and ceremonial ties that would not appear in a publication-based study alone.
Acknowledgements:
This project was carried out by Mr. DENG Kai Feng (DSPS/2), Ms. JU Ran (DSPS/2), and Mr. XIN Chuang Jian (GPAD/3). The code used in this project is available in the following GitHub repository: h0if0ng667-droid/CUHK_2026_DAPO_CN-Yang.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the following individuals and organisations for their generous support, guidance, and encouragement throughout this project:
1. The CN Yang Archive, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, for preserving and providing access to invaluable archival materials that formed an essential foundation for this project. For more information, please visit: https://cnyangarchive.cuhk.edu.hk/About.aspx.
2. The Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ms. IU Kwan Sai Phoebe, and Professor HUI Pak Ming, for their kind support in providing archival resources and for their guidance throughout the project.
3. Mr. Vincent LUM and Mr. Hudson NG, for their dedicated support and thoughtful advice as our coaches during the project.
4. Ms. ZHANG Qinqin and Ms. Cheryl LEE, for their excellent organisation of the event and for their guidance and assistance throughout the process.
5. Dr. WONG Kwong Cheong, for his continuous encouragement and motivation to participate in this meaningful opportunity, which allowed us to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in the DSPS curriculum to a project with real-world and academic significance.
- [Photograph of C.N. Yang in his Stony Brook office]. (1980). C.N. Yang Archive (Hanger 9, Folder 18). The Chinese University of Hong Kong Library, Hong Kong.