The Chinese mathematical genius known as “Shen Wei” became widely renowned for his extraordinary academic talents and his incredibly frugal, simple lifestyle.
Wei Dongyi, 33, from Shandong Province in eastern China, showed an extraordinary passion and talent for mathematics from an early age, influenced by his father, a university professor of mathematics.
During her middle school years, Wei participated in the 49th and 50th International Mathematical Olympiads, achieving perfect scores and winning consecutive international gold medals.
Zhang Yonghua, a middle school teacher, told Qilu Evening News: “Compared to other contestants, Wei’s love for math is extraordinary.”
Wei has created a more concise way of solving the problem than the standard solution.
According to NetEase News, at the age of 18, he invented the “Wei Dongyi Inequality” system to solve problems in fluid mechanics.
Wei’s extraordinary talent for mathematics led to his admission to Peking University without examination. GaokaoHe passed the National Center Test for University Admissions (NCT) and obtained his PhD, becoming an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics.
He also received China’s prestigious Damo University Young Researcher Award, which carries a prize of 1 million yuan (US$140,000).
However, according to Sina News, Wei did not attend the awards ceremony and refused the cash.
In a video interview with mainland Chinese media in 2021, he appeared with messy hair, wearing old clothes, holding a bottle of mineral water and carrying three buns in a plastic bag, attracting a lot of attention.
Despite his annual income of more than 600,000 yuan (US$83,000), his monthly expenses in Beijing are reportedly less than 300 yuan.
Wei’s unkempt appearance and lifestyle stand in stark contrast to his incredible mathematical talents, earning him nicknames on social media in mainland China such as “cleaning monk” and “God Wei”.
In the world of Chinese martial arts, cleaning monks are depicted as holy beings who hide within temples and are given the mundane job of sweeping floors, but who actually possess incredible martial arts skills.
But in recent years, many mainland Chinese media outlets have exaggerated Wei’s talents and over-mythologized his achievements.
In 2022, Wei reportedly solved a mathematics problem that had plagued a team of six doctoral students for four months in just one night.
Discussion also circulated on Weibo about him turning down an invitation to pursue a PhD at Harvard University.
In an interview with China’s state-run Southern Review media outlet in May of the same year, Wei denied the allegations.
“I didn’t get an invitation from Harvard, and I didn’t have a team of PhDs wanting to collaborate with me,” he says.
Mr Way told South Reviews he doesn’t like using the internet except for teaching and studying mathematics, preferring to listen to the radio.
He said he doesn’t care about outside opinions and would prefer not to be overly scrutinized or disturbed by the outside world.
One online observer wrote on Weibo: “His world consists only of numbers and formulas. The internet, media, money and appearances are all unimportant to him. This is a rare purity.”
